The Highlighter - October 2024

We want to thank the approximately 65-70 community members who attended our community forum to discuss our facility needs and a potential bond proposal for May 2025 this past Wednesday.

Your feedback will help shape our proposal as we move forward. Please visit our website as we continue to document the district steering committee progress: Facility Planning Process - Our District - St. Johns Public Schools (sjredwings.org).

This month, the District Facilites Steering Committee continued to roll up their sleeves as they worked with all of the previously identified facilities priorities to hone some possible scenarios for a future bond proposal that would address our district needs, incorporate Board of Education and community feedback, and prepare us for the future!

We've dug into all sorts of great ideas and have been working diligently to find consensus on solutions that serve our students, staff, and community. We are so thankful for all of their active involvement in this process!

As part of our continued collaboration with the City of St. Johns, we are planning to apply for the Safe Routes to School (SRTS) Grant funded through MDOT. As part of the application process, a certain percentage of students (starting with 3rd grade) and parents need to complete the surveys below. The surveys takes approximately 5-10 minutes and students will complete them at school.

"The SRTS Grant is a movement and a federal program to make it safe, convenient, and fun for children, including those with disabilities, to bicycle and walk to school. When routes are safe, walking or biking to and from school is an easy way to get the regular physical activity children need for good health. Safe Routes to School initiatives also help ease traffic jams and air pollution, unite neighborhoods, and contribute to students’ readiness to learn in school" (shared from SRTS website). For more information, please go to https://saferoutesmichigan.org.

Eureka Elementary School:

• Parent- https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/eurekaparent

Oakview South Elementary School

• Parent- https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/oakviewparent

Gateway North Elementary School

• Parent- https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/gatewayparent

Riley Elementary School

• Parent- https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/rileyparent

St. Johns Middle School

• Parent- https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/stjohnsmiddleparent

St. Johns High School

• Parent- https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/stjohnshighparent
  

LaTonya Hoort and LaTasha Cantu are essential members of the Food Service team, serving as Food Service Director and Kitchen Manager at SJPS.

What is a typical day like at your job?

LaTonya's days are always different. She encounters new challenges each day related to staffing and menu adjustments. Moreover, she is responsible for organizing a variety of events. For instance, this week marks National School Lunch Week, and among the planned activities are preparations for Lucky Tray Days and coordinating guest servers, including teachers and administrators.

For LaTasha the day is consistent, 7am to 3pm everyday. She is in charge of the cooking and preparation in the lines as well as staff supervision, ordering and now the afterschool snack program.

Our High School and Middle School now offer complimentary afterschool snacks. This program was launched two weeks ago, and our eligibility was determined by our community's participation in the Education Benefit forms!

What is your favorite part of the job?

LaTonya says her favorite part is teamwork. “It’s not just me, its a team. Growing up, that was what was instilled in us, teamwork is key.”

For LaTasha, it would be the girls she works with. “We all mesh pretty well, we have fun!”

The Extras

Both enjoy working after school events, it's a way to interact with the students and the community that you sometimes miss when working in a food service environment. LaTasha is the varsity softball coach and LaTonya helps her with scoring. In addition, they help with many other after school events, taking tickets, keeping score, or helping the athletic director game manage when needed.

Whatever needs to be done. “We are all one big team, we just need to help each other out and it doesn't matter if it’s our main job or not, it's nice to be able help each other out”

Tickets are now on sale for Chicago! Get yours today at sjdrama.ludus.com. Show dates and times are:

Friday, November 8 @ 7:00 p.m.

Saturday, November 9 @ 2:00 p.m.

Saturday, November 9 @ 7:00 p.m.

Sunday, November 10 @ 2:00 p.m.

Congratulations to the Redwing Marching Band on their 39th consecutive year of all 1's (highest score) at the District 5 Marching Band Festival! The festival was hosted by St. Johns on October 7th.

This event is designed to spark interest in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) and provide a fun and engaging learning experience for all ages.

• Event Details:

  Date: November 21st
  

  Time: 2:00-4:00

  Location: IQhub (1130 South DeWitt Road, St Johns, MI 48879)

Click photos to follow links

After the hot dog eating contest, the tug of war, the sac race and musical chairs basketball, the senior class emerged victorious!

Mr. Parker's AP Government students took a walk from the high school to Oakview Elementary, where they delivered a presentation to the fourth graders!

Congratulations to Redwing Ava Schafer on her second straight GLCC Championship and school record! Reagan Ward was the top Redwing for the boys, finishing 21st. Miriam Kloha was 25th, Natalie Kramer 45th and Logan Banner was 56th. Full Results

“The girls golf team finished 5th out of 13 teams at their regional. Sunni Devereaux shot the low score for the team and earned herself a trip to the State Finals next weekend at GVSU!”

Follow the MHSAA website for results (October 18-19): Follow Results

“Regionals run is over for SJ - we had 7 of 8 flights make the quarterfinals and 3 flights make the semifinals.” Coach Gove

Redwing volleyball seniors celebrated Senior Night with a program sweep over Lansing Eastern!

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