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 is Teacher Appreciation Week, with Tuesday, May 7th being Teacher Appreciation Day. For anyone who has ever had a great teacher, you know just how impactful they are to you academically, socially, and emotionally. A great teacher can truly change the course of a child's life. Be it teaching a skill that a student loves and then pursues as a vocation or exposing a young learner to a topic of interest that becomes a life-long pursuit. That one book, that one class, that one field trip can open up pathways a pupil might never have known. When you compound that one lesson 180 times or 360 times, if you are lucky enough to loop in with that great teacher, your life trajectory inexorably changes for the better.

I was lucky enough to have many teachers that positively impacted me. Thanks to Ms. Wells, I learned about birds and art. Thanks to Ms. Kagan, I learned how to use footnotes and cite my work and how to research and study. Thanks to Dr. Mason, I learned how to conceptualize mathematics in a way I still use today. Thanks to Dr. Perrone, I learned how a teacher could be creative and engaging while still teaching state standards. I hope that all of us have been positively impacted by at least one teacher in our lives.

So, here is a great chance, an entire week, to say thank you. I ask everyone reading this newsletter to thank a teacher. Try to find your favorite teacher; maybe they are long since retired, living in Florida. Perhaps they are still teaching at Sexton. Maybe they now work in the central office. Track them down, say thank you, write them a card, and buy them a cup of coffee. One year, a former student of mine came to my classroom and handed me a little trophy, which read, "Thank you for believing in me." I will tell you that I still get choked up when I think about that moment and act of thanks. It was incredibly meaningful.

Teachers and educators work incredibly hard. Day in and day out, they endure the hours, stress, and the 1001 things they are asked to deal with on a constant and consistent basis. Please use this week as a time to reflect on the great work a teacher did for you, and hopefully, you can find a way to say thank you.

I know this week schools will have celebrations and lots of cake. The district is putting together the first (hopefully annual) Educator Appreciation Celebration at the Eastern Fields Complex on Friday. But I know firsthand that the individual, specific thanks a teacher gets from a student or a parent are much more meaningful than any Costco sheet cake or district t-shirt.

Happy Teacher Appreciate Week to all our wonderful educators! Thank you for all you do.

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

Crystal Dominguez-Tapia is the 2024 Salutatorian at Everett High School and has a 4.075 GPA. Crystal is involved in many extracurricular activities at Everett, including Peer Forward, National Honors Society, Youth in Government, Upward Bound, and the Latino Club. In addition, Crystal is a member of the girls soccer team and Captain of both the cross country and swim teams. The thing she loves most about Everett is its diversity. Crystal likes to spend time with friends and family in her free time. After graduation, Crystal plans to attend the University of Michigan and major in biology.

Teachers play a profound role in shaping the lives of students and, by extension, our community and society as a whole. Aside from imparting knowledge, teachers serve as mentors, motivators, and role models, influencing students’ academic achievements, personal development, and future aspirations. Teachers often go above and beyond their duties, dedicating their time, energy, and resources to ensure their students’ success. Megan Meissner, a 5th-grade teacher at Dwight Rich, is one of many examples of excellent teachers that the Lansing School District is lucky to have.

Ms. Meissner has been working for several years to provide students in her school the opportunity to learn how to swim. She was faced with some initial challenges to launch this dream. Still, her perseverance paid off when she connected with her friend Theresa Sheridan, the Aquatics Director at the YMCA. Theresa, sharing Ms. Meissner's passion for aquatic education, wrote a grant that now provides swim lessons to students at the school, and excited third and fourth graders were recently able to start their lessons!

To ensure that everyone at the school can participate, Ms. Meissner has also been collecting donations of swimsuits and towels to give to students who are in need in an effort to eliminate any potential barriers to this newly created opportunity.

Thank you for being an exemplary teacher at the Lansing School District!

The Lansing Board of Water and Light's (BWL) 1st STEP gives high school seniors a PAID work-based learning experience, the opportunity to earn a scholarship, the ability to explore career paths in the utility industry, and more!

Students who meet the following eligibility criteria should consider applying for this amazing opportunity:

• High School senior whose permanent residence has service from BWL
• Age 17 by January 1
  
• Overall GPA of at least a 2.0
  
• Plans to live and work in the Greater Lansing Area
  
• Plans to pursue post-secondary education and training in skilled trades beyond high school
• Ability to work three hours during the school day
• Be drug-free
• Dependable Transportation (ability to get to work on time)
• Dependable and hardworking

Sound like something you're interested in?

Contact your school counselor or the BWL job placement coordinator at (517)702-6400

For more information, check out the accompanying documents below.

Make sure to fill out your transportation application as soon as you can — this ensures that you can get the transportation your child needs: whether it be a seat on the school bus, a gas card, or CATA card. At the jump, you will be able to get instructions for filling out the application and using gas cards as well as CATA maps.

Questions regarding transportation for the 2024-25 school year?

Call the Transportation Assistance Team at (517)755-3017.

For the Class of 2024, winning a year of free pizza is as easy as pie!

To enter, just fill out the newly simplified FAFSA (no essay required!)

by June 30, then text FAFSA to 1-844-34-PIZZA. #ReachForThePie

May 9 — Board Meeting - Information Study Session | 6:00 p.m. | 519 W. Kalamazoo St.

May 10 — No School | PD Day

May 16 — Board Meeting | 6:00 p.m. | 519 W. Kalamazoo St.

May 24 — Half Day (Elementary Schools)

May 27 — No School | Memorial Day

May 29 — Parent Community Advisory Council Meeting | 6:00 p.m. | 4200 Wainwright Ave.

June 5 — Half Day High Schools

June 6 — Half Day High Schools

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

June 7 — Last Day | Half Day for All Schools

June 8 — Graduation

June 13 — Board Meeting - Information Study Session | 6:00 p.m. | 519 W. Kalamazoo St.

June 20 — Board Meeting | 6:00 p.m. | 519 W. Kalamazoo St.

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.