ADOPTED - JUNE 24, 2003

Agenda Item No. 5

Introduced by the:

INGHAM COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS

RESOLUTION HONORING TEAM EXPLORE AT KINAWA MIDDLE SCHOOL

RESOLUTION #03-166

WHEREAS, Team Explore, is a group of 55 6^th grade students from Kinawa Middle School in Okemos and two teachers Mrs. Kissling and Mrs. Sullivan; and

WHEREAS; Team Explore has been participating in a Toyota TIME Grant called "Mathematics for Our Past", a two year project that Mrs. Kissling designed, monitored by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics; and

WHEREAS, in 1843, Ingham County was required by state law to establish a tax and a Board of Superintendents to oversee the care of poor and homeless people throughout the County, this resulted in the establishment in1844 of the County's first Poor House which was located in Alaiedon Township, after a fire and the loss of 6 lives, a new building was constructed on the site; and

WHEREAS, in 1880 the County traded land for property on what is now known as Dobie Road, near the Ingham Medical Care Facility and Carriage Lane Apartments, to relocate the Poor Farm to house those who had poor health, disease, mental illness or other problems and no other means of support; and

WHEREAS, Team Explore has been working on a project called "Explore the Past" by exploring the Ingham County Home Cemetery which was part of the Ingham County Poor Farm used to bury the remains of the residents whose bodies were not claimed by family; and

WHEREAS, through this project, the Ingham County Home Cemetery has been integrated into their 6^th grade curriculum by collecting data from the tombstones for a statistics unit in math, writing letters to local politicians and other interested parties for language arts, mapping the cemetery for a topography unit in science, measuring the cemetery for a perimeter and area unit in math and exploring the history of the cemetery and the Poor Farm; and

WHEREAS, Team Explore has been eager to make improvements to the cemetery such has raking, planting flowers, adding a bench and have raised funds for a much needed Ingham County Historical Marker to make the public aware of an important aspect of Ingham County's history.

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the Ingham County Board of Commissioners hereby honor and commend the students of Team Explore, Mrs. Kissling and Mrs. Sullivan for the hard work, dedication and devotion they have displayed while working on the "Explore the Past" project and unlocking the history behind the Ingham County Poor Farm and Ingham County Home Cemetery.

SS| Celentino, Dedden, De Leon, Grebner, Hertel, Holman, Lynch, Minter, Nevin, Schafer, Severino, Schor, Stid, Swope, Thomas, Weatherwax-Grant