Senior Spotlight: Meagan Casterline, McKenna Haley, & Kailee Redmond

Welcome to our “Senior Spotlight”. Every Thursday until graduation, we will highlight different members of the Class of 2017. Read more about their internships, their aspirations, and where they plan to “grow” after graduation.

Meagan Casterline

Meagan Casterline has been planning to be an event planner for some time. Landing a meaningful senior internship was tough until she contacted Jennifer Darling.

“[Meagan] was one who was a little disheartened, but this was a God placement,” senior internship teacher Debbie Evans said.

Ms. Darling not only took Meagan under her wing but has asked her to fly to New York City to assist in a World Connect fundraising event for poverty assistance.

“I'm excited and nervous about being so independent during this wonderful opportunity,” Meagan said. “I knew I wanted to do event planning as a career before, but having this internship really confirms it.”

A National Honor Society member and high-honors student, Meagan spent high school “on the run” as a four-year member of both the varsity track and cross-country teams.

Meagan plans to study Hospitality and Tourism Management at Grand Valley State University this fall.

McKenna Haley

McKenna Haley wants to train service animals. Currently interning at DogZone, McKenna’s responsibilities include working with dogs one-on-one as a handler.

“The most challenging part has been unlearning everything I thought I knew about working with animals,” McKenna said. “It is also the most interesting part because I love everything about communication. It never fails to amaze me when everything comes together and both the dog and I work together.”

McKenna credits her internship with focusing her diverse interests into a future goal.

Those diverse interests have kept McKenna busy. A National Honor Society member and high-honors student, she’s played varsity tennis for four years, varsity volleyball for two years, and JV Basketball for two years. Recently, McKenna rose over $700 for the Accelerated Cure project, which funds Multiple Sclerosis research.

McKenna is leaning towards Central Michigan University but hasn’t finalized where she will study Animal Behavioral Science this fall.

Kailee Redmond

Kailee Redmond’s senior internship says a lot about her.

When patient/client confidentiality made interning with a speech pathologist impossible, Kailee created her own internship. Currently, she is researching pre-school language acquisition at Our World for Children daycare.

“She’s taking it very seriously,” senior internship teacher Debbie Evans said.

An honor-roll student, varsity soccer and volleyball player, and active volunteer, Kailee is no stranger to working hard and being persistent.

“I have high expectations for myself,” Kailee said. “I want to go out and make a difference. But, I also want to be successful in what I do.

Kailee plans to attend Kellogg Community College, before transferring to Western Michigan University to earn her masters in Speech Pathology. Concurrently, she will pursue her certification as a doula.

“My goal is to help as many people as I can,” Kailee said. “There is no limit to the knowledge I want to obtain.”

Creating their own success story

St. Philip High School’s senior internship is a rite of passage, the capstone of BCACS’ Crayons to College and Career program. This year, teacher Debbie Evans transformed this rite of passage into a bridge to the future.

“My number one goal was to build capacity in these students,” said Ms. Evans, a shared-time teacher with the Math and Science Center. “I come from the college level and I see the number one thing students struggle with is not college, it’s self-advocacy – having enough capacity to know they can open doors on their own. I wanted them to have a success story out of this.”

Ms. Evans used her background in professional development to turn the internship class into a project-based learning experience.

Each student had to find, design, complete and evaluate their own internship. Ms. Evans’ role was one of empowerment.

“The students were in the driver’s seat and that was very intentional,” Ms. Evans said. “I was really just a powerful cheerleader.

Ms. Evans helped students examine their aspirations, current skill sets, and personal strengths. Using these results, students determined their “skill gaps” and what type of internships would close these gaps.

Students created electronic portfolios and researched potential employers. Ms. Evans taught them strategies to get past an organization's gatekeeper. She conducted mock interviews with students, so they could up the odds of being hired.

When the students were ready, they called these businesses themselves.

Ms. Evans coached them through setbacks and pushbacks but didn't directly interfere or intervene. Along the way, some students, parents and even staff members voiced concerns, but Ms. Evans was staunch about everyone “trusting the process”.

The process worked. Every single student found their own internship.

As their field work progresses, students continually evaluate the goals they co-created with their employers. Evidence matters, as does the results.

