Ledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. All right, thank you. If you could please pause for a moment of silence. 1 5 0. The selection of the President of the Grand Blanc Board of Education is first on the agenda this evening. Following that, the new president will preside over the selection of the remaining officers and the rest of the meeting. The floor is now open for nominations for school board president. I'd like to nominate, uh, Mrs. Sue K as the school board president.
I support that. Any other nominations? We have a, a motion by Ms. Trustee Lang and a second by Trustee Fashion. It's there. A motion to close nominations. So moved. So a motion by Vice President, uh, Youngs and seconded by Trustee Lang. Uh, we have a motion to close nomination for the Office of president. Uh, any discussion on the nominations? All right. Ello? Yes. Lang? Yes. Ryt? Yes. Yellen? Yes.
Youngs? Yes. K. Yes. That was just to close the nominations. Now I need a motion to elect Sue Kish as the sitting board president. I think I messed this up last year. You are doing Perfect. Thank you. So can I have a motion to elect Sue Ki as the board president through the January organizational meeting of next year? I'll make a motion to elect Sue Kih as the president. I support. You have that? Yep. Ello? Yes. Lang? Yes. Reihart Yellen. Yes. Youngs? Yes. Kish? Yes.
Thank you. Board members. Turn it over to you. Congratulations. President kis. And again, I am very humbled and I appreciate the support of all my board members. We work as a team and, and I know someone has to be board president, but I really appreciate all of you being part of the team and keeping us all in the straight and narrow. So thank you very much. Um, with that we'll take a motion. Um, we can do a, a slate. I think we have talked about, um, officers for vice president, treasurer and secretary. So we'll take a motion from someone. Go ahead. Uh, I make a motion, it's weird to, uh, to
nominate myself as vice president, um, Ryan Yellen as treasurer and Kelly as secretary. Mm-hmm. I'll second that. Is there any questions, any comments before we take a vote? Had talked about if I am the secretary for the minutes and Ethan would do the policy. Is that, would that still be right? Okay. So, um, just to clarify, we have, um, committee chair people. Okay. Um, and for the different committees. So, um, we'll talk about that a little bit later.
But, um, the president appoints people. And so what we're gonna do is we know we want Ethan to be the chair of the policy committee instead of having the secretary role doing that. Okay. Perfect. Any other questions? Okay. Fashion Lang? Yes. Ert? Yes. Yellen? Yes. Youngs? Yes. Kish? Yes. Thank you. Congratulations everybody. Congratulations. Kelly. You're do a great job. Okay. Moving on to recommended actions, routine matters, approval of the proposed agenda. We'll take a motion to approve the agenda.
I'll make a motion court. Okay. Any changes to the agenda? Okay. Ms. McDougall? Fashion. Yes. Lang? Yes. Breer? Yes. Yellen? Yes. Youngs? Yes. K. Yes. Next. Approve all of this. December 15th. Board meeting minutes. Madam Secretary, do you have to make the motion? Yeah. I have, um, reviewed the December 15th, everything Approve. Motion to approve. Motion To approve Support. Any questions about the meeting? Minutes? Okay. Ms. McDougall Profess Yes. Lang? Yes. Ert? Yes. Yellen? Yes. Youngs? Yes. K. Yes.
2.03. Approval of the November financial reports and bills. Mr. Treasurer, Madam President, uh, finance committee met prior to the meeting tonight to review November. Financial reports and bills. Everything, uh, is in order. Thank you Ms. Maya for your continued hard work. And we had some discussions on the, uh, timelines of money and money out, and it's still a, a very frustrating process. So the team has done very well. Uh, I'll make a motion to approve the November financial reports and bills as presented.
Support. Any questions for Michelle or for Ryan? Okay. Ello? Yes. Lang? Yes. Ert? Yes. Yellen? Yes. Youngs? Yes. Kish? Yes. Moving at 2.04. Readmittance recommendation case number 18. Uh, yes. On Wednesday, January 7th, high school principal, uh, Mike Frey and I held a readmittance case or meeting for case number 18 from the 20 24 20 25 school year. Based on this student's actions and letters of support is the recommended that the board readmit case number 18, um,
in full standing at the start of second semester. We'll take a motion. I'll make that motion. I support. Any questions about this one? I think that's the whole purpose of, of giving them the time that they need to, um, get on the right track. And I'm so glad that the student took that time and, and succeeded and did the things we asked them to do to be able to come back. That that's always the goal. So, great. Thank you. Ms. McDougall. Fa? Yes. Lang? Yes. Ret? Yes. Yellen? Yes. Youngs? Yes. Kish? Yes. 2.05 Student discipline case number six.
Yes. The Board's discipline subcommittee held an expulsion hearing on Wednesday, January 7th. Uh, based on the information obtained at the hearing, the subcommittee makes the following recommendation to the full board regarding student case number six. The board's discipline subcommittee recommends expulsion through the end of the school year with home-based services for the remainder of first semester in enrollment in Bobcat Virtual for the second semester with 5 0 4 support for one time per week. May, 2026, graduation audit to be eligible to walk.
