54th Street Academy - WKTV Journal

New 54th Street Academy Supervisor Bilal Muhammad chats with seniors Sonia Olvera and Marcel Webber. (School News Network)

Bilal Muhammad is the new supervisor of 54th Street Academy, the district’s alternative high school. The role is similar to a principal.

Other positions you have held in education:

Student services coordinator at Kelloggsville Middle School
Middle School athletic director at Grand Rapids Public Schools

How about jobs outside education? I worked in customer service for JC Penney Catalog for seven years.

Bilal Muhammad and wife Stacy; daughter Illiana, 14; and son Amir, 8. (School News Network)

Education/degrees: Bachelor of social science and master of education from Ashford University

Spouse/children: wife, Stacy; son, Amir, 8; and daughter Illiana, 14

Hobbies and Interests: I like sports. I coach basketball and I still play basketball. I like to travel.

What kind of kid were you at the age of students at this new school?
I was big into athletics. I played basketball and I ran track. Academically, I was stellar, I got the work done.

The biggest lesson you have learned from students is… I feel students want to know you have their best interests at heart. They won’t really learn from you if you don’t build that positive relationship with them.

Finish this sentence: If I could go back to school I would go to grade ? because…I kind of feel like everything happens for a reason so I wouldn’t change anything I went through, because I learn from my experiences. I wouldn’t go back to a grade, because everything I’ve been through made me who I am.

For more stories on local schools, visit the School News Network website, schoolnewsnetwork.org.

By Bridie Bereza
School News Network

Rick Jackson was ready to give a math assignment on probabilities to students in his algebra class at 54th Street Academy when junior Bianka Ranero counter-offered: “Let’s flip houses instead.”

It was a deal. Jackson bought the idea and students got to work scouring real estate websites for houses to “buy,” creating a slideshow of the houses, pricing out and marketing five hypothetical upgrades, and “listing” their remodeled homes for sale. The slide shows — their version of a real estate flier — were sent to potential “buyers” throughout the district for offers, with Jackson acting as real estate agent.

Bianka Ranero consults with Rick Jackson, her algebra teacher, on the upgrades she would make to a house. (School News Network)

“You have to figure out the total price of everything, and the total amount you spent on the upgrades, and then you have to do a lot of dividing, adding and multiplication depending on what you’re adding to your house,” said Bianka, who suggested the project because she has seen the ins and outs through her mom, who invests in real estate.

Bianka’s upgrade ideas included adding a swimming pool and a half bathroom to the two-story, three-bedroom house. The bathroom addition would add value and be inexpensive, since the plumbing already was in place, she said. She knew she could do it for about $1,500 purchasing the fittings at a local big-box store.

She was hoping to receive offers topping $200,000 on the house, which was listed for $119,900.

Zhane’ Warrens looks at photos of the home she chose for the house-flipping simulation she’s doing as part of her algebra class. (School News Network)

Real Estate, ‘Real World’

“Can I put in a new mailbox for an upgrade?” asked a student.

“You can… but I doubt it will add a lot of value,” advised Jackson.

As students delved into the business of house flipping, Jackson encouraged them to look at all aspects of real estate: What are neighboring properties selling for? What are the selling points of your home? How can you make it more attractive to buyers? He brought in a local Realtor, Krista Bashford, to give students a crash course in real estate before they started looking at homes.

Jackson said he often gets asked by students, “When is this ever going to apply to anything?” so the project made sense to him.

“In the future, it’s something they could really apply in their lives and they could make money from,” he said.

It also includes algebra lessons he needs to teach.

“They’re working with a budget, trying to balance how much to spend versus how much they can actually get out of the house. There’s a lot of calculation in the project,” he said, as they look at tallying items such as the cost of tile over a certain area or how much paint they’ll need for a surface.

For more stories on area schools, visit the School News Network website, schoolnewsnetwork.org.