Dear Lansing School District Community,

As always, it is a pleasure to write to you all. I hope you are all staying warm and dry during these cold days and even colder nights. As you can imagine, during these frigid temperatures, with or without snow, the conversation around closing schools or keeping them open is top of mind. Last year, I wrote a newsletter about snow days and how we make decisions that hopefully are in the best interest of our students and community. I have attached the link to that newsletter here: https://www.smore.com/m8a2w.

This week, I wanted to add to that communication to discuss days when it is very cold, but there is no snow. This last week, we had low temperatures that were exacerbated by strong winds, bringing a "real feel temperature" or a "windchill temperature" much lower than the actual temperature. Though neither the district nor the districts around us have a hard and fast rule about when to close, we typically use "sustained -20-degree windchill" as the line of demarcation. This week, the IISD (Ingham County Intermediate School District) superintendents convened via digital communication at 5 am on Tuesday and Wednesday to collectively decide whether to stay open or close. As you know, all of our surrounding districts – East Lansing, Holt, Waverly, Okemos, etc. remained open. The sustained windchill temperature didn't cross the -20-degree threshold, and (probably just as importantly) Dean and CATA buses could start. Sometimes, when the weather is really cold, the buses can't turn over. Thankfully, we were not in that position.

I do know that it was very cold, and I completely understand those who wanted us to close, but please remember that if you, as a parent/guardian, feel that the weather is too cold or too dangerous, you are always welcome to keep your child at home. No one will call truancy because you kept your 3rd grader home when it was -15 degrees outside. All we ask is that you call the school and let them know you are keeping your child at home. The more you communicate with your student's school, the better. Hopefully, you are able to get work for your kid to do while at home. But again, as the parent/guardian, you have the right to keep your scholar home with good reason.

Knowing that, we as a district try our absolute best to remain open. Over 10,000 students rely on us for education, breakfast, lunch, heated rooms, and all sorts of other services. We want to ensure that we are there if families need us. And this week, we were there for them and the community at large. I am very proud of our district, especially our facilities team. Even with old buildings and old heating systems, we were able to remain open as a district. Yes, we certainly had pockets of cold (in fact, my office didn't have heat for three days), but as a school district, we had a pretty good track record. So, a big thank you goes to our facilities team, who worked late nights and early mornings to keep things running. However, if any of you reading this email experienced cold rooms, please tell your principal so that they can inform the facilities team. We know that we can always do better. Thank you to the entire community for making it through last week.

Thank you so much for all of your incredible support of our district. Together, we will do great things for the children of Lansing.

Benjamin Shuldiner, Superintendent

Lansing School District

Let's take a minute to applaud the students in the above photo. Whether it be for training or even experience in season-specific sports (basketball, football, volleyball, and soccer, to name just a few), strength and conditioning, yoga, or even tutoring, each of these students has been putting in the WORK outside of the classroom and their standard school day. How did they do this? Well, they signed up for one — or many — sessions with the Student Development Program at the Don Johnson Fieldhouse!

A relatively new yet extremely popular offering, The Student Development Program was designed to give students an academic and athletic advantage by considering the whole child! Participating students even get snacks and dinner to make the most of the experience. The program is 100% free of charge to 6th- 12th-grade students in the Lansing School District; they only need to fill out an annual permission slip and student health information form and sign up for a session to get started!

The environment is judgment-free, and students are encouraged to "try on" any sport for size. So, if you're out in one of the schools and you're still looking for your place, check out the Student Development Program and see what sets your soul on fire with a group of like-minded individuals cheering you on.

New to the Student Development Program is Art Exploration! Sign up for Art Exploration and experience watercolor, mixed media, collage, stenciling, sketching, and even book altering! You can participate in the day's art activity and learn new skills, OR you can work independently on your ideas with others.

Congratulations to District Athletic Director Chris Henderson on the recent news of his forthcoming induction into The Greater Lansing Sports Hall of Fame! Athletics have been Henderson's driving passion since he was young at Sexton High School. Chris won his first MHSAA Division 1 State Wrestling Championship as a sophomore but didn't stop there, taking home the Division 1 State Wrestling Champion title in his junior year and yet again in his senior year! In his high school career, he had to take on five State Champions to defend his titles. Ultimately, he came out on top, boasting an impressive 41-0 undefeated record in his senior year and a 151-18-1 record in his high school career.

His performance as an athlete propelled him into history books, not just at Sexton (as one of its most decorated wrestlers), but in the entire district as one of only three wrestlers to claim the Division 1 Wrestling Championship title three times. By the time he graduated in 1989, Chris was one of the top ten senior wrestling recruits in the country and was accepted into wrestling powerhouse Edinboro University on a full athletic scholarship.

Henderson's stats are impressive and include being a five-time USA Freestyle and Greco-Roman State Champion and a four-time Team Michigan - USA Wrestling National Qualifier. Sexton High School snapped him up as their health and physical education teacher in 1999, and he served in that position until 2015, when he took the athletic director position at the school. After putting in half a decade as Sexton's athletic director, he took on the position of district athletic director in 2020. He has been putting his skills and knowledge to use, furthering the athletic pursuits of students throughout the entire school district.

Congratulations, Chris, on another amazing achievement, and thank you for being such an important part of the Lansing School District.

"What does your dream house look like?" Though deceptively simple, the prompt was rife with learning opportunities for students at Everett New Tech who recently got to bring their dream houses to life! After picking out ANY location in the United States to construct their dream house, students set off to research their chosen location.

Students needed to learn about the natural resources — and hazards — where they intended to build so they could pick appropriate materials. They also had the opportunity to learn about green energy and energy conservation. The class discussed various architectural styles as well as why certain styles of buildings are prevalent in different areas around the country. This assignment wouldn't be complete without a healthy dose of reality, so they also learned how to perform a cost-benefit analysis and applied that knowledge to their dream home.

Then, after some revision, they got to draw up a blueprint! Upon completing the basic blueprint, they were tasked with creating a digital or physical model of their property and a five-paragraph essay about their home and the choices they made toward crafting a sustainable future for the next generation.

Students LOVED this project. In addition to the good old-fashioned cardboard submissions, some students even used Roblox, Sims, Fortnite, and even Minecraft to construct their build. One student even brought in his X-box and hooked it up to the big screen to complete a house model in real time!

January 24 — Parent Community Advisory Council | 6-8 p.m. | 4200 Wainwright Ave.

January 26 — No School (PD Day)

February 1 — Board Meeting | 6:00 p.m. | 519 W. Kalamazoo St.

February 14 — Spring Count Day

February 15 — Board Meeting | 6:00 p.m. | 519 W. Kalamazoo St.

February 19 — President's Day (No School)

February 28 —Parent Community Advisory Council | 6-8 p.m. | 4200 Wainwright Ave.

Did you know that you can subscribe to our calendars?

Visit www.lansingschools.net/district/calendars, select the school(s) whose calendar you would like to subscribe to, and tap the tiny calendar at the top right. For more detailed instructions, click here.