WSD Voice - Podcast

On this episode, we celebrate an outstanding senior from each of our high schools and meet the newly named 2025 Waterford Foundation Teacher of the Year. 

Guests: 
Vanaya Hill, Waterford Kettering High School
DeAngelo Pierfelice, Waterford Durant High School 
Jakob VanZweden, Waterford Mott High School 
Meg Grossnickle, 2025 Waterford Foundation Teacher of the Year 

Hosts: 
Sarah Davis, Director of Communications & Community Relations 
Lisa Eldredge, Interim Superintendent 

Producer: Jane Tekiele, Video Production Coordinator

- Hello and welcome to "WSD Voice," a podcast focused on positive and informative news in Waterford School District. I am your host, Sarah Davis, the Director of Communications and Community Relations, and I am here with Interim Waterford School District Superintendent, Lisa Eldredge.

- Hello, everyone. This is going to be our last podcast for the 24-25 school year. And, like all of the ones we have done in previous years, we're going to spend it celebrating our successes from the school year.

- It sounds like fun. Before we begin, Lisa, I know that you rejoined the district again in February. Do you have a favorite moment or celebration from this past couple of months here?

- Oh, there've been so many. It's been great to reconnect with staff and even some of the students I knew before, even some of the students that have graduated have come back and I've been able to see them in their job opportunities here in the district. It's nice to reconnect, especially during Teacher Appreciation Week with our wonderful teachers, and spend some time with them out in the community. And, of course, doing things like this help to promote our wonderful district, so I've been enjoying it very much.

- Yeah, a highlight for me every year is always the Teacher of the Year-

- Oh, yeah.

- And that's something that we're gonna be talking about a little bit later in the podcast too, so I look forward to that discussion. But let's start now, first, we always have three seniors on the podcast, traditionally, we ask our high school principals to select one senior to represent their school, so we have a Kettering student, a Durant student, and a Mott student. So, our first student is Vanaya Hill. She is the type of student who seems to do it all from what I hear. Vanaya, tell us a little bit about your school experience and everything that you're involved with.

- So I attend Waterford Kettering High School, and I am involved in as many aspects of the school as I can be, but I spend most of my time with the Leadership and Student council team, as I am Senior Class President. And before the last dance season ended, I was also captain of the varsity dance team as well.

- Wow.

- So that's where I like to spend most of my time.

- Okay, awesome. And what has been your path through the Waterford School District schools?

- So I started at Riverside Elementary, and then from there I went on to Pierce Middle School, and then after that I went to Kettering High School. My time at Riverside Elementary was probably my favorite just due to being, like, little, and I met a lot of my best friends that I'm still friends with now there. My time at Pierce was interrupted due to COVID, so I didn't get the full, like, middle school experience. So I would say I wasn't there long enough to, like, really know how I felt about middle school, middle school was kind of a rough time for the kids that are in my grade. But Kettering has been by far my favorite school, just, like, being older and being able to be involved with everything there, it's been so much fun.

- Mm-hmm. And the more involved you are too, probably the better experience you have-

- Yeah, for sure.

- So that helps throwing yourself in like that. So how do you feel that the education you've received at Kettering has helped prepare you for the future?

- I think that a lot of the teachers have helped me shape my future, deciding on what I want to do when I'm older and stuff like that. I felt very supported by a lot of the teachers, like, from Riverside til Kettering now. Being involved in the Leadership team has really helped push me to lead and to get experience, like, working with a team, and having to kind of like be the boss sometimes-

- Yeah.

- And something like that, but also like encouraging other people to step up to the plate as well. So, I think leadership has been the most, what's the word...

- Fulfilling.

- Like, fulfilling, yes, helpful when helping me decide what I wanna do in the future.

- Sure. Anything specific from leadership that you really enjoyed?

- Just being with the team. It's a great group of kids, and we do a lot of problem solving and stuff like that. It really pushes you to think outside of the box. So I'm just really grateful to have had that experience and work with so many amazing people who are trying to go down the same path in the future as I am.

- Okay.

- Great.

- [Sarah] What advice would you give to students who are younger than you?

- I would tell them to enjoy it. I know that grades are important and stuff like that, but I also feel like having fun should be a priority as well, just because it goes by so fast. I know when you're like going through the motions of school and everything, it feels like it's dragging on, but once you get to your senior year, you realize how fast everything went by, and I wish I would've cherished the little things a little more, like, in the moment, rather than wishing my days away and wanting to graduate so fast, so...

- Mm-hmm.

- That's great.

- I would just tell everybody to enjoy it and make sure that you prioritize having fun.

- And speaking of fun, I know you're talking about you have a meeting right after this for prom on Friday.

- [Vanaya] Yeah.

- And so, you are involved in a lot of the fun aspects too-

- Yes.

- And planning those different things.

- Uh-huh, yeah. When you're in Leadership and Student Council, we get to plan homecoming and prom, and we get to help with all the different like charity events that we do, so it's a lot of fun.

- All right, excellent. Vanaya, what are your plans for the future?

- My plans for the future right now are to attend Oakland University for dance while I assist and coach the dance team at Waterford Kettering. After that, I don't know what the future holds, I might transfer and go farther or something like that, but right now my priority is dance. I don't really know what I wanna do for a job in the future, so I'm kind of just going through the motions and I'm hoping that I find something in college that really speaks to me.

- Yeah, perfect. And staying close and local, at least, initially to help with the dance team, that's really awesome, and I'm sure they will very much value having you around, having been such a recent student there, and knowing the routines and all of that.

- Yeah, I'm so excited, yeah.

- All right, well, it was great talking to you. Lisa, any words of advice or anything you want to offer to Vanaya?

- Absolutely, go Grizzlies. I'm a alumni of OU myself, and I love that you're gonna keep a connection with us, so that we can keep in touch, and just watch you grow into college years, congratulations.

- Aw, thank you. Thank you so much, really, thank you. And thank you for having me here today, too, it's been a great time.

- It's been great.

- Absolutely.

- Yes.

- Thank you.

- Thank you.

- Okay, up next, we have Durant student, DeAngelo Pierfelice, who will be graduating from Durant this June. Welcome, DeAngelo, thanks for being here on the show.

- Of course, thanks for having me.

- As you get closer to graduation day, what are you thinking about? How are you feeling?

- As I get closer to graduating, I'm very excited to get out into the world with some of the great opportunities and great resources that I have at my school. I've been given a chance to look out and open myself to new things that I never thought were possible. Before coming to Durant, I definitely didn't think I was able to graduate at all whatsoever. My grades, they weren't the greatest, I was also failing some of my classes, a lot of my classes, actually. After coming to Durant and focusing on the importance of my education and what I needed to focus on, my teachers, they helped me, and they better let me know, or gave me a better understanding of like the materials, and, like, how I could understand them. They gave me like ways and, I guess, easier explanations.

- Yeah.

- Which really helped me. They really took the time and put effort into not just one of their students, but all of their students.

- Mm-hmm.

- At Durant, we have like shorter classes and like less amount of people in each class, so it's easier for them to be able to talk to students and be able to have a one-on-one with them and share their experiences and, like, how they can learn.

- Right, right. So, DeAngelo, reflecting back on your high school career that you've had, how has being a student at Durant helped you, or what are some maybe things that are unique about Durant that you felt were advantageous to your high school, type of high school career that you had, whether it's academically or socially?

- Okay. Coming to Durant, they definitely had a great, like, support system that, like, I've never had before at any of my other schools. They have like this Michigan Works program, like, in Waterford, they support that. They've brought that out to Durant, and they've been bringing that into not only the seniors but everybody at Durant. And they've been helping us with careers, like, career searching, we've gone to career field trips, I've gone to Lansing to like talk with representatives of legislators, I also have been awarded OCC scholarship for-

- Congratulations.

- Great.

- Thank you so much. But they've done like a lot of things with careers, not, like, just the education part, but what you wanna do after high school, and what you want to do, like, building your life.

- [Sarah] Mm-hmm.

- So, for me, they gave me, like, all those opportunities with the career field trips and, like, going to Lansing, and all that, they gave me all that to be able to look into myself and what I wanna do, like, not just, like, straight outta high school, but as a career.

- Right.

- Straight outta high school, after, like, going to the career exploration, which is what we did at the beginning of the year, they gave me, like, an opportunity to look at what I wanted to do. And what I wanna do straight outta high school is tree cutting. And after that, as a career, I looked at the the millwrights' union, we went to the millwrights' union-

- Mm-hmm.

- And we did some hands-on activities that gave me an insight to what I wanna do as my career, which is being an electrician.

