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Main Street Bank wants to thank you for letting us serve your community for the past year. * e Certificate of Deposit requires an opening deposit of $500 to qualify for the 1.35% Annual Percentage Yield (APY). Early withdrawal penalties apply. Existing accounts are excluded and all funds deposited must be new to Main Street Bank. Fees could reduce earnings. Rates subject to change at any time without notice. Happy Hanukkah! We're Giving Back! For the month of December we're offering: • 1 Year CD at 1.35% APY* • Visit one of our locations and speak with a personal banker today! Member FDIC 1 Year CD @ 1.35% APY* 363 W. Big Beaver Troy, MI 48084 248-457-0540 31780 Telegraph Rd. Bingham Farms, MI 48025 248-645-8888 tzedakah » 28 December 10 • 2015 Real-Life Learning Hebrew Day School students champion Alzheimer's disease research. E very year Carol Gannon, the fifth-grade teacher at Hebrew Day School of Ann Arbor, teaches her students about philanthropy through a yearlong project that begins with an application for grant funding from the Ann Arbor Area Community Foundation. This year, the Michigan Alzheimer's Disease Center (MADC) was the beneficiary of this project. In October 2014, the Hebrew Day School's Student Council emailed Michelle Davis, the associate director of development for neuroscience at the University of Michigan, inquiring about making a gift to Alzheimer's research at U-M. A class vote to determine the recipient of their fundraising efforts yielded a tie between the MADC and Mott Children's Hospital. After further consideration, the MADC won the final vote and partnered with the fifth-grade students for nearly seven months. At the end of January 2015, Kristin Cahill, MADC's former education and outreach coordinator, visited their class and talked about how Alzheimer's disease impacts the brain and one's cognitive abilities. She also told of strategies for communicating with adults with demen- tia and the latest research findings. The students asked insightful questions and shared their personal stories about family members living with memory loss. In the beginning of March, the stu- dents successfully applied for the $100 mini-grant given out by the Ann Arbor Area Community Foundation Youth Council. By March 31, the students had turned their $100 into more than $1,000 through numerous fundraising events and a letter-writing campaign soliciting matching donations. On April 28, Cahill and Davis attended the Mini Grant Reception at Eberwhite Elementary School. Gannon's fifth- grade class presented Cahill and Davis with a $1,437.55 gift to support MADC research. These remarkable students from the Hebrew Day School were the only group to use their Mini Grant as seed money to raise additional funds. The students spoke eloquently of their fundraising experience and their support for the fight against Alzheimer's disease. To thank the students for their gift, the MADC arranged for the students to tour Dr. Sami Barmada's lab at the U-M Biomedical Science Research Building, which focuses on the overlap between amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and dementia. The students did more than just look at lab benches. Barmada and his lab arranged for them to actually participate in science. They assisted in DNA extraction, saw a spinal cord sec- tion under a dissection microscope and witnessed the "firing" of cells under a microscope. The students followed up with many letters of thanks to the MADC. "As an educator, I believe strongly in the importance of teaching children about philanthropy," Gannon says. "Over this past year, the Ann Arbor Community Foundation's Youth Council and the Michigan Alzheimer's Disease Center have given us the priceless oppor- tunity to do just that. They expanded the walls of our classroom by infusing real world experiences into this project, and watching this unfold has been incredibly rewarding." MADC Director Henry Paulson, M.D. Ph.D. said, "This was a wonderful experi- ence, as much for our center as it was for Ms. Gannon's students. Seeing them so engaged in the scientific process as they visited Dr. Barmada's lab was a true highlight!" * The MADC The Michigan Alzheimer's Disease Center values opportunities to educate and partner with new groups in the community. In addition to educating various com- munity organizations, the MADC conducts and supports innovative research into the causes and treatment of Alzheimer's disease and other dementias, and provides wellness programs for those with memory loss and the people who care for them. For more information about the MADC, see www.alzheimers.med.umich.edu. Students work to extract DNA from cells.