Growing up in South Korea, Guam, and the Bronx gave Emily S. Lee a close-up chance to reflect on race and identity. We were lucky to catch up with her while she was on speaking tour in the Midwest, and she shared with us her thoughts on immigration, sexism, racism, and motherhood. Her book, Living Alterities, is available from SUNY Press.
Spread a blanket with other sky watchers and watch streaks of light dart overhead at the “Perseid Pajama Party.” The Grand Rapids Public Museum, in conjunction with the Grand Rapids Amateur Astrological Association, announced today the return of this successful event to Cascade Township Park on August 12 and 13.
When the annual Perseid Meteor Shower reached its peak over the past two years, the sky was flooded with obscuring moonlight. This year, the moon will be in a new phase, making the meteor shower visible once again.
The event will take place August 12 and 13 from 11 p.m. to 3 a.m. at the Cascade Township Park. The event is free to the public. GRAAA members will orient viewers, conduct sky talks and oversee telescopes for the viewing of Saturn and other sky objects.
The Perseid meteors typically become more numerous after midnight, when the constellation Perseus, from which the blazing streaks of space debris seem to radiate, climbs high in the sky. Participants are able to come and go throughout the event. Parking is located on the grounds, but will not interfere with viewing.
Sleeping bags, blankets and warm clothing are recommended for the evening. Space will be available for lawn chairs and picnicking. Alcoholic beverages are not permitted. Flashlights are permitted, but please use them sparingly and keep pointed at the ground to not interfere with overhead viewing.
Recommended routes to Cascade Township Park include: 36th Street east from Kraft to Thornapple River Drive, and then just north over the I96 overpass to Nik Kik Drive, or 28thStreet east to Thorncrest and then south to Nik Kik Drive, just before the overpass.
The “Pajama Party” will be held only if the sky is clear. For status updates, please visit www.graaa.org.
While all the white kids’ moms sent bologna on Wonderbread to school, Amal Berry’s mom packed her “weird” stuff like hummus and kibbeh. Finally, the proud day came: she opened her lunch, saw the coveted white bread sandwich, and took a bite…it was terrible. It turns out her native Lebanese cuisine was not only better tasting, it was healthy too! Berry joins Alan to talk about growing up ethnic and how that informs her daily life…as a parent and the chief diversity officer at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan.
Wyoming Public Schools, MI — During Wyoming Public Schools’ mental health series, parents and students explored ways to improve communication with each other.
Listening before reacting; approaching each other at the right time; using good body language and knowing what’s going on in students’ lives were some of the tips.
“Parenting doesn’t come with a manual,” said Anne Maede, who has a freshman and a junior in the district and attended the series for information. “It’s hard being a parent, but to have the opportunity to hear these ideas is refreshing on how positive parenting can be.”
Topics included “Emotional Wellness: Live, Laugh, Love, with Christy Buck,” executive director of the Mental Health Foundation of West Michigan; “Communicating with Youth,” with Pastor Raycheen Sims, from Grand Rapids First Church; and “Communicating with Adults,” with Pastor Tommy McCaul, also from Grand Rapids First Church.
“As a district, we decided to look at the area of how to reach parents on the topic of mental health,” Davis said. “I talk to students and they sometimes don’t feel a part of anything. We really want them to get connected.”
| Myths and Facts Concerning Mental HealthMyth: Troubled youth just need more discipline. Fact: Almost 20 percent of youths in juvenile justice facilities have a serious emotional disturbance, and most have a diagnosable mental disorder.Myth: Teenagers don’t suffer from “real” mental illnesses–they are just moody. Fact: One in five teens has some type of mental health problem in a given year. Ten million children and adolescents suffer from a diagnosable psychiatric disorder.Myth: People who abuse drugs aren’t sick, they’re just weak. Fact: Over 66 percent of young people with a substance use disorder have a co-occurring mental health problem that complicates treatment.Myth: Eating disorders only affect celebrities and models. Fact: Three to 5 percent of teenage girls and 4 to 10 percent of boys have a diagnosable eating disorder. Anorexia affects 2.5 million Americans and has the highest mortality rate of any mental illness.Myth: Children are too young to get depressed; it must be something else. Fact: More than 2 million children suffer from depression in the United States, and more than half of them go untreated. Myth: We’re good people. Mental illness doesn’t happen in our family. Myth: Childhood mental health problems are the result of poor parenting. Myth: Talk about suicide is an idle threat that need not be taken seriously. |
Knowing Where to Turn
The topic is especially relevant at Wyoming Junior High, where students, staff and community members were hit hard by the suicide death of ninth-grader Brandon Larsen in October, Davis said.
“For us, it is getting kids to communicate with adults and adults to communicate with kids in an appropriate fashion so they trust us. We believe that leads to kids being more connected to the community, so we start to see a decrease in that suicide rate we’ve started to see a spike in,” she said.
That message resonated with Grace Terpstra, a Grandville High School sophomore and member of the Wyoming Teen Council.
“A lot of kids really struggle with mental health,” she said. “This is very important because it honestly shapes who they are and who they become.”According to data from the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, from 1986 to 2000, suicide rates in the U.S. dropped from 12.5 to 10.4 suicide deaths per 100,000 people in the population. Over the next 12 years, however, the rate generally increased, and by 2013 stood at 12.6 deaths per 100,000 people. In 2013, adolescents and young adults aged 15 to 24 had a suicide rate of 10.9 deaths per 100,000 people.
Brandon’s death led to a district investigation on whether he had been bullied at school. Though the investigation resulted in no evidence of that occurring, Davis said it’s imperative students notify adults when they see bullying, and learn to be strong enough to take a stand.
Closing gaps and building bridges is the result of effective dialogue, and Davis said it can have a tremendous impact on mental well-being.
Wyoming Junior High social worker Brooke Davis works to build awareness of mental health issues
The series culminated in a “Camp & Resource Fair Extravaganza,” where families received information on summer camp opportunities for students to have positive experiences during the summer.
The effort involved a partnership with Wyoming-based Grand Rapids First Church, the City of Wyoming Teen Council and several organizations including Network 180, a community mental health authority for Kent County.
As a teenager could you imagine impacting the world by living with a family on the other side of the ocean? Allowing a teenager to live with you would certainly be an interesting experience. Every year from January to August organizations around the world ask for families to volunteer to give a teenager a home for a year. As a volunteer for Youth for Understanding Intercultural Exchange (YFU) we run orientations during the summer for families that have volunteered to host. Families who have never hosted before are thinking this will be a experience to be part of. They can’t imagine the impact this teenager will have on so many people in such a short amount of time. The misconception with student exchange is only families with teenagers can host. The truth is a there is no typical family. As an organization (YFU) and all other organizations have to follow requirements set forth by the government. What are some of those requirements? Background checks need to be completed for all adults in the home, the student needs to have their own bed (but can share a room with a same sex sibling), the family needs to provide 3 meals a day and be there to support the student throughout the year. As an organization it is our job as staff and volunteers to train families and students at orientations and be a support throughout the year. Students can be placed in homes ranging from young couples to a retired Grandma. How has Student Exchange changed not only my family but this community? About 45 years ago my Aunt brought home an Exchange Student from Finland who was attending Godwin Heights and told my Grandparents that she needed a new Host Family. My Grandparents were interviewed and the student moved in for the rest of the school year. Fast forward to 25 years ago and my Dad reads and article in the Grand Rapids Press about Exchange Students needing a home for the next school year. For the next 10 years we added a new member to the family every other year who would attend Wyoming Park. Part way through each year the student became a true member of our family. You could no longer tell who the outsider was so much so that my husband does not know our family without our former students. Three years ago my husband and I were running orientations for families when we decided it was time to welcome a 6’4″ German boy into our home as our only child. It wasn’t long before I became that Mom rooting for her boy at the Basketball games (Go Godwin!) and the next year becoming the Soccer Mom for an amazing Italian boy. 
Ask yourself some questions. Do I have room for a student? Could I feed another person? Can I be a soccer parent (or any other sport/activity)? Three years ago my husband and I decided the answer was yes. Maybe you know what it is like to live in another country. We are always looking for volunteers who are willing to talk to students and families as well as help with orientations. We have the chance to change the world. If you are interested, just let me know. Just leave me an email under this website comment site.
The school’s culture is based on business self-help book “7 Habits of Highly Effective People,” by Stephen Covey. The book, published in 1990, has sold more than 20 million copies and spawned a series of spin-off books. Six years ago, Oriole Park began implementing “The Leader in Me,” a whole-school transformation model that aims to improve the performance of all other programs. Students develop self-confidence and skills that carry beyond elementary school, said Principal Jennifer Slanger. “‘The Leader In Me’ has positively impacted all aspects of the school community,” Slanger said. “Our students follow common expectations in the hallway, lunch room and the playground. They use the language of the seven habits each and every day.”
The skills are also tied to students’ goals they set while thinking about using the traits, Slanger said. Students will revise their goals as they achieve them. Keeping a data notebook allows them to take ownership of their learning. Third-grader Abby Kramer said she sets goals around her reading and thinks about leadership when doing her work. “I am proactive and have a plan,” Abby said. “I put first things first and I always do a really good job on everything.” Teachers set the example, Slanger said. “Our students definitely learn a lot by the modeling from our staff, but also within their classroom. Our teachers do an amazing job teaching students how to set academic goals and behavioral goals throughout the course of the year.” Third-grade teacher Ginger VanderBeek said helping students develop skills like planning and being proactive helps them stick with a project, complete it by a deadline and learn to present it. “They realize that what they are doing and the skills they use in the seven habits can help them finish and do a good job, so they can take ownership of what they are doing,” she said.
Seven Habits of Leadership Be Proactive: Be responsible and take initiative Begin with the End in Mind: plan ahead and set goals Put First Things First: Set priorities, make a schedule, and follow a plan Think Win-Win: Balance courage for getting what you want with consideration for what others want Think First to Understand, Then to Be Understood: Listen to other people’s ideas and feelings, try to see things from their viewpoints Synergize: Value other people’s strengths and learn from them, get along well with others, work well in groups. Seek out other people’s ideas to solve problems Sharpen the Saw: Know the importance of caring for your body by eating right, exercising and getting sleep, spending time with family and friends and helping others Source: www.leaderinme.org
Metro Health’s Metro Way 5K is our annual family fun run. Our goal is to get you and your family up and active. So this event welcomes all ages and abilities: walkers, beginning runners, children and even stroller-pushing parents in addition to seasoned runners. If registered before July 15, you will receive a free 2015 5K t-shirt. Awards include Overall Male/Female & 3 Deep Male/Female by age group.
Metro Way 5K Group (4+)
Thursday, July 30 • 6:30 pm
Early Bird – $20/person (until June 30) • $24/ person (after June 30)
Registration & Packet Pick Up Thursday, July 30 at Metro Health Farm Market • 9 am – 2 pm
Register your child for the FREE Kids’ races here!
For groups less than 4, individual registration is available here.
Faig Ahmed, “Embroidery Space”
Jarrod Beck, “Uplift”
José Carlos Casado, “Sacrifice”
Daniel Rothbart, “Oculus”
Diana Shpungin, “Drawing of a House (Triptych)”
Tomas Rivas, “Geometric Flood”
Nick Kline, “Pilgrimage”
Jessica Bonenfant Coogan, “Disembodied Woman”
Mandy Cano Villalobos, “Undocumented Histories”
Megan Pitcher, “Breakwall”
Kora Radella, “For the toward”
Filippo Tagliati, “Site #8”
Sara Dittrich, “Physical Arrangement for String Trio”
Mark Rumsey, “Rumsey Street Office of the Archivist”
Mark Dean Veca, TBD
Judith BRAUN, “As Above”
Jane Cassidy, “Brumaire is the color”
Daniel Elkin, “Straw Sun Space”
Ritsu Katsumata, “In the Beginning”
Armando Ramos, “Kind Regards”
Zach Mory, “Swell”
LaMarre And Dancers Featuring James Cornish, “They Were Displaced… And Again”
Ryan C. Doyle, “Activi-Tree”
Karen Lemmert, “345 RGB”
Michael Peoples, “The Great Race”
ArtPrize also announced the ArtPrize Fellowship for Emerging Curators program, debuting this year. The program gives up-and-coming curators the opportunity to work alongside an established curator at an ArtPrize institutional venue during the seventh annual event. The participating venues for this inaugural year include Grand Rapids Art Museum (GRAM), SiTE:LAB, Urban Institute for Contemporary Art (UICA) and Kendall College of Art and Design (KCAD).
Four Fellows were selected by ArtPrize and its partner institutions’ curatorial teams. Each Fellow will not only assist in curating and creating the venues’ ArtPrize Seven exhibition, but will also curate his or her own ArtPrize exhibition this fall, with the mentorship of the institutional curator.
The $40,000 in grant funding will be divided evenly among the participating venues and their respective Fellows, to aid in the planning and execution of their ArtPrize Seven exhibitions.
