Student of the Month

Each month every building will have an "Outstanding" student that we will recognize in different areas of our curriculum. All our students are special, but we want to toot our horn about a few each month..
Well done Greyhounds!

May 2012  "Most Improved Scholar Student of the Month"

 

 

Lockwood Early Childhood

Student: Braylee Nierenberger
Age: 5 Grade: Early childhood
Nominating Person(s): Barb Ciffin

"Braylee is really starting to make progress with his academic goals for this school year. It was like all of the sudden, things have just started to click and he is really starting to engage and have his learning start to make sense to him. He now knows 20 capital letters and is able to count to 13. Up until only a short time ago, Braylee was not able to do this, so he has come a long way!"
Parent(s)/Guardian(s): Amy Nierenberger

Greyhound Central Elementary

Student: Skyler White
Age: 5 Grade: Kindergarten
Nominating Person(s): Kelly Briggs

"Skyler has shown wonderful growth since the start of kindergarten last fall. She has greatly improved in both her academic and also her social skills and has developed wonderful ways of learning and making friends. She thoroughly enjoys being at school and is becoming a sponge when it comes to learning...it has all seemed to start to "click" for her! I hope she continues to keep working with her mom and dad over the summer so that she keeps growing academically!"
Parent(s)/Guardian(s): Lindsay and Chad White

Lockwood Elementary

Student: Tobias Burke
Age: 6 Grade: 1st
Nominating Person(s): Pam Mead

"Tobias has spent this year making great gains in his reading. More importantly, he is more confident as a student in all areas! He works hard, asks questions when he doesn't understand, and gets along well with his peers. Tobias and his parents have all worked hard to make this year so successful!"
Parent(s)/Guardian(s): Kristin Leinbach & Alex Burke

Greyhound Intermediate School (a Tie for this month!!!)

Student: Ben Steele
Age: 9 Grade: 3rd
Nominating Person: Mrs. Faith Welch

"Ben has worked very hard all year long in every subject and has greatly improved his test scores. Aside from always having his nightly homework done, he attended outside tutoring twice a week and had a tutor come to his house once a week. It is a tribute to Ben's hard work and his parent's support that he has been able to greatly improve his academic achievement. Ben also found time to play a sport every season!"
Parent(s)/Guardian(s): Bethany & Bernard Steele

Student: Kaylee Coppes
Age: 11 Grade: 5th
Nominating Person(s): Ms. Brown

"When Kaylee first arrived at GIS (she came mid year) she was struggling to stay on top of her work and her grades weren't what they could be. She wasn't being entirely truthful about what she had to do at night and she struggled to get work done. After much discussion with Kaylee and increasing communication with her Mom, we made some changes (mostly at home) that have helped her tremendously. She is now much more organized, gets her work done on time and correctly, has time for helping others, and has all A's on her midterm. This kind of parent support and self discipline is impressive. The fact that she's turned things around in less than a marking period is even more awesome to me. I am incredibly proud of her efforts and most importantly, she is proud of herself. Kaylee is a different student now than when she came to GIS. Her confidence and comfort levels are higher and it shows daily in her smiles and laughter. "
Parent(s)/Guardian(s): Joann Coppes

Eaton Rapids Middle School

Student: Robert Henderson
Age: 14 Grade: 8th
Nominating Person(s): Mrs. Judit & Ms. Miles

"Robert's behavior and work ethic have greatly improved this last school year. Bobby has been an editor on the class newspaper project in English Language Arts. His leadership, dedication and knowledge helped to create a fantastic final newspaper product. He has been a reliable and respectful student leader. He has worked well with teachers and his peers and was determined to publish a respectable project. Bobby has demonstrated responsibility and maturity both socially and academically during his 8th grade school year."
Parent(s)/Guardian(s): Michael & Amy Henderson

Eaton Rapids High School

Student: Catherine "Catie" Chin
Age: 17 Grade: Junior
Nominating Person(s): Mr. Dave Johnson

"Catie has become a consistently hard worker and is an advocate for her accommodations when she needs them. She seeks out extra help when she needs it without anyone reminding her. Catie has worked extremely hard in classes and has developed a great note taking and organizational strategy for herself. She is online every night looking up her assignments and grades and grandma says if she doesn't do well on an assignment, she then then vows to do it over until she gets it correct! Catie feels very supported at school and loves all of her teachers.

Catie has participated in cheerleading and as a "mat maid" for wrestling this school year. As far as her aspirations after high school, she would like to attend Central Michigan University and become a teacher some day!""
Parent(s)/Guardian(s): Mona & Joseph Chin (grandma & grandpa)

 

Greyhound Central Alternative Education

Student: Amber McArthur
Age: 16 Grade: Sophomore
Nominating Person(s): Tim Mansfield, Abby DeValk, Tina Cogo

"Amber is a bright, warm, compassionate, soft spoken young lady who is a pleasure to have in our program. Amber has shown much growth since she began the school year. Throughout the year Amber has not only worked on her academics, but has done many hours of community service working with the kindergarten program as an aid for Mrs. Hernandez. Amber also loves to cook, so when the opportunity arose, she volunteered to be a part of the Cooking Matters Class with MSU extension services. The instructor shared that she was very impressed with Amber's growth in this particular class. Amber is currently working with MSU Extension services helping to teach kindergartners about nutrition. Amber was part of our writing class and her work contributions were always of quality. She participated in a project on dropout prevention and helped to present to a small group of adults including Dr. DeFrance, Ms. Ballee and Mrs. Tanner. We are very proud of her work and look forward to working with her and watching her grow in her educational endeavors.
Parent(s)/Guardian(s): Stephanie Sanford (mom) and Scott Bowerman

