Nicole Timmer was a substitute teacher for Grand Haven Public Schools until the pandemic hit.
To help fill the substitute shortage needs, some districts have turned to staffing services and college students to help fill substitute teaching gaps. (pxhere.com)
“It wasn’t worth it,” she said.
As the need for substitute teachers increased after the pandemic, private placement companies have become more essential to grow school districts’ sub pools.
Timmer, a former stay-at-home mom, was trained by Edustaff, a private staffing service based in Grand Rapids. Its website says the company works with more than 550 K-12 districts nationwide.
However, she and a handful of other Grand Haven subs were “grandfathered” into the substitute teaching system. She used Edustaff’s portal to see her assignments, but there was a special asterisk next to her name meaning she was a district employee.
With the asterisk came the perks of being involved in the school district on an ongoing basis.
Feeling like you are part of a team
She was able to form relationships with other teachers, be involved in her children’s education and choose whom to substitute for.
Before the school year started, she often had a calendar full of dates she was needed in the classrooms.
The full-time teachers “were spending the most time with my children during the day,” Timmer said. “So it was a really cool insider look to see what was going on in the times that I wasn’t around. Being a stay-at-home mom, it was very interesting.”
She said she was lucky to be able to follow her kids as they got older.
Her brother, Joe Nelson, taught at the Grand Haven High School. She once texted him after having a problem with one of his students.
“A kid was being kind of mean to me, and I literally just took a picture of him and sent it to Joe and said, ‘This kid’s being a jerk,’” Timmer said. “Joe emailed him right then and there, (saying) ‘Stop being a jerk.’”
Timmer said she’s still friends with many teachers she subbed for, and having such connections helped solidify her position in the district.
For other outsourced substitutes working for Edustaff, Timmer said it could be difficult to develop and maintain such relationships in an unfamiliar district. But she said these subs should also make an effort to “make a name for themselves.”
Filling the substitute teacher need
Brian Dunn, the Edustaff director for Michigan, said the company has seen a 10% spike in teacher absences this school year.
“We’re also filling in more classrooms, which is exciting because it means more people are working more often,” Dunn said.
He said anyone who meets the 60-semester credit hours and background check requirements can apply to Edustaff.
Stay-at-home parents are the biggest group of Edustaff’s subs, Dunn said. Other large groups include retired educators and college students.
While Edustaff services can fill some gaps left by the teacher shortage, some districts are reaching out to education colleges to ask if their students can fill paid long-term substitute positions.
Reaching into the future educators pool
Marcia Fetters, the director of teaching education at Western Michigan University, said long-term sub positions can be valuable for some students because of the pay.
Most internships for education majors at Western are student teaching positions with a mentor teacher. Fetters said she encourages traditional student teachers to train through Edustaff so they can cover the classroom if the mentor is absent for the day.
Long-term sub positions are different because students don’t have a full-time teacher to coach them in the classroom.
Fetters said Western often works with a district to set up additional mentoring opportunities for students who take on long-term substitute jobs.
“Long-term subbing as an internship has its pros and cons,” Fetters said. “I’ve worked with students who have done it both ways. Some excel at it and some just want a little bit more support.”
During the 2020-2021 school year, whether in school or attending virtually, the students at St. John Vianney Catholic School always wore the school uniform to class.
This was one of the details that Wyoming parent Erika Oliver, who had switched her two sons to the school in the fall of 2020, had noticed as the 2020-2021 school year progressed. A detail that helped her decide to have her sons return to St. John Vianney (SJV) this fall.
“I wanted the smaller numbers and the smaller environment,” Oliver said of her decision to switch from a large public school district to the preschool through eighth-grade facility that is located on the St. John Vianney’s campus at 4101 Clyde Park Ave. SW. “St. John Vianney already had a plan in place on how they were going to handle any sudden announcements of having to go virtual.
Erika Oliver with her sons(from left) Samuel, who is in fifth grade, and Luca, who is in sixth grade. (WKTV)
“It had a good reputation, so we made the jump.”
