Tag Archives: Parkview Elementary School

School News Network: Three newbies and a lifer hired as principals for Wyoming

3-bottom, , , ,
New Wyoming High School Principal Josh Baumbach stops to talk to senior Amanda Melendez during lunch. (School News Network)

By Erin Albanese
School News Network

Meet Your Principal: Josh Baumbach


Josh Baumbach is the new Wyoming High School principal. A graduate of the former Wyoming Park High School and Hope College, he most recently served as West Elementary principal for two years. Because Baumbach was highlighted then as a new principal, SNN asked him a few questions specific to his new role.

What’s your favorite thing about high school students? They keep us on our toes and feeling connected. Their sense of perspective is neat. I like learning about their dreams — what they want to do for a living, the opportunities that lie ahead for them. One of my favorite things is the passion they have for anything they are involved in, whether it’s football, theater, band; whatever it is they are all in. The student section at the basketball game and its energy is an example of that.

What’s the most important piece of advice you have for them? What I’ve told our students is get engaged, get connected in something at the high school: band, Key Club, National Honor Society. Enjoy that experience of being a part of something bigger.

What’s your favorite high school memory? I remember the relationships with teachers and classmates, the great pride we took in being from “The Park,” and beating East Grand Rapids in Triple Overtime during our senior season of football.

What roles have you served in during your 17 years in the district?

  • Sixth-and-seventh grade social studies teacher at Jackson Park Junior High School
  • Ninth- and 10th-grade social studies teacher at Wyoming Park and Rogers High schools
  • Assistant principal at Wyoming Junior High
  • Assistant principal at Wyoming High School
  • Head varsity football coach at Wyoming Park High School



What is it like to become high school principal in the community where you grew up? It’s a very humbling experience to be the high school principal in the district you graduated from. I love this community, our students, and Wyoming Public Schools. It’s a cool honor and privilege — not something I take lightly. We have a great staff who want to be champions for kids and to make a difference in their lives.

Parkview Elementary School Principal Nick Damico chats with, from left, Anevay Keller and Scarlette Holcombe. (School News Network)

Meet Your Principal: Kristen Fuss


Kristen Fuss is the new Oriole Park Elementary School principal. 

Other positions you have held in education: I spent 24 years in Romulus Community Schools. I was a fifth-grade teacher for nine years. After that, I was a Title I Learning Specialist and managed all of our Title I funds and interventions. I was in that position for nine years before being hired as a principal. This was all at the same elementary school that I did my student teaching.

How about jobs outside education? I worked at Kensington Metropark for six years in the maintenance department at one of the beaches.

Education and degrees: Bachelor of science degree from Western Michigan University, a master’s in children’s literature from Wayne State University, and administration certification from Michigan Association of Secondary School Principals.

Spouse/children: No spouse or children, but engaged to be married.

Hobbies/Interests: Reading, spending time with family & friends, traveling.

What kind of kid were you at the age of students at this new school? I was a rule follower and tried to make friends with everyone. I was a student who struggled a bit academically, but had a lot of support around me to help me be more successful than I may have been without the support.

The biggest lesson you have learned from students is… They just want to feel cared for! Building relationships is key to any student’s heart. Building relationships is key to any student’s heart. They will thrive if they feel you truly care for them.

If you walked into your new school building to theme music every day, what would the song be? “I Gotta Feeling. It’s uplifting and makes you feel that everything’s going to be just fine!

New Parkview Principal Nick Damico and his family. (School News Network)

Meet Your Principal: Nick Damico


Nick Damico is the new Parkview Elementary School principal

Other positions you have held in education: I have served as a history teacher, elementary school principal, and middle school principal. I was also a basketball, baseball, and football coach.

How about jobs outside education? Sac-MENTORING, a college mentoring program for at-risk youth operated through Cal State Sacramento.

Education and degrees: Currently a doctoral candidate at Brandman University in Irvine, California. My dissertation is on leadership storytelling and how school and district leaders use storytelling to make transformational change. Master’s degree in teaching from Azusa Pacific University and a bachelor’s degree in government from California State University Sacramento.