The inaugural four recipients of the Curatorial Fellowship are:
Hunter Bridwell, who holds a B.F.A. from Kendall College of Art and Design of Ferris State University (KCAD), will work under the mentorship of curator Ron Platt at the Grand Rapids Art Museum.
Amy Wilson, artistic director and founder of Dance in the Annex (winner of the ArtPrize 2014 Time-Based juried award) will work with curator Paul Amenta at SiTE:LAB.
Ethan Ross, with an M.F.A. from KCAD, will work alongside Heather Duffy, curator at UICA.
Elizabeth Hertl, who curated the ArtPrize 2014 exhibition at Cathedral Square, will work with Michele Bozak, curator at KCAD.
by Erin Albanese
Lee High School freshman Paul Villarreal wrote down his vocabulary words: “zest,” “campaigner,” “poliomyelitis” and “delegate” while in the Scholastic READ 180 classroom. The program, which blends online and teacher-led instruction, helps students become better readers.
“It has helped me to read in a lot of ways and understand words I didn’t know. It encouraged me to read at the level I need to be at,” said Paul, whose grades have increased as a result.
Godfrey-Lee Public Schools funded Scholastic READ 180 with a School Improvement Grant, allocated by the State of Michigan after Lee High School was designated a Priority School. The program now serves about 150 high-school students including 43 English-language learners.
Lee has been able to maintain some initially SIG-funded programs, like Scholastic READ 180, which teachers say continues to have a big impact.
“It has been a great program,” said Kim Plum, high-school reading specialist. “If they are not reading at grade level it makes social studies, science, language arts and math much more difficult. Our job is to increase vocabulary and reading ability so they can do better in all their core classes.”
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The Burden of Poverty: A Backpack of Heartache is a continuing series on poverty in the schools and how it affects students’ learning. We will examine not only the problems poverty creates for students and their families, but the schools and strategies that are helping disadvantaged students succeed.
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‘We Had Moved On’
There’s a lot of good happening at Lee High School. The close-knit, small school was recently recognized for having one of the top graduation rates in the state, at more than 95 percent. It has been named one of the top high schools in the state, when poverty is factored in, according to the 2012 and 2014 Michigan Public High School Context and Performance Report Card by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy. And enrollment has increased since 2002-2003 from 1,492 to 1,947 today as families, many Hispanic, choose Godfrey-Lee as their district of choice.
But high-poverty schools face complex needs, and in Godfrey-Lee, which this school year enrolled 1,947 students, 38 percent of students live below the federal poverty line, the highest in Kent County; 95 percent receive free or reduced-cost lunch; and 34 percent of students are classified as having limited English proficiency, the second highest in the state.
Britten said there is much irony in what has occurred since the 2010 designation, from how being labeled “failing” allowed students to “succeed,” to how funneling money to the high school didn’t address needs at Lee Middle School and its two feeder elementary schools.
Britten said he wasn’t expecting the notification that State Superintendent Mike Flanagan removed Lee High from its designation as a priority school.
“It surprised us. We had forgotten all about it. We had moved on,” Britten said, noting district leaders submitted their final report to the state in September 2013 concerning the designation.
The SIG grant allowed Britten to put in place things that had long been on his wish list, resources school leaders knew were needed to turn the school around academically.
“Just about everything we wrote into the SIG grant were things that we wanted to do but didn’t have money to do,” he said.
Despite the added money, district finances were still stretched thin, so the new programs and staffing had to be supplemented with money from the district’s operating budget. Cuts were made in other areas.
“We had to cut a lot of other stuff,” Britten said. “The second year of the grant I didn’t even hire a high school principal. I did it myself. I was superintendent and principal at Lee High/Middle and East Lee (the district’s alternative high school), just to save money to sustain these programs. It’s very expensive.”
More Equitable System Needed
Britten was one of the first educators to write about the strong correlation between students’ family income levels and achievement. (See School News Network Article)
He said students at Godfrey-Lee are hardworking and capable of learning, but face greater barriers to success, often starting two to four years behind more affluent students.
For sustained school improvement to occur, he said, funding must be allocated more equitably. Though the SIG money was beneficial for the high school, the real problem high-poverty schools face is systemic, starting in early elementary school.
“The problem is primarily in the middle school and its feeder elementary schools,” he said. “Our middle school and (third- through fifth-grade) elementary are rated very low in the state, even when poverty is taken into account, compared to the high school.
“We haven’t fixed any of the issues we are wrestling with.”
According to a press release from the Michigan Department of Education, Lee High School was among 27 schools removed from Priority School status.
“The 27 schools are among the first schools placed in Priority School status, back in 2010,” the press release states. “Since then, the schools have established and implemented school redesign plans that took them out of the bottom 5 percent of schools in the state’s Top-to-Bottom list; met their academic growth objectives in math and reading; and met the required 95 percent student participation rate on the state assessments.”
“This is evidence that low-achieving schools can, and do, improve,” said Superintendent Mike Flanagan in the release. “Every child wants to learn, and every child can learn. The key is finding the best strategies to help them, and staying focused on them.”
What the School Improvement Grant Funded
Scholastic READ 180, a blended online and teacher-led reading program
Three academic coaches from the Institute for Educational Excellence to work in leadership, math and language arts, in classrooms with teachers
A new teacher-evaluation mode, using results that fed into professional development planning
Merit pay for school, leaders, teachers and staff
Eight days of professional development tailored to the district’s needs
A new algebra curriculum that included Algebra Camp and technology equipment
Bi-weekly teacher collaboration built into the school day
An extended school year from 168 to 177 days
Support services and staff including a freshman advocate to serve the unique needs of ninth-graders, and a 10th-grade adviser
Changes Since SIG-Grant Funding Ended
Literacy and data coaches discontinued. The district hired the math coach directly using other district funds and retained the leadership coach for just 20 days this past year.
Merit pay was discontinued
Additional SIG-funded professional development was discontinued
Algebra Camp was discontinued
The extended school year for high school students was discontinued, although the entire district was eventually increased to 177 days during contract bargaining. The added cost was absorbed by the district.
The 10th-grade adviser was discontinued, but reassigned as full-time high school guidance counselor due to the retirement of a part-time counselor. The added cost was absorbed by the district.
Rockford Resident Kathy Ray was in total awe upon her first visit to The Richard & Helen DeVos Japanese Garden 
at Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park.
“The beauty, tranquility and elegance I experienced on my first visit brought me to tears, she told the WKTV Citizen Journalism team.
Janina Pollatz, a Junior at Easter Michigan University, learned the true meaning of relaxation upon her time spent at the garden.
“After a stressful school year and competing in track all season, it was so relaxing to walk in and just slow down and experience the peacefulness and calmness of the surroundings,” she remarked. 
The garden features traditional components such as waterfalls, elevation changes, extensive boulder placement, authentic Japanese structures and a functioning teahouse. The Japanese Garden, embraces the essence of traditional Japanese gardens—tranquility, contemplation and beauty. The design effectively uses space to highlight contrasts between still and rushing water, between quietly intimate spaces and expansive open spaces, and between manicured and natural areas.
We had the opportunity to speak with Director of Horticulture Steve La Warre for a behind the scenes look at the design and execution of the Japanese Garden.
“This is an eight acre addition located in the middle of the 158- acre main campus. It has been a four year ongoing project. Construction commenced in 2012 and we reached our fundraising goal of $22 million,” he explained.
That is the type of generosity that West Michigan residents can appreciate from the late Fred Meijer and wife Lena, Richard and Helen DeVos and over 200 community members.
Steve La Warre also shared the sheer uniqueness of working with designer Hoichi Kurisu to create this garden of innovation.
“He is from Japan and bought a house here in West Michigan and has been here for the past five years. During that time he transformed an expansive marsh and wooded valley into an international design that uses the garden space to its best potential as a sensory experience. Every tree, every boulder was placed by him. He is known for his use of space.”
“It has been a great honor for me to work on this very special project for Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park,” said Hoichi Kurisu, the garden’s master designer and president of Kurisu International, Inc. “Fred Meijer’s dream for such a garden for his wife Lena, and of Richard and Helen DeVos has become my dream, too. My wish is that the beauty and tranquility of this space will touch the visitors very deeply for many generations to come.”
As the WKTV Community News team experienced the garden, we thought about how the environment would change throughout all the seasons and how every location played off our senses. And standing by the rushing waterfalls, and Zen style garden took our daily stress away. We also marveled at the innovation, the beautiful views, and how lucky West Michigan is to have the garden at our path. 
West Michigan – Dad may not admit to it, but he looks forward to being spoiled on Father’s Day each year! Surprise Dad with something new this year on Father’s Day, whether it’s a day out with the family, an all-day fishing trip, or a visit to his favorite West Michigan brewery.
If you know a Dad who loves the great outdoors, consider booking him a trip through Leelanau Adventures this Father’s Day! They specialize in guided tours of the lesser known spots in Sleeping Bear Dunes and Manitou Island, National Lakeshore, Michigan, with intimate guided day hikes, backpacking and camping adventures. Consider booking a Father/Son backpacking trip on North Manitou island for some real bonding time and a trip Dad will never forget! Find more information on all the Leelanau Adventures on their website.
Treat Dad to a day of Salmon fishing on Lake Michigan this Father’s Day! Bring Dad aboard Veni Vidi Fishi and join in the fun and adventure of reeling in Lake Michigan’s bounty of Salmon, Lake Trout and Steelhead! Captains Jeff and Karel have more than 30 years of experience fishing on Lake Michigan. Veni Vidi Fishi is a spacious, 36-foot Tiara – impeccably maintained and fully outfitted for fishing on Lake Michigan. They have morning and evening charters available May through October, departing from Holland. Call before June 21, 2015 and mention the Father’s Day Special and receive $50 off a half-day fishing charter. Gift certificates available.
Treetops celebrates Father’s Day 2105 with the Father Son/Daughter Classic golf tournament June 21 – 23. There is no better gift than time well spent together and they’re thrilled to announce this is the third year of this event and any father and child may participate. Variations can be made to compete with multiple children. The cost is $559 per team includes 45 holes of tournament golf (including a Shootout on the famed Threetops course), 2 nights lodging in the Inn or Chalets, Golf Clinic & Skills Contests, 2 breakfasts for each player, 1 lunch for each player and prizes. Additional players are $159. The deadline to register is June 15th. As an additional bonus, Sunday, June 21 you can enjoy unlimited practice rounds complimentary to registered players. The Treetops Spa has created specials just for Dad starting at just $30. For more information and to sign-up, email kmckinley@treetops.com or call (844) 368-6557
If your dad loves to fish, treat him to a guided day of fishing on the Baldwin River with Red Moose Lodge! On their guided trips, you will be educated about all facets of fly-fishing, and supplied with the best opportunity at a trophy fish, all during a great and safe experience on the river. All gear, tackle and transportation will be provided. They offer fishing trips for Steelhead, Salmon, Rainbow, Brown and Brook Trout, Pike, Walleye and Bass. Get all the details on their website: http://www.redmooselodge.com/ca_guide/index.htm
Looking for something fun & exciting for dad on Father’s Day? The annual Father’s Day Fly In will be held at the White Cloud Airport and will feature a pancake breakfast from 8:00 am – 11:00 am. Bring your family for breakfast; Scrambled eggs, sausage, pancakes, potatoes, fruit, coffee & Juice. Breakfast $6.00; Dads $3.00; Kids under 3 and Pilots eat for free. Additionally the 2nd Annual Father’s Day Cruz In Car Show is back again this year from 9:30 am – 2:00 pm. There will be many cars and trucks on hand for you to see. For more information call 231-652-3068 or check the website www.rivercountrychamber.com
Father’s Day is the perfect time to hop on the rails and take a ride on the Little River Railroad in Coldwater Country. Dad is certain to enjoy the hour and a half ride from Coldwater to Quincy and back, aboard the antique steam locomotive. Father’s ride free on June 21st. Coldwater Country is located 40 minutes south of Lansing at the intersection of I-69 and U.S. 12 Heritage Route. It is a great place to spend time, offering a bit of country, near the city. For additional information on these ideas and more, visit www.ColdwaterCountry.com.
Catch Air in Grand Rapids is the perfect place for a family outing this Father’s Day! Designed for kids ages 10 and under (along with their parents), Catch Air features areas to play, dance, bounce, climb, and more! The kids are sure to love it, and Dad’s sure to love the Father’s Day Special of 25% off walk-in admission!
Admission is free for all dads on Father’s Day at the GRAM! Celebrate dad this Father’s Day with a trip to GRAM! Bring your dad, granddad, or kids and enjoy free admission for all fathers. Hours on Sunday, 21st are 12pm-5pm. For more information, please contact Guest Services at 616.831.1000.
