October 9, 2025 | Volume 44, Issue 6

PARENT CONFERENCES TOMORROW

Fri., Oct. 10th

Parent Conferences are tomorrow! Parents, please notify us if you are going to be late.

SNEAK PEEK:

How to Build Grit in Gifted Children

Steppingstone School hosted our first Parent Support Forum of the year on September 18, 2025, featuring guest speaker Kristin Cotts, LPC from the Center for Identity Potential in Huntington Woods.

Kristin shared powerful insights on building grit in gifted children, reminding us that giftedness is not simply “advanced development” but asynchronous development — where children can be far ahead in some areas while struggling in others. She explained why “intelligence does not equal executive function,” why practicing is a skill that must be developed, and how motivation plays a key role in activating the brain’s executive functions.

✨ Read the full recap, including case studies and practical takeaways for parents, on our website here.

DONATE CANDY for

PUMPKIN PALOOZA

Sun., Oct. 19, 11:30 AM - 2:30 PM

Steppingstone will be participating in Plymouth’s annual Pumpkin Palooza again and is asking for candy donations to support this community event. Donations can be dropped off during school hours. A big thank you to the Schiffs for donating candy!

Thank you to the Styke, Hyun, and Nehme families for volunteering!

This year, our booth (#11)  is located on Forest Ave. near Ann Arbor Trail.

WHAT IS GIFTED EDUCATION?

WHAT IS THE AKABA MODEL?

SHARE THE INFO!

Do you know of anyone who may be interested in gifted education? Do you know of anyone who has gifted children? Although we reside in PARC, as an elementary school we have all the amenities of a high school plus some! If you know of anyone who may be interested in our program, please share this information. During the open house they’ll learn more about who we are, what we do, and how we utilize PARC resources.

TELL A FRIEND!

RSVP FOR SPARClers NOW!

Our second SPARCler (parent support forum) will be on Thursday, October 23rd 7PM at Steppingstone School. We have invited Kristin Cotts to be our speaker again this year and she will be sharing “How to Emotionally Support Gifted Children”. To attend, please RSVP for the session here.

Kristin is an LPC at the Center for Identity Potential in Huntington Woods, which specializes in counseling the gifted. She recently was promoted to Director of Training & Education at the Center. 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 14 year-old son.

🐢 Shell-ebrating Good Health & a Surprise Discovery! 🥚

Our Russian tortoise family had an exciting checkup this week! Mr. Liou brought dad Archimedes (pictured left), mom Azalea (middle), and their adorable baby (right) to the vet — and we’re happy to report that all three are in excellent health!

A special shout-out goes to Francis (Gr. 5), whose daily school job is to care for our classroom critters — including both the tortoises and the saltwater tank. His consistency and care help keep our animal friends happy and healthy every day!

But that’s not all… while cleaning the terrarium, Mr. Liou made a shell-shocking discovery — three new eggs! Although one may not hatch, we’re holding out hope for the other two. 🐣

Stay tuned as we wait to see if our tortoise family will be growing soon — we might just be welcoming a new little shelled friend this year!

“LIFE AFTER STEPPINGSTONE”

Alumni News About Alum

Collin Wisniewski

The following information was shared with us by Collin’s dad, Bill Wisniewski, who was also a past Board President.

Collin is pictured here with his girlfriend Dany. After graduating from Steppingstone School, he attended AIM High School, from which he graduated in the Spring of 2019 and then went on to study Mechanical Engineering at Michigan Tech. After managing several health-related delays, he will be graduating from Michigan Tech this December.

In the interims, he worked as a student coach for an engineering lab and spent 2 summers as an intern for an engineering firm in Wisconsin. Collin designed an analysis for large solar panel installations the first summer and worked on control software for a battery system the second summer. He continues to work for the company on the modeling and simulation of electrical components and plans to work full-time after graduation in December.

Collin has also become a “rock hound” … seeking, finding and polishing interesting rocks, and his extra-curricular interests now include pottery and hiking as well. 

His parents, Bill and Heather, live in Northville so there’s a good chance he will be home for periodic visits and a chance for us to meet again.  

ATTEND the MAGC FALL CONFERENCE!

Learn About Your Gifted Child!

MAGC has announced their fall virtual conference on "Demystifying Giftedness", to be held on November 3rd from 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm. The Keynote speaker will be Dr. Chandra Floyd, a giftedness expert from the College of William and Mary, and they'll break into groups after that. Attendance is $20 per person, and if you're interested in attending (or want a little more information), please visit their sign-up website at:

https://m90212.wixsite.com/magc

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

$1,000 to $4,999

Fran Eldis

$500 to $999

$100 to $499

$50 to $99

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