Schools

The Glen Oaks Community College Board of Trustees last week adopted a tuition-reimbursement policy for employees. The program is aimed to help eligible employees improve job skills and enhance opportunities for advancement. Full-time employees on the job at least a year as a regular-status employee are eligible. Courses must be from an accredited college, university or trade school and must …

St. Joseph County has been awarded $3 million over the next three years for a new Early Head Start program that local educators say has the potential to change the landscape of preschool child care countywide. The competitive grant — one of only three awarded in Michigan — is expected to have impact on the kindergarten readiness of more than …

Glen Oaks Community College’s athletic program has announced a special event taking place between women’s and men’s basketball games later this month. Athletic director Steve Proefrock said the kick off to Glen Oaks’ 50-year anniversary will take place Jan. 31 between games against Kalamazoo Valley Community College. Proefrock said the program will feature the raising of a banner for the …

A nationally known pageant contestant returned to her roots Wednesday. Mekayla Diehl, a 2007 White Pigeon High School alumna, was the guest speaker at the White Pigeon Rotary Club meeting. Diehl, an Elkhart resident, represented Indiana in last June’s Miss USA Pageant. She placed in the top 20. With high school students from the White Pigeon Rotary’s Interact Club present, …

Several members of the Three Rivers Fire Department had the opportunity to play Santa during Tuesday’s eighth annual Firefighters For Santa event. Josh Griffin, a fireman/paramedic, said about three months of planning culminated with the delivery of toys to more than 60 families in Three Rivers, and Lockport and Fabius townships. An additional 30 children benefited from the event through …

No injuries were reported Friday afternoon in a car-bus collision in Three Rivers. The incident occurred around 3:15 p.m. on West Michigan Avenue, just east of U.S. 131, according to Three Rivers Police. The Three Rivers Community Schools bus was traveling west on Michigan Avenue when a car turned left from a business on the north side of the road. …

Centreville and Mendon have become the fourth and fifth local school districts to contract with the St. Joseph County Intermediate School District for business-management services. ISD Board of Trustees this week approved a six-month contract with the two districts to handle financial services, ranging