Parkview Elementary School Principal Nick Damico chats with, from left, Anevay Keller and Scarlette Holcombe. (School News Network)

Spouse/children: My wife, Vicky, is an Autism Spectrum Disorder teacher for Thornapple Kellogg. We have three beautiful daughters; Lucy, 6, Emily, 4, and Macy , 3.

Hobbies/Interests: Angels baseball and dissertation writing.

What kind of kid were you at the age of students at this new school? I was so immersed in athletics and competition that I counted down the minutes until recess and lunchtime. I was all about playing basketball, soccer, football and any other competitive sport with my friends, including pogs.

The biggest lesson you have learned from students is… Every day is a new opportunity to do right by students. A lot is asked of educators on a daily basis but the most important thing for us is to live by the motto “as much love as you can muster,” which to me means a relentless compassion for our most vulnerable students.

Finish this sentence: If I could go back to school I would go to… Honestly being in the middle of my dissertation … I can’t answer this question without getting knots in my stomach. I am ready for a school break.

If you walked into your new school building to theme music every day, what would the song be? “Whatever It Takes” by Imagine Dragons.

Brian Hartigan high fives students passing by. (School News Network)

Meet Your Principal: Brian Hartigan


Brian Hartigan is the new West Elementary School principal.

Other positions you have held in education: I’ve been an elementary teacher in every grade besides second, including kindergarten. I have taught in North Carolina, Kentucky, Traverse City and was instructional coach in Kentucky and Traverse City. I was most recently the K-12 principal in Glen Lake Community Schools.

How about jobs outside education? Everyone in my family is an educator. My dad was my K-12 principal, my mom was an elementary teacher. My sister is a high school Engilish teacher. The only thing I knew I didn’t want to be was a teacher. I ran a youth sports program in Chicago, working with students ages 3 to 9. Then I got into sales. I missed working with kids, so I returned to college for an education degree.

Education and degrees: Bachelor’s degree in sports management and communications from the University of Michigan; bachelor’s degree in elementary education from U-M; master’s degree in teacher leadership from University of the Cumberlands; master’s degree in educational leadership from Central Michigan University.

Spouse/children: Wife, Jody, and two children: Sophie, a second grader, and Wesley, a kindergartner

Hobbies/Interests: I like being outdoors. My family and I like hiking, biking, camping and going to the beach. I love Frisbees, disc golf, and Ultimate Frisbee.

What kind of kid were you at the age of students at this new school? My dad was my principal, so I guess I was well-behaved and compliant for the most part. I grew up in a K-12 school, so teachers were very familiar with families.That kind of closeness helps you make good choices. I’ve always loved sports since fourth grade when I became interested in going to U of M. That probably had to do with when Michigan won (the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament).

The biggest lesson you have learned from students is… Compassion and forgiveness.  When you work in education you realize students are trying their best. Mistakes are made. Second and third chances are necessary and deserved.

Finish this sentence: If I could go back to school I would go to… Seventh grade. That’s the first time I had the opportunity to play organized sports. I love soccer, basketball and tennis.

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

School News Network: Technology Turns Biographer Reports into Multimedia Efforts

3-bottom, City of Wyoming, ,

Third-graders Yaretzi Martinez, left, and Aiyana Velez work on recording Yaretzi’s presentation

By Erin Albanese 

School News Network

 

It required a few takes for Wyoming’s Parkview Elementary School third-grader Yaretzi Martinez to record her presentation in front of a green screen, so she shared directly with a visitor the details about Olympic gymnast Gabby Douglas.

 

“Gabby Douglas showed us to follow our dreams because she followed her dreams. Gabby won the gold medal when she was 16,” Yaretzi said.

 

Parkview Elementary third-grader Yaretzi Martinez records her presentation on gymnast Gabby Douglas in front of a green screen

Yaretzi and her novice tech crew, including third-graders Aiyana Velez and Yamileth Ramirez, were recording in the school hallway. She completed her piece after a couple snafus: poor lighting, an accidental press of the delete button and a few noisy passersby.

 

“She got hurt and didn’t give up,” Yaretzi said of the Olympic champion.

