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Our Academic Needs

Hematite Academic Fund

Ishpeming teachers do remarkable things with the materials, equipment and funding they have available.

Many go beyond this and use outside resources to provide unique  opportunities for students.  As loyal IHS alumni and supporters, we are working to help those who do the real work of education our children by soliciting their best ideas and raising the money needed to accomplish them.

The following list isn't all inclusive, but illustrates our intentions and is designed to gauge the interest potential donors may have in helping us.

Upgrades to our technology infrastructure -- though ahead of our neighbors in many areas, we need to keep our edge in this vital component of a modern education.

Band instruments -- very little has been spent in decades to acquire instruments too expensive for most families to afford.  Older instruments have become very expensive to repair, and this has become a yearly expense that's growing.  We have an extensive list of desired instruments that could expose our students to an even more exciting band experience.

Playgrounds -- Birchview and Ishpeming Middle School students would benefit from newly constructed playground and outdoor recreational equipment.  All children need regular opportunities to play and exercise their bodies as well as their minds.  We cannot neglect the body without affecting the brain.  We must provide the best chance to develop both.  In addition, such equipment would be a boon the community at large, since by their nature would be accessible at any time.

Proposed Playground Picture

Classroom enhancement fund -- a kind of academic booster club, which would provide funding for innovative educators to acquire materials and equipment to augment their curricula. 

Field trips -- we hope to help fund efforts such our eighth grader's annual trip to Washington, D.C. which is the highlight of these students experience prior to entering high school.  All these funds are raised by parents and teachers from local sources.  We hope to help in such efforts, supplementing others fundraising. 

Students visiting Washington DC

Outdoor field classroom -- an opportunity to take advantage of Birchview's setting in Al Quaal park for the study of the natural environment. 

Art curriculum -- due to funding and state mandated curriculum prioritites, we've had no art class for the past few years in the middle and high school.  We hope to see all students have some exposure to various art media as part of their complete education in Ishpeming. 

Improvements to lighting and audio for the W.C. Peterson Auditorium -- we have one of the finest performance venues in the U.P.  used for student performances and for many other events year-round.  We have a list of many specific improvements that would keep the W.C. Peterson at the top of the list of desirable performance spaces.

Hematite Fitness Center -- for high school students, the increased opportunities to be active during the school day, as well as before and after, could be addressed effectively by a separate building across the street from the old gym.  Though ambitious, this initiative would provide a very effective method for teaching lifetime exercise skills to any student, while improving the workout area (now housed in the balconies of the old gym) for student athletes.