- Mm-hmm, okay.

- So, and there was the next question I was gonna ask you is, you know, what are your plans for the future? So it sounds like you have a couple different things you're looking into.

- I do.

- The tree cutting or the millwrights', and electrician.

- Yeah, starting out, right after high school-

- Yeah.

- I would like to be a tree cutter.

- Yeah.

- And then as a career, like, not tree cutting, electrician, and like electrical lining.

- Yeah. And I like how you have, like, you know, a step process too. You know, it's gonna take you a little bit to get to electrician, but you gotta plan in place until you get there-

- Yeah, that's a bait thing.

- So that's good too.

- It's important to set goals. Yeah, especially after like coming to Durant, I figured out that it was important for me to set goals, that was a big thing.

- Okay.

- If you don't set goals for yourself, you're not gonna have the motivation to get there, you're not gonna want, like, you're just gonna think about, "It's just a big load of things that I have to do, a big load of things that just stresses me out, and I'm not gonna get done."

- Mm-hmm.

- You have to be able to break it apart into certain different parts and see what you can take on at that time, then keep moving forward. And I figured that out that, for me, for education, I had to set a goal of at least Bs, at least Bs, 'cause I didn't wanna get a C. 'Cause if I got a C and then I messed up the final, I failed my class.

- [Sarah] Yeah, some cushion there, right?

- Yeah. But I wanted to have a little bit of cushion, and, yeah. Right now, I'm doing good, but I wanted to get some cushion and figure out what I need to do.

- Good, I'm glad to hear that. It sounds like you have a really strong plan going forward, and I think you're gonna be really successful. Lisa, is there anything you'd like to say to DeAngelo?

- So, DeAngelo, are you starting OCC in the fall then?

- I have applied to OCC-

- Good.

- In the fall.

- I wanna go-

- 'Cause you have that scholarship.

- Yes.

- That is so exciting for you.

- Yeah, especially since the first two years at OCC are free.

- Yes, yeah, awesome.

- Yeah, that definitely helps out a lot-

- That's great.

- That scholarship.

- Well, you know, I know you've talked a lot about Durant and what a great place it is, but always remember that they set the framework for you, but you came in and did all the hard work.

- Yeah, it's important that you have to know that you can put in the hard work yourself-

- And you did it.

- Yeah, it's not just-

- Yeah, this is on you, graduation's on you, that's awesome.

- Yeah.

- I hope to see you on June 1st at the graduation ceremonies.

- Of course.

- Yeah, we will both be there.

- Thank you, guys, so much.

- Thank you for being on the show-

- Of course-

- We'll see you on June 1st then.

- Thank you, guys.

- All right, thank you.

- Yep.

- Thank you.

- All right, let's take a quick commercial break, and then we will be back with our next student.

- [Lisa] Hello, I'm Lisa Eldredge, Interim Superintendent of Waterford School District. It's time to start thinking about where your child should attend school for the 25-26 school year. At Waterford School District, we aim to create today's student to become tomorrow's leader, and we are uniquely prepared to build your child's bright future. We have recently invested over $16 million in cutting edge curriculum and technology. Additionally, in September of 2024, we opened a brand new state-of-the-art Stepanski Early Childhood Center, for which we are currently accepting registrations. Learn more and enroll at wsdmi.org/enrollment. That's wsdmi.org/enrollment. Come join us here at Waterford School District where your child will be inspired, educated, and empowered to thrive.

- Okay, we are back. The last student we have on "WSD Voice" today is Mott senior, Jacob VanZweden. Let's start with what you do, as it relates to school. Please talk about what you're involved in at Mott.

- Yeah, so I've been in the Link Crew for the past two years, this year, I was a Commissioner, which is kind of like a president for the program.

- [Sarah] Okay.

- I am in Student Council, I've been doing Student Council for two years as well. Last year, I was part of PPI, which is the Positive Peer Influence, but, this year, we weren't able to run it. And then I've been playing for the high school hockey team for two years, this year, being a captain, and as well as my past two years of high school, I've been playing for the baseball team as well. And then, my last thing is, I've been in the Honors Orchestra for the past four years at Mott. So I think that's about all the things I participated in.

- Okay, what do you play in the orchestra?

- I'm a bassist.

- Okay, very nice.

- Oh, nice.

- Excellent.

- Yeah.

- So you kind of do it all, you have athletics in there, you have music in there, you're helping out with the kind of the academic Link Crew and all of that side of things. So that's a really great, well-rounded experience, would you agree?

- Yeah, I like to state it as that.

- I mean, have you been having fun there at Mott?

- It's been the best four years of my life.

- Yeah? Aw, that's really great to hear.

- Yeah.

- So can you talk a little bit more about your hockey career too?

- Yeah. So I've been playing high school for two years, before that I was playing travel. I was a little bit hesitant, because we don't have, or we didn't have, like a great program before, but it was definitely the best decision I've made playing for our high school, representing our schools. And this past year, I was a captain, we broke records for the program, having the best record in history. A lot of our players, since we're a unified program, our other captain, Brady, he set the goal record for West Bloomfield, and myself as a goalie, I set the record for goalie stats this year as well.

- Excellent. Well, congratulations on that too.

- Yeah.

- So with all this different involvement you've had, you must have a lot of memories.

- Oh, yeah.

- Can you kinda narrow it down to one or two good memories you could share with us?

- Oh, yeah. So, obviously, this past hockey season with having such a good record, we had so many upsets, we just really made a name for ourselves and our community.

- Right.

- So that entire season has been one of my favorite memories of all time. And, a little bit recently, we took an orchestra trip to New York, we just got back on Saturday, and that was an amazing time. I absolutely loved it.

- Yeah.

- We went to two Broadway shows, we saw Wicked and Hamilton-

- Oh.

- Ugh.

- And it was unbelievable.

- Oh, I'm jealous.

- Yeah.

- I wish I'd known about that trip.

- Great shows, yes.

- So what schools have you gone to in Waterford School District?

- Yeah, I started at Knudsen Elementary, it was a great time there, field days, color runs, all that sorts of stuff. It was amazing. And then I went on to Pierce Middle. And, like Vanaya was saying earlier, it got cut short due to COVID. but there, our sixth grade camp was amazing. Unfortunately, we didn't get to go to DC or anything like that, but those three years there were spectacular as well.

- [Sarah] Yeah.

- Yeah.

- Excellent.

- And then now I'm graduating from Mott.

- Yeah. So what are your plans for the future?

- Hockey's my passion, I'm gonna continue playing hockey. We're not quite sure where yet, but I'm either gonna be playing Collegiate at some point, or start playing junior hockey.

- Okay.

- Great.

- So I'm talking to some schools, some different junior teams, I've gotta showcase Thursday and Friday.

- Okay.

- So, hopefully, some good things will come out of that.

- Yeah.

- Okay, yeah, fingers crossed, right?

- Yeah. And then when I move on to college, I'll try to study business there-

- Yeah.

- At wherever I'm at.

- Okay, all right, excellent. So, if you have any spare time, which seems unlikely, what is it that you like to do for fun?

- Yeah, I work at a Orchard Lake Country Club-

- Okay.

- And I love golf. I probably love it as much as I love hockey, just not quite as good at it.

- [Sarah] Yeah.

- But me and my buddies, we love to go golfing, we love to spend time on the boat, fishing, tubing, all that fun stuff. I love to travel, like I was saying about New York, we typically like to go to Myrtle Beach as a family, that's one of our favorite spots, we went to Florida for spring break in Clearwater, it was a great time. But I just love traveling.

- Yeah.

- I like seeing different parts of the world.

- Yeah, for sure.

- Yeah.

- All right, well, thank you for being on the show. Lisa, is there anything you wanna say to Jacob?

- Yeah, I think it's great that you're gonna follow your passion.

- Yeah.

- I don't know a ton about the minor leagues, but is there a chance that you'd be able to go and live in another city?

- Yeah.

- And are you taking that one in particular that you're drawn to?

- I am talked to a team in New Hampshire right now-

- Oh, cool.

- Then another team in Wisconsin, so we'll see-

- Very cool.

- Where it takes me.

- Excellent. Yeah, sounds like your future is very bright.

- Yeah.

- Congratulations. I'm looking forward to it.

- Yeah.

- We look forward to seeing you on June 1st for graduation.

- Yeah, of course.

- Yeah. Thank you, guys.

- Yeah, thanks Jacob.

- Wonderful.

- Okay, time for one more commercial break, and then we will be back for the final segment of our show to meet our 24-25 Teacher of the Year.

