There was a lot of chopping, dicing and tossing going on at Valleywood Middle School, where students learn culinary basics — and get to taste the results.
Seventh-grader Arianna Cruz holds up her finished salad
Cooking club, an extracurricular activity that’s been offered to sixth-through-eighth graders for more than a decade, brings students together for an hour and 15 minutes to learn to cook, from food prep to finished dish. “I’m a big believer in making things from scratch,” said instructor Cheryl Meyer, a volunteer who loves to cook for her family. “I really want to empower kids so they can make things from scratch, so they can go to the grocery store, look at a recipe and know they can make anything.”
On a recent afternoon, about a dozen students prepared cabbage ramen noodle salad, each challenged with adding their own flair such as apples to add tang, or carrots and broccoli to create a medley of veggies.
There’s a different recipe each session with fried chicken, gravy and biscuits being among the most popular. Students get to take their dishes home. “I do want the kids to know food is a blessing for their friends and families,” Meyer said.
Eighth-grader Mari’azia Broyles wants to be a baker someday and is thinking about launching a cooking vlog. “I’ve learned how to use knives and things the right way, and what not to do. I like cooking!”
Seventh-grader Zachary Kwekel has a personal goal for the class. “One day I hope to make breakfast for my mom.”
Brookwood Elementary School students were declared official Knights of the Realm for their respectfulness, responsibility, kindness and other traits that follow the Code of Chivalry, a moral system from the Middle Ages.
The declaration – for more than 50 lords and ladies in fifth grade, 15 in fourth-grade and 15 in third grade – was made during a surprise visit from a queen, knights and a lord from Medieval Times, a Schaumburg, Illinois-based dinner theater company.
Brookwood Elementary School social worker Pam Buschle arranged for Medieval Times to perform as a surprise for her students
Students learned sword maneuvers from the eloquent and honorable knights and watched sparks fly as weapons clanged during an action-packed joust.
“I was really looking forward to the red knight winning,” said fourth-grader Colette Banks.
The visit was organized by social worker Pam Buschle, who is planning to retire at the end of the school year after nearly three decades. Buschle, who lost her arms and legs to amputation while batting septic shock following routine surgery in 2014, said she wanted to thank the children for the love they’ve given her on her road to recovery and beyond.
“The students and the staff at this school and all of Kentwood have given so generously from their hearts to me. This is just a small token of my appreciation for the (Brookwood) kids because they have shown such acceptance and compassion for me throughout this journey of losing my hands and my feet.”
Buschle said she sees Kentwood students living by the knight’s Code of Chivalry. “It’s really modeling treating others with kindness and respect and that is consistent with our message at Brookwood of teaching kid to interact with each others with compassion and caring and respect for differences.”
Fifth-grader Ashtyn Coykendall puts on her Medieval Times crown
Each May, fifth-graders take a trip to Chicago for a dinner show at Medieval Times. It’s a 10-year-old tradition younger students look forward to, and a great way to bring history and language arts to life, said Principal Lorenzo Bradshaw. It also gives opportunities to students who normally would not have them.
“We find opportunities to bring curriculum to life and we have a big focus on informational text,” he said. “What better way than to simulate and give kids the opportunity to experience Medieval Times?”
Third-grader Kamryn Kruisenga offered her own words of gratitude to Buschle. “I want to thank her by giving her a hug! I know all the trouble she’s been through.”
In U.S. History teacher Tyler Pettit’s class, ninth-graders formed arguments on the treatment of Japanese Americans during World War II. While students debated, others pulled up information on laptops to support their points and make counterpoints as to whether actions were justified. They sat in a “fish bowl” style, in a circular formation.
A new wide open space with lots of technology made the activity run smoothly, Pettit said. Students gathered in the Collaboration Center, a large wide-open space fully equipped with technology, such as large screens affixed to the walls, a huge screen on the wall of a stage and ample outlets, plus comfy furniture, moveable desks, and breakout rooms. It’s an optimal environment for group work, presentations, skits and instruction that requires movement and engagement, said teachers and students.
“It allows for students to learn how they want to learn. It allows for ownership really; that’s the biggest thing,” Pettit said.
Students say they love the open-space concept in the Collaboration Center at East Kentwood Freshman Campus
“Everything is very cutting edge,” added Principal Andy Kolzow. “It allows students to innovate. It allows teachers to be creative in their lesson planning and create more engaging lessons.
As the facility improvements made possible through a $64.8 million bond passed in November 2015 continue to take shape, the district is coming together – literally – in big, open spaces at all 16 schools and the Kentwood Administration Building, 5820 Eastern Ave. SE.
“One of the centerpieces of the bond was for each school have a Collaboration Center,” said Superintendent Mike Zoerhoff.
Collaboration Centers were built over the past two years at several schools including Valleywood and Crestwood middle schools, East Kentwood High School and Freshman Campus and Glenwood, Bowen and Explorer elementary schools. All will be built by 2021. At the elementary level, the centers serve as redesigned media centers blending features of a traditional library with the collaboration-center concept.
Zoerhoff said technology in the centers will be kept up to date, with bond money set aside to replenish equipment and devices.
Students are enjoying the spaces for many subjects and uses. “It’s not a classroom, and that helps because we are so used to being in a classroom seven hours a day,” said freshman Sylvia Shaver. “It’s nice to be in an open space with comfy seating.”
“I like being in here because it’s bigger and it’s not like being in a box,” added freshman Madison Rogers.
Tables, desk and other seating areas allow students to collaborate easily
A Community Hub
While students are using Collaboration Centers for academic purpose, a space under construction with plans to open in January at the Administration Building will bring together community groups. It will be a venue available for rent, with space for 50 to 100 people to meet, use technology, and have another connection to the schools.
“Kentwood Public Schools is a hub for the community and surrounding communities.
We love to have our facilities used because the taxpayers paid for them,” Zoerhoff said.
He envisions it as space for government and business partners to meet and as a professional development hub for teachers. “We appreciate the community support and want to make sure we are a community school and share these facilities with the surrounding community.”
Check out School News Network for more stories about students, schools, and faculty in West Michigan.
All five public school districts in the Wyoming and Kentwood areas have school board elections on Nov. 6. Of those districts, only two have contested races, Godwin Heights and Wyoming. School board elections will be towards the end of the ballot.
Godfrey-Lee Public Schools
There are two candidates seeking six-year terms, which are incumbents Eric Mockerman and Jacklyn Hernandez. Josephine Coleman was appointed by the board in May to fill a seat vacated by Rebecca Kibbe until the election. Coleman is seeking to fill the remainder of that seat’s term, which ends in 2022. All of these candidates are running unopposed.
Godwin Heights Public Schools
There are four candidates seeking to fill three seats on the Godwin Heights Public Schools Board of Education. These seats are all six-year terms. Two of the candidates are incumbents, David Drake, who was elected in 2013, and Richard Hamilton, Jr., who was elected in 2017. There are two challengers, Joseph Januska and David Rodriguez. All candidates were contacted and invited to participate in sharing their message to the voters.
Joseph Januszka – Candidate
Occupation: Retired
Why did you decide to seek election to the Godwin Heights Public Schools Board of Education?
My interest in the schools and what I have been seeing has been growing the past 11 years. I owned and ran a small business which I believe gave me great insight into financial aspects of doing this. I believe this strong financial background will help me analyze and make decisions on the budgeting and spending that the school board oversees in the district.
If elected, what issues do you want to focus on and why?
I am a father and grandfather to five beautiful grandchildren. The youth of today is the future of our country. Education can not be wasted. Students today – leaders tomorrow. Our children need to learn the true history of our country, both the good and the bad, while also learning to respect it as well as everyone they encounter throughout their lives. They need to learn to live by rules and laws everyone of us are required to. I believe all this will help our students to learn and live side by side with their peers.
Kelloggsville Public Schools
For Kelloggsville Public Schools, incumbents Jane Ward and Donald Scott are seeking re-election to the board. The two spots each are for six-years. The candidates are running unopposed.
The district is also seeking a $19.2 million bond issue. The bond would be a continuation of the current bond. The current millage rate is 7.32. The issue will appear at the bottom of the ballot and is part of a long-term plan to update and modernize the district’s elementary schools, according to school officials. The bond cannot exceed 30 years.
Kentwood Public Schools
There are three seats, all four-year terms, up for the Kentwood Public Schools Board of Education. Three incumbents, all running unopposed, are seeking re-election to those seats: Pete Battey, Sylvia A. James, and James Lewis Jr.
Wyoming Public Schools
For the Wyoming Public Schools, there are two six-year board seats with three candidates running, non of whom are incumbents. The candidates are Adriana Almanza, Brian D. Jirous, and Jennifer Lewis. All candidates were contacted and invited to participate in sharing their message to the voters.
Brian Jirous – Candidate
Occupation: AT&T Mobility Technician
Why did you decide to seek election to the Wyoming Public Schools Board of Education?
I decided to run for the school board to be able to help involve the community as a whole. I would like to be a voice for the community on the school board by bringing their issues to the board so they can be addressed. I would like to see more people attend the school board meetings and I think by having an open line of communication we can involve more people.
If elected, what issues do you want to focus on and why?
The main issue I will focus on is community involvement. I believe community involvement is the one thing that can help this district grow to be even better then it is now. The more people we can communicate with whether it is simply answering questions timely or getting them volunteer opportunities to connect with other families it will build a stronger district. I have started working on thie already by developing the Wyoming Public Schools Community facebook page but I would also like to set up round table discussions to help resolve other issues that may come up as well.
Jennifer Lewis – Candidate
Occupation: AT&T Mobility Technician
Why did you decide to seek election to the Wyoming Public Schools Board of Education?
I’ve wanted to run for many years. The timing is just right. I have the time to focus on our Wyoming kids.
If elected, what issues do you want to focus on and why?
Many residents may remember me from when I was campaigning for the dedicated millage for our schools. The community invested in our schools and children by passing that millage. That dedicated millage plan is a good plan and I want to make sure that the plan is well executed. I also want our kids to be successful and I want to be a part of helping them to achieve that.
In art, teacher Adrienne DeMilner’s classroom, a ’60s era-themed mural is taking shape, with far-out events, peace-loving beatniks and iconic locales coming together through painted expressions of the groovy decade.
A dreamy Bob Dylan sits inside the thought bubble of a head-banded hippie. Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks and Malcolm X appear on what could be interpreted as the road to progress.
The Civil Rights Movement, the Vietnam War, space navigation and popular culture are all memorialized. But an addition is needed, DeMilner and her students decide. Aretha Franklin, the Queen of Soul who died Aug. 16, will soon croon from the canvas.
The mural is not just a righteous art project, but a visual history to be used by social studies teachers at East Kentwood Freshman Campus, where DeMilner has worked for 15 years. “I think it’s going to excite kids and make them think more deeply about what happened during that era,” she said.
Her students have also created a World War 1 mural connecting major events to artistic imagery.
“I love social studies. I love learning about history. I don’t think we would know as much about history if it wasn’t for art,” she said.
It’s a statement that shows how DeMilner connects art to everything, a reason she was named both 2018 Michigan Art Educator of the Year and Secondary Art Teacher of the Year by the Michigan Art Education Association.
She will receive the awards at the MAEA fall conference in October in Kalamazoo, and a state award at the 2019 National Art Education Association convention in March in Boston.
Sophomore Kaitlyn McNally paints the ’60s-themed mural in Adrienne DeMilner’s classroom
Making School ‘Artful’
DeMilner opens students’ eyes to the presence of art in history, science, nature, literature and just about everything else. In the school courtyard, her students have added wooden Michigan fish among the native plants; in forensics class, they painted a crime scene, detailing a shoe store forever marred by murder; and in the FIRST Robotics room, they’ve made the landscape of wheels and gears pop with color.
“Making things artful” aligns with the way students best engage, said DeMilner, who teaches Introduction to Art, Drawing and Sculpture and, beyond that, leads a weekly after-school Art Club for students who want extra art.
Many English-language learners attend the district and benefit from learning English through pictures. But, really, all students can use art to learn about other subjects, DeMilner said, noting, “Sixty-five percent of the population are visual learners.”
Sophomore art student Daylona Jackson, who is in Art Club, agreed.
“Some people are definitely visual learners and it really helps to have murals like this,” Daylona said. “Some people like to join Art Club because of these murals and to learn the history and what we’re doing. … It brings the school together.
Art teacher Adrienne DeMilner explains how forensics students investigate a crime scene, enhanced through art
Art Aids Academics
Science teacher Nicholas Bihler has seen the cross-curricular impact DeMilner brings to the school. The two worked on a project with Groundswell, an initiative through Grand Valley State University, creating a rain mitigation garden to capture water runoff and hold it in the soil with native plants. Wooden fish and a painted bench were among DeMilner’s students’ contributions.
“Adrienne reaches out, not only for students, but teachers as well,” Bihler said. “She seeks ways to bring in art and enrich our lives. Art is one of those components that heighten things, that gets us to look at things differently. Science with the absence of art is not as beautiful.”
DeMilner’s students have also created a mural of a world map, which hangs in the cafeteria. Students from dozens of nations have put their thumbprints in white paint and their initials on their home countries. DeMilner often sees them touch their spots as they wait in the lunch line. “There’s a lot of pride in that,” she said.