We'll take a motion. I'll make that motion support. Any questions? Okay. Ms. McDougall Profess Yes. Lang? Yes. Riker? Yes. Yellen? Yes. Youngs? Yes. Kish? Yes. Thank you. Moving onto presentations 3.01, our student government, Ms. Genevieve. Hello everyone. Hi there. Um, Well, happy New Year to everyone To begin, uh, the grand blank gram blank thespians are putting
together a cabaret show. Uh, it is an open audition to high school students, uh, of that don't necessarily need to be in the drama club. And I've been told it's on February 6th to those who are wanting to attend, but the date was not fully confirmed. That is just what I've been told. So February 6th is the event? Yes. Okay. Or is the audition, Uh, event. Okay. Uh, the Grand Blank Science Olympiad is expanding to East Middle School. Uh, recently Mrs. Harley at East Middle School has taken on building the Science Olympiad team, in part with help from the Grand Blanc Program board
and, uh, Mr. Frank. And they would like to also thank the Grambling Board of Education for helping to expand STEM activities. Uh, the Mindfulness Club volunteered at the Eastern Michigan Food Bank on November 22nd, where they helped pack nine pallets with 288 boxes of food to be delivered to senior citizens in need. A SL teachers, Ms. Bagley and Mr. Heisley took a SL club members on a field trip to, uh, MSD to attend the Wizard of Ops performance performed entirely in a SL and they had the opportunity to have lunch
with the students. Um, our mock trial team led by Mrs. Blaker is headed to regionals Saturday, February 21st, with hopes of keeping the streak alive and qualifying for states in March as they've qualified as top two at regionals for the past couple years. And NHS is hosting their second blood drive of the year on February 6th during the school day in West Turf Gym after a great turnout back in September. They're looking forward to getting more people involved and they're continuing to work to reach out to students outside of the NH program specifically. And that is all I have today. Thank
You. Any questions for Genevie? Well, no questions, but it sounds like, uh, any one of us should go donate blood and then go see that cabaret performance. I know they're on the same day. Okay. Thank you so much. Uh, moving on to 3.02 Bobcat Innovation. Mr. Hamilton, Good evening. I'm Zach Hamilton, and this is Kevin Kitz. I'm the Director of Innovative Programs for Graham Blank. Kevin's the assistant director, and we have several of our upper school students back here that will all introduce themselves in a little bit to give you a presentation about, uh,
what makes our school different and and exciting. But before that, I didn't realize this was on the agenda next, so I might be stealing a little thunder from Dr. Ward. Hopefully I don't get in too much trouble for that. But it is, uh, school Board Appreciation month. So, um, on behalf of the Graham Blank Administrative team, I wanted to thank you all for everything that you do, and, uh, please accept the small token of appreciation that you have in front of you with the candle and the Great Harvest gift card. I know, um, becoming a a public servant does not probably get you a ton of thank yous all the time
and a ton of appreciation, but we definitely appreciate what you guys do for, for us and our kids and our schools and, and everything that goes along with that. So thank you so much for, for your service. So yeah, go ahead and read your candle note for a second. It is super Amazing board member. Yeah, we, So hopefully you guys enjoy. You're welcome. So Bobcat Innovation, as you all know, is, is now all of innovative programs. We have an in-person program, a virtual program, and a hybrid program. So what we're all about is providing flexibility to our families in, in grand blank, uh, providing education
to kids in a little bit different way than than you might see normally. Um, in innovative way that really helps to pre prepare kids for the future. Our in-person and hybrid programs focus on project-based steam learning, you know, creativity, problem solving, innovative thinking, working, collaborating, uh, community involvement. But as you see in big and bold at the bottom there, the big, the biggest thing and what we're really all about is that we, we teach kids how to think. So first off, with Bobcat Virtual, we're just gonna give a brief overview of, of each of our programs and kind of what's new.
Um, since last time I, I talked to you guys last year, um, and starting off Mr. Kitz is going to tell you a little bit about our Bobcat virtual program. Uh, so, uh, we are still continuing to do all our midterm and final exams in person. Um, the main reason is to see how well they are doing. Um, it's a lot harder to cheat when it's in person. Um, so what I've seen, I've seen a handful of of kids that get real high a's, and they come and take the exams and they're bombing them.
So it's always an inter interesting conversation when I call the parents just to kind of let them know, um, my concerns. Um, but to be honest, it's usually because they're not very good test takers and that anxiety taking tests. Um, maybe true, maybe not. Uh, our teachers are continuing to work on authentic assessments, formative assessments. Last year they were working on the midterm exams, uh, making it so it's not just multiple choice, but doing short answers. Um, now they're going into the core classes and doing assessments throughout the school year.
Our goal is hopefully in a couple years that we have every core class, uh, with teacher created assessments. Um, we are offering more in-person opportunities. It's more the K eight, uh, with field trips, uh, in in-person class parties for our elementary kids, uh, family engagement activities and encouragement to come to the lab if they're struggling. And that, that's been one of our biggest and and most successful things about integrating the programs together, is that in-person involvement with the virtual kids, uh, coming in for the field trips
and the classroom parties with having our heart hybrid teachers or our elementary hybrid teachers here at the Perry Center, we bring the virtual kids into a, a lot of the different things that we do. So that's been, um, a, a very nice thing that's come along with that whole thing. With the hybrid program, we have a couple different, um, models based on grade level. Our, our secondary hybrid program is the ability for kids to be able to take, uh, you know, virtual kids to come in to take one or two in-person classes at either the high school or Perry or one of the middle schools.
And also the other way around the in-person kids at the, the secondary buildings can take one or two virtual classes as well. So again, providing that flexibility to help to, um, be able to give education to our families in whatever way is going to work best for them. You know, we have several kids that are really into travel, travel hockey, travel sports that prefer the virtual program. Um, you know, because they have tournaments every weekend and miss too much school if they're in person. So different types of things were just worked differently for, for everybody.
And that's what what we're all about is providing that flexibility. The elementary hybrid was a pilot last year for second through fifth grade, and this is an attempt to give in-person learning to those elementary virtual kids that really need to be in the classroom and need to be learning in person. So we have set up a system where the kids learn virtually Monday, Wednesday, Friday and come in person on Tuesdays and Thursdays, where we can do some of that project based learning hands-on activities, um, and give them more experiences like that, including all the,
the classroom parties and, and that kind of fun stuff that, that all kids really should be getting. We have some preliminary data. I know that's gonna be hard to read on the screen. It should be in a packet that, that you guys have. Um, but you can see some success and this is very, uh, a very small cohort, cohort of kids. So it's not a lot of data and it's, um, obviously only a year and a half into, into it. So we don't have a long span a time span to look at, but we are showing or seeing some initial success in the program. If you look at the DRA levels from second
through fourth graders from last fall to spring, they've averaged about two levels increased in the virtual program, and about three levels increased for kids that were in the hybrid program. And you see, um, NWA reading and NWA math, the, uh, average levels of increases for the NWA reading is about 13 points of increase for virtual 14 points in hybrid. Whereas the math is about 11 points in the virtual for growth and about 16 points for the hybrid program. Uh, so you definitely see increases
for the hybrid program in that data. Um, you're going to see more increases in the math area because our virtual, uh, students get, uh, Google meet reading lessons at least twice a week, um, whereas they don't get that individualized math instruction from the teachers. So that's why you might see a bigger, um, disparity between the data and math than you do in reading because the virtual kids are getting more one-on-one reading support anyways from the teacher. And that bottom paragraph there just says
that the teachers are also noting that kids that have been from the virtual program into the hybrid program, and now even two years into it, they continue seeing, uh, more motivation amongst the kids, more work completion, um, kids, uh, getting better grades and things like that. So definitely seeing some success so far and hopefully with the program grows into the future. Yeah. So the level, do you expect one level per year? It it Typically correct That it, and in your Growing level
Overall? It depends on the grade level. It's a little bit different for the different levels. I think it's, um, the two levels increased, um, is about average for the year. So the hybrid would be the, the three levels would be a little bit more than the year of growth. Um, fifth grade is definitely different. Fifth grade is one level per year pretty much. Um, but yeah, it's, it looks a little different. It's really hard, hard to explain, but, um, yeah. So I would say one about one grade level for the, for the virtual and the fifth grade and just a little over for hybrid. Yeah.