That planned included St. John Vianney Catholic School, like many of the schools in the Catholic Diocese of Grand Rapids, offering flexible learning by providing both in-person instruction and virtual from the start of school. Many area public schools delayed in-person instruction at the start of the 2020-2021 school year.
Oliver said her family discovered a lot of flexibility along with assistance from staff to help students create a successful learning environment whether that would be in school or at home. A key to that, was having the students “arrive” to school in their uniforms.
“Granted, with the virtual students, we didn’t always know if they were wearing the full uniform,” St. John Vianney Principal Linda Olejnik said with a smile. “But by having that routine, it helps to establish in the student’s mind that this is school and prepares them to be focused and ready for learning.”
Being flexible by offering in-person and virtual learning from the start of the 2020-2021 school year is one of the reasons officials from the Catholic Diocese of Grand Rapids believes has impacted its growth over the past year. Across its 26 elementary schools and five high schools the Dioceses has, its preschool-12th grade enrollment for 2021-2022 is 6,267 students, an increase of 253 students from last school year.
Much of the growth comes from the number of preschool and kindergarten students. This school year, the Diocese has one of its largest kindergarten classes in the last decade with 527 students. Olejnik noted that St. John Vianney has followed that trend as well.
St. John Vianney also has seen an increase in students in first through sixth grade, In fact 24 out of the 31 schools in the Diocese re-enrolled all of its students or grew its enrollment from last year. Sarah Toepfer, the marketing and communication coordinator for Diocese’s Catholic Schools, said they have seen an increase due to returning families who had left due to COVID and better attendance from baptized children.
St. John Vianney Principal Linda Olejink (WKTV)
“The ability for students to learn in-person with their teachers and peers last school year paid dividends in academic and personal growth,” said Dave Faber, superintendent of Catholic schools in the Diocese of Grand Rapids. “I am grateful to God for the outstanding efforts of our admissions advocates, families, faculty, staff, principals, and pastors who joined together to intentionally grow the mission and the ministry of Catholic schools.”
Olejnik said aiding in making it easier for SJV students was the school’s platform, Canvas, which allows staff to manage their classrooms by taking attendance, uploading assignments and class files and post grades. The program able the staff to move quickly to virtual learning when necessary but also for in school learning. If a student has to be quarantine, it was a smooth transition as the student’s work already was online, she said.
The 2020-2021 school year was an untaught territory that through partnerships with its staff, families and community St. John Vianney was able to weather well, Olejnik said, adding the staff has added a few new items to its toolbox of education.
And through that storm, Olejnik said she has seen a difference this year among students and staff.
“There is a lot of joyfulness,” Olejnik said. “There is joyfulness in being together when everyone came back. You can see it as students are playing together on the playground or working on assignments. Now if I could just bottle that.”
Dutton Elementary School has been recognized as a 2021 National Blue Ribbon School by the U.S. Department of Education for being an Exemplary High Performing School.
“Caledonia Community Schools is so proud of all our faculty and staff who work so hard to make an excellent learning environment for our students,” said Dr. Dedrick Martin, superintendent of Caledonia Community Schools. “Dutton Elementary is a great example of a school that prepares students to make a positive difference in the community by empowering all students to achieve their best and cultivate agile learners.”
Dutton Elementary has been recognized in the past for its staff’s work in supporting students. Dutton earned the title “Reward School 2018-2019″ for earning all A’s or Significantly Above Average in all categories rated by the state of Michigan. Michigan nominated Dutton Elementary for the National Blue Ribbon Award and recognized the school for creating an environment that encourages feedback among staff, parent involvement, and support from the Caledonia Community Schools administration.
Dutton Elementary Principal Shawn Veitch and staff regularly partner with a local church and several businesses. Staff members volunteer with students at a weekly summer reading program in a neighborhood mobile home community and connect students with Kids’ Hope mentors and hand-to-hand weekly food distribution.
“Our Dutton Elementary school teachers and staff go above and beyond to ensure our students have the support they need to succeed in school,” Veitch said. “On behalf of our school, I’d like to congratulate everyone involved in making Dutton Elementary a great place to learn.”
