Rochester Christian University and Pepperdine University will use a $400,000 grant  to help rural church congregations to grow.

The money will help RCU identify, recruit and partner with Church of Christ congregations in the Great Lakes region.

Teams of  ministers and lay leaders will learn how to support small congregations through professional, networking and spiritual development. The curriculum includes sessions taught by Keith Huey, grant program director.

Pepperdine is one of 20 U.S. organizations receiving grants through the initiative.

“Ministers are tired, concerned about long-term congregational vitality, and convinced that the future of most congregations will include a significant reliance on volunteers to teach, preach and engage in other practices of ministry,” said Naomi Walters, dean of RCU’s theology and ministry school, who will oversee the initiative.  “The grant activities are structured to equip persons other than the minister to share in the work that has traditionally been assigned to the minister.”

The Lilly Endowment is a private philanthropic organization founded in 1937 and headquartered in Indianapolis. The three-year project will begin in August.

For more information, email churchrelations@rcu.edu.

Pontiac schools are moving ahead with plans to  reshape the district for the future.

At an April 14 special meeting, Interim Superintendent Kimberly Leverette walked the board through a plan for how students and programs will be relocated as part of Phase I.

“This plan is about what we can provide for the whole child,” Leverette told the board. “The rigor and academic outcomes that we want for all kids is absolutely possible. The way we have been doing it is not working. We must do something different.”

An earlier proposal to shift all International Technology Academy students grades 7-12 into Pontiac Middle School and High School was changed.

According to the district, the technology academy is “a specialized school program within the district that emphasizes STEM education and diverse learning experiences, and preparing students to become global citizens.” It serves K-12 students.

Students from the technology academy will now merge with students from International Language Academy and all classes will be located in the Whitmer Human Resource Center.

The language academy is a dual-language K-5 elementary program within the district.

According to the presentation, the combined program, to be called the “ITA at WHRC”, will have 438 students, including 50 kindergarteners. The number could be  expanded in the future based on space in the Whitmer building.

The PEACE Academy, which offers pre-school and before/after school care programs, will relocate to the Whitmer building from Frost Elementary.

PEACE will have 20 classrooms in the south wing of the building and their own secure entrance.

Six classrooms will relocate to Herrington Elementary and four special education classrooms will move from Whitmer to Rogers Elementary and Herrington.

The PEACE would also shift from four days a week of instruction to five days and expand classroom sizes from 16 to 18 students.

The estimated cost of moving the PEACE program, located at 723 Cottage, to the Whitmer building is $788,555.

The current PEACE building would be emptied  and its future use to be determined. The district would save $172,000 annually by closing the building.

The plan, which takes effect this fall, could be voted on at the board’s April 28 meeting.

There will be a public forum on the Phase I plan from 5:30 to 7 p.m. on April 24 at the Pontiac High School auditorium.

Several education bills have passed in the Michigan House including one to eliminate the fee to apply for a teaching certificate and renewal.

Last week three bills passed, one of which was sponsored by state Rep. Mark Tisdel (R-55th District Rochester and Rochester Hills), eliminating hundreds of dollars in fees for teachers on everything from teaching certificate applications and renewals to new endorsements and permits.

Fees are usually $160 for the initial application and then $100 to renew every five years, or $210 for an out-of-state teacher to become a teacher in Michigan. There are other fees for more advanced certificates.

Those fees would be eliminated.

“In an age where schools are struggling to keep our best teachers on the job, nickel and diming our educators every year can no longer be an option,” Tisdel said in a statement after the bill passed. “We need to make it as easy as possible to start a career in education and stop punishing teachers for staying in that important job for the long-term.”

Another bill co-sponsored by Tisdel, allows teachers to fill critical vacancies when they have subject area expertise.

“Many schools that can’t fill specific areas will wait until next year to hire someone, and teachers who want to teach a new subject often have to go through a lengthy process instead of simply adding a new subject area endorsement to their license,” said Tisdel. “If a social studies teacher has a background in literature and wants to step in and teach English, they should be able to do so when it makes sense.”

House Bill 4153 co-sponsored by Tisdel, Tom Kuhn (R-57th District Troy and Madison Heights) and others addressed hiring local experts to teach specific classes, like asking software engineers to offer courses in computer science and bringing in retired statisticians to teach statistics.

“The private sector is laying people off and wouldn’t it be great to give them a path to coming into a classroom and continuing to show their knowledge and skills to the next generation of students?” said Tisdel.

Other bills under consideration in the House include:

House Bill 4156: Overhauling the Michigan Merit Curriculum system by allowing students to pursue paths that match their talents and interests. Alternatives include:

Allowing two out of four math credits to be replaced by career technical education or college dual enrollment classes;
Adding computer science classes to the list of courses that count toward science, math and art credit requirements;
Including coding classes as options to fill foreign language requirements;
requiring a class in personal finance and offering multiple options for electives, like business mathematics, agribusiness and computer science.
House Bill 4154: Adding trade school options to dual enrollment.