Two with the, um, the, um, hybrid with the elementary kids and they're home, um, Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and then in person Tuesday, Thursday. So when they're home, it's asynchronous, right? There's, it's work that they're doing on their own, but really does it kind of coincide with what they're doing on Tuesday, Thursday? So they have to kind of do it on Monday to be right there with them on Tuesday. Is that, so it's kind of nice that they don't, it's a motivator to not fall behind in, in that asynchronous work, right? Is that what Yeah. And, and I think that's
one of the biggest reasons that's showing success. I mean, obviously in-person learning is, is shown to be more effective, but I think one of the biggest reasons we're seeing the increases between the hybrid and the virtual is just that they don't fall behind. They need to make sure that they're here because Ms. Koski is gonna be doing this experiment with us in science tomorrow. So we've gotta get through these lessons, so. Okay. Keeps 'em on track. Yeah. Thank you. Any other questions on, uh, virtual or hybrid before we move on to the in-person portion? Hang up. One Thing, Um, the one thing I wanted to to tell you, looking at the last three years, it's pretty clear
that we have kind of plateaued with our full-time BL students. The trend though now is what, what we're seeing is the concurrent our hybrid kids, um, those numbers are going up. 'cause I think now they're starting to realize the perks of special ed seniors. 'cause now we have 210, they're taking one or two classes. The perks of being able to leave early, um, from school for sports or whatever, or to come late. So, um, that's the trend. I think the more the word gets out, those numbers will go up. So I just wanted to let you know, but as for full-time, I think we have, we've plateaued
Because they have a choice as to which hours they end up taking live. Is that how it is? Like For the Yeah, usually they'll do like, uh, a fifth, sixth. Okay. So they'll come in person first, fourth, and then leave after fourth hour after lunch. Okay. Or they'll come in third hour Okay. Type thing. Or they just take a six hour or first hour or whatever. So it's a nice perk for the kids. I wish I had that. So. All right. So the in-person programming, so at the elementary level, you know, what's new and, and one big thing that we've started implementing this year is a program
called Sam Labs. It's a, uh, steam science curriculum. It does have some aspects of other subjects integrated as well, but it's mainly science. And what it is, is you can see in the picture in the bottom, uh, the bottom of the screen there, it's a set of kits where each student has access to a, a bunch of different types of sensors, a light sensor, a sound sensor, uh, different motors and wheels and things to build, um, build things out of for prototypes. And it comes along with a, a list of different things that are tied to our, our science standards
that the teachers can implement in the classroom to say, you know, this is, this is our project. This is our problem. You have to figure out how to create something that solves that problem. And it comes along with its own coding platform. Uh, so we've tried to utilize our TechX and, uh, steam class that we have here as one of our elementary electives to support some of that work. Uh, so it's a little less time consuming for the teachers for the projects. Uh, but this is definitely the, the next new big thing for us is as we move more towards steam learning and really teaching these kids how to think and create
and do things much differently than you might see in other places. And you see on the, the other picture there, a group of our kids, this was an all school project, elementary and middle school where they were working on creating, uh, floats for Thanksgiving parade. And then they ran 'em all around the cafeteria. So that was kind of a fun one, but, uh, the kids seemed to be loving it. Um, and I'm excited to see that, that grow into the future For our upper school. And this is where we have our, our students that are gonna come up in a second to tell you even more about, um, those of you that don't know a lot about how our middle school program
works, is we have at the middle school level, uh, a project based steam curriculum in place for sixth through eighth grade. And our kids have integrated courses where they don't have a social studies sixth grade, a science sixth grade, and a and an English sixth grade. They have, um, 12 different courses that they take throughout their time with us from sixth through eighth grade that have all of the social studies, science and English standards combined into two classes. One taught by Mrs. Corman e one taught by Mr. Mont.
And if you look on the, the left hand side of the screen, it shows you all the different classes that they take throughout the course of their time here. So they take one per marking period, uh, four marking periods for three years, 12 classes all together. And you can see how there's lots of fun things up there. Um, it's amazing to think about, even for me, even after being here for, for three years, to think about how all of the standards from all those other subjects are integrated into those, those classes. And one of the things that comes along with the classes, and I know many of you have been in to judge some
of the different projects, but every class ends with, um, culminating projects where the kids really show something that solves a problem or does something or creates something. So that is what we have our students here to tell you a little bit more about, you know, how does some of the stuff that you see up on the screen actually, uh, turn into learning and motivation. And Go ahead and come on up guys. Hi, I am Josephine Phillip. I am in eighth grade, along with my friends Addison Jackson and Paxton Lobby Clary. And with our 12 different projects,
like Mr. Hamilton was saying, we have, um, a lot of them that are, you know, kind of combined into two classes. So one of the ones that we've done is Nature's Fury, which is the first one up there. Uh, it basically, we are learning all about the different natural disasters and we have to write like, uh, poems in Miss Comey's class about like Hurricane Katrina or the, uh, tornado that hit our town. And we were having to integrate those into also different ways of how they happen and like different things with the science of it in Mr. V's class. And then in hydrodynamics we had
a whole lesson about the different ways that water works and all the different ways about, uh, that. And in Ms. Comey's class, we read a book called A Long Walk to Water, uh, which inspired us to create a fundraiser for the, uh, non-profit water for South Sudan, uh, which we did walks around the track and then raise money to donate to, uh, have them build more wells in South Sudan. We also went to do more water testing in the Flint Watershed to get to know how healthy our environment is. We then went to Project Green
and Kettering to describe what we had learned and how we had learned it. So I'm gonna talk about the health and wellness course, and the sky's not the limit. I'll start with the health and wellness. Uh, for this unit, we made projects to basically help Perry or Bobcat Innovation become a better greener school, and including some students that started our own here home squad, uh, for the sky's not the limit course. After learning and discussing about a lot of different national governments and having a Socratic seminar about colonizing Mars, we decided that we were gonna design a colony for Mars, creating a government for it. Um, so from Ms.