“I thought that I would just do a lot of observing and maybe taking notes, but after the first week, I was given a dog to work with to learn firsthand, which I think tremendously affected how much I've learned,” said McKenna Haley, who is serving her internship at DogZone.

McKenna Haley found her internship at DogZone, where she is gaining experience working with animals. She plans to study Animal Behavioral Science in college and hopes to train service animals in the future.

“Sometimes, during a meeting or something, I'll catch myself falling in love with the job a little bit,” said Meagan Casterline, whose internship with event planner Jennifer Darling may include a trip to New York City. “I love how this internship is coaching my brain to think like an event planner would.”

Meagan Casterline [front, right] with Jennifer Darling [front, left] and the members of the Deep Fried Pickle Project [back row], during a concert Megan helped Ms. Darling organize as part of her internship.

The most important result for Ms. Evans is self-reliance.

“What has been most empowering is watching the students physically and mentally shift because they realized they made this happen,” Ms. Evans said. “This isn’t something someone did for them. This is something they intentionally created.”

Our seniors are doing amazing things, which is why, starting this week, our BCACS Blog will host a “Senior Spotlight”. Every Thursday until graduation, we will highlight different members of the Class of 2017. Read more about their internships, their aspirations, and where they plan to “grow” after graduation.

A truly "super" market

It’s the sweetest supermarket you will ever visit, full of tasty treats, thoughtful gifts, bargains and big grins. But you have to be quick. It’s only open one time every school year.

Why?

Because hosting the annual Second Grade Supermarket is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for our BCACS students.

“They look forward to it all year,” second-grade teacher Amy Doyle said.

Marcia McGrath started the Second Grade Supermarket at St. Philip Elementary School in 1996 and it’s been running ever since.

It fits a cross-section of the second-grade curriculum that includes their Social Studies unit on consumers and producers, their Math unit on counting money, and, of course, Theology.

“We donate all proceeds to an organization in need each year,” Mrs. Doyle said. “This year it is the St. Vincent Food Pantry.”

If you’ve had a second-grade student, you know the preparation is part of the fun.

Students bring 2-3 dozen baked goods as well as homemade, non-edible items. Often, parents help the children assemble their “wares” for market day. Together, they set the prices and create posters attracting customers.

In addition to a variety of delicious treats, this year’s second-graders sold stress pillows, inspirational rocks, homemade playdough, bracelets, magnets, small toys, and creative hair ties.

“The most unique item may have been the recycled products, including a sun catcher made from gallon milk jugs and a piggy bank made from plastic water bottles,” Mrs. Doyle said.

Students, teachers, and volunteers set up the market in the elementary school library, which is open during the school day for family, friends, staff and students.

Every elementary and middle school class has a chance to shop. Our second grade-entrepreneurs handle everything from explaining products to counting change.

“They love it,” Mrs. Doyle said. “[The second-graders] become little salespeople and they are super supportive of each other.”

Moreover, the students are excited to help a worthy cause with their own time, treasure and talent. Here is just a sample of what this year’s participants thought of their Second Grade Supermarket experience:

"I really liked selling things to other people and earning money for St. Vincent Food Pantry."

"I liked when the parents came in and bought stuff and donated money to us."

"I liked making the crafts with my family."

"I liked earning money and giving it to St. Vincent so we can help people with whatever they need."

Seeing their excitement and watching their hard work, makes it a win for their teachers and parents, as well as our greater community.

And that’s a bargain any way you look at it.

Collecting these sweet photos reminded me of the time I spent creating “supermarket” items with my kiddos. Priceless memories – yet another bargain.

Middle school students take the road less traveled...

St. Joseph Middle School was empty on March 3, 2017, but school was still in session.

All-girl and all-boy teams crisscrossed the city, exploring careers not typically associated with their gender.

This hands-on “Nontraditional Career Fair” is part of our Crayons to College and Career program. Kellogg Community College hosted the event, which was funded by a Calhoun Intermediate School District grant.

The girls began the day at the Regional Manufacturing Technology Center, exploring heating ventilation and cooling, pipefitting, robotics, maintenance, machining, automated manufacturing, electronics, and computer-aided design.

