Last week we looked at Journey, a school in Ludington that for 10 years offered an alternative option for education. However, unable to overcome some facility issues, limited funding and other challenges, the school closed in the spring of 2014. Like the mythical phoenix rising out of the ashes, G2S (Gateway to Success Academy) opened its doors in the fall of 2016 to grateful and excited teachers and students.
G2S is a charter public school whose district encompasses Mason County, Oceana County and part of Lake County and includes seven school districts in those counties. As its own district, it collects state funding directly per student. Journey Principal Jamie Bandstra reported the Leadership Board received two large grants from the state to start G2S and private donations from some very generous donors. John and Anita Wilson from Ludington (“Pennies from Heaven”) funded the purchase of the property and the facility. The career experience and passion of board members, past and present, has always been invaluable.
Today G2S has a student body of 120 students in grades 6-12. “We own a bus which makes a two-hour run to pick up students in Hart, Ludington, Fountain, Custer and Walhalla. Baldwin schools transport their own students. The route changes year by year as students change. We have transient students,” current principal Kerry Newberg shared. “Some change districts frequently, and we make stops where it benefits the students most. If students come from outside our district, like Manistee, they provide their own transportation.”
On Thursday, Nov. 20, G2S hosted its fall exhibition to give the public an opportunity to visit the school and hear students explain their projects. The Oceana Echo was privileged to attend. There was a wide range of demonstrations, topics and interesting classrooms to explore. There was a chemistry demonstration showing how to produce a blue light by adding hydrogen peroxide to another chemical compound. The junior high students were explaining their electromagnetic discoveries and sharing podcasts in which they imagined and illustrated a person whom they interviewed. There were 12th graders who designed an animal, illustrated the animal, and described its diet, habitat and adaptations to its environment.
Another group of students made outdoor greenhouses on raised garden beds to grow a variety of plants and vegetables, experimented with propagating them and even learned how to preserve beets by pickling them. Two students displayed the different forms of stitching they were learning in an elective class, and two more explained their project of identifying a trend and exploring the reasons behind the trend. One student chose to examine the trend of wearing baggy clothes. Another class assignment was designing and constructing a model of a small house for oneself that did not exceed 600 square feet. Then there was a woodshop, a space for welding instruction, a room dedicated for guitar lessons with professional musician John Merchant, a drumming class and a recording studio for audio-visual projects.
G2S has a variety of unique curriculum features. In the trimester program, students have required core classes and one hour each day for an elective per trimester. The elective is scheduled before everyone’s lunch hour. However, on Thursday every week they all participate in SEL (Social Emotional Learning), which focuses on self-awareness, self-management, social awareness and relationship skills. The experience gained through the Leadership and Resiliency program at Journey laid the foundation for SEL at G2S.
Another feature is a class in personal finance and consumer math – money matters for grades 11 and 12 taught by Greg Taranko. The project for each student is to choose a job, research what the job pays, extrapolate the annual income after making all the necessary payroll deductions, then budget the income to cover all the expenses necessary for living independently – housing, food, transportation, entertainment, etc.
There is also the Food Club, which works with the Ludington Food Club. Students staff the store, unloading and shelving food deliveries on Tuesdays and Thursdays. An inventory is kept, and each student has their own barcode under which to make purchases. Food and personal hygiene items can be “purchased” with points. Students receive 20 points per week, which they are free to spend when and how they choose. Bread, ramen noodles, mac and cheese, milk, eggs, various meats, canned beans and fruit, are available for modest amounts of points for the students and their families. Some of these “prices” include: a quart of milk was 4 points, a dozen eggs was 2 points, a loaf of bread was 3 points, cheese was 4 points, a container of yogurt was a ½ point, etc. This is a creative and dignified way to meet the needs of students regardless of their income.
G2S has an unusual grading system. Students still get letter grades A–F, but they know what the baseline requirements are for each class. Completing the minimum requirements earns a D. Students must go “above and beyond” to reach a C, B or A, and are told what they need to do for each level.
Superintendent Melissa Zumbach and Principal Newberg admit G2S is still working to shed misconceptions and labels associated with Journey and its students. “Many people misunderstand who we are and what we do. We may be an alternative school, but not in the sense of being a lesser option or a poorer value. Our method of education is simply different. Some students come because they struggle in a traditional classroom. Recommendations and referrals come from school administrators and parents. Some high academic achievers come because they want project-based learning. One of our recent graduates got a full-ride scholarship to the University of Michigan. Thirty-one of our graduates have gone on to West Shore Community College.”
G2S has eight teachers and a large support staff of tutors, para-pros, special ed teachers, a social worker and a behavior specialist. The office administrator, Brenda Anderson, has been with Journey and G2S from the beginning. Formerly principal at Journey and G2S, Jamie Bandstra is now director and principal of Summit Tech Center, a career and technical education program operated by West Shore Educational Service District on the campus of West Shore Community College. This gives him an opportunity to work with G2S grads who are among the 465 students in the program this year.
Any student in the Shelby, Hart, Pentwater, Walkerville, Ludington, Baldwin or Mason County school districts is eligible to attend G2S. As mentioned earlier, education is not a “one size fits all” formula, so it is a great benefit to have this alternative as an option for students. Families who are interested in learning more about the school or in registering a child can go to the school’s website (g2sacademy.org) or can call the school office at 231-845-0922.
Current G2S Board Members are: Margaret Mitchell, president; Jack Provencal, vice-president; Wayne Brown, treasurer; and Karen Haldeman, secretary; and members Karl Schrumpf, Lesley Murphy and Chris VanWyck.