Nys side of Sky's not the Limit, we read a book called M1. And then we did a series of different things, including some parts where we would try to leave light in the same style and kind of do like a few things ing off of that for exploring anthropology. We got to go down and see some of our own history at the Perry house. And we also got to do a big project on a few different ancient civilizations where we would each kind of, each group would pick a different ancient civilization to work on. We would do a commoning project designing like artifacts.
And we also have a 3D printer that we're able to 3D print models with. And then from that, each group would teach the rest of the class a little bit about their project. So everyone learns a little bit about everything. And then for sustainable environments, we learned about sustainability. And in the end, that one's culminating project was designing a city with systems to keep it sustainable in different models. Um, so people would, some people through d printed stuff, some people designed like Minecraft games with their entire city built inside of it. So that was same environments. And
Adding onto that, we also learned a lot about the sustainable development goals, ak the SDGs, which were put on by the UN in like the 2010s, I believe. And they are, uh, goals that will try to make our planet a better place. For example, um, there is a goal for ending poverty, for ending hunger, for cleaner waters, for cleaner land, all those things. And we would focus in on one of them and then turn that into, like Paxton said, a city that is available or, you know, accessible for everyone who
would make our world a better place. Oh yeah. Questions. So, so all these projects are amazing and excellent job in explaining to us what you did in those projects. How do you like having so many projects to do? Um, you, you, you know, for your assignments, and how, how does that impact you? So I think at times it can be kind of a lot, but it is really good to be able to learn all these skills through doing instead of just like reading it off of like, I don't know, like just having a textbook
that you read everything from. So it, I think it really helps people to be able to learn like this and kinda discover on their own. And another thing about a lot of these is they're not just, you have to do this. It's a whole group. And a lot of times we get to pick our groups, which can be fun 'cause then you can go with your friends. But oftentimes we're put with people who, rather than we want to be with, just because we wanna hang out with them, we're put with people who have similar interests with us, us so we can actually have a productive, uh, design and place, which is why a lot of our, you know, um, projects
and stuff often win like prizes because of how much we actually get stuff done. Yeah, I would also like to add on that can help teach teamwork very well, and it kind of helps encourage, uh, people to all take their part, even though like over time people realize that if you just let one person do everything the end, you're probably not gonna be happy with what you got. So it really does empower students to work for themselves. I just wanted to say that all three of you are very well spoken and demonstrate some great leadership qualities that I know, but you'll be very successful in the future.
There's more to share still from the eighth graders. And we have some sixth graders. I'm Mrs. Cormany, Uh, Mr. Mont, Um, we just thought we'd make sure we show our faces too and let you know a little bit about some current things going on. Um, so new to Bobcat Innovation is, um, in the r and d course for eighth grade. We're bringing in a future city competition now, and none of these students have experienced it because they're, um, in eighth grade and won't, the eighth graders won't have it until May. Um, but it's a new part of our research and development curriculum where students, um, learn about
a specific theme for the year. It's a national competition as well. And last year was floating cities. And so they researched at length about current plans for, for floating cities that are out there. And then they made decisions, um, about where one should be placed and what the infrastructure should look like. And, you know, we had some lessons on some basics of city infrastructure, but then they wrote an essay and designed a model and, um, presented it in front of a board of panels panelists as well. And it's, it was just a great addition, I think, to our curriculum. Um, and then also this year in one
of our integrated courses, we had, we have lots of competition Wanna share About it. Uh, so our second course of the school year was, uh, life skills and management. And, uh, as part of that, uh, students take part in a curriculum, uh, about personal finance. And so, uh, they build like a vision board to start off about their future self. Uh, and then we get into all the fun stuff, uh, of saving and borrowing money. Uh, and part of that, uh, students, uh, learned about investing. And so, uh, as a fun little challenge, I registered them for the, uh, Michigan Stock Market game.
Uh, and out of 140, uh, teams in the state of Michigan, uh, Eddie, Josie and Paxton came in first place out, out out of all Michigan. So How, if they come up and you guys can talk about your experience, just one of you if you want. Um, so it was really interesting to get to be a part of the stock market game. So for all those that aren't familiar, the way that it works is you have a portfolio where you have a hundred thousand dollars of imaginary money and you can look through different stocks, and it is really pretty much just set up like a game.
You can click, um, trade and show how much you would want to trade, and then track how those stocks change price over time. So for example, for us, I think we had a 12% gain over four months. So you're able to look into different companies, research them, and then keep track of what your investment would have gotten. So as I said, for us, we got about, I think, um, 14% over the, what, three months that we did it. So we got to kind see what was risky, what was not, and how to kind of, um, like how the stock markets work.
And the cool, but also not so cool thing is because our economy has been so unstable for like the last couple months, um, we got to really like see what it's like to be in the actual stock market, seeing the risks that we would take. I think at one point the stock market crashed and it also crashed for us in the stock market game. So we get to see how that would affect our, uh, equality for our, uh, prices as well. But it also taught us how to, you know, restabilize after something like that would happen. And it was also in addition to our other lessons that we learned in Mr.