She’s also involves students in community art projects. They’ve painted murals at Hamilton Early Childhood Center, Bowen Elementary and Kentwood Public Library.
“She is the best art teacher I’ve ever had,” said sophomore Kaitlyn McNally, also an Art Club member. She recalled how DeMilner submitted one of her pieces for display at the Grand Rapids Art Museum. “She just livens the place up and teaches in a unique way. It makes it memorable.”
The ‘60s were a time of intense global affairs
Molding Minds Through Art
Teaching art is a second career for DeMilner, who grew up in Detroit. She was a graphic artist who worked freelance and stayed home with her three sons.
She realized the need to volunteer as an art teacher in Grand Rapids Public Schools 21 years ago when the elementary art curriculum was greatly reduced. But she wasn’t interested in just leading little art projects. DeMilner taught students about masters of the past, like Picasso, Rembrandt and Monet. “I knew what I would like my sons to get from an art experience and what I thought was important.”
Volunteering led her to enroll in Aquinas College for an art education degree and, from there, she discovered her passion for making art accessible to all. She began working in Kentwood Public Schools in 2000 at Explorer Elementary before moving to the Freshman Campus in 2003.
DeMilner’s main goal is to unleash the artist in her students, and provide an outlet for self-discovery. “I think there’s an artist in everyone and I feel like I’m freeing that creative spirit when they are in my classroom,” she said.
She sees students build confidence and skills. Art Club is a fit for some students that don’t find one elsewhere.
“You’ve got kids who are not athletes and there is nothing else for them after school,” she said. “A lot of artists are shy. It’s all about them getting together with like-minded people.”
Editor’s Note: This is only the comments from students in the Wyoming and Kentwood area. For the complete story, click here.
It’s become an annual ritual. Each fall the state releases results of the M-STEP, the state-required standardized test taken by Michigan students to gauge their proficiency in reading, math, social studies and science. And each fall educators, parents and pundits wring their hands over why students aren’t doing better.
Rather than go back to the same hand-wringing sources, we decided to ask the people most directly affected by these tests: the students who take them. How do they feel about these tests, and how could the tests be improved?
Adults, listen up: Maybe they can teach you something.
Kelloggsville Middle School
Gianna Turnbull
Gianna Turnbull, sixth-grader
Gianna dreams of being a baker someday. She recalls taking the M-STEP last year.
“I was anxious,” she said. “Some of the questions on the math test were confusing. I felt like I was gonna fail.”
Gianna said she took the M-STEP “very seriously. I sat at a desk where nobody could distract me.”
She wasn’t sure how the test will help students, but suspects it could help predict what kinds of things they could do in the future. Despite not enjoying the experience, Gianna said, “I think students should take the test so the state knows what the school’s teaching you.”
Jonathan Mubake
Jonathan Mubake, sixth-grader
When he sat for the M-STEP, “I was messed up!” Jonathan said. “My brain was somewhere else. …. It was like two computers (were) connected to me! I was trying to read (the page) as fast as I can, but it’s 10 paragraphs long!”
He said social studies was the hardest topic for him.
“I was exhausted, my head hurt, and my feet were wobbly,” he said, from his foot shaking out of nervousness. “I was ready to eat my food and go outside and go play. I was just ready for that, until I had to go back into the room and do the whole thing over again.
Jonathan would like five weeks’ notice to prepare for future standardized tests.
“I would prepare mentally. I would eat a perfect breakfast in the morning, get ready for school, make sure I had the right clothing on — not uncomfortable — so it’s not too tight for me to do my thing. I would go to sleep at … I would say 8, so I get enough rest.”
Crestwood Middle School, Kentwood
Kamau Brame
Kamau Brame, seventh-grader
Kamau said M-STEP tests give students an idea of how they are doing in different subjects, but sometimes the process gets a bit complicated.
“I don’t particularly look forward to them, but I don’t mind doing them. They aren’t too tedious. The teachers know what you already know and what you need to go over more.”
Math is hardest for him. “I find some questions super-easy and some I have no idea what to start with. … Once you get a few questions right you start getting really hard ones, and you kind of stress out because you know you’re not getting those right.”
He sees testing as helpful for later grades, with the “big-test SAT and ACT and all that. It gets you used to having to prep for tests and taking them under pressure.” But he’d like to spend less time on setup. “I would change all the stuff you have to do before each test. … It’s like a long process signing in and all that.”
The atmosphere at school can be a bit tense during testing, he said. “Last year some other grades told us how bad it was. … The anticipation is the worst.”
Erna Kljaic-Dugalic
Erna Kljaic-Dugalic, seventh-grader
Erna said she mostly takes the testing in stride.
“I don’t mind the M-STEP, but I don’t get stressed out about it. I usually finish early because I don’t second-guess myself.”
But math can be a bit hard on her nerves, because it “starts easy and then gets harder and harder. It doesn’t really stress me out, but it makes me feel like I’m set up for failure. I also get really tired from looking at the screen.”
She looks at test results as a way to think about what kind of job she’d be good at. “I do think it does help with your career because it shows your strengths.”
That said, she would definitely change the length.
“I understand that it’s long for a reason, but I would like it if it was a little bit shorter, maybe like two days, because sometimes it can take up a week for some kids to finish it. I’d like it to be shorter so we have more time for other things at school.”
Alana Biley
Alana Biley, sixth-grader
Overall, M-STEP isn’t too bad, Alana says.
“I don’t mind it because it helps you to know what level you’re on and you won’t be on things that are too easy or too hard.”
However, it does make her nervous. “I’m just like, ‘Oh gosh!’ I get butterflies in my stomach like a week before.”
She’d feel better with more preparation.
“I would probably want a pre-test to get you ready for it.”
Volunteers help Bowen Elementary School first-grader Peng Thang get fitted, while fifth-grader Rosung, 3-year-old Scofield and father Titus enjoy the moment
Hundreds of parents with their kindergarten through fourth-grade students gathered recently at In the Image, a clothing and furniture ministry at 1823 S. Division Ave. in Grand Rapids, to receive a free pair of new back-to-school shoes. In the Image’s annual “Shoes Help Our Elementary Students” program put shoes on the feet of 1,700 students from more than 39 elementary schools this year. Qualifying schools, which have a high percentage of low-income students, included Kentwood, Grand Rapids, Godfrey-Lee, Godwin Heights and Wyoming schools.
Reading and traveling are favorite hobbies of Justin Mathes, new Valleywood principal. He also always sports a long, full beard
By Erin Albanese
School News Network
Justin Mathes began in education by tutoring youth at various schools, now the new Valleywood Middle School Principal.
What and where was your previous job? I was middle-school assistant principal at Knapp Charter Academy.
Degrees: I have a bachelor of arts in elementary education and master’s in educational leadership from Grand Valley State University.
Other positions you have held in education: I taught sixth grade (all subjects), seventh- and eighth-grade history, and was middle-school assistant principal at Ridge Park Charter Academy.
How about jobs outside education? I worked retail at MC Sports.
New Valleywood Principal Justin Mathes looks for good teen-level books
Besides getting to know the staff and families, what are you most looking forward to as principal here? I look forward to working with the staff on growth and proficiency for our students and working to increase parental involvement to take advantage of parents’ skills. A lot of parents have skills I don’t have and I’d love to get them into the building!
What kind of kid were you at the age of students at this new school? I was very quiet. I rarely did homework. I didn’t really participate in school much. I attended because it was compulsory. I probably missed over 100 days during my high-school career. Once I got a car, it was easy to turn left instead of right (the opposite direction of school). It was shocking to people who knew me to learn I was going into education, and it still is shocking to them to know I am leading a building!
So, what led you to go from not liking school to becoming an educator? I went to college at Iowa State University for three weeks, attended zero classes, and my mom pulled me out. I got a job in retail, but realized that wasn’t what I wanted to do with my life. The person who is now my wife encouraged me to volunteer, tutoring youth at various schools. That led me to go into education.
I fell in love with middle school! I think it’s that the fact that I didn’t love school and I can talk to them about that. I want to intervene before they get to that point of missing 100 days of school and withdrawing from high school.
Spouse: Tricia Mathes, assistant principal for Grand Rapids Public Museum School
New Valleywood Principal Justin Mathes finds Stargirl, a favorite book, on the media center shelves
Hobbies/Interests: Traveling and reading. My wife and I have the exact same job schedule, which allows us to take some lengthy trips. Favorite trips are anywhere I’ve been to in Mexico, including Huatulco and Puerto Vallarta.
I read primarily young adult fiction so I can keep up with what the kids are reading, and horror.
What inspires you, both in your educational role and in your own life? It’s working with kids. All of the paperwork will be here after the kids leave. I want to be in classrooms, in the hallway, in the cafeteria, talking with them. If I wanted to do paperwork I would have gone into accounting.
What makes you laugh (we bet you’ll say kids – what else?) Middle school humor. My wife would say I haven’t grown up past age 13 or 14. That’s why I get along with the kids so well.
What would people be surprised to learn about you? I really disliked school and I had no idea I would be in charge of one 23 years later.
Tell us about a non-professional book you recommend and why: Stargirl, by Jerry Spinelli
Kentwood Public Schools and the Michigan Center for Civic Education are offering a free summer workshop/camp on Aug. 6-8 focused on civic learning, current events and the Constitution. The camp will be held at the East Kentwood Freshman Campus.
The workshop is open to students entering fifth through 12th grades (in the case of overwhelming interest, priority will be given to Kentwood students). Teachers and community members are also encouraged to attend, with State Continuing Education Clock Hours available for teachers as well as resources for classroom teaching.
Students and staff will be given an overview of essential skills in civic education, including a mock trial, Constitutional knowledge, research, speaking, public policy, and advocacy. Students will delve deeper into one area of study and experience it firsthand, and will have an opportunity to work with mentors. The camp will culminate in a showcase of solutions to student-identified issues.
Kelloggsville Public Schools woke up to good news this morning as voters approved a $19.2 million millage request that will construct a new third-, fourth-, fifth-grade building in the district.
The millage was approved with 2,318 yes votes to 1,535 no votes. The millage is actually a continuation of an existing millage. The school’s current millage rate is 7.32.
Kent County also received good news as its proposal, Ready by 5, passed with 142,875 yes votes to 109,513 no votes. The proposal is a 0.25 mill property tax levy that would provide an estimated $5.7 million a year to agencies and programs that support early childhood development programs.
For other city, county, and state election results, click here.
As for board of education elections, there were only two districts that had contested races: Godwin Heights Public Schools and Wyoming Public Schools.
In Godwin Heights, the top three vote getters will join the board. Newcomer David Rodriguez was the top vote getter with 1,847 followed by incumbents David Drake (1,564 votes) and Richard Hamilton Jr. (1,493 votes). Joseph Januska received 1,158 votes.
Wyoming’s Board of Education had one candidate and two write-in candidates running for two six-year term positions. Candidate Brian D. Jirous had 9,255 votes. The two write-in candidates are Adriana Almanza and Jennifer Lewis. Write-ins have to be counted by hand. School officials said they are waiting for the county to count the ballots and should know the results within two weeks.
School Board elections that were unopposed were:
Godfrey Lee Public Schools Board of Education (2 Seats)
Kacklyn Hernandez 1,144
Eric Mockerman 857
Godfrey Lee Public Schools Board of Education partial term ending in 2022 (1 Seat)
Eighth-grader Chandler Baillie pulled invasive weeds, preparing to plant native flowers in a swath of land bisecting the Steelcase parking lot, which she and classmates are transforming into green infrastructure.
“Stuff that gets into the water, when it goes into this (bioswale), it isn’t going to go into the storm drains and contaminate our water systems,” Chandler said.
Chandler Baillie clears brush from the green space
Crestwood Middle School students spent a recent sunny Friday creating a natural space that keeps neighboring waterways clean and free of sediment. They lifted rocks, filled in eroded areas, and planted purple coneflower, swamp milkweed, New England Aster, little bluestem and other flowers with long, strong root systems. They are creating an area where water runoff from the Kentwood-based company’s parking lot will be absorbed.
Fifty-five seventh- and eighth-graders from the school’s P.E.A.K.S. gifted and talented program are creating the bioswale, which includes landscape elements that stop the flow of debris and pollution to nearby waterways. The young conservationists are working in partnership with Groundswell, a program through the Grand Valley State University College of Education, which is funding the project over five years.
Emma Kovacevic clears debris
Sixth-graders in P.E.A.K.S. are also creating a rain garden in their schoolyard. Students harvested seeds from the rain garden to bring to Steelcase.
The school and Steelcase are located in the Buck Creek watershed, which flows to the Grand River and into Lake Michigan. Preserving the water from contaminants is key, students said. Groundswell works to create stewards of the Grand River watershed and Great Lakes by working with schools and companies on projects that protect the waterways.
“This is a place where waters coming from the parking lot and it’s filling into the ground,” said P.E.A.K.S teacher Bobbie Fletcher, noting that many people do not realize storm drains funnel water directly to creeks and streams.
“We are using native plants with deep roots and they can actually help filter out some of the pollutants from the river or our watershed,” said Rebecca Marquardt, landscape architect and place-based education consultant for Groundswell.
