MARCH ON! Issue 858 Thursday, March 13, 2014 MONARCH MAPS, PAGE 3. OLYMPIC LESSONS, Pages 4-6. Supported by readers of the Detroit Free Press and The Detroit News
2 Thursday, March 13, 2014 MICHIGAN K.I.D.S. WWW.DNIE.COM Yakking about the news A weekly wrap-up for young readers Yak chat The Yak will be wearing green this weekend when he ll be celebrating St. Patrick s Day a bit early. March 17, Monday, is the official day. In Detroit, we celebrate with the 56th annual parade, which kicks off at noon Sunday. The parade route begins on Michigan Avenue, running through Corktown. Do you know why the neighborhood is called that name? Many of the first residents came from County Cork, Ireland! A sign of the changing season used to be the monarch migration. We continue with mapping out what s happened to the migration pattern on Page 3. We re also celebrating some athletes today who competed at the Winter Games, and now are setting their next big goals. Their stories are on Pages 4-6. Also Inside: Contest winners, Page 7. My Kid Scoop, Page 8. On the cover: Riley Upper Elementary School students in Livonia welcome the Yak for a reading rally. Photo by Cathy Collison Printed by: The Detroit Media Partnership Sterling Heights, Michigan, Winter 2014. Snowy Owl Surge The Yak checked out Audubon magazine at the library, struck by the cover of a beautiful snowy owl. It could be an owl right out of Hogwarts, ready for a special delivery to Harry Potter. The Eastern United States is having a huge surge in the snowy owl population reports the magazine. It s called an irruption the name for the unpredictable invasion, said the magazine. The magazine shared that an abundance of lemmings, food for snowy owls, likely mean more of the owls would be in North America. You can find more out at www.projectsowstorm. org, the website involved in tracking the awesome owls. And read more at www.audubonmagazine.org Eagle Eyes In more bird news, you may remember when the Yak visited the DTE Energy Power Plant near Monroe to watch bald eagles in the Lake Erie habitat. This winter, there are more bald eagles wintering than ever before, said wildlife biologist Matthew Shackelford to CBS news and other media. There may be anywhere from 180 to 200 of the eagles, compared with the Yak s visit in 2012 when there were 33 in the Yak s count. Discharge from the plant creates warm waters with fish for the eagles to eat. Stay tuned later this spring for a fresh report on the amazing eagles. Wild Weather At Yak s Corner press time, huge rains were pelting California, which suffered a drought this winter. While California battled mudslides, Michigan and the Midwest was feeling the last punches from winter storm Titan. It made for more records for winter, Photo Courtesy of the Governor s Office It was a cold winter day, but Michigan s Lieutenant Gov. Brian Calley takes a polar plunge in support of the Special Olympics of Michigan. and already a colder than normal March and April are forecast. Some of the records reported in the Detroit Free Press and the National Weather Service: January was the snowiest ever in the Detroit area with 39.1 inches. 79.2 inches of snow this winter has fallen at Detroit Metro Airport. (This makes this season the second snowiest. The recordsetter, so far, is 1880-81 with 93.6 inches of snow.) The average temperature this winter was 21 degrees, a tie for eighth coldest. The coldest winter in the records is 1903-04, with an average temperature of 18.8 degrees. You can explore weather news and records for the central region of our country at www.crh. noaa.gov/crh/. Compiled by Cathy Collison
MICHIGAN K.I.D.S. WWW.DNIE.COM Thursday, March 13, 2014 3 Where the Monarchs Are We hope you read last week s story about the Monarch butterfly. (If not, you can still find it at www.yakscorner.com in the Yak s Corner archives.) In the last 20 years, the number of Monarchs that make it to Mexico each fall has shrunk from a billion to only about 33 million. That s 967,000,000 fewer Monarchs for this spring s northward journey back to the butterfly s summer home in the United States and Canada. And that got us thinking: Where else in the world are there Monarchs? We had no idea and the answer turned out to be fascinating. There are Monarchs on other continents, all right. But they are all invaders whose ancestors came from North America in the 19th Century. The United States, Canada and Mexico were the species first home. There are two hypothesis, or possible explanations, on how the tiny fliers crossed the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. The first was proposed in 1993 by Richard Vane-Wright, an