The 37th Annual White Lake Area Arts & Crafts Festival is expected to draw thousands of people this Father’s Day weekend, June 20 and 21, 2015. Goodrich Park in Whitehall is home of this favorite festival. More than 75 talented and creative artists will participate in this very popular juried art show. Learn More
Celebrate Dad with a day of play this Father’s Day! Dads get free admission on Father’s Day, noon-5:00 Sunday, June 21st. Enjoy big city fun in a kid size way in their newest exhibit, Little GR, now open at the Grand Rapids Children’s Museum! Join them in the Lab 9:30-4:00 every Wednesday and Friday to experiment, explore, and discover with messy sensory play! Every Lab offers something new! Included with general museum admission.
Free tours of the homes of Muskegon’s most well-known lumber barons are being offered to fathers who visit the site on Father’s Day, Sunday, June 21. The restored homes of Muskegon’s most famous lumber barons, Charles H. Hackley and Thomas Hume, are two of the finest examples of Queen Anne Style Victorian homes in the country. Built in the late 1800s, they feature lavish woodcarvings, stenciling, stained glass windows, and period furnishings.
Visitors will begin their tour in the City Barn where an Introductory Video welcomes them and provides them with an overview of the Museum sites along with the history of the Hackley and Hume site, the lumber barons, and the lumbering era. The gallery also includes an exhibit about the lumbering area and a replica of the Hackley and Hume Lumber Company. The site, located at 484 W. Webster Ave., is open Thursday through Monday from 10 am to 4 pm. On Sundays, the site is open from 1 to 4 pm. The nearby Fire Barn Museum and the Scolnik House of the Depression Era share the same hours as the Hackley & Hume Site. They are located just a block away on Clay Avenue.
For the dad that loves beer and music, Founders Fest 2015 is on June 20th in Grand Rapids. Would make for a fun, non traditional event for a dad that loves beer and music! Featuring local music and locally-brewed beer, this is Founders Brewing Company’s biggest party of the year!
Father’s Day kicks off Smoke Week at Brewery Vivant! Coming back for its fourth consecutive year, the greatest week of the year: It’s BV‘s Smoke Week. Their kitchen staff throws down with some delectable smokehouse specials the week of June 21-28. Bring Dad to get first bites on Sunday June 21 and come back throughout the week to try a variety of smoked meats, chicken dishes, and vegetables– this is what Summer is all about. They’re getting out theirr grill and infusing some smoked goodness into the menu. Celebrate summer & fathers with us!
Father’s Day is the perfect time to give your Dad “A Moment in Wine” at Burgdorf’s Winery in Haslett, Michigan! Bring Dad to Burgdorf’s on Father’s Day, Sunday, June 21st and he will receive a free wine tasting! At Burgdorf’s Winery he will have the opportunity to relax and enjoy a sampling of award winning, delicious wines.Burgdorf’s Winery 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. 5635 Shoeman Rd., Haslett (517) 655-2883.
Michigan wineries invite you to join them for special events on Father’s Day weekend. Treat Dad to a day at the beach at the 10th Annual Lake Michigan Shore Wine Festival June 20. Enjoy award-winning, locally grown and produced wines, local cuisine and live music throughout the day. The Summer Solstice Release Party June 20-21 is a self-driving tour of the wineries of the Pioneer Wine Trail featuring a new release wine pairing with food prepared by a local chef or restaurant. Join northern Michigan wineries for the 7th annual Traverse City Wine & Art Festival at the Village at Grand Traverse Commons on June 20 to celebrate regional wine, food and culture of northern Michigan. More than 200 local wines, 8 great restaurants, 40 fine artists and 7 musical performances all in one location!
With Father’s Day just around the corner why not treat dad to a spirited gift from the Grand Traverse Distillery? Besides their award winning lineup of locally sourced “Grain to Bottle” vodkas, whiskies, gin and rum, they also offer a complete line of bar glasses, flasks, mixers and even mini aging barrels to create your own whiskey at home. How cool is that? So forget the tie and stop by one of Grand Traverse Distillery’s tasting rooms (Grand Rapids) (Traverse City) for a real “Pure Michigan” experience. Use code {Dad} and get 10% off all non-alcohol purchases.
Treat Dad to a Father’s Day Brunch unlike any other afloat on Lake Michigan with the Port City Princess in Muskegon! Their Father’s Day Champagne Brunch runs from 12pm until 2pm and includes a scenic cruise on the lake. Dad gets his ticket for half price! Reservations are required and may be made at 1-800-853-6311.
Father’s Day Gift Ideas for Dad
Visit the Museum Store at Dennos Museum Center in Traverse City and check out the collection of tool-related gifts that are perfect for Father’s Day! These tool-themed gifts were stocked in conjunction with the exhibition ReTooled: Highlights from the Hechinger Collection, which ended on May 17. From now until they’re gone, all exhibition-related items are 30% off (excluding consignment pieces). The Store is open during Museum hours, or visit their website for online shopping.
Chocolates by Grimaldi in Grand Haven will be hosting a Dear ‘ol Dad Event on Saturday, June 20 from 10am-1pm in their store and chocolate factory. All ages are welcome to create a card at their card making station and sample free chocolate, all while shopping for the perfect gift to make Dad feel special! Give Dad the gift he will truly love: Locally Made Chocolate!
Does the Dad on your list this year for Father’s Day already have everything he could possibly need? Then get him a gift of an experience he won’t ever forget – the chance to drive a Model T at the Gilmore Car Museum! Send him back to driver’s training “old school” style where he’ll learn how to drive Ford’s famous Model T on the Gilmore Car Museum’s beautiful 90-acre historic campus! For available class dates and more information, please visit http://www.gilmorecarmuseum.org/education/model-t-driving-school!
By Tom Norton
I first heard the name Tutankhamen, I think when I was in the 7th grade. The renowned treasures of King Tutankhamen were coming to the United States for the first time and America was crazy with Tut fever. Steve Martin was parodying it on SNL and lines that stretched for blocks were filled with the lucky thousands whose eyes would gaze upon the most phenomenal cache of treasures from the ancient world ever discovered…anywhere. For an 11-year-old kid in a Catholic grade school dreaming of adventure, the timing was perfect. My best friend and I were already dreaming of becoming archeologists and the boy king’s treasures coming to America dovetailed neatly into our world view.
We talked endlessly about digging for buried treasure and discovering lost cities. Impatient to begin, we spent summer afternoons with shovels, brushes and any of the equipment we thought they might use digging for artifacts on the steep banks of a large creek near our homes. And there where the creek had cut away layers of earth for some 10 feet deep, we “discovered” many an animal skeleton. (Never mind that we were confusing paleontology with archeology) but nevertheless, we carefully extracted each bone from the skull to the tail and proceeded to re-assemble them on my mother’s dining room table. However, doubts on archeology as a career started when my mother came home from work and discovered three clean, but freshly unearthed skeletons on her dining room table. (Now considering her reaction, I could have made a career studying ballistics.)
Between the confusion of archeological disciplines and my mother’s ire over skeletons on the table, one would think it was not in my cards to discover treasure and advance the understanding of other cultures. What spurred my interest on at this time was that we now had a connection with events larger than we were. It was through the treasures of Tutankhamen. They were here and they were real!
Which brings us to the Grand Rapids Public Museum’s “The Discovery of King Tut.” If there is one thing that museums anywhere do, it’s that they connect us in a real way with stories and events that are often larger than we are. The connection changes us, molds our views and gives a bigger, better understanding of the world. It’s why I love museums and cannot overstate their importance to our society and our culture. Even though this exhibit hasn’t a single authentic piece from the Tutankhamen tomb, it is in a word, breathtaking. For over 30 years, I’ve studied, read, gazed upon and dreamed of the mysteries of ancient Egypt. I’ve poured through thousands of pages of books with images of the treasures of this great discovery and without any doubt, this exhibit now at the Grand Rapids Public Museum is by far one of the most striking! The exacting detail in my opinion nearly approaches devotion.
In fact, I would dare say that any amateur Egyptologist would be hard pressed to be able to select between the real Tutankhamen treasures in the Cairo museum and those on display at the Grand Rapids Public Museum. A huge statement, maybe, but then one has to see this exhibit to fully appreciate it.
Coming around the corner and seeing the full scale replicas of the three coffins, the innermost one being six feet in length and of solid gold, you instantly feel the surge of excitement. This, you think must be a taste of what archeologist Howard Carter and his team must have felt when they lifted the lid of the pink quartz sarcophagus and saw before them treasures not even dreams could hope for. The discovery of Tutankhamen in 1922 by archeologist Howard Carter triggered a global sensation.
For millennia, the pyramids had stood empty and countless, beautifully painted tombs throughout Egypt were only mute testament to what glorious treasures must have once laid inside. With Carter’s discovery the world now knew what it must have been like. King Tutankhamen, a minor pharaoh who became king during one of Egypt’s most tumultuous political times was now front and center in the 20th century. His popularity in a modern world of aircraft, space exploration, iPhones and the Internet would span one hundred years and more. And nearly a hundred years on since that great discovery, new elements of Tut’s life and his reign are coming to light. Each one fascinating and as time goes on, contributing to a deeper understanding of the mysteries of ancient Egypt.
King at 9 Years Old
Tutankhamen’s name means “Living Image of Amun,” the principle deity in Egyptian mythology. But several years before Tut was born, Egypt went on a political roller coaster ride that would shake up every element of society. Tut’s father, the pharaoh Akhenaten, in one felled swoop did away with the pantheon of Egyptian mythology and declared that there was only one god, the Aten. The Aten was peace loving, just and a giver of life; not a destroyer and eager to punish naughty children as the priests of Egypt would portray many of the other gods. Initially, the cult of the Aten was welcomed (except by the priests who were simply out of a job). From there, Tut’s father built a new royal city, Armana where he and the royal court could worship the Aten freely and peacefully without the meddling of the powerful priests who held control over much of Egyptian society, including pharaoh.
And it’s interesting to note that this change in religion even affected the art of ancient Egypt. Surviving statues of Akhenaten show him, not the muscular, square shouldered pharaoh we are accustomed to seeing in the likeness of the warrior pharaohs Rameses the Great or Thutmose, but a pharaoh with an unusually elongated face, bulbous thighs and sloping shoulders. Whether these radical departures were simply part of a new style of art or an honest portrayal for the first time is still unclear. This new style of art became known as the “Armana” style. Previously, Egyptian society, its economy and its future were solidly built on unending conquest and the tribute from subjugated peoples. Rivers of gold flowed from Nubia (the Egyptian word for gold is “Nu.”) along with the import of slaves from whole nations subject to Egyptian military might. All of the plunder that the spoils of war bring to enrich a country had to be maintained if the way of life everyone was accustomed to was to stay in balance.
But Akhenaten wasn’t terribly interested in war, or the subjugation of other peoples. When he became pharaoh, Egypt was rich, built up on conquest and history shows that once the religion of the Aten was established, he preferred to stay in Armana with his beautiful queen Nefertiti and worship the Aten. It was in this ivory tower that Tutankhamen (his name originally replaced the “amen” with the “aten”) was raised. But rightly or wrongly, the empire was no longer in balance. Hittite kings, (in modern day Syria) Egypt’s arch enemy for centuries, grew bolder and were making bold claims to Egyptian lands.Generals must have demanded that pharaoh, the leader of the army do something and likewise, the priests of Amun, outraged at the dissolution of their cults sulked. Everyone who was on the out was waiting for the opportune time to end the fantasy world of the dreamer-pharaoh and eventually like in all things, that time came. Akhenaten was either too foolish or naive, or a combination of both to not see it coming because when it did, it was overwhelming.
It’s uncertain how he died. Perhaps he was murdered or simply deposed, but given the violent world around him, his simply stepping down is unlikely. So with Akhenaten gone, the nine-year old Tutankhamen became pharaoh and the cult of the Aten was swept away and the pantheon of Egyptian gods restored. But the restoration to orthodoxy would take surprising turns. The priests and perhaps the military as well erased Akhenaten’s royal city from the map. Today barely a stone sits upon a stone and only fragments of Akhenaten’s sarcophagus have been found (which at least implies he was given a funeral).
So the dreamer-pharaoh, Akhenaten with his peace loving religion of a single god was gone. The challenge now was that the next in line for the royal throne was an 9 year old boy, Tutankhaten. He would change his name to Tutankhamen and return the entire state to orthodoxy and the “Amun” again would be restored to being the principle deity. His reign would be short, only eight years, but in that time Egypt would go from a cataclysmic showdown between religions to a rebirth that would last several more centuries. But none of this made Tutankhamen famous, neither in his time nor in the three millennia that followed. At nine-years old, he was too young to rule so a regent served in his place. Often regents in ancient Egyptian royalty were women as it was believed a male regent would usurp the throne and depose any young king once he became a real threat to power.
However, history has shown that in Egypt, the female regents were no less a threat to royal succession and perhaps this was the case in the story of Tutankhamen. There was a woman who served as regent. Her name and everything about her is lost to history; intentionally erased? We may never know but enigmatic discoveries within the tomb of Tutankhamen tomb whisper the possibility of a female regent who may have tried to be pharaoh instead of Tut.
