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VOL. 140, NO. 36
Students get visit from furry friend
Therapy dog arrives at
Mill Creek in time for
upcoming school year
By Sean Dalton
Heritage Newspapers
P
arents bringing their chil-
dren to Mill Creek Middle
School last week for stu-
dent pictures, registration and
orientation got a chance to meet
Dexter,
DEXTER the black
labrador
retriever
assigned as a therapy dog for
the district.
“He’s really cool. I think he’ll
help keep people busy,” said stu-
dent Katie Stilber.
Stilber’s friend Jenny Squire
was one of many visitors who
got up close and personal with
Dexter.
“I think he’s going to be really
helpful and he’s really cute and
people will like him a lot,” she
said.
Ronald Wiedbusch, principal
of the Safe Schools Program
for Ypsilanti Public Schools,
and Lori Grig of Paradise Dog
Training were on hand to talk
Fundraiser to
help stock new
DAC inventory
Activities include
mosaic, face painting
for local children
By Sean Dalton
Heritage Newspapers
After several meetings and
an ongoing pursuit of funds to
finance a project
to convert the
old gristmill into “We are excited
a arts center in
Dexter, volun-
about this oppor-
teers are hold-
ing their first
tunity to show-
fundraiser this
month.
case class proj-
The Dexter
Arts Center
ects ...”
board will host
the “Book End”
fundraiser from 3 to 6 p.m. Sept.
18, which will involve fun and
casual activities to kick-off the
broader fundraising effort, said
DAC volunteer Anne Kornow.
“The fundraiser is planned
to be a formal gala just prior
to opening the Dexter Arts
Center,” she said.
The center will be temporar-
ily located in the same building
as Artistica, owned by fellow
DAC volunteer and organizer
Lisa Wandres.
Kornow and Wandres said
that there would also be a
“Stock the Arts Center” drive in
the near future.
Wandres said many residents
in the community have shown
increasing support as the board
has continued to pitch the value
of Dexter having its own arts
center on par with communities
like Ann Arbor and Saline.
The event will be held at
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THE
DEXTER LEADER
Photo by Sean Dalton
Fred Schmid, Larry Cobler, Jami Bronson, Stephanie Klawender and Steve Gergely pose with
with Dexter the dog at a welcome ceremony in the Dexter School District.
with visitors.
“One of the most exciting
things that you see here right
now is just the response and
smiles that Dexter is bringing
Artistica, located at 3203 Broad
St.
“We are excited about this
opportunity to showcase class
projects, provide handouts
detailing class offerings, our
wish list, information sheets,
and offering some fun activi-
ties,” Kornow said.
She said attend-
ees will be able to
play with clay and
enjoy face paint-
ing and a mosaic
demo.
“We will also
distribute a wish
list so anyone can
donate new items,
slightly used items,
or money to pur-
chase items for
the ‘Stock the Arts
Center’ drive,” Kornow said.
Kornow said that the Encore
Musical Theatre staff have
also offered their space for the
second fundraiser, which will
host an adult night out that will
be just as fun as the children’s
programming.
That event is scheduled
from 6 to 8 p.m. Sept. 26 and
will include wine and hors
d’oeuvres, as well as raffle tick-
ets for a DAC membership and
various pieces of art. Tickets
are $25 per person or $40 per
couple.
The tentative grand opening
of the Dexter Arts Center above
Artistica is scheduled for Oct.
1 with classes for mosaic, clay,
jewelry, drawing, painting and
more.
Sean Dalton is a reporter with
Heritage Newspapers. He can
be reached at sdalton@heritage.
com or 429-7380.
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SPORTS
Dexter-Pickney Road
Bridge re-opens
Page 2-A
75¢
to the community,” Wiedbusch
said.
Dexter and other dogs are
integrated into school settings
for many reasons, including
Veggie Tales
Creekside launches
new student garden
project in Dexter
By Daniel Lai
Heritage Newspapers
Three teachers from
Creekside Intermediate School
are banding together to offer a
new hands-on gardening expe-
rience for students in Dexter.
The Creekside Garden,
which was launched in the
spring, features fresh produce
planted and maintained entire-
ly by students at Creekside
who will learn how to cook
healthy meals using the pro-
duce that they grow.
Jane Montero, one of the
teachers working with the gar-
den, said the idea first came
about after searching for a
program that could utilize the
school’s life skills kitchen.
“I read about Alice Waters
and her Edible Schoolyard
project in Berkeley, Calif. and
I thought it would be neat to
do something like that here in Photos by Daniel Lai
Dexter,” she said.
The Edible Schoolyard is a
one-acre garden and kitchen
classroom at Martin Luther
King, Jr. Middle School in
California that features vegeta-
bles, fruits, flowers and herbs
grown entirely by students.
“I applied for and received
a donor-advised grant
through the Dexter Education
Foundation to pay for my
tuition to attend the Edible
Schoolyard Academy in July.
My experience during the two
days of the academy was truly
a life changing event,” she
said.
Her experience inspired her
to replicate the Edible Garden
program in Dexter with the
PLEASE SEE GARDEN/3-A
stress reduction and anxiety
mitigation, both factors that are
associated with transitioning to
middle school.
Dexter will greet students
(Above) A pumpkin patch grows in the garden at Creekside.
(Below) Jane Montero checks on the cherry tomato plants.
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2010
exiting buses and in classrooms
and the library. Dexter is also
unique in how the district is
handling his care.
“Dexter’s been trained to
respond to seven trained staff
who will have consistency in
language use, and consistency
with the commands and hand
language, so they will be able
to go out and cover a large
group of the student populous,”
Wiedbusch said.
A host family will keep
Dexter when he’s not working.
Wiedbusch anticipates great
success with Dexter working
with children in the district.
“Dogs aren’t judgmental.
They wont ask you what is the
difference between a ‘ph’ or ‘t’
sound and if you say two plus
two is 22 they still smile and lick
you,” he said. “They are able to
break down a lot of the barriers
and help kids take a lot of other
opportunities and chances.”
A big challenge of Dexter’s
training involves teaching him
to get used to all of the smells
that he will be experiencing in
a building with hundreds of dif-
ferent people.
PLEASE SEE DOG/3-A
Pioneer knocks
out Dexter in
home-opener
Page 1-B
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