V and Ms. Carney's classes. I think so. All right. Sixth graders, can you guys come on up? So, you know, our eighth graders have been with us for three years and they, they are, they're very well spoken, but we wanted you to meet some sixth graders as well that have been with us, you know, just since, um, August. And they're gonna tell you about current, um, projects going on in our unit that we are just now wrapping up for the marking period All. So my name's KH, Uh, I'm Caleb And I is Calper. So one thing I wanna start off about talking about is our artist buying course that we're working on right now in Ms.
Corman and Mr. Belmont's class. So in Mrs Corman's class, what we're doing is we're, we got a topic of a spy, and, um, with the spy we had to make like a, um, board talking about like what our spy did and just basically we had to research with the partner. We had to group the three at two, um, with the partner, with two with my friend. And, um, so basically we got our spine, we just have to like, what we're doing right now is researching about it and like trying to like, update, get new information and just trying to make our board as like, best as we can.
And yeah, like, Cool. Alright. So, um, I'm Caleb, um, adding on to what Kellen was talking about. Um, so we also have to make artifacts of like things that he or she did and, um, used in the war. So like some, like an example is like an a birth certificate or like a certain tool that they used like in the war to help them spy on enemy forces. And in Mr. Alma's class, we are currently working on a technical
know-how part of his curriculum, which is basically where we have to research and, uh, discover different, uh, spike gadgets. And then we have to brainstorm different ideas and eventually come up with a prototype. And currently we're, most of us are working on an application for, uh, our design. And then after we finish that, we will be sent, uh, our class will choose, uh, five to 10, five to 10 of the top ideas. And then after that, those will be sent to a judge
to sent to judges. Any questions I I'll ask the sixth graders the same question. How, how do you like the projects? What, how do they impact your learning? Um, how's it different than what you've been used to? I know, is this probably your very first project you did all year? Or is there another project in another class? I believe we had, um, we had, we've had multiple other projects. Um, I know in Ms. Comey's class, uh, we had one where we had to write, like, it was kind of, it's like it was a non, it was kind
of a nonfiction writing, but it's also, okay, it's historical fiction writing part where, uh, basically we came up with a spy. We had to pick, or not spy, we had to come up with our own historical figure and we had to pick like what their role in society was. So, um, for me, I believe I did an indentured servant. I don't remember his exact name. I know his first name was Matthew. Um, so basically we could choose multiple different versions, but uh, the writing type I did was,
uh, journal entries. So, uh, we had to choose like a specific timeframe and then we, we could basically just, uh, pick how we wanted their story to go, how we wanted their life to be like. And I definitely feel like their, their curriculums and all these projects we have done so far have definitely impacted how we've learned. Because I know before I came to Perry Center, I was at Myers Elementary, and there it was, it was fun at times, but it was definitely more, you know, like stricter.
And it definitely stuck more to like, you know, the history, English, math kind of base. So coming here and getting to do all of these hands-on projects has definitely helped me learn in a different and faster way and not in a faster way where like, we get it the temporary, but then eventually we'll end up forgetting them and move on. But they've, things that I've learned from like second grade have still stuck with me. And obviously I'm in sixth grade now and usually my mom knows
I don't have the greatest memory. And so being able to keep, like the things that I've learned from second grade up until sixth grade is definitely a change. You guys wanna anything? Okay. Great job. Thank you. Great job. Thank you. All right. So that's definitely different than what I, I remember my middle school education being like, um, you know, one, one question I get quite a bit, uh, from parents that are thinking about coming in and, and just people that are learning about our program. And, and, you know, one wondering more about it is,
you know, you have all this cool stuff going on and the kids are doing all these different projects, but you know, they're not taking an English class, they're not taking a social studies class. So when you put them in front of the state standardized tests and say, do this English test, how do they do? And you know, the short answer to that is that they, they do very well. Um, and you know, as you can see on the screen up here, this, this past spring, they did extremely well, uh, being the top of the county in sixth and seventh grade for ELA and, uh, second in the county for, for eighth grade. And you can see the percentages, um, in
that middle column there for the percent proficiency. Not only is it, is it, you know, very high for in comparison with other schools around us, but it also grows from sixth to eighth grade. Um, so all of the standardized test data that, that we collect, and also now the NNWA data that we analyze shows that this is working. And, you know, a huge part of that is like what I started this presentation with was that we, we teach kids how to think and when they can think they can do anything. So, um, you know, when we're bringing all those ELA standards really to life
by having them write a historical fiction where they're taking an actual class their about that and they're really applying that information, it means a lot more than if you're just learning different standards in a vacuum. So, uh, the motivation and excitement piece is definitely there. And the data shows that, that our model definitely, definitely works well. So Anybody You Have any questions? Just one more thing. I just wanna thank Ms. Dy and Mr. Valmont because to, to, to do these in your classes, it's hard, it's extra hard I feel because everybody's doing different things.
You've gotta help but not like basically tell, uh, the students how to do it. They're figuring it out and letting them be able to have that time and flexibility to do that simultaneously as multiple groups are doing this all the time. And to help them make the connections to this real world, to the concepts and to the, the objectives and standards is extremely difficult. And, um, um, you know, I I was a teacher and I, I would've struggled with that a lot. So amazing job and I appreciate you both.
Any other questions? I just wanna say I am really pleased that we have this program to offer to, uh, parents and students. And, uh, one good thing about this, um, uh, having gone through CID and, and, uh, getting used to using the computer and doing online school has, there was a, a silver lining there because I, I have two college age kids and a lot of their classes are these asynchronous,
uh, classes and then they get together and do the labs in person. So it's really preparing you to be successful in life and preparing you for, uh, you know, college. So I am glad that we're able to provide this, so thank you. Awesome. Anyone else? No, I'll kind of piggyback what, uh, what Amy said. Um, you know, just in preparing for, for the real world, right? You have a lot of projects and you have to work as a team at different working environments.
Uh, so the project base, I've, uh, Mrs. Carney's invited me to the great shake the last couple of years and I'm always blown away at the amount of interaction and how the kids aren't afraid to shake your hand looking in the eye and have a conversation and just something as basic as that with college interviews and, you know, college athletic and just the real world application is, is amazing. So I would agree with Amy there and, and that we're very fortunate. So thank you for leading. Thank you for, for the students for making, uh, a great presentation.