- [Lisa] Hello, Waterford School District Interim Superintendent, Lisa Eldredge here. The Waterford Pool & Fitness Center is your recreation and fitness community center. We offer a welcoming, supportive environment for people who are interested in recreation, fitness, and enjoyment. We have both land and water classes for all levels and offer annual memberships. Find out more about our Pools & Fitness center programming on our website at wsdmi.org. That's wsdmi.org.

- All right, welcome back to "WSD Voice." We are here discussing all of the exciting things that took place this past school year, and our Teacher of the Year is certainly one of those things. I'd like to welcome to the show the Waterford Foundation for Public Education's 2025 Teacher of the Year, Meg Grossnickle, a 15 year WSD Veteran Teacher of English Language Arts at Kettering High School, as shown by her shirt. Thank you for being here, Meg, and congratulations on this achievement. This is a really big deal.

- Thank you.

- I'm very excited for you.

- Thank you.

- Were you surprised when a sudden team of people came into your classroom and said that you were the winner of the award?

- Yes, I was so surprised. It like completely caught me off guard, and it was so fun and just so nice to see also how many family members showed up. So, yeah, it was a really exciting experience.

- Mm-hmm. Yep, one of my favorite things about that day is the clap out at the end. And I know in particular at a high school, it's a little bit more difficult to have that happen than maybe at an elementary. So how did you feel about, you know, everyone coming out and clapping you out as you left? It's intense.

- I don't like a ton of attention on myself, so it was like overwhelming in the best of ways. So I was really just trying to like take it all in, and I'm so appreciative to all the staff and students for all of their support, 'cause it was very exciting, but very overwhelming.

- Yes, yes. So just so our listeners know, when you win Teacher of the Year, you get to leave school early that day. Then after the surprise, you go and pick out a new, and most importantly, a free car. And we are grateful for the Foundation's partnership this year with Joe Lunghamer Chevrolet in Waterford, who so graciously provided you with this opportunity. So tell us, which car did you pick and why?

- I went with the 2025 Traverse. We have some summer road trip plans coming up, so we thought that would be a nice vehicle for that, and would afford us some more comfortable opportunities.

- Okay, and color?

- It's like a dark blue, little bit of teal in there.

- Okay.

- Mm-hmm.

- Pretty.

- Very nice. Have you been enjoying it?

- Yeah, yeah.

- Yeah.

- It's been a lot of fun to just have something new and shiny and all of that.

- [Sarah] Did you drive it here today?

- [Meg] I did.

- Okay.

- [Meg] Yes, I did.

- All right, excellent. So now I do wanna mention that there are nine total nominees for the Teacher of the Year, and that, this year, the focus was on secondary-level teachers. So I'm gonna read the names of the other nominees. We have at Pierce Middle School, Joe Brown and Mike Beroff. At Waterford Kettering, in addition to Meg, we have Tony Miller and Danny Fulks. At Waterford Mott, we have Kim McGee and Katie Muhlech. At Durant, Jeremy Lloyd. And at LifeTracks, we had Cheri Staubach. So, great job to all of the nominees, we're grateful to your dedication to our students. And, Meg, is there anything you'd like to say about these other candidates that you are in the running for the award with?

- Obviously, their reputation precedes them, you know? So they are a wonderful, dedicated group, and I've been fortunate to work with several of them over the years. And it just always amazes me, like, how much energy and effort, you know, teachers will put into this career. And so, I'm honored to be among them.

- Right. Lisa, anything you wanna add about this group of teachers or...

- Every year, I see the names of teachers, and I think how lucky are we in Waterford to have such amazing teachers for our kids, and how lucky our students are. I mean, you look at this list of names, and they are all fabulous teachers, and we're lucky, we're just lucky. They give 150% every day, and our kids are very fortunate to have them.

- Mm-hmm.

- So, Meg, you're also an alumni of Waterford School District, you're obviously a beloved teacher, you are the yearbook advisor, you do Link Crew, I believe you have some family history, or your family has some history with the district, other people have worked for us. So what is it about Waterford? Why is this a community that you love and are so engaged with?

- I am so proud of my Waterford education, and I feel I was really offered some amazing opportunities. And so, to have that opportunity, to be in the community that I love, and try to give back and repay that a little bit is a really great experience.

- Mm-hmm. Okay. What's a favorite memory you have of teaching over the years, or something you're most proud of?

- Oh, man. I mean, there are so many, like, hilarious, big and small moments that happen, you know, throughout every single year. I think in terms of what I'm proud of, I am always proud of seeing what students are capable of, and when they really wanna work towards something, you know, like with my experience in yearbook, we start out with nothing. There's not a single thing, and students do every single part of the yearbook, from the pictures to the cover, design, writing, they do it all. So they create, you know, this thing for the community out of absolutely nothing. So experiences like that, or like the Polar Plunge, where students had this passion to bring this fundraiser to our community, and thought that they could do a really good job with it, and they did, they plan everything. So seeing what students are capable of is always an amazing experience.

- Mm-hmm. Well, congratulations. We're so happy for you. And, Lisa, anything else to add?

- Yeah. One of the things we haven't even touched on yet, although, Meg is an amazing teacher, and we often hear such positive comments from her students, is that she's also one of our teacher leaders, which means that she leads teachers in the ELA content, and is an amazing teacher leader as well. So not only does she provide her expertise for her class and do a great job teaching our kids, she helps teach teachers, and she helps work collaboratively with them to implement new curriculum, or to just problem solve about things that are happening in the classroom. So, yeah, Meg is an amazing person and a great teacher, and we are very lucky to have her.

- Sounds like it.

- Thank you.

- All right, thank you, Meg, for being here. Again, congratulations on winning Teacher of the Year. And one last thank you to our three student guests who were also on the program earlier, Vanaya, DeAngelo, and Jacob, we know that they all have very bright futures ahead. This podcast is brought to you by Waterford School District's Department of School and Community Services, and is produced by video production coordinator, Jane Tekiele. I am the host of this podcast, Sarah Davis, and you can find all episodes of "WSD Voice" on our website at wsdmi.org, or you can tune in to 89.5 WAHS, Radio Central Multicultural, or any Waterford Community Cable channel. We also invite you to subscribe to the podcast, which is available on Apple Podcast, iHeartRadio, Spotify, Amazon Music, and if you want to watch the recording, on our WSD YouTube channel. We so appreciate you listening today, and encourage you to tune into future episodes of "WSD Voice," as we discuss topics geared toward inspiring, educating, and empowering our students, staff, alumni, and community to thrive.

Ready for an inspiring story? The latest episode of WSD Voice features our incredible Lifetracks Program! Learn how this vital post-high school program is building pathways to independence and success for students with special needs aged 18-26. Tune in to hear valuable insights from staff and see just how Lifetracks is making a difference in our community.

Guests:
Nadine Milostan, Executive Director, Student Support Services
Kristen Robinson, Lifetracks Program Coordinator

Hosts: 
Sarah Davis, Director of Communications and Community Relations
Lisa Eldredge, Interim Superintendent
Producer: Jane Tekiele, Video Production Coordinator

- Hello, welcome to "WSD Voice," a podcast focused on positive and informative news in Waterford School District. I am your host, Sarah Davis, the Director of Communications and Community Relations. And I'm here with my co-host, Lisa Eldredge, who has come back out of retirement to serve as the interim superintendent for the school district. I do wanna give a quick shout out to Darrin Holley, our current assistant superintendent of Pre-K-5, who did serve as my co-host for some bit of time during the school year, but Lisa, you're back now, so now it's your turn to come back on the podcast.

- Glad, I'm glad to be back, and thank you for having me.

- Of course. And you will see next to Ms. Eldredge here, we have two more guests, WSD's Executive Director of Special Education, Nadine Milostan, and our Waterford Lifetracks Program Coordinator, Kristen Robinson. And of course, we are here to talk about Lifetracks today, but first, welcome to the show, both of you.

- Thank you for having us.

- We're happy to be here.

- And you are both here to talk about, again, like I just mentioned, the special education curriculum that we have here, the Lifetracks Program, and it's truly such a wonderful asset to our district. Nadine, why don't you explain to our audience a little bit about the program?

- Thanks, Sarah. So the Lifetracks Program provides instruction to the Waterford School District students who have IEPs that have completed four years of high school and are working towards their certificate of completion. The program works to promote personal growth. It also encourages students to ultimately become productive members of our community.

- Kristen, how does your staff operate to ensure the program's mission and goals are met?

