This mural was created by Whitehills Elementary School students after their reading of "The Together Tree" by Aisha Saeed as part of a social justice project during the month of November. (Photo from ELPS Facebook page)

ELPS Holds ‘Giving Opportunity’ for Holiday Season

The East Lansing Public Schools (ELPS) Board of Education heard reports from the assistant superintendent, a board student representative and about a social justice project at Whitehills Elementary School during the Monday (Nov. 27) meeting . 

The ELPS student rep reports on activities at ELHS.

Student representative Holyn Walsh began the meeting with updates from East Lansing High School (ELHS), including the conclusion of the fall play “Noises Off”, which grossed $3,600. She also told the board about a recent fourth-place award for the ELHS Science Olympiad Club at their Troy tournament and “Kindness Grams,” a recent ELHS Student Council initiative where students wrote notes to friends or teachers that were then delivered by council members.  

ELPS is collecting donations for families in need during the holidays.

Assistant Superintendent Glenn Mitcham filled in for Superintendent Dori Leyko and provided the superintendent report to the board, sharing about a “holiday winter break giving opportunity.” In December 2022, ELPS provided over $4,000 to district families in need, all based on donations from East Lansing community members.

Donations for ELPS families will be collected through Dec. 13.

Mitchum said families are encouraged to donate again for the 2023 holiday season, noting that all donations should be made by the end of the day Dec. 13. Donations can be sent to dori-leyko via Venmo, or made through a check made out to ELPS and marked “ELPS Support, Care of Superintendent’s Office.” All donations will be forwarded directly to families prior to the ELPS winter break, which is Dec. 22-Jan. 5. 

Mitcham also shared about the recent donation of a book vending machine from the Kiwanis Club of East Lansing. The machine, at a cost of $7,000, comes in place of the Kiwanis Club’s usual annual donation of dictionaries and thesauri for MacDonald Middle School students. This change is due to the more common student use of digital dictionaries and thesaurus websites, as opposed to hard-copy sources.

The book vending machine will be installed shortly after the new year in Donley Elementary School and Mitcham said he hopes it is the first of many in the school district. Students will use tokens to access books from the machine, which they can then take home with them. Fundraising to stock the Donley machine and purchase machines for other schools is ongoing. 

Mitcham also reminded board members and ELPS parents that at-home COVID-19 tests are available at each East Lansing school. To access tests, parents can call their respective school office to pick up the tests or have them sent home with their student. 

A community member raises the issue of school start times.

During public comment East Lansing community member Kyle Enger raised the issue of school start times, reading aloud an article from the “Economist” that included studies recommending start times after 8 a.m. and 8:30 a.m.

“I don’t want to minimize the challenges with changing school start times,” Enger said. “But I really think [adjusting school start times] is something we need to look at and start planning for.”

Social justice activity leads to creation of murals at Whitehills Elementary.

The meeting concluded with an update from ELPS’s newest principal, Molly Williams, at Whitehills Elementary School. Williams was joined by Whitehills Social Justice team member and teacher Amy Hollbrook and shared recent social justice focused activities at the school that included a mural made by students based on their reading of “The Together Tree.”  The children’s book by Aisha Saeed focuses on “extending kindness and standing up in the face of intolerance.” 

This mural was created as part of Whitehills Elementary School students celebrating Community Month during November. (Photo from ELPS Facebook page)

Williams and Hollbrook highlighted several similar ongoing and upcoming engagement projects in which students read books focusing on themes of kindness, acceptance and anti-bullying. They said student engagement is then furthered through an art piece or interactive activity. 

Video of the Monday board meeting can be viewed here. The final ELPS Board of Education meeting in 2023 will take place at 7 p.m. Dec. 11, in the lower level of ELHS.