House Bill 4148: Changing the state Board of Education election process, so board members are nominated at the local level to represent their communities.

House Bills 4155 and 4159: Creating and publishing a list of proven curriculum options and resources for teachers, giving educators access to a vast array of resources in line with the highest state and national standards. In 2022 alone, elementary teachers used 444 different language arts curriculum resources statewide.

House Bill 4147: Boosting teacher pay and hiring more teachers by helping schools spend less on overhead.

“These bills are not tied together, but there is a common element to all of them aimed at making the education process easier,” said Tisdel. “They are to clear as many obstacles and fences out of the way as possible and make life a little easier for the teachers.”

“The other bills in the education package are still working their way through committee or on the floor, but haven’t come up for final passage yet,” said House Republican Senior Communications Advisor Jeremiah Ward.

Tisdel also presented two bills last year that could be voted on later in the spring.

The first bill amends the Revised School Code to require public and nonpublic schools to implement a mobile panic alert system beginning with the 2025-2026 school year.

The bill requires the system to ensure real-time coordination between schools, 911, law enforcement, and first responders; and must directly integrate with local public safety answering point infrastructure to transmit 911 calls and mobile activations with continued two-way communication between 911 and the school.

The bill is a variation on Alyssa’s Law, named after 14-year-old Alyssa Alhadeff, who was killed in a 2018 school shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.

The second bill would ban or restrict smartphones in schools throughout the state.

Tisdel estimated that only 27 out of 538 public school districts in the state currently have some form of cell phone ban or restrictions in place and is looking to create legislation to cover all schools statewide. Armada schools in Macomb County implemented a new cell phone policy last month.

Although cell phone bans have been passed in seven different states, including Ohio, Indiana and Minnesota, Tisdel said he worked with other legislators and experts over two years to create the language for the bill rather than duplicate the policies implemented in those states.

“We started from scratch. I targeted it off of what some of the school districts have already had some experience with and established a minimum baseline and then in the legislation school districts are allowed to be more strict or add additional guardrails if they so choose,” said Tisdel.

Timing, dedication and passion all played a role in four teachers being named as Oakland County Teachers of the Year.

Earlier this week all four were surprised by Oakland ISD Superintendent Ken Gutman with their awards.

They were among the 65 teachers from 22 school districts nominated for the award.

For the 2025 awards there was a new category for Early Childhood teachers along with elementary, middle/junior high, and high school teachers.

Leah Lynady was the first recipient of the Early Childhood teacher of the year for her work at the Lamphere Early Childhood Center.

Lynady has been an early childhood teacher for over 25 years. She came to Lamphere three years ago after spending five years in the Berkley school district.

She admitted she was not looking to change districts, but after being contacted by Lamphere Early Childhood Center Director Nicole Crousore, Lynady accepted her offer before the end of her first interview.

“It was not something I was looking to do, but it has turned out to be one of the best decisions I have ever made,” said Lynady. “The timing just worked and they have supported everything I have wanted to do since coming here. It is an amazing atmosphere in this district.”

Crousore, who has been in the district for over 20 years and is in her third year as director, said Lynady is the first teacher she has ever hired after only one interview, but has not regretted the decision.“Having Leah here is not about the educator she is, it is about the person she is and what she brings to the table,” said Crousore. “She has changed the culture of this program since coming here. She was exactly the kind of person we were looking for.”

“In addition to her work with students, Leah plays a vital role in connecting parents to valuable resources and ensuring families have access to everyday necessities,” the district said in a statement after Lynady received her award. “She even started a care closet to provide essential items to those in need.”

Lynady said she has found a home at Lamphere and is looking forward to finishing her career there.

“This is the best possible place anyone could dream of working,” she said. “I’ll be here until I retire, I’m sure of it.”

Lynady was not the only Lamphere teacher honored with an award.

Edmonson Elementary third grade teacher Sarah Vrabel also received a surprise visit from Gutman and was honored as the elementary teacher of the year.

Vrabel has been in the district for 14 years and has been teaching third grade at Edmonson for nine years.  She was a teacher in Arizona for four years before coming to Lamphere.

She has taught kindergarten, first and second graders in the past, but loves what third graders have to offer.

“Third grade is such a great grade level. They are at that age where they are still just sponges and they love learning and want to please you, but they have an independence to them as well,” said Vrabel. “I will retire as a third grade teacher if they let me.”

Vrabel said one of her goals is to continue the type of teaching she has tried to implement since students returned to the classroom after the COVID-19 pandemic. Focusing on having students socializing, interacting and collaborating in the classroom rather than the solitude of at-home virtual learning.

“When we came back into the classroom, the kids needed joy and they needed to be engaged and make them want to be at school,” she said. “So that has really been my mission these past few years. Doing things like wearing funny outfits or turning my class into a courtroom and letting the kids debate with each other. Just fun ways to keep them entertained, but still working on keeping high educational standards.”

