Morgan Jarema
Morgan Jarema is a Grand Rapids native and a product of Grand Rapids Public Schools, including Brookside and West Leonard elementaries, City Middle/High School and Ottawa Hills. She found her tribe in journalism in 1997 and has never wanted to do anything but write. For 15 years she was a freelance journalist for The Grand Rapids Press, covering local schools and government, religion, business, home & garden and lifestyles. She and her husband, John, think even those without kiddos should be invested in their local schools and made to feel a part of them.
Read Morgan's full bio or email Morgan.
Blowing the woof off design thinking
Fifth graders were challenged to develop works of art that could be printed on a product and sold at the Raise the Woof event on Nov. 22 to benefit Hearts of Hope dog rescue...
Staging a comic tragedy, with masks and lots of deaths
The class, in its third year being offered at the school, includes the study of the history of drama, improvisation, performance skills and scene creation...
Plant whisperer, reptile rescuer, amphibian aficionado
Creative, innovative, imaginative ... Many of today's students are all that and more in a vast variety of interest areas. This series features students with exceptional and unusual gifts...
Grandpa for the win
The persuasive writing assignment is part of the fifth grade opinion writing unit. Students were charged with coming up with an idea for a costume, supporting the idea with whys, and using evidence...
‘Everything is, like, so expensive’
The exercise is part of the percentages unit. Once students chose a profession, they researched the average salary for that career, then were given a set of non-negotiable expenses...
Asia Society visits Chinese immersion students
Meadow Brook Elementary’s Chinese immersion program is a partner with the Asia Society, an international group that supports schools with professional development and grant funding...
‘It’s a really big deal’
As the district this week wraps up its annual fundraising efforts for a local nonprofit, one student shares what that support means to her...
Education foundation grants fund orchestra pedals, D&D supplies and more
Flexible seating in a few classrooms at two elementary buildings, high school orchestra looping pedals and middle school Dungeons & Dragons supplies are among grant requests approved recently by the Lowell Education Foundation...
Step by step toward the perfect shoe
Students learn how to use design thinking in their creative process through a semester-long class called Creative Problem-Solving. Open to any grade, it was introduced about five years ago...
It’s official: they can read
For the fourth year, kindergartners were honored with a parade through Lakeside Elementary hallways and along the sidewalk in front of the school to celebrate finishing the first Units of Study for Teaching Reading...
The friendliest store at school
There are nine special needs students working at the Spirit Store this trimester, and a handful of general education students who work alongside them...
Art & mental health: building skills, processing emotions
At its base, the unit was about drawing facial features accurately. The deeper task: to process a mood or feeling through art...
Hooked on history and gifted in writing, senior publishes paper on PBB crisis
Eastern High School senior Claire Parish’s National History Day article on the 1970s PBB crisis is in the current issue of Michigan History magazine...
Students on vaping: ‘pretty scary stuff’
In school buildings throughout West Michigan and beyond, the use of e-cigarettes is officially an issue -- a potentially deadly one. Experts and students weigh in...
Thanks to dedicated artists, city snowplows will be hard to miss
Over the past couple weeks, art teachers led third and fourth graders from all three elementary schools in decorating a trio of city snowplow blades...
Xlandia: a government created by the people, for the people
In order to make recommendations, students studied their assigned home countries and weighed the effectiveness of the current governments there...
Sponsorship
For seniors, a memorable finale cut short
Area high school seniors talk about their worries, and offer valuable perspective to their peers and others on the statewide school closure...
Districts face hard choices in timing of ballot requests
District leaders have had to weigh whether to go ahead as scheduled, or postpone them because of the coronavirus health crisis...
‘Coronacation’ for the win
Students and staff are trying to make the most of the extended school closure via posts and videos of hilarity, hope and solidarity...
Sponsorship
