Business & Economy

State faces dramatic decline in working teenagers

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YOUTH EMPLOYMENT: Greg Davis hires a couple teenagers every summer to work at his Lake View Motel and Gift Shop in Lake City. The local Tasty Twist ice cream shop in this tourist town hires 20 to 30. “I don’t think we have any choice,” Davis said. But Michigan’s teen labor force has declined each year for two decades. In 2000, the share of teenagers ages 16 to 19 in the workforce was just under 62%. By 2022, the rate declined to just over 41%. A declining population of that age group and increasing school enrollment are two reasons for the strain on seasonal businesses that depend on the influx of teens into the summer workforce. We.By Jack Timothy Harrison. FOR GRAND RAPIDS BUSINESS, CORP!, CADILLAC AND ALL BUSINESS PAGES

Diversity Issues

Is tutoring enough to combat post-pandemic learning loss? 

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LEARNING AFTER COVID: Gov. Gretchen Whitmer wants more tutors to help students catch up after the pandemic but some advocates question whether that’s enough. More help for mental health is also required, they say. We talk to a Kalamazoo parent, a teacher at Detroit Virtual School and the Michigan Education Justice Coalition. By JADEN BEARD. FOR DETROIT AND ALL POINTS.

Bath

Bath High School’s Chalkboard Project creates a welcoming environment

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After weeks of seeing negative and hurtful comments on walls throughout the school, Bath High School students covered them with kind words.

The Chalkboard Project took over the walls of Bath High School in March, a project where students and teachers posed holding a chalkboard of a slur, offensive or rude comment directed at them. On April 3, those words were covered with kind, encouraging and helpful words to bury the effects of bullying and bring kindness to campus.

Education

Lansing Tech High School set to open fall 2023 

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Enrollment for the new Lansing Tech High School has begun according to an announcement made at the April 6, school board meeting. 

The school will be held at a familiar building in Lansing that has been home to other career and technological education (CTE) programs.  

“We have this great resource here in Hill High School that hasn’t really been utilized and it’s a large footprint. And I’m really happy that the district is in the position where we can reinvest in this resource that not only helps the community, but also helps our students have another path towards being successful once they leave our district,” Rachel Willis, LSD board president said. 

The Hill is a vocational center known for training students firsthand and giving them confidence for their future, which is the goal for the new high school. “… we know that having children learn academics is incredibly important, but we also know that so many kids wanna have life skills, they wanna have job opportunities, they wanna be able to get their hands dirty, really dig into incredible learning opportunities…,” Ben Shuldiner, LSD superintendent said. Lansing is already a CTE district, so this addition will be more career based. 

“Reading, writing, arithmetic, ELA, math scores, all of that’s important. It is equally as important that we have career technical ready students,” Willis said.  

The Lansing school district notices that most CTE programs are only available to upper class students, overlooking 9th-graders.

Education

Vision to Learn expands, helps Lansing students see success

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At a recent  Lansing school board meeting the nationwide nonprofit organization called, Vision to Learn was introduced. Dr. Sue Wheeler presented a health and wellness update and gave a presentation on how Vision to Learn will be participating in the Lansing school district. “This year we are expanding our partnership with Vision to Learn… a nonprofit organization that provides onsite vision screening, vision exams and glasses for students who need them,” Wheeler said. “All are at no cost to our families.

Scrolling through social media while doing homework
Health

Ingham concerned social media bad for students’ mental health

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Links between children’s use of social media and their mental health raised concerns with Ingham County Intermediate School District administrators. Superintendent Jason Mellema said at the board’s April 11 meeting that it hopes to figure out how schools can do more to help students.

Mental health specialists at the ISD have served more than 550 referrals this year and still have students on the waiting list.