 

Students in teachers Julie Tessier’s and Michele LeMieux’s classrooms took a multimedia approach to writing biographies. After researching and writing about historical figures and famous people — including Martin Luther King, Jr., Rosa Parks, Michael Jordan, Johannes Brahms, Helen Keller and Amelia Earhart — they recorded their work like mini-broadcasters.

 

They edited in photos of their subjects to be projected behind them on their recordings. They used iPads, a green screen app called Do Ink, a teleprompter app and a website called Flipgridto create their work.

 

Many students chose African-American historical figures, tying their work to Black History Month.

 

Third-grader Manuel Gomez Perez plays his finished presentation on Harriet Tubman on an iPad

Third-grader Manuel Gomez Perez chose Harriet Tubman. “She led 300 slaves to freedom,” he said.

 

About using the green screen: “It’s fun!” he said. “There’s a giant picture behind you.”

 

Tessier said she wanted to challenge her students to bring their projects to life, combining writing and technology. She said many of her students studied people who overcame remarkable obstacles, offering a message of perseverance for students.

 

Multimedia tools support learning in a way students — savvy in technology — are used to. “This is the world they live in,” she said.

 

Check out School News Network for more stories about students, schools, and faculty in West Michigan.

School News Network: ‘You’ve Gotta Be There Everyday’

3-bottom, City of Wyoming, , , , , ,

The first Parkview attendance celebration was a red-carpet affair for students like these kindergartners (from left) Major Weese, Benjamin Ramey, Taeja Gibson, Angel Gonzalez and Marianna Brault being recognized on stage. (All photos courtesy of School News Network.)

By Erin Albanese

School News Network

 

Parkview Elementary students shined, smiles spreading from ear to ear, as they walked down the red carpet laid out for them during a celebration of their success in getting to school nearly every day, all day.

 

Along with the grand Hollywood-style entrance, names of 260 kindergartners through fourth-graders were announced as students walked on stage in the Dan Heintzelman Fine Arts Center, honored for being in class 95 percent or more of the time during the first marking period. They then watched a movie with their families and went home with goodie bags. Beverly Reformed and Wyoming Park United Methodist churches sponsored the event.

 

The celebration, the first of three planned this school year, promotes family involvement in attendance, said Teresa Dood, Kent School Services Network community coordinator She works on the school’s attendance team with Principal Katie Jobson, social worker Micah Bell, KSSN clinician Staci Wolters, and Sarah Wildman, success coach for the Department of Health and Human Services.

 

Attendance is a critical piece to success in school, Dood said. “Kids miss critical building blocks when they miss school and days add up so quickly.”

 

About 8 percent of Parkview students were chronically absent for a range of reasons during the first marking period. The team takes multiple steps to remove barriers that are keeping children from school.

 

Those include transportation; unstable housing and homelessness; a parent who works third shift; and illness, anxiety and mental health issues. The staff goes as far as to help with car repairs, walk students to school, and connect families with health-care professionals. They make sure classrooms are stocked with hand sanitizer, tissues and cleaning wipes.

 

Superintendent Tom Reeder applauds as first-grader Kiara Thomas enters the building

Aligned with County-wide Goals

The countywide goal is for students to miss no more than five days per school year, said Mark Larson, Kent ISD’s truancy and attendance coordinator. Last year, Kent County education leaders — including a group of district superintendents, representatives from Kent County Juvenile Court, the Kent County School Justice Partnership and others — created a new policy with common definitions.

 

According to a study in Berrien County, replicated in other areas, top reasons students are kept home include parent-diagnosed illness, which includes the sniffles or other mild symptoms; routine dentist and doctors’ appointments for which parents pull students out midday and then don’t return; and parents placing a lack of value in attendance, including having older children stay home with younger siblings.

 

“When you look at it through that lens, it’s important the whole family values regular and consistent attendance,” Larson said.

 

Kristin Jacob and son, kindergartner Josiah, walk the red carpet to applause

Keeping Track of Days Missed

At Parkview, Dood and the staff review attendance records weekly, noticing patterns of absence early.

