Thanks Everyone for a wonderful Career at Kingsford High School
I want to extend my thanks to the great staff I have had the privilege of teaching with at Kingsford High School, the wonderful students, parents and people from the community that have gone out of there way over the years to do great things in and out of the classroom. You all have have help to make my career as a teacher so good. You will all have a special place in my heart.
Letter to announce my retirement
Lyle Smithson, Principal January 29, 2014
Kingsford High school
431 Hamilton Ave
Dear Lyle,
I write this letter not with sadness with great happiness in my heart as I announce my retirement at the end of the 2013/14 school year on June 15th at the end of the day, because of the many great things I have been able to accomplish over the course of my career, the many wonderful people I have worked with and the great students that have been a part of my classroom over the years. Those people will be missed. The ending on June 15th will allow for the rocket launch that weekend before the 30 day non-school contact rule comes into effect. The retirement is conditional on the retirement incentive still be in effect for me as discussed with Mr. Allen last year with 30.5 years in the Breitung Township School District.
Over the years there have been so many special things that have happened at Kingsford High School because I was a teacher there and had the support of the student body and the staff of the school.
Kingsford students were featured in a state wide Michigan Education Association television commercial for a year showing why public schools in Michigan are successful as well as another where our rocket launches were featured in a Jilbert milk commercial and another for TV6 Friday Night Fever introduction that played for a school year. http://mrbertoldi.weebly.com/rocket-tv-commercials-and-news-stories.html Kingsford’s Rocket Program. Groveland Rocket launches and advisor were featured in October 2008 on WLUC TV 6 Upside . The Upside segment features people that have a positive effect on life in Michigan Upper Peninsula.
Receiving the Daimler Chrysler Engineering Educator award was so very special. It named Kingsford’s rocketry program as one of the top precollege engineering programs in the State of Michigan but what made it so special was to receive that award with a former student of mine Debbie Clark Oliver. She developed a very impressive engineer program for high school students in the Traverse City area of Michigan. That was a great day as an educator to see her excel as a science teacher and receive that award with her.
Over the years I have been a speaker at places like Michigan Technological University, Northern Michigan University, University of Michigan, the National Science Teachers Association, the Michigan Science Teachers Association and National Rocket Events like NARCON (National Association of Rocketry’s National Convention). Speaking at NARCON and letting the National Association of Rocketry know what we are doing at Kingsford resulted the awarding of in the National Association of Rocketry’s Robert L Canon Award which recognizes educational excellence in rocketry. A group of students and myself also had the opportunity to speak to MTU's Board of Control on what we were doing in rocketry. We presented to some of the top engineers in the world as well as to the heads of every department at MTU. I also served as an advisor to MTU on how to set up Enterprise Teams in high schools. This developed connections to enable our students interested in engineering to tour MTU the last two years to see these teams in action, to tour the University as well and offer to Kingsford students to be in the mission control center when students at MTU control a satellite they are building and will be flying soon for the Air Force.
Twice the Michigan Space Grant Consortium awarded grants to our rocketry program that helped to fund it. These grants are seldom awarded to high schools. In the one year we were in the Team America Rocketry Challenge, Kingsford’s Team was a finalist and traveled to Washington DC where we finished in the top 1/3 and were the highest scoring program from Michigan. I have also worked for the Wisconsin Space Grant Consortium as a safety officer for a national college rocket launch at the Richard Bong Recreational Area near Kenosha, Wisconsin. I have also served as a judge and help to launch the rockets for the Rockets for Schools Program which brings high power rocketry to students in four states. A high power rocket club was formed, Tripoli Upper Michigan. Tripoli Upper Michigan was formed to support the rocket launches of Kingsford High School at the former Groveland Mine. This year I will also be teaching summer youth program classes for Michigan Technological University’s Summer Youth Program on rocketry.
