GBCS Superintendent's Fall Update

In the Spring, she applied for a grant through the GBEF to support a new program at GBHS recognizing new students. In August, the GBHS Admin Team and SRO's split up into groups to visit new students at their homes to welcome them to GB. They handed out "GB Swag" bags to our new kids in an effort to formally induct them into the "Bobcat Culture"! Great work!

Watch a documentary video made by Minted New York featuring Grant Fisher's rise to an Olympic medal.

The district worked with Hilton Screeners and the GBHS Student Store to create T-shirts with a We R 1 GB logo on them for Homecoming week and in recognition of the one year anniversary of the deadly attack on The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Grand Blanc. A portion of the proceeds from those sales were collected for The Lillly and Blair Foundation, an organization that helps find treatments for kids, like our own Max Majewski at Reid Elementary, with a rare disease called SPG4. The fundraiser made $1650, and we are humbled to report that Hilton generously "rounded that up" to $2000. Kent Elliott from Hilton came to deliver the check to Max at Reid in person. Thank you to everyone who purchased a shirt and to Hilton for partnering with us and boosting that donation!

This was an amazing tribute to those that were lost held on the anniversary of last year's tragedy, and moreover, a testament to the resiliency of our Grand Blanc community. Because of the timing of Homecoming this Fall, we tried to incorporate a theme of community into the festivities with the We R 1 GB campaign and the buildings' efforts to give back in service that week. Thank you, again, to our staff for their response over this past year to support all those impacted.

This next May will mark our last election in this cycle of renewals. On May 4th, we will seek renewal of our Non-Homestead Millage. This is funding generated only on non-primary residences - businesses and second homes - in the community. All Michigan school districts must levy these 18 mills on non-homestead property in order to receive their full foundation allowance from the state. It is a major source of funding for Michigan schools.

It's important for us all to promote that this will not raise taxes and has NO impact to taxes on primary family homes.We will plan a social media campaign to get this information out in the community prior to spring break, as that's when absentee ballots will be mailed. Please make sure you get out and vote, and encourage your friends and family to do the same!

Steve Simmons serves as a music teacher for Grand Blanc Community Schools, a lecturer at the University of Michigan-Flint, and executive director of Grand Blanc Youth Arts. Through these roles, Simmons has become a leading advocate for Arts Education, impacting thousands of children and families throughout Mid-Michigan.

One of his most significant achievements has been founding the Grand Blanc Youth Arts (GBYA), a nonprofit dedicated to providing accessible, year-round arts programming for children. What began as an annual summer arts camp has grown into a thriving community arts organization. In just two years, GBYA has served more than 300 students, partnered with over 30 local teaching artists, and provided mentorship opportunities for UM-Flint music and art education majors.

Simmons is also an accomplished grant writer who has secured 44 grants totaling more than $273,000 since becoming a teacher. These funds have supported youth theater productions, visual art classes, music ensembles, arts field trips, stage upgrades, musical instrument purchases, and other initiatives that have increased his students’ access to the arts.

One of Steve’s most distinctive accomplishments is the creation of Michigan’s only Zimbabwean-inspired Marimba Band program. He has hand-built 22 marimbas used by hundreds of students across Genesee County. This youth program has traveled around the state and his marimba arrangements have been selected for performance and educational use by ensembles internationally.

We here in the district know what an amazing educator Steve is, and how much his efforts have improved access to the arts, especially for youth, in our area. Congratulations on this well-deserved recognition, Mr. Simmons.

Congratulations to GBHS student and Bobcats Football player, Gavin Raysin, who has been selected as one of two Detroit Lions nominees for the NFL Latino Youth Honors. He was recently recognized at a Lions home game during Latino Heritage month! Good luck to Gavin as the NFL selects eight of these seniors to receive a grant award that can be used for college, including $25,000 for both the male and female national winners and $5000 grants for each of the six other finalists.

"The NFL Latino Youth Honors celebrates the incredible impact of young leaders who are using the leadership lessons of football to uplift and inspire others, creating lasting impact on their schools, neighborhoods and communities," said Marissa Solis, NFL Senior Vice President of Global Brand & Consumer Marketing.

Fall Show: Radium Girls - November 19-21

"Radium Girls is DW Gregory's gripping drama based on the true story of female laborers who were poisoned and killed by their factory's radium-based paint in New Jersey in the mid-1920s. Radium Girls fiercely examines the commercialization of science, the pursuit of both health and wealth, the power of the underdog, and the fierce injustice laborers in America have faced, and may even continue to have in the present."