- So our goal, each student has an IEP where they identify what their transition goals are for when they leave school services and enter adult living. So to help with that, every student has access to our four special education teachers, 12 paraprofessionals, myself, the program coordinator. Every student sees our school social worker, and some students also receive additional support from her. And then as needed, our students have access to a physical therapist, occupational therapist, and school psychologist. And then outside of the school setting, we really work with family and communities. So we have community agencies that we're involved with that will kind of take over once they're done with us and help the students continue with their adult living goals.

- Okay, so from what you both told me, there's several components that go into Lifetracks. One of those would be the academic piece. Nadine, what details do you have about the academic opportunities that are offered through Lifetracks?

- Well, our students receive instructional opportunities in reading and writing and math skills. We really wanna make sure that their foundational skills meet their needs, they become practical for them, so that ultimately when they do go out and they are on their own, that they have that ability to use those practical, instructional, and functional skills. Our students also, again, practice their daily living skills. They receive instruction, as Kristen said, not only from our highly certified teachers, but also through our program school social worker. They get a chance to see that social worker at least once a week as they are using her in complement to building their instructional skills.

- Okay, and next we have community utilization, which is twofold in its advantages. In that it allows the students to learn how to safely access various locations in our community, but it also gives a chance for local businesses to learn how to best support students in these settings. So Kristen, what are some of the businesses our Lifetracks students regularly engage with, and what skills are they learning through those businesses?

- So I have to have a little cheat sheet because we have several, so-

- Good news.

- It is good news. So we, our students go to Planet Fitness once a week, and then a local workout studio called Studio 8 where they engage in, it depends on the class that week. It could be Tai Chi, it could be yoga, cardio drumming. Every week students have community-based instructions. So that is to a different location each week, and tied into that is a lesson, and then some activities that they have to complete. And that's based on student support needs. So they could be going and working on locating items. They could be working on staying within a budget, seeking out help. It just depends on where the student is at. That could be going to the library, going to a department store, going to a park, going to Salvation Army. So they recently also expanded and went to the White Lake Library because we have a relationship, Waterford Library has a relationship with White Lake. So expanding their knowledge of places they can go. Once a month we go bowling to the 300 Bowl. We go to Mott to go swimming. So there's all these places that our students are learning to access, but these businesses have really kind of developed a bond with our students too, and know them and are able to interact and help support them in the community.

- All right, that's wonderful to hear. So we're gonna take a quick commercial break and we will be right back to continue highlighting our Lifetracks programming. Hello, Lisa Eldredge here, interim superintendent of Waterford School District. It's time to start thinking about where your child should attend school for the 25-26 school year. At Waterford School District, we aim to create today's student to become tomorrow's leader. And we are uniquely prepared to build your child's bright future. We have recently invested over $16 million in cutting edge curriculum and technology. Additionally, in September of 2024, we opened a brand new state-of-the-art Stepanski Early Childhood Center, for which we are currently accepting registration. Learn more and enroll at wsdmi.org/enrollment. That's W-S-D-M-I.org/enrollment. Come join us here at Waterford School District, where your child will be inspired, educated and empowered to thrive. And we are back to learn more about our Lifetracks program. Nadine, I know our vocational and employment skills development is also a super important piece of the Lifetracks puzzle. Can you describe how this works and give us some examples?

- I sure can. It is, it's about hope for our students that as they leave our Lifetracks program, they're ready to enter one or more paid employment opportunity, internship or even a volunteer placement. We have a variety of options to prepare them for such work through their work sites where our students learn to, learn to really interact with the business itself. They're under the guidance of a job coach from our program. They learn to carry out specific tasks and responsibilities. This also gives them that authentic setting in which to practice soft skills such as following a schedule, completing given tasks, asking for help, maintaining their own personal hygiene and so on. So we have several current partnerships that are work sites for our students, such as Tuna's Groceries, the Orchards of Canterbury on the Lake, Airport Road Child Learning Center and Fabulous Events, just to name a few.

- And Kristen, I know there are other employability and vocational skill opportunities that go beyond just work sites. Can you discuss those a little bit?

- Sure, so within our building, we're located at the Crary campus. I'm not sure if we mentioned that, but within our building, we have students most days of the week will run a pop cart. So they'll go through the building and sell pop and water. And they have a hand in deciding what is being sold, creating the price. And then they're responsible for interacting with the customers, making the change and so on. We have what's called the PAYS Lab, which stands for Practical Assessment Exploration System. Always forget the last part. This is a lab that allows students to explore the different career pathways and see what they're interested in. But on the flip side, also allows the staff to see what skills students need to work on still. We have VOTAGOO, which is very similar to PAYS, but it's for students who require more support. Lifetrack's Creative Design, LCD, is newer. That is for students take orders either from people in the district, families within our program, or recently we created all the uniforms and then coaches gear and fan wear for Clarkston's Special Olympics. So we take orders and produce spirit wear. And then DRAW is Disaster Relief at Work. It's part of our Waterford community. We have students who volunteer there twice a month and they help fill buckets for victims of natural disasters, hurricanes, recently the tornadoes. And then Let's Play Bricks is a company that comes to us and they have our students sort through a multitude, endless LEGO pieces, LEGO pieces I've never seen before. And they have a special computer program where they have to take a picture of the piece, identify it, and then sort it accordingly and inventory it. So those are the options we have right now for vocational skill building.

- Okay, I think it was maybe the Creative Design Studio. They made t-shirts for us with the logo and we used them on our billboard that was on M59 last year.

- Yeah, that's right. You are exactly right.

- They're doing some good work there for sure.

- Yeah, and they love it.

- So it's not all academics and work sites. You also have a lot of extracurricular activities there as well.

- We used to do.

- Can you talk about some of those?

- Yes, so prom is a big one that happens every year. We, the past couple of years now, have been doing that at the fountains and it's been beautiful. That is for current students and families. A lot of times they bring a family member or a caregiver with them, but also for alumni. So they both attend. There's a DJ, there's a formal dinner, and a photographer. So they have a great time. Special Olympics is also a very big part of our program. So there are six different sports available to them. And in addition to the practices in the games, they hold a car wash once a year. And then they go to Traverse City for the winter games and then they go to Central Michigan for the summer games. So they have a lot going on.

- Yeah, and they just came back from the winter games with a bunch of medals too.

- They did, they sure did.

- Very exciting.

- Yes, yep, had a good time.

- And Nadine, they do a pretty comprehensive graduation ceremony as well, correct?

- We do. We started a kind of a new way of celebrating our graduates just after COVID. And what we did is we partnered with the Waterford Township Police Department and through their incredible support of our program, they lead a car parade for us. And so we go home to home and celebrate this really fantastic accomplishments with the families of our graduates. We have signs and poster boards and it's really turned out to be an amazing event throughout the community. We are very fortunate. We have neighbors that come out and celebrate with us. And so, but our PD takes their motorcade out, their motorcycles out at least once a year for this fantastic event and we go home to home. And it's really quite something to look forward to.

- Yeah, I know it is something exciting. We love to come and take pictures of it and promote it as well. But yeah, it's a really fun celebration for everyone, for sure. So the advantages of the Lifetracks program are tremendous and so comprehensive and it's truly something to celebrate. Lisa, is there anything else you wanna add about this program?

- Well, every student we have here in Waterford is unique in terms of skills and challenges and timelines for learning. And I think Lifetracks is especially important for us because it affords our students who may need a little bit more time, the time that they need to grow in their skills and experiences and life skills and job opportunities so that they can become as independent as possible and become productive and well-rounded members of our community. So it's a shining star in our Waterford School District for sure.

- Well, there you have it. Anyone looking for more information on Lifetracks can go to the district's website. Kristen, Nadine, thank you for being here and thank you for all you do for our special education students.

- Thank you.

- Thank you. This podcast is brought to you by Waterford School District's Department of School and Community Services and is produced by Video Production Coordinator, Jane Tekiele. I am the host of this podcast, Sarah Davis, and you can find all episodes of "WSD Voice" on our website at wsdmi.org, or you can tune in to 89.5 WAHS, Radio Central Multicultural, or any Waterford Community Cable channel. We also invite you to subscribe to the podcast, which is available on Apple Podcasts, iHeart Radio, Spotify, Amazon Music, and if you want to watch the recording on our WSD YouTube channel. We so appreciate you listening today and encourage you to tune into future episodes of WSD Voice as we discuss topics geared toward inspiring, educating, and empowering our students, staff, alumni, and community to thrive.

Waterford School District has numerous organizations that provide untold amounts of resources and opportunities for our students and staff. We sat down with two of our biggest community supporters to discuss the importance of schools and the community working together.

