March 2025 Rocketeer

Dear Kelloggsville Families,

As we welcome the month of March, I want to express my gratitude for the dedication and support of our students, staff, and families. Spring is a time of renewal and growth, and I am continually inspired by the hard work and enthusiasm that fills our schools each day.

March also marks a necessary time for planning as we approach the end of the third marking period and the start of the fourth marking period. Our educators are focused on ensuring every student is supported and ready for success. Additionally, we are beginning discussions about the next school year, including curriculum updates, summer learning opportunities, and facility improvements.

I also want to highlight our upcoming District-Wide Curriculum Night, "Travel Around Kelloggsville," held in mid-April. Families can learn more about our STEM activities, AP offerings at the high school, middle school opportunities, and elementary math and reading guides to support learning at home. This is an excellent opportunity for families to learn more about our academic programs, ask questions, and engage with educators about the learning experiences available to our students. More information and details will be given soon. We look forward to seeing you there!

As always, thank you for your continued partnership in fostering a positive and enriching learning environment for all students. Together, we make Kelloggsville a place where every child can thrive.

It's a great day to be a Rocket!

With gratitude,
Jim Alston

Superintendent, Kelloggsville Public Schools

March 12, 2025: No School, Professional Development

March 14, 2025: End of Quarter 3...Only one quarter left of the year!

March 28 & 29, 2025: Spring Play Performance

March 18 & 20, 2025: Rockets Got Talent Show (KHS Talent Show--During the school day)

April 4-11, 2025: Spring Break 🐦🌱

Amanda Rostic is a 2007 Kelloggsville graduate who has dedicated her post-Kelloggsville life to bettering her life for herself and her children. "My son was born May 31, 2007, and I had my (Grand Valley State University) freshman orientation at the end of June 2007. I completed my heavy course load and graduated on time with baby Cam." Amanda earned her Bachelor of Science in Biology and Chemistry and returned to GVSU for her Master's of Public Health and Epidemiology.

While working on a research paper for school, an idea grew into something more, and is one of the projects she is most proud of. Amanda developed "a documentary about the Black maternal health crisis in America," Delivering While Black. This documentary has been viewed internationally and submitted to multiple film festivals. Amanda also owns a hops tea company, has started a media & content production company, and was recently nominated for an Athena Award from the Grand Rapids Business Chamber–leading to the latest accomplishment!

"I was selected to be the cover girl and feature story in West Michigan Woman Magazine! That experience has been momentous! West Michigan Woman Magazine features some of the smartest and most hard working women across the State. It has been such an honor. Fun fact, West Michigan Woman Magazine mails out over 11k physical print copies to businesses and homes!"

Looking back to her time at Kville, she remembers winning Girl's Basketball Districts her senior year while being the captain, which is a significant accomplishment, but was made even more important as it was the first time Kelloggsville Girls Basketball had won that title in 31 years! But beyond monumental achievements like that, it is the people that made the difference for her. "I am STILL friends with people from 6th grade! A girl I met when I was 11 in Ms. Walker's music class is still my best friend. So Kville was like my connection point to some amazing lifetime friends and supporters." That is also true for the staff that impacted her as a student.

"Two people came to mind immediately when I read this: Angela Weststrate and Drew Lakatos. These are two amazing and wonderful educators. They truly made my time at Kville so much better. Kind, smart, witty, funny, and inspired. I just remember them both teaching with such care and passion."

Amanda’s time at Kelloggsville has prepared her to navigate West Michigan and its small-town nature. Kelloggsville is a small district surrounded by a small city, but it provided the chance to develop an attitude that is “scrappy” and gave [her] such “underdog winner energy.” “Kville helped me learn you can come from a small place and do big things.” Kelloggsville not only helped Amanda discover her potential, but it instilled a relentless drive to turn that potential into real-world impact. With a passion for public health, entrepreneurship, and community, Amanda proves daily that you can come from a small place and make a difference on a large scale.

If you are a Kelloggsville Alumni who is interested in being featured in one of our next Newsletter Spotlights, please complete our Google Form for Alumni and we will contact you when we are putting together the next newsletters!

In a way to celebrate the life and birthday of Dr. Seuss, the month of March was given the distinction of Reading Month! At each of our three elementary buildings, they are celebrating Reading Month each day with different themes and celebrations each day. Do you have something that you're currently reading at home? Or something that you're reading with your student?

Classes across the building celebrated Valentine's Day in February. Here are some of those celebrations! Ms. Wolters' and Ms. Weeks' third-grade class shared the love on February 14th! They went around the room and wrote something kind about each person. Then, they got to read all the amazing things people said about them! We hope that everyone had a wonderful Valentine’s Day!

Ms. Zender's class was all dressed up to celebrate Valentine's Day!