The National Blue Ribbon Schools Program recognizes outstanding public and non-public schools, celebrating school excellence, turnaround stories, and closing student achievement gaps. The U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona recognized 325 schools as National Blue Ribbon Schools for 2021. Thirteen Michigan schools received the honor with Dutton Elementary being the only Greater Grand Rapids school to be recognized.
In 2020, 15 Michigan schools were recognized that included Kentwood’s Discovery Elementary and Grandville’s Central Elementary.
Leaders from 50 Kent County congregations volunteered to roll up their sleeves last week to show their communities they are walking the talk on the COVID vaccine front, each getting “a shot of love” at West Michigan Vaccination Clinic at DeVos Place, which is a collaborative effort of Kent County, Spectrum Health, Mercy Health and Vaccinate West Michigan.
“Whatever your faith tradition, the principle of love thy neighbor is pretty consistent across centuries,” said Pastor Charlie Selmon, Jr. of Wellspring Church. “Getting a vaccine, just like wearing a mask, is about showing love for ourselves, our neighbors, our elders, and our children. It is about protecting the sanctity of human life.”
This Tuesday at 3:30 p.m., the Kent County COVID-19 Church Task Force will ve sting a COVID-19 Vaccine Rally and Registration Drive. The event will take place at Pilgrim Rest Baptist Church, 510 Franklin St. SE. The purpose of the rally is encourage resident in high priority zip codes based on COVID-19 incidents and other socially vulnerable index factors are registered to receive the vaccine.
Local pastors roll up their sleeves to get their shots and encourage others to do so. (Supplied)
At 4 p.m., more than 200 volunteers will canvass select census tracts in the 49507 zip code going door-to-door to ensure that every adult resident has the opportunity to register to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.
This is the first of 10 scheduled drives across Kent County to help ensure that the most vulnerable members are vaccinated. Those attending must follow the instructions of the medical safety team and adhere to the safety guidelines of local state and national health departments.
“As a physician, and as someone who has lost loved ones to COVID-19, I urge you to consider getting the vaccine as a way to help us defeat this deadly virus,” wrote TaLawnda Bragg, MD, attending physician at Spectrum Health. In the recent blog post, she said, “I am eager to do whatever I can to help halt the scourge of this virus in our community.”
Until now, access to the vaccine has been limited to essential workers and select, high-risk demographics. With the national supply of vaccines expanding quickly, outreach to the broader community is underway. Starting April 5, the vaccine will be offered to all Michiganders age 16 and older according to Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. In Kent County more than 86,885 residents or 16.8% of the population have been vaccinated.
“Over 2.7 million doses of the safe and effective COVID vaccines have been administered in Michigan, and we are well on our way to vaccinating 70% of Michiganders age 16 and up,” said Dr. Joneigh Khaldun, chief medical executive and chief deputy for health at MDHHS. “We will continue to focus our efforts on removing barriers to access for our most vulnerable to exposure and those at highest risk of severe illness due to COVID-19. These vaccines are the way we are going to end this.”
According to Kent County Health Department’s Administrative Health Officer, Dr. Adam London, “faith leaders have been providing essential counseling and care for vulnerable people throughout this pandemic; they are now also helping us as volunteers. Their level of commitment and support for our community has been extraordinary.”
This Tuesday, the Kent County COVID-19 Church Task Force will be hosting the first of many Vaccine Rally and Registration Drives. (Supplied)
Local faith leaders expect enthusiastic participation at vaccine sites in the weeks ahead.
“We understand in the 21st century that individual health and public health go hand in hand,” said Rev. Khary Bridgewater, Coordinator of the Kent County COVID-19 Church Task Force. “Faith leaders know that we must protect the individual health of our most vulnerable citizens if we all want to share the blessings of a healthy community.”
Kent ISD Ron Caniff retired in December. (Supplied)
Do you feel the next Kent ISD superintendent should have a doctorate degree? Should he or she have been a principal? Should he or she be a good listener?
These are just some of the traits that the Kent Board of Education is asking the community to weigh in on the Kent ISD Superintendent Search Stakeholder Survey. The data from the survey will be compiled to build a profile that will be used in the superintendent search, which is being facilitated by the Michigan Association of School Boards.
