Students in Michigan and nationwide are struggling with reading, but not in Amy Dyksterhouse’s classroom. The fourth-grade teacher at Kettle Lake Elementary School integrates reading skills into all subjects, as part of a K-5 curriculum that takes students from “learning to read to reading to learn.” We talk with her about why Caledonia’s reading scores rank well above state and national averages, and how she engages students with strategies like “brain movies.”

Click here to watch a short video on Amy Dyksterhouse leading a reading activity.

You can download this episode of “Study Hall” by clicking on the embed above, or listen to it right here on School News Network. If you would rather read our conversation, click on the Transcript tab here. You can also subscribe to the podcast through the RSS feed here, find it on many of your favorite streaming platforms, or listen to more episodes in the player below. A shorter version of this podcast can be heard on WGVU Public Media, 88.5 FM.

For more great stories about the changes and challenges of school districts in West Michigan, check out our website, School News Network.org. And if you have ideas for future programs, feel free to send them to us at SNN@kentisd.org. Thanks for listening, and happy studying!

It’s barely past 6:30 a.m. but the student musicians of the ABC Orchestra are rocking hard on the Trans-Siberian Orchestra’s “Christmas Eve/Sarajevo 12/24,” a heavy-metal arrangement of “Carol of the Bells.” The 32 members of this East Kentwood High School ensemble are trained in classical music but play “anything but” that genre in ABC, performing in other schools and community venues while learning how to be gig-ready musicians. SNN talks to students Millie Fernandez, Maggie Geurink and SJ Cale about growing as musicians and as people under ensemble director Ryan Wallace.

For more great stories about the changes and challenges of school districts in West Michigan, check out our website, School News Network.org. And if you have ideas for future programs, feel free to send them to us at SNN@kentisd.org. Thanks for listening, and happy studying!

Whitley and Dan Morse met as new teachers in Grand Rapids Public Schools. Fifteen years later, the married couple are still there, Whitley as a teacher at Ottawa Hills High School and Dan as principal of North Park Montessori Academy. Their shared commitment to serving students in urban schools was recently honored as alumni of Davenport University’s College of Urban Education. They talk to SNN about why they’ve devoted their careers to helping GRPS students grow into their best selves and to giving back to the community.

For more great stories about the changes and challenges of school districts in West Michigan, check out our website, School News Network.org. And if you have ideas for future programs, feel free to send them to us at SNN@kentisd.org. Thanks for listening, and happy studying!

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), which requires children with disabilities be educated to the “maximum extent possible” with non-disabled students. At Meadow Ridge Elementary School in Rockford, Michigan, a team of educators is doing just that for Ellie Gard, a student with Down syndrome, who learns in a general-ed classroom alongside her second-grade peers. We talk with two of her teachers and her mother about how they work together to make this work.

For more great stories about the changes and challenges of school districts in West Michigan, check out our website, School News Network.org. And if you have ideas for future programs, feel free to send them to us at SNN@kentisd.org. Thanks for listening, and happy studying!

These days, school districts are looking for more than a few good teachers, with not enough people entering the teaching pipeline and too many leaving it. The West Michigan Teacher Collaborative aims to flip that script by helping aspiring teachers become certified and current teachers earn graduate degrees and endorsements. Susie Dennis and Angie Drake describe how WMTC has been “life-changing” for them as they pursue their certifications this school year.

For more great stories about the changes and challenges of school districts in West Michigan, check out our website, School News Network.org. And if you have ideas for future programs, feel free to send them to us at SNN@kentisd.org. Thanks for listening, and happy studying!

As schools reopen the week of Aug. 18, their leaders lack the answer to a crucial question: How much money will they have to teach students? Political gridlock in the state Legislature and proposed drastic downsizing of education spending by the Trump administration have left major chunks of state and federal funding in limbo. Dan Behm, executive director of Education Advocates of West Michigan, breaks down the reasons for the logjam — and what lawmakers and citizens can do about it.

For more great stories about the changes and challenges of school districts in West Michigan, check out our website, School News Network.org. And if you have ideas for future programs, feel free to send them to us at SNN@kentisd.org. Thanks for listening, and happy studying!

At the start of the school year, Kent City first-grade teacher Marla Anderson said she was excited to begin her rookie year as a public-school teacher. At the end of the school year, she said she’s excited to begin her second year next fall. After talking with Anderson last September, we caught up with her on the day before school let out to see if she was still happy she went into teaching. The short answer? “I wouldn’t change it for the world.”

For more great stories about the changes and challenges of school districts in West Michigan, check out our website, School News Network.org. And if you have ideas for future programs, feel free to send them to us at SNN@kentisd.org. Thanks for listening, and happy studying!

Each week at City High Middle School this year, about two dozen high schoolers gathered to celebrate and learn about Black culture, from music and cooking to history and current issues. But the Black Student Alliance isn’t restricted to Black students; in fact, the majority are not African American. Founding members Elijah Jones and IMara Smith Skyers talk about the group’s ambitious array of activities and the importance of students from all backgrounds to share their cultural diversity.

For more great stories about the changes and challenges of school districts in West Michigan, check out our website, School News Network.org. And if you have ideas for future programs, feel free to send them to us at SNN@kentisd.org. Thanks for listening, and happy studying!