Supporting Student Achievement

Newaygo County RESA Celebrates School Board Recognition Month 

Newaygo County RESA is joining 529 local and 56 intermediate school districts across Michigan to celebrate January as School Board Recognition Month. 
“Our school board members spend countless hours of unpaid time working to provide the best possible education for our students,” said Superintendent Dr. Lori Tubbergen Clark. “They also serve as the corporate board of directors for some of our county’s largest employers. Celebrating School Board Recognition Month is one way to say ‘thanks’ for all they do.” 
School board members represent their fellow citizens’ views and priorities in the complex enterprise of maintaining and running the community’s public schools, Tubbergen Clark said. They also reinforce the principle of local control over public education, which is an important, highly valued aspect of education in Michigan. 
“Too often the efforts of school board members go unrecognized,” Tubbergen Clark said. She added that the school board’s main goal is to support student achievement. To achieve that goal, the board focuses on the following needs: 
• Creating a vision for what parents and citizens want their school district to become and how to make student achievement the top priority. 
• Setting standards for what students must learn and be able to do. 
• Assessing whether schools achieve their goals and whether students are learning. 
• Accounting for the outcomes of decisions and by tracking progress and reporting results. 
• Aligning the use of the district’s human and financial resources. 
• Creating a safe and orderly climate where students can learn and teachers can teach. 
• Collaborating to solve common problems and to support common successes. 
• Focusing on continuous improvement by questioning, examining, revising, refining and revisiting issues related to student achievement. 
“Even though we are making a special effort during January to show appreciation for our school board members, we recognize that their contributions reflect a year-round effort on their part,” Tubbergen Clark said. “They are dedicated individuals who are committed to improving student achievement and to fighting for the best for all of our students.” 
The men and women serving the public schools in Newaygo County are: Big Jackson Public School: Charlotte Lockerby, Laura Johnson, Brad Crawford, Sue Jones, Lynn Ulman 
Fremont Public Schools: Matt Hendrie, Jennifer Scott, Rick St. Peter, Peter Slovinski, Kim Rasch, Michael Campeau, Crystal Calkins 
Grant Public Schools: Kris Lesley, Shawn Moore, Neil Geers, Dianne Ring, Damon Arsenault, George Brown, Rachal Gort 
Hesperia Community Schools: Mary Sturtevant, Ryan Good, Michelle K. Allen, Mark Kraus, Julie Burrell, Scott Wenberg, Alan Daniels 

Newaygo Public Schools: Bret Brummel, Thomas Frisbie, Vince Grodus, Morgan Heinzman, Jami Schultz, Reid Sherwood, Melissa Swinehart 

White Cloud Public Schools: Holly Bowman, Megan Cruzan, Keith Derks, Elaine Engel, Jim Jones, Mindy Mench, Harry Stevens 

​Newaygo County RESA: David Hewitt, Ed Haynor, Karen Kasankiewicz, Laura Johnson, Sarah Robinson 

---