GLADSTONE & RAPID RIVER, Mich. (WZMQ) – This week marks the beginning of a new school year for students in Gladstone and Rapid River.
“It’s literally my favorite time of year,” said Jay Kulbertis, Superintendent of Gladstone Area Public Schools and Rapid River Schools. “Obviously, my second favorite time of year is the end of the school year. Everyone comes in with that fresh energy, and it’s a whole lot of enthusiasm and excitement.”
The hallways of Gladstone Area Public Schools are noisy with students now, but over the summer, they were filled with a different kind of commotion. At the high school, the district partnered with the Gladstone Braves Fan Club to renovate the weight room.
“Our athletics director has a vision in combination with our gym teachers and administrators on how they want to get every single student to be more active,” Kulbertis said.
The district also installed new lockers in the junior high.
“Our custodians were able to remove all of the old lockers, and we ordered new, larger lockers,” said Kulbertis. “It was something that was on our wishlist three, four, eight, ten years. We were finally able to pull the pin, so that’s exciting.”
Over in Rapid River, the district has been upgrading the football bleachers, completing asphalt work, and updating signage.
“It feels good to be at the end of most of that,” Kulbertis said. “Kids and staff are in the buildings, and everything’s looking great. We’re really pleased with the progress that was made and really just the way our in-house folks pulled together, were flexible, and got everything done.”
Both districts are fully staffed this year. Gladstone is one of several schools throughout the state piloting an approach called teaming, which means that some elementary classes will have more than one teacher.
“The research is amazing for what it does for students,” Kulbertis explained. “They can be a lot more personalized when you have more sets of eyes. It helps staff members who are hardwired to want to work together. They want to be social, but most of their day, they’re alone in their classroom with their students. We really want to be on that front, leading edge of working together. We believe that’s important to teach our kids, so it’s also important for us to model.”
Whether in Gladstone or Rapid River, Kulbertis encourages students and families to become an active part of their school community.
“The bottom line is, you get out what you put in,” he said. “The more involved you are, the more questions you ask to start, the better your experience is going to be. Our strength is our people. They’re willing to build those relationships. Staff is happy to be back; students are happy to be back. It seems like we’re off to a great start of the school year.”
Click here to learn what’s new at Escanaba Area Public Schools this year.