Josie, I think you look familiar from the great shake. So I think, I think we might have shaken hands a few times, so, and Avery, I know you from the golf club, so good to see you again. Yeah. Thank you very much for your leadership. No, and I just want to thank, uh, Mr. Hamilton and Mr. Kyles for their leadership. You know, this is an out of the box program for us, but I agree with the board, it's a valuable opportunity and option for our families. Um, I know we even partner with some homeschooled families, so, and have expanded that practice. So thank you for giving our our community options. Thank you guys. I Got a couple questions.
Um, and I don't know if this is for you or for Zach, but when we're doing these integrated classes, we have to have highly skilled teachers in math and social studies. So how, how do we get around that? They, because they're self-contained, um, the certifications allow us to do all core subjects in a self-contained classroom similar to an elementary classroom. Okay. Yep. So they, they don't have to be highly qualified in all of those different subjects. Yeah. They like gives us some flexibility there. Okay.
And then I was just gonna say, they do have a, a separate math class that they take. So math is taken out of the, we try to incorporate as much as we can in the projects, but math is an actual, uh, a separate class that all the kids take throughout the day. And That's a highly qualified teacher. Yes. So they, and they approach it a little, a little differently. Yeah. They do a lot of thinking classroom concepts and a lot of working together and a lot of things that contribute to the type of learning that we do. But it's, they're specifically learning math in that, in that subject. And then how are we communicating and like you talked about the homeschool kids
and building those bridges, how are, you know, and I know Kevin, you talked about our virtual hybrid program is going up and so that really seems like an opportunity for us to make sure that we're getting that word out and, and our options. So I would agree. And I know that, you know, a lot of this was hatched some of the planning prior to COVID. We were ahead of the game during COVID. I, and then I think everyone's aware of the, the volume during COVID. I made this kind of blow up and now we're kind of bringing this back into the,
to the lane or right lane. But, um, yeah, we know we have a lot of families in Grand Blanc that use Oxford Virtual, right. And we have it right here in our own backyard. So I think that that's our challenge is to make sure that they know that this is available. So Well, I know I would be interested in making sure that we put some good effort in to make sure that we're getting my, my mantra's always been we, we educate rambling kids Yep. And how we can get back to bringing them back into the awesome programs and, and obviously we have the data to prove it and the opportunities.
So well done. Thank you. Okay. Anything else? Okay. At this time we give our families a little bit of time to head out if you'd like to, to get home and get ready for the next day. So thank you so much. Oh, thank you. Let's do a picture. I am right. I know. Uh, moving on to 3.03 board appreciation month. Yes. Mr. Hamilton stole my thunder a little bit, but obviously January is school board appreciation month and we want to pause to recognize all the individuals at this table, you know, that approach, a volunteer position,
um, with extraordinary dedication and effort in supporting our students. So, you know, school boards are a challenge to make tough decisions at times. Um, requires you to sift through, uh, mountains of material and invest hours in professional development. Um, we know that our, um, district recognizes and your efforts and sees you doing what is it, CBA 100 and CBA 200 And So, and then getting master all classes. Is there a master's level or expert level? There's diamonds And all sorts of things. Six Diamond, diamond level Six success.
Um, but we appreciate your guidance, your governance, your, um, continued collaboration with all of us as a leadership team being in the community. You attend hundreds of hours of not only meetings, but extracurricular events and athletic events and, um, it doesn't go unnoticed and we've very much appreciate that. And you know, on behalf of the staff, the students, the leadership team, the Grand Blanc community, we wanted to thank you all for your dedicated service and we hope you appreciate some of the small tokens you have before you, you have, uh, the gift from the administrators,
your awesome rockstar candles and gift cards. Um, there's something from dining services, there's something from our cabinet level team, and then you also have a special, um, little calendar from Meyers Elementary. So, um, that was one of the, one of their cool little things they did this year as a team building. So thank you for all you do. Thank You. Thank you. Appreciate it. Okay, moving on to 4.01 Ola policy readings. Um, this is second readings and I think Kelly, you're gonna take this one or Ethan? Ethan's Got it. Okay. Uh, So Sorry, Kelly didn't mean to stress you out there.
You did make a point. No policy. Sorry. Uh, yeah, this is the second reading of this policy, uh, for, uh, the new policies, uh, 2210 as well as 54 60. Uh, and nothing has changed since our, uh, last meeting in December. Uh, and then as board revised the same. Okay. So do you wanna make a motion for both the new and the revised policy? Second reading? Yeah, I'll make the motion, uh, that we, uh, approve the policy.
Second reading. Second reading, yep. By support. Any questions? Okay. Ms. McDowell. Fa Yes. Lang? Yes. Riker? Yes. Yell N Yes. Youngs? Yes. Kish? Yes. Thank you. Moving on to new business 5.01 Appointment of representative and alternate for the, um, Genesee County Association of School Board members. So I think I heard that, um, Ethan, you're willing to be the rep this year and this mean you're gonna be alternate? Yep. Sounds good. So does someone wanna make that motion? I'll make that motion. Okay. Is there a second?
I second. Everybody wants a second? Okay. Any questions? So basically, Ethan, you're gonna attend all the monthly meetings. Um, there are meetings that all of us are invited to, and then if you can't attend, then yes, me will. Okay. Ms. McDougall Fashion? Yes. Lang? Yes. Riker? Yes. Yolan? Yes. Youngs? Yes. Kish? Yes. Um, and I think 5.02 is organizational design designation resolution? Yes. This is our annual request, or, um, under the law we have to, um, publicly post who we,
we do our banking with, who we have on retainer for our attorneys. Um, and that is all in the resolution. There's really no structural changes from anything from last year. Who's our auditors from Plant Moran. That's all within this annual, uh, resolution that the board needs to approve. Okay. We'll take a motion. I make a motion that we approve. Any questions? Okay. Ms. McDougall Fish? Yes. Lang? Yes. Ret Yellen? Yes. Youngs? Yes. Kish? Yes. Thank you. Moving on to information and report Superintendent report.