The survey consists of 14 questions and takes about 10 minutes to complete. It asks participants to consider and rate the education level, experience, expertise, skills, and characteristics they feel are important to have in a Kent ISD superintendent. The anonymous survey is open to all community members — residents, business leaders, teacher, and Kent ISD staff.
Kent Intermediate Superintendent Ron Caniff retired in December after more than 30 years in education, the last eight as the superintendent for the Kent ISD. Ron Koehler is serving as interim superintendent.
Applications for the Kent ISD superintendent are being accepted through March 15. The Kent ISD Board of Education hopes to have a new superintendent in place by July 1.
From creative writing about apples to making music with ukuleles, area schools are offering innovative programming during the pandemic. Speaking of succeeding, if you were an essential worker from April 1 to June 30, you may qualify for the Future for Frontliners program. Scroll to the bottom for more information.
For more stories on local schools, visit the School News Network website, schoolnewsnetwork.org.
There wasn’t much recognizable about Symone Gray’s apple, Martin Van Buren, after he got hit by a car in the Big Apple (School News Network)
Wyoming: Babysitting an apple
Ninth grade students at Wyoming High School get creative in their writing by telling the woes and tragedies of the apples they babysit. Want to get all the juicy sauce on this? Click here.
TEAM 21 Coordinator Ellen Veenkant tackled the change of coordinating the West Godwin Elementary’s drop-off and pick-up schedule (School News Network)
Godwin Heights: A real team player
With no parents allowed in its buildings due to COVID, West Godwin needed help coming up with a plan for pick up and drop off. TEAM 21 member Ellen Veenkant stepped up to the challenge, showing how much of a team player she is. For more, click here.
Kelloggsville music teacher Susan Iacovoni had to figure out a way to get her ukuleles to her students when COVID-19 restrictions meant they couldn’t come to the music room (Dianne Carroll Burdick)
Kelloggsville: Have cart, will travel
Some 140 years after the ukulele was introduced to Hawaii, in Kelloggsville schools, music teacher Susan Iacovoni is introducing her students to the “jumping flea” and watching with glee as their fingers make music, albeit haltingly at first. To learn more about the musical fun, click here.
Brookwood Elementary School Principal Lorenzo Bradshaw is the recipient of the 2020 NAACP Role Model Education Award
Kentwood: Prinicpal earns role model award from NAACP
This past October Kentwood’s Brookwood Elementary School Principal Lorenzo Bradshaw was virtually honored as the 2020 NAACP Role Model Education Award from the local Grand Rapids chapter of the association. Learn why Bradshaw tried to decline the honor and what he finds most rewarding about being in education by clicking here.
Adults attend a Kent ISD GED class (courtesy)
All Districts: Essential workers get high school diplomas thanks to state program
If you served as an essential employee between April 1 to June 30, you may qualify for Futures for Frontliners program. Through the program, eligible participants can earn a GED and/or job training or study at a community college such as Grand Rapids Community College. To be eligible, you must have worked at least 11 of the 13 weeks from April 1 to June 30. For more about the program, click here.
Kate Kocienski, Vice President of Marketing and Public Relations for the Grand Rapids Public Museum (Supplied)
As the landscape of our country changes to becoming more diverse, our language — or specifically the way we describe communities — also must be reframed to celebrate diversity and encourage community growth.
This is the lesson that more than 60 Grand Rapids leaders learned through a virtual conference with Trabian Shorters, the CEO and Founder of BMe. BMe is the international leader in the concept of asset-framing, where a community is not defined by their challenges but rather by the goals they wish to achieve.
“So instead of saying a student or community is ‘at-risk,’ we instead say the student is ‘motivated to overcome challenges to achieve’,” said Grand Rapids Public Museum Vice President of Marketing/Public Relations Kate Kocienski.
It was through Grand Rapids Public Museum President and CEO Dale Robertson’s connection with the non-partisan, non-profit think tank Michigan Future, Inc., that led to the October workshop, Kocienski said. Shorters originally was scheduled to come to the east side of the state in the spring and through a partnership with Grand Valley State University, Michigan Future, Inc., and the Skillman Foundation, the Public Museum was able to plan for him to stop in West Michigan. COVID changed those plans to the program being rescheduled in October as a virtual workshop, Kocienski said.
