Features

Andrew Chapin’s day job is a physical education teacher at Mason High School, but he far surpasses his call of duty as a teacher. Chapin believes there is more to education than what is learned in the classroom, and he strives to use his passion for fitness and athletics to be a positive influence in youth’s lives.

Every day, teachers walk into classrooms to dedicate themselves to student growth. But being a teacher is about so much more than academic instruction. It’s about serving as a support system, listener and role model.

In early November, Gov. Rick Snyder signed new rules for evaluating teacher performance into Michigan law. Senate Bill 103 calls for research-based evaluation for Michigan educators, requiring school districts to establish performance evaluation systems that focus more on student growth and less on student test scores. But evaluation is only one part of the story. What are districts and administrators currently doing to support teachers before the evaluation even begins?

Lisa Weise is a biology teacher and robotics coach at Holt Public Schools. For our teacher appreciation issue of InspirED Michigan, we asked her to share with us a first-hand perspective of what motivates her to go above and beyond for her students.

In some ways, Upper Peninsula resident Annette Gleason is just like any other teacher. She develops relationships with her students, shares progress updates with parents and checks students' work to make sure they're grasping the material. But though she gets to know each kid, she rarely meets any of them in person -- she teaches hundreds of students across the state 100 percent online from her home.

There is more to improving school nutrition than including a salad with every student’s meal. As many know, there are funding politics behind school lunches. In fact, school districts have recently implemented new standards set forth by the U.S. Department of Agriculture with the goal of improving student access to food, while addressing the complex issues of childhood hunger and obesity.

As high school students reach upperclassman status, they often begin to feel the pressure of "what am I going to do with the rest of my life?" At around 16 years old, many students may know what they’re passionate about, but little idea on how to turn these passions into a career path. Oakland Schools Technical Campus Southwest uses a hands-on curriculum to expand students’ ideas of what their skills and passions can bring to both their individual futures and their communities.

What began as a lunch meeting in the Catering and Culinary Management (CCM) kitchen at the Muskegon Area Career Tech Center (MACTC) has blossomed into a farm to school initiative that has caught the attention of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

It was a cold and rainy morning in Detroit. But when Stephanie Moyski and her class of eager fourth-grade students arrived to Drew Farms, their enthusiasm uplifted the spirits of Mother Nature’s drizzle. Student eyes grew big as they walked past the six high tunnels on the farm located at Drew Transition Center, a Detroit Public School (DPS) for 18- to 26-year-olds with cognitive and physical impairments. Their day was just beginning.

A banana yogurt split for breakfast? Making cookies to learn math concepts? These are just a few examples of how Wayland Union Schools’ Food Service Director Sarah Hawkins is promoting nutrition in Wayland, Michigan, while making it fun and delicious.

It's lunch time at City High Middle School, and instead of sending their disposable lunch trays to the landfill, students are now turning them into a renewable process that generates soil. There has been a bit of a learning curve, and signs above the cafeteria waste bins show students what to compost, recycle and trash, but a new composting pilot at the school is projected to make a big environmental impact.

While safe transportation for children to and from school is an essential in today’s world, it’s easy to forget how something as simple as a school bus impacts the lives of students, parents, teachers and community members.

Lack of access to safe walkways to school is a problem many communities face today, but one program in Flint is looking to help kids get healthy AND get to school safely.

As online learning and online access become a greater part of the educational world, offering Wi-Fi on buses may allow schools to turn the travel time into learning time.

Ingham ISD has been working with Dean Transportation to safely transport students for decades. Students with special needs require additional support to get to and from school each day. Dean Transportation drivers and staff make this happen.