Twice I was awarded Michigan Education Association Showing Casing Public Education Award Winner for the U + H2O program and for the Kingsford High Power Rocketry Program. Kingsford programs were also featured many times is the MEA Voice that goes out to 150,000 homes in Michigan. Because of my experience with Kingsford students and rocketry I was published in an encyclopedia of chemistry and authored two different articles in a national magazine. The Dickinson Conservation District Conservation Educator Award was also awarded to me for the work in helping to develop the U + H2O program
On two different shows on the Science Channel, LDRS and The Best of LDRS, a Kingsford rocket project that was built with the help of Kingsford High School students, was featured on the Science Channel. It was an experience of a life time for a science teacher to have a project that Kingsford students help to make be featured on the Science Channel. Finishing second to a group of the best rocket builders in the country was a real tribute to our students and rocket program. During the taping of the show Kari Byron of the Myth Busters gave me an A as a science teacher. With the grade of an A from Kari, she busted the Myth that Breitung Township teachers cannot be highly effective when they are evaluated. It was also nice as a science teacher to be featured on Kari Byron’s Twitter page.
So many positive things have happened over the course of my career as I have been fortunate to work with great students every year, a very supportive group of educators and people from our community. I want to extend my thanks to all the people that helped to make my career at Kingsford so very successful and enjoyable. Enclosed with my letter is a rocket pin as a small thank you for the great experiences I had as a teacher at Kingsford High School.
If the school district would like to continue with the Rockets for School's Program I would be happy to do that provided there is a room to do it in and a way to help with funding. A new Launch site also has to be found as the Groveland Mine tailing ponds will be processed to remove the iron form it in the near future will. Money left in the program will allow for a launch this spring and one in the fall once my salary from this school year is added into the fund. Money for the program will be gone after that. I am willing to continue with the donation of my salary to continue with the program but there is not enough money in the three percent of the base salary to continue with the program without help of the school district. I know the job would have to be posted. If someone else from the school district would like to advise it I would be happy to consult to them and to help the individual to get the rocketry certification levels needed to run this program or to provide other options to keep the program going.
Sincerely,
William Bertoldi
cc: Craig Allen, Robert Usitalo, Charlie Novara, Bob Hendrickson, Joanne To, Doug McDowell, Bill Rice, Kate Thomas, David Kashian
Lyle Smithson, Principal January 29, 2014
Kingsford High school
431 Hamilton Ave
Dear Lyle,
I write this letter not with sadness with great happiness in my heart as I announce my retirement at the end of the 2013/14 school year on June 15th at the end of the day, because of the many great things I have been able to accomplish over the course of my career, the many wonderful people I have worked with and the great students that have been a part of my classroom over the years. Those people will be missed. The ending on June 15th will allow for the rocket launch that weekend before the 30 day non-school contact rule comes into effect. The retirement is conditional on the retirement incentive still be in effect for me as discussed with Mr. Allen last year with 30.5 years in the Breitung Township School District.
Over the years there have been so many special things that have happened at Kingsford High School because I was a teacher there and had the support of the student body and the staff of the school.
Kingsford students were featured in a state wide Michigan Education Association television commercial for a year showing why public schools in Michigan are successful as well as another where our rocket launches were featured in a Jilbert milk commercial and another for TV6 Friday Night Fever introduction that played for a school year. http://mrbertoldi.weebly.com/rocket-tv-commercials-and-news-stories.html Kingsford’s Rocket Program. Groveland Rocket launches and advisor were featured in October 2008 on WLUC TV 6 Upside . The Upside segment features people that have a positive effect on life in Michigan Upper Peninsula.
Receiving the Daimler Chrysler Engineering Educator award was so very special. It named Kingsford’s rocketry program as one of the top precollege engineering programs in the State of Michigan but what made it so special was to receive that award with a former student of mine Debbie Clark Oliver. She developed a very impressive engineer program for high school students in the Traverse City area of Michigan. That was a great day as an educator to see her excel as a science teacher and receive that award with her.
