JayNews

We would like to extend our heartfelt gratitude to Matt for his 17.5 years of dedicated service to Shepherd Public Schools. Throughout his time on the board, Matt has been deeply committed to supporting our students, staff, and community.

His extensive knowledge of school law and finance has been an invaluable asset, and his contributions will be greatly missed. However, we’re comforted knowing he’s just down the road if we ever need him.

Thank you, Matt, for your unwavering dedication and service to Shepherd Public Schools.

During Wednesday night’s game, the audio system in the gymnasium went out. In a truly inspiring moment, the Shepherd Public Schools student section rose to the occasion, stood together, placed their hands over their hearts, and sang our National Anthem.

We are so proud of our incredible students at Shepherd. While some days may feel challenging and defeating, moments like this remind us of what truly matters. It takes a village to raise a child, and our village is absolutely phenomenal!

As we enter the winter season, many parents are curious about how and when we decide to close or delay school due to weather conditions. Here’s what you need to know:

• Announcements: All decisions to delay or cancel school will be made and announced by 5:30 a.m. If we initially call a two-hour delay but later decide to cancel school, this will be announced by 7:30 a.m.
• Cancellations: When school is closed, all sub-varsity games are canceled unless they are part of a combined event with varsity games. Decisions about practices, games, and other school activities will be made by 12:00 p.m.
• Moving to a 3-Hour Delay: Beginning in the 2025-2026 school year, we will transition from a two-hour delay to a three-hour delay model. We believe this change will reduce the number of school closures, as it provides more time for conditions to improve. School would start at 11:00 a.m. under this model.
  • Mt. Pleasant and Beal City will also adopt the three-hour delay next year, joining Gratiot County schools, which already use this model.

We appreciate your understanding and patience as we prioritize the safety of our students and staff.

Shepherd High School students (and staff) did a great job with Community Clean Up Monday November 11th, despite battling the wind. We apologize to those who live on the south or on the east sides of a block. Your northern and western neighbors yards look great but yours may have filled up a bit as leaves caught the breeze.

Congratulations to our 4 Shepherd High students of the month with Justin Farrell from 9th grade, Noah Clevenger from 10th grade, Logan McMeel 11th grade, and finally from John Kiehl from 12th grade. These students were picked by their teachers because of their excellence both in and out of the classroom.

Thank you to Little Caesars, McDonald's, Biggby Coffee, Chipotle, Buffalo Wild Wings, Shepherd Athletics, Celebration Cinema, Tropical Smoothie, and Jets Pizza for their generous contributions to honor these students. A special thank you to SHS Leadership student Kevin Koopman organizing the prize packages to honor these students.

As we move into the holiday season, we want to take a moment to thank you for your ongoing support of our schools. This partnership with our families is essential to creating a positive and welcoming environment for students and staff.

This year, we’ve been working district-wide with the Capturing Kids’ Hearts program to focus on building stronger relationships within our school community. A key part of CKH is celebrating the good in others through affirmations and gratitude. We encourage families to continue sharing affirmations for students, staff, and other members of the community using this link.

Looking ahead, our Holiday Spirit Schedule is included below, with dress up days designed to bring some cheer to the season.

We’ve also shared a Thanksgiving video where students reflected on what they are thankful for. If you haven’t seen it yet, you can watch it below.

Finally, we’re excited to recognize our recent BlueJays of the Week with photos celebrating their achievements. Take a look below to see these students and staff who are making a positive impact in our schools.

Thank you for being a part of the Shepherd Public Schools community. Together, let’s continue to build a culture of connection, celebration, and gratitude this holiday season!

Congratulations to Andrea Martinez-Valesquez for being selected as the Mt. Pleasant, MI Optimist Club Sisson Shining Star, Student of the Month for November.

Andrea is a 7th grader at SMS and is the daughter of Berenisse Velasquez.

We wanted to increase positive social relationships and interactions between students in the building. We brainstormed and came up with a new class, Enrichment. This course is intended to increase student social-emotional learning. Key skills being developed include the CASEL competencies of self-awareness, self-management, relationship skills, social awareness, responsible decision-making. These skills are developed through a variety of methods such as; team-building activities, games, sports, clubs, individual and/or group counseling, expressive art, peer tutoring, and community service projects. Students are engaged in an activity and working with other students/staff during this time. All building staff and students are encouraged to be a part of building new positive relationships during this course.