Spring Show: Oliver! April 15-17

"Bringing Charles Dickens' beloved novel to life, Lion Bart's Oliver takes audience on a wild adventure through Victorian England. Join young, orphaned Oliver Twist as he navigates the London's underworld of theft and violence, searching for a home, a family, and most importantly, for love."

We can't wait to see our students perform in these productions!

On Tuesday, November 3rd, our SRO's conducted emergency planning PD for all of our secondary staff. This included ALICE, C-STAG and Reunification updates.

It is bittersweet that we are lost a member of the Bobcat family on Friday, October 16th, as Sergeant Ryan Rouse left his post as SRO for GBCS. Ryan has worked in the district for nearly a decade and has had a tremendous impact on supporting the safety of our students and staff. We wish him well with his promotion to a Shift Supervisor with the GB City PD.

This past week, we interviewed candidates for Ryan's replacement and our rotating SRO position as well. Our new permanent SRO will be Det. Marcus Kelly! Marcus has been with the district for a couple of years now and will move from the temporary position he has held. He has been an asset to our GBHS team and will continue to lead the efforts that Ryan started well into the future.

We are also happy to introduce Det. Tom Barber as our new rotating SRO at GBHS West Campus. Tom previously served as an SRO in Northville Schools and will bring a wealth of knowledge to our team. Welcome Tom!

Since our beloved K9 Ace will be transitioning to road patrol with the departure of Sergeant Rouse, Det. Kelly will be working toward acquiring a new K9 partner who can build relationships with students and staff, support school safety and become the next familiar face and wagging tale in our buildings. Grand Blanc City PD is raising funds to support the addition. The link is below if you would like to contribute.

Thank you to Alex Elias, Jenna Houser and Eric Jewell for leading our district exploration of screen time and the use of Artificial Intelligence. They are working at the county level to create structures for local districts along with representatives from other local schools and Michigan Virtual.

Meanwhile, our in-district team is made up of 12 staff members who are working to establish some goals for this year in Grand Blanc. We currently are looking at the following for 26-27:

• Research on screen time and mental health to guide the future of our one-to-one program K-5
• Cataloging district documents into Google Gemini Notebook to create searchable AI databases for policy, curriculum and personnel
• Updating Staff & Student Acceptable Use Policy during our biennial Rights & Responsibilities Handbook updates that will take place later this year
• Creating parameters for Strategic Planning re-writes in our next planning cycle, which will begin with the Steering Committee in the Fall of 2027

Below is an article from the most recent edition of the Community Foundation of Greater Flint’s (CFGF) annual report highlighting our “Everyday Matters” proactive attendance initiative. Thank you to Student Services Coordinator Sally Hohn and WMS Assistant Principal Matt Adams for their work promoting these efforts in GB! We know that attendance matters and in order to learn, kids need to be in school. We were happy to share some of our efforts promoting attendance, and are thankful for the support of the CFGF in the initiatives that are in place.

On September 10, we gathered with the Board of Education, Facilities and the Tennis Program to cut the ribbon on the newly completed tennis courts at Grand Blanc High School. The decision was made last year to move the courts closer to other athletic facilities, as the old courts are in a state where they are in need of replacement soon, anyway.

There are 8 new courts, with one set of two of "championship" courts featuring a larger, nicer seating area for spectators and lights for play after dark. These courts will be open to the community after school/athletic use/hours. The Boys' Tennis Team has been able to use them this Fall for matches, and GBHS Phys Ed classes have already been seen playing on them during the day, as well.

The courts were made with post-tension concrete, where cables were place within the concrete and tightened and then released after it cured. This method is supposed to make the system last longer without cracking and shifting than other surface options, especially in fluctuating temperatures like we have here in Michigan, and have been used for years in the construction of parking ramps, bridges and high-rises.

Thank you to our GBHS Construction Trades students, who are currently working on a storage building for the tennis facility.

With the passing of the 2026 Zero-Increase Bond, the former tennis court area will be become part of the new Performing Arts Center, which is currently in the design phase with construction planned to begin in the summer of 2027.

This Fall, we will open the window to nominate GBCS staff member for an APPLE award by November 6, 2026.

Anyone can nominate a staff member who's recently been observed to go above and beyond in their service to our students, families and/or the community. We look forward to hearing about some of the excellent work of our staff members through those nominations. It is always a difficult choice as we have so many outstanding candidates each semester.