 

“Attendance is often an iceberg issue and really there are a lot of underlying things the family is struggling with,” Dood said. “When we talk to families, we try to look at it in a solution-focused manner: ‘What can we do to help you?’

 

“There’s not a one-size-fits-all solution to attendance, it really needs to be individual.”

 

Sometimes the solution is just to stress the importance of attendance, beginning in kindergarten, to parents who have an “it’s just kindergarten” mentality. Stressing appropriate bedtimes is also important.

 

At the Parkview celebration, parents posed for photos with their children. Tim Agema, father to third-grader Ellie and first-grader Landon, said attendance is a priority for them. The reason? “Of course, education,” he said. “That’s the biggest thing. You gotta be there every day.”

 

“Once you fall behind it’s hard to keep up. Every day matters,” added Kristin Jacob, mom to kindergartner Josiah.

 

Second-grader Sa’riyah Brown also knows why it’s important to be in class: “If you’re not there you don’t get to be smarter.”

 

Check out School News Network for more stories about students, schools, and faculty in West Michigan.

 

Parents also deserve recognition for making sure their students are in school as much as possible.

School News Network: I Get How Hard It Is

3-bottom, City of Wyoming, Education, , ,

Second grader Jiselle Davila reads a sign while chatting with Teresa Dodd, Kent School Network coordinator. (School News Network.)

By Erin Albanese

School News Network

 

Teresa Dood, Parkview Elementary’s Kent School Services Network coordinator, brings an awareness that is deep and real to her job linking families with resources.

 

For her, navigating complicated systems and overcoming seemingly impossible barriers is personal.

 

From her school office, Dood explains how heartbreaking experiences can, with time, become life lessons that allow her to relate to other families and empathize with what they face. Consider her current battle: Dood is the single mother of three adopted children, one of whom has Duchenne muscular dystrophy and needs a potentially life-prolonging medication that insurance keeps denying.

 

A year and a half ago, Dood was fostering her son, now 4, and preparing to adopt him when he was diagnosed with Duchenne, a rare genetic disorder that overwhelmingly affects boys and is characterized by progressive muscle degeneration and weakness. (He and his siblings’ names are not being published due to privacy concerns.) The typical life expectancy of a person with Duchenne is the early 20s.

 

Teresa Dood welcomes Parkview students to school during drop-off time

“That was devastating to me: to learn that this little boy who I so deeply love would have yet another challenge outside of other early-life trauma to overcome, that will ultimately end his life,” Dood said.

 

But Dood’s son is among 13 percent of Duchenne patients with a genetic mutation that qualifies him for a newly approved drug called Exondys 51, a gene-skipping therapy, which was given accelerated approval by the Food and Drug Administration. Said Dood, “It has the potential to give him a typical lifespan.”

 

Teresa Dood checks out fourth-grader Madison Dehaan’s glittery arm

However, the drug costs a minimum $300,000 a year for weekly injections — and Dood’s son needs it for the rest of his life.

 

She has gone through all internal appeals within Medicaid and received repeated denials, because drug studies on Exondys 51 were not expansive enough. Her claim will next go to an external appeal through the State of Michigan. Other families are facing similar battles to get the drug covered.

 

“My son won’t get back the skills he has already lost, but it will help maintain his skill levels,” Dood said.

 

She’s hoping if the external appeal is denied, the drug manufacturer, Sarepta Therapeutics, will cover the cost of the drug because her son can provide valuable data for further study of the medication.

 

She’s That Go-to Person

 

At Parkview, where approximately 90 percent of families qualify for free or reduced lunch, Dood works with students and families to eliminate barriers to students’ success at school and establish community partnerships to meet larger schoolwide needs.

 

A Wyoming native, she has formed partnerships with churches, and received grant funding for a monthly visit from a Feeding America Food Truck. She is starting a program called Good Guys to bring in fathers and other male role models to volunteer.

 

Parkview teacher Lori Schimmelmann said Dood is the go-to person for many needs at Parkview.

 

“Teresa gives of herself 110 percent for our Parkview kids,” Schimmelmann said. “When we have a student with a need, Teresa is the first person we call. If she can’t help us, she finds us someone that can. She does everything in her power to make sure that our Parkview kids have what they need to be successful.”

