Kids : In the News

Read the entire story here.

The MSU Community Music School has opened in a new space on Hagadorn Rd.

According to excerpts from the story:

The school moved because its lease at the previous location on Timberlane Street expired. It then moved to an MSU building, formerly the University Reformed Church.

Read the entire story here.

The MSU Community Music School hosts music therapy for disabled children.

According to excerpts from the article:

As a part of the school’s music therapy program, the Capital Area Down Syndrome Association, or CADSA, sponsors a special music session, called Together…Let’s Jam!, from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. one Wednesday every month.

Read the entire story here.

A new Leslie School District nature center celebrated its grand opening on Oct. 14.

Read the entire story here. 

The playground at the City Rescue Mission Shelter for Women and Children will soon receive an upgrade.

According to excepts from the article:

South Lansing Kiwanis raised $12,000 to help fund the project, Mission Play, which was matched by Lansing-based Lake Trust Credit Union. The project had a group of 50 volunteers working Saturday to replace playground equipment at the site.

Read the entire article here.

The Lansing-based Early Childhood Investment Corp. has awarded $928,233 in ReImagine Early Years grants to school districts across the state.

According to excerpts from the article:

The Early Childhood Investment Corp., based in Lansing, (ECIC) has awarded $928,233 in ReImagine Early Years grants to 11 school districts across the state to foster innovative P-8 (prenatal through age 8) educational reform.

"Making sure children have high quality early learning opportunities from birth through age 8 is crucial to their later success in school and in life," said Jessica Gillard, director of early learning and innovation for the ECIC, a public/private initiative that is spurring investment in enhanced delivery of early childhood programs through system-building.

State Superintendent Mike Flanagan prioritized the focus on early childhood education as a key component for Project ReImagine applications.

"We understand the value of providing children with quality learning well-before they toddle into kindergarten classrooms," Flanagan said. "These grant funds will go a long way to help every school district realize that necessary shift."

Read the entire article here.

Thanks to sponsorship from the Lansing Economic Area Partnership (LEAP) Inc., and area students, the Extreme Entrepreneurship Tour made its way to Lansing last Wednesday.

According to excerpts from the article:

Author and entrepreneur Arel Moodie spoke to about 450 high school students from 14 Lansing-area high schools as part of the Extreme Entrepreneurship Tour's stop in Lansing. The tour then moved on to East Lansing.

"Entrepreneurs solve problems for people in the form of a business," Moodie said.

Moodie, 26, started his first company in college and is now part owner of Extreme Entrepreneurship Education Corp., the New York company that presents the nationwide tour.

LEAP's president and CEO, Denyse Ferguson, hopes broadening the program gets the entrepreneurial gears turning in high school students' minds.

"Expanding our reach to these students enables us to tap into our youth at an even earlier stage of their lives and introduce them to an entrepreneurial mind-set," Ferguson said.

"The kids totally responded to it, they all wanted to talk to Arel (Moodie) and hear more. I think part of the lesson is to get them that young. College is great, but if you can start with some of those freshman, it's fantastic."

Read the entire article here.

Understanding the importance of community, Detroit native and MSU grad Marcus Brown opened the Village Summit, a micro community center to provide services for youth and unemployed adults in the area.

According to excerpts from the article:

Living on Barnes Avenue near Washington Avenue for close to 15 years, Brown and his wife, Chitra Pulliam, watched foreclosures and unemployment devastate the area. Pooling their savings for retirement, they decided to invest in the neighborhood.

In February 2009, they purchased an early 20th century home at 119 E. Barnes. The idea was to turn the house into a community center.

“If you see a problem, go for it.  If you give people the tools to make decisions, give people the opportunity to work, they will take ownership,” Brown, an august former Marine, said. “People here may not have the money to donate, but they have the time and willingness to help out. The neighborhood has been extremely supportive and has exceeded my dreams.”

Read the entire article here.

The Information Technology Empowerment Center (ITEC), focused on helping area children learn science, engineering, technology and math skills, will soon have a home base in a refurbished Lansing school.

According to excerpts from the article:

After earning more than $150,000 in grants during the past year, in addition to other grant matches and donations, the organization is creating a home base to supplement its traveling programs that have been used in eight locations to reach more than 700 students during the past two years, according to Kirk Riley, executive director for ITEC.

The money will fund the creation of ITEC Pathways, a learning center in the former Holmes Street School that will offer technology instruction for mostly middle school students through activities such as programming robots and video games.

Read the entire article here.

Local middle and high school students spent a week at Michigan State University (MSU) learning crime scene investigation techniques from police and FBI agents.

According to excerpts from the article:

The program—run by the Office of Gifted and Talented Education, part of MSU's Honors College—ended Friday.

To participate, students needed at least a 3.5 grade-point average, strong test scores and a teacher recommendation. The weeklong overnight camp cost $1,127. Scholarships were available.

During Friday's lesson, forensic artists from the FBI and Michigan State Police discussed how to interview witnesses to create composite sketches of suspects.

Other camp activities included identifying characteristics of skeletons, observing a pig autopsy, fingerprinting, matching tire and shoe impressions, and analyzing a mock crime scene using evidence such as blood spatters and bullets.

Read the rest of the article here.

The first county park in Clinton County is 42 acres and took six years to complete. With lots of accessible amenities—including an on-site, off-road floating wheelchair—it's likely to be a big hit with people who have disabilities.

According to excerpts from the article:

Francis Motz County Park, in Greenbush Township near St. Johns, opened Saturday. The 42-acre park, which is open seasonally, offers an array of accessibility features in an effort to include people with disabilities in all park activities, said Jerry Jaloszynski, county parks and green space coordinator.

The park's accessibility features include wide concrete sidewalks, picnic tables with side and end wheelchair entrances, wheelchair-accessible openings on a 60-foot fishing pier, barrier-free unisex toilet rooms and a special needs bathroom with a wall-mounted medical table.

"One of the really exceptional things about the park is that if you're coming in a wheelchair, you don't even have to wonder if there's going to be a bathroom stall open or if there's going to be a picnic table," he said. "You really have full access."

The park will loan out an all-terrain wheelchair that can travel over sand and float in the water.

Read the entire article here.