Erik Meerschaert has been dedicating himself to creating new standards for his special education students at Lake Orion High School since coming to the district six years ago.

His efforts helped earn him high school teacher of the year.

Meerschaert came to Lake Orion after ten years of teaching at Eaton RESA in Eaton County.

He works with Cognitive Impairment (CI) special education students and has been working to help integrate them with other students at the high school through a unified sports program.

The program just completed their first season of basketball playing against other schools with the same type of program.

“It is a combination of general education and special education students, with three special education players on the court along with two general education peers,” Meerschaert explained. “We typically play between the junior varsity and varsity games.”

Meerschaert said the idea for the program began when he arrived at Lake Orion through an initiative created by the Michigan High School Athletic Association and Oakland County schools. He has been working to build the program ever since and has even branched out to help create a unified robotics program as well.

“It started slowly, but now we have the basketball team, started competing in robotics this year and we hope to have a soccer team start playing next fall,” he said. “It has been a lot of work both inside and outside the district, but seeing what my students get out of it has been great to see.”

Last week the team played in an unforgettable final game of the season.

“We played in the middle of the school day in front of the entire student body which is about 2,300 students; probably the biggest crowd some of these kids will ever play in front of,” said Meerschaert. “It was a great experience and for a lot of our students that was the highlight of their season to be able to play that game in front of all of their peers and teachers at the school.”

He joins Orion Oaks Elementary teacher Norman Wright as Lake Orion recipients of the county honor. Wright was selected in 2024.

Huron Valley teacher Samantha Samuels was the final teacher to have a surprise visit to her Oak Valley Middle School classroom on Wednesday.

Samuels is a Music, Choir and Performing Arts teacher for grades 6-8 and is in her sixth year in the district. She had been teaching at various charter schools for the previous ten years.

She said interest in music and the arts has been growing over the last few years and enjoys nurturing interested students after they get “the bug” for music or performing.

“In past years I have had around 30 people in my musicals, but in the past two or three years I have had around 50 or 60 come out to be a part of the production,” she said. “Middle school is the best place for kids to explore that side of the music and performance avenue. They can learn or grow or they can decide it’s just not for them and move on.”

Samuels said the pandemic made an impact on the arts at Oak Valley and they are just now rekindling interest and getting students involved again.

“The pandemic really did a number on us and it has been a process trying to regrow our program and to spark that interest again and kids know it is safe to perform and get out of their shells,” she said.

Samuels still has former students in high school and college return and let her know the impact she has had on them.

“I absolutely love what I do. Being a music teacher is a sense of pride. It is now just what I do, it is who I am,” said Samuels. “I love those kids. The music classroom and the theater classroom is a family and these kids come back year after year. So many of them still reach out to me and stay connected.”

The award includes a $2,000 prize from the Oakland Schools Education Foundation to each winner and they will all be recognized at a special event on May 8.

Four teachers from around Oakland County could receive a surprise visitor to their classrooms in a few weeks

They will be among the 65 teachers from 22 school districts who have been nominated for the Oakland County Teacher of the Year award.

For the 2025 awards  there is a new category for Early Childhood teachers along with elementary, middle/junior high, and high school teachers.

“Early childhood educators lay the foundation for a child’s entire educational journey,” said Dawn Koger, Oakland Schools director of early childhood. “This new category recognizes their incredible dedication, highlights their critical role, and celebrates their lasting impact on students’ lives.”

Early Childhood nominees must be certified, full-time teachers in a public school or Great Start Readiness Program in Oakland County. Junior Kindergarten programs also fall under the elementary category.

Each district may submit one nominee in each of the four categories:

Early Childhood (Before Junior Kindergarten)
Elementary (Junior Kindergarten – 5th grade)
Middle School (6th grade – 8th grade)
High School (9th grade – 12th grade)
Nominations are coordinated by the teacher’s principal and supported by current or former students, parents and colleagues and judged by a committee that includes representatives from Oakland Schools, education leaders, and community members.

The 2024 winners were:

Elementary Teacher of the Year – Norman Wright, Orion Oaks Elementary, Lake Orion Community Schools.
Middle School Teacher of the Year – Molly Darnell, Oxford Virtual Academy, Oxford Community Schools.
High School Teacher of the Year – Shannon Graham, Lamphere High School, Lamphere Public Schools.
The award includes a $2,000 prize from the Oakland Schools Education Foundation to each winner, who will be announced in mid-March and recognized at a special event on May 8.

“Teaching it is not an easy profession and requires a lot of heart and dedication and they do it because they love it,” Foundation Executive Director Andrea Berry. “Teachers have been asked to take on more and more roles than before, so we feel it is important to let them know that they are recognized and appreciated for all of the hard work that they do.”

For more information go to: https://www.oakland.k12.mi.us/student-programs/otoy.