entomologist, or insect biologist, at the Natural History Museum in London, in Britain. He calls it the Columbus hypothesis because in it, he traces the Monarch s spectacular annual (North American) migration cycles to the European colonists and the havoc or damage they did to the environment. Forests were cut to make way for crops and pastures, allowing Photo by Marty Westman milkweed the Monarch s favorite food to spread like dandelions. The increased food supply caused the Monarch population to explode and scatter in all directions. The species over-spilled from North America in a single, sweeping colonization of other continents and island nations, according to Vane-Wright. In North America, the Monarchs began their north-south journey from Canada to Mexico. Myron Zalucki, an insect ecologist at the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia, accepts parts of Vane-Wright s thinking. In an email to the Yak, Myron agreed that the Monarch population went up as a result of land clearing, probably within the last 200 years. But I do not see a single sweep (of Monarchs across the oceans), he said. In 2003 he and another Australian scientist proposed a series of invasions, by a mixture of flight, use of winds, Map Courtesy of M.P. Zalucki and A.R. Clarke hitchhiking a ride on a ship and through infested ornamental plants imported from North America. Myron also disputed Vane-Wright s belief that the North American migration to and from Mexico is only about 200 years old. I suspect they were already going to Mexico, but maybe not, he said. Perhaps there were other sites? It s hard to test this one. The Monarch belongs to Danaines, a subfamily of butterflies whose members all migrate and roost as adults, Myron said. In other words, migrating and roosting together in trees is a shared trait and so has to be evolutionary. It developed over evolutionary time, or thousands of years. By Patricia Chargot
4 Thursday, March 13, 2014 MICHIGAN K.I.D.S. WWW.DNIE.COM Skate Like An Olympian Were you inspired to try a new sport after watching the Sochi Winter Games? This week, we re sharing where you can go to follow in the famous skates of Michigan athletes, whether you have a dream of standing on an Olympic podium or just want to have fun. Metro Detroit is an international magnet for figure skaters. Some of the best and brightest stars in the sport are from Michigan or training here. Three leading facilities include: Arctic Edge of Canton, the Detroit Skating Club in Bloomfield Hills and the Novi Ice Arena. But just because they are the home ice of top athletes, doesn t mean they re only a place for pros. The three rinks offer programs year round for all skaters, whether hockey or figure skating. We talked with Arctic Edge General Manager Craig O Neill who says, There is an increase (in skaters) at the public open skate times. I think people watch the Olympics and want to get out and participate, says Craig. He also reports that interest in the learn-to-skate and hockey programs jump by about 10 to 15 percent after the Olympics because kids see the sports on TV and want to give them a try. Arctic Edge is home to Olympic Ice Dancing Gold Medalists Meryl Davis and Charlie White. The brother and sister team, Alex and Maia Shibutani, also train there, and so do Canadian ice dancers Scott Moir and Tessa Virtue, who won the silver medal in Sochi and the gold medal in 2010. There are plenty of opportunities for celebrity sightings at the arena says Craig: The dancers are in the building for four to six hours a day, and the other skaters do get to watch them if they care to, and it s great motivation for the kids. Skaters can progress from beginning freestyle figure Olympic speedskater Kelly Gunther, who graduated from Chippewa Valley High School, was an inline skater at The Great Skate before switching to speedskating on ice. AP Photos U.S. ice dancing gold medalist Meryl Davis of West Bloomfield, and Charlie White of Bloomfield Hills, train at Arctic Edge in Canton. skating to more competitive skating. They also offer beginning hockey programs all the way up to competitive teams. Craig says there are about 100 young figure skaters and 300 youth hockey players involved in programs at Arctic Edge. Arctic Edge attracts skaters from all over, says Craig, especially many European skaters. Why is Detroit such a hot place for skaters? It starts with the coaches, says Craig. Your top talent