Guests: 
Director of the Waterford Chamber of Commerce Nikki Tippett
President of the Waterford Foundation for Public Education John Himmelspach

Hosts: 
Sarah Davis, Director of Communications and Community Relations
Darin Holley, Interim Superintendent

Producer: 
Jane Tekiele, Video Production Coordinator

- Hello, welcome to "WSD Voice," a podcast focused on positive and informative news in Waterford School district. I am your host, Sarah Davis, the Director of Communications and Community Relations, and I'm here with my co-host, Waterford School District Interim Superintendent Darin Holley. And we are here today to talk about community and the important role that it plays in the success of our school district. Of course, there's the internal community that we have, that encompasses our teachers and our staff and our administrators, but then there's also that external community and those organizations that really have a forward focus on creating a strong, family friendly environment, which in turn, obviously enhances what we're doing here at Waterford School District.

- Yeah, we are so blessed in Waterford to have so many organizations that provide untold amounts of resources and opportunities for our students. We also have a community that has continuously supported our school district throughout the passage of bonds, which has allowed us to consistently invest heavily in our students and staff over time.

- So today we're gonna have two of the organizations, and trust me, there's many, we're gonna have two on today, that help out our school district. The first representation will be Nikki Tippett, who is the director of the Waterford Area Chamber of Commerce. So welcome to the show, Nikki.

- Thank you, it's so great to be here talking to you guys. Thank you.

- Of course. So your organization does a ton, right? For the Waterford community. Can you kind of explain what the Chamber does and what its purpose is?

- So, to make it easy to understand, I've started calling us the hype squad for Waterford businesses and organizations, but it's not just Waterford businesses. We're in and around the community, it's the Waterford area. So, you know, we have a little bit of reach into Clarkston, Commerce, White Lake, Pontiac, West Bloomfield. So, you know, it's all in where you want to market your business. So, you know, if you wanna market your business to the Waterford community, it doesn't matter where your business is, you'll wanna join the Waterford Chamber, so, we're here-

- Hype squad has a pretty nice ring to it.

- It does, it does. Because we're a pretty fun group. We like to really generate a lot of excitement for our businesses, our organizations, and make people want to engage those and utilize them as a resource for the community.

- So, Nikki, what does that look like? Explain some of your events and initiatives so that we can, you know, put a spotlight on it.

- So, I mean, we really try to focus both on business to business events, but also community events that businesses can engage the community or, you know, people in the community can meet our businesses. So we do like concerts in the park at Hess-Hathaway. We have the community expo, which is at the high school at Mott High School, you know, and really trying to get information out as much as possible. Our restaurant week is a big community event that we just started last year and we're excited to bring back this year.

- And you had mentioned that it's expanding as well. You have more restaurants and it's going on for longer.

- Yes, so last year it was, for one week we had 27 restaurants. This year we have 34 restaurants, and we're gonna be expanding it to two weeks, so that people have some more time to get to know the restaurants. We have a lot of wonderful restaurants in our community that do so much to support, whether it's... You know, we have a power outage and they loan their cooler space to people that wanna bring a cooler in. To, you know, giving gift cards for school initiatives and things like that. So, you know-

- So as it relates to school specifically, what are some ways that you provide resources or advocate for the Waterford School District?

- Oh, wow. That's one that I think goes really deep, because, you know, we do that surface level stuff where, you know, I'm helping Sarah engage businesses for like gift cards for initiatives, you know, partnering with you guys to bring people into Mott High School for an expo. You know, engaging you guys for certain events like Moviepalooza so that, you know, we can bring families in together and they can, you know, play around at one of the schools. You know, if they have younger kids and you know, they aren't familiar with the middle schools, then, you know, that's a good place to be.

- You help with our enrollment campaigns-

- Yep, helping with enrollment campaigns. We're a big information source for the community. So the enrollment campaign, bonds, millages, really trying to get the information out so that our voters in the area are educated and know what those things are going to, so that when they see the construction on Airport Road-

- Yeah.

- You know, they know, "Oh yeah, I, voted for that. This is gonna be great." So.

- Right.

- Yeah.

- So I know through a lot of these events that we're talking about, there's other partners, right? So like you have Waterford Parks and Recreation, also does a ton for the community. How is it that you involve these other local businesses and organizations in your work?

- I mean, it really depends on the services we're looking for. We exclusively use our businesses as much as possible. So, you know, if we need linens, we'll reach out to Fabulous Events. If we need food, we'll reach out to one of our restaurants and see if they can provide it for one of our events, either at a discount or for an in-kind sponsorship. We ask businesses to sponsor our different events. So that helps us cover the main cost of events, like especially concerts in the park. Those sponsorships help us pay for the bands and all of the logistics that go into it because it's a whole month long event with four different, you know, days that we engage bands. So, you know, it all depends on the demographic that the business wants to reach in their marketing plan and how much they're willing to spend. And, you know, we try and get their name out there as much as possible as a supporter for that event. And then, you know, sometimes like at Expo, they have a table, so that they can meet people within the community and hand out information and educate people on what they're doing and why they're here, and, you know, it's a lot about what their passion is. We have a lot of small business owners that are serving out a passion that, you know, they really wanna get people in their doors and be able to do that passion.

- And for those events too, a big piece of it is engaging with the community, families, but also that networking in between businesses. I know, personally, at the business expo, when we go, that's my favorite portion of it, is that hour where the businesses can go and walk around and walk table to table and just kind of meet those connections of people that might... You might be able to help each other throughout the year.

- Right, we're here to be a resource for the community, you know? If you're looking for a plumber, if you're looking for, you know, a contact in the school district or you know, who to get ahold of at the township for, you know, certain licensing or permits or something like that, you know, we're kind of a one-stop shop and say, "Oh, you know, you can talk to this person." Or, "You know what? I'm not sure about that. Let me check on it and I'll get back to you." So, you know, the community's not making a million phone calls. We're reaching out to our resources and being a resource to them.

- So like we mentioned, there's a lot of things that you do to help out the school district. You allow us a monthly column for Darin, the superintendent, in the newsletter. Again, State of the Township, which I think you maybe mentioned, really gives us a platform to promote the positive news going on in Waterford school district, which is an opportunity that, you know, is important that we have-

- Yeah.

- To tell that side of things, and so, that's really valuable. So again, we just appreciate those different things.

- Yeah, I'm glad to do it. It's a great partnership and, you know, creating a strong business community is helpful for the schools and having a strong school community is helpful for our businesses. So, you know, working together, you know, it's not just about the businesses, it's about the entire community and how we can all work together between us and you guys and the school district and like, when it comes to State of the Township, OCC. I mean, there's so many moving parts and a lot of great things going on now, you know, with all of that. So getting that information out there as much as possible and letting people know that Waterford is a wonderful place to live, work, and play, is really key.

- Yep, all right, well thank you for being on the podcast.

- Yeah, thank you for having me you guys.

- We love having you here, and you'll have to come back next time.

- Yes, I will.

- Like, to promote.

- I will, definitely. Go Waterford! I'm an alumni and you know, I love supporting it, so it's great to be here.

- Great, thank you. Hello, Darin Holley here, interim superintendent of Waterford School District. It's time to start thinking about where your child should attend school for the 25/26 school year. At Waterford School District, we aim to create today's student to become tomorrow's leader, and we are uniquely prepared to build your child's bright future. We have recently invested over $16 million in cutting edge curriculum and technology. Additionally, in September, 2024, we opened a brand new, state-of-the-art, Stepanski Early Childhood Center, for which we are currently accepting registration. Learn more and enroll at wsdmi.org/enrollment. That's wsdmi.org/enrollment. Come join us here at Waterford School District, where your child will be inspired, educated, and empowered to thrive.

- Okay, and we are back discussing our WSD community and the important role that it plays in the success of our school district. We just met with the incredible Nikki Tippett from the Waterford area Chamber of Commerce, and up next in the hot seat is John Himmelspach, the director of the Waterford Foundation for Public Education. John, welcome to the show.

- Thank you, Darin. Thank you, Sarah. Appreciate you having me.

- Yeah, the man, the met, the legend.

- Yeah.

- We'll start you off the same way we did with Nikki. Can you explain what the Waterford Foundation's purpose is, and maybe a little history about how the foundation started?

- Certainly, we just celebrated our 40th year as a foundation-

- Wow.

