LANSING, Mich. – Gov. Rick Snyder today announced the appointment of Cheryl Granzo of Belding as well as the reappointments of Deana Strudwick of White Pigeon and Stephanie Peters of Eaton Rapids to the Michigan Interagency Coordinating Council for Infants and Toddlers with Developmental Disabilities.
The 21-member council advises the Michigan Department of Education in the preparation of applications for financial and other assistance for infants and toddlers with developmental disabilities. The council also advises and assists the department regarding the appropriate services for children from birth through age five.
“I thank these individuals for serving on this important board. The work they do will be instrumental in assisting families and small children with disabilities,” Snyder said.
Appointment:
Granzo is the supervisor of Birth to Five Programs for the Ionia County Intermediate School District and is also a licensed speech and language pathologist. Granzo holds a master’s degree from Michigan State University, an early childhood education endorsement, and a special education supervisor endorsement from Grand Valley State University. She will represent public or private providers of early intervention services and replace Conny Raaymakers.
Reappointments:
Strudwick is the executive director of special education and early childhood for the St. Joseph County Intermediate School District. She holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Bowling Green State University, a master’s degree in social work from Western Michigan University and a master’s degree in education from Grand Valley State University. She will continue to represent public or private providers of early intervention services.
Peters previously served as the Ingham Intermediate School District’s Early Childhood and Special Education Support Services Supervisor. She holds a bachelor’s degree in social science and a master’s degree in special education from Michigan State University.
Members serve four-year terms expiring Oct. 31, 2020.
LANSING, Mich. – Gov. Rick Snyder today announced the appointments of Stanley Hannah of Novi and Lauren Rakolta of Birmingham to the Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention Board.
The 11-person board promotes the health, safety, and welfare of Michigan’s children and families by funding local programs and services that prevent child abuse and neglect.
“I am confident Stanley and Lauren will effectively serve the people of Michigan in this role,” said Snyder.
Hannah is senior manager at Plante Moran LLC. and previously served as a senior organizational consultant at Young Samuel Chambers LTD. He holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Michigan State University, and a master’s degree in education and a Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University of Virginia. He will represent the business community and replace Andra Rush.
Rakolta is owner and president of Devon Facility Management. Previously, she owned and managed her own consulting group specializing in legislative, political, and finance strategies. Rakolta holds a bachelor’s degree from Florida Atlantic University. She will represent the business community and replace Mark Davidoff.
Members will serve the remainder of three-year terms that expire Dec. 19, 2018. Their appointments are subject to the advice and consent of the Senate.
Contact: Martin Ackley, Director of Public and Governmental Affairs 517-241-4395 Agency: Education
February 2, 2018
LANSING – The Michigan Department of Education (MDE) is leading an effort to support struggling school districts to recruit, hire, and support teachers to meet the needs of the students in those districts.
Nationally, and in Michigan, there is growing concern over the number of teachers entering and leaving the workforce. A consistent challenge that many school districts face is not having teachers in all their classrooms, according to State Superintendent Brian Whiston.
“If a school district doesn’t have enough teachers for their classrooms, it results in large class sizes and students aren’t provided with the kind of focused instruction that will help them learn,” Whiston said.
Ensuring that Michigan has an adequately staffed education workforce requires MDE, local districts, Educator Preparation Institutions, parents and communities to work together as partners.
The strategies the Michigan Department of Education is deploying, in addition to the recommendations for other partners, are articulated in MDE’s Educator Staffing Strategic Plan and span: recruitment into the profession, preparation & certification and staffing & retention.
While these efforts support all schools, MDE is also focusing additional support on the state’s new Partnership Districts – those districts with the lowest-performing schools identified earlier this year – to address any teacher shortages in those districts.
For Partnership Districts, MDE is engaging in on-site technical assistance meetings to discuss workforce challenges and determine ways to address staffing needs, providing flexibilities and helping reach creative long- and short-term solutions; assisting with the development of strategic partnerships between educator preparation providers and schools to develop recruitment pipelines based on schools’ needs; and collaborating with education organizations to coordinate support efforts.
Contact: Martin Ackley, Director of Public and Governmental Affairs 517-241-4395 Agency: Education
LANSING – Thirty-four Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) programs are sharing $2.85 million in state grants from Governor Rick Snyder’s MiSTEM Advisory Council, the Michigan Department of Education (MDE) announced today.