Check out School News Network for more stories about students, schools, and faculty in West Michigan.
The three sisters, refugees from Rwanda, share experiences good and bad about getting used to life in America: Making friends was difficult; American food was hard to get used to; and being part of two cultures can be conflicting, they tell younger peers, for whom they tutor and provide translation.
They also tell them ways to have a successful future, like going to college, working hard and being respectful.
The girls, Jacqueline Uwimeza and Yvonne Uwimana, a freshman and junior at East Kentwood High School, respectively; and Chantal Uwimana, a seventh grader at Crestwood Middle School, devote their Monday evenings to volunteering at the Learning Café , a place where volunteers of all ages mentor African refugee children and adults at 235 Sheldon Blvd. SE, next to St. Andrew’s Cathedral.
They say they are giving back in ways others gave to them. Seven years ago, the girls arrived in the U.S. unable to speak English and unfamiliar with American culture.
From left, Jacqueline Uwimeza, Lucie Uwimbabz, Clemence Akimana and Chantal Uwimana have fun at the Learning Café
They now speak English fluently, are excelling in school, and tutoring, translating and interpreting for other refugee children who speak Kinyarwanda and go to schools in Grand Rapids, Kentwood and other districts.
“It gives you a feeling like you are important,” Jacqueline said. “It feels like you are giving back. A lot of people helped us, and sometimes you don’t feel like you are doing enough to help others, but with this, it makes you feel like you are paying back and paying it forward.”
The center bustles with laughter, singing and children chatting, busy with school work and academic activities. The sisters are there to help, and encourage the students to learn all they can in English and school, while holding onto their African culture. Devout Catholics, the girls also help tutor and translate for adults after church on Sundays.
Yvonne Uwimana helps Yvonne Mahoro
Home in Refugee Camp
The sisters remember life in a refugee camp in Rwanda, where they were born. They jumped rope, played with rocks, picked fruit from the forest, sang, danced, went to school and fetched wood and water. It was home.
“Because we were kids, we didn’t know about the conflict,” Jacqueline said. “It’s a different story for the parents. For us it was fun. It’s all we knew.”
“It was a good place,” added Yvonne.
The girls were shielded from the conflicts that led their family members to flee to the camp. They still have only general knowledge of the first Congo War and other conflicts that displaced people in the region.
Still, they couldn’t believe their luck seven years ago when they were chosen through an immigration lottery to move to the U.S. with their mother and grandmother.
“It was like paradise, to be honest,” Jacqueline said. “The refugees would always tell us about America, so it was a dream come true. We never thought it would happen to us, because it happens to very few people. But as we got older we started to miss where we came from.
From left, Florence Mukashyaka gets a little help from Yvonne Uwimana
A Knock at the Door
After arriving in the U.S., they moved into an apartment in Grand Rapids, and started the journey of becoming acclimated to the U.S., going to school and learning English. But it was intimidating and scary, they said, starting over in a whole new world.
“It was a challenge for our mom to learn how to drive and take care of all of us and work,” said Yvonne, who remembered her mother, Claudette Nyrasafari, would leave for work at 4:30 a.m., return in the evening and then attend English-language classes.
One winter day, someone knocked at their door, but they recalled being afraid to answer. The knock came again and again, until finally, the girls’ mother opened it to find Lisa McManus, co-founder of the Learning Café. She had learned about the family from neighbors.
McManus soon connected them with resources such as clothes, furniture, English tutoring and other help navigating life in Michigan.
Yvonne also needed medical attention. When she arrived in the U.S. she was deaf, due to an infection that had damaged her eardrums. She learned English by reading lips, and underwent several surgeries. She now hears well.
Chantal also has overcome speech difficulties.
The sisters have big dreams for the future: Yvonne hopes to become a surgeon. Jacqueline is interested in everything from medicine to law to public service. Chantal also wants to go into the medical field.
“I’m very proud of these girls. They are very smart girls,” McManus said. “They are wonderful role models because they were where the other kids are. They’ve done it. They’ve been able to be successful.”
She continued: “They have very strong belief in their the ability to do things, make things happen. They know how to work really hard. That is very good for the other kids to see. From a tutoring standpoint, they are able to communicate. It’s not just about speaking another language; it’s understanding what the other person needs because they’ve been in their shoes.”
Yvonne said she wants fellow refugees to be brave, to believe in themselves.
“I want to encourage the people who came from Africa to not be afraid,” she said. “If they need help, ask a teacher. Don’t be afraid of anything.”
Check out School News Network for more stories about students, schools, and faculty in West Michigan.
Fifth-grader Javar Lowe bounced a mini-basketball off the cafeteria wall and watched it rebound into a makeshift hoop, an empty trash can. “I made it!” he shouted, a huge open-mouthed grin spreading across his face.
Fourth-grader Kaden Thomas retrieves a basketball from a makeshift hoop, an empty trash can
Greg Smolka cheered along, ready to take his shot. The purchasing manager at Walther-Trowal, a machinery manufacturer in Kentwood, was spending 30 minutes mentoring Javar, just as he does every Friday.
Smolka and six co-workers, including Ken Raby, vice president and general manager of U.S. operations for Walther-Trowal, are “Friday Friends” at Discovery, each week, mentoring seven Discovery Elementary School students whom teachers have selected to take part in the one-on-one mentorship opportunity.
Ken Raby, whose wife, Betsy, is a paraprofessional at Discovery, said he was inspired to bring the majority of his staff on Friday mornings to invest in community children. He hopes to continue the program next school year. The Rabys previously helped connect mentors to Kentwood schools through Kids Hope.
“This is not a team-building organization. This is about mentoring kids,” Raby said.
Employees, who are away from work for a full hour, spend 10 minutes on academics with their students using math flash cards, reading or finishing worksheets, before spending the final 20 minutes just having fun: playing board games, shooting trash can hoops or launching a football across the cafeteria.
Purchasing Manager Greg Smolka takes a shot
For Smolka, it’s time well spent. “I grew up homeless for 12 years of my life,” he said. “If it hadn’t been for people like this who mentored me, I don’t think I’d be here today.”
Javar said he’s learned about Smolka by spending time with him. “He’s responsible and takes care of himself. When I grow up I’m going to choose something I’m good at and not be someone who’s bad.”
Customer service representative Molly Hensch sat on the floor with Nadia Mutoni, a Young Fives student, who was busy identifying letters on flash cards and eating cheese crackers. “She’s fun,” Nadia said of her mentor. “We play together. We do our letters.”
“I love it,” Hensch said about mentoring Nadia. “It’s wonderful. I think more employers need to do this.”
Check out School News Network for more stories about students, schools, and faculty in West Michigan.
In Endeavor Elementary School teacher Sheree Bos’ third-grade classroom, students gathered in a living room-style area on futons, pillows and beanbags to talk about how they treat each other and what they need to focus on more.
Student Brooklynn Issa, the week’s teacher’s assistant, led the “family meeting,” reviewing expectations, as outlined on their social contract — a large sheet of paper written on in children’s handwriting of various sizes — with her peers. “Be organized. … Be more accountable. … We should tell the truth,” students said.
Discussion continued after Brooklynn suggested they revisit voice levels in the hallway and talk about what they are doing well. Students answered, “I’m sharing my markers, pens and colored pencils”; “When someone’s talking to other people we don’t talk over them.”
To wrap things up, they chose a focus for the day, something the 8- and 9-year-olds had noticed needs attention. “I think we are doing well on taking turns and I think we should really focus on no put-downs,” said Kimani Belcher.
The class agreed.
About 2 ½ miles away at Challenger Elementary School, third-graders in teacher Heather Cobb’s class wrote down compliments — or affirmations as they call them — about classmates, with everybody giving and receiving one.
“Dear Janiyah, I think you have a really kind heart because when I ask you if I can play with you, you always say ‘yes’ and I have seen you help lots of kids,” read a note to Janiyah Brown from Gisselle Lopez-Zuniga.
Students shared statements face-to-face, taking a small slice of the school day to help each other feel good. About receiving the note, Janiyah said she was “really happy” and, about sharing one with classmate Smile Biswa, “It makes me feel wonderful and proud.”
Challenger student Erica Lemus writes an affirmation for a classmate
Hearts Have Been Captured
From all appearances, Endeavor and Challenger students not only have their heads in the game at school, but their hearts as well.
For the past 12 years, Kentwood Public Schools has gotten students involved in creating classroom expectations, sharing affirmative words and getting to know each other on deeper levels by sharing good news – something positive in a student’s life – to start the day on a positive note. The district uses the Capturing Kids’ Hearts model to reach students in ways that build relationships, improve climate and culture and boost attendance and academic performance.
Endeavor and Challenger are both recipients of the Capturing Kids’ Hearts National Showcase Schools Award for this school year, from the The Flippen Group, the consulting group that developed Capturing Kids’ Hearts. Flippen Group representatives visited nominated schools to assess their implementation of the program and improvements in attendance, discipline, climate and culture or academics. In total, 123 schools received the award, including eight in Michigan.
All Kentwood teachers are trained in the program using a model called EXCEL, which stands for engage, explore, communicate, empower and launch. Turns out, teachers empowering students leads to students empowering each other.
All classrooms at both schools develop social contracts and educators meet all students at the door, greeting each one with a fist bump, handshake or hug.
Challenger student Angelic Pascat reads kind words written about her
Principals See Results
The program works, said Mark Bea, who has served as Endeavor principal for 3 ½ years and was Challenger Elementary principal for 7 ½.
“It’s because it’s directly tied to our vision and mission,” Bea said. “It is our mission to inspire a passion and productive future story for every child, no matter what. We recognize in order to accomplish that mission for every child, everything has to be rooted in relationships. Relationships form the foundation of everything we do.”
Challenger Principal Teressa Gatz said the program has created an environment of “happy kids,” who are greeted several times before the school day even begins. They have the opportunity to share special parts of their lives and are each recognized as part of making school a great place to be.
“Kids know that you care and when they know you care and believe in them, they put in so much effort and they respond,” Gatz said.
Endeavor third-grader Chloe Nguyen explains Capturing Kids’ Hearts in her own way. “It helps us be like living in a big, happy, third-grade family,” she said.
A quote from Flip Flippen hangs in the Endeavor Elementary School office
Superintendent Michael Zoerhoff re-energized the program when he became superintendent four years ago.
“Our goal has always been to ensure that our campuses are emotionally and physically safe places for students,” Zoerhoff said in a press release. “When strong relationships are built, students, staff and parents come alive with a love for learning. You cannot capture a kid’s mind until you have first captured their hearts.”
Bos runs her third-grade classroom at Endeavor with Capturing Kids’ Hearts ingrained into everything she does.
“It started out as being something I just did, but now it’s something I’ve become,” she said. “I’m engaging. I’m exploring. I’m communicating. I’m empowering. I’m launching. This is something that has become a part of me now.”
Ania Powell can relate to Akeelah Anderson challenges of stepping out of your comfort zone in “Akeelah and the Bee,” Grand Rapids Civic Theater’s upcoming children’s production.
“I always wanted to act,” said the East Kentwood High School 11th grader during a recent interview. “So I decided you’ve got to start somewhere. So let’s see how it goes.”
Her starting point was auditioning for the Civic production, which will run April 20 – 29, and landing the role of Ratchet Rhonda, a schoolmate of Akeelah.
“I was really surprised and excited,” Powell said of landing her first role at Civic Theatre. “There were 60 or more people who auditioned and about 12 were called back, so that was pretty exciting as well.”
Actually Powell is one of a half of dozen new faces to Civic Theatre in the “Akeelah” production which also reunites actors from the 2017 Civic production of “Ragtime,” including Eddie Stephens, Marissa Baty, Micah Mcdonald, Dona Curry, and Michael Travis.
Also new to Civic is guest director Dwandra Nickole Lampkin, associate professor of theatre and director of Multicultural Theatre at Western Michigan University.
“I don’ always jump at the opportunity to direct…I’m an actor first,” Lampkin said. “But in talking with Allyson Paris, associate director at Civic Theatre and co-director for ‘Akeelah,’ I realized this project was something bigger than myself. I thought, here is a theater that wants to commit a spot in their season to a show with a different perspective (both culturally and racially). I not only wanted, but needed to be a part of that. I thought, ‘if Civic Theatre is making this commitment, how can I not?’”
“Akeelah and the Bee,” based off the 2006 film starring Keke Palmer, Laurence Fishburne and Angela Bassett, tells the story of 11-year-old spelling enthusiast Akeelah Anderson. She must overcome many obstacles including her neighborhood in South Los Angeles, the prejudice of those she is competing against along with those of her friends and family, and finally her own self doubts to land a spot and participate in the Scripps National Spelling Bee.
Powell said she can understand the challenges Akeelah faced. To be able to participate in the Scripps National Spelling Bee, Akeelah had to make a lot of sacrifices, Powell said, and to be part of a production such as “Akeelah and the Bee,” Powell had to make some tough choices as well.
“I learned that you have to be very committed to to a production,” Powell said about being in the show. “I usually play softball in the spring for school but I gave that up in order to focus on the show.”