Meanwhile, the boys were on KCC’s main campus, exploring health field careers, such as physical therapy, radiation, magnetic resonance imaging, emergency medical services, and nursing.

“The girls jumped as sparks flew from the welding and electricity demonstrations and the boys were startled by a mannequin in the nursing simulation that sat up and said he was going to be sick,” said Katie Reed, St. Joseph assistant principal.

After lunch, the girls and boys switched locations.

“It was truly an amazing experience for our students to learn and understand the many opportunities that their future could hold while also gaining an appreciation for the people who work in manufacturing, teuchnology, and health fields,” Ms. Reed said.

The day was also unique because each ten-member team consisted of different grades.

“At the beginning of the day [my group] was kind of quiet, by the end of the day, I feel we had formed a little sisterhood,” said Kyra Rabbitt, director of student services and creator of Crayons to College and Career.

Students completed anonymous surveys afterward, showing an increase in nontraditional career awareness.

“We definitely saw movement and growth in terms of what they felt like they knew about the careers that they visited,” Mrs. Rabbitt said.

Many students saw careers they wanted to pursue.

“When we controlled the robot and checked the pulse and the heartbeat, it made me feel like a real nurse.”

“The best part was I got to learn about other jobs that I wasn’t interested in until now.”

“I can’t wait to be old enough to attend these classes. Thank you for this amazing school trip!”

Although a majority of students want to return next year, Mrs. Rabbitt favors doing so on a three-year rotation. She wants to keep college and career exploration fresh for our middle school students.

Future Crayons to College and Career opportunities may include investigation of creative fields or financial literacy classes as it applies to college.

Whatever form these programs take, our students can count on more “nontraditional” school days.

“This is an opportunity for us to grow and continue to provide college and career programming for students at their level,” Mrs. Rabbitt said.

Giving our kids "more" and "less"

Our schools strive to give students more, which sometimes means giving them less. Next year St. Philip High School will return to a six-hour day.

“I would prefer quality over quantity,” Director of Student Services Kyra Rabbitt said.

Graduation requires 24 credit hours, which divides neatly into four years with a six-hour day.  St. Philip changed to a seven-hour day several years ago because individual paths to graduation were no longer so neat.

The intention was to give students wiggle room to pursue the Math and Science Center, Calhoun Area Career Center, Kellogg Community College, and the Advance Placement courses of their choosing. Unfortunately, doing so reduced class time across the board.

As more students took advantage of these programs, the high school added an optional “zero hour”, making an eight-hour day possible.

Recently, students have been earning high school credit in middle school. Next year's incoming freshmen will have a Spanish I and a Health credit, and most will have an Algebra I credit.

The 24 credits required for graduation hasn't changed, which mean, under the current system, our kids’ “elective” credits have swollen to ten, if not more.

And “more” isn’t always more.

Shorter class periods are a huge problem when taking advanced coursework. Our modest student population – spread in several directions at eight different times – often doesn't have the numbers necessary to keep elective and AP course consistently viable.

Worse, our kids were fatiguing.

“We are expecting students to take college classes and do higher-level course work, but then expecting them to have an eight-hour day,” Mrs. Rabbitt said. “You don't take eight different classes in college. You have four, maybe five max.”

Returning to a six-hour day restores balance.

“Teachers have been wanting to go back to it for a while because they want more time with students,” Mrs. Rabbitt said.

What doesn’t change is a student’s ability pursue their own path to graduation. A careful curriculum realignment keeps the MSC, CACC, and KCC as viable options, and makes it easier for students to take AP courses.

Better yet, sustainable numbers will enable our AP program to expand, starting with AP Computer Science next year. The realignment makes room for a much-needed Freshman Technology course.

The optional zero hour will stay. And if a student really wants eight classes, St. Philip staff will find a way.

“If kids want to take more, they still can,” Mrs. Rabbitt said. “I will still work with kids on a one-on-one basis as I always have.”

Basically, St. Philip students are covered – “more” and “less”.

Parents with transition questions or concerns are encouraged to contact Mrs. Rabbitt at krabbitt@bcacs.org or St. Philip High School principal Vicky Groat at vgroat@bcacs.org.