The Other Woman
Virtually nothing is known about her, but then again Egypt was rather good at trying to erase people from history. She was regent during the young boy’s initial reign, but other men, powerful men in this cast of characters were also around the boy-king. Among them, Horemheb, a general in the army and the royal vizier, Ay who is portrayed on the king’s burial chamber wall. In the years after Tutankhamen’s mysterious death, both Ay and Horemheb would become pharaoh, each for a very short time which suggests the atmosphere of intrigue and violence that was still sweeping through the ruling class. In fact it would be Horemheb, a general who from some accounts, had a unique ability to control the young king’s temper, but who in the end, upon becoming pharaoh, would conduct a systematic campaign to erase Tut from history.
Yet within Tut’s tomb are objects that clearly belong to and were made for a female; in fact a ruling female. We can only suppose this was the unnamed Queen who acted as his regent when he was still a boy. Some scholars maintain that the second coffin is not in the likeness of Tut, but in the likeness of the queen who ruled as regent until he was old enough. Apparently, this regent was preparing for her own royal burial and accumulating sacred golden objects for the hereafter; only to be stopped short once the boy king became old enough to assert his authority. What was it? It was about three years into his reign that Tutankhamen truly did become pharaoh. Was there a backroom deal between the priests and the royal vizier, Ay to return the multiple gods to Egypt and they would support him against the regent? Perhaps. It’s fun to speculate, but in an atmosphere where so many characters in this cast were seeking power it must have been like living in a shark tank.
A Mysterious Death
Numbers of CAT scans of the mummy of King Tutankhamen in the last few years have revealed extraordinary findings; findings that point to the possibility of a horrific chariot accident as the possible cause of death. Numerous beautiful state and every day use chariots were in Tut’s tomb and the record shows he loved the sport of hunting. Whether the accident happened while hunting or in battle, the King’s knee was badly mangled, several ribs separated from the spinal column and a severe blow was suffered in the back of his skull. Whatever did happen, it wasn’t immediately fatal as the skull fracture shows signs of healing, but perhaps the wounds became infected and it overwhelmed his system. We will never know for certain, but death by accident is looking more and more likely. But one thing is certain; the treasures of King Tutankhamen are a testimony to a culture in history and in time that achieved unparalleled superiority in art and craftsmanship. The exquisite beauty in the craftsmanship for a culture from 5,000 years ago is nearly overwhelming and the amount of gold is astounding. The exacting detail in the replicas in this display is a testament to the creative ability of a culture and society that was entirely focused on the idea that you can take it with you. Fortunately for us who gaze upon it 3,300 years later, they believed this with everything they could muster.
For King Tutankhamen, no one will know what his personality was like, but suffice it to say that perhaps there is some poetic justice in the fact that this relatively minor and forgotten pharaoh is the only pharaoh of all of ancient Egypt who’s body still safely resides in his own tomb and that his global fame is renown. You know you’re famous when the very weird spelling of your very strange name doesn’t get highlighted in spell check. One can only say thank you to the Grand Rapids Public Museum for reminding a middle-aged guy about the wonder and sense of adventure he felt at the age of 11 when he first heard the strange and enigmatic name of “Tutankhamen.” The exhibit “The Treasures of King Tut” runs through April 2016. Explore more about the story and details of the exhibit at the website: http://www.grpm.org/kingtut/
Tom Norton is Executive Director of WKTV Community Media serving Wyoming and Kentwood and describes himself as an armchair, amateur Egyptologist (skeletons on his mother’s dining room table notwithstanding.)
Editor’s Note: As Citizen Journalists we make an effort to highlight the different experiences of people living in the Kentwood and Wyoming area. We teamed up with West Michigan Lutheran High School English students to focus on stories about individuals immigrating to the United States in search of a better life. The following story was written by one of those students giving their perspective of immigration.
by CJ Blanchard, West Michigan Lutheran High School
Afif Gaibi is the team leader for Oliver Products shipping and receiving department. I was able to interview him through my mom, who is a coworker of his. I am glad to have been able to sit down and talk with Afif because he shares many stories along with a good deal of knowledge. His life is quieter now, but in his younger years, it was far more dangerous than what most people in the states would experience.
As a teen, he lived in Kuwait. His father was from the Middle East while his mother was from India. This was crucial for their escape from Saddam Hussein’s tyranny and also the Gulf War. They fled to India, where Afif went to the University of Bombay to study.
Before he came over to America to attend college, Afif traveled around the world, most notably England and Hong Kong. He was also able to land a job at MTV in Asia. Meanwhile his parents had other plans. They were not happy with him partying and having fun all the time, so they sent him off to America to learn. It was not hard for him to adapt to American culture because he had always watched American television growing up and learned English in his grade school.
He first landed in Atlanta in 1996. He lived there for a bit before traveling to Oregon and then finally, Michigan. In Michigan, he attended Davenport University after a long distance cousin was able to set him up with a scholarship. He majored in Science and earned a bachelor in electronics, both of which he has never used.
Afif has not stopped traveling and doesn’t plan to in the future. He believes knowledge is power, and that traveling has opened many doors for him, physically, mentally, and spiritually. “Everyone has the same direction, just different paths,” he says adding that without religion as the center of your life, you are lost.
Along with traveling and enlightening himself with religion and knowledge, he enjoys his favorite things, which are motorcycles, country music, and baseball. His advice to anyone who wants to travel like he does is pretty simple.
“You have to have it personally inside you. Be ready to learn and want to go and actually do it. Have a positive mentality and use others to inspire you, because traveling changes you, and your perspective, for the better,” he explains.
Lee Middle School students are helping local prison inmates turn the page to a better life — literally.
The Godfrey-Lee Public Schools eighth-grade students recently became aware of the stark correlation between illiteracy and incarceration, and it inspired them to take action by providing a local prison with more reading materials.
They challenged their sixth-through-eighth grade peers to donate books to inmates at the Michigan Reformatory in Ionia.
They are working to collect as many books as possible to add to the shelves of the prison library, said eighth-grader Ja’Nae Matthews.
“We want to have a positive impact,” she said. “I hope it stops people from doing bad things in the future.”
It’s a way to help a population often cast aside by society, students said.
“It surprised me that they couldn’t read so they made bad choices,” said eighth-grader Casandra Dievendorf. “Their families can’t read to their kids.”
Students are competing by grade level to raise the most books, gathering donations of all types of genres and reading levels. The drive goes through the end of May.
“I hope they get more education from the books, learn from their mistakes. They can help themselves by reading,” said eighth-grader Carlos Savala.
Community members can drop off donations at Lee Middle/High School, 1335 Lee St. SW.
Editor’s Note: The Road to Reading series explores some of the reading activities you’ll find in our schools as well as difficulties students may face when learning to read. The series also examines early childhood ties to literacy and new initiatives to help all children read.
Inspired by Reading
Teacher Chris DeMaagd had her students read articles in class, which inspired the book drive. One piece, “Ex-con saved by reading uses literacy to combat crime by at-risk youth,” by Gail Rosenblum, published Oct. 30, 2014 in the Minneapolis Star Tribune, tells the story of A.J. Briscoe, a former gang member and five-time felon.
DeMaagd was inspired by her daughter, Jacklyn DeMaagd, a criminal justice major at Grand Valley State University. Jacklyn took a class at the Ionia prison, which involved 15 GVSU students and 15 inmates. It gave her a new perspective.
“We really got to know them and it made me realize not everybody in prison is an terrible, evil monster,” said Jacklyn DeMaagd, who will deliver the books to the prison. “I think it will benefit them because it will help them realize people on the outside really care about their well being and want them to succeed when they get out.
DeMaagd said she knows of Lee students who have friends and family members in jail.
“Some of the students have connections personally, and they can do something that can help. They can see, ‘Wow,’ there’s someone who cares and wants to help.”
* 85 percent of all juveniles who interface with the juvenile court system are functionally illiterate.
* More than 60 percent of all prison inmates are functionally illiterate.
* Penal institution records show that inmates have a 16 percent chance of returning to prison if they receive literacy help, as opposed to 70 percent who receive no help.
* Illiteracy and crime are closely related. According to the Department of Justice, “The link between academic failure and delinquency, violence, and crime is welded to reading failure.” More than 70 percent of inmates in America’s prisons cannot read above a fourth grade level.
Source: begintoread.com; dosomething.org
by Nathan Beuschel
Editor’s Note: As Citizen Journalists we make an effort to highlight the different experiences of people living in the Kentwood and Wyoming area. We teamed up with West Michigan Lutheran High School English students to focus on stories about individuals immigrating to the United States in search of a better life. The following story was written by one of those students giving their perspective of immigration.
For many years, baseball has been referred to as America’s pastime and for good reason. Baseball is played by many ages and nationalities. My experience playing baseball has created a whole new meaning of the game.
Last summer, I had a wonderful opportunity to play with a group of men in the West Michigan Hispanic Baseball League. It is an adult men’s baseball league right here in the greater Grand Rapids area. Teams play games once a week during the summer, enough to enjoy the game without making it too much of a time-consuming commitment.
I soon realized what a great activity this was. Most players were either of Hispanic descent or from a Latino country themselves. It brought me great pleasure to see that the same game I loved so much was also enjoyed by those of different ages and ethnicity. This proved to me that baseball is a sport that connects all Americans together as one people. Although I could not understand much of the Spanish spoken during the game, the language and excitement of baseball itself kept me in the conversation.
Through the other players in the league, I learned a great deal about the game. These men have been playing longer than I have been alive and they were willing to share their knowledge with me. When I was pitching, the umpire gave me pointers frequently while the position players told me batting tips. They understood that there was more to the league than just winning games (although they did that too whenever they played us). Nevertheless, I was greatly influenced by these experienced baseball players.
In a nation that prides itself in multiculturalism, baseball proves as the perfect example. Regardless of race, any child can grow up modeling a major league hero. It is in this sense that baseball brings a sense of community and that is what this league was all about. Everyone shared in the happiness baseball brought to each person. To me there is no doubt that baseball is America’s favorite pastime!
Roberto Torres stands tall in the community and not just because he wears cowboy boots and a ten-gallon hat. This humble campesino child learned to fight for his dignity in Anglo schools. He went on to become an avid reader, U.S. Marine, and community organizer. Through the great recession of 2007, he led economic development activities in northern Ohio until being selected executive director of the Hispanic Center of Western Michigan. The two proudest possessions in his office? A pickle hamper and a construction helmet. Find out why in this inspiring interview with Roberto Torres.
by Erin Albanese, School News Network
Conversations between Aliya Armstrong and her students usually begin with the same question: “How are you doing?”
For the students who show up in Armstrong’s East Kentwood High School office, that query often results in a complicated answer. As the district’s homeless coordinator, she sees many students who have been through struggles and disruptions that make being “fine” seem close to impossible.
Take Kessia. The senior, who did not want her last name published, has earned a 3.7 grade-point average while cheerleading, running track and working after school and on weekends to buy food for herself and her sister. At the beginning of the school year, the family was evicted from their home.
“There was a period of time when we had nowhere to go,” said Kessia, an articulate, petite young woman. “We had to take all of our stuff out of the house, and we had to throw a lot of it away because we could only pay for a certain amount of storage.”
For a while she told nobody at school, staring at the address line for college applications without anything to write down.
Homeless Students Have Rights To:
– Receive a free, appropriate public education
– Enroll in school immediately, even if lacking documents that are normally required
– Enroll in the local school or continue at their school of origin (if feasible and determined to be in the best interest of the student)
– Receive transportation to and from school of origin if needed and feasible
– Receive educational services comparable to other children, according to their needs
“I knew I needed some help. So, I came to see Mrs. Armstrong,” she said.
Armstrong helped her family receive services through the McKinney-Vento Homeless Education Assistance Improvements Act, the federal legislation that seeks to help children and youth break the barriers to education if they find themselves without a permanent home. That’s Armstrong’s job: to keep homeless students in school and equipped with the resources they need.
“I can talk to her and be honest,” said Kessia, who now lives with her grandmother in Grand Rapids and takes the city bus to school. “Mrs. Armstrong knows what to say because she’s been there. We are really fortunate to have someone like her working in this district because there are lots of kids in the district with similar situations or even worse.”
Editor’s Note: The Burden of Poverty: A Backpack of Heartache is a continuing series on poverty in the schools and how it affects students’ learning. We will examine not only the problems poverty creates for students and their families, but the schools and strategies that are helping disadvantaged students succeed.
Armstrong can relate to Kessia in many ways. Rewind to 1994 when she was a senior at Creston High School. A cheerleader, Homecoming queen and student council vice president, Armstrong was passionate about school and she excelled. But outside of her academic and athletic success, she faced turmoil not typical for student royalty.
“Uniquely, I am a product of the environment that I serve,” she said.
