Clare-Gladwin RESD honors school board members with donation to Imagination Library

January is School Board Recognition Month and the Clare-Gladwin RESD is joining local and intermediate school districts across the state in thanking their school board members for their commitment to public education. 

RESD Superintendent Sheryl Presler expressed her gratitude by making a donation to Imagination Library this month in honor of each board member. Imagination Library is a national program organized locally by the Clare-Gladwin RESD that currently provides 870 children from Clare and Gladwin counties with a free book every month until their fifth birthday. 

“We are fortunate to have community members who volunteer a great deal of their time to make our programs and services the best they can be for the students in our community,” said Presler. 

Thank you to the men and women who serve on the Clare-Gladwin RESD Board of Education: 

Lynn Grim

Don Hannah

Sarah Kile

Sue Murawski

Barbara Richards

CTE Construction Trades students begin remodeling project for Hope Pregnancy Center

Old flooring came up and wood-paneled walls came down this month as the Clare-Gladwin Career Center’s Construction Trades students began remodeling the future site of the Hope Pregnancy Center in Harrison.  

“The benefits of this project are abundant,” said Construction Trades Instructor Josh Myers. “We have on-site work that is ‘real life’ construction training that helps the community and fulfills a portion of our curriculum. We are very thankful for the opportunity.”

Construction Trades is one of nine Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs offered to high school juniors and seniors through the Clare-Gladwin Career Center, a program of the Clare-Gladwin RESD. Over the next few months, the students will be performing interior finishing, including hanging drywall, painting, trim carpentry, and flooring. The students will also do some landscaping and exterior painting in the spring. All of the labor will be free of charge.

“This partnership is definitely a win-win situation,” said Hope Pregnancy Center Director Jon Hoerauf. “The kids are getting real-world experience, and there is no way Hope Pregnancy Center would be able to carry out a project this big without them.”

With less than a month of work completed, Hoerauf said he is “amazed” at how quickly the students are working. “They are polite…and great representatives of their schools,” he said. “Many lives will be blessed because of the work of these students.”

The Hope Pregnancy Center offers caring and compassionate support and education to those experiencing unplanned pregnancies. All services are free and confidential.

Scheduled to open in the late spring, the new Hope Pregnancy Center office is located at 498 N. Clare Ave. in Harrison. 

Record number of CTE students earn ServSafe Food Safety Certification

Eighteen students from the Career and Technical Education (CTE) Culinary Arts class have earned the ServSafe Food Safety Certification from the National Restaurant Association. This is the highest number of students to earn the certification at one time in the program’s history. 

In order to obtain the certification, students must pass an exam administered by the National Restaurant Association, testing their knowledge on topics covering food borne illness, contamination prevention, and proper food serving techniques.   

“I was very impressed when I received the results,” said Culinary Arts Instructor Heidi Rocha. “Typical passing rate averages around 50 percent because of the exam’s level of difficulty. This year, we had a 75 percent passing rate. I am very proud of all of the students for working so hard.” 

In the state of Michigan, every food service operation is required by law to have at least one person on staff with the ServSafe Food Safety Certification. “Students are very marketable as potential employees when they have this credential,” she said. 

Rocha is an approved ServSafe Food Safety instructor through the National Restaurant Association. Students in her culinary arts/hospitality management class can take the test free of charge by participating in fundraising activities. Typically, individuals pursuing ServSafe Food Safety Certification on their own pay $200-$1000 for both the training and the exam. 

Culinary Arts is one of nine Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs offered at the Clare-Gladwin Career Center, a program of the Clare-Gladwin RESD. Students spend half of their regular school day in CTE and the other half at their local high school. 

Santa Claus shares post-holiday cheer at Area School

Santa Claus and his reindeer made a special stop at the Area School on Jan. 4 to spread some post-holiday cheer! A special thank you to the Reserve Division of the Clare County Sheriff's Office for providing a gift for every student.