Ottawa Area Schools Are FISCALLY RESPONSIBLE

“This stethoscope is a game-changer for me and something I wouldn’t have been able to afford without the connection Tech Center helped me make with MRS,” —Rey Gonzalez, Careerline Tech Center student

“Our Community School Coordinator makes sure to meet the needs of all families in our school. From supplying families in my class with food and clothing, Christmas gifts, services such has outside counseling, financial planning and even prescription glasses. The students know she is a safe person who is always ready to give the extra care they may need.” —Stacy Manning, Coopersville teacher

“I earned my CDL in the winter of 2020 to help on some special education routes and to drive sports teams to their events.” —Andy Ingall, former Superintendent of Grand Haven Area Public Schools

“What makes this collaboration even more exciting is this marker is the first-ever to link a QR code to an audio recording of a Michigan Historical Marker allowing individuals with visual impairments to learn about Hezekiah Smith and his contributions to the local communities.” —Rebecca Hopp, Teacher

“It amazes me that less than a year ago Marcy’s goal for Arlo was to have a fifty-word vocabulary and now we’re working on three to four-word phrases, and I can actually talk to my child,” —Christina Threloff, parent

“Empathy is a complex emotion that doesn’t say, ‘I understand what you are going through, I’ve been there,’ in the semi self-involved way that sympathy does. It says, ‘I hear you, and I want you to know that I support you.’ Empathy is the best foot you should always put forward while walking through life.” —Ashleigh Higgs, previous host of The Share Chair Podcast at Spring Lake High School

“I want to be an engineer,” one student says. “We build and design stuff, and that’s what engineers do. That’s what I want to do when I get older.” —Coopersville student

"MAT has helped us so much. I don’t know where we’d be without it. I’m very thankful my town and my school district has it." —Angela Lesley, Grand Haven resident