 

 

 April 2012  "Outstanding Social Studies Student of the Month"

 

Union Street Greyhound Early Learning Center

Student: Jonah Parkhill
Age: 4 Grade: Pre-School
Nominating Person(s): Casey Speer

"Jonah loves looking at maps and globes and tries to figure out where different places are located. He then tries to figure out how to get to the places and dreams of traveling all over the world some day. Jonah has a good sense of realizing that he is a part of a family and that he is also a part of his classroom and school family. He is learning that his family and his school is part of the larger community of Eaton Rapids. These are difficult concepts to comprehend, but these are the things that our pre-kindergarten and kindergarten students need to understand as part of social studies. Jonah is also a good citizen and is learning how important that is in a classroom setting."
Parent(s)/Guardian(s): Tod & Corey Parkhill

Greyhound Central Elementary

Student: Alexis Mills
Age: 6 Grade: Kindergarten
Nominating Person(s): Theresa Pittington

"Lexi is very interested about the world and where we are in it. She pours over maps and globes trying to find various countries and cities. She also is very interested in the history of the world and of the United States. She is fascinated by pilgrims, Native Americans and other people who came here before her. She also likes to know who were our past presidents, where they lived and what state they came from. Lexi understands what being a good citizen means and sets a very good example of that in the classroom."
Parent(s)/Guardian(s): Sean & Shana Mills

 

Lockwood Elementary

Student: Averie Wait
Age: 4 Grade: Great Start Readiness Program
Nominating Person(s): Anne Watson, Jess Rasmussen & Jen Kerby

"Averie always demonstrates respect for classroom materials and especially for her classmates in general. She always follows classroom rules and procedures. She acts very responsibly when it comes to recycling things like styrofoam, cardboard and paper to help maintain a greener environment. Averie understands that she is part of her classroom family and school as well as her own family and that she is also part of the bigger community of Eaton Rapids. She does a good job at being a friend and knowing how to get along with others appropriately."
Parent(s)/Guardian(s): Nick Wait

Greyhound Intermediate School

Student: Emilie Dyson
Age: 10 Grade: 5th
Nominating Person(s): Joni Clarke

"Emilie works very hard to do her best all that she does, and she really loves Social Studies. She earned 100% on all three of her SS tests last quarter which proves that her hard work pays off! She participates in classroom activities and groups all the time and works very well with all the other students. She is able to constructively add pertinent information to discussions revolving around the five themes of geography and does well on her map skills. We are very proud of Emilie's positive work ethic!"
Parent(s)/Guardian(s): Michael & Denise Dyson

 

Eaton Rapids Middle School

Student: Quinn Sheppard
Age: 12 Grade: 6th
Nominating Person(s): Amy Miles

"Quinn is not only very intelligent, but he is also willing to help others when they need it...this includes explaining things he says in an understandable way to the entire class. He will work with anyone when I have the students work with partners and this shows his good citizenship! Quinn enjoys map skills and learning about other countries, people, ethnic groups, customs and economies. Quinn is amazing and I love having him in class!"
Parent(s)/Guardian(s): David & Amy Sheppard

 

 

Eaton Rapids High School

Student: Thomas Griffith
Age: 18 Grade: Senior
Nominating Person(s): George Matthews & Jamy Marske

"Thomas is exceptional student at Eaton Rapids High School. Thomas has done extremely well in social studies. He has taken Civics, Economics, U.S. History, Psychology, and AP World History. Currently Thomas is taking an Independent Study in US government, to prepare for the AP US Government and Politics exam. Thomas has also challenged himself by taking AP English and AP Calculus. Thomas has demonstrated thoughtfulness for the social sciences. Thomas plans to attend Michigan State University, where he plans to major in Political Science or Aerospace Engineering. These sound like two opposite majors, but both tie into his career goals. Thomas plans to someday work on National Defense for U.S. State Department. As a junior, he was selected for a National Defense Forum hosted by the National Youth Leadership in Washington D.C. At the Forum, Thomas was able to learn about important topics that may impact future National Defense. He was also able to take parts in simulated policy making in crisis situation. Besides being an excellent student, Thomas is a well rounded individual. Thomas was a four year member of the school's football program. He was a wrestler during his junior and senior years. Thomas is also a member of the National Honors Society. Thomas has even found time to hold down a job at the local flower garden. As you can plainly see, Thomas is a well-rounded young man and a credit to his family and to himself. We have been very fortunate to have had an opportunity to get to know him and to have him graduate this year from Eaton Rapids Public Schools."
Parent(s)/Guardian(s): Mark & Ann Griffith

 

Greyhound Central Alternative Education

Student: Jesse Hayward
Age: 15 Grade: Sophomore
Nominating Person(s): Tim Mansfield, Abby DeValk, Tina Cogo

"Jesse came to Greyhound Central in late November. He has really thrived in our self-paced learning center and recently completed his fourth social studies class since enrolling! In a little more than one trimester Jesse has already completed 3.5 credits and has improved his overall grade point average by over half a point. We see nothing but continued success for Jesse here at Greyhound Central providing he continues maintaining his current drive and determination."
Parent(s)/Guardian(s): Wayne & Tracy Hayward