- Whose mission is to promote and recognize excellence in education, teaching, and learning. We're a charitable non-profit providing funding for innovative and broad reaching enrichment programs as we partner with the Waterford School District. Our board of directors are former educators, parents, business owners, community leaders, who are all committed to excellence in teaching and learning.

- All right, and I know one way that you go about your mission is through putting on a variety of events. Can you kind of talk about some of those events and how they support students and staff in particular in the school district?

- Sure, some examples of how we support students is, each year we honor, we call the Select 50. 50 graduating high school seniors from Waterford Mott to Waterford Kettering are honored at a dinner for the senior and their family, by the foundation. They're each chosen 25 from Mott and 25 from Kettering. And these are not the top 25 academic students. They're based on leadership, citizenship, academic achievement.

- That's great.

- And then at Durant we have the Durant Most Improved and we provide a celebration with the 10 students who each term have had the largest increase in their grade point average from one marking period to the next. And they're honored by the foundation at a lunch with a certificate, a nice Most Improved sweatshirt and a gift card.

- And that's a really great program. I know those students really look forward to that and are honored when they receive that. John, I know that when I talk about what the Waterford Foundation does for the teacher of year, people are so jealous about what you have done, and it's really a unique thing that the Waterford Foundation has built though, for time. Can you talk a little bit about what that is?

- Of course, it's always exciting. I think we're into our 35th teacher this year, having been selected as our teacher of the year. Each year we take nominations from parents, staff, and community members for our teacher of the year. And this year's nominations are for our middle school and high school teaching staff. This award's also sponsored by Lunghamer Chevrolet, and the winner receives free use of a vehicle from Lunghamer. Last year, the winner was April Lennox from Haviland Elementary. So our committee reviews information provided by the nominator. They visit the classroom of the teacher, they interview the teacher, and then one great morning, as a foundation, we show up at their classroom, tell 'em, "Guess what? You're teacher of the year. Stop teaching, go pick out a car." The rest of the school gives them a big clap, and then of course, all nominees are recognized at a dinner hosted by the foundation.

- Yeah, it really is an exciting event, especially those days when we walk into the classrooms and surprise the teacher, and the whole school just really rallies around it. Everybody that's nominated is really top of their game and-

- They are.

- It's so fun to watch.

- Yeah, it's one of my favorite mornings, just from a communication standpoint, because we go... Jane films a lot of it, and there is just a lot of excitement and camaraderie and it just is really a good feeling day.

- It is, it's amazing.

- So another way that the foundation goes about supporting Waterford School District is that you have scholarships for students and classroom grants for teachers. Can you kind of talk about those two funding sources?

- Sure, sure, we have five educational scholarships for high school seniors totaling about $10,000. And I will say, the seniors should apply now. The deadline is March 7th and the applications are found on the school district's website.

- Okay.

- As far as grants, last year, the foundation granted over $72,000 to support innovative and creative instructional ideas and programs. They've included things like band instruments, climbing walls, projects for building literacy and math skills, Camp WSD, classroom kilns for elementary art teachers, Bucket of Love and Waterford Special Olympics. Those applications are out there right now and they're accepted until April 2nd.

- That's great, and being a payer of college and all those scholarship things, those things really add up. So that's certainly appreciated.

- And I'm sure very few people realize that they're giving.. Have given $72,000 to teachers. I mean, that's a tremendous-

- And the money that you get from donations and- That just comes right back into our students.

- And you think of the life of the foundation, it's almost over $2 million that we've put back into staff's hands for great things.

- Yeah, I really do think it's unique. As I talk to other communities, they may have a foundation, but there's their foundations and then there's the Waterford Foundation, so. Another key initiative that the foundation really oversees and helps us support is Sweet Reads. It's so unique and it's a credible program. Can you talk a little bit about what that is?

- Sure. Well, Mary Lou Simmons was a long time teacher and principal in the Waterford School District. And she bequeathed over $500,000 to the foundation to set up a legacy endowment that supports literacy and performing arts. So that endowment has funded $15,000 each year for the past several summers to the Sweet Reads bookmobile, which travels to neighborhoods during the summer to bring books closer to student's home. to continue their reading over the summer. And then of course that mobile, the Sweet Reads mobile is staffed by volunteer teachers in the summer.

- And they hand out ice cream, books.

- [John] Can't forget about the ice cream.

- Yeah.

- Yeah, yeah.

- It's quite a hit.

- Yep. I can think of very few things more important than keeping that summer reading going.

- Yes.

- For students. John, is there anything else that you wanna add about the foundation and the work you do or resources for people?

- A couple more things. I think it's important that we mention, and Ken Frankel, another longtime teacher in the district, he provided endowment to the foundation, which we use to support mentoring for new teachers. And then of course, we have a large number of Waterford school staff and retirees who donate to our general fund so we can support all those programs we've talked about. And we also have been very lucky to have several former Waterford people include us in their estates and trusts with significant bequests to our general fund. In this past year it included the Art and Lorna Pierre Trust, and the Terra Van Ferguson estate. And so I really just like to say that if you're interested in serving on one of these committees that I explained today, or as a board member for the foundation, our foundation information is nicely placed on the school district's website. So I really appreciate you and thank you for having me representing the foundation on the show.

- Yep, it really is a great foundation and they've done so many things for us over the years. They've been great partners and the people that make it up, they are fun to be around too, so.

- So all good stuff.

- Thanks for being here, John. We appreciate it. Darin, as interim superintendent, hearing all of these things that these two amazing organizations are doing, and again, they are two of many in Waterford, but the two we're focusing on today, what are your thoughts about the importance of this type of community engagement with our school district?

- Well, we always tend to hear about the negative things that happen in our world. And there are certainly many challenges that we face as schools today. But we are so grateful for the Chamber and Waterford Foundation and many of our other community partners, because working on these, you know, problems alone, these challenges can be pretty overwhelming, but together, we can do great things, and not only do we have willing partners in the community, but we have some of the best of the best. And we're just... I've been very lucky to be a part of that as well.

- Yep, so there you have it. Together, we can do great things. Thank you, Darin, and again to John, Nikki, who was on earlier. Your investments in the Waterford School District community are not unnoticed and we appreciate you. This podcast is brought to you by Waterford School District's Department of School and Community Services, and is produced by Video Production Coordinator Jane Tekiele. I am the host of this podcast, Sarah Davis, and you can find all episodes of "WSD Voice" on our website at wsdmi.org. Or you can tune in to 89.5 WAHS, Radio Centro Multicultural, or any Waterford community cable channel. We also invite you to subscribe to the podcast, which is available on Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio, Spotify, Amazon Music. And if you wanna watch the recording on our own WSD YouTube channel. We so appreciate you listening today, and encourage you to tune in to future episodes of "WSD Voice," as we discuss topics geared toward inspiring, educating, and empowering our students, staff, alumni, and community to thrive.

This September, Waterford School District invested $30 million in early childhood education when it opened its brand new Stepanski Early Childhood Center - the district’s first building in over 50 years.

In this episode, Interim Superintendent Darin Holley, Stepanski Principal Andrea Bratton, Assistant Superintendent of Business and Operations Sandy Elka, and Director of Communications and Community Relations Sarah Davis discuss the details of the grand opening and what it took to complete this amazing project. 

Guests: 
Stepanski Principal Andrea Bratton
Assistant Superintendent of Business and Operations Sandy Elka

Hosts: 
Sarah Davis, Director of Communications and Community Relations
Darin Holley, Interim Superintendent
Jane Tekiele, Video Production Coordinator 

- Hello, welcome to "WSD Voice," a podcast focused on positive and informative news in Waterford School District. I am your host, Sarah Davis, the Director of Communications and Community Relations, and I'm here for season four of this award-winning podcast with my brand new co-host, Waterford School District Interim Superintendent Darin Holley. Darin, I believe this is your first time on the show.

- It is. Thank you so much for having me. It's great to be here.

- Of course. So over the summer, our superintendent, Scott Lindberg, whom you regularly saw on this podcast before, decided to retire. As the board of education searches for a new superintendent, Darin is filling in his interim, so we wish Scott Lindberg a very enjoyable and relaxing retirement. Certainly well deserved. Darin, in addition to interim superintendent, though, you are also assistant superintendent of pre-K five, so you have a lot going on. How's that going juggling the two titles right now?

- I was gonna say, it's just like juggling and I'm not a very good juggler. But no, we're doing our best. It really has been a joy. I'm able to see different aspects of our organization that I really haven't seen before. I've done a little bit of everything in this district in my roles. I've been a teacher, I've been in just about every building here. And it's an honor and privilege to be able to sit in for this, but it has been a challenge. It's been a lot of work, but I've enjoyed it. So people have really stepped up, I guess, to get the year started and I've really appreciated the hard work that our people do.

