Calumet High School receives Governor's Cup for Class of 2000 Merit Awards CALUMET ’Äì Calumet High School (CHS) received the Governor’Äôs Cup for the 83 members of the Class of 2000 who qualify for the $2,500 Michigan Merit Award scholarship for post-secondary education, based on their high scores on the Michigan Educational Assessment Program (MEAP) tests in math, science, reading and writing. The Governor's Cup is presented to the high school in each of the four athletic classes that had the most Michigan Merit Award winners. CHS had the highest number of Merit Award recipients of all the Class C schools in the State of Michigan. During a Dec. 7 ceremony in the Michigan Room of the Romney Building in Lansing, Calumet High School Principal Donald Poshak, right, receives from Governor Engler the Governor’Äôs Cup trophy for the 83 members of the CHS Class of 2000 who qualify for $2,500 Michigan Merit Award scholarships for post-secondary education. CHS had the highest number of Merit Award scholarships of all the Class C schools in the State of Michigan, making it one of four state champions to receive the trophy. The awards are based on Michigan Educational Assessment Program (MEAP) scores in math, science, reading and writing. (Photo courtesy Calumet High School) Calumet High School Principal Donald Poshak accepted the Governor’Äôs Cup from Governor Engler in a special program on Dec. 7, 2000, in the Romney Building in Lansing. In accepting the award, Poshak said, "It is my pleasure to accept this award, the Governor's Cup, on behalf of our community. This is really exciting to me. I have been in education for 29 years; and this is definitely the highlight of it, so thank you very much." Engler said it's important to ask schools to be accountable, but also to recognize schools when they achieve results. "The Governor's Cup is my way of acknowledging and thanking those students, teachers and administrators who have worked hard to improve the quality of Michigan schools," Engler said. "This award is a way to recognize Michigan's hardworking educators at our highest achieving and most improved secondary schools." At the Calumet-Laurium-Keweenaw District School Board meeting Tuesday Poshak showed a video of the Governor’Äôs presentation of the trophy in Lansing. The presentation ceremony honored the four top schools in the state ’Äì one in each athletic class. In addition to Calumet with 83 Merit Award recipients, the other top schools honored were: Class A ’ÄìAnn Arbor Pioneer High School (289 recipients); Class B ’Äì Mattawan High School (152); and Class D ’Äì Western Michigan Christian High School (41). "I’Äôm very proud of (the award)," Poshak said. "I think it says a lot for our staff, our students and our community ’Äì and the commitment from the Board of Education toward academic excellence. I have been around a number of years to see a lot of athletic awards presented to Calumet High School, as well as state championships in various sports; but this is the ultimate positive academic experience. "This is the Stanley Cup of champions. It’Äôs the most gratifying thing I’Äôve ever experienced in education," Poshak added. "This community should be proud of their investment. I think this is just one of the benefits. It clearly is a visible, positive outcome." CLK Superintendent Raymond Tiberg noted the Governor's Cup, although an overwhelmingly pleasant surprise, represents not only a high school success but a total district success story. He said educating today's students begin in kindergarten and culminates with graduating seniors. "This honor represents a combination of hardworking students, supportive parents and committed teachers all working toward academic success," Tiberg said. As a CHS teacher of English and literature, Barbara Simila said she would echo Poshak’Äôs and Tiberg’Äôs statements of pride in the academic accomplishment of a school district whose "staff members are at the cutting edge in technology and curriculum development." Simila also speaks as a graduate of Calumet High School and lifelong member of the community. She grew up in Keweenaw County and now lives in Copper City. "On a personal level, I can speak as a second generation CHS graduate," Simila said. "When my grandparents and other immigrants arrived in the Copper Country, they wanted the best of the American dream for their children, including a sound education.  The Calumet-Laurium-Keweenaw schools provided that for them and for my generation and for my children. I'm proud to be a member of the larger CLK community, and I'm especially proud to be a member of the CLK academic community. The staff and students at Calumet High School are an inspiration to me. We're all part of the CLK team at all grade levels, working to provide this legacy of excellence to the students in our district."  Photo courtesy Calumet High School. The Governor's Cup was established in 2000 as a non-monetary award to recognize (a) the high school in each athletic conference with the highest number of Michigan Merit Award recipients, and (b) the high school in each athletic class size with the highest number of Michigan Merit Award recipients (i.e., "State Champions" in Classes A, B, C and D). Calumet High School had the highest number of recipients in both of these categories. CHS had more Merit Award recipients than any other school in the West-Pac Conference, which includes several local schools. Houghton High School was second in the conference with 68 recipients and Hancock Central High School third with 53. Photo courtesy Calumet High School. As a Class C school, Calumet is in a category with enrollments of 255 to 498 students. Last year, CHS enrollment was 470, while this year it has increased to 494. The 83 scholarship winners represent about 81 percent of the 102 seniors who took the MEAP tests in 1999. State Treasurer Mark Murray, who works with Governor Engler on the Merit Award program, said that in order to qualify for the $2,500 Merit Scholarship, a student must score in Level 1 (Exceeded Michigan Standards) or Level 2 (Met Michigan Standards) on the MEAP tests in mathematics, reading, science and writing and meet all other eligibility requirements. For a student who takes all four tests, meets or exceeds state standards on at least two, and meets all other eligibility requirements, there are two alternate ways to qualify: Alternate A: The student also scores in the 75th percentile or above on the ACT or SAT. Alternate B: The student also achieves qualifying scores on the ACT Work Keys job skills assessment test as determined by the Michigan Merit Award Board. "This year almost 43,000 students in the Class of 2000 won the merit award," Murray said. It is an enormous commitment to award the success of the students in this state with $106 million dollars toward post-secondary education." Murray noted students throughout the state have selected over 800 different post-secondary educational institutions, including colleges and universities, but also vocational schools, technical schools, apprenticeship programs and many other post-secondary education opportunities. "We spend so much time recognizing student athletic accomplishments, deservedly so," Murray said, "but isn't it only right and proper to recognize academic achievement as well with a trophy?" In addition to the four state champions, who received trophies, the Governor also named 75 schools as winners of the Governor's Cup based on the highest number of Michigan Merit Award recipients within their athletic conference. The Class of 2000 throughout Michigan is the first to benefit from the Merit Award program, provided for by Public Act 94 of 1999 (the Michigan Merit Award Scholarship Act), which says the Michigan merit award trust fund, established in the department of treasury, shall consist only of interest and earnings from trust fund investments, donations of money made to the trust fund from any source and the following percentages of tobacco settlement revenue: (a) 30 percent of the tobacco settlement revenue received in fiscal year 1999-2000; (b) 50 percent of tobacco settlement revenue received in fiscal year 2000-2001; (c) 75 percent of tobacco settlement revenue received in fiscal year 2001-2002 and in subsequent fiscal years. Click here for more information about the Merit Awards. -Michele Anderson December 13, 2000 Editor’Äôs note: Keweenaw Today wishes to thank Calumet High School for the use of photos from the CLK Web site.