Marissa Baty as Gail Anderson, Blessing Ouding as Akeelah, and Eddie Stephens as Dr. Larabee
Rehearsals for a show are almost daily which means a lot of time at Civic Theatre and Powell said learning lines and really getting to know her character has been a challenge.
“Akeelah went through a lot of stuff to accomplish what she wanted and she didn’t it let her stop her,” Powell said. “That inspires me as well.”
And Powell believes that “Akeelah” can inspire others to step outside of their comfort zone and try new things like she did.
“I would tell people that this show is about not being afraid to take that step outside of the box because you never know what it is going be like or if you will ever have the chance to do it again,” Powell said.
“Akeelah and the Bee” is April 20-29 at Grand Rapids Civic Theatre, 30 N. Division Ave. The show is recommended for 5th graders and older. Show times are 7:30 p.m. Thursday – Saturday with 2 p.m matinees on Saturday and Sunday. Tickets are $16-$10. For more information about the show or to purchase tickets, call 616-222-6650 or visit www.grct.org.
A drop of water can go along way and pick up a lot on its journey. Kentwood’s Valleywood Middle School students learned this while examining what’s in the water from wells in Byron Center, Rockford, Caledonia, Wayland, Kentwood and other area municipalities, as well as in tap water from their schools and homes.
Seventh-graders watched water brought in by science teacher Michael Faber turning colors, testing positive for iron and copper, and indicating pH levels as they shook up vials.
Students identified different minerals present in well versus tap water, noting the “hardness” of well water, and learned about how contaminants can have an identifiable source or come from runoff.
“It’s important we know what’s in the water so we are drinking healthy water,” said seventh-grader Alija Nukisic.
The science lab in Faber’s class provided a glimpse of what’s in area groundwater as students thought about impacts of human water usage and pollution. For World Water Day March 22, they discussed water supplies around the world and its scarcity.
Seven-grader T.J. Scott tests a sample while Saurab Pradhan, behind him, and Adan Moran watch for results.
Water Flows Through Classes
The lab was part of seventh graders’ extensive “Water is Life” study, a project-based learning cross-curricular unit, planned by English teacher Jane Van Hof. Students have also studied the watershed in Africa and read the book, “A Long Walk to Water,” by Linda Sue Park, about the Lost Boys of Sudan. They wrote research papers on “How does human activity influence water sustainability?”
They heard presentations from local experts including John Gorney, city of Kentwood Public Works director; Joanna Allerhand, environmental scientist from Groundswell; and Mike Roon, who is retired from the city of Wyoming and has built water systems in Ecuador.
The study will end with a field trip to the Grand Rapids Public Museum to see the Water’s Extreme Journey exhibit.
Faber’s class discussed contamination and pollution, as seen in Flint with lead and the Rockford area with PFAS recently. Seventh-grader Chad Horrell said it’s important to think about what’s in the water they drink and be aware of pollutants. “It could harm us health-wise and mentally,” he said.
Seventh-grader Amari Taylor pours a water sample into a vial
“What happened in Flint was they had too much lead in their water and that caused people to get sick,” added seventh-grader Natalee Redd.
Students said they found differences in unsoftened well water and tap water when it came to mineral content. “It’s way foggier than tap water,” Chad said.
Check out School News Network for more stories about students, schools, and faculty in West Michigan.
Figuring out who stole Jerrell’s iPad might not sound like a STEM activity. You’re wrong. It is.
Area middle school students took on the case at the “Falling in Love with STEM” annual event sponsored by The West Michigan chapter of the Association for Women in Science.
About 50 students recently took part in the event at Grand Rapids Community College and Grand Valley State University, giving students hands-on experience with projects related to science, technology, engineering and math.
To solve the make-believe theft problem, students tested pretzels, peanut butter, jelly, yogurt and beans for organic compounds to see which type of food residue was left on the device.
At a makeshift laboratory in a GRCC classroom, they put on lab goggles then went to work pouring iodine into beakers (testing for carbohydrates); rubbing food on brown pieces of test paper (testing for lipids); and adding 20 drops of Biuret reagent (whatever that is) into beakers (testing for proteins).
Their tests showed the substance on the book was peanut butter, so peanut-butter-loving Bruce was the one who pilfered Jerrell’s iPad in the make-believe scenario.
Other stations at the event taught students how to identify fossil hash, try a prosthetic claw, fly through space with the power of a telescope and do a magic trick. A scientist from Van Andel Institute was even there to answer any question they might have.
Check out School News Network for more stories about students, schools, and faculty in West Michigan.
Using glucose test strips, Thoovi Nguyen of Kentwood’s Crestwood Middle School, left, and Hannah Ngo from Walker Charter Academy learned iodine turns to a blue-black color if there is starch in a food
Amina Mohamed’s English-language learner students read along with her during story time at Kentwood’s Glenwood Elementary.
“There was an old woman who swallowed a pie, a Thanksgiving pie, which was really too dry,” they read. The story continued, punctuated by giggles and expressions of concern at all of the things the old woman ate.
Books are one tool Mohamed uses to reach her students, first- through fifth-graders who come from 17 countries. While Thanksgiving is as American as apple pie, her classroom is a treasure trove of multicultural books, handpicked herself, that depict students’ countries and cultures. Mohamed sees children make connections as they turn the pages.
Editor’s note:This story contains an obscenity widely reported to have been used by President Trump. We regret having to use the word, but after much discussion decided it was necessary in order to convey the insult felt by Amina Mohamed, and her concern for the self-image of immigrant and refugee students.
“I always tell people that kids are very conscious of their backgrounds,” she said. “They are much more conscious than we think they are. I want them to see a book and be like, ‘Oh, that’s about me!’ and feel that sense of pride and empowerment in who they are.”
Mohamed knows the value of speaking many languages and having roots in more than one culture. She celebrates it with her students, immigrants and children of immigrants, many of whom are refugees. The message she continually conveys to them is: You are American. You are also Congolese or Burmese or Haitian or Mexican or Vietnamese or Chinese or Cuban or Nepalese. Apple pie pairs well with ethnic cuisine.
“I think there is a place to hold onto their culture and be part of this grand American culture,” said Mohamed. “It’s very much possible to do both. Success is not contingent upon the background that you come from. I try to be a living example of that.
“You don’t have to look a certain way or sound a certain way to be successful.”
Amina Mohamed introduces the story during story time.
Let’s Talk about How We Talk
Mohamed, who has taught at Glenwood for three years, grew up in Abu Dhabi, the capital of United Arab Emirates. Her mother is from Kenya and her dad from Somalia. She speaks English, Swahili, Barawa and Arabic.
“There is value in knowing another language,” she said, stressing that multilingualism is beneficial for more than just improving career potential. She wants her students to know English, but to keep using their native language too, because it is part of who they are: “There is value in that inherently, just by itself.”
But children are often embarrassed to speak their native language, she said.
“Even those who are born here in the U.S. are very aware that their home culture is very different than the culture of their classmates. They are not the dominant culture. They aren’t white students whose parents speak English. That’s the same background as me. I don’t speak English at home.”
Mohamed moved to Michigan, where she has relatives, in 2011 after her family was selected in the U.S. Green Card Lottery. She earned her bachelor’s degree in education at Grand Valley State University and will graduate from the GVSU master’s program in April.
“There are lots of parallels between my background and my students’ backgrounds,” she said. “Also, given my fluency in other languages, I knew (teaching ELL) was my calling and where I could make the biggest impact.”
Second-grade teacher Adam Munoz said Mohamed brings a unique background to Glenwood, and that she has challenged teachers to rethink instruction so ELL students, who spend a chunk of their days with Mohamed, grasp a deeper understanding of content.
“Miss Mohamed is a huge resource to our teachers, as well as our students,” Munoz said. “Her love and enthusiasm for her students is evident by the smiles, hugs, and high fives that they receive on a daily basis.
“Miss Mohamed is able to relate to her students because she has walked in their shoes, and is able to break down information in a way that students understand.”
Second-grade teacher Jessica Spence said Mohamed has brought important perspectives to the staff and is a “game changer” in education.
“Her background as an immigrant brings with it a passion to give students texts and experiences that are diverse and relatable,” Spence said. “I remember Amina telling about her experience as a reader thinking, ‘Where are characters with names like mine?’
“That is a powerful thought that I, as a white American, have had the privilege not to have to think about growing up. So many of the students we serve do not have this privilege.”
On the whiteboard, Amina Mohamed helps Ka Htoo figure out a math problem
Lifting Up Role Models
Last semester, Mohamed took the idea of challenging students to think deeper and started iLEAD, which stands for Institute for Leadership, Empowerment, Activism and Dialogue. Seventeen Kentwood Public Schools elementary students spent three months researching successful immigrants who have backgrounds similar to their own, including business people, musicians, politicians and activists. Local immigrants also visited to share their stories.
Students’ work culminated in a Student Wax Museum Exhibition, during which local immigrants judged their projects. She plans to start a second cohort of iLEAD.
‘I want them to see a book and be like, “Oh, that’s about me!” and feel that sense of pride and empowerment in who they are.’ — Amina Mohamed, teacher of English-language learners
Mohamed’s vision is to demonstrate that immigrants coming to the U.S. is not a new trend. They have been coming for centuries and many are excellent role models for her students.
“There are lots of people who have walked their paths and they have led very successful lives here in the U.S. Just because people don’t mention that Steve Jobs comes from a refugee background or that Barack Obama’s father was an immigrant, it doesn’t mean they don’t have that background. I wanted them to be able to see that.”
She also wants iLEAD to have a far-reaching effect: “for the larger community to see that immigrants and refugees have had a huge impact here in America. They are not deficient. They are not empty vessels for us to fill in with English and American culture. They have their own culture and they can also have American culture.”
Munoz said students are in awe of Mohamed and many say they want to become a teacher, just like her. “In a sense, they see themselves in Miss Mohamed and (she) knows what the students are challenged by. It is a perfect yin-and-yang relationship.”
Said second-grader Christina Soe, “Miss Mohamed inspires me to do good in school.”
“She’s kind. She’s nice and she helps me with my homework. She helps me learn,” said second-grader Melody Sang.
Third-grader Ruth Sang studied news anchor Betty Nguyen, an immigrant from Vietnam, for iLEAD. She said she now wants to become a news reporter herself.
Amina Mohamed loves to share stories with her students.
Teaching Immigrants During a Polarized Time
Mohamed said she tries to take an unbiased framework when teaching, while not glossing over issues and current events. She wants to teach students how to think, not what to think. But she realizes what she is up against, with anti-immigrant rhetoric and proposed changes to immigration law coming out of the White House.
“I would definitely not have been able to come into this country if it had not been for that lottery. A lot of people I know including myself would not be in the country if (newly proposed laws) would be implemented.”
“I come from a shithole country in his eyes,” she asserted. “We are not deficient. We are not shithole people. We have a culture and we have had an impact here in America. I am not going to wait for my students to say, ‘Do I come from a shithole country?’ I do not want them to get to that point where they ever feel like that.”
That and other current events surrounding immigration are tough issues to address with students, she said.
“What the president says is not a reflection of who they are,” Mohamed said. “Even at a very young age sometimes they are taking it as a joke, as many people do, but this man has power. He is changing laws and policies. I don’t think at this age they have fully comprehended the severity of what this man is doing and the effects of what he’s doing in the long run.”
It is no doubt a complicated, confusing time for immigrant students.
But in Mohamed’s classroom, where books show people’s stories matter and success comes from all ethnicities, religions and countries, students relate to a young teacher who sees herself in them — as they do in her.
Check out School News Network for more stories about students, schools, and faculty in West Michigan.
With his lifejacket snug and dripping wet, Kentwood’s Challenger Elementary School fifth-grader Jaden Brown pulled himself up an East Kentwood High School Aquatics Center pool ladder. He had just practiced swimming in deep water with his classmates.
During three sessions at the pool, offered to all fifth-graders from the district’s 10 elementary schools, Jaden has learned the basics of water safety and he’s feeling more confident in the pool. “It taught me how to swim a little,” he said. “I didn’t know how to swim before.”
Leena Karaein, left, and Kelly Le, Challenger Elementary School fifth-graders, get ready to swim
The Aquatic Center, which features two swimming pools and 1-meter and 3-meter diving boards, provides the perfect opportunity to teach swimming as a life skill to many students in the district who don’t know how to swim, said Aquatics Director Joey Sutherlin. He leads the session with Jock Ambrose, high school boys’ swim coach.
Yet, like skills taught in health and physical education, water safety is something all students need to know, Sutherlin said. The district is one of the most diverse in the state, with students from more than 60 countries represented and a large population of English-language learners.
In the U.S., about 4,000 people drown each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, including data from 1999–2010. Drowning is the leading cause of unintentional injury death among children ages 1 to 4, and one of the top three causes among persons age 29 or younger.
There is disparity in rates of drowning among some ethnic groups, including African-Americans, with blacks also reporting less opportunities to swim. Swimming pool drowning rates among blacks, ages 5–19, were 5.5 times higher than those among white youth. This disparity was greatest at ages 11 and 12 years; at these ages, blacks drown in swimming pools at 10 times the rate of whites.
