Our stars are shining:

Alejandra Dykgraaf, a 2009 graduate of Zeeland East High School, teamed up with an Allendale student to win first place in the web design competition of the Business Professionals of America National Leadership Conference held in Dallas, Texas, June 17 through 21. More than 4,500 students and teachers came from across the U.S. to participate in the competition. Dykgraaf and Lindsey Vroma of Allendale took top honors for their web site, “Top 10 Things to Do in Dallas.” The site was  judged on teamwork, leadership, and demonstrated knowledge of web site content, graphics, layout and internet browser capabilities. The winners were students this year in the Careerline Tech Center’s (CTC) web technologies program.
.

Two other Zeeland students placed well at the national competition. Loui Vongphrachanh, a 2009 graduate of Zeeland West, placed fifth in graphic design while Cory Carson, a 2009 graduate of Zeeland East, garnered a sixth place spot in presentation management.

The Dallas event was scheduled for May but was postponed until June because of safety concerns regarding the H1N1 (swine flu) virus. We congratulate Alejandra, Loui and Cory for a job well done!

A record seven Zeeland high school students are attending the 69th annual Girls State this week on the campus of Michigan State University in East Lansing. The girls join approximately 400 of the best and brightest students from around the state for hands on training in city, county, and state government.  Earlier this spring, the Gilbert D. Karsten Post (No. 33) of the American Legion Auxiliary named three Zeeland delegates as well as three alternates who could fill in if there was a cancellation.  Then,  the calls started coming in, according to Auxiliary member Mary Kraai. 

“Sponsoring organizations around Michigan began calling here because they had positions that were not being filled,” Kraai said.  So, what began as a local slate of 3 delegates plus 3 alternates became a guaranteed visit to Girls’ State for seven Zeeland students, a record number.   Kraai said the Zeeland auxiliary’s reputation for providing excellent participants year after year accounted for the calls from throughout Michigan.

The Zeeland students attending, are: Jessica Bolhuis (ZWHS), Jackie Dumbleton (ZEHS), Callie Kalinowski (ZWHS), Juliana Nickerson (ZWHS), Erin Pavacik (ZEHS), Carolina Rayzel (ZEHS), and Sarah Taylor (ZEHS).  All will be seniors this coming school year. 

The Michigan Girls’ State program was founded by the American Legion Auxiliary, the world’s largest women’s patriotic organization since 1920.

Zeeland student Jake Roorda's safety poster, drawn from a deer's perspective, captured honors at the state and national levels of the annual AAA National School Traffic Safety poster contest.   Tami Dykhouse, his art teacher at Creekside Middle School, said Roorda is the only middle school student in Michigan to capture both honors.  The poster earned an honorable mention at the state level and an award of merit at the national level. His work was applauded by Zeeland Board of Education members June 15. They presented him with a certificate of recognition at the start of their regular business meeting.

Roorda's poster features a deer in the road and is entitled, "To keep me alive let the driver drive!" The youngster will be a ninth grader this fall at Zeeland West High School. He is the son of Abe and Kristen Roorda of Zeeland.