MICHIGAN K.I.D.S. WWW.DNIE.COM Thursday, March 13, 2014 5 goes where the top coaches are, and that s what we have here and in this area. Speedskaters also have a metro Detroit Olympic connection. Several champion level skaters, including Olympians Jessica Smith and Kelly Gunther, began off the ice at The Great Skate in Roseville as part of the Wolverines Inline Speed Skating Team. Wolverines Coach Jay Ingram, who was a competitive skater before he began coaching, says many Olympic speedskaters get their start with inline skating before crossing over to ice. Coach Jay says the sport is for anybody, adding, You re really never going to know until you get the skates on. Of course, if you already like to roller skate, that s a good indication that you might like inline skating, too. That s how I started, and that s how Jessica started and that s how Kelly started, says Coach Jay who, in addition to coaching in Michigan, works with athletes and coaches from around the world. Coach Jay says he isn t surprised that two of his former skaters made the Olympic team. He s known Jessica her whole life and Kelly since she moved to Michigan and came to skate when she was 11. They are both go-getters and believe in themselves. (Come back for a chat with Jessica later this month.) Coach Jay says he always sees an increase in interest in the sport with every Winter Olympics. To give students a chance to try out the sport, The Great Skate offers a free learn-to-speed skate lesson from noon to 1 p.m. every Sunday for first time skaters, or kids can also drop by a Wolverines practice for a first time chance to try the sport. By Janis Campbell Here are the websites of our Olympians rinks. (You can also check other ice arenas and roller rinks near your home for lessons, teams and open skate times.) Arctic Edge: www.arcticarenas.com The Detroit Skating Club: www.dscclub.com Novi Ice Arena: www.noviicearena.com The Great Skate: www.greatskateonline.com Wolverines Inline Speed Skating Team: www.wolverinesspeedteam.com Catching Up With Kelly Today we re checking back with speedskater Kelly Gunther who competed in Sochi and is already thinking about the next Winter Games. We caught up with Kelly by phone from Germany where she was getting ready to skate in the last World Cup event of her season. Photo Courtesy of Jay Ingram Coach Jay Ingram leads the Wolverines Inline Speedskating team. We shared Kelly s Olympic story with you last month. Although Kelly didn t bring home a medal, she is super proud to call herself an Olympian. Of her Sochi experience, she says, It was so cool. It was something I ve always wanted to experience. Kelly says it really hit her that she had made it to the Games when she began walking through the tunnel with all of the other American athletes during the Opening Ceremony, and hearing Team USA chats all around her. It was such an exhilarating moment that Kelly says, I think I decided deep down, I want to go for another four (years). I want to live this again. Kelly has Olympic fever. It s hard to put into words, she says of being at this global competition. She also loved meeting USA athletes, including Michigan s ice dancers Meryl Davis and Charlie White at breakfast one morning. She saw USA women s and men s hockey games, and of course, short track and long track speedskating. Kelly says her main souvenir from Sochi is her memories and the sporty Olympic clothes athletes got. She says every time she wears something it will be a great reminder of her future goal, which is to work and train even harder and go for gold in 2018. Kelly s years of skating, especially inline and later on ice, have taken her to many countries, including Holland, France, Italy, Germany, Switzerland, Russia and South Korea. She feels like the next Winter Games location in Pyeongchang might be lucky for her. She loves Korea and says she ll feel at home skating there. They even have her favorite American restaurant, Outback Steakhouse. What s next? Kelly, who has been living and training in Utah, plans to take a little breather from skating when she returns from Germany. She will spend some time in Michigan, where she spent a chunk of her growing up years, and Ohio, where she was born and her mom now lives. She says she needs to make a game plan for the next four years. I need to figure out what s going to get me to that gold medal. But definitely, I ll be back. By Janis Campbell Kelly s Advice: Kelly remembers watching the Olympics when she was little and really wanting to be on that world stage. She thinks it s never too early to be thinking about who you want to be and what you want to do. Find that early dream and keep working for it every day. It s not going to be easy, and it s definitely not going to be handed to you on a silver platter. Kelly says once you find that spark, or thing that you love, work hard, have fun and keep going for it.