Trabian Shorters
In his program, Shorters discussed the science behind negative cognitive thinking and how that impacts language. Learning about a community makes it less likely that a person will discuss that community in a negative aspect, according to previous recorded presentations by Shorters.
“The story you tell creates the life you live,” Shorters said during an Aspen Institute Talk in 2016. “The psychological research shows that people actually respond to preprogram scripts that are already running in their mind before it even happens.
“How you translate your missing purse into theft when there is no evidence in between that there was theft.”
The same could be said of a spider, Kocienski said.
“If you did your research and learned about what spiders do, you perhaps would become less afraid of them,” she said.
Or reframing how you see a museum as not only a place that hosts exhibits but also as a leader in engaging in community topics of diversity or equality.
“This fits our cultural programming and something that we feel is needed right now,” Kocienski said. “We felt that we needed to bring together the talent of West Michigan during a time when tensions are tense over race relations to talk about inclusion and equality in concrete ways.”
The ultimate goal, according to Kocienski, was to help start the conversation that goes beyond the traditional ideas of diversity and equity. For example, an organization that offers grants takes a look at the requirements of its grant process and the wording, she said, adding that instead of using “at-risk” using “motivated to succeed” or “help to overcome challenges.”
“Basically to remove the stigma and make it feel less negative,” she said.
Leaders from the area who attended the Oct. 8 event represented a variety of organizations including government, nonprofit, corporate and economic development entities.
Sarah Wamujje Dieleman has two things nobody else has: 62 siblings and an elementary school in her hometown in Uganda. Our polyglot guest shares with us her personal roots and the notion of grassroots empowerment for children in her native East Africa.
House members seek to block proposed arms sales to Saudi Arabia
By Corie Whalen
Rep. Justin Amash
A bipartisan group of six representatives, led by Reps. Justin Amash (R-Mich.) and Mark Pocan (D-Wisc.), have introduced a joint resolution of disapproval, H.J. Res. 102, to block proposed sales of precision-guided munitions and other offensive weapons to the Government of Saudi Arabia. The joint resolution is cosponsored by Reps. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), Walter Jones (R-N.C.), and Jim McGovern (D-Mass.).
Congress was notified of the proposed sales, which are part of a larger arms deal with Saudi Arabia reportedly worth $110 billion, on May 19.
“Saudi Arabia has one of the worst human rights records and has supported many of the extremists terrorizing the people of the Middle East and the world,” said Amash. “These arms sales extend a reckless policy from the Obama administration and prior administrations, and they come at a time when the Saudi government is escalating a gruesome war in Yemen.”
Huizenga Statement on Updated CBO Health Care Score
Rep. Bill Huizenga (MI-02)
Congressman Bill Huizenga (MI-02) has issued the following statement after the CBO released its updated score for the American Health Care Act (AHCA):
“The CBO projection confirms that the American Health Care Act will lower premiums and reduce the federal deficit. Yesterday, the Department of Health and Human Services released a study detailing how premiums for Michigan residents on the individual market have increased by 90% over the last four years alone. ObamaCare is collapsing and isn’t sustainable. We need to restore the ability for hardworking Michiganders to choose the health care plan that best meets their needs. The AHCA is a positive step in helping to achieve that objective.”
Stabenow Statement on CBO Score of Trumpcare
By Miranda Margowsky
Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI)
U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) released a statement on the Congressional Budget Office’s score of Trumpcare that shows 23 million people would lose health insurance:
“Today’s non-partisan report confirms once again that Trumpcare is a bad deal for Michigan families. It raises costs and takes us back to the days when insurance companies were in charge of your health care. If you or your family member has a “preexisting condition” like cancer, pregnancy, or diabetes, you could lose coverage or be forced to pay a lot more. I’m ready to work across the aisle to lower costs and improve care for Michigan families, but this plan makes people pay more for less.
