All Rise and Make Your Case
Hallea Michell strode into social studies teacher Susan McCaffrey’s classroom and approached a podium with a miniature White House on top and the presidential seal affixed to the front. “All rise!” she bellowed as she banged a gavel.
It was...
Teacher Cadet Feels ‘Super Legit’
Tomer Adnegeko admits he used to think teaching at the elementary level would be way easier than middle and high school.
Gone in Six Seconds
The golf balls that Bill Trapp's students launched over a third-story railing could be the basis for future engineering or science innovations.
More than 50 students, mostly seniors, in Trapp's advanced projects in physics and engineering class worked in pairs...
Gotta Know the Territory
Middle School’s First-ever Musical a Classic
These Third-graders are Pure Michigan
Third-graders at Wealthy Elementary spend all year studying the Mitten State they call home, and it turns out some are already pretty Michigan-savvy.
"I've been to Petoskey, I've been to Boyne Mountain, I've been to South Haven, Mackinac Bridge ...,"...
Concert Honors ‘Passionate but Humble’ Journalist and Musician
Jagienka Timek, Drew Johnston and Anneke Avery admit that before high school, they really had no idea who Daniel Pearl was.
The trio of seniors have attended since elementary school the concert held annually to honor him. But when they...
Learning Is In the Eye of the Bee-holder
A group of middle schoolers clustered around a two-sided honeybee observation hive and delivered a rapid-fire commentary on what they were seeing.
Inside the colony, thousands of bees went about their business: The queen was, presumably, laying eggs or preparing...
Banging on Rocks Shapes Global Learners
Sixth-grader Sam Williams used firm, deliberate pressure with a deer antler to try to chip flakes off a sedimentary rock, called chert. She was using a skill right out of the Old Stone Age, though she acknowledged it was...
Spelling Skills Take Off with Student-created Website
Josh Pullen says he wasn’t exactly a fan of spelling practice and weekly quizzes when he was in elementary school. He muddled through, sure. But when his father told him he didn’t think his third-grade students were enjoying it...
Spartan, Hip-Hopper, Champion for Students
School: Lakeside Elementary
Other positions you have held in education: I taught elementary Spanish for one year, spent five years in elementary classrooms, and was a principal at Saginaw Township Community Schools for the previous two years.
How about jobs outside...
Learning Through Serving
Empathy and compassion were the lessons of the day recently at two district schools: Haiti Day at Breton Downs Elementary and the 11th annual Day of Caring, where middle schoolers fanned out across the community for service-learning projects ranging...
The Power of the Pen, from Three to 100
Two classrooms, two grades ... two levels of writing being honed. All in a day's work at Breton Downs Elementary.
Never Too Old for Star Wars
Kindergarten teacher Kristen Borak's students were immersed in how to write how-to's when the school...
Students Do Battle with ‘Bots, Steampunk Style
Busy 'bots, moving gears and quick-thinking pilots converged at the For Inspiration & Recognition of Science & Technology (FIRST) Robotics district finals at East Kentwood High School recently.
Thirty-nine robotics teams, from as far north as Traverse City, south as...
Twirly Skirt, Hot Tamales and a Passable British Accent
As original projects go, Megan Miller's science unit on the Earth's core layers takes the cake and then some.
"Some students did make cakes, and pizza and Rice Krispies treats," said Miller, who teaches fifth grade at Wealthy Elementary. "We...
Geography Made Personal
For many, Glen Arbor is home to Sleeping Bear Dunes and family vacations. But Joe Hunter knows the Northern Michigan town as the place where the blackout happened.
"We were in Cherry Republic and all the lights went out," recalled...
Fighting Words!
If you think reading comprehension is accomplished best in quiet spaces, you haven't done reading comprehension the way Winona Tinholt's students do it.
For the third year, fourth-graders in Tinholt's class at Wealthy Elementary are honing their skills through fantasy...
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