6 Thursday, March 13, 2014 MICHIGAN K.I.D.S. WWW.DNIE.COM On Every Track for Success Lauryn Williams is a rare gifted athlete who is just the fifth person now who has won medals in both the Summer and Winter Games. She s a gold and silver medal winner from multiple Summer Games, and after the Winter Games in Sochi, a silver medal winner in the women s bobsled with teammate Elana Meyers. We had a chance to catch up with the super sprinter in a chat from California, fresh off the bobsled run in Sochi to find out what s next for her. Besides the thrill of winning a silver, Lauryn said she liked seeing all the different sports of the Winter Games. There are a lot of younger athletes with all the extreme sports, she said. They are fearless. But wasn t doing the bobsled pretty fearless too? You have to have faith, start fast and remember to jump in, said Lauryn with a laugh. With such success, would she try for another Winter Games in Korea? Or train for the Summer Games for Rio? Not for Lauryn, who is back on the career track, aiming to study up and get her Certified Financial Planning (CFP) certificate later this year. A University of Miami graduate with a bachelor s degree in finance and a master s degree in business from the University of Phoenix, Lauryn hopes to be a CFP to other Olympic athletes. Working on brain and body power is not unusual for Lauryn. As we mentioned earlier, her motto hard work knows no limit applies in every part of life. Her parents motivated her to do the best and be the best. As did her teachers. She still remembers the coach of the Detroit track club, the Cheetahs, (and Renaissance High) Harry Weaver and how helpful and motivating he was. In school, Lauryn said she always liked math, and English was not my strongpoint. Her parents motivated her too. I was willing to come early and stay late, said Lauryn. Investing in yourself both in education and in fitness is important. Said Lauryn, Grades are important with exercise we can be fit, get our brain going (it s) a good balance. When we talked to Lauryn, she was just finishing off Photo by Paul Hameline Lauryn Williams is one of the few athletes to win medals in the Summer Games, and now the Winter Games, as a bobsledder. some social media postings for Let s Move week, the fitness and health program initiated by First Lady Michelle Obama. Even following a fitness path to the Olympics someday is just as simple as getting up and moving, said Lauryn. You don t have a bobsled in your backyard, said Lauryn. But you can be active everyday, taking care of your body and your health. While people assume every athlete has a gym, you don t always need facilities. Instead, she notes, Focus on what you have being outside even the sidewalk. Use your imagination, said Lauryn, pointing out that a fitness exercise can be hopping up and down on one foot, or just touching your toes. Lauryn s focus in the coming weeks will be on family and friends, heading home to Texas for a bit. She took time to share a final message especially for the youth in her old hometown of Detroit after our long winter: See the possibilities, not the obstacles. As the weather changes, get outside and get moving. Whether it s school or sports, her motivating words could be another motto for everyone: All you need is yourself. You can follow Lauryn at www.lauryn-williams.com. By Cathy Collison Photo Courtesy of Diplomatic Enterprises Lauryn Williams won a silver medal in bobsled in Sochi. Her website notes: An African proverb reads, It takes a village to raise a child, and I ve been blessed to be supported by several villages, Detroit, MI; Rochester/ Beaver County, PA; Miami, FL; villages that have raised me into the person I am today.
MICHIGAN K.I.D.S. WWW.DNIE.COM Thursday, March 13, 2014 7 Yak s Corner Favorite Book Character Contest 2nd place Winners Sixth grader Marci Baumann of Holland drew Daphne Grimm from The Sisters Grimm by Michael Buckley. Third grader Raylynn Quasarano of Utica drew Saige from Saige by Jessie Haas. First grader Elaina Bliss of New Baltimore drew Hedgehog from The Hat by Jan Brett. Kindergartener Luke Tibbe of Grand Rapids drew George and Martha from George and Martha by James Marshall. Fourth grader Keira Runyan of Troy drew Ruth Rose from A to Z Mysteries by Ron Roy. Second grader Hayley Weiss of West Bloomfield drew Geronimo Stilton from Geronimo Stilton. Fifth grader Mya Massey of Petoskey drew Melody Brook from Out of My Mind by Sharon M. Draper.
8 Thursday, March 13, 2014 MICHIGAN K.I.D.S. WWW.DNIE.COM This page for young Yakkers is brought to you this week by readers of The Detroit News and Detroit Free Press who donated their vacation newspapers.