February's Reward Day featured a Minute to Win It competition event! The 4th and 5th grade students competed head-to-head for the coveted Minute to Win It plaque, which is displayed in the winning class’s room for the entire year. Mrs. Clark’s 5th grade class came out on top, winning the overall competition between the 4th and 5th grades. Meanwhile, the 3rd graders had their own challenge, and Mr. Jackson's class emerged victorious!

Students at Southeast KV & West KV were visited by Alan Kazam last week! Mr. Kazam was able to talk with students about being Buddies not Bullies while performing magic tricks. Students were very enthusiastic and involved with Mr. Kazam. They had such a great time!

Students at West KV enjoyed special cookies they received from the Food Service Department on Valentine's Day!

This year Kelloggsville Middle School is the recipient of a wonderful donation from The Sophisticated Gentlemen and Ladies Auxiliary Club on behalf of two wonderful couples: The Malletts and the Kimbrels (through Mr. Kimbrel's business Painting by Jeff). The Sophisticated Gentlemen and Ladies Auxiliary Club has been a member of the community for the last 25 years and has had a dedication to give back to the community. The organization is able to do this by providing support through multiple events throughout the year, giving donations to various organizations, giving care packages to families & youth in need, and establishing a new youth center within the last year. Thank you so much for your generosity and support with helping KMS students!

Yesterday, 15 eighth-grade students from KMS attended the Latinx Conference hosted by the Hispanic Center of West Michigan at Grand Rapids Community College. They enjoyed listening to and dancing to Spanish music, hearing a career panel composed of successful Latinx community members, and being inspired by Stephan Dyer to dream big.

Have you signed up to get School News Network delivered to your inbox so you don't miss great articles like this one? Learn about the Community Quilt that KMS students have put together. Below is a video of the students explaining their square contribution to the KMS Community Quilt.

Congratulations to our 2025 Rocket 11 winners! Kelloggsville staff and students were able to identify our Rocket 11 winners for resilience, compassion, and selflessness traits that they demonstrate daily.

9th grade

Vy Nguyen

Joel Metusela

10th grade

Ezequiel Gomez

Anh Nguyen

11th grade

Prince Baraka

Cody Liang

12th grade

Caden Terrell

Karen Galvez

A group of 20 students attended the 10th anniversary of The African American Male Achievement Conference (AAMAC). This is an event where students are able to learn about discipline, accountability, and life lessons from African American Leaders through motivational speaking from principles, the NBA, and more. They are also able to interact with their peers with over 1,000 students in attendance.

For the last few years, 54th Street Academy has been able to provide a scholarship to a graduate to help with the financial costs of a post-high school program. They have recently received an update for their 2024 graduate. Paula Adela was the 2024 54th Street Academy Scholarship recipient and she is currently attending Ross Medical. Great job, Paula!

Did you know Great Start Readiness Program is enrolling now for fall? It’s high-quality preschool available to all families at no cost thanks to Michigan’s PreK for All initiative and we have a classroom right here at Kelloggsville. Learn more at freepreschoolkent.org

At Kelloggsville we are committed to the safety of our students, staff, and families. Thanks to a generous donation from the Wyoming Police Department we have FREE gun locks available for Kelloggsville families. These are available at all of our Kelloggsville Schools and Admin Building. You may pick up a FREE gun lock at any of these locations during our regular school hours.

Let’s Be SMART for Kids by following these simple steps:

S: Secure all guns in your home and vehicles

M: Model responsible behavior around guns

A: Ask about the presence of unsecured guns in other homes

R: Recognize the role of guns in suicides

T: Tell your peers to Be SMART

En Kelloggsville estamos comprometidos con la seguridad de nuestros estudiantes, personal y familias. Gracias a una generosa donación del Departamento de Policía de Wyoming, tenemos candados para armas GRATIS disponibles para las familias de Kelloggsville. Estos están disponibles en todas nuestras escuelas y el edificio administrativo de Kelloggsville. Puede recoger un candado para armas GRATIS en cualquiera de estas ubicaciones durante nuestro horario escolar regular.

Vamos a “Be SMART for Kids” siguiendo estos sencillos pasos:

S: Sea consciente y mantenga sus armas bajo llave en su casa y en vehículos

M: Modele comportamiento responsable alrededor de las armas de fuego

A: Asegúrese de preguntar si hay armas que no estén bajo llave en casas donde visiten sus niños

R: Reconozca el rol de las armas en los suicidios

T: Tenga conversaciones con sus amigos sobre Be SMART

Ms. Andrea's favorite sports team is University of Michigan and she enjoys water sports, including tubing and water skiing (pictured on the left).

Ms Judy's favorite sports teams is Michigan State University (her son even graduated from MSU!) and her favorite color is blue (pictured on the right).