End of July Update
If you’ve driven by the school lately you may have noticed the school sign has changed. I am pleased to announce that Grand Marais School will be hosting the Burt Township Recreation Plan workshop on Thursday, August 12 from 4:00-6:00pm. This initial session is by invite only and will bring together stakeholders from in and around Alger County to provide input on the Central Upper Peninsula Planning and Development Regional Commission’s (CUPPAD) Superior Region Non-motorized Plan. Burt Township is in the beginning stages of building infrastructure around non-motorized activities in Grand Marais and this workshop will be the first of many sessions hosted by our school devoted to realizing their vision. The Burt Township School District promotes the entire recreation plan but has an intimate stake in getting a bike path built from the school to the school forest to increase access to this wonderful resource of ours. Exciting things are on the horizon for our kids!
Go Polar Bears!
As anyone who lives in and around Grand Marais knows, our isolation has both its advantages and disadvantages. While the rest of the country struggles to reign in rising Covid-19 infections, Alger county’s infection rate currently remains low. As I’ve stated before, everything we do this year will be based on level of community transmission of Covid-19. We will continue to work with our local health departments to update our guidance in the weeks leading up to school. If we begin to see a rise in cases, we will be following the CDC recommendations for mask wearing. No matter what happens with masks though, the Burt Township School District fully promotes getting the Covid-19 vaccination for anyone 12 years of age or older. We must all do our part to keep our community safe and put this pandemic behind us.
Covid-19 7 day percent positive from July 20, 2021 to July 26, 2021. (Source: CDC)
Wondering what else you can do to support Grand Marais School? Buy some of our sweet Polar Bears gear at the Grand Marais Music Festival on August 13, 14, and 15! We’ll be selling shirts and hoodies with a redesigned retro-inspired Polar Bears logo. A big thank you to the Grand Marais chamber of commerce for hosting our booth. Come out and enjoy the music and support our school at the same time. Can’t beat it.
Our new redesigned logo, created by Louis Justman.
In the meantime, I’m continuing to plug away at looking at viable telehealth counseling options for our students. I have a list of companies in my notebook I’ve either contacted or will be contacting soon. I’ve narrowed my search so far to the two largest companies in this area: TalkSpace and Better Help. No matter which company we choose, the plan is to work directly with students to get them set up with the help and support they need.
An example of what a telehealth counseling session might look like (supervision will be required for students younger than 13).
