Top 10 Milford Events During 2017!

With 2017 coming to a close, December is often a time for celebrating and reflecting on the past year. Let’s take a look at all the best things in the MHS Community that occurred in 2017.

1.Lakes Valley Conference 

Milford had previously been in the Kensington Lakes Activities Association [KLAA]  West Division until they decided to make the change, and join a new conference, Lakes Valley Conference [LVC].

This switch helped Milford drastically in 2017. It was the first year being a part of LVC for all sports, not just for football. “Games were able to go down to the last second giving us a better chance to win,” Athletic Director Jim Marszalek described.

“We didn’t switch so we could win a bunch of championships because it didn’t matter what the score was. At least every game we had a better chance.”

Milford was not the only school to make the switch; Lakeland, Waterford Schools, South Lyon Schools and Walled Lake Schools left KLAA to join LVC as well. All schools agreed on the topic of being at a disadvantage competitively due to the fact they were playing schools with a larger student body population.

2.Charity Week 

Milford High School held its first ever Charity Week this year where all funds raised were donated to a charity of Milford’s choosing. This year Milford decided to donate all proceeds to Beaumont Student Heart Check Foundation which Milford picked in honor of Cole Painter, a sophomore, who passed away in November 2016 from heart complications. This foundation provides free heart screenings to high school students as well as teach them how to perform CPR and use AED’s.

For an entire week in March, there were different events held that students could purchase tickets to attend. Teachers and students everywhere were eager to contribute to a terrific cause, including English teacher Rob Hamilton, “I loved how students and the entire community rallied around a tragedy to positively impact others.”

Throughout the week Milford was able to raise $24,404 which was presented to the foundation as a check at the assembly featuring Mike Smith, a motivational speaker and founder of “The Harbor.”

“In the 12 years I’ve been teaching here it was the most unique example of our community’s generosity I’ve ever seen,” Hamilton expressed.

3.Final Football Game against Kettering

Although Milford’s Varsity football season started off rocky, the team slowly improved which made the last game important to everyone.

On Oct. 20, the entire student section was in full force, dressed all-out in black to show support for the boys. After an intense game, the scoreboard was 27-14.

“I loved running back to the sideline to see the whole student section there, and celebrating with them,” reminisced senior and wide receiver, Brian Gorny.

Key players during this game were Senior Brian Gorny and Aiden Warzecha each with a touchdown, Junior Christian Koschke with two touchdowns, Senior Nathan Bresnay who completed the extra kicks and Junior Mike Smith who blocked the opposing team’s touchdown.

The entire Milford community could not have been happier to end this year’s Friday night lights on a positive note.

4.Special Olympics

Every year Milford High participates in the annual Special Olympics Basketball game – a friendly, competitive environment for students with disabilities. On January 28, Milford was lucky enough to host the 2017 Olympics.

This gave many students at Milford an opportunity to volunteer, many being Leadership students. “It was nice seeing other students volunteering and having fun doing so,” recalled senior Courtney Fortin. 20 Milford athletes participated and more than 50 teams were there overall. It was an exciting event for many Special Olympians and their teachers.

“I loved seeing how much the student body came out and supported [them],” vocalized para educator Tommy Hipple. “It was the best to see that.”

5.Milford Miracles

Milford Miracles is a charity program that Milford High is involved in to help families in need and make their holiday season a little bit brighter. At the end of the five-week fundraiser, Leadership students use the money towards Christmas presents and personally deliver them to their houses.

Every year Milford students go above and beyond to fundraise towards this cause. Teachers typically give their classes an incentive, whether it be a pancake breakfast or a movie day. This year, math teacher Matthew Gabbert took the pancake breakfast route and ended up being one of the top money-raising classes at Milford.

What inspired Gabbert to make such an effort at fundraising money stemmed from the idea of giving families who are not as fortunate to have a Christmas, the opportunity to have a great one. “It’s really about a community coming together,” he emphasized.

6.Communications Camp 

Every year Milford teachers nominate students to attend Communications Camp, and every year it brings something new to the table. Students describe it as a place where they are able to open up about their life experiences and create ever-lasting bonds with people they may or may not have known going to this trip.

Junior, Liam Kocur was able to attend this year. “I liked meeting all the new people, and getting to be close friends with people I didn’t know before. Plus it was nice to get away from all of the drama and technology,” reminisced Kocur. “It was overall just a good experience.”

Any student who is given the opportunity to attend should definitely go, and any student who has attended in the past can vouch for this.

7.New Sign 

A goal that many students have at Milford is to improve the look of the boulevard; however, it is difficult to achieve a task like that alone. That’s when Leadership took things into their own hands. Senior Aiden Warzecha, who played a major role in this project, recalled “The sign was a major eye sore to the community and many knew that, so being able to fix that problem was a great feeling.”

They were able to design the sign and come up with a cost. The money towards the sign came from donations through a Go Fund Me account and fundraisers. Once again, the Milford Community came together to achieve a goal.

With the sign now at the front of the boulevard, “It’s something the students will always be able to look back on, it’s amazing,” voiced Assistant Principal Seth Taboh, “They wanted it, so they did it.”

8.Powderbuff

Milford has hosted the Women’s Powderpuff football game in past years where all profits go towards prom; however, this year Leadership students decided to begin a Men’s Powderbuff volleyball game where all proceeds go towards Milford Miracles. This game was highly successful as for the first year, they raised approximately $1,500!

Teams were created from all different grades consisting of six players each. In addition to the fun, all teams were reffed by Milford Varsity Volleyball players.

Senior Maddie Appleton was able to coach an all-senior team, Huffle-Buff, and it was something she had never experienced before. “Seeing the guys play was my favorite part because some of them were actually pretty good, which surprised me,” explained Appleton.

Milford students hope that Powderbuff will continue for years and will turn into an annual tradition.

9.POPS 

POPS is a performance put on by the Varsity choirs that consists of singing, dancing, costumes, and fun. It takes months of preparation; however, once it is time to perform, it all pays off.

“The Bright Side of Life” was the 2017 POPS performance which took place on March 24th and 25th. It featured large scale, upbeat song and dance numbers from eight Broadway performances.

“We loved the music, we loved everything about it,” enthused Junior Mackenzie Ulrey. “It wasn’t just a performance. It taught us all how to manage time and allowed us to become a family.”

According to Maryann Lambrecht, POPS Director, “It was a good stress, it brought a closeness and a sparkle.”

10.Proving Grounds

What makes the Village of Milford so special is the abundance of local businesses. As of June, Milford can officially add one more to that list — a local coffee and ice cream shop. The owners of Proving Grounds work hard every day to bring the community together in various ways.

“We have a kids area, so each Saturday we have ‘story time.” We also host open mic nights, a book club, and not to mention it’s a great place for studying and getting some work done,” expressed Senior Rachel Thompson, who has worked there since it opened. “There’s a lot to love about it.”

From allowing local artists and painters a place to showcase their work, giving students a new place to study, and creating an environment where all age groups feel comfortable, the Proving Grounds has already made their mark in Milford despite opening only a short seven months ago.