- Good. And one of those things though that you got to do as interim superintendent, was you got to cut the ribbon on our brand new $30 million Stepanski Early Childhood Center on September 14th.

- Yeah. What a great day. And just really proud of the district for its investment in early childhood education and really excited to see what that building will do in the future.

- Yep. And so that's exactly what we're gonna be talking about today on the podcast, the opening of the new early childhood center and Waterford School District's investment in early childhood learning. To help us with this discussion is Assistant Superintendent of Business and Operations Sandy Elka and Stepanski Principal Andrea Bratton, both of who are also first-time guests. So thank you to both of you for being here today as well.

- Well, thank you. I appreciate you having me here today,

- And thank you for inviting me.

- So I think it's important that before we begin talking about the grand opening and all of that, that we really hear about what Stepanski Early Childhood Center is. So Andrea, can you please explain what the center is and what you guys do there?

- Yes. Stepanski is a preschool for three- to five-year-olds. In those in-school programs, we have our early childhood special education for three- to five-year-olds We have our head start for three- to four-year-olds. We have our Great Start Readiness Program, also known as GSRP, for four-year-olds by December 1st. And we have our tuition-based threes program. We also service families in their homes for our early-on program, for children ages zero to three. We also provide Child Find where Waterford resident families can come in to discuss and determine if their child does have a disability or not. It might be speech, it might be occupational therapy needs, whatever it may be, so that we can help them ensure that their child has the best start possible. We are NAEYC accredited. All of our preschool classrooms use the HighScope curriculum, which is research-based. And we are a community of learners and that includes our students, staff, and families.

- Sounds like a great place with a lot of stuff going on. Very exciting. With that in mind, Darin, in August 2020, our community generously passed $150 million bond. And some of that money was set aside specifically for this big project, to create to the Stepanski Early Childhood Center. At the time, what was the vision for creating this new school and why was it needed?

- Well, first you gotta get through some history. So, quick history. The building was opened in 1945 as William Lake Elementary School. And eventually, it became an early childhood center in 1987. And in 1989, after AJ Stepanski had dedicated many years to serving on our board of education, the board voted to name this building AJ Stepanski Early Childhood Center. And this is the first brand new building that the district has opened in over 50 years.

- Yeah, pretty amazing.

- So the old Stepanski building, and we all loved it. it had a lot of nostalgia in our community, but we found that renovating that building had become increasingly challenging. It was two levels, so it was not ADA compliant and some of the needs of the students made that really challenging to service their needs. You know, buildings that were built at that age, they had one electrical plug in the classroom. So we have a lot more technology needs that rely on electricity. So trying to wire that building with almost one foot thick concrete slabs was very challenging. And renovating that building with the windows and everything, it just, it was time to really think about investing in something different that we could really maximize the space.

- Right. So with all of that in mind, how does the school's new layout and design help for better learning now, Andrea, compared to what you were working with before?

- Right. So as I mentioned previously, we do have our special education program as well. Last year, for example, we had several children on wheels. And now we're on one floor. They could access any part of the building, they could access the playgrounds appropriately. We were very fortunate to have amazing outdoor spaces. We have 88,000 square feet of playground space with 65 new pieces of playground equipment.

- I try them, they work well.

- Yeah, I saw you.

- A lot of that equipment was handpicked by the late Kathy Mailoux, who was a wonderful occupational therapist for the district for many years. In mind, when chosen, were the needs of students in terms of their physical needs, their sensory needs, and all of that. So we're really, really proud of those outdoor spaces as well. We also have, on the inside, our motor skills room so children can move and play and explore their gross motor skills. Also, we have the chemistry kitchen for those extra messy learning experiences and mixing of different concoctions and exploring chemistry in that way. We have our STEM lab, which is for design and engineering experiences and science and math. And then we also have the family welcome area where we greet families in the morning and visitors. So we have a pretty special place that really allows all of our learner's needs to be met and for explorative and really intentional learning to take place in a variety of ways.

- Yeah, it sounds amazing in there, and very intentional in what was picked and how the school was created. Sandy, you focus on things from the operational building perspective. So how is the new building better now from that point of view?

- So when we started the design process, we knew that we needed to move all the early childhood programs into one building. because currently, they were in Stepanski and Leggett That was basic. But as we processed through the design phase, we focused on making sure things like all the classrooms were the same size. That allowed them to be interchangeable. So what many schools do is they would have certain sizes for classrooms, certain sizes for special ed. We got away from that because this allows us to move the classrooms around as we need to do it. So that was one of the big things. But we also went ahead and did multiple playground areas. So basically, when students step out of their classroom, they're in a outside learning environment. So it wasn't like they all had to go to a different place in their facility. They could just walk right outside their classrooms. So part of the new building, which is always great, is being able to include that technology from the start instead of having to shoehorn it and wire it in after. So, you know, we have Promethean boards in the classrooms and we also have multiple cameras to protect the students and the staff.

- Yeah, and I think both you and Darin have mentioned the technology and I believe, I don't know, it was like 11.3 million or maybe even more at some point now that we've invested in technology in the past couple of years. And so when we talk about putting in new technology in these buildings, it's significant infrastructure upgrades. So like you said, already having it available to build in instead of having to add it in makes those improvements a lot easier.

- Yes.

- And they're a lot easier.

- Instead of trying to arrange all the technology around the one plug that was in the classroom, you can actually put it where it makes sense.

- Right, right. So on that note, we're actually gonna take a quick commercial break and we will be right back.

- Hello, Darin Holley here, interim superintendent of Waterford School District. At Waterford School District, we aim to create today's student to become tomorrow's leader, which is why we have recently invested $30 million into a new Stepanski Early Childhood Center. If you are interested in registering your child to attend Stepanski Early Childhood Center for next school year, please call the school at 666-9593 or visit our website, wsdmi.org to learn all about the new facility and the unparalleled learning opportunities that can provide for your child. That's 666-9593 or wsdmi.org. Come join us at WSD where the future is bright.

- Okay, and we're back on "WSD Voice," talking about the grand opening of Waterford School District's new Stepanski Early Childhood Center. So we have heard about how amazing this new school is, but it took time to get to this place. Sandy, after the bond passed, what were some of the next steps that you had to do to start creating this school?

- Well, even though we knew some of the basic ideas of what we wanted in the new building, we still needed to form a stakeholder team, which included staff, parents, community members, board members, as well as our architect, French, and our construction manager, Barton Malow. So that team was able to focus on what building needs we had, as well as the layout of the rooms and other spaces, and even the building colors. So they took us through a lot of work and did a lot of what you see at the buildings. And we had wishlist, like we want the childcare entrance to be near the front so that parents didn't have to go through the building to pick up their children. So some of those things we were able to incorporate in. In addition to the main stakeholder group, we also had other teams, what we call basically functional teams. So they focused on their particular area, like technology. They came in and said, "Where do we need the technology? Where's it gonna go? Where are our closets gonna go? Where do we need everything to go?" And then we had people like our security team, so Jim's looking at where we need to put that, and we got input from the township in Oakland County for those kind of things. We got input from the fire and police departments on where things should go and what they would like in the building. And then we also had our maintenance guys come, so they're working on the HVAC with what they wanted in there. So everybody got to have that time to really go, "This is a new building, we're not having to retrofit things, we can actually do it the way we would like to do it." And some of that's for operational efficiencies, some is just for the learning environment. And then we had a core team, which was also made up of staff that basically kept in touch with everybody and moved everybody along to make sure that all the decisions were being made in a timely manner.

- Okay.

- So then after that, in April of 2022, we broke ground on the project. And since that time, construction was nonstop at the site. Sandy, from a business and operations standpoint, what were some of the biggest challenges that we faced during that time?

- So it's interesting that right at the get-go, because we were doing this during COVID, we found out that the lead times for a lot of our materials were problematic. So one of the first things we had was basically the amount of steel we wanted to do. We just could not get it. And we talked a lot about whether we could wait and we decided that it was not worth it for some of it. So we were able to come up with different designs and that involves our construction manager, architects, as well as the people in the staff in the buildings to say, "Okay, is this something that's gonna affect us in a day to day?" No. So we were able to make those, and that happened basically all along because COVID did put us back on lead times for materials we needed, lead times, and materials we wanted. So we had discussions about that all the time. So we obviously, like I said, had specific meetings with teams so that we could go over these issues and have those discussions about what we wanted to do and how the timelines would be affected. But we also had biweekly construction meetings that oversee all of our construction that were through the bond, and because we had those every week, we were able to address some of these other issues that they came up. So everything from just the flooring lots, did we want to go with different lots or did we wanna wait? To, did we want a different flag pole because the flag pole is taking 16 weeks instead of four weeks? So I would say that it was constant, but luckily, the steel was the big issue at the beginning. Everything else, we were able to basically work through on a timely basis.

