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Photo of the Week: The team from Battle Creek Central High School took home the trophy for this week's Tug of War competition at Opening Day!

Guest Post:

Nate Hunt
BCPS Communications Manager

Greetings Bearcat Heroes!

My name is Nate, and I'm the district's communications manager. Monday will mark my four-year anniversary with BCPS, but I've got Bearcat in my blood (my mom recently retired from Post-Franklin after a 20+ year career teaching pre-k throughout the district, my sister is a Bearcat grad (c/o 2000), my dad coached middle school football back in the day, and I am a former Verona Dragon).

While I've been working behind the scenes on helping to put these newsletters together for the past four years, I've generally tried to stay out of the spotlight and behind the scenes. However, I decided this year I'm going to step out of my comfort zone a bit and try something a little different. Instead of hearing only from Kim in the newsletter each week, I'd like to work on including some "guest posts" from time to time and thought it would make sense for me to start!

So, I'd like to kick off the school year by saying "THANK YOU!" to everyone who made Opening Day a huge success and tons of fun. We had a team spend hours planning and preparing over the past month, an outstanding facilities team who beautified the grounds ahead of time and helped with logistics, a phenomenal food services team (as usual!), and many others who helped make it happen. But the day wouldn't have been the same without everyone who showed up ready to connect and have fun, with smiles on your faces and optimism for the year ahead. The positivity you brought was exactly the medicine I personally needed to get myself fired up for a new school year and I'm hopeful many others felt the same.

This week's newsletter is a little light, but now that we're all back, I'd like to include a shameless plug and a reminder: Great things are happening in your buildings and classrooms every. single. day! And it's because of the amazing work you are doing with our students and families. If you see something great happening with one of your students or a fellow staff member, please reach out so we can share it in the newsletter and potentially with a wider community audience as well. The best way to send in a submission is simply to respond to these emails or send one directly to staffnews@battlecreekpublicschools.org.

I don't know about you, but this year feels like it has the potential to be a true turning point for us. I wish you all an amazing year, and I can't wait to get into your buildings after our students have returned!

What's Good & What's New

Opening Day Photos

Relive some of the good times from Opening Day! Below are a few standouts, but to view all photos click here. Have photos you'd like to add to the album? Simply click the add photos button at the top!

Guest Teachers

We're offering new, premium pay of up to $230 per day for long-term guest (substitute) teachers. Help get the word out by texting someone you know or sharing this Facebook post now!

Teacher Supply Grant Window Open!

Thanks to the generous investment from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, we once again have teacher supply grants available to every building. Each classroom teacher has a budget of $300 this year to purchase additional supplies for their classrooms.

Please review the 2022-2023 Teacher Supply Grant SOP and follow the step by step procedure to place your order. Arts and Athletic teachers should also access the Athletics, Art, Music, PE / Health Supply Grant SOP protocol and collaborate with their Department Leads for requests.

Learn more by emailing cbriggs@battlecreekpublicschools.org or attending an upcoming info session:

Shoutouts & Spotlights

Shoutout: Greg Beznoska (IT Field Technician)

Greg makes our tech work. He is a creative thinker, he keeps the education of students at the forefront of what he does, and he makes things happen. Without Greg, the math and science center wouldn't work as well as it does, and I have nothing but appreciation for him and the work he does. (Greg is pictured above, right along with Blake Nordman, the new BEIT Principal at BCCHS).

Luke Perry
STEM Education Director
Battle Creek Area Math & Science Center