Spartan Newsroom (https://news.jrn.msu.edu/category/news/education/k-12/)
A growing number of Michigan high schools are getting in on the fun of esports. More than 50 high schools are registered with the Michigan High School Esports Federation, a free, nonprofit league created by Michigan educators in 2019. They join over 170 U.S. colleges and universities with varsity esports programs – including 18 in Michigan.
Allies of transgender athletes are speaking up against the increasing wave of bills — including in Michigan – seeking to restrict transgender students from participating in youth sports.
The digital divide among students with different at-home resources has existed for years, but the pandemic brings the gap to the state’s attention. Full-time remote learning has revealed disparities beyond devices and internet access, including varied transportation, tech support, and parental support available to students at home.
Access to devices is just the start
Cathy Mikesell, a 4th grade teacher in the Woodhaven school district, said students in Downriver districts are generally equipped with devices and Wi-Fi. “Everybody in my class, and I think in my school, has the internet,” she said. “If they didn’t have a computer, the school gave them a Chromebook. We’re really good with that, and that’s not the case everywhere, I’m sure.”
Rachel Lott, a speech therapist from Southgate, also said her district had plenty of devices to spare.
Income comparisons of districts mentioned.
The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a new set of challenges for the performing arts. In mid-Michigan, K-12 school districts have adapted their fine arts extracurricular programs through virtual performances and rehearsals to slow the spread of COVID-19.
Michigan school enrollment fell by 53,000 students during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Of those students, 13,000 were in kindergarten.
According to Chalkbeat Detroit, Detroit Public Schools lost 2,719 or 5% of students, Lansing Public Schools lost 927 or 9% of students, Kalamazoo Public Schools lost 690 or 5% of students, and Traverse City has lost 552 or 6% of students.
The decline in kindergarten enrollment is concerning to teachers, principals, administrators, and parents across four districts in Michigan.
Principals say the slide is continuing
Gier Park Elementary in Lansing has grades Pre-K-3 and Principal Christopher Cadogan has seen decreases in enrollment. Photo courtesy Christopher Cadogan. “If we just look at last year, the 2019 to 2020 school year, we ended that year with 84 kindergarteners,” Cadogan said. “This year we’re at 75 and it’s not the end of the school year.”
Comparing this to the 2018-2019 school year, Cadogan said the school had even more students at 97 and you can really see the contrast between then and now.
Cadogan said kindergarten teaches developmental lessons and tries to provide students with the basic and foundational principles of reading and numeracy.
With the COVID-19 pandemic shadowing doubt on high school athletes and their prospects of being recruited, some athletes have found ways to get noticed by colleges.
Throughout the year, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer put mandatory pauses on youth sports activity to mitigate COVID-19. On April 9, Whitmer asked youth sports programs to voluntarily pause all activity. This was in response to the statewide rise in positive COVID-19 cases. According to Bally Sports Detroit, Michigan high school athletic association Executive Director Mark Uyl, said there is a less than a 3% positive test rate among student-athletes. Districts will make decisions based on local circumstances.
ENVIRONMENTAL STEWARDSHIP: Michigan residents worry a lack of environmental education threatens the state’s defining feature, the Great Lakes, a recent study said. Focus groups identified environmental threats for coastal communities and called for education on how to be better stewards of the lakes. Concerns varied by lake, but the most common themes were rising water levels and lack of environmental education. Other concerns: beach erosion, pollution, public access, invasive species and lake user safety. We talk to an MSU expert and the Great Lakes Stewardship Initiative executive director. By Taylor Haelterman. FOR HOLLAND, MANISTEE, OCEANA, BENZIE, TRAVERSE CITY, HARBOR SPRINGS, PETOSKEY, CHEBOYGAN, ALCONA, MARQUETTE, ST. IGNACE, SAULT STE. MARIE, BAY MILLS, MONROE AND ALL POINTS.
The Mason High School yearbook staff, and yearbook staffs across the country, have had to adapt to a new way of creating a book of memories amid being in a pandemic. With many school events and clubs being cancelled, it has been a challenge to chronicle this remote school year. Mason High School yearbook staff attends class over Zoom. Eric Haynie is the yearbook teacher at Mason High School. As a teacher, he has had to help his students find creative ways to create the yearbook.
Portage schools had the highest number of outbreaks of COVID-19 the week of March 15, compared to schools across Michigan
Portage Central High School had 24 ongoing cases from staff members and students while Portage Central Elementary had 20 ongoing cases from staff and students.
Portage Central High School Principal Eric Alburtus said many of those cases stemmed from the men and women’s basketball teams starting up their season.
“We actually shut down our entire basketball program for about a week and a half because every varsity women’s basketball player had the virus except for one,” Albertus said. “On the men’s side, almost half of our varsity and fewer JV and freshman players were either quarantined or tested positive.”
Portage Central High School is now doing a rapid test weekly for the basketball, cheerleading and wrestling team to ensure another outbreak does not occur.
“It’s all about communication,” Albertus said. “If the parents and staff continue to communicate with each other and keep letting us know what’s going on in their own families, then we can respond to it.”
Elementary students in the district have had the option of in-person learning the entire school year, with more students returning each quarter.
“What we have chosen to do at Portage Public Schools is from the start of the school year our elementary students had the option to go in-person or stay online,” Albertus said. “At each quarter, our families could make that decision to either return to in-person classes or remain remote.”
Portage Central Elementary offered an in-person option for all elementary students since the start of the school year and never moved exclusively online like many other elementary schools. As a result of this, Portage Central Elementary has 20 ongoing COVID-19 cases, which is much higher than other elementary schools within the last week.
Community relations manager of Portage Public Schools, Michelle Karpinski said, “we interact with the Health Department each time we are notified of a positive case, to help with contact tracing and to determine who may have been a close contact, who may need to quarantine and for how long, and whether the quarantine affects an individual, the entire classroom or the entire school.”
The district has many protocols for students who may have been in close contact with someone who tested positive.
“The Health Department doesn’t recommend our schools do screening for students but recommends that our families screen their child prior to sending them to school or any school activity,” Karpinski said.
Portage public schools are enacting necessary protocols to prevent any more outbreaks within the district as the state begins to open up.
In-person high school classes in Michigan came back March 1, but in April, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer was encouraging schools to go virtual again. East Lansing Public Schools have been offering in-person instruction for middle school and high school since March 1.
John Sword, a sophomore at East Lansing High School, said online school came with a lot of difficulties and was hard to keep up with. After transitioning back to in-person classes, Sword said he feels incredible.
He appreciates having an actual schedule and believes that in-person classes allow students to focus more and are easier to pay attention to. He also said the social aspect of high school improved greatly when they got back. “It felt amazing because I recently got my license and I was able to drive my friends to school and do all the fun stuff,” Sword said.