March 28, 2022 When we are not limited, we all thrive
March is reading month and Mayor Maureen Brosnan made the rounds sharing the excitement of reading with Hoover Elementary School (above) and Buchannan Elementary School (right).
Slice of the 80's partners with SPN Survivors, Suicide Prevention Network, to raise some dough. Order up Tuesday.
Community Financial Credit Union Recognized with two 2022 Best of the Best awards 

MemberXP, a member experience management software from CU Solutions Group, has named Community Financial Credit Union one of their 2022 Best of the Best award winners. 

Community Financial Credit Union has been recognized as one of North America’s best credit unions in providing outstanding loan and member transaction experiences. 
“At Community Financial, our team members aren’t just committed to outstanding service, they have a passion for it,” said Bill Lawton, CEO of the credit union. “On behalf of all those we serve, we are honored with this national recognition,” he said.  

The coveted Best of the Best award is given annually to credit unions that consistently provide exceptional service, as reported by their own members. Only the highest-performing credit unions using the MemberXP platform are given this recognition. 
 
A credit union cannot apply for the Best of the Best award. It is independently granted by CU Solutions Group based on specific and rigorous criteria. Award winners are identified through evaluations completed by members and independent evaluators.

More than 340,000 of these evaluations were completed in 2021, providing data on a dozen key performance indicators and further informed by specific feedback regarding common experiences, such as opening an account or applying for a loan. This year was the awards’ most competitive yet, with an 18% YOY increase in the number of credit unions using Member XP, so the winners represent the upper echelon of customer service for the industry. 

“The Best of the Best awards bring much-deserved recognition to those at the forefront of the industry, who excel in their efforts to improve user experience, customer service and access to tools and information.” 
Livonia Civic Chorus Spring Concert
One Hit Wonders set for May 15

2022 Renewable Energy
Sustainable Living Fair 

Saturday – April 23, 2022

Madonna University Welcome Center 
  36600 Schoolcraft Road | Livonia,

10:00 am – 1:00 pm | FREE Admission
MAJOR Announcement
MAJOR Fundraiser

Clarenceville Education Foundaation

$11,000 was raised for the Clarenceville Education Foundation in three hours. That's right. $11,000. Three hours.

And what a night it was with 260 attending the Clarenceville Education Foundation Annual Reverse Raffle and Dinner at Corsi's Banquet Center.

Dave Bergeron, Assistant Superintendent, and Community Choice Credit Union split the grand prize with EACH taking home $2,250.

And then Community Choice Credit Union, who provided the volunteers for the evening, announced that they were donating their half, $2,250, to the CCCU Foundation to use in furthering the causes they support.

The typewriter and bodyguard got there 30 minutes before the doors opened. Not to get a good seat, that too, but to watch the energy and excitement as old friends and new friends met up for what was an acknowledgment that the reverse raffle canceled in the past because of the pandemic was back on. And back on better.

There was the Clarenceville Board of Education on hand to help celebrate the oldest school district in Michigan, founded in 1837: Shari Krazel, Cindy Immonen, Dennis Myers, Pam Shourd, Jeff Bunker, Chris Kluesner. And Superintendent Paul Shepich.

The City of Livonia was represented by Mayor Maureen Miller Brosnan, Councilman Brandon McCullough, and Parks and Recreation Superintendent Ted Davis.

Good to see old friend Brian Wolverton, who transitioned from Director of the Livonia Y to Director of the Redford Chamber of Commerce.

Wayne Kinney, Rock Out Entertainment, Premier DJ Services. Quality sound, lighting, and professional DJs, was on point all night.

Set with Veronica Cruz, Donna Hager, and Dawn Haynie representing the headline sponsor AlphaUSA and Gary Deschenes who chatted about the upcoming return to Spree, and Gary's role in coordinating the water sales.

From the Corsi buffet to the smiles all around, to the positive conversations about life and living, projects ongoing, updates on children.

It was a night of celebrating a public school system with broad-based community support.

$11,000 to support classroom projects
and super efforts of special teachers in a special school district.

So glad I arrived early to meet more people, to savor this return to a better normal.

Thanks Clarenceville Education Foundation for making a difference.
Mail Address
19514 Livonia 48152
E-mail address
rwilliamjoyner@gmail.com
Cell address
734-674-5871
Commentary offered by Al Churchill
supporting Dayna Polehanki on evaluation
of teacher performance

Senator Dayna Polehanki is right in asserting standardized tests incapable of evaluating teacher performance over the past few years as the covid pandemic has removed anything approximating normal from the classroom.

Additionally, the outcome of those tests is determined both by factors outside of the classroom and an in-school experience. It is near impossible to separate the two and evaluate teacher quality.

 Beyond school, parental educational level, parental involvement in a student’s education, stability at home, nutrition, health care, neighborhood environment, and other factors play a huge role in determining testing outcomes and student proficiency generally.  

Furthermore, a study, done by psychologists at Harvard, Brown and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology also found that a higher test score on a standardized test does not necessarily mean a higher thinking level.

Studying almost 1,400 students in Boston Public Schools, psychologists found that some schools raised students’ scores on the statewide assessment. But no improvement was found on what psychologists’ call “fluid intelligence”, working memory capacity, the speed of information processing and the ability to solve abstract problems.

In a period where knowledge and manipulating knowledge is increasingly important, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation, critical thinking, problem solving and creativity generally, should rank high within a curriculum. They should be isolated and assessed on standardized tests.  They are not, leaving current testing efforts incomplete.

Clearly, it is time to replace the primacy of standardized testing as a tool for evaluating educational outcomes and teachers. More attention needs to be focused on classroom learning experiences, designed by educators who know how children learn.

Top-notch commentary Dayna. 
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