She lived in a Grand Rapids-based domestic violence shelter at age 15 with her sister, brother and mother after they escaped an abusive situation in Flint, where she grew up. They later moved from the shelter to a safe house.
“I am a statistic in my very own right. It is amazing how life changes and turns and puts you in particular areas.”
Now she works with the district’s approximately 250 homeless students, a number that is always fluctuating. She does everything from setting up legally authorized services for them, to providing them with clothes from the district’s clothing pantry filled with donated items. She checks in with students often, making sure they are on track with classes and that things are stable in their lives.
“She is great about helping them with whatever she is allowed to do, getting them the right food, clothing for proper warmth,” said East Kentwood’s head counselor Kathryn VanOveren. “I think over the past few years Aliya’s done a great job of marrying counseling skills with organizational skills and understanding the state law.”
The district’s homeless population is not unique. In Kent ISD schools, there were 2,368 homeless students in Kent County as of February.
“I expect the count to go a bit higher as the weather starts to warm up,” said Casey Gordon, Kent ISD special populations consultant. “The count has already eclipsed last year’s total.” Year-end homeless student totals for Kent ISD were 2,157 in 2013-2014 and 2,241 in 2012-2013.
“We try to keep them in their school of origin, which is the school they attended before the homelessness took place,” Armstrong said. “Part of the law is to keep some continuity, same teachers and friends instead of uprooting them completely. They’ve already left their home.”
When first working with families, Armstrong gets the details of their situation. For instance, she took a phone call with a mother who had lived in a motel for nine months with her children, before moving out of state and then back to Grand Rapids. With no assets in her name following a divorce, finding permanent housing was very difficult.
“It’s always something heart-wrenching,” Armstrong said. Medical issues that cause financial stress, a record of multiple evictions, and child removal by Children’s Protective Services are among reasons a child loses his or her permanent home. Students awaiting foster-care placement also qualify for services under McKinney-Vento.
“We had seven students over Spring Break who landed in shelters,” she said.
A major obstacle can be getting homeless students to school at all. Armstrong understands the stress and guilt parents face when struggling to get their child involved in academics while living at a motel or shelter.
“As a school we need that child here to get this education, get a warm meal, have some normalcy to that routine,” she added. “But as as a mother do I get it? Absolutely.”
Armstrong, who has master’s degrees in English and school-counseling education from Grand Valley State University, and a bachelor’s degree in education from Western Michigan University, has served as homeless coordinator for three years. Prior to that, she was as a counselor at Grand Rapids Public Schools’ Union High School and Gerald R. Ford Middle School. She formerly taught at Union, Iroquois Middle School, and Park High School for pregnant teenage mothers.
Armstrong reflected that when she was in the shelter, school was her comfort zone.
“I think there was a celebration in being removed from the chaos and the hell that allowed me to say, ‘I’m pushing reset on life, and I’m going to get out of high school what I should have been gaining all this time,'” she said.
Good role models helped as well. Her mother, the late Wendy Forrest, was a no-nonsense parent. “She didn’t care that we were in a shelter; that was no excuse for me to not be on the honor roll.
“We’re not a family of crying over spilled milk,” she added. “We are a give-us-lemons-we-make-lemonade type of crew, very supportive and strong. It wasn’t a ‘woe is me.’ It wasn’t ‘this is going to break me.’ You have two roads to travel: You’ll either be a victor or a victim, and becoming a victim just was not an option.”
Armstrong, a runner and the mother of three young children, has been recognized for transforming herself physically by Women’s Lifestyle Magazine, Gazelle Girl and WOTV4Women. She also teaches Zumba at the Spartan Stores YMCA, in Wyoming. On crutches due to a sprained ankle in April, she finished the Fifth Third Riverbank Run 25K May 9.
The reason she challenges herself physically ties in with her job.
“I’m a proponent for every adult, especially in our positions, to have an outlet and a stress reliever. You can’t carry these stories home. You will find yourself in tears many days.
“I have been on the phone with a mom who says, ‘They’re here right now, Aliya. They are packing up the boxes.’ And she’s bawling. What do you do? What do you say?”
Sharing her story is one thing Armstrong does well, and it’s a way she gives students strength. Armstrong told Kessia that she can be inspirational for others.
“I’m super, super proud of you. You’ve got it,” Armstrong told Kessia, while they chatted in the high school office. “You and I are similar because hearing your story is going to help someone. You have a platform to minister to someone and encourage someone.”
Kessia plans to go to college next year, at Xavier University in Cincinnati or Butler University in Indianapolis, to major in communications and public relations. She said she is looking to the future with pride in her achievements.
“Because of all the hardships at home, I took a lot of pride in my grades and doing well in school because it was kind of the only thing in my life that was consistent and that I can be proud (of),” Kessia said.
Armstrong knows how much that really means.
“I love that I can speak words to my students and they are meaningful truths… I’ve walked this path and I know what it takes. I know the struggle. There’s something about me with the gritty, roll-your-sleeves-up population. That’s where I need to be in all areas of my life.
“That’s my calling.”
by Paul R. Kopenkoskey
There’s more to competitive cheerleading than performing heart-stopping extended split stunts and the toe touch basket toss. Godwin Height High School team members say the sport literally changes lives.
Just ask eleventh-grader Joy Parker.
“I was failing all my classes before coach gave me a place to relieve stress,” she said.
Joy said she was considering dropping out of school, but the friendships she has forged with her teammates has enabled her to tunnel through her troubles.
“I didn’t think I could graduate,” Joy said. “Cheering saved my life. This team is my life, my family. It has given me hope.”
Tenth-grader April Martinez joined the team in November because she’s outgoing and cheerful, which convinced her that competitive cheerleading would be a good fit. Her hunch didn’t disappoint.
But competitive cheerleading also has been an eye-opener. Before she joined, April assumed cheerleading would be a cakewalk. Far from it. But it’s that inherent challenge competitive cheerleading requires that ensures April shows up for each practice and competition.
It Takes Strength, Stamina
“You have to have strength and stamina,” April said. “It’s a lot of work, commitment and time. If you try your best, you can do it. Coach has taught us if you can dream it, you can do it.”
“Coach” is Amanda Cook, one of the 25-member varsity cheerleading team (grades 9-12) and 30 sideline cheerleaders seen at football games. Godwin’s team competes against Lee, Kelloggsville, Hopkins, Calvin Christian and NorthPointe Christian.
It’s competitive cheerleading that gets the heart pumping, Cook said.
“A lot of the girls don’t consider themselves athletes and after one season, they really see themselves as athletes,” she said. “We really do lift weights and run laps. I’ve had seven girls play soccer for first time this year because they were too afraid to join until they joined the cheerleader team.”
Do You Have a Heart? 
That was the resounding question at the second annual Give On…To Live On event on May 7, 2015. The “heart” refers to the red heart insignia provided by the Secretary of State when you register to be an organ and tissue donor.
The Give On…To Live On event, sponsored by Gift of Life Michigan, was held, according to organizer Karla Huitsing, “To not only raise awareness, but also to celebrate life.” In attendance were many who had received life-saving organ transplants. Chef Oliver Hale, affectionately known as “Chef O,” is a two-time kidney recipient. Chef O confirms his heart-felt gratitude for the opportunities has been given stating, “I have been blessed. I have been given a second chance at life.”
Also in attendance was Marci Prince who felt the call to become a “living donor” while watching an appeal by Kate Couric on television. “My family had always been involved in donating blood. After watching the program I knew it was my time to donate a kidney.” Soon afterward Marci would learn that her kidney was an excellent match for Rick Herlacher, a local man on the kidney waiting, whose need would also be the inspiration for the first Give On…To Live on gathering in 2014. Marci met Rick and the two bonded immediately. The transplant was a success and both Marci and Rick continue to speak on behalf of Gift of Life outreach efforts. Although Rick could not attend the event this year, Marci states, “Rick is living proof of the gift of life.” When asked about her personal giving, she responds, “ Isn’t that what the human race is designed to do?” 
The fact is that the need for organ and tissue donors in Michigan is great. As of March 1, 2015 there were 3,497 patients awaiting transplant. Thousands of others need tissue to relieve their pain, heal their wounds, and help them see again. On average, 400 people are added to waiting lists every 20 minutes, while 14 people awaiting organs die each day.
The quest to raise awareness in our state is urgent. The Donor awareness movement in Michigan has increased greatly due to the actions of the Michigan Secretary of State. Instead of the passive approach of waiting to ask family members for organ donation after a death has occurred, the Secretary of State branches now active as people if they would like to register for organ donation when they are obtaining a license or state ID.
Dr. Luis Tomatis, Director of Medical Affairs for the Richard M. DeVos family and renowned cardiothoracic surgeon, led a panel discussion regarding organ donation in West Michigan. The panel consisted of Dr. Daniel Borreson, Surgical Director of Adult Renal Transplant at Mercy Health St. Mary’s and the Surgical Director of pediatric renal transplantation at Spectrum Health Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital; Dr. Muneer Abidi , oncologist with the Spectrum Health Medical Group Adult Blood and Marrow Transplant Program; and Dr. Martin Strueber, Surgical Director for the Spectrum Health Richard M. DeVos Heart and Lung Transplant Program. All stressed the need for increased awareness and the opportunity for Grand Rapids to become one of the leading transplant sites for adults, as well as children, in our state.
Dr. Abidi, who deals with blood cancers and stem cell treatments, reinforced the need for donor registry outreach, especially in minority communities.
Dr. Martin Strueber, who recently moved to Grand Rapids from Germany, saw the Medical Mile and the advancements in heart and lung transplants locally, and has ambition to grow the Center and make transplants more available in our area.
Dr. Borreson also sees opportunity for West Michigan to become a major transplant destination for two main reasons: First, Spectrum Health is a Regional Level 1 Trauma Center, increasing the availability of potential organs locally. Second, character of West Michigan is based largely on Christian values and altruism. When we see a need, we meet a need. One of the most important things stressed by Dr. Borreson is no matter if you have a heart sticker on your license, “Make your wishes known to your family.”
Many who attended the Give On…To Live On event were awaiting organs, just as Rick Herlacher was in 2014. Their hope and their prayer is that someone will be a match, someone will step up and offer the ultimate gift of life. Could that person be you?
To sign up on the Michigan Organ Donor Registry simply go online to giftoflifemichigan.org or call 1-800-482-4881. You can also go online or visit any Michigan Secretary of State branch to receive a red heart to place on your license or state ID. You hold the keys to saving another’s life—register today!
By now you all have probably seen the results of yesterday’s vote on the Kentwood proposals. While we will celebrate the passing of the building and site/sinking fund, we are disappointed that the technology, safety, and building upgrade proposal was defeated. The citizens of our community are valued partners and we are committed to using their funds responsibly and carefully. The fact that the vote was split means that we needed to better identify what was needed and why it was needed. At the same time, this does not change the fact that we are committed to providing an education of excellence to every child within our district.
We appreciate those that went out to vote and the fact that they shared their perspectives
Thank you to all of you who worked so hard to get the word out.
Michael Zoerhoff
Superintendent
Kentwood Public Schools
It was a colorful, joyful celebration. The perfect way to take part in Cinco de Mayo. Hundreds gathered at the Grand Rapids Public Museum to honor the theme of hope, determination, inclusion and respect.
Contrary to popular belief, Cinco de Mayo is not the celebration of Mexico’s Independence Day. It celebrates the victory in the Battle of Puebla by the indigenous people against the powerful French army.
Among the many accomplishments symbolized by Cinco de Mayo observances, the Committee to Honor Cesar E. Chavez celebrates the determination of Mexicans as demonstrated in the Battle of Puebla. Like the steadfast commitment of the Mexican soldiers, the Committee is determined to give students the gift of opportunity through education. In doing so, the rich legacy, spirit and impact of the Battle of Puebla is forever a part of our lives throughout the year.
The 2015 Honorees this year were Michael Flanagan, Connie Dang and Chuy Morales.
Mike Flanagan has been State Superintendent in Michigan for 10 years;and was a local and regional superintendent before that. During his career in education leadership, Mike has been determined to make sure all kids in Michigan have a quality life and education–no matter their race, culture, or personal and economic circumstances.
Connie Dang serves as the director of the Office of Multicultural Affairs at Grand Valley State University. In the community, she serves as board of trustee of the Historical Society of Michigan, member of the Unity Committee to Honor Cesar E. Chavez and a member of the West Michigan Advocates& Leaders for Police and Community Trust.
Chuy Morales, along with his wife Angie, embarked on a journey to provide a voice to many within the Hispanic Community. Their determination and passion led to the formation of an internet radio station called, La Mejor. This radio station has become a vital source of information for the Hispanic community providing program featuring education, health and sports.
The celebration also included music and dance by the Pearson family and the Cook Art Center, Mexican Folkloric Dance Class. The event proved to be inspirational, entertaining, and informative.
Looking for something for students to do this summer? Here is a great list to get you started!