Yes, just a few things from me. Happy New Year everyone. Um, 2026 is stacking up to be a, an exciting year. Um, we know we've kicked off the, the informational campaign for our bond. Um, we've already started to get some information out. You will be asked to take some action for the county clerk's office, uh, at the workshop on the 26th. Um, we have another, uh, resolution that we'll be bringing your way and then we'll be filing the, with the clerk's office for the formal election by February 10th. So that's coming up quickly. Um, final exams are this week. I think Emily already alluded to that.
Emily Genevieve, same family, different name. I'm sorry, that's twice tonight. I apologize. Um, uh, we did have a successful Carmody Classic and we beat Clarkston. So that was, that was exciting. Um, mark your calendars next Friday. We play at home against Davison, so we're hoping to continue, uh, the, the rise. I think we're a little ahead of schedule right now, so the kids are still young, but they're performing really well. And then the pink out game in support of breast cancer research is on January 30th at home again
against, um, Saginaw United. Uh, kindergarten information Night is coming up on the 24th from sixth to seven 30. I know. Um, February 24th. February 24th. I know Mrs. Cruz and Mrs. Bailey will be busy with that. We're still working on the 26th, 27 calendar. We're hoping to have a draft of that to you. Um, hopefully before spring break. I know that we try to get that done at least around that time because as people are heading south for spring break, they start to look at booking their trips for the next year and we start getting questions. So we'll try to have that all buttoned up for you. But
When it comes to spring break, we're covering under the Calendar. We are, yeah, we are. So people Have access to the county Calendar. The county calendar. Yeah. But you know when To book Spring break. Yep. Um, I think everybody hopes that the half day on Friday moves to a half day on Thursday to a half day on Wednesday, so they can book their, their flight the day before. I, we've seen, we've seen this game before, but, yeah. Um, but yeah, we'll, we'll get you that as soon as we can. And then, um, Michelle is working on a budget amendment based on the, the knowns, um, from the state right now. Things are still kind of trickling in.
Um, I think that it, with MASB, with MASA, all of our state associations with our local reps, it's gonna be a really important thing for us to all advocate for the budgeting process next year because this budgeting process this year was not helpful to us. Um, the timing, the planning, you know, it, we, we might as well have just been throwing things against a wall in some respects. Um, and I really hope our legislature can get that together and get us a timely budget in June or July over the summer. So we have some, uh,
known numbers going in the next school year. So whatever you can do to be a voice for that. I know we are. Um, and we're gonna continue to do that. I'm gonna be going over to Lansing here in a few weeks and that'll be main topic. Um, so, um, February 10th is the Cool School plunge. And don't forget that that'll be a fun event. It's a new event hosting it here on the property. Um, it is not an all school assembly. It will be students that qualify to jump and, um, we're looking forward to that. I believe we're gonna have a dj, we're gonna have hot cocoa.
Um, kids are gonna use the locker rooms and the, the pool complex. So it should be kind of a fun day. And they'll be going from I think, eight in the morning till probably three or four in the afternoon. So, and that's from, from out here at the, out in the Lower Plaza. By the Bobcat. Okay. Um, it'll be kids anywhere from third grade up to 12th grade, and I'm assuming there might be some staff members in there too. We'll see. Um, and LA lastly, I just want to take a moment and, and, and recognize, um, our community did lose a long time administrator and teacher and coach, and Mr.
John Rech, he passed away, um, over the holiday break, and I know that they just had the, uh, the service at Hill Funeral Home and I had a chance to go and visit. Um, John obviously is the father of, of teacher Nate Reich at the high school. But it was, uh, it was kind of a time warp for Graham Blank and for Goodrich people because, um, it was a reunion of a bunch of it. It, he brought a lot of people together and I think that's a, a blessing. And, um, one of the things that he did, they, the family did do is in lieu of flowers, they asked for donations to the cross country and to the track team.
Um, and I believe they raised thousands of dollars that are gonna support our students. So even, you know, in his passing, he's, he's continuing to give back to our, to our district and to our student athletes. So, um, we thank John and, and I'm sure, you know, we're all gonna miss him. So that'll conclude my report. Okay. School board member reports. Ethan, you wanna kick us off? Sure. Uh, yeah, so there's not much, uh, since our last meeting we had holiday break, but, um, attending the, um, the, oh, what was it?
The Winter Wonderland performance event was, uh, was wonderful. Um, Scott got to meet, uh, a gentleman who basically lived the same exact life as his father-in-law. Chuck West. Chuck West, yes. Uh, and then there was a lady who came up to us, um, and she said to us, Hey, that man over there, was he a teacher? Oh yeah, he was, I had him. And so two people who were able to, you know, qualify as seniors for this event, student
and teacher got to reunite and see how they were doing. Oh my God. Um, but yeah, no, it was a great event. The students did wonderful. I think it was a good event as well, um, to kind of help promote our upcoming bond renewal. Um, but, uh, aside from that, uh, it's now been a year since we've been on the board, since Kelly and I have joined. And, uh, I just wanna thank everyone who, uh, well all the admin, everyone on the board for being patient with me as I've, uh, learn stuff.
Um, particularly when it comes to the school finances that has been a troubling, or not a troubling, but a, a harder subject. And I, I wasn't on the committee like Kelly was. Um, and then she's not here tonight, but Meredith of course thank her for, for, uh, really helping us out and thank her for the, the 10 years of service on the board. And she really, uh, has been an asset to the board and, and it's going to be very, very different
and without her. But yeah, that, that concludes my report. Dylan. I guess I could just say did all what Ethan said, but, um, no, just thank you for the opportunity to be the secretary. I know I have big shoes to fill with Meredith. Um, I don't really have a lot. The boys did go to open Swim during break a few times and they enjoyed it. Um, and then after swim practice last Saturday, they had aerobics and I guess it was busy. So that's, I think that's great that we're giving the, um, community an opportunity to use that awesome facility. Um, and looking forward to the basketball game this Friday against Davison
and the boys are signed up to be Ball Boys, so that should be fun. Fun. Yeah. Who are you cheering for? I don't know, whoever wins have to cheer for the ball. Ball. Boys, come on, right? One's gonna be Davis and one's gonna be grand blank. No, they'll both be Grand Blanc. Good. Good answer. Good answer. Um, not a lot for me. Um, I always have to be the, the funny one, I suppose. So without Meredith, it's not yucky anymore. It's icky. Icky. Oh no. So Hopefully somebody with an a can maybe jump in there.