Coach Jock Ambrose talks about water safety to Challenger Elementary School fifth-graders
Skills for Life
“It’s lifelong learning. We live in Michigan. We are 10 minutes from natural water in any direction,” Sutherlin said, adding that the district has continued to invest in the pool, while some districts have ended their programs. Grand Rapids Public Schools, for instance, once offered water safety but it fell victim to budget cuts.
If the program saves even just one life it is worth it, he said. “We have to make sure we are not just educating our kids in math, science, English, but that we are teaching them survival skills as well.”
While the fifth-grade three-session course is a way to build the district’s competitive swim program by introducing swimming, water polo and diving to elementary school students, a key component is teaching safety topics. Those include floating, reaching out with an oar or branch to help someone struggling in the water, and throwing them a ring buoy or other floatation device. Students learn to enter shallow water feet first and have the chance to try swimming in deep water.
“We believe there is nothing more important than teaching all kids from a young age all the way through high school, the importance of water safety,” Sutherlin said. “We want to make sure they will be safe when they leave here.”
Challenger teacher Jennifer Ray said she’s seen her students become more interested and comfortable in the water, and even start coming to open swim sessions with their families. “There are definitely some of them who, over the three classes, their confidence in the water has grown.”
East Kentwood also offers high school electives including lifeguarding, and beginning, intermediate and advanced swimming.
Once students get really confident in the water, Aquatics Center staff encourages them try the diving board. Fifth-grader Leilani Moore took the plunge off the 3-meter board.
“It was amazing. I felt like I was flying!” she exclaimed.
Check out School News Network for more stories about students, schools, and faculty in West Michigan.
Dressed in red, resemblant of flaming hot sauce, Kentwood’s Bowen Elementary fifth-grader Yoe Shi Yar played David Tran, a Vietnamese immigrant who founded Huy Fong Foods, Inc.
“I was born in 1945 in Soc Trang, Vietnam. I am 72 years old. I speak Vietnamese. I have the best job in the world: making hot sauce!” Yoe Shi-as-Tran said, enthusiasm evident in his smile. “I immigrated to the United States in 1979 after the Vietnam War.”
Yoe Shi continued his first-person story of Tran, the entrepreneur who created a Sriracha sauce now known around the world for the rooster image on the bottle.
Thaw Kyar Eh presents on Tin Moe, a Burmese poet and teacher.
Yoe Shi, who moved to the U.S. from Thailand at age 6, and 16 other immigrant and refugee elementary students from Kentwood Public Schools, emulated successful business owners, politicians, judges and entertainers during the recent iLEAD Student Wax Museum Exhibition at the East Kentwood Freshman Campus. Students pretended to be wax figures, coming to life for visitors.
The students, who attend several elementary schools, spent three months and many hours on the after-school research project, which was focused on narratives and experiences of American figures who come from immigrant and refugee backgrounds.
In doing so, they learned about possibilities and the potential to build on the strengths of heritage, culture and language in their own lives, said Glenwood Elementary ELL teacher Amina Mohamed.
Empowering Through Role Models
Mohamed started iLEAD, which stands for Institute for Leadership, Empowerment, Activism and Dialogue.The students made up the program’s first cohort.
“iLEAD is specifically focused on centering the narratives of refugees and immigrants, and bringing awareness to how refugees and immigrants are an important fabric in American culture, and the impact they have had here in America,” Mohamed said. “I think many people don’t realize a lot of the famous people we see on TV do come from immigrant and refugee backgrounds.”
She said she wants to provide students with role models, through examples of those who have embraced opportunities and overcome challenges. She knows the immigrant experience personally: She grew up in the United Arab Emirates, her mother is from Kenya and her father is from Somalia.
“My goal is to have the students feel empowered to know they should be proud of their culture, heritage and language, and not view those things as a deficiency,” she said. “They are things to be proud of and to build on. Just because they come from a different country or their parents come from a different country does not mean they are not Americans.”
Mulonge Kalumbula, Grand Rapids Public Schools curriculum supervisor, introduces Bowen Elementary fifth-grader Yoe Shi Yar as a winner of the presentations
‘I Love All of Them’
Meadowlawn fifth-grader Siyani Mahadevan researched rapper/producer/activist Mathangi “Maya” Arulpragasam, or “M.I.A.” “She’s a singer and artist and she really worked hard,” Siyani said. “She had a song on the Billboard Hot 100.” Like M.I.A, Siyani is Sri Lankan.
“We have to work really hard too, to become good at something,” said Siyani, who hopes to become a doctor when she grows up.
Students presented their projects — including facts and photos of the immigrants they portrayed — to judges who are successful immigrants and refugees themselves: Leela Dhakal, a Bhutanese business owner; Anh Tran, owner of Liaison Linguistics in Kentwood; Mulonge Kalumbula, Grand Rapids Public Schools curriculum supervisor; and Sau’l Ulloa, West Michigan Works! refugee career counselor.
“I’m very surprised the students put this many hours of research into this,” said Tran, a refugee from Vietnam whose translation businesses serves 120 languages. “I love all of them.”
Her advice to the students: “Study hard and do not let anything deter you, because America is the land of opportunity. If somebody pushes you down, get back up again.
“If I can do it, you can do it.”
Check out School News Network for more stories about students, schools, and faculty in West Michigan.
With her kind voice and seemingly ever-present smile, it’s easy to see how Kentwood Public School’s Challenger Elementary social worker Pam Buschle has impacted the lives of children over the past 26 years, offering support and a helping hand to many.
Now, with the help of East Kentwood High School engineering students, she’s made it possible to literally give a hand –- a 3-D-printed prosthetic one — to a child in need.
Students recently printed and assembled a hand prototype and will soon create a final version for a child, thanks to an online community of designers and a challenge from Buschle. They will be able to choose the child who will receive the hand, and they are especially interested in supporting someone from a war-torn country.
Social worker Pam Buschle uses an iPad with her prosthetic hand.
This gift was made possible by the No Limbits (pronounced “no limits”) Foundation, created by Buschle and her husband, Marty, a year ago. Its mission is to provide children with prosthetic limbs and to help people who have faced physical challenges have the highest quality of life possible in other ways. Challenger Student Council members raised about $500 for the foundation.
Buschle had both legs and both arms amputated while batting septic shock following routine surgery in early 2014. She now wears prosthetics to replace all four limbs, and is still able to work, walk, use her iPad, open doors and much more.
“I feel incredibly grateful to have the opportunity to give back,” Buschle said. “When I lost my limbs, the Kentwood community, students and teachers all gave back to me. This project is allowing me to give back to someone who might not have hope. I was the recipient of so much love and assistance, and now we are going to be able to offer that to someone.”
Because of cost, prosthetics are out of reach for many people. Buschle’s electric prosthetics cost $125,000 each, mostly paid for through insurance and Mary Free Bed Rehabilitation Hospital. Fittings alone cost thousands of dollars. While the 3-D-printed hand is much more basic than Buschle’s, a professionally made, muscle-actuated hand can cost around $6,000 to $10,000, so cost is a huge barrier around the world.
A 3D-printed prosthetic will give new opportunities to a child who is missing a hand
Making Prosthetics Accessible
E-NABLE, a community of individuals from all over the world, offers free, downloadable designs for people to use their 3-D printers to create prosthetic hands and arms. Design kits are open source and available through the site.
At Buschle’s request, East Kentwood engineering teacher Randy Smith challenged seniors Gabe LaComte and Jason Gray-Moore, and juniors Joshua Cancler and Cole Culp, to 3-D-print the hand using files from e-NABLE. They spent about 20 hours using two printers in Smith’s classroom to finish a prototype by following a step-by-step process. They will next upload a video of the hand to e-NABLE, which will verify it and send specific measurements from a child for the final hand.
Money raised by Challenger students was used to purchase materials, including filament for the 3-D hand.
“I enjoyed doing 3-D printing of the hand,” Jason said. “You can help somebody who is not as fortunate as us and we can give them a hand because we have the resources to do it.”
Added Cole, “It’s a good opportunity to make a change for someone who doesn’t have something as basic as a hand. Some people go their whole lives without being able to pick up something. It’s nice to know you helped them with something like that.”
Social worker Pam Buschle lost her arms and legs while battling septic shock
No Limbits has also brought a child to Grand Rapids for a prosthetic hand, Zoey Krause from the Dominican Republic, whose father, Tim Krause, is an East Kentwood High School graduate. They sponsored a 5K run called Medaling Monkeys for special education students; provided scholarships for teenagers who need adaptive equipment to participate in a sport; sent care packages to people around the country who have lost their limbs; and they plan to build more 3-D hands.
Buschle said her career has given her perspective on life. For many years she worked with students on the autism spectrum.
“Seeing the resilience and hard work students would put into living their happiest, fullest life gave me a lot of inspiration when I went through this experience,” she said. “I was able to look at the students and families I had known for years, and think about how they put one foot in front of the other when things seemed very impossible and difficult, and draw a lot of strength from that.”
Buschle returned to work seven months after losing her arms and legs.
“It was really beautiful, being back in school, how much the students encouraged me and accepted me, and have shown me how to be compassionate and accepting and loving. Children are naturals at that. There are a lot of lessons we can learn from our students.”
Check out School News Network for more stories about students, schools, and faculty in West Michigan.
These students helped raise money for school social worker Pam Buschle’s foundation: from left, Challenger students Whitney Dixon, Aaron Cobb, Emma Belden, Leena Karaein and Cheyanne Meyers
One must think like a big cat when designing a tiger habitat. Where do you like to sleep and play? What keeps you safe? What keeps people safe while watching you? What keeps zookeepers safe in feeding you?
Kentwood’s Discovery Elementary School students in the district’s gifted and talented program, PEAKS, considered the needs of lions and tigers and bears and other zoo animals recently while designing 3-D model exhibits for the new STEM class, Exhibit Design, a John Ball Zoo education program.
“You guys are going to be engineers,” said lead instructor Megan Burkhart, while passing out design kits with animal figurines, miniature structures and habitat pieces. The fourth-graders, working in groups, considered those who would be affected by their designs.
“We need to take into consideration the feelings of the keeper, the animals and the visitors,” student Madison Duffey said.
From left, Owen van der Veen, M.J. Smith and Calvin Ranger work on putting components of a good habitat together
New Tools to View Zoo
Burkhart said the class gives them new perspectives on what goes into design that meets the needs of all users. “When students come to the zoo and they are looking at exhibits, they don’t ultimately think about what went into the exhibit,” she said. “I love that it gives them the opportunity to engineer things themselves. As they go through the zoo after they’ve done all of this, it gives them a new appreciation and insights into all of the new exhibits.”
“Another goal is to show them the variety of jobs at the zoo. A lot of kids think the only job at the zoo is zoo-keeping, but there is a lot more we have here to offer; things they can ultimately do with their future,” Burkhart said
Fourth-grade science standards include animal adaptations, said teacher Joe Westra. The class, which involves biology and engineering, ties in well with new Michigan Science Standards. “Everything about this is consistent with best practice in science education,” he said.
Students said making a zoo habitat is harder than first appears.
Alexander Grzesiak and Madison Duffey create a bear exhibit
“If takes a long time and a lot of hard work, and you can’t do it by yourself,” said Reign Baker about coming up with a design. “If the animals don’t have what they need, they cannot survive.”
The zoo education program also offers the new STEM course, Penguineering, which challenges students to consider ideal habitats through the eyes of a Magellanic penguin and to create a nesting habitat.
Check out School News Network for more stories about students, schools, and faculty in West Michigan.
After students spent last school year building a house through the East Kentwood High School residential construction class, Principal Omar Bakri bought it.
Senior John Walma turns a wheel to lift drywall
“I wasn’t planning on it,” said Bakri. “I stopped by the worksite to support the students and teachers. When I walked into the house, my jaw dropped. I fell in love with it right away.”
Bakri and his wife, Ayrica, a third-grade teacher at Explorer Elementary, also in Kentwood Public Schools, sold their Grand Rapids house and moved into the stately home in the Crystal Springs neighborhood with their children, Kian, a fourth-grader and Isaac, 20, in June.
Bakri loves the detail in the five-bedroom ranch, which boasts an open floor plan, brick fireplace, wood floors, cobblestone-bordered tile and 9-foot ceilings. “Everything seems solid, top to bottom,” he said.
Senior Corbin Butterly hoists up the drywall
Student-Built, Kentwood-Connected
Bakri’s house is among about 25 in the district built by students – with help from professionals – from the ground up. The class, taught for 13 years by Kyle Croskey, has been transforming teenagers into tradespersons since the mid-’80s, providing an invaluable experience. The program sustains itself because the sale of each house provides funding for the next. The district currently owns eight adjacent Crystal Springs lots for development.
Students gain experience in carpentry, windows and drywall installation, painting and assisting with electrics and plumbing. They install outlets, light switches and sinks, cut and polish granite countertops. They add their own design ideas and tweak things as they see fit.
Currently, 34 students are building a 2,700 square-foot, five-bedroom, three-and-a-half bathroom house, also in Crystal Springs. Students are already putting their own signature on it, modifying the original floor plan to include a wet bar in the basement, an expanded walk-in closet and a fancy, walk-in shower.
