Meridian Township children head to the polls too

Okemos Public Schools was closed due to Tuesday’s midterm election, but many Meridian Township parents still found themselves on school grounds. A total of 18 children came along with their parents as they cast their votes around noon at Murphy Elementary School. Stacy Liddick brought her children Nicholas and Allison. “We have to make decisions as people who want change,” 9-year-old Alison said. “They need to know that in order to see change, voices need to be heard,” said Liddick.

New state plan increases efforts to cut baby deaths

By LAUREN GENTILE
Capital News Service
LANSING — Michigan has one of the nation’s highest infant mortality rates, and experts are trying to change that by teaching future parents and caretakers about healthy pregnancies and proper sleep positions for newborns, supporting women’s health and reducing unwanted pregnancies. The Michigan Department of Community Health released its “Infant Mortality Reduction Plan” in August 2012, said Angela Minicuci, public information officer. “Infants are dying for many reasons and through the plan we have created, we can reduce the risk for death and the eventual number of deaths in infants within Michigan,” said Minicuci. In Michigan, five out of 1,000 Caucasian babies, seven out of every 1,000 Hispanic babies and 14 out of every 1,000 African-American babies die before their first birthday. “With an average of 7.1 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2010, that is seven babies too many,” Minicuci said.

Michigan study says key to good schools is involvement by parents

By COURTNEY CULEY
Capital News Service
LANSING—More than half of Michigan residents surveyed by Michigan State University said the most important reason schools have struggled is a lack of parental involvement. Big Rapids High School officials say encouraging such involvement is a reason the school was selected as one of the top 20 high schools in Michigan in 2010 by U.S. News and World Report. “It’s important to the community for parents to be involved,” said Tim Haist, Big Rapids Public Schools superintendent. The schools stress those relationships. “A lot of times I use the saying, ‘students don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care’,” he said, “and in Big Rapids we feel that way.”
It’s been an important factor of the district’s success, he said.