Science Meets Art, STEAM Results

by Morgan Jarema

Forest Hills Public Schools — Stephanie Cionca stood in front of a class of fifth-graders and set up an exercise aimed at figuring out how much water they would need to add to one cup of plaster of Paris to get a perfectly pasty result. Then try to figure out if the reaction between the two ingredients is chemical or physical. "I thought we were in art," said student Rohan Bennett. "That's the point," Cionca said. "We need to know math and science in art"...

Reading Well Predicts Student Success by Janice Holst

Sparta Area Schools — Ten-year-old Erika Bradford knows how important it is to find ways to make reading easier. "I think the reason kids don't like any subject is because they are struggling with it," Erika said. "I used to hate reading and I was super bad at it"...

Challenged Students Find Freedom on Horseback by Jaye Beeler

Thornapple Kellogg Schools — Five-year-old Desi Golnek – fitted in a riding helmet - sat astride Scooter, with volunteer David Drombowski holding the horse's bridle and Thornapple Kellogg paraprofessional Suzanne Thomas on the right. "Walk on," said Desi with a happy giggle....

When Monsters Call and Teachers Read, Students Listen by Erin Albanese

Wyoming Public Schools — The shared love of a book was on display in English teacher Shantel VanderGalien's eighth-grade honors class as she read aloud from "A Monster Calls." Creating a monster voice with a plummy British accent, VanderGalien revealed her theatrical side...

Girls ‘Inspired to do More’
at Tech Camp

Eighteen seventh- and eighth-grade girls from Valleywood Middle School recently attended BitCamp. "Before I came here, I didn't even know what I was doing," eighth-grader Mya Proctor said. "I'm inspired..."

If It Ain’t Broke, Break It!

Rademacher & Friends, sponsored by GRCC
Maria Aguirre

Tireless Go-getter Makes Her Community a Better Place

Featured Briefs

Learning Garden Opens

Civic Theatre’s Seussical Features EKHS Cat AND a Low Sensory Performance - Sponsor-related brief

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Grads with Grit

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Making Math Add Up

A series on the difficulties students have learning math, and what methods some schools and teachers are using with success.
Stories About Educating Migrant Children

A series about the migrant student population and how teachers and administrators work together to serve them. The series focuses on Kent City Community Schools and Kenowa Hills Public Schools.
The Burden of Poverty: A Backpack of Heartache

A series on poverty in the schools and how it affects students’ learning. We examine the problems poverty creates for students and their families and the schools and strategies that are helping disadvantaged students succeed.
Student Leaders

A series dedicated to students that go above and beyond to serve their school, peers and community.
The Road to Reading

A series exploring some of the many reading activities you'll find in our schools, difficulties students may face while learning to read, as well as early childhood ties to literacy and new initiatives to help all children read.
Hidden Pain

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Reaching Every Child: What’s New in Special Education

A series on special education in Kent County. School News Network will take readers into classrooms around the area to shine a light on new approaches to teaching students with physical and mental disabilities.
Places of Refuge

This series focuses on refugee students and their journeys, their new lives and hopes for a future in West Michigan, and the many ways schools and community organizations are working to meet their needs.
Rockstar Teachers

There's just something about certain teachers that draws students to them in droves and keeps them checking in years, even decades later. Here, we highlight some of these rockstars of the classroom.
State of the Arts

Educators have long recognized the value of music, art, drama and writing for students' creative development and academic success. Yet the arts remain squeezed by tight budgets and test-driven performance standards.
Meet Your Principal

An ongoing series highlighting the newest building leaders of our area school districts.