Support the Girls

Groves High School Amnesty, Animal Rights Club and Women’s Empowerment Club are teaming up to help I Support the Girls Detroit. This nonprofit organization collects and distributes menstrual products, as well as new and gently used bras to women in need. They are holding a drive to collect these products until Friday, January 11. There will be collection boxes in the Groves office and in the Commons.

Learn Something New

Whether you’re five or eighty-five, Birmingham Continuing Education has something for you. Do you have a child who would like to try out an after-school cooking class or the Pistons Academy? Or would you like to learn a language or a new hobby, like DSLR photography and photoshop or brush up your computer skills? With classes for all ages and interests, come out and learn something new this year. Classes are starting, so sign up now.

BU Hockey Middle School Skate

The Birmingham Unified High School Hockey program is opening one of their JV practices to current 6th, 7th, and 8th graders who will attend Groves, Seaholm, or IA (Birmingham District) in the future. Come out to the Birmingham Ice Arena on Friday, January 11 from 4:15 to 5 p.m. to get a taste of a regular practice. The BU JV Kings will run through some of their typical drills with JV Head Coach Grant Ehlert.

Afterwards, there will be a Parent/Player meeting and pizza in the conference room at the rink. Coach Ehlert will be available for questions along with JV players and members of the BU Booster Board. Players from all experience levels, from house to AAA, are welcome.

Register at Birmingham Unified Kings Home Page (click on “registration” tab) for this free event. There is no fee to skate, and the pizza is their treat. Full hockey equipment is required, and waiver must be signed when you register. Email Jennifer Shaffer at jlgshaffer@yahoo.com with any questions.

Saturday Tutoring for all Grades

In partnership with the Birmingham African American Family Network, Birmingham Public Schools provides tutoring for students who need help in any grade level, and in any academic area. It is hosted in the media center at Berkshire Middle School from 9 to 11 a.m. All K-12 BPS student and parents are welcome. For dates and more information see the website.

Preparations Underway for New Master Plan

The city is set to embark on the creation of a new, comprehensive master plan, a tool that will guide the future growth and development of the City.

The master plan process will begin in February and take about 18 months. One of the primary focuses of will be a study of the city’s residential areas to evaluate existing conditions and create a vision for the future. The process includes many chances for the public to participate and provide input through public visioning sessions, a new app, a website, phone interviews and public meetings.

The current master plan was written in 1980. Sub-area plans have been completed over the years for some areas of the city, but the last comprehensive, city-wide update was done in 1980. The planning process will be spearheaded by planning and design consulting firm DPZ Co Design, which prepared the Downtown 2016 Plan adopted in 1996.

Celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

On Monday, January 21, we will commemorate the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in many ways. Among them, Birmingham Public Schools is hosting Day On, Day One, a day of service and the library will host storyteller Rosie Chapman.

Day On, Day One 2019, the fourth annual day of service honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. will take place on Monday, Jan. 21, 2019 at Groves High School from 9 a.m. to noon. Students in grades K-12 and their families will pack buckets for Disaster Relief at Work, make animal toys for a local shelter, assemble care kits for the homeless and help with other caring community projects. Registration is required.

Afterwards, bring the kids to the library from 3 – 4 p.m. to hear Storyteller Rosie Chapman bring history to life with her story of Civil War heroine Harriet Tubman, one of the most unique and courageous women in American History. Register