This summer Kent ISD is offering many different camp options for children entering grades 1st-12th.
Camp Invention (1st– 6th grades)
Camp Invention is a four day adventure in creativity that immerses children in exciting, hands-on activities that reinvent summer fun. Led by local educators, boys and girls are challenged to explore connections between science, technology, engineering and innovation. Participants spend their time building original prototypes and creating a personalized motor-powered vehicle, while designing, improving and analyzing their own inventions in a team setting. Don’t miss out on all new challenges.
Cracking the Code Computer Coding Camp (5th– 6th grades)
Have you ever wondered about how a computer functions? If you have, a computer uses algorithms. Algorithms are the basic instructions or rules a computer follows. This would be some of the fundamentals of computer programing that you will be learning in the Kent ISD’s Coding Club. In this club, we will be conducting both online and offline activities that will help us dive into the ins and outs of computer programing. During this course, will be learning about algorithms, looping, debugging, conditionals and much much more!
Propel Camp (6th– 9th grades)
You could spend a week this summer watching someone on TV launch objects through the air; maybe you could even play a video game that does. Or perhaps, you could spend a week designing and actually building catapults and trebuchets to PROPEL these projectiles yourself! Propel Camp is a week-long experience for 6-8th graders to explore and DO science, technology, engineering, art, and math in real life. For five days, students will work in teams to build the ultimate catapult, and use their machine to compete against other teams at the end of the week in a variety of competitions.
Camp in Motion (6th– 9th grades)
You could spend a week this summer watching NASCAR and dreaming of driving in a big race… OR you could spend a week at Camp in Motion actually designing and building soapbox derby cars and racing them yourself!
Make It, Take It! Graphic Art to Go! (7th– 9th grades)
Creative people wanted! Design and print your own creations on everything from t-shirts, trading cards, buttons and more. You’ll run the printing equipment and even screen print your own shirts.
Cars, Trucks, Diesels and How They Work (7th– 9th grades)
Explore what it’s like to work on automobiles and heavy equipment. Work with real tools to rotate tires, remove and reinstall spark plugs and perform a compression test. You’ll also get to use paint guns and see how engines work.
Sweet Genius- Baking Camp (7th– 9th grades)
Welcome to the wonderful world of baking! Become an expert at making bread, candies, doughnuts and other fried treats, cakes and cupcakes. After this class you could be the next Food Network star.
Yummm!- Culinary Camp (7th– 9th grades)
Future chefs, this camp is for you! Make fabulous gourmet meals, which you can make for yourself and your family at home. You’ll learn the right words to use in the kitchen, how to create the menu, and work as a team to keep the kitchen running. Lunch is included in the registration.
CSI Grand Rapids (7th– 9th grades)
Investigate mock crime scenes, learn defense tactics, conquer obstacle courses and work in a team just like actual law enforcement officials. Your teachers for this exciting week? Real police officers and investigators.
Say Cheese! Photography Camp (7th– 9th grades)
Explore digital photography during scavenger hunts, taking portraits and on a field trip to the zoo! Learn how to set up a good photo and learn some professional photography tricks. Use one of our cameras or bring your own. Plus, use your photos to create fun projects like calendars and buttons and learn the basics of Photoshop.
Tech Academy (7th-9th grades)
Do you love video games and computers? Then this camp is for you! You’ll build a computer, build a network and create your own video game you can actually play!
Cyber Camp- IT Camp (10th-12th grades)
Cyber Camp will allow you to begin to explore a career as a Cyber Security Specialist. Through hands-on labs students will simulate cyber-attack and defense. Students will be guided through the creation of an ethical hacking and penetration testing lab that they will use for both cyber-attack offensive and defensive. Labs topics will include digital forensics, cryptography, network traffic capture, and web site exploitation. Other topics such as mobile wireless security may also be explored. This Cyber Camp for high school Sophomores, Juniors and Seniors will be taught by professors from the #1 ranked Cyber Security program in the state, Ferris State University.
Looking for more summer camp opportunities?
Check out our list of local summer programs, CLICK HERE!
The Kentwood Public Schools Board of Education approved asking voters for an extension and a renewal on two ballot initiatives that will not increase the current tax rate. This vote will take place on May 5, 2015. Because of the District’s continued commitment to fiscal responsibility and careful fund management the school system will again not require a tax rate increase.
While these two ballot proposals will not raise the tax rate,” said Mimi Madden, President of the Kentwood Board of Education, “They will improve building safety and security for every Kentwood child, ensure that our technology is competitive, and provide efficient and updated facilities.”
The two proposals previously approved by the voters of Kentwood Public Schools include an extension of the 2003 Bond Issue and a renewal of the 2006 Building and Site Sinking Fund. The proposed Bond Issue amount is $64,860,000. Both proposals require no tax rate increase.
School officials noted that maintaining efficient, up to date facilities helps controls costs. In addition, knowing that parents and employers look for schools that equip students to be technologically competitive, the ballot initiatives ensure that school technology meets the needs of a 21st century education.
With school safety and security a national concern, it is one of the significant issues that the board sought to address with the ballot initiatives. While officials noted that Kentwood Public Schools was one of the first school districts in the region to have focused entry points and security cameras throughout, times have changed, and as a result safety requirements have also changed.
“Kentwood Public Schools has always focused on strong relationships and high expectations as the best form of violence prevention,” said Michael Zoerhoff, Superintendent. “However, safety is supported by up-to-date security procedures and equipment. These initiatives continue the district’s commitment to upgrade facilities and equipment to ensure the safety of each Kentwood child.”
Finally, district officials noted the request to voters reflects the strong partnership between the district and the Kentwood community and builds on months of facilities analysis, staff and community surveys, and an updated strategic plan. “At Kentwood, senior adults use the warming pool, walk the tracks, and read to students,” said Board President Mimi Madden. “This community supports school academic, athletic and arts programs. We believe that these ballot initiatives provide an opportunity for voters to continue to support a dynamic world class student body while continuing a tradition of excellence. ”
by Erin Albanese, School News Network
When Vicki Johnston challenged Wyoming Parkview Elementary School students to choose a community-service project, they overwhelmingly chose a cause: “Trash the Trash.”
Hosted by the school’s Peer Mentoring Program, about 300 of the Wyoming Public Schools students spread out across Wyoming’s Lamar Park, Wyoming Junior High School and in their own schoolyard for their Global Youth Service Day project, picking up litter to improve the community.
“I just want to help out the community and make my state the cleanest state of all,” said fourth-grader Juan Escalante, as he scanned the ground for trash.
The Peer Mentoring Program, headed by Johnston, its founder, involves third- and fourth-grade Parkview students who regularly work with each other on math and reading skills, but they took the afternoon leading their peers in the spruce-up project.
According to a press release, a million young people worldwide were expected to take part in service projects to make Global Youth Service Day. Official event partners span six continents, more than 100 countries, and all 50 states.
At Wyoming Public Schools’ Oriole Park Elementary School, students also participated in the service day, working with 30 AmeriCorps volunteers on activities to beautify the school and support community organizations. Activities included planting flowers and trees, making dog toys for the Humane Society, decorating paper bags for Grand Rapids-nonprofit organization Kids Food Basket, and making sun catchers and bird feeders.
AmeriCorps, a program supported by the U.S. federal government, involves volunteers working throughout the nation on community-service projects.
Mother’s Day has always been a time of celebration and joy, but not for everyone. It may be a time of hardship if a Mom is going through troubles– spending time in a shelter due to domestic violence.
Movers for Moms has been there to make life a little bit easier for many abused women in the West Michigan community. 
Two Men And A Truck has teamed up with local churches, schools and child care centers to collect donations for women who have dealt with domestic abuse. They provide items for mothers and children such as clothes, toys, and other necessary belongings on Mothers Day to give them hope in the face of a crisis. It’s a program that is worked on year long and this is the 8th year.
One of the daycare facilities that helped out this year was Rainbow Child Care Center in Byron Center. Stacy Shotko is their Regional Manager, and she is very excited about the Movers for Moms project. 
“What a better place to do this project than at a child care center where we are seeing Moms and working with them every single day,” she explained.
Each year, Movers for Moms donates to a different local shelter and this year it’s Safe Haven Ministries. This non-profit helps women and children who have been victims of domestic violence.
Ana Doonan, Development and Communications Director of Safe Haven is appreciative of all of the efforts of this highly successful campaign.
“The donations really takes the children’s minds away from abuse. When you see them playing and reading books or watching movies, it is great,” she said. 
Last year was a record-breaking year with more than 220,000 items being collected and donated to shelters across the country. To find out how you can help, please visit: twomenandatruck.com 
Brian Kingshott’s mother liked to say her son “came into the world with a bang!” Find out how as Alan interviews Brian Kingshott, an anti-terrorism expert and professor of criminal justice. As a former British intelligence officer, Cornwall and Devon constable, and WW2 bombing survivor, Brian gives us insights on world history and police work… all wrapped up in his inimitable charm and British English accent!
To some students, school can be quite the challenge, but imagine a program that makes school feel a little less academic and a little more like home. The ARCH Program in Kentwood Public Schools does just that.
ARCH stands for academics, recreation, community and health. It runs in 14 different Kentwood schools and allows students to focus on excelling in the classroom and connects learning to their everyday lives.
“We’ve talked about things that kids normally don’t get to talk about [in school],” Site Coordinator Brittany Bayne said. “Like gay marriage and huge things that are out in the society.”
ARCH caters to the bottom 30 percent of students in the school system and Bayne says they hold an open dialogue with both students and their parents.
“[You have to get parents] to believe in the program and you gotta get the kids to believe in the program,” Bayne explains.
Kids are also served lunch, snacks, and provided free transportation home if needed.
In order for students to reap the benefits of ARCH, Bayne said it relies upon several factors-one of which is creating a strong relationship between students and their leaders.
“You’re their teacher and they need to know that you’re there to be a support system,” Bayne said.
At an age where kids just want to fit in, one would think there would be little interest in hanging out at an after school program, but Bayne says otherwise, she explains that students often know they need the extra help and are willing to take it.
“Fair isn’t giving everybody the same thing, fair is giving kids what they need,” Bayne said.
Students at Crestwood Middle School say the program is helping them grow academically, socially and helping them reach goals they didn’t think were possible. Avionna McGehee, a student at Crestwood Middle School, said in sixth grade she struggled often, but as a seventh grader she’s now on the honor roll.
Even Bayne said she’s noticed students stepping up their game, “I just got the summer school list of kids that are failing and are going to be invited to summer school,” Bayne said. “And we only have 6 or 7 kids from ARCH are on there.”
Between the educational learning and personal growth, there is one more important piece of advice. “[The program] is all about getting [kids] comfortable and [them] knowing that they belong,” Bayne said.
by Erin Albanese
Words tumble and flow, punctuated by emotion. Fingers snap rhythmically in the classroom as verses come full circle. It is poetry, raw, unnerving and real, and it’s coming from Kelloggsville High School students.
“When you write something down, you’re writing because you want someone to read it and to get those thoughts out there,” said Daniel Delosh, who won fourth place in the school’s recent Poetry Slam for a piece about his mother. “I plan to keep writing poetry. It’s a very therapeutic thing to do. You can write your thoughts down without opposition.”
Inspired by a group of unlikely mentors, students are digging deep into their personal histories, backgrounds and identities and emerging as wordsmiths. Indeed, the poetry in English teacher Jennifer Sadler’s class has stepped way outside the box of standard iambic pentameter, couplets and ballads. Students are developing their own styles to tell of relationships, hardships and life’s many challenges.
Perhaps mo st astounding, said Sadler, is that the students present and listen to each other, unabashed and supportive.
“It makes my kids feel like they’re not alone,” Sadler said. “As a result they have more respect for each other. It makes them more empathetic, and it creates more of a family feeling overall.”
Members of The Diatribe, a spoken-word poetry group, have transformed Sadler’s poetry unit from teacher-led and traditional into hipster cool. The professional poets said stringing together words into creative expression is their calling and a way to make a difference in young peoples’ lives.
The Grand Rapids-based group, including G. Foster II, Marcel Fable Price, Rachel Gleason and Shawn Michael Moore, spends evenings weaving words during spoken-word nights at Stella’s Lounge downtown and Hookah Lounge in Eastown. But they also have spent many full school days volunteering in Sadler’s class and at 54th Street Academy, the district’s alternative high school.
The partnership culminated in the Poetry Slam, when 36 students braved their way onstage to read their work in front of professional judges and 300 students.
“Mind blown,” was The Diatribe poet Shawn Michael Moore’s response to students’ work. “These kids are exponentially past where I was at this age.”
The Diatribe formed two years to create an ArtPrize exhibit. Mainstays in the local poetry scene, members have diverse backgrounds and styles, and their work ranges from lyrical to rap-influenced, with internal rhyme and free flow. Their poems tell of personal experiences: being bullied, coming out as gay in a conservative town, abuse. They’ve learned that everywhere they go, someone can relate.
