September 18, 2025 | Volume 44, Issue 3

RSVP TO ATTEND SPARClers

#1: How to Build Grit w/Kristin Cotts

TONIGHT, Thu,. Sep. 18th 7PM @School

Tonight will be our first SPARCler (Steppingstone Parent Advocacy Resource Coalition parent support forum)! We will be starting off the year talking about “How to Build Grit” with guest speaker, Kristin Cotts. If you haven’t done so already, please register here. 

Kristin is an LPC at the Center for Identity Potential in Huntington Woods, which specializes in counseling the gifted. She is a former middle and high school teacher. She holds an MA from Adler University in Clinical Mental Health Counseling, an MA from University of Michigan in Communication, and a BA from Carleton College in French. She is also a singer-songwriter and actor. She lives in Troy, MI and has a 13 year-old son

🎃 Be Prepared —

Our Scarecrow is Coming Soon!

Decorating Fri., Sep. 19-26

Steppingstone has once again been selected to take part in Plymouth’s annual Scarecrows in the Park.

Scarecrow decorating begins on Friday, September 19, and all scarecrows must be in place in Kellogg Park by Friday, September 26, the official kick-off date of the event. After a festive fall season, scarecrows will need to be taken down by Tuesday, November 4.

A huge thank-you goes out to the Schiff, Styke, Hyun, and Nehme families for volunteering to decorate this year’s scarecrow—we can’t wait to see what you create!

FIELD DAY THANK YOU

Last Fri., Sep. 12th

We are so grateful for the amazing support of our parent volunteers during this year’s Field Day! A special thank you goes out to Alex Lau (Jacob’s dad) and Theresa Min (Francis’s mom) for helping with the morning activities, and to Theresa Min and Barbara Malnar-Styke (Finley’s mom) for lending a hand during the afternoon hiking and biking. Your energy and time helped make the day a huge success!

This year’s Field Day was extra special, as we were able to enjoy most of our brand-new supplies, thanks to last year’s auction special purpose donations that refreshed our P.E. and Field Day equipment. What a difference it made!

In the evening, families gathered once again for our Welcome Back Potluck, where we enjoyed good food, great company, and even the return of two recent alumni — Jaxson Woods and Alex Wilson — who came back to reconnect with our community. We also want to extend our gratitude to all of the families who brought a dish to share — our potluck table was overflowing with delicious food, a true testament to the generosity of our community.

TERRIFIC TOTEMS

Early Elementary Social Studies

This week in the Early Elementary's social studies lesson, we learned about traditional clothing, resources, and the daily life of the Ojibwe before European colonization. We discussed the roles of men, women, and children in the Ojibwe society.

Men were hunters and fishermen. They made their own tools from wood and bones. They taught these skills to their sons as they grew older. 

Women gathered rice and berries, preserved them to eat in the winter, made maple syrup and sugar, and sewed clothing. Girls were taught these skills by their mothers, aunts, and grandmothers.

The Ojibwe lived in large groups called bands. Each band was made of smaller groups called clans or dodaim (totem). Each clan was responsible for a section of forest (for tapping or hunting) and each had their own symbol, often animal-related. Some of the larger clans were crane, martin, wolf, and bear.

Aliya (pictured above) and Jacob (pictured below) made Ojibwe totems (as well as their own) carved in dough.  Their final creations were left to dry and will go home soon.

WILL YOU BE CONVINCED?

Writing Persuasive Essays

Our students have been working on persuasive writing techniques. The Early Elementary students have focused on persuasive letters. During lessons, we discussed the difference between facts and opinions. We read stories about kids who tried to convince their parents to get a pet, and even a dog who tried to convince people to adopt him!  

This week, parents of Early Elementary students will receive a persuasive letter from their child. Hopefully, they have used enough examples and valid reasons to convince their parents to agree to the requests made. Maybe some good ideas for holiday gifts will come out of this!

Upper Elementary students continue to work on persuasive essays. They have chosen a topic and have been taking notes from online articles to support their positions. Outlines and essays are next. This is excellent preparation for this spring's Social Studies Expo where they will have to write fact cards, an outline, and a paper on their selected topic.  

MARK YOUR CALENDARS

Have Fun At the Tollgate

G.O.A.T. PUMPKIN FEST

Grab your flannel and join us for a festive fall day at the farm! Hop on a wagon ride, take to the pumpkin patch, and pick your perfect pumpkin!

With delicious food, toe-tapping music, adorable farm animals, hands-on exhibits, and tons of kid-friendly activities, it’s the ultimate autumn adventure on our beautiful 160-acre historic farm.

Admission includes:

Wagon Ride | Pumpkin Patch | Live Music | Pumpkin Play Area | 

| Face painting | Pumpkin Bowling | Sensory Tables | Inflatable Archery 

Buy your tickets now for discounted pricing! 

$15 per person in advance

$17 per person for walk-ins

Children 2 and under are free! Get your discounted tickets Here

Annual Giving 2025-2026

We would like to thank everyone who made an Annual Giving donation in the 2025-2026 school year.

$5,000 to $9,999

Fran Eldis

$1,000 to $4,999

Yong Pan

Yvette Koehler

$500 to $999

Richard Houdek

$100 to $499

Chi Wang

Christina Hauncher

Guannan Ye

Joan Raphael

Mike Sun

Minghung Hsu

Susan Mero

Walter Wang

$50 to $99

Grace Keng

James & Alicia Phillips

Up to $50

In-Kind

Volunteers

Auction Chair

Barbara Malnar-Styke

Auction Acquisitions

Michelle Belt

Dena Nehme

Brad Styke

SMART Center Chair

Dr. Reef Morse

Marketing

Jorge Contreras