Grand Ledge middle school students end school days with salmon eggs, robotics

GRAND LEDGE — Students and teachers at Hayes Intermediate School look forward to the end of the day but not for the typical reason.

The last half hour is reserved for "enrichment classes." These classes cover a wide variety of niche topics, ranging from robotics to girl empowerment to a class where students grow salmon. This is the third year of the classes.

"The kids really like the classes," said Eric Leopold, principal of Hayes Intermediate School. "Sometimes, they don't want to go home."

Hayes Intermediate School was created to serve only fifth and sixth grade students from the fall of 2021 onward. From the beginning, Leopold said, administrators wanted the school to be "elementary with a flair." Hayes was specifically designed to cater to the needs of students transitioning from elementary school to middle school.

The enrichment classes last for 12 weeks, and students get to experience three a year. Students choose their classes in the spring before their fifth and sixth grades. Students can choose from over 30 classes.

"Choice is a powerful thing," said John Ellsworth, director of communications for Grand Ledge Public Schools. "There's intrinsic motivation when kids can pick what they learn."

The classes are not graded and are meant to serve as an introduction to topics that the students might want to pursue in the future. And, they're a fun way to end the day for both teachers and students.

Salmon in the classroom is one of the most popular classes and is only open to sixth graders. Over the 12 weeks, they hatch salmon eggs and watch them grow. At the end, they release the fish into a lake and the whole class is supported by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. Students in the class had a wide variety of reasons why they took that class.

"I fish a lot," said Mikey Stenzel.

"I love learning about nature and animals," said Anna Burgess.

Another extremely popular class is robotics. This is the first school year that robotics 2.0 is a class sixth graders can take, due to the popularity of robotics 1.0 for fifth graders.

"We wanted to make sure students who took the class one year and wanted to continue weren't learning the same thing," teacher Tim Madden said. "This is the first year we're using the new program, and I'm honestly learning from the kids."

Two sixth-grade girls, Olivia Jacobs and Meeviya Sathyaprakash Vanmathy, in the robotics 2.0 class said that they were taking the class because they enjoyed their robotics class the previous year.

"I like seeing the pieces come together and making something," Meeviya said.

Both of the girls can see a potential future career working with robots or another technical field.

Another class focuses on teaching students job skills. Although they're nearly a decade away from having to pursue a career, teacher Holly Bierstetel believes it's important for them to learn these skills early. She wants to help students feel comfortable in a professional setting while still making it fun.

"We do lots of role-play and games," she said. "The kids want to grow and learn, and allowing them the space to feel comfortable is important."

One sixth-grade girl in her class said she was taking the class to get over a fear of hers.

A sixth-grade boy named Eddy Misener said he took the class to practice job skills and adult "stuff." He has plans to be an engineer.

Kathleen Mikulec teaches an enrichment class focusing on girl empowerment. Each day of the first week of classes, the students write something they like about themselves and share it.

"I think its important for these girls to feel supported," she said. "Fifth and sixth grade can be really hard for girls."

The girls in the class said that they took the class to make friends and heard good things about the class and the teacher from people who had taken it in the past.

"I saw a girl carrying a poster on the bus, and I thought it looked cool so I wanted to sign up for the class," a sixth grader named Allison Hatfield said.

"I really like this class, and I like that (the teacher) is always greeting us at the beginning of the day," said Grace Quagliata, a fifth grader.

The teachers of the enrichment classes said they enjoyed being able to teach the kids something they themselves are passionate about.

Leopold said that this has boosted teacher morale and enthusiasm, and Bierstetel agreed with this.

"It's a perfect way to end the day," she said.

Contact Sarah Atwood at satwood@lsj.com

This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Grand Ledge middle school students end school days with salmon eggs, robotics