Congrats to Shepherd Elementary’s first ever Lego Robotics team, the BlueJay Bots! They had their competition on Saturday and earned a first place trophy for Core Values. They also scored in the top 7. You can currently see their robot and award in the PTO display cabinet by the book vending machine. Congrats BlueJay Bots!

The Shepherd Elementary Run Club, led by Mrs. Sanchez, brought together a group of enthusiastic 4th and 5th graders to explore the joys and benefits of running. Throughout the season, students learned about building endurance, setting goals, and developing a love for physical activity. The season culminated in a mile run celebration, where the students showcased their progress and celebrated their hard work. It was a fun and inspiring experience that encouraged a lifelong appreciation for fitness and perseverance.

Our Winn Elementary Student Council wanted to join in the fun for the holiday season. They designed all of these days for the students here at Winn. They did a great job presenting all of their the ideas with Mrs. Richards. Thank you to Mrs. Dusenbery and Mrs. Sellers for helping our student council members develop this idea!

During the whole month of October, we practiced our "Skills for Learning" from our Social Emotional program, Second Steps. The skills for learning help us to be great learners in the classroom! In November, our teachers nominated two STAR students that used their skills for learning each day. These students were role models in their classrooms. Each STAR student got a token for the book vending machine, award certificate, and a special picture to commemorate this moment. Congratulations kids!

Our Winn Elementary Student Council sponsored a "Penny War" in November. This effort is a way for our students to understand helping the community around us. All of the proceeds are being donated to the "Winn Treehouse" organization. This organization helps families in the Winn and surrounding areas with many different needs. Each year the group adopts 10 of our families during the holiday season. We are so appreciative of this wonderful organization and wanted to help them with all of their efforts throughout the year.

Each month, we focus on a different learning tool to help build our social emotional understanding using the "Second Step" program. This month we have been focusing on building empathy. Here is a way for you to help us with this at home.

What is my child learning?

Getting along with others helps make our school a happier place. To get along with others, we need to have empathy for each other. Empathy is feeling or understanding what someone else is feeling.

Why is it important?

When we teach our kids the importance of understanding how someone else might feel, we help them see things from a different perspective. It also helps us to learn how to recognize how others might feel.

Ask your child:

What is being a feelings detective all about? A feelings detective is someone that is able to look at a persons body language, the sound of their voice, and the words they are saying to determine how someone might be feeling.

Read together:

Are adults really so different from kids? Choose an adult family member. Each of you complete the following sentences on your own (use scratch paper) using the “feelings” words below. Then compare your answers. If you chose a different feeling word for the same sentence, write your feeling word in one “different” column, and your adult’s feeling word in the other “different” column below. If you chose the same feeling word, just write it once in the “same” column.

Feelings Words: worried, unsure, scared, lonely, happy, sad, serious, frustrated, nervous, joyful, satisfied, stressed, peaceful, relaxed, and excited

Project AWARE - December 2024

1. HopeWell - We officially wrap up with HopeWell on December 5th! We always appreciate the time and care that the staff and volunteers at HopeWell pour into our students! We’re looking forward to bringing more students to HopeWell in the spring. Be on the lookout for more information in the next edition of the BlueJay News if you’re interested in your student going with us to HopeWell!

2. CMU Recreational Therapy - Project AWARE is thrilled to be partnering with Central Michigan University to provide an opportunity for up to twelve 5th and 6th graders to participate in 10 weeks of recreational fun to help develop basic social-emotional skills. If you think that this could benefit your child, please reach out to Cathy Huffer (5th grade) or LeeAnn Gall (6th grade) by no later than Wednesday, January 8th.

3. Mrs. Gall is looking forward to hosting 3 groups starting in January. There will be a confidence group specifically geared towards boys, a motivation building group, and a TRAILS group that focuses on building skills to manage symptoms of anxiety and depression. If you are interested in your middle schooler attending one of these groups, please reach out to Mrs. Gall!

4. There will also be a TRAILS group starting up in the high school soon! Reach out to Morgan Harnish for more information!

5. As Project AWARE Counselors, our goal is always to help students and help connect families to local resources. If you have any questions or concerns that you’d like to talk to a Project AWARE counselor about, please feel free to reach out!

   1. Cathy Huffer, SES Counselor - chuffer@shepherdschools.net

   2. Emily Sellers, Winn Counselor - ehinsman@shepherdschools.net

   3. LeeAnn Gall, SMS Counselor - leeann.gall@shepherdschools.net

   4. David Gutierrez, Odyssey Counselor - dgutierrez@shepherdschools.net

   5. Morgan Harnish, SHS Counselor - morgan.harnish@shepherdschools.net