Senior Bryce Hansen sits atop a ladder in a new house students are building
Students earn a math credit for the class, and it attracts a diverse group of teens. More than half enter construction or a skilled trade as a career or in a post-secondary program, Croskey said. Others want to learn to “do-it-yourself” at home.
“It’s kind of like a Montessori approach,” said Croskey, who sees students discover aptitudes for different areas of construction, electrics, interior design. “I tell the students, find something you’re good at and get really good at it and the rest of it will come.”
It’s also about having a true sense of what occupations in construction entail. “We want you to have experience and decide if this is for you or not,” Croskey said.
It was the right fit for assistant construction teacher Cam Morris, a 2014 East Kentwood graduate, who took the class his senior year.
“The first time I worked with my hands was in this class,” Morris said. “I didn’t know I wanted to work with my hands for the rest of my life. It 100 percent changed my life and career path.”
A Strong Job Forecast
Skilled-trade professions are in high demand. According to the latest edition of the West Michigan Talent Assessment and Outlook, 10-year growth is projected in construction jobs, ranging from about 7 percent to 34 percent. Last year two students were hired by local companies because of the work they did in the class.
Hands-on exposure to careers creates the kind of connections students need, Bakri said. The class is a great example of the style of learning emphasized lately to build the future workforce. It helps students develop collaboration, problem-solving, creativity and critical-thinking skills. Said Bakri, “What (Croskey) is doing on a regular basis is exactly what we want our core teachers to do on a regular basis.”
Drills buzzed and hammers pounded as students installed drywall on a recent sunny Wednesday.
“It’s just the experience,” freshman Hector Avalos said about why he likes the class. He plans to become an engineer and start his own construction business. “You can look at something and say, ‘I know what that is and I know what that is.”
Senior Shannon McGhee said he’s learned to love carpentry and enjoys the setting of the class. “It’s more outdoors. You get out of the classroom. You do more hands-on things instead of being stuck in a classroom.”
Senior Jeremy Henry said he’s interested in carpentry as an occupation, but the class will help him in the future no matter what. “When I’m a homeowner, if something needs to be repaired I will know how to fix it.”
Senior Daniah Ali had her own reason for taking the course: defiance. “My brother took it and he said girls couldn’t do this.”
Check out School News Network for more stories about students, schools, and faculty in West Michigan.
Seniors Allison Quinn and Chloe Quinn move a piece of drywall
Dean Transportation is looking for 50 drivers to serve Kent County schools
Diane Kallemeyn prefers to work as a substitute bus driver for Wyoming Public Schools, but is now covering a permanent route. She arrives at 6:30 a.m. to transport hundreds of students across the district and to Kent Career Tech Center, racking up about 80 miles each day she drives. With a few breaks in between, she finishes driving after school in the afternoon.
“Right now, we are short drivers so I am on a run every day,” she said.
So are many other subs. Area schools are experiencing the nationwide shortage of bus drivers, putting transportation departments in a pinch to get students on the bus in the morning and back home after the final bell at a reasonable time. In Kent County, subs like Kallemeyn are covering routes, dispatchers are driving, and retirees are filling in to transport thousands of children every day. They’ve also consolidated runs and are constantly seeking applications for new hires.
“We’ve tried to be creative,” said Don Hebeler, Wyoming director of operations and support services, who advertises job openings with yard and marquee signs and district-wide emails. He recently had three new drivers going through the training process for four open routes.
Consolidating routes and relying on retirees are some ways districts are covering shortages
Countywide, Dean Transportation is looking to hire 50 drivers to serve Grand Rapids, Sparta, Cedar Springs and Kent City public schools as well as Kent ISD programs. The Lansing-based firm contracts with those school districts and others statewide. Statewide, Dean needs to hire 100 drivers total.
“We’ve seen this for a few years now,” said Ashleigh Wright, Dean hiring specialist. “We are working toward closing the gap by increasing advertising and increasing flexibility with training. We will train non-credentialed drivers and pay for training.”
Wyoming Public Schools bus driver Diane Kallemeyn is a substitute currently covering a regular route because of the bus driver shortage
Why a Shortage?
School officials named several factors at play. More positions in the job market are now available than a few years ago, plus there are strict requirements and fewer perks for drivers than in the past.
With the national unemployment rate at 4.1 percent, people are more easily finding full-time work without frequent split shifts.
‘We are still in need of five drivers. We could use more subs too.’ — Laura Tanis, Kentwood Public Schools transportation supervisor
New hires don’t receive traditional pensions as they did years ago, Hebeler said: “When a lot of my drivers started they got full benefits and a pension.”
In Godfrey-Lee Public Schools, one of Kent County’s smallest districts, they don’t have enough drivers cover field trips and athletic events, said Scott Bergman, supervisor of operations, transportation and custodial services. The district, which parks its fleet at the Wyoming Public Schools bus garage, often uses drivers from Wyoming, Kelloggsville and Dean Transportation to cover needs.
“There needs to be increase in compensation for both custodians and bus drivers,” Bergman said. District driver pay starts at about $14 per hour.
The biggest challenge, Wright said, is finding candidates that meet all requirements: a good driving record including no history of driving under the influence or careless driving; at least seven years experience driving commercially; a valid Michigan license; a passed background check and fingerprint clearance. Candidates must pass a federal Department of Transportation physical and drug and alcohol screening.
“The number of folks who apply and get through the process is one or two out of 10,” Wright said.
Kentwood Public Schools began the school year with 10 open bus driver positions, of 36 total positions in the district. Since then, five were filled. “We are still in need of five drivers. We could use more subs too,” said Transportation Supervisor Laura Tanis.
Don Hebeler, Wyoming Public Schools director of operations and support services, stands near the bus fleet. He and directors statewide need more drivers
Enticements for Recruits
Starting driver pay from district to district ranges from about $14 to $18 per hour. A minimum of hours is often required to qualify for insurance. Dean Transportation wages start at $16 an hour and guarantees a minimum of four hours per school day. Dean also offers full benefits, including health, dental, vision, a 401(k) plan and paid time-off to all drivers.
Caledonia Public Schools, a district covering more than 100-square-miles, has recruited drivers with the offer of a $250 referral bonus and $500 sign-on bonus. The effort led to hiring five part-time substitute drivers who cover field trips, vacation and sick days and after-school athletic events. Two more substitute drivers are still needed, said Transportation Director Brenda Witteveen.
Godfrey-Lee’s Bergman pointed out another issue may be contributing to the shortage. “It’s an awesome responsibility to be a bus driver,” he said. “You are responsible for the safety of those children from the the time you pick them up to when you take them home.”
In today’s fast-paced society, people are commuting in a rush. “We’ve had two dozen people go through our red lights (on buses) since school started and they came within feet of our kids,” Bergman said. “Everyone is in such a hurry these days.”
When it comes to starting early in career exploration, Kentwood elementary students are hitting the nail on the head – literally.
Meadowlawn fifth-grader Madyson Butler, left, and Endeavor fifth-grader Addison Morgan practice pipe-fitting
During a science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) event with a newly-added skilled trades component, fifth-graders recently hammered nails into lumber in the schoolyard, and learned how to assemble pipes and construct walls inside the Endeavor Elementary School gymnasium. Plumbing, electrical, carpentry and home-building are now job fields in the district’s STEM program, with the goal of giving students a glimpse of career paths in those industries.
Fifth-grade students from the district’s 10 elementary schools annually attend events introducing them to the world of STEM, with hands-on activities led by community partners. They also explore careers in fields including health care, engineering, technology and agriculture.
Skilled trades are among the STEM jobs that are high-demand.
Endeavor Elementary School fifth-grader Amari McClanahan matches up lumber with its names
“We know that there’s such a gap in the skilled trades area,” said STEM consultant Nancy McKenzie, who collaborated with community partners to add the new industries. “This just give kids another example of what (career path) they can take: a four-year path, two-year path, community college, technical school or apprenticeship.”
Jobs are waiting, said company representatives.
“There’s a lot of demand. There’s not enough people who want to do this work because they haven’t been exposed to it,” said Haley VanderLugt, who works in human resources at Standard Supply and Lumber, based in Grand Rapids, as she helped lead the hammering station.
High-Demand, High-Wage Jobs
According to the latest edition of the West Michigan Talent Assessment and Outlook, published in August, average compensation in energy and construction is $59,000, and growth is expected in many occupations within those industries, ranging from 6.5 to 34 percent.
Many students have the aptitude for skilled trades, McKenzie said. “Some kids want to work with their hands. … There are so many way they can be successful taking this path if it works for them.”
Patrick Shanafelt, vocational instructor for Home Builders Institute, introduced students to plumbing and electrical, with displays that show how pipes connect and lights turn on. He said many of the country’s electricians are baby boomers who will soon retire.
“We have this huge need for skilled trades, not just electricians, but plumbers, pipe-fitters, welders,” Shanafelt said.
But schools and companies have not caught up with the need to train the next generation, he said, and students are missing out.
“At the end of five years (of training), a journeyman electrician has zero debt and is making $60,000 a year plus almost an additional $30,000 a year in benefits, and you can go anywhere in the country with that job,” he said.
Jodie Rykse-Slamoran, foundation and community relations director for the Home Builders Association, said students aren’t always aware of jobs that require the skills needed in the trades.
“A lot of people who work in these jobs are super, super smart and great at technical skills, but they are also amazingly great with their hands,” Rykse-Slamoran said. “They can problem-solve with their hands and their brains at the same time.
“There are great career opportunities. There are thousands of job right here in our community,” she said, adding that students can start working in the field as teenagers and receive additional training and education.
Endeavor Elementary fifth-grader Zykaria Colbert explained how pipes fit together to allow water to flow through a faucet. She said seeing how things fit and work together is cool.
“I find it interesting about the plumbing,” Zykaria said. “There are a lot of different parts I didn’t know about.”
Endeavor Elementary School fifth-grader Zykaria Colbert explains plumbing
A goal at the high school is for every student to receive college credit from at least one class before they graduate, said Evan Hordyk, the district’s executive director for secondary education. Well-established Advanced Placement (AP) opportunities, plus a middle college launching next fall, will make that possible.
East Kentwood students are already tallying up college credits by choosing from a slate of 21 AP classes. Soon they will be able to earn a free associate degree from Grand Rapids Community College by completing a fifth year of high school while dually enrolled as a college student.
It’s a way to give students a head start, in a setting where they feel comfortable. “We offer a very supportive family environment here, so taking a college class where they have those supports can help them be more successful,” Hordyk said.
From left, East Kentwood High School students Nisa Brooks and Adilene Garcia are earning credit in AP art
Adding a Fifth Year = Associate’s Degree
The district will begin the Middle College with its first cohort of 10th graders next fall. Students will take college courses at East Kentwood along with high school courses, and then finish a fifth year on the GRCC campus. Successfully completing the program will earn them a general associate degree with credits transferable to most four-year colleges and universities. Other Middle College programs established through GRCC partnerships include Wyoming High School, Cedar Springs High School and Ottawa Hills High School. Kenowa Hills High School has a partnership with Davenport University.
“The most obvious and biggest benefit for students and parents is that the tuition is covered,” Hordyk said. Considering a student entering a four-year university right after senior year pays an average of more than $20,000 including room and board, the savings is potentially huge and places students a year ahead of schedule.
“We have an opportunity for students, whether they have an economic need or not to walk out of here with an associate’s degree,” said Principal Omar Bakri.
For several years, East Kentwood students have pursued dual-enrollment opportunities with GRCC, Kendall and Davenport, with more than 100 students participating last school year.
Dan Clark, dean of academic outreach for Grand Rapids Community College, said this partnership is their sixth middle college partnership. Programs are filling a need, especially for economically disadvantaged students and those who are the first in their families to attend college.
“It definitely allows and provides greater opportunity for access and success for particular students who, it was probably a foregone conclusion, weren’t going to go to college,” he said.
Programs have also led to increased collaboration between high schools and GRCC. “If institutions can partner in a way to benefit students, families and the community, it’s a win-win-win all around,” Clark said.
A Reputable AP Program
East Kentwood has also built one of the most comprehensive AP programs possible, with 21 classes including AP courses in science, English, math, economics government and art. The high school last year earned a silver medal from U.S. News and World Report for achievements including having 35 percent of students take AP tests and, of those, 73 percent pass them.
These courses give students college-level opportunities they otherwise might not have. They aren’t just for the highest achieving students, Hordyk said.
“One of the things we are quite proud of is that in 2017, 1,000 AP exams were taken. If you go back five years, just under 600 were taken, so we’ve almost doubled that number.” The success rate of a passing score, a 3, 4 or 5 on the AP exam, has remained high. “We’ve added a lot of kids and they are still very successful.”
East Kentwood is the most diverse school in the state (as ranked by Niche, a data organization) with students from more than 60 countries represented. Much of the increase in AP enrollment is from students of various ethnicities, “groups that haven’t traditionally been part of AP,” Hordyk said.
Graduate Justin Lai, a University of Michigan freshman pursuing a degree in computer science engineering, recently stopped in to visit his AP physics teacher Laura Sloma. He took nine AP classes before graduating last spring and said he was glad to have the head start. “As far as preparation goes, it was nice to have a harder workload to prepare me for college.”
