Following the Bearcat Advantage college scholarship announcement, Battle Creek Public School teachers were just as stunned as students. Then came the next great news: A $10,000 pay raise, bumping teacher salaries to the top in Southwest Michigan districts. "Having a district that sees every day the work that you do and appreciates that — I think that's huge," says Natasha Hager, Verona Elementary teacher.
Zaccari Frailey's love for beef jerky blossomed during the pandemic when he was a high school junior with an EBT card at his disposal. When funds dried up, Frailey decided to dry his own beef. Not long after, Jerk Your Beef Jerky, Frailey's successful, new business, was born.
The West Michigan African American Tech Readiness Collaborative is a group of 30 organizations seeking to increase African American representation in high-paying tech jobs, many of which don't require a four-year degree. Ida Byrd-Hill, CEO of Automation Works and initiative founder, says she believes West Michigan could become a major tech innovation hub.
"Battle Creek has more history per square mile than any other city" in the United States, says often-quoted Mary Butler, who was a well-respected Battle Creek historian. Now residents and visitors can hold some of that history in the palm of their hands by way of a newly-launched app called "Tours of Battle Creek" – just in time for some Memorial Day hometown touring!
“Today, I’m introducing you to a new scholarship program we’re calling the Bearcat Advantage,” said Kimberly Carter, Superintendent of Battle Creek Public Schools in a surprise announcement to a student-packed auditorium this Wednesday. “It will cover up to 100 percent of your college tuition and fees. . . Starting with the class of 2023 we will pay for your college education. This is your bridge and all you have to do is walk over it.”
“When it comes to gun violence and violence in general, there are still going to be people out there who want to hurt others," says Marshall Murdick, a senior, who is helping launch a Battle Creek Central H.S. chapter of Students Against Violence Everywhere (SAVE) Promise Club. "We want to make sure our classmates are O.K. and at least have one friend out there so they will do better in life.”
Raised on a potato farm, Brenda Hunt grew up comfortable on a tractor cultivating the fields. She brought that skill for cultivation to her position as CEO of the Battle Creek Community Foundation, but after 30 impactful years, she says she's ready to step down. And return – at least in part – to the tractor (which she still loves to ride) and her family farm.
Kellogg Community College is strengthening its bridge from associates to bachelors degrees at Grand Valley State University. Credit alignment, programming, and pre-transfer support are part of the collaborative effort. "Our advisors will be coming to KCC to work with these students," says Al Shiflett, Director of Community Engagement with GVSU's BC Regional Outreach Center. "They’ll be Lakers from day one even if they’re not at GVSU yet."
Southwest Michigan Second Wave is thrilled to launch its third cohort of stories from Voices of Youth Battle Creek, a student-paid journalism-training program. Over the next four weeks, we will be publishing the students' passionate stories and artwork that reflect on issues that matter most to them. Read on to learn more.
Since its November launch, ChatGPT has created a stir of controversy. Some local teachers and students can see both its benefits and drawbacks. One Lakeview High School senior says she can see how the AI tool could help with generating essay ideas, but as far as using it in place of her own writing, she says, “It would create an interesting perspective, but it would never be your own work."
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