“The beauty of it is that we are diverse, and there’s someone out of our collective that will connect with each student,” G Foster II said.
Rachel Gleason said helping students feel comfortable being themselves motivates her.
“These children are going to be the future of poetry and obviously the future in general,” Gleason said. “If you feel like you had any part in them learning to open up, that’s the most important thing to me.”
Sadler said when even the most quiet of her students hear The Diatribe and then other classmates, they become more willing to share. Much of that has to do with the bond the group has created.
“The Diatribe come in dressed like the students, talking like them, but showing how to articulate your words and showing how to present yourself in an educated way,” Sadler said.
She is working to find funding sources to pay for an after-school writing workshop with The Diatribe next school year. So far, they have never been paid for their time with the students.
The poets hope to increase their involvement in other schools as well, and are seeking support from non-profits or other sources.
Student Alexandrea Groters, who won third place in the Poetry Slam, said working with the poets has impacted her life.
“It was nice because it felt like stuff was getting off my shoulders and I was telling my mom more things. That felt good,” Alexandrea said. “They showed that even adults go through tough times, and even though you do, you have to get back up.”
by Erin Albanese, School News Network
There’s more to leadership than being in charge or leading a group, said Crossroads Alternative High School students as they scrubbed tables, prepared food and served hot meals at God’s Kitchen in the Heartside Neighborhood of Grand Rapids.
Fourteen students from three different leadership programs at the school, Crossroads Brotherhood, Girlz Rock and Crossroads Leadership recently spent a day away from the classroom volunteering at the Grand Rapids-based Catholic Charities of West Michigan program that serves more than 200,000 meals a year to individuals and their families. Students said they were happy to help out, dishing out lunch to people in need.
“It’s about giving back, helping others, making others happy. It’s the whole purpose of doing something for others,” said senior Brian Barnes.
Teachers Michael Ketelaar and Michael Hall, advisors for Crossroads Brotherhood, said the students are often involved in community-service projects. They’ve volunteered for nonprofit housing organization Habitat for Humanity, animal-protection organization The Humane Society, and have cleaned up the The Rapid bus stop by their school.
Learning about leadership, including a strong component of community service, has improved Brian’s outlook on serving others, he said.
“I learned how to be responsible, put in effort and don’t give up,” he said. “I learned how to be an example and a positive role model to others.”
Junior Montae Galles said helping at God’s Kitchen’s Capitol Lunch was a new experience for him.
“It feels good to give back,” he said. “It makes me reflect on my life. My life’s not that bad and I’m thankful for what I have.”
Ketelaar said he believes the students learned valuable lessons from being involved in the community.
“I wanted to show the kids that leadership means serving,” he said. “What better way than to serve the least fortunate in the community?”
On April 25, 2015, from 9:00 am to 1:00 pm, the Kentwood Police Department and the West Michigan Take Back Meds Program will give the public the opportunity to prevent pill abuse and theft by ridding their homes of potentially dangerous expired, unused, and unwanted prescription drugs.
Bring your pills for disposal to the Kentwood Police Department, 4742 Walma Ave SE, Kentwood, MI 49512. The Department cannot accept liquids, needles or sharp objects, only pills or patches. The service is free and anonymous, no questions asked.
The West Michigan Take Back Meds Program is a joint effort between local pharmacies, law enforcement, wastewater treatment facilities and government agencies to provide residents with safe, convenient access to proper medicine disposal. Proper disposing of your unused medications will ensure that your medicines will not be stolen from the garbage, will not enter our environment, and eliminates the potential for abuse and overdoses at home.
For more information Contact: Volunteer Coordinator Viktoryia Highland @ 616-656-6571
Any one who’s tried it knows that the beauty of gardening is seeing your hard work pay off with a bounty of colorful blooms or fresh
vegetables for the dinner table. Whether your green thumb is seasoned or just slightly tinted, a successful growing season starts now with Smart Gardening.
What’s so smart about Smart Gardening as compared to ordinary gardening?
“Balance!” says Rebecca Finneran, a 28-year horticulture educator with the Michigan State University Extension program.
“We create so many of our own problems with too much or too little watering, using too many chemicals and not understanding our soil.
“What’s smart is understanding what does the plant needs and then try to adjust our behaviors so that it fits with the plant’s – that’s Smart Gardening,” Finneran told a room full of local gardeners at a free “Gardening 101′ seminar hosted by Live Healthy at the Metro Health Conference Center.
It’s a ‘ground-breaking’ idea that the MSU Extension team put into action about three years ago, educating the public on how to be environmentally savvy when planning, preparing and maintaining your vegetable garden. Smart Gardening, explains Finneran, “has long been a hallmark of what we do [at MSU]. We help people connect with the real world of horticulture and to do that in an environmentally healthy way to save time, money and energy.”
The ‘Gardening 101’ seminars run about an hour and half. During that time, participants get an overview of Smart Gardening techniques such as preparing the soil, how to reduce the chemical input of both fertilizers and pesticides, how to determine the size and location of the garden, deciding what variety of plants to grow and the best way to water it all. And because vegetable gardens are as unique as the individual gardener, there and many creative options to consider when planning it out.
Yet before any plans are drawn, soil tilled or seeds planted, Finneran’s first words to the wise gardeners is to be realistic. For the new gardener, she suggests starting small.
“Too many times gardeners get over excited at the start of the season and plant too much. Then by July, what happens? You want to go on vacation but who’ll take care of the garden? It’s too hot, there’s too many mosquitoes and taking care of a garden is just dreadful. So you let it go. Then you’re ashamed of it.”
She suggests considering sharing a common gardening space with neighbors, community groups or coworkers.
“I did this with a group of my coworkers. We wanted a little vegetable garden at work. So we each worked one lunch hour per week, about 30 minute five days a week. And guess what?” Finneran asked the crowd. “Many hands made light work! We had a nice crop of vegetables every day for lunch.”
Although she is an ornamental horticulturist with a background in landscape design, Finneran grew up with a farm background and had vegetable gardens all her life. As a result and over time, she creates vegetable gardens that look like masterpieces!
“Vegetable gardens can be useful and beautiful. I think that’s an important thing to consider. There’s no reason we can’t enjoy our vegetable gardens regardless of their size and usefulness. How you plan it out is something to think about,” she suggests.
When it comes to having a successful garden, it’s all about location! First and foremost, Finneran says, is to consider the accessibility to a water source. “You won’t want to be lugging 90 feet of house across the yard on a 90 degree day,” she points out. With that said, your garden location may be as close as your patio or deck. Whether you’re picking fresh vegetables from a garden out in the yard or a patio container, it’s still rewarding. Here are some tips to consider when choosing a ‘smart site’ for your garden:
* Convenient your home and close to a water source.
* Where the soil is good and free from toxins.
* Sunny, level spot (eight to 10 hours of sunlight depending on the vegetable).
*Avoid north-facing slopes and low areas.
*Stay away from trees and shrubs.
“We really miscalculate this one a lot,” Finneran points out. “Where’s the neighbor’s tree going to be casting its shadow by August?” She suggests to consider the garden’s location over the course of time.
“Think about it and then plant early harvest plants in the areas where shade will dominate from August on. Plant your later harvest plants on garden’s edge where there’s more sunlight on a daily basis,” she says.
There’s more to having healthy soil than earthworms. In fact, it’s mostly about things we cannot see. Understanding how these components all work together is known as soil biology and it’s considered the new frontier of science and the gardening world.
“Have you ever hear of the term soil biology?” Finneran asks. “We hardly every think of soil as being a living, breathing thing. It’s either sand, silt or clay and you walk around on it. But in fact there are billions of micro-organisms that live in your soil. The way they live together is they consume each other and eat the organic matter. They are the ones responsible for releasing the nutrients that the plants need.
“These micro-organisms have an amazing, living, reciprocity with the plant root to allow it to have the nutrients that it needs to live. So if there is a reduced living component, plants are not going to do so well.”
Before the first seed is planted, Finneran encourages getting the soil analyzed by the Michigan State University Extension to determine the nutrients needed in your garden as well as the pH and organic content of the soil. Soil test kits can be purchased online at the MSU Extension Bookstore (search for E3154), or your local MSU Extension office. The kits come with a postage-paid mailer and a re-closable plastic bag to fill with a soil sample. The postage-paid mailer can be placed in your mailbox for pick up and sent to MSU for analysis. The results take up to two weeks and will tell you what amendments to make and in what proportions to add for the best results in the vegetable garden. A Smart Garden starts with a healthy soil and to achieve that:
*Add organic matter to your soil every year.
*Only add the recommended amounts of fertilizer based on the soil test results. Over application of phosphorus and nitrogen fertilizers is a known contaminant of surface and ground water.
*Prepare your garden soil for planting by tilling (lightly) to break apart aggregates and mix in organic matter. “The less manipulation, the better,” says Finneran.
MSU Extension offers the community a wealth of free information on horticulture. For more information on Smart Gardening, including helpful articles, videos, classes and events, visit www.migarden.msu.edu. For more information on other topics, or to contact an expert in your area visit www.msue.msu.edu or call the toll free hotline Monday through Friday 9:00 a.m. to noon and 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. at 1-888-678-3463.
by Tom Rademacher
Forget everything you’ve ever read or heard about the so-called “loneliness of the long-distance runner.”
At Lee High School, you’ll find a unique running club in full swing, an after-school fitness party where students and staff are invited to come together and embrace not only running, but the benefits of belonging to something greater than themselves.
It’s entitled the “Runnin’ Rebels” running club, the brainchild of David Britten, superintendent of the Godfrey-Lee School District, to which Lee High belongs.
Where another educator might pack up for the afternoon and head home after the bell rings, Britten sees an opening to make a difference in the life of a student or staffer. All they gotta do is show up with a pair of sneakers and a little desire.
“It actually began when I was in Wayland, and working as a principal, and we had a running club for 5th- and 6th-graders called ‘Little Cats,'” says Britten. “When I came here in 2002, we began the running club, and it’s been in place ever since.”
The district probably couldn’t have found a better advocate for running than Britten. A 22-year veteran of the U.S. Army, fitness has been an integral part of the superintendent’s regimen his entire life.
He ran his first River Bank Run in 1985, the Chicago Marathon in 1990, and has graduated in the last decade or so to ultra-marathoning, with races of more than 62 miles under his belt.
On the day I visited the high school, though, the only goal was to do your best on a loop established throughout the high school hallways that measures one-seventh of a mile long.
Enter the school’s gymnasium from the west side, and you’re immediately confronted by blur after blur, as students and teachers pass by in a counter-clockwise direction, settled in for a 30-minute stint.
“I needed to change my lifestyle, knew I needed to join this club.”
Britten is usually among the group, but today, he’s taking the time to explain the genesis of the club, the rationale for keeping it intact, and the impact it’s had on participants.
“For one thing, a lot of these kids don’t have anything to do after school,” he explains. “This gives them an avenue; otherwise, they’re just going to be hustled out of the building.”
His method of recruiting more and more students into the Runnin’ Rebels is simple: “I just badger ’em enough where they eventually realize that they can do something they didn’t think possible.
“I would have hated to do my next career and just deal with adults,” he says of the transformation from the armed forces to education. “I did that in the Army. But I want to be with kids, and I found I could easily encourage kids to run.”
During the “inside” season, which includes 30 daily runs from November until March – or until the weather improves to allow jogging outside — the goal is to cover the loop as many times as possible within 30 minutes or so.
For those who choose to walk – like Guidance Counselor Betty Killoran, for instance — that translates to a mile or two. For the speediest in the group, it can mean up to three or four miles, even a bit more.
Those who show up for at least 20 of the 30 inside runs qualify for a T-shirt, and this year’s giveaway boasts a quote on the back from one of Britten’s mentors, ultra-marathoner Dean Karnazes, which in part urges people to “immerse yourself in something deeply and with heartfelt intensity,” and implores those same people to “continually improve, never give up – this is fulfillment, this is success.”
Britten, 60, leads the club with humility. Rather than boast about his running achievements and coaching record in cross-country and track, he’s more apt to point out a day in his life when he did his best and scored average.
“I was addressing the senior class after they bombed the MMEs (Michigan Merit Examinations),” he recalls, and shared with them in a parallel way how he was able to complete only 68 miles of a 100-mile run.
“You know what a 68 is?” he asked them.
“It’s a ‘C.’ I was supposed to run 100 miles and get an ‘A.’
Britten acknowledges that the lesson had some incidental “shock value,” because many of Lee’s students have never known anyone to run or even try to cover 100 miles at a stretch.
But what he wanted them to walk away with was the realization that if you’re capable of more, you can’t settle for average. “Be determined to do better next time,” he remembers telling them.
Britten’s philosophy is gaining momentum and drawing in more and more participants. In the beginning years, the club operated with a handful of runners. Today, it’s not unusual for dozens to turn out.