Over the years I have been a speaker at places like Michigan Technological University, Northern Michigan University, University of Michigan, the National Science Teachers Association, the Michigan Science Teachers Association and National Rocket Events like NARCON (National Association of Rocketry’s National Convention). Speaking at NARCON and letting the National Association of Rocketry know what we are doing at Kingsford resulted the awarding of in the National Association of Rocketry’s Robert L Canon Award which recognizes educational excellence in rocketry. A group of students and myself also had the opportunity to speak to MTU's Board of Control on what we were doing in rocketry. We presented to some of the top engineers in the world as well as to the heads of every department at MTU. I also served as an advisor to MTU on how to set up Enterprise Teams in high schools. This developed connections to enable our students interested in engineering to tour MTU the last two years to see these teams in action, to tour the University as well and offer to Kingsford students to be in the mission control center when students at MTU control a satellite they are building and will be flying soon for the Air Force.
Twice the Michigan Space Grant Consortium awarded grants to our rocketry program that helped to fund it. These grants are seldom awarded to high schools. In the one year we were in the Team America Rocketry Challenge, Kingsford’s Team was a finalist and traveled to Washington DC where we finished in the top 1/3 and were the highest scoring program from Michigan. I have also worked for the Wisconsin Space Grant Consortium as a safety officer for a national college rocket launch at the Richard Bong Recreational Area near Kenosha, Wisconsin. I have also served as a judge and help to launch the rockets for the Rockets for Schools Program which brings high power rocketry to students in four states. A high power rocket club was formed, Tripoli Upper Michigan. Tripoli Upper Michigan was formed to support the rocket launches of Kingsford High School at the former Groveland Mine. This year I will also be teaching summer youth program classes for Michigan Technological University’s Summer Youth Program on rocketry.
Twice I was awarded Michigan Education Association Showing Casing Public Education Award Winner for the U + H2O program and for the Kingsford High Power Rocketry Program. Kingsford programs were also featured many times is the MEA Voice that goes out to 150,000 homes in Michigan. Because of my experience with Kingsford students and rocketry I was published in an encyclopedia of chemistry and authored two different articles in a national magazine. The Dickinson Conservation District Conservation Educator Award was also awarded to me for the work in helping to develop the U + H2O program
On two different shows on the Science Channel, LDRS and The Best of LDRS, a Kingsford rocket project that was built with the help of Kingsford High School students, was featured on the Science Channel. It was an experience of a life time for a science teacher to have a project that Kingsford students help to make be featured on the Science Channel. Finishing second to a group of the best rocket builders in the country was a real tribute to our students and rocket program. During the taping of the show Kari Byron of the Myth Busters gave me an A as a science teacher. With the grade of an A from Kari, she busted the Myth that Breitung Township teachers cannot be highly effective when they are evaluated. It was also nice as a science teacher to be featured on Kari Byron’s Twitter page.
So many positive things have happened over the course of my career as I have been fortunate to work with great students every year, a very supportive group of educators and people from our community. I want to extend my thanks to all the people that helped to make my career at Kingsford so very successful and enjoyable. Enclosed with my letter is a rocket pin as a small thank you for the great experiences I had as a teacher at Kingsford High School.
If the school district would like to continue with the Rockets for School's Program I would be happy to do that provided there is a room to do it in and a way to help with funding. A new Launch site also has to be found as the Groveland Mine tailing ponds will be processed to remove the iron form it in the near future will. Money left in the program will allow for a launch this spring and one in the fall once my salary from this school year is added into the fund. Money for the program will be gone after that. I am willing to continue with the donation of my salary to continue with the program but there is not enough money in the three percent of the base salary to continue with the program without help of the school district. I know the job would have to be posted. If someone else from the school district would like to advise it I would be happy to consult to them and to help the individual to get the rocketry certification levels needed to run this program or to provide other options to keep the program going.
Sincerely,
William Bertoldi
cc: Craig Allen, Robert Usitalo, Charlie Novara, Bob Hendrickson, Joanne To, Doug McDowell, Bill Rice, Kate Thomas, David Kashian