STEM learning in action
Maire’s Makerspace nurtures collaboration, creativity and critical thinking
The Winter Olympic Games in Beijing were the focus in Maire Elementary School’s Makerspace last week as students learned about the science of ski jumping.
First, they watched a video in which they learned about the physics of drag and weight and the importance of a “V” formation to increasing distance. Then, divided into teams of four and given four straws, two pipe cleaners, a piece of construction paper and tape — and the option of using coins to add weight — students were challenged with designing and creating their own ski jumper.
They had five minutes to plan and strategize before testing their ski jumper’s prowess off the edge of a desk, according to Michelle Kramer, who coordinates activities in the Makerspace in conjunction with the classroom teachers. (While Mrs. Kramer’s official title is computer lab assistant, one fourth grader referred to her as “the leader of everything fun,” according to her mother.)
Collaboration is one of the four “c’s” Michelle focuses on during students’ time in the Makerspace lab. The other three are critical thinking, communication and creativity.
“A lot of what we talk about is working together,” Michelle said. “Not one person is the boss. This is life. You’re going to have to work with people and compromise. You’re not always going to get your way. You have to work together.”
Classes meet at least once a week in the Makerspace. In a typical month, Michelle focuses a week on each of the following: a project based on a book; an activity that is seasonally based; an activity centered around character building, such as that month's Leader in Me habit; and coding. Upper elementary students learn introductory coding skills on a computer, while the younger students engage in "unplugged coding." Unplugged coding aims to teach programming concepts through the use of games or activities using tangible objects rather than technology.
For example, while Winter Olympics was the theme the second week in February, the month began with a recognition of Black History Month. Students read Mae Among the Stars, by Roda Ahmed, and learned about NASA astronaut Mae Jemison, the first Black woman to travel into space. After watching a video of a space shuttle launch, they created their own space shuttle out of a coffee filter, string, a piece of tin foil and tape.
Sometimes Makerspace time is an extension of a classroom project. For example, fourth graders currently are designing cars, altering the wheels and materials to increase the cars’ speed. They work on the project both in class and in the lab, where they have access to materials and technological tools such as the 3D printer.
The idea for the Makerspace grew from a Wayne RESA Maker Summit six Maire staff members attended in the spring of 2019. Michelle and second grade teacher Sarah Neely were part of that cohort and applied for a grant to assist with the purchase of furniture and materials for the space.
Also critical to its success is the support of Principal Ryan Francis.
“Ryan has been fiercely supportive of this from day one,” Michelle said. “He has always looked at it like a great opportunity for us.”
“It’s been a journey,” Principal Francis said, recalling that staff members returned from that conference at The Henry Ford inspired to do more hands-on learning and STEM activities at the school.
This, followed by the grant — along with additional funding from the Maire PTO and the Grosse Pointe Foundation for Public Education — turned the dream of a Makerspace into a reality.
Principal Francis added that with Michelle leading the effort, he is “thankful we’ve got someone with a passion for it that wants to do it, and we’ve got staff that see the value in it who are part of the process of creating lessons and ideas for making this a new way to learn.
“And it’s fun,” he added. “The kids are having fun. The staff are having fun. And they’re learning and they’re creating critical thinking skills and problem solving. It’s bringing joy to the school and we need more joy.”
South student wins Silver Key portfolio award
When Grosse Pointe South senior Olivia Roncone began to put her portfolio together, she worried it might have too narrow of a focus. She learned through the process, however, of creating “A Variety of Teapots” — the title of her portfolio — that the opposite was the case. She discovered multiple treatments that expanded her artistic vision of a teapot.
“The concept of the teapot itself is highly flexible,” Olivia wrote in her artist statement. “It must have a place for water to be poured in, it must be able to hold that water, and then it must also have a spout for that water to be poured out of. Beyond this, the vessel can be manipulated in any number of ways.”
Olivia was able to experiment with traditional forms as well as abstract ones. Spouts could be thrown, carved, pulled, or even incorporated into the piece, as was the case with her bottle-form teapot.
The project allowed her to branch out with her design elements in a way she had not been able to before.
“It blurred the lines between traditionally defined pieces and expanded my thinking on what any particular kind of pot could be,” she wrote.
The results earned her a 2022 Scholastic Art Silver Key Portfolio Award. Olivia is among 39 art students at South from all grade levels recognized with either a gold, silver or honorable mention in this year’s regional Scholastic Art awards. Students from Grosse Pointe North, Brownell Middle School and Pierce Middle School also won awards. Click here for a complete list.
Olivia first pursued her interest in ceramics by enrolling in classes at Pewabic Pottery before taking it to the next level all four years of high school in ceramics classes with art teacher Tom Szmrecsanyi. It was Szmr (as students call him) who encouraged Olivia to develop a full portfolio and submit it to the competition.
In addition to access to the equipment, Olivia enjoyed the support of her teacher and fellow art students in the ceramics studio at South.
“We’ve got fantastic facilities,” Olivia said. “We’re really lucky at South. The community they have in the studio really helped me cultivate the skills and the passion and interest. Especially Szmr. You have people from all different levels of ceramics in the same classroom. When you’re just starting out, you get a lot of help from people who are more experienced. When you’re advanced, you get to help those kids and learn from their mistakes, too.”