So, but, uh, Meredith was sort of like one of the board moms when I first came on back in 22. Um, she loves the policy. I'm not a big policy per like, I understand why we have it, but to get absorbed into all that details, God bless the two of you. Um, I'd love to work with the numbers. So, uh, appreciate the opportunity to, to do that. Um, looking forward to the basketball games. Went to some of the basketball games. Spent both Saturday and Sunday with the POM team in Toledo on Saturday. Uh, at the, the college Dance showcase, we got
to see the MSU, the Michigan and the Ohio State teams, which is unreal, uh, to watch those those folks perform. Uh, but Grand Blanc did well. They were down there with a lot of the top teams from, from Michigan. And then, uh, yesterday at the Tarone, spent the day, uh, watching the competition, so, and supporting our Bobcat. So looking forward to the beat down, we're gonna give to Davidson and, uh, all, all of the, all the, all the fun upcoming events. So that's all for Mes. Um, before, right at the start of the winter break,
my daughter participated in, um, the self-defense class, the high school put together from primarily by Rachel Lamar and Nikki Kernan and Diana bbo. But, um, they offered it to recently graduated, um, students, uh, female students. And she participated in that and it was very helpful and reassuring and she really enjoyed it. And so I just wanted to thank them for they're coming To the workshop. Great workshop. Great. Yeah. Um, so I love that we gave them that opportunity
and I hope we continue to do that. Um, also, um, before break I attended the Parents as Teachers Arabic Story Hour. And it was so great you guys. It was, um, the, this woman who, um, she welcomed all the kids and she welcomed them in English and then in Arabic, and then all the little kids, they're like three and two year olds say, said, welcome in Arabic. Um, you know, to each individual student, they counted, they were doing body parts and they each had a body part and they put it on the board, um, and built a little person
and they read stories and, um, sang songs and then played and did crafts. And it was just so lovely, um, to see just how, how much we've grown in this district from when I first came into the district to, to now we have a huge population of just multiple different types of cultures. And, and, um, to, to, uh, embrace those cultures and to do something like this was amazing and, um, beautiful.
So I, I love that they did it and, and was no surprise then that, that they've earned a blue Ribbon honors because it's just, they're obviously doing things above and beyond, um, so well deserved by them. Um, I was able to, uh, stop at the Palm competition yesterday and all the, the teams did amazing. And the varsity and the JV teams. Um, I love that we host things like this, uh, because it's great for the community. People were leaving, going out to get some food and coming back and, um, you know, hanging around our town.
And so it's just so great. Um, I've heard a lot of positive responses regarding our open pool and the aqua aerobics. Um, I love that we're doing things like that and, and I hoped people continue to take advantage of 'em. Um, let's see, the United Way is doing some, um, like volunteering at the food bank. I think we can sign up for, uh, different individuals, like the students have the day off, but teachers and classes, uh, can volunteer if they wanted to.
And, um, you know, happy New Year and good luck to the, the high school and middle school kids taking final exams this week. You wanna do county? Do you have any county? Yes, I do. Um, there is a meeting this Thursday and, uh, it is the, uh, general one, but then there is one next week or next month. Um, it is a, an MASB presentation called Guiding Public Schools for Increasing Academic Achievement, which is perfect training to support, um, our students of course, and also the county goal that we have, um, to try
to increase test scores. And, um, so if you can make it, it is on February 19th and, um, please, RSVP by February 13th. Dinner is included, but if you can't make it to dinner, just let them know so that they're not ordering you food if you can't be there to eat it. Um, but the dinner's at five 30 and the presentation is at six. So on top of Maple Road. Yeah, yeah. Yes, I believe that that one, that location is the Maple Road location for that. Yes. Great question. And then, um, the MASB Winter Institute is not this weekend,
but the following weekend, I believe, or two weekends after that. The first weekend of February 6th, 7th of February. Um, so there is still time to register for those all online classes if you wanna do that. Um, there's still time to sign up for that, so. Okay. Thank you. I just wanna say happy New Year to everybody and I'm, you know, glad to hear y'all enjoyed your, your break. Um, I also wanna say I am going to miss Meredith when I started, uh, my first year.
She really tried to help me out too, so, uh, I'll really miss her. And I wanna thank everybody for all the wonderful, uh, school board presence. It just makes me feel so spoiled and I, I really appreciate it so much. So thank you. Okay. Um, I just have one thing. Um, I had the opportunity to go out to West Middle School today, and they were doing art therapy. Um, we know our, our district's been through a lot and, and West Middle schools really had a brunt of it this year. Um, again, shout out to Diana, um,
and her team leadership is amazing. She is rock solid and she's making sure her staff is taken care of and the student. So, um, so they brought in someone today. Um, and so we did art therapy and we made these little cards that help us for coping and talks about laughter and having a laughter circle and just laughing for 20 to 10 to 20 seconds has a physical response for your body and helps you reset. So, um, it was really cool and it made me think these are a lot of good things
that our students can do. 'cause I know mental health, we hear about that a lot with our students. Um, and I was sharing, you know, one of the, the not so fun part of being on the board is doing expulsion hearings and you hear a lot about mental health when you're sitting down and talking to those students. Um, so I'm like, hmm, these would be good things for our students to, to go through. So, um, something that we can think about and I don't know how we can incorporate it, but, um, it's a really cool thing, not only for our staff who have to deal with these traumas themselves, but then they have to put on a front
to support the students. So I'm, I'm really glad that Diane is doing this and her team and appreciate all the work out there. Okay, um, with that, we have no public comments for tonight. So upcoming board meeting workshop on January 26th. And with that, the meeting is adjourned.