Hector Rodriguez sat with his daughters, Jocelyn, a kindergartner, and Aaliyah, a fifth-grader, munching on breakfast sandwiches and sipping juice.
“I wish Pappi was here for us all day!”Jocelyn said.
Rodriguez said he, too, wished he could stay all day at Southwood Elementary School, because attending the annual Bring Your Fathers to School Day is a special time. “It’s something I love doing for them,” he said. “I like coming to these things to be there for my kids. I like to be there for them as much as possible.”
Marcus Patterson arrives with his daughter Naomi, a kindergartner
The fourth annual event brought more than 1,000 dads, uncles, grandfathers and other male role models to the district’s 10 elementary schools to enjoy breakfast with their children, listen to speakers and celebrate paternal involvement. At Southwood alone, more than 200 male guests attended.
Principal Jeff Overkleeft said involved fathers have a huge positive impact on children’s lives, including behavior, attendance and grades. “It directly impacts their academic success,” he said.
“I think the message that we continue to hear and see is it’s important to have parents and fathers engaged in students’ education,” said Michael Pickard, the district’s executive director of elementary instruction and federal programs.
This year’s theme was leaving a legacy for your child. Speakers were local business owners whose lives were impacted by parents, teachers or other role models.
Before the event, dad Michael Parks walked into school with his daughter, Mya, a fifth-grader.
“It’s just fun to spend time with him,” Mya said.
Michael and Mya Parks arrive for Bring Your Fathers to School Day
Wyoming Public Schools, shown here in a photo supplied by the district, saw its number of students drop in the recent “Count Day” state survey of students. (Supplied)
Some local school leaders were braced for bad news, some confident of good news, as Wyoming and Kentwood area school districts held their public school “Count Day” early this month — a day when the number of students attending their schools directly relates to how much funding they will receive from the state.
The fall count, held Oct. 4, is worth 90 percent of the state per-pupil funding. The spring semester count, from the previous school year, is 10 percent of funding. This school year’s spring count date is scheduled for Feb. 8, 2018.
“We are still in the period where we identify the final number, but that is the formula that is used,” Wyoming’s Godfrey-Lee Public Schools Superintendent Kevin Polston said to WKTV journal. The “count impacts this years funding. We do not receive state aid in September, and begin receiving it in October after fall count. (So) this impacts our current budget.”
The local public school districts, as well as charters, are to receive $7,631 per-pupil for the 2017-18 school year. Godwin Heights Public Schools receives slightly more per student due to a historic loss of a substantial commercial tax base.
Godfrey-Lee counted 1,878 students for the fall count day, 72 below projections and down 84 students for the 2016-17 school year. So, if preliminary numbers hold, Godfrey-Lee would receive less state funding this year than last. But Polston says the district is prepared.
“This is the reason why it is important to have fund balances that can account for shortfalls like this,” said Polston, who is in his first year as superintendent. “We will maintain all current positions and programs, but immediately take a close look at all areas of the budget for both short and long term savings. We are fortunate to have a fund balance that can absorb a shortfall for this year.
“Our Board of Education has a policy of maintaining at least a 10 percent fund balance for times like this. We will need to backfill this deficit with next year’s budget. I’m confident in our team’s ability to strategically prioritize spending with a constant focus on keeping dollars in the classroom.”
His district will also look at the reasons why enrollment dropped.
“We have had a strong growth trend over the past few years, but that didn’t hold this year,” he said. “We are analyzing the areas where we fell short to identify contributing factors. We believe our best solution is to promote our district to our current residents to retain as many as we can in our strong, local, neighborhood schools.”
According to an analysis published on MLive, Michigan has more than 1.6 million kindergarten through 12th grade students in the 2016-17 school year, with about 1 million attending their local public schools. The other half million, or so, attended private or charter schools, or crossed home district lines to enroll in other public school districts.
Kentwood Public Schools is one of the districts gaining students, some from out of the district boundaries.
“We are up 136 — 9,121 total non-audited — students from last Fall count day,” Kentwood Public Schools Superintendent Michael Zoerhoff told WKTV. “The last three years we have seen an upward trend of our enrollment count. We are excited to see that Kentwood Public Schools continues to be a destination district for many families because of the great opportunities provided.”
Godwin Heights Public Schools, according to Superintendent William Fetterhoff, counted 2,166 students after budgeting for 2,145, so 21 over projection and 39 below last year. Fetterhoff told WKTV the trend is not unusual for his district, or across the nation for that matter, and he pointed to a decline in kindergarten through 3rd grade students as one reason.
Wyoming Public Schools, according to the district, counted 4,250, down 70 from last year.
Wyoming Public Schools students. (Supplied)
“4,250 is an appropriate estimate for our fall count … We anticipated a decrease this year,” Matt Lewis, Assistant Superintendent for Finance & Administrative Services for Wyoming Public Schools said to WKTV. “We budgeted to be down 75, and we’re on track to be down between 75 and 80.
“We’re approximately 70 down from last year which is right on projection. … I can’t give you a final number because there are 30 days from the count day during which students can still be counted if they were absent.”
The decline in enrollment is also not surprising to Lewis.
“Wyoming has averaged a loss of 108 students per year since the fall of 2004,” he said. “We’ve done many, many things to address the decline, cutting millions from our operating budget. We’ve become extremely efficient from an administrative perspective, closed buildings when necessary, including the consolidation of our high schools for 2012/13, and made countless adjustments to our contractual obligations and benefit costs. Our employees have (also) taken on a substantial portion of their healthcare costs over this period of enrollment decline.”
In other initial, unaudited numbers from local public districts, detailed in published reports, Kelloggsville Public Schools counted 2,327 students, 102 above projections and 79 more than last year.
Eighth-grader Hien-Tran Bui entered coding commands for her website focused on tips for putting on makeup. She had just learned the basics of site-building from women who work in the Information technology field. Nearby, eighth-grader Mya Proctor designed a website about activities to do when you’re bored.
“I learned how to code and add links,” said Hien-Tran, who realized the information will be valuable in many fields including what she’s interested in: health care.
Eighteen seventh- and eighth-grade girls from Valleywood Middle School recently attended BitCamp, hosted by Software GR, a nonprofit association dedicated to building and supporting the software design and development community in West Michigan. The opportunity at Amway World Headquarters, in Ada, connected girls with women who work in local IT jobs for a day of coding and website creation. Instructors came from Amway, OST, Spectrum Healthand Software GR.
Eighth-grader Sandrine Ishimwe looks at her website with Anna Godfrey, Valleywood guidance secretary
Hien-Tran said she was impressed to learn from women who took various education paths to get to IT careers. Mya, who wants to become a teacher, agreed.
“Before I came here, I didn’t even know what I was doing,” Mya said. “I’m inspired to do more and go beyond my teaching career and do something like this.”
Showing Girls What’s Out There
BitCamp is a great opportunity to get girls out into the IT field, said Nancy McKenzie, Kentwood Public Schools STEM coordinator, who works to connect students with hands-on, real-world experiences. Girls from other Kentwood middle schools, Crestwood and Pinewood, have also attended or will later this semester.
According to Made with Code, while 74 percent of girls express interest in middle school, they at some point get turned off to science, technology, engineering and math careers. Only 0.4 percent of female college freshmen plan to major in computer science, even though CS jobs will be the highest-paying sectors over the next decade, paying almost $15,000 more than average.
“There is quite a lack of women in these fields,” McKenzie said. “And if they are interested, once they go to school and finish college, they can pretty much write their own ticket because there is such a huge gap of females in this industry.”
Having women teach BitCamp shows girls possibilities, she added: “It empowers them. They see these women doing these type of jobs and knowing that it’s something out there that’s needed now and in the future. It gives them exposure to something they can look into later.
From left, seventh-grader Alianny Daniel; Brittany Nielson, application developer for Spectrum Health; and eighth-grader Nhi Tong work on their websites
“It’s nice for the girls to see women that do these kinds of jobs, so they can have a model about what’s possible.”
Eighth-grader Katelynn Smallwood said she liked the in-depth instruction she received from the women. She hopes to be a medical transcriptionist someday.
“It’s inspirational,” Katelynn said. “It’s not just men who can do the job. There are opportunities for women.”
For Girls Too
Instructors, who presented their stories about going through college and into IT fields, said they hope girls start thinking young about going into what are currently male-dominated fields.
Brittany Nielson, application developer for Spectrum Health, said she knows how it feels to be the only girl in the room.
“When you are a woman going into a tech field that’s mostly men, it’s kind of intimidating,” Nelson said. “We want to make sure women are confident in themselves and their skills when they enter that environment so they can come join our workforce.”
How well students achieve in school is often connected to the income levels of their families. This set of stories explores some of this data and how schools with lower income families are working to remove barriers to student learning
At Godfrey-Lee Public Schools, the Kent County district with the lowest family income, the correlation between M-STEP scores and poverty is stark. More than 90 percent of students qualify for free or reduced priced lunch in the one-square mile district and 27 percent of third-graders are proficient in English language arts. The statewide average is 44.1 percent.
Poverty is a major factor considered in instruction practices, wrap-around services and ongoing education reform efforts. Superintendent Kevin Polston pointed out where Godfrey-Lee third graders fall on a graph (see above) that illustrates the link between poverty and third-grade reading proficiency. “It shows the impact that poverty has on achievement.”
“Ideally, we want to be one of these outliers,” he said, referring to schools on the graph that are high achievers despite high poverty rates. Those, sadly, are few and far between.
There has to be a big-picture approach when dealing with poverty in schools in order to disrupt the impact on student achievement, he said.
Godfrey-Lee is focused on first meeting basic needs, food, water, warmth and rest, so learning can take place. “The basics of life for some kids are not basic,” said Assistant Superintendent Carol Lautenbach.
To meet those needs – so students are in the classrooms ready to learn – the district has in place Kent School Services Network, which provides dental, health and vision services; Kids Food Basket, which provides sack suppers for children to bring home after school, and universal free breakfast and lunch programs.
Those type of things help build foundations for student learning, Lautenbach said, “Those are really tangible ways we are trying to bridge the gap for kids,” she said.
Recognizing Their Strengths
But there’s another piece in educating students in poverty that often gets overlooked: the strengths they already have. “I don’t like the term disadvantaged,” Polston said.
“Any of our folks intimately involved with this are very good at looking at the hidden strengths that we sometimes ask people to check at the door,” Lautenbach added.
Many people who live in poverty, such as immigrant and refugee students are risk-takers because they have to be. Those experiences can be part of creating the foundation for success that goes way beyond knowing content.
The district is using a strength-based Learner Profile based on the6Cs, skills considered vital for success in future careers. They are collaboration, communication, critical thinking, creative innovation and confidence along with content-knowledge. It’s a strength-based system, Lautenbach explained.
But despite their strengths, children who live in poverty often have limited experiences compared to more affluent families. Seeing Lake Michigan, for example, is different than looking at a picture of it. The district works to provide opportunities for students to experience and explore.
“Their worlds are very small and focused on family, or survival or a small geographic area. (We ask) ‘How can we create more experiences for them so they have more to draw on?’ Lautenbach said. Barriers to reaching reading proficiency can include minimal exposure to academic vocabulary, a lack of books in the home or access to preschool programs.
Kelloggsville Staff Focusing on Poverty & Learning
Kelloggsville Public Schools, where 79 percent of students qualify for free and reduced lunch, is also digging deep into meeting the learning needs of students by assisting with basic needs and building relationships. Staff members are continuing a district-wide book study on “Teaching with Poverty in Mind,” by Erik Jensen, a former reading teacher who synthesizes brain research and develops practical applications for educators.
Assistant Superintendent Tammy Savage said students raised in poverty often live day-to-day and aren’t empowered with information about what they can become in the future. She’s not disparaging their parents, she explained, as many are working so hard to make ends meet, they can’t easily focus beyond the present.
“Parents in poverty are in survival mode rather than in the mode of teaching their children what they can be. It’s a cycle and it’s hard to break,” Savage said.
Still, Kelloggsville is making strides, she said, that are reflected in data. On M-STEP, 31.9 percent of third graders were proficient in ELA, but that’s just one piece. “We can pull out data from the classroom that shows huge gains from the beginning to end of the school year.”
Statewide Reading Scores Tend to Follow Poverty or Wealth
This chart provides a visual depiction –statewide — of the impact of poverty combined with test scores in M-STEP 3rd grade reading. Each dot represents a school building. On the left is the percent of students who scored “proficient,” with zero at the bottom and 100 percent at the top. The data below is the percent of students qualifying for free and reduced lunch, a common poverty indicator, with zero per cent of students at the left and 100 percent of students on the right.
Although many high-poverty schools, according to this chart, struggle with reading proficiency, there are also many scoring quite high. These schools, despite issues of poverty, are finding ways to help students read well. Figuring out how they are accomplishing this and duplicating their success is the mission of Reading Now Network. All 20 of the districts within Kent ISD are participants in this network of hundreds of schools.
Check out School News Network for more stories about students, schools, and faculty in West Michigan.
A packed house for last year’s South Kent Community Expo has lead to four community organizations hosting the event again this year.