GBHS Hope Squad held a viewing party for the video they were featured in for Genesee Health Systems, and a resulting 30-second commercial that will also be airing nation-wide! Hope Squad in Grand Blanc has expanded from the high school into the middle schools, and they are a group of enthusiastic and uplifting students who are clearly ready to make a difference in our schools!

The Grand Blanc Hope Squad has handled dozens of referrals. Their job is not to solve other students' problems, but to identify students who are struggling to trusted adults so that they can get help. There are adult advisors in each building and referrals are handled through Counseling and Administration as appropriate. If a situation is urgent and it's after school hours, they are asked to call 911. Students see and hear things that staff do not, in person, via text, and on social media. As Betsy Kato indicated at their recent meeting, if even one intervention makes an impact that potentially saves a life, then it's all worth it.

Hope Squad is spreading throughout Genesee County schools, and we are proud of our students for being leaders in the expansion of this peer-to-peer program locally. GBHS student Skyler Wamsley is serving on the National Hope Squad Council this year and shared some resources during their recent meeting, as well.

If you ever hear or see something and aren't sure if intervention is necessary, please feel free to contact your Hope Squad advisor or counseling office, Okay2Say, or if a situation is urgent, call 911.

Building Hope Squad Advisors:

GBHS

Anna Foltz

Stephen Kennedy

Betsy Wambaugh

EMS

Jill Kennedy-Waller

Ashley Potter

WMS

Dan Morey

Paula Douglas

Bobcat Innovation

Melanie Brock

Karen Cormany

On Monday, October 26, our Board of Education hosted our annual New Employee Dinner to recognize new staff from the last year. This is always a great event, as the Board of Education and GBCS Administration get to know a little about our new team members and see their faces. Welcome to all who have become Bobcats in the last year!

For three hours, the team presented on our four strategies and 23 action plans. The good news is that many of these plans have become operational over these past four years in our district. We've realized the majority of our goals in the Strategic Plan during this time, and have much to be proud of as a district!

The Core Team report will be presented to the Board of Education in the next month, and then we will convene select members of the Steering Committee at a November Virtual Retreat to review the recommended addition of one new Action Plan related to Artificial Intelligence. This action plan will reference some of our goals for 2026-27 and set the stage for the new Strategic Planning process to start next Fall in 2027.

Our Bobcat Advisory Councils for 2026-2027 are set! I'll begin these meetings this month starting with the Parent/Guardian Advisory Council. This will be followed by Student and Staff Advisory meetings in November/December.

Thank you to all of our applicants and people willing to share their insights with me through these informal conversations. Each year, these meetings are something I truly look forward to and appreciate as it gives us fresh perspectives of how things are functioning throughout our school buildings and departments.

The ARCC is open daily to support therapy groups, well-being trainings and other healthy practices in our community. GHS has established a Resiliency Center Advisory Team that I am fortunate to serve. This team meets regularly to supports this resource in our community, and we are fortunate to have such a great partner in GHS to help our community continue to heal.

So far our costs have been coming in on or below budget, which is great news! We intend to begin construction near Memorial Day on the GBHS main entrance so it can be ready for students returning in August, 2027. The Myers and PAC projects will begin later in the summer, with an anticipated completion at Myers of August, 2028, and the PAC in August of 2029.

We are currently working with our Bobcat Innovation and Early Childhood programs to plan for their move out of the Perry Center and temporarily into West Middle School and Anderson Elementary buildings, respectively. This move is now scheduled for next summer, as well, due to the vast amount of work just to empty the building prior to construction. The next phase of design at Perry will begin later this winter, and we should anticipate a start on that project in the fall of 2029.

There are obviously many moving pieces, and we are making some exciting progress for certain!

As we know, there have been some incidents of injury in the community, and while we don't want to police their wider use, we do want to do our best to keep everyone safe while on campus. If you see riders in our parking lots after hours, please feel free to bring it to the attention of security, or call the appropriate City or Twp. police.

This Fall, West Middle School gathered, first indoors, in memory of former teacher, Jaimi Hegenauer, to dedicate a lecture hall in her name; and then outdoors at the WMS football field in memory of Coach Logan Welch. If you are at West Middle School, you will now be able to read a short memorial installed at each of these locations describing these wonderful community members who were lost to us far too soon. Hegenauer Hall and Welch Field will carry their memory into the future. Thank you to Diana Balbaugh and Matt Adams and all who helped make this happen for our students and families.