- Yeah. And it's great to hear. I mean, of course there's gonna be bumps in the road when you're putting such a huge project together, and it sounds like everyone came together to work on it and figured it out. But I'm sure it was frustrating at times for sure.

- You know, we saw it more as a challenge because we laughed about that there's no blueprint for doing a new building. Well, the last building we did 50 years ago would've never had the technology pieces in it. A lot of the things that we wanted to incorporate wouldn't have been there. So we laugh that even if we had it, it would probably have not been helpful to us.

- Right. Very, very true. And then after all that, this past September 14th, we held our grand opening celebration for the event and it was a huge success. The weather was perfect. Hundreds of people came out. I personally couldn't have been any happier with the way that it went. Darin, what did you think of the day?

- Yeah, it was absolutely beautiful. The sun was shining. It was extremely well attended and very well organized and planned. Thank you, Sarah. I mean, it really went without a hitch. We had a great turnout with families, community members. I saw some folks that I haven't seen in like, 15, 20 years in this district. And it was really great to see them come out and see the new facility. We had Sweet Reads there, handing out ice cream and great books. We had donuts with Waterford logos on them. I mean, what a nice touch, and people loved them. And just the community partnerships that showed up to show support and really to see the amazement that people had as they're walking through these spaces. And it really is an impressive site. So I can't think of a time that I've been more proud of this district.

- And with the hope of trying to catch some of that amazement, we went around and interviewed some of the parents and the students that were walking around. So we're going to play that clip right now. We are here with Adam and Juliana at the grand opening of the Stepanski Early Childhood Center. Juliana, what were you just telling me about why you wanted to come here today?

- Because I wanted to play.

- She wanted to play. Dad, what have you thought about, we noticed that you had been out here on the playground for a while, what do you think about the 80,000 square feet of playgrounds that we have here?

- It's pretty impressive that they've done all this. I think they said during the grand opening speech, this is the first new school building in 50 years. So I mean, they definitely put a lot into it, so it's awesome.

- Anything else aside from the playgrounds that you noticed that you thought might be of benefit to Juliana that she might like as a student?

- Everything is fenced off. And so as any parent, especially in this day and age, that's gonna add to our comfort and, you know, knowing that she's safe here.

- All right. Well thank you very much, Juliana. I hope you have a great time during this school year. All right?

- Oh yeah, oh yeah.

- So you have a daughter here. What is her name and what grade is she in? What program is she in at Stepanski?

- Her name is Kelly Russell and she is in the GSRP program and she's pre-K.

- Okay, is this your first year here at Stepanski or year two? First year. Okay. So what are your impressions about, we're here at the opening, what are your impressions with just the event in general?

- I think it was, overall, a great event. It looks like a lot of families came out. We're really excited about all of the free books and even the newer books that they offered as well was really nice, so I think this was really great.

- So I'm assuming that you kind of walked through and toward the building. Were there any rooms or anything that stuck out in particular to you that you thought would be helpful to your daughter as she comes into preschool that you thought was a good advantage to have?

- Well, the facility in general, with it being newer, I think that's just an advantage within itself. Just all the things that come with it. Even in the classroom, like how they have the big flat screen TV, kinda like an easel board, you can draw on it, write on it. And pull up like YouTube, things like that. That's easy access for the kids, I thought was really nice. I like the gym that they have. They do have like a pair of, or they're attempting to have a pair of like rain boots for all the kids to play outside in the rain if they do have it, which I thought was really cool too. So that's really nice.

- All right, Quinn, well thank you very much. We appreciate it. Yep. So again, so much fun that day. And then after the grand opening, students were able to start school on Monday, September 16th. Andrea, how has the new school year been going?

- It has really been wonderful, Sarah. I have to say that the support of central office and the school board and childcare has been extremely helpful, but also just refreshing to know that there's such a care for early childhood in the district. I think that with their support, we've been able to do a lot of things in the building that really supported the function of the building. And in that, we had a very successful start to the school year. Yes, we had a bit more traffic than expected on the first day of school, but we had a lot of very interested and eager grandparents along for the ride as well, which was amazing to see. And they also shared their stories on that day too, of their other children that had gone to the former Stepanski building. But after that, we've settled down, we've gotten into the school year. It has been really going very well. The comradery of the staff to prepare our new spaces has been amazing. We started the school year of this year for the first time with free preschool for all four-year-olds. So anyone who was four before December 1st could get free preschool in Waterford. So really, we've been just working hard on getting that word out and continuing that effort. But I must say, the staff and everyone at central office, the school board, childcare, everyone has been so instrumental in ensuring the success of a wonderful start to the building.

- Good. Glad to hear that it's going so well over there. I know that, like you said, there's been a lot of partners in all of this. Darin, who are some people that we would like to thank?

- Well, first we, we really need to start with this lady right here, Andrea, and her staff. Man, it's so exciting to have a new building, but the minutia of the planning, the preparation, the flexibility, the changes in schedule, it really took a lot of a test in patience in everybody, but man, your staff really stepped up as well as you did, and they were just there. And you can tell that they take great pride in not only the development of that building 'cause they had a hand in it, but then, just as things came together, there were boxes in the hallway the last evening. And I don't know what time people left, but it really was impressive to see all that come together. Our board of education, who a long time ago, really set the vision for allowing us to have this early childhood center. They've really been supportive along the way and I just can't say enough about their support through this and having that vision. Back before we knew COVID was happening, but it really is amazing. And of course, Sandy here, again, dealing with the minutia of the day-to-day, a lot of the things that you had to deal with were not fun. They were not exciting. They're not anything that people would say they want to come to work and do. But you know, anybody that's built a house or known someone who has, it's a huge test in patience, in your mental fortitude and your resilience and just persistence to ensure that things get done in a timely manner and done right. And our community, not only did they pass the bond that allowed this building to be possible, but all those that have been living around the construction zones have really, you know, not all of them were happy on every day, but I really appreciate their patience through this. I think it really adds value to our community and I think they recognize that as well. So we appreciate their support in that and we hope we have a good relationship with them moving forward.

- Yep. Absolutely agree. I thought it would be interesting to just share a couple of quick construction facts before we end the episode for today. The new school was built by Barton Malow and their contractors and it took over a hundred thousand hours and 290 tons of steel to build this facility.

- So I guess you found that steel eventually?

- Yes, we did find steel. We found it in a different form, but yeah, we needed it. The center is over 67,000 square feet, has 31 classrooms, 43 bathrooms, and can fit up to 617 students. A fun fact is the main quarter is the same length as a football field, including the end zones. And during construction, 35 trees did have to be removed, but I think the community should know that we're now in the process of actually planting 332 trees. So once those are all grown in, we'll have even more than was there originally.

- Darin, looking forward, how do you see the early childhood center evolving in the next five or 10 years? And what are your hopes for its long-term impact on the district and maybe even the community?

- Well, it certainly is a great opportunity for our first time to engage with families and students. I mean, what a better building for them to see and be immersed in our community. And ideally, this will help boost our enrollment. You know, coming to a new building is exciting and we've always said that if we can get them to come, then we can get them to stay. And our staff is so dedicated, not just at Stepanski, but all through the district. So if we can get them in the door and provide them a welcoming experience and Stepanski is always known as the happiest place on earth, once they have that taste, they're not gonna wanna leave. So I really think that this is gonna help the whole entire district.

- Wonderful. All right. Thank you Darin, Andrea, Sandy. This is an exciting time in our district's history and I know we're all looking forward to what the future holds. It's gonna be a bright future. This podcast is brought to you by Waterford School District's Department of School and Community Services, and is produced by Video Production Coordinator Jane Tekiele. I am the host of this podcast, Sarah Davis, and you can find all episodes of "WSD Voice" on our website at wsdmi.org or you can tune into 89.5 WHS, Radio Central Multicultural, or any Waterford community cable channel. We also invite you to subscribe to the podcast, which is available on Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio, Spotify, Amazon Music, and if you watch the recording, on our WSD YouTube channel. We so appreciate you listening today and encourage you to tune into future episodes of "WSD Voice" as we discuss topics geared toward inspiring, educating, and empowering our students, staff, alumni, and community to thrive.