The South Kent Community Expo is set for this Saturday, Sept. 30, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the East Kentwood High School, 6230 Kalamazoo Ave. SE. Hosted by the City of Kentwood, the Wyoming-Kentwood Chamber of Commerce, Cutlerville-Gaines Area Chamber of Commerce and Kentwood Public Schools, the Expo features more than 80 different community business vendors.
Along with those vendors, there will be safety demonstrations by Kentwood Police and Fire Departments, said Kentwood Parks and Recreation Marketing and Events Coordinator Laura Barbrick. The two departments are scheduled to demonstrate cutting a car in half to show how police and fire personnel train for emergency rescues. There also will be family activities and a job fair.
“The job fair includes companies and organizations looking to fill part-time and full-time positions,” said Kentwood Parks and Recreation Department Assistant Director Lorraine Beloncis. “Many businesses are expanding their job force. This event is a great way to connect companies hiring with people looking for jobs.”
According to Bob O’Callagan, president/CEO of the Wyoming-Kentwood Area Chamber of Commerce, the expo is designed to bring in a representation of businesses and organizations in the Wyoming, Kentwood, Gaines and Cutlerville areas. Products and services that will be highlighted include financial planning, retail, medical, home improvement an entertainment.
The concept for the South Kentwood Community Expo came about last year, according to O’Callagahn.
“The Kentwood Parks and Recreation department hosted a health expo and they were running out of space at the location they were at along with the fact that we at the chamber and Cutlervile-Gaines have hosted similar events in the past,” O’Callaghan said. “Coming together, we felt that we had more options and a better opportunity to reach a broader range of residents.”
By combining efforts, the South Kent Community Expo last year drew residents from all over to the East Kentwood High School and this year’s expo also is expected to be well attended.
“The South Kent Community Expo highlights the best our community has to offer,” Beloncis said. “You’ll have the opportunity to support local businesses, taste different cuisines, see who is hiring and experience fun cultural events throughout the day. There really is a little bit of everything.”
Along with record highs for the month of September comes another first for the month: school closings due to the heat.
Several area schools announced half days due to the high temperatures that were expected to reach 92 degrees today, according to the National Weather Service. Among those schools closing early today were Godfrey Lee Public Schools, Kentwood Public Schools, and Wyoming Public Schools. Godfrey Lee Public Schools also cancelled its TEAM 21 program for today. Kentwood Public Schools cancelled Arch and after school day care todayalong with tonight’s soccer game at East Kentwood High School.
From Kentwood Public Schools’ Facebook the district stated “The temperatures for this evening are again supposed to get down into the mid to low 60s which does cool off our buildings without air conditioning until around noon. We know this will provide some challenges for our parents but we needed to make a decision based on the safety of our students and staff.
From the National Weather Service
“We will again monitor the temperatures on Monday afternoon as the forecast for Tuesday is beginning to cool. We will try to make a decision for Tuesday by the same time tomorrow evening.”
According to the National Weather Service, temperatures for Tuesday are expected to reach 91 degrees with the weather starting to cool down on Wednesday.
School officials recommend residents and participants check with the school or district for delays or cancellations before heading out to attend any school-related function or event.
GRPS Superintendent Teresa Weatherall Neal, at podium, spoke at a press conference Tuesday following President Trump’s decision to end the DACA program (photo courtesy Grand Rapids Public Schools)
As a mother and grandmother, Teresa Weatherall Neal knows well the value of family. And as superintendent of nearly 17,000 Grand Rapids Public Schools students, she thinks about the families they all come from.
So Neal’s reaction to President Trump’s decision to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program was a strong and swift call to protect students and their families from deportation.
“I’m going to fight for them,” Neal said in her office, the day after Trump announced a phase-out of DACA . “I stand with them. I will fight till the bitter end to keep these children in the school system, with their families.”
Her remarks followed a GRPS Board of Education resolution denouncing the decision, and calling on Congress to pass legislation enabling undocumented young people to gain permanent residency. Other area superintendents also expressed support of their immigrant students, in light of the decision that removes protection from deportation for children raised in the U.S. by undocumented parents.
Kevin Polston
In a prepared statement, Godfrey-Lee Public Schools Superintendent Kevin Polston said the district “reaffirms our commitment to providing safe and supportive learning environments for each student.”
“(B)ecause each child’s unique path is an integral chapter in our district’s story, this action by the executive branch will impact our whole community,” said Polston, whose district’s students are 75 percent Latino. “Our diversity is our strength, and our doors are open for all families that hope for a brighter future for their children. We are forever friend and partner on this journey.”
Tom Reeder
Supporting Diversity in Districts
In Wyoming Public Schools, where 38 percent of students are Latino, Supertintendent Tom Reeder did not specifically address DACA but alluded to government decisions that “have caused significant stress to our families, particularly our children.”
“The last nine months have brought great stress upon members of our community – more than I can remember in the past – and greatly impacts our local families,” Reeder said in a statement to School News Network. “Wyoming Public Schools will continue to support all our students and families in the best way possible to ensure safety and the best environment for learning success.”
He urged parents to reach out to the district to reduce any barrier to their children’s learning, adding, “In the meantime, we hope that adults will seek solutions in the near future that will always ensure everyone is valued, our most vulnerable are protected, and our core fundamental beliefs revisited.”
Kentwood Public Schools is home to a great many immigrant and refugee families, a fact Superintendent Michael Zoerhoff emphasized.
Mike Zoerhoff
“The strength of our Kentwood community is our diversity and the tapestry of cultures that make up our school district,†Zoerhoff told SNN. “We will continue with our mission to provide an education of excellence and equity to all the children who come through our doors. Kentwood Public Schools is a family and we will continue to support our family members in any way possible.”
The Trump administration’s decision, announced by Attorney General Jeff Sessions, would end the DACA program enacted by President Obama in 2012. It allows young people brought to the U.S. illegally by their parents, to receive temporary permission to work, study and get driver’s licenses, renewable every two years. To qualify, applicants must have clean criminal records, be enrolled in school or serve in the military. About 800,000 are current recipients.
This week’s decision officially ends the program in March and halts new applications now, but those whose permits expire before March 5 can apply for a two-year renewal. Trump called on Congress to pass immigration legislation to replace it,and tweeted that he will “revisit this issue” if Congress does not act.
‘It’s About Humanity’
In Grand Rapids Public Schools, which enrolls about 4,000 Latino students, the program’s cancellation may affect between 500 and 1,000 students, said spokesman John Helmholdt. Although most are Latino, some come from other countries, he said, adding the district has “a moral obligation” to support their families and “get Congress to take action to do what’s right by kids.”
“This has a negative impact on social/emotional learning,” Helmholdt said. “Now students and their families are not focused on the children’s education and getting homework done. They’re having fear for what does this executive order mean, and what do they have to do to make any kinds of preparation in the event Congress doesn’t take swift action.
“This is the insanity of this new administration,” he added. “It’s evoking this fear, anxiety and us vs. them mentality that has no place in public education.”
The GRPS school board statement said members were “deeply disappointed” by Trump’s decision, and urged Congress to pass the Development, Relief and Education for Minors (DREAM) Act, introduced in 2001 but never approved. The board called DACA “crucially important to public education,” noting teachers working under the program help fill a need for teaching English-language learners.
“We believe students brought to the United States as children must be able to pursue an education without the threat of deportation, and have a pathway to fully participate in the American society as citizens,” the board said. Board President Wendy Falb and Superintendent Neal spoke out at a press conference on the day of Trump’s decision, along with a DACA recipient with children in GRPS and Roberto Torres, executive director of the Hispanic Center of Western Michigan. Neal later called the decision unjust and “unconscionable,” causing trauma to families, students and staff.
“To disrupt the lives of kids is so wrong,” Neal said. “We should be focusing in on educating these kids. I shouldn’t worry about whether my kids are going to show up because they’re afraid to come out of the shadows.”She urged superintendents, city officials and companies across the area to find out how many families are affected, then work to craft a legislative solution.
“I don’t think it’s a Republican or Dem thing,” she added. “It’s about humanity.”
Check out School News Network for more stories about students, schools, and faculty in West Michigan.
Kindergartener Leonardo Guerrero, sixth-grader Alejandro Guerrero, mom Jennifer Ocampo, and grandmother Martha Ocampo, a family from Mexico, wait outside Meadowlawn Elementary.
New Meadowlawn Elementary School Principal Tim Hargis recognizes the traits of dedication and perseverance in his English-language learner families, and sees how hard parents work to help their children be successful.
The school is home to the district’s elementary Newcomer Center Program for students who are brand new to the United States. There are currently 20 children in the program. Many other students schoolwide are ELL, with varying levels of English.
“On the first registration day I was touched with the ELL parents that were here, and the enormous responsibility that they had to get their kiddos registered and in school, especially when they are up against language challenges,” Hargis said. “I was so impressed with their patience and their determination and their kindness. I know they know the importance of education for their kids.”
Kentwood Public Schools families come from 90 countries; they include from left, Meadowlawn student Specioza Irangunda, from Congo, caregiver Ivette Budogo, from Uganda, and student Divine Sedatwari, from Congo.
Parents at Meadowlawn and districtwide will soon have the opportunity to better navigate their children’s educational journey and life in the U.S. In Kentwood Public Schools, students speak more than 60 languages and represent 90 countries; about 1,800 are English-language learners.
The district received a $110,000 grant from the Steelcase Foundation spread, over two years, to fund the KPS Parent Academy for non-English-speaking parents of ELL students. The goal is to remove barriers immigrant families face, share knowledge of local resources, and how things like banking and local government work, said Superintendent Michael Zoerhoff.
“A lot of our ELL students and immigrants came here for a better life, very similar to … when our ancestors came here for a better life,” Zoerhoff said. “They are here for all the right reasons. They work hard but maybe need some help navigating through this world we live in.”
Educators try to bridge the disconnect between work and home life for ELL students. “Our goal is to always create positive citizens successful in the workplace, to really create change-the-world-type citizens,” Zoerhoff said.
Van Poih and her child wait at dismissal at Meadowlawn
Academy Involves Partnerships
Beginning in September, focus groups of community leaders will explore topics to benefit parents. Planning will continue in October until the first six-week series of workshops launches in November. Series will be offered three times annually with class sizes starting with 20 participants. The plan is for business and community leaders to lead workshops in their area of expertise.
“The schools, the business communities and the faith community in Kentwood are all working together to build this wonderful melting pot that we are proud of, and to make our community even stronger,” Zoerhoff said.
Topics could include the English language, school procedures, study skills, banking, store shopping, Internet use, obtaining a driver’s license, pursuing citizenship, using public transportation and applying for a job.
“The Parent Academy is another wonderful example of what makes our city so special,” said Kentwood Mayor Steve Kepley, who plans to volunteer at workshops. “Kentwood is a diverse community, home to many hard-working families, and I’m excited to see this program take off. My wife and I are heavily engaged in supporting people that come from all parts of the world.
“I’m pleased that Steelcase, a Kentwood business, is helping our public school promote this cause through its generous donation,” Kepley added. “The Parent Academy will help foster better relationships for children, parents and school staff. It’s exciting when our entire community comes together to help our children succeed.”
The goal is to improve educational outcomes of ELL students, which will be measured through improved the state World-Class Instructional Design and Assessment (WIDA) scores, disciplinary reports, and attendance.
Outcomes of ELL students whose parents participate will be compared with a similar group of ELL students whose parents do not participate, Zoerhoff said.
Mo Nung, from Burma, waits with her toddler for her fifth-grader to be dismissed at Meadowlawn Elementary School
‘You Are Valued’
The national political climate makes the timing of the academy’s launch even more important. There will be an extra focus on making sure families feel safe, Zoerhoff said. “It sends a message to our people that you are still valued here. What’s going on in the country has not changed what we do.”
At Kentwood, ELL students make remarkable progress toward English proficiency, but often struggle to keep up with their age-peers in the regular classroom. Parents also struggle with English, which makes completing homework difficult, Zoerhoff said. Many students serve as translators for their parents, mentors for siblings and have to work to help the household.
“If we can help our parents,” Zoerhoff said, “that can only help our kids be more successful in school.”
Check out School News Network for more stories about students, schools, and faculty in West Michigan.
School: Meadowlawn Elementary, Kentwood Public Schools
Other positions you have held in education: I was academic support coach for all elementary buildings in Kentwood Public Schools. I’ve also been an independent literacy consultant leading professional development with schools across Michigan. I also was a third-grade teacher at Buchanan Elementary in Grand Rapids Public Schools.
How about jobs outside education? Prior to working in education, I was a television news producer at WLWT-TV, the NBC station in Cincinnati, Ohio (my hometown).
Spouse/children: My wife’s name is Keyla. We have two daughters: Sofia, 11, and Carolina, 6.
Hobbies/interests/little-known talent: I love to write, play tennis and golf, and am also a big sports fan.
What kind of kid were you at the age of students at this new school? I was a nice kid with a big sense of humor. I loved school and have a lot of great memories of my time there.
The biggest lesson you have learned from students is … Never underestimate students. They will rise to the occasion time and time and time again. If you set the bar high with your expectations, they’ll do their best to meet them.
Finish this sentence: If I could go back to school I would go to __ grade because… third grade, because I remember it being one of my all-time favorite years, with a strong group of friends and a first-year teacher who was inspiring to all of us.