Among them is a social studies instructor, Tom DeGennaro, who has endured 14 knee surgeries. Just over a year ago, he weighed nearly 300 pounds and suffered from diabetes and high blood pressure.
Today, his weight is around 230 and he’s got his sugar and BP under control.
He began by alternately walking and jogging for intervals of three to five minutes. Now, he’s kicking out runs of up to six miles at a time. On the day I visited, he was celebrating his 124th straight day of running.
DeGennaro’s three daughters – ages 7, 11 and 13 – provide him extra inspiration: “I want to walk ’em all down the aisle some day.”
Lee High senior Jordan Lovett enjoys belonging to the club not only for health reasons, but because “I’ve made a lot of friends, and it helps relieve a lot of stress from high school. It gives us an escape from reality.”
Lovett hopes to study social work at Aquinas College, and compete for the school’s track and cross-country teams. “I probably wouldn’t be as good a runner as I am,” she says, had she not joined the Runnin’ Rebels.
Sophomore Hector Grande is into soccer and martial arts. The running club is a natural extension of both, providing him an aerobic activity that, same as Lovett, doubles as a mental outlet.
“There are stresses in life that you need to get past,” he says, “and sometimes, running is the answer to that.”
For senior Paulina Cabrera, running may help pave her way into the U.S Marine Corps, in which she hopes to enlist following graduation. “I’m tired,” she said after cruising the halls for 30 minutes, “but I feel better for it.”
The Runnin’ Rebels don’t limit their miles to schooldays. It’s an active group that involves even more amateur athletes in summertime, at nearby Pinery Park.
That’s where alumni and parents will join students and teachers in a walk-jog-run that helps bind the school family to one another, often celebrating two and even three generations of Lee faithful.
Most the time, participants in the Runnin’ Rebels simply find their own pace and rhythm, without the need for a lot of coaching.
Not so, however, for some of the fledglings who turn out, especially during summer months.
“The young ones have to learn how to run,” Britten says with a measure of sageness. “At a certain age, they think everything’s a sprint.”
by Charles Honey
When Tarena VanDyke was accused of bullying another student, it really hurt, she said.
“I’ve never seen myself as a bully,” said the Northview High School senior. “I hope I’m a nice person.”
But after watching a series of videos about bullying and reflecting on her behavior, Tarena realized she had not been nice to this other student. In fact, she had been downright mean.
“I was more self-conscious of what I was doing to her,” Tarena said of the sensitization training she went through last year. “I watched the video and said, ‘OK, let’s grow up a little bit. Let’s not try to make her feel horrible, because that’s not a good thing to do.’”
Through the school’s anti-bullying program, called BASIC Training, Tarena said she became aware of how all students can mistreat each other – and more willing to intervene when she sees it. She said she pulled one student away from another whom he’d pushed against a wall.
“It started to open my eyes,” she added. “I realized even if I’m not the bully, I can help the other person.”
While schools commonly employ strategies to curb bullying, some, like Northview High, also aim to educate those accused of bullying about the consequences of their behavior. Typically, such students don’t think of themselves as bullies, or realize how much their actions have hurt someone else, school officials say.
“I don’t like the word ‘bully,’” said Nicole Mulheisen, director of Northview’s Student Responsibility Center. “But I do believe kids are mean. Usually kids who bully other kids, if you search in their life, they’ve been bullied.”
Schools nationwide increasingly have worked to counteract bullying, spurred by concerns about teen suicide, violence and malicious use of social media. In Michigan, Matt’s Safe School Law requires school districts to have anti-bullying policies and to annually report all incidents and consequences. The Legislature late last year added cyber-bullying to the requirements.
Many districts in the Kent ISD have adopted programs to help prevent bullying and suicide such as “be nice.” developed by the Mental Health Foundation of West Michigan. Several have hosted awareness-raising events such as Rachel’s Challenge, formed in response to the 1999 Columbine massacre. Many have formed their own awareness groups.
Such programs commonly invite bullied students to talk about their experience. But what about those accused of bullying? How do they feel, and what led them to bully someone? Several schools work with students on those questions, in addition to imposing consequences.
The issue starts with the usual idea of “bully.” Unlike the stereotypical brute extorting lunch money, most students accused of bullying, like Tarena, don’t see themselves that way, educators say.
“They’re not trying to be a bully,” said Katie Bush, dean of students at Kenowa Hills’ Central Elementary School. “A lot of kids, when you bring that to their attention, they often break down (in tears) and say ‘That’s horrible.’” Such students “often do a hurtful thing and don’t realize it’s hurtful,” Bush added.
This year, Bush has had students involved in bullying fill out questionnaires – after she consults their parents — stating what happened and what their part in it was. Students list 10 things that could count as bullying, which ones they have done and what they will do to prevent bullying in school. After Bush or Principal Cherie Horner review students’ responses, the students read them to the class.
Along with educating them about the effects of bullying, the assignment forces students to “come clean with themselves” about their behavior, Bush said. The exercise is not meant to shame them but to be a way of asking for help, she said. The papers must begin with “I have been a bully,” and end with a plea to help the student stop doing it.
“We approached it from an AA perspective,” Bush said. “You’re saying to the class, ‘This isn’t the person I want to be. If you correct me, I’m going to see it as help and not lash out.’”
The school has had fewer bullying incidents since the forms were introduced, Bush said, adding accused students have not repeated their behavior as far as she knows. Other approaches also have helped. Knights Lights, a Kenowa High School anti-bullying group, did an activity with fourth- and fifth-graders in which students acknowledged personal problems, such as divorced parents. Classmates responded with sign-language for “I love you.”
The activity raised awareness of the problems that can cause students to act out, and that “people really need support instead of the opposite,” Bush said.
In middle school, bullying can become more overt and deliberate by eighth grade. But many younger students still don’t know their behavior is bullying, said Kelly Amshey, assistant principal at East Rockford Middle School.
“We find a lot of those instances are just kids that are naïve, and make quick decisions they don’t think through well enough to realize the consequences for other kids,” Amshey said. Bullying behavior, she added, is usually more emotional than physical, such as “social exclusion, talking bad about somebody, and sharing private or embarrassing information.”
Her school employs an array of approaches to combat bullying and nurture a positive culture. Those include No Place for Hate, a national program of the Anti-Defamation League promoting respect for differences and challenging bigotry, and annual activities such as “Accept and Respect Week” featuring guest speakers.
For those who bully, a mix of consequences and reflection aims to change their behavior. A hallway display shows silhouettes of a boy and girl, both covered with bandage-shaped messages of repentance from students. “I am sorry for … calling you a name,” reads one. “Next time I will … say something nice.”
Students who are disciplined for mean behavior must fill out forms reflecting on what they did, how it hurt someone else and what they could do differently next time. These accompany consequences including a “silent lunch” isolated from other students, contacting parents, or suspension for more serious offenses.
“Rather than just doling out punishment, we’re trying to make sure they understand what their role was and how they could act differently,” Amshey said. “Most of those kids, when they understand they hurt someone else, do show remorse.”
Tarena VanDyke felt remorse for her bullying behavior, but also some anger about how it was handled.
The problem developed from a verbal fight with a friend that escalated. Tarena said she was angered by things the friend was telling others about her, and retaliated. “If I would see she was talking about me, I would do things that would irritate her, and I knew they would,” she said.
The fights were part of a “bad year” that often found her depressed and anxious, Tarena said. Sometimes she would eat lunch in the Student Responsibility Center, where students go for discipline problems, just to hide and “feel real sad,” she said. She often confided in Mulheisen, the SRC director, as “the one person I could come to and say, ‘I’m having a real bad day.’”
Tarena eventually earned a four-day suspension – the school calls it administrative leave — for allegedly pushing the girl, though she said it was accidental nudging in crowded hallways. She felt the suspension was unfair and reacted angrily, she admits. But Mulheisen said the action was necessary.
“It was time for Tarena to take a couple days off,” Mulheisen said, noting Tarena has “a strong personality.”
“Her emotions did get the best of her, at times,” Mulheisen said. “But do I think Tarena is a bully? No. Tarena is a great person. She has learned from all of this.”
Tarena agrees, after going through the BASIC Training process. She watched six videos on various kinds of bullying, made by other students in an Advanced Placement language class. She wrote a reflection on what it would have been like to be the victim, and what she would do differently if she found herself in a bullying situation again.
Going through that process, and talking heart-to-heart with Mulheisen, Tarena came to a new perspective not only on the bullying incident, but herself.
“Now I can talk like an adult to anybody and address how I’m feeling without tearing them down in return,” Tarena said. “I’m very aware of what I say now, how I say it and how it comes across.”
She is also more aware of how it feels to be bullied. Indeed, she said she was bullied mercilessly by one student in sixth grade, and often came home crying.
She said she now sees how her personality was contributing to the problem with her friend: “I don’t let things go. I have this little box of pettiness in me.” Now, she said, “I just let it go. I don’t hold grudges anymore.”
She also smiles more – especially after a friend told her she didn’t do it enough.
“I’m glad this happened to me,” including the suspension, she insisted. “I’m way more aware of what happened. I found who I am.”
Tarena looks forward to next fall, when she plans to enroll in Grand Rapids Community College. Eventually she wants to earn a degree in social work, qualifying her to work in the courts on behalf of neglected and abused children.
“I want to be able to help kids that don’t have a voice, that can’t stand up for themselves,” she said. “I want to be that one for them that they can trust.”
Tips for Parents
If you learn your child has been bullied at school, here are some things you can do:
1. Never approach the bully’s parents, as this is the school’s job
2. Find out what the bully is doing – actions, times, places – and document it
3. Obtain a copy of the school’s anti-bullying policy to see if it was violated
4. Meet with the principal, relate the facts in a calm way and ask what you can do together to stop the bullying
5. Write down what the principal says, and follow up with a thank-you letter recapping what the principal agreed to do
6. Follow up with your child to see if the bullying stops, and touch base with the principal
7. If the bullying continues, file a notice of harassment and if necessary contact the superintendent and school board
Source: Stompoutbullying.org
Orphaned at a young age, Phillip Nguyen spent his youth in Vietnam bouncing between the streets of homelessness and the occasional care of any relative who would take him in. At age 18, he landed in a refugee camp with a third-grade education and an uncertain future. How did this child of war time become a business owner and civic leader in a mid-sized American city? Join us for a touching story of pluck, hard work, and a little spiritual intervention.
by Erin Albanese, School News Network
East Kentwood High School senior Jada Haynes peeled back the external layers of skin from a dead frog, showing fifth-grade student Lianna Newbeck its insides.
The younger girl, using tweezers, picked up a small organ. “Is this its neck?” she asked.
“That is the esophagus that goes into the digestive track,” Jada explained, as Lianna and a group of other fifth-grade girls continued eyeing the formaldehyde-soaked amphibian. “When you are dissecting you have to be really careful.
“Do you think you’d want to do this when you get to high school? It’s pretty fun.”
The girls’ reactions to that idea ranged from fascinated to disgusted during their visit to AP biology at East Kentwood High School. It was one of several stops during a tour of classes based in science, engineering, technology and math (STEM).
The girls experienced hands-on chemical and physics experiments, biology with animal specimens and met living snakes, birds and reptiles. They learned about STEM careers and that high-school students, many of whom are preparing for college and careers in science, engineering, technology and math fields, get to delve deep into their studies.
The 115 girls are part of the “Girls Only!” STEM program offered for Explorer, Voyager and Discovery Elementary School fifth-graders. Organized by Nancy McKenzie, the district’s STEM coordinator, girls learn of opportunities in traditionally male-dominated fields. The high-school visit was a followup to an October event when the girls listened to presentations and participated in experiments with female scientists, mathematicians, computer programmers and engineers.
But before they can begin careers, the girls, of course, will take many STEM-related classes. During the fall event, the students showed curiosity and anxiety about high school, McKenzie said.
“What a perfect opportunity to bring them into the high school, show them STEM classrooms and get a feel for what high school looks like,” she said. “A lot of STEM roles are taken up by men, and women are underrepresented in stem roles. We want to give our girls a look-see, and information to continue on and to spark interest.”
According to a 2013 memo from the Executive Office of President Obama, women represented 24 percent of the STEM workforce in 2009. Women earn on average 33 percent more when they work in those high-growth fields compared to other industries.
In the biology classroom, senior Anne Dunbar invited girls to touch a snake coiled around her arm, one of many animals students raise. She plans to go to college for nursing.
“Hopefully today will motivate them to go into project-based science and continue in the field,” Anne said.
It wasn’t long before curiosity turned into excitement about the classes the girls could someday take. Discovery Elementary student Tenaja Aubrey-Sanders proclaimed: “I’ll be here in five-and-a-half years,” to high school teachers.
“I’m excited about taking AP biology, doing experiments and dissecting things,” said Tenaja, who hopes to become an engineer.
She said she’s learned that no job is just for boys.
“Engineering is for girls,” she said. “You don’t have to be judged. You can be you and do what you want to do.”