The state Legislature set aside $2.85 million in 2017-18 to distribute grants up to $100,000 for the implementation of STEM programs listed in the STEMworks database. The MiSTEM Advisory Council selected the awardees, whose funding ranges from $24,000 to $100,000, from 134 applications seeking more than $10 million. The applications came from local and intermediate school districts (ISDs), universities, and STEM providers
“STEM education is critically important to a student’s success later in life,” Governor Snyder said. “Thank you to my partners in the state Legislature and the Department of Education for ensuring that more Michigan students will have access to these STEM skills.”
The MiSTEM Advisory Council said in a statement:
“The Council would like to thank the Governor for the leadership and vision to propel STEM education down a new and exciting path. The legislature has stepped up to the challenge and appropriated funds to support this shift in culture, enabling STEM programming around the state to benefit from proven best practices.
“As proud as we may be about this initial success, we are even more encouraged by the widespread potential that will be harnessed and directed toward the further advancement of STEM education for all of the students throughout the state.”
State Superintendent Brian Whiston said the grants’ STEM focus will help Michigan become a Top 10 education state in 10 years – the central goal of the Michigan Department of Education.
The grants align with the Top 10 plan’s goal of implementing high-quality classroom instruction through a child-centered instructional model with a strategy to enable public schools’ students to engage in integrated STEM programming.
In weighing the applications, the MiSTEM Advisory Council considered reviewer ratings, program type, and distribution across the MiSTEM Network Regions.
Two successful applicants, Oakland Schools and West Shore ESD, received multiple awards to provide professional development in regions other than their own. They are using the funding to build on statewide work underway for several years with seed funding from other sources.
Here is the list of 10 ISDs, 10 local districts and three STEM education provider applications selected for funding:
Organization
Region
STEMworks Program
Amount
Lakeview Sch. District (Calhoun)
Region 1 – Southwest Michigan
PLTW
$94,340
Oakland Schools
Region 2 – South Central Michigan
Modeling MS Science – Jackson/Lansing
$100,000
Brighton Area Schools
Region 2 – South Central Michigan
PLTW
$53,007
National Inventors Hall of Fame, Inc.
Region 3 – Wayne County
Camp Invention
$100,000
Wayne RESA
Region 3 – Wayne County
Math Recovery
$62,716
Plymouth-Canton Community Schools
Region 3 – Wayne County
PLTW
$74,339
Detroit Public Schools Community District
Region 3 – Wayne County
A World In Motion® (AWIM)
$97,730
Iridescent
Region 3 – Wayne County
Iridescent
$91,382
Macomb ISD
Region 4 – Macomb County
Math Recovery
$53,737
Oakland Schools
Region 5 – Oakland County
Modeling Biology
$100,000
Oakland Schools
Region 5 – Oakland County
Modeling Chemistry
$100,000
Genesee ISD
Region 6 – Genesee, Lapeer, St. Clair Counties
Math Recovery
$98,406
Shiawassee Regional ESD
Region 7 – Capital Area
Math Recovery
$99,120
Otsego Public Schools
Region 8 – West Michigan
MiSTAR
$34,160
Kent ISD
Region 8 – West Michigan
Math Recovery
$45,675
Oakland Schools
Region 8 – West Michigan
Modeling MS Science – Muskegon
$100,000
Mason County Eastern Schools
Region 9 – West Central Michigan
Cereal City Science
$100,000
Midland Public Schools
Region 10 – Central Michigan
MiSTAR
$88,784
Sanilac ISD
Region 11 – Thumb
Cereal City
$100,000
Oakland Schools
Region 12 – North East Michigan
Modeling Biology – Roscommon
$100,000
Public Schools of Petoskey
Region 13 – North West Michigan
Full Option Science System (FOSS)
$60,185
Eastern Upper Peninsula ISD
Region 14 – Eastern UP
Cereal City Science – elementary
$93,488
Eastern Upper Peninsula ISD
Region 14 – Eastern UP
Cereal City Science – middle school
$82,474
Oakland Schools
Region 15 – Central UP
Modeling Physical Science – Marquette
$100,000
L’Anse Area Schools
Region 16 – Western UP
Engineering is Elementary
$28,119
Public Schools of Calumet, Laurium & Keweenaw
Region 16 – Western UP
Math Recovery
$24,285
Great Lakes Fishery Trust
Statewide
Great Lakes Stewardship Initiative
$99,166
Muskegon Area ISD
Statewide
Math Recovery
$99,960
West Shore Educational Service District
Statewide
AP Computer Science/Computer Science Discoveries
$668,927
(6 applications total)
The Legislature created the MiSTEM Advisory Council in 2015. It’s made up of 11 voting members serving at the pleasure of the Governor and four ex-officio legislators appointed from the House of Representatives and Senate.