Dood has a bachelor’s degree in secondary education from Calvin College. She taught for a brief time before switching to children’s and youth ministry positions at local churches for 10 years. After that, she became a site coordinator for TEAM 21, the after-school program serving Wyoming Public Schools, for several years before beginning as the KSSN coordinator five years ago.

 

“I am passionate about impacting kids and families in our community, and I’m passionate about education,” Dood said. “I also see how sometimes people’s life challenges get in the way of kids being successful.

 

“I get excited when I see families come full circle from sometimes needing a lot of supports or resources, to becoming empowered and equipping their family to then being able to share that with others.”

 

It’s Dood’s everyday interactions with students and families that stands out most, said Principal Katie Jobson.

 

“Teresa does a great job building relationship with families,” Jobson said. “She brings a good balance between understanding what might be a barrier to families, and seeing the education perspective of what schools are trying to accomplish. She’s really good at bridging those gaps so we are all on the same team.

 

“Her own unique set of personal experience help her understand where families are coming from in a way that other people may not be able to understand,” she added. “That’s always a comfort to families to understand that somebody gets it.”

 

Learning the System

 

Those personal experiences include fostering 20 children over the years and raising her adopted children from infancy. Explained Dood, “I describe foster care as having some of the greatest highs and the greatest lows. There’s amazing joy … yet there’s been some really hard stuff too.”

 

There’s also been a lot of navigating red tape.

 

Teresa Dood brings her experiences of fostering and adopting as a single mother to her job connecting families with resources

“I have experiences of going through the IEP (Individualized Education Program for special education students) and having a child with significant behavioral challenges, and I know how it is to work the public mental health system in Kent County,” she said.

 

She also knows about judgment quickly cast on parents of children with mental health challenges. She wants to lift up families and break down stereotypes and stigmas: “I’ve walked the mental health world with my kids and seen how taxing that is with the other kids in the family and the parents.”

 

So now she walks beside parents, building relationships and being supportive. To them she can say, “‘You know, I get how hard it is. … I get that it’s hard and I get that it’s a sacrifice, but your kid needs you to be part of the solution.'”

 

Check out School News Network for more stories about students, schools, and faculty in West Michigan.

Students Pitch Trash to Clean Schools, Park for Service Day

Area Education, Our Cities,

by Erin Albanese, School News Network

Chloe Earegood picks up trash.
Chloe Earegood picks up trash.

When Vicki Johnston challenged Wyoming Parkview Elementary School students to choose a community-service project, they overwhelmingly chose a cause: “Trash the Trash.”

Hosted by the school’s Peer Mentoring Program, about 300 of the Wyoming Public Schools students spread out across Wyoming’s Lamar Park, Wyoming Junior High School and in their own schoolyard for their Global Youth Service Day project, picking up litter to improve the community.

Jasmin Cruz hurries to clean up.
Jasmin Cruz hurries to clean up.

“I just want to help out the community and make my state the cleanest state of all,” said fourth-grader Juan Escalante, as he scanned the ground for trash.

The Peer Mentoring Program, headed by Johnston, its founder, involves third- and fourth-grade Parkview students who regularly work with each other on math and reading skills, but they took the afternoon leading their peers in the spruce-up project.

Parkview Elementary School fourth-grader passes out trash bags before beginning a cleanup of Lamar Park.
Parkview Elementary School fourth-grader passes out trash bags before beginning a cleanup of Lamar Park.

According to a press release, a million young people worldwide were expected to take part in service projects to make Global Youth Service Day. Official event partners span six continents, more than 100 countries, and all 50 states.

At Wyoming Public Schools’ Oriole Park Elementary School, students also participated in the service day, working with 30 AmeriCorps volunteers on activities to beautify the school and support community organizations. Activities included planting flowers and trees, making dog toys for the Humane Society, decorating paper bags for Grand Rapids-nonprofit organization Kids Food Basket, and making sun catchers and bird feeders.

AmeriCorps, a program supported by the U.S. federal government, involves volunteers working throughout the nation on community-service projects.