BackPack Press

Spartan Project SEARCH has been recognized with an Excellent Outcomes Award for achieving a 70–90% successful hiring rate among its 2024–25 cohort. The honor reflects the dedication of students, instructors, business partners, and community supporters working together to create meaningful pathways to competitive employment.

Surrounded by families, friends, classmates, and staff, students celebrated a milestone years in the making. Each graduate's journey reflected determination, growth, and the collective support of the educators and loved ones who helped them reach this moment.

Heartwood School's annual Family Picnic brought students, families, and staff together to celebrate the end of the school year and the start of summer. The event featured games, bubbles, bounce houses, food, and plenty of opportunities for connection, highlighting the strong partnerships that support student success.

For Heartwood School students, a recent Special Olympics Track & Field event was about much more than competition. It was a day filled with teamwork, cheering, personal victories, and moments that celebrated the hard work students have shown throughout the year. The event provided opportunities for athletes of all abilities to participate, compete, and shine.

At Heartwood School, celebration comes in many forms—sometimes with glowing accessories and dance music, other times with masquerade masks and formal attire. Recently, students across grade levels came together for special school dances that created opportunities for joy, connection, self-expression, and memories that will last long after the music faded.

Learning doesn't stop when the school year ends. Discover free and low-cost summer opportunities available throughout the Ingham ISD service area, plus simple strategies families can use to prevent the "summer slide" and keep young minds engaged all season.

Summer break should not mean worrying about where the next meal will come from. Through Michigan’s Meet Up and Eat Up program, children and teens 18 and under can access free meals at participating locations across local communities—no registration or paperwork required. Michigan’s summer meal programs are designed to help bridge the nutrition gap while school is out. 

Professional learning doesn’t stop after onboarding. Recently, members of Ingham ISD’s Pupil Accounting team attended the Michigan Pupil Accounting & Attendance Association Spring Conference to strengthen knowledge, build connections and bring back insights that support schools and students across the region.

When school leaders work together, student voices grow stronger. Representatives from Clinton, Eaton, Ingham, and Shiawassee Counties recently gathered through the CARES Collaborative to meet with legislative officials and discuss education priorities, school funding, and the future of public education across the region. The CARES Collaborative—Capital Area Regional Education Strategy—was formed to strengthen regional advocacy efforts and ensure schools have a stronger, more unified voice in policy conversations.

What if learning about careers felt more like solving real-world problems? The Michigan Youth Future Flight Challenge is giving students across the state the opportunity to design sustainable flight solutions, work alongside aerospace mentors, and discover future possibilities in STEM—all while competing as part of a fun, free virtual challenge. Hosted by the Women of the Aerospace Industry Association of Michigan (WAIAM), the four-week experience helps students build skills in engineering, business, creativity, and collaboration.