The community will have an opportunity to view all the South Scholastic Award winners during Grosse Pointe South’s annual ArtFest March 16 to 18 in the school’s multipurpose room. North's Art Show will be May 19 and 20 in the lobby of the Performing Arts Center in conjunction with North's Spring Choir Concert.
Broad stripes and bright stars
Thanks to a generous donation from the Louisa St. Clair Chapter, National Society Daughters of the American Revolution, new flags are in all the classrooms at Richard Elementary School. The flags’ arrival was delayed several months due to supply chain issues, but were installed upon arrival and are now available when students say the Pledge of Allegiance each morning.
Save the Manatees!
Julie Nurse’s fourth grade class at Mason Elementary School is selling Smencils (scented pencils made from recycled newspapers) to raise money for the Florida manatees in crisis. Over 1,000 mantees died last year due to starvation, and this continues as manatees struggle to find food, the students learned. One issue is their local sea grass has been taken over by algae due to fertilizers and run-off, preventing their only food source from growing. The fourth graders have already adopted four manatees in Florida and are trying to raise more funds to help conservation efforts and prevent these gentle giants from becoming extinct.
Alumni Through the Decades
Our 100th anniversary series on GPPSS alumni continues
John Guleserian
Grosse Pointe South High School
Class of 1994
John Guleserian spent a good part of his childhood in movie theaters. His favorite haunts were a theater within walking distance of his house in Grosse Pointe Park on Jefferson in Detroit called The Esquire, the Woods Theater on Mack Avenue, and The Beacon East near Eastland Mall.
He also frequently rented movies from a video rental store in The Village.
John still loves movies — with a particular bent for horror — but today he is able to share his passion as a cinematographer for major film studios. He has served as director of photography on multiple box office hits, including About Time, Love, Simon, Happiest Season, He’s All That, and the 2021 horror film, Candy Man. His TV credits include Love Vampires, Casual, Transparent and Friends from College.
John’s big break came after Like Crazy, a low-budget film he shot with a small, hand-held camera, premiered in January 2011 at the Sundance Film Festival and won the Grand Jury Prize. The movie caught the attention of Richard Curtis, writer and director of About Time, starring Rachel McAdams, Margot Roby, and Bill Nighy. Curtis invited him to London to see if the two could work together.
“About Time is a really special one for me because it was the first studio movie that I did,” John said. “It was surprising to me that something I had done had made it to London and someone had seen it and they liked it and they called me.”
John flew across the Atlantic, he and Curtis discussed locations, and the next thing John knew, he was “in London for six months making this movie with all these wonderful actors and great artists working on it. I thought I was going to get fired every single day, thinking, ‘They’re going to find out I’ve never made a real movie before!’ It was a really special experience for me and it certainly helped my career progress to the next level where I was then trusted by studios to make movies.”
John, whose family moved from Novi to Grosse Pointe when he was in third grade, attended Maire Elementary, Pierce Middle School and Grosse Pointe South, graduating in 1994. He majored in film at Columbia College in Chicago and received a M.F.A. in cinematography at the American Film Institute in Los Angeles.
His biggest influence while in high school was Julie Corbett, who served as the head of the TV production department and was instrumental in bringing the program to the school.
“Dr. Corbett was someone who believed in me,” John said. “She saw that this was something that I was really interested in and supported me, and let me know this was something I could actually do with my life.”
For students today interested in pursuing cinematography, John says there are several avenues they can take, but what matters “more than anything is being passionate about it.”
One route is the one John took himself: attending film school. However, even after 10 or so years, he cautions students it “takes a while to form those relationships and get those opportunities.”
Another option is joining a union and working one’s way up the ladder.
Still another is making a movie and getting it seen, John said.
“It really depends on who you are as a person. More than anything, it’s about being passionate about telling stories and knowing how to collaborate with people.
"Just doing it is the best way to do it,” he concluded. “I always tell film students that my advice is if you want to be a cinematographer, start saying you’re a cinematographer. An 18-year-old kid could be competing with me for a job. You don’t need any special qualifications. I may have some experience now, but it doesn’t mean I’m going to do it the right way.”
John recently returned from filming his latest movie in Ireland. Yet to be released, the horror/comedy/action film was directed by Elizabeth Banks and is based on a true story.
Before embarking on his next project, he is enjoying time at home in Glendale outside L.A. with his wife, Theresa, and 10-month-old son, Wynton. Theresa Guleserian is a production designer and the two, who met in film school, have collaborated on several movies including Happiest Season and Overnight, and a TV series called Friends from College.
While John’s parents still live in Grosse Pointe Park, they mostly visit him in L.A. and he returns to the Detroit area less now that he is no longer filming movies there — something he enjoyed when there were tax incentives in Michigan. However, he hopes to return in the near future.
“It was a great place to shoot a movie,” he said. “In Detroit, you can get that city feeling and that suburban feeling and everything in between.”
Check out more alumni profiles on the Grosse Pointe Alumni & Friends website.
Enjoy your mid-winter break! School Pointes will return on Friday, March 4.
School Pointes is a publication of the Grosse Pointe Public School System. To submit story ideas or Pointes of Pride, email info@gpschools.org.