Peters, Stabenow Announce New Pipeline Safety Legislation
By Miranda Margowsky
U.S. Senators Gary Peters and Debbie Stabenow have introduced a package of bills that would increase pipeline safety in and around the Great Lakes and account for the unique needs of the Great Lakes ecosystem. The bills announced today would raise liability caps for Great Lakes pipeline operators; expand and clarify U.S. Secretary of Transportation’s authority to suspend or shut down unsafe oil pipelines; strengthen federal review of oil spill response plans; increase transparency surrounding oil spill response and clean up plans; and create a Center for Expertise in the Great Lakes region to study freshwater oil spills.
“The Great Lakes ecosystem is unlike any other in the world, and many existing pipeline safety rules and regulations do not adequately protect this precious resource from a disastrous oil spill,” said Senator Peters, a member of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee.
“We cannot allow another devastating pipeline break like the one that dumped a million gallons of oil in to the Kalamazoo River in 2010,” said Senator Stabenow.
These actions build on previous efforts by Senators Peters and Stabenow to increase pipeline safety in the Great Lakes. In 2015, Peters and Stabenow introduced legislation to strengthen pipeline oversight and improve response plans for oil spills under ice-covered waters. These provisions were included in the Protecting our Infrastructure of Pipelines and Enhancing Safety Act, or PIPES Act, which was signed into law by President Obama last year.
Peters, Colleagues Introduce Bill to Strengthen Homeland Missile Defense
Bipartisan Legislation Would Accelerate Process for New Missile Defense Site & Fort Custer Among Finalists to Host
U.S. Senator Gary Peters, a member of the Senate Armed Services and Homeland Security Committees, joined his colleagues in introducing bipartisan legislation to strengthen and improve the reliability, capability, and capacity of U.S. homeland missile defense. TheAdvancing America’s Missile Defense Act of 2017 will, among other actions, accelerate the completion of the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) as part of the next step in developing an interceptor site in the Midwest or the East Coast of the United States. The Missile Defense Agency is preparing the EIS for three potential additional missile defense sites, including the Fort Custer Training Center near Battle Creek Air National Guard Base.
“The United States faces an evolving number of security threats — from North Korea’s provocative missile tests designed to inflame global tensions, to Iran’s ballistic missile tests in defiance of a UN Security Council resolution,” said Senator Peters, a former Lt. Commander in the U.S. Navy Reserve. “It is critical that America take proactive steps to bolster our missile defense systems so we are prepared in the event of a missile attack directed at our homeland.
The Advancing America’s Missile Defense Act of 2017 will take a comprehensive review of current American missile defense system capabilities, including:
Promoting an integrated, layered ballistic missile defense system that incorporates different aspects of missile defense, such as ground based sensors and radars;
Authorizing an additional 28 GBIs;
Speeding the development and deployment of advanced interceptor technologies;
Accelerating the development and deployment of a space-based sensor layer;
Authorizing increased missile defense testing; and
Requiring a DoD report on potentially increasing GBI capacity.
Peters Statement on President Trump’s 2018 Budget Proposal
U.S. Senator Gary Peters (MI), Ranking Member of the Federal
U.S. Senator Gary Peters
Spending Oversight Subcommittee, released the following statement regarding President Trump’s fiscal year 2018 budget proposal, which makes drastic cuts to programs that Michigan families and businesses rely on:
“I am extremely concerned that President Trump’s budget proposal makes significant cuts to critical programs that boost Michigan’s working families, support economic development in Michigan’s urban and rural communities, and protect the Great Lakes which are vital to some of our state’s largest industries.
“Rather than investing in policies that promote manufacturing, support small businesses, strengthen education, and drive our economy forward, President Trump’s budget only offers counterproductive cuts that would stifle Michigan’s economic growth and strain the pocketbooks of Michigan families. While Congress has a responsibility to ensure taxpayer dollars are being used efficiently and effectively, any budget passed by Congress must address the needs of middle class families, seniors and small businesses.”
Stabenow Statement on Trump Budget Request that Eliminates Great Lakes funding
By Miranda Margowsky
U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) released a statement following news that President Trump’s full budget request for the 2018 fiscal year still completely eliminates funding for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative:
“It’s official—President Trump’s 2018 budget zeros out funding for our Great Lakes. Thanks to thousands of people across Michigan speaking out, we already stopped cuts for this year. This is a moment for Michigan when we all need to stand together to protect our Great Lakes.”
The Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, which Senator Stabenow authored in 2010, is critical to supporting jobs, fighting invasive species, and protecting the Michigan way of life. Earlier this month, Senator Stabenow led the bipartisan effort to successfully pass full funding for the Great Lakes for the remainder of fiscal year 2017.
Stabenow Statement Following DeVos Speech Outlining Massive Cuts to Public Education
By Miranda Margowsky
U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) released a statement following a speech by Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos outlining a proposal to make massive cuts to public education:
“Parents’ worst fears were realized today when Secretary Betsy DeVos outlined the Trump Administration’s plan to shift billions of dollars away from our nation’s public schools. These policies have already failed children and families in Michigan and now Secretary DeVos wants to implement them nationwide. Instead of working cooperatively to improve our schools, this administration is playing politics with the future of our children.”
Before the advent of humankind, whales roamed the oceans unfettered by humans and dangerous, man-made noises. It is said that back then, a whale in the Pacific Ocean could hear a whale singing in the Atlantic Ocean. What a world that must have been.
Sadly, those days are long gone and we have become far removed from our huge mammal friends. But the Grand Rapids Public Museum (GRPM) wants to change that. The GRPM’s Whales: Giants of the Deep exhibition’s unique blend of science, storytelling, and innovative interactivity gives visitors the opportunity to discover more about the world of whales.
Featuring two fully-articulated sperm whale skeletons, including an impressive 58-foot male, Whales showcases amazing and rare specimens from New Zealand’s Te Papa Museum’s whale collection, one of the largest in the world. Visitors will see life-size and scale models of whales common to the South Pacific as well as contemporary whalebone treasures such as weapons and chiefly adornments.
They’ll also learn about whale biology, the extraordinary evolutionary journey of whales from land to sea, and the history of whaling in New Zealand.
Children can even crawl through a life-size replica of the heart of a blue whale, the Earth’s largest living creature.
Interactive, immersive, and featuring the latest in international cetacean research, Whales: Giants of the Deep is an experience that brings adults and children eye to eye with some of the world’s most elusive creatures.
Here are some of the exhibition highlights:
See life-size and scale models of whales common to the South Pacific, including a beaked whale skull and a massive 58-foot, fully-articulated sperm whale skeleton.
Learn about the intricacies of whale biology, the history of whaling in New Zealand, and efforts being made by scientists and others to protect whales from threats of entanglement, shipping and sonar use, and the continuation of whaling practices in some parts of the world.
View casts of fossil whale ancestors, which show the evolutionary journey of whales from land to sea, as well as contemporary whalebone treasures such as weapons and chiefly adornments.
Encounter whales through video portholes, be transported into their underwaterworld via two immersive projections, and enjoy a moving film experience that tells the stories of three whale-riding traditions in New Zealand, including the famous story of Paikea featured in Whale Rider.
See ancient and contemporary works of art and hear stories from people of the South Pacific illustrating the powerful influence these creatures have had on human culture.
Tune in to a range of whale sounds and discover how scientists and amateur trackers identify individual whales on their migration through the Pacific Ocean.
Gain a true appreciation of the physical and behavioral traits that enable whales to make a living in the challenging and dynamic marine environment.
Walk among the giant—and not-so-giant—articulated skeletons of an astoundingly diverse collection of whale specimens, and then explore the evolutionary paths that gave rise to this unique group of mammals.
Beginning at 2 p.m. on Saturday, October 22, Whales: Giants of the Deep tickets will be $2 for member adults and children, and $13 for non-member adults and $8 for non-member children. Admission to Whales: Giants of the Deep includes general admission to the Museum. Get tickets here.
Come to the Special Opening Party, Saturday, Oct. 22 from 9 am to 2 pm.
Visitors of all ages will have first access to the exhibit at this party coming eye to eye with some of the world’s most elusive creatures. Featuring two fully-articulated sperm whale skeletons, visitors are able to see life-size and scale models of whales common to the South Pacific, discover how scientists identify whales on their migration process and interact with a life-size replica of a blue whale, the world’s largest living creature.
Tickets to this event will include admission to the exhibit, as well as hands-on activities and performances including live animals from the John Ball Zoo, performances by traditional Maori dancers, admission to Dynamic Earth in the Museum’s Chaffee Planetarium and lunch.
Use your ticket for lunch between 11 am and 1:30 pm to eat lunch at the Museum. Lunch will include hot dogs, chips, fruit with a drink and dessert.
Non-members: Receive incredible savings for the Opening Party! Purchase a one year family membership plus 4 tickets to the event for only $80 (saving $57). To purchase a membership package call 616.456.3977.
Members are $10 for adults and FREE for member children. Non-member event-only tickets are $18 for adults and $13 for children. Limited tickets available.
One of the enduring principles of comedy is juxtaposition.
Take, for example, this joke from actress Sara Silverman:
“When I was 14, I started dating my father’s best friend. It was weird.”
“But not as weird as my father having a best friend who was 14.”
So, too, is juxtaposition in the comedy of life.
On October 20, Kent ISD hosted a screening of the film “Most Likely to Succeed” at Celebration Cinema. It’s an engaging film that poses this question: Our schools were designed at the turn of the 20th Century by business and educational leaders to prepare workers for the mass production of products. Can these schools prepare today’s students for the jobs of tomorrow?
All in attendance agreed it was thought provoking. There was great dialogue about an education organized around rote memorization in a world of search engines, the critical thinking and problem solving skills required in today’s workplace, and the failings of an accountability system built on the standardized test.
Heady stuff, indeed. And the next morning, I find this in my email inbox:
LANSING, Mich. — State Sen. Phil Pavlov, R-St. Clair Township, announced Wednesday that the Michigan Senate Education Committee will conduct a series of hearings on Michigan’s academically failing schools, beginning Wednesday, Nov. 4.
Juxtaposition. From dreaming about what education could be, what it should be, to what it is in a world where our schools are governed by students’ scores on standardized tests. Their performance on a single test, on a single day, is the determining factor in whether a school building, and typically a district, is considered a success, or a failure.
There are so many more factors to consider. All of the research shows children of poverty start kindergarten well behind children from middle-class suburbs because they’re exposed to fewer early learning opportunities, they’re more likely to suffer health and nutrition deficiencies, etc., etc.
In the early grades, there are developmental issues and differences between genders. Boys are generally behind girls. Some boys really don’t have the biological building blocks in place to be proficient in reading at third grade. Few learn well by sitting quietly in rows reading books.
As the writers and producers of Most Likely to Succeed point out, grouping students by age and, later, by age and subject, are organizational tools, not educational tools. There is no evidence these organizational tools are anything more than an easy way for adults to manage large groups of students.
The research indicates all students are different, all develop in different ways and all would benefit from a system based on competency. A competency based system would make learning the most important factor in a student’s education. Some would master concepts faster, some slower, but none would be judged as failures because they were unable to master a concept by a certain age or a date marked on a calendar for standardized tests to be administered.
Forgive me for this overgeneralization, but mostly, our elected officials believe our current education system is expensive and our scores on standardized tests are too low. Virtually everything in education policy orbits around these two bits of information.
Please, don’t get me wrong. All of our elected officials are well intentioned people. I admire their public service. I’m all for efficiency. But most of the discussion surrounding education is focused on the wrong things.
What should we focus on? I’m not the expert. But let’s go back to juxtaposition.
Think of the excitement of four or five-year olds when they first go to school. And then, think of the dull and disinterested response you get when you ask a teenager what he or she learned in school today: “Nothing.”
Shouldn’t that be the focus of education reform? Shouldn’t we ask what happened to the love of learning?
Why do the majority of students say they’re bored every day in school? We should be looking for ways to fulfill the wisdom of William Butler Yeats, who famously said “Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.”
Let’s light a fire. Please watch Most Likely to Succeed. Please ask your legislators to watch it too. And then let’s have a conversation about how we can make our schools better.
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