Dear Lansing School District Community,
I hope that this newsletter finds you well. As always, it is a pleasure to be writing to you all.
This week, I want to share some exciting news about not just one but two events to celebrate the opening of two different tracks at our schools. When I first arrived in Lansing more than three years ago, I immediately started to tour all of our buildings and properties. I spent time at Sexton and Sheridan Road, Willow, and Woodcreek. Some of our facilities were in good shape and others, well . . . not so much. From those tours, we immediately got to work on highlighting the structures most in need and created a plan to fix what we could. As you all know we passed an amazing bond and have already torn down Mt. Hope and Willow and are in the process of building two brand new schools. But we have also been working on many smaller projects, funded from our sinking fund, grants, and general fund monies. We are building a new gym at Attwood and putting in LED lights throughout the district. We are constructing fences around our properties and assembling solar panels on our roofs. Most of the upgrades we have directed our energies toward have been in direct service to our students and staff. Air conditioning in classrooms makes the lives of our faculty and kids much, much better. However, when we look at the district as a whole, we also want to make sure that we are serving the larger community. And thus, we also scour the district to see where we can find projects that could either be built or redone with the community in mind.
From my first conversation with Adam Hussain, the current Vice President of the City Council, he has been telling me about the track at Hill. Adam represents the Southside and cares deeply about its wellbeing. I remember walking along the track the day after he told me about it. I saw community members exercising and socializing. It was wonderful to know that folks from the community were using our facilities. But what I also saw was a track in great need. If it wasn't for Adam highlighting the derelict condition of the track, I am not sure we would've focused on building it so soon. But of course, I can't just find money to build a track. So, I then reached out to Senator Sarah Anthony, another strong supporter of our wonderful Southside. She worked with her colleagues in the state government to get us a $500,000 grant to jump-start the construction. The district then went to work finding the rest, using our sinking fund and capital projects.
Because of the district's relationship with both Adam and Sarah, because of their care and focus on the school district, we were able to build something not just for our students at Hill, but for the entire Lansing Community. And so, on Tuesday, October 29th at 1:30 pm, we will be cutting the ribbon on the Hill Track and opening it up to not just our students but to all of our Lansing residents.
On Friday, November 1st, at 2 pm, we will be celebrating the opening of another new track, this one at Gardner. For this wonderful facility, we must thank Chuck Block, a leading light in the youth running movement in Michigan. Because of Chuck's generous donation, we were able to build a 400m path in the fields behind Gardner. It is built to facilitate health and exercise and promote running and training for our middle and elementary school students. It is not a formal competition track like Hill. It doesn't have built-in stands or painted lanes, nor is it supposed to, for this amazing facility was built to support our students becoming more active. They can play on it during lunch and recess. They can practice after school and before school. The more than 900 students who attend Gardner now have a brand-new state-of-the-art running surface to train and play. We are deeply grateful to Chuck for making this happen.
I can't tell you how happy I am to start to see the fruits of our work. All the hard work of planning, building, funding, and design is starting to pay off as we change our city for the better. Our talented facilities team, including our bond reps and our builders, along with our budget office, were all able to make this happen, as well as the projects yet to come. I hope that all of you reading this newsletter are able to see these two great additions to the Lansing School District and the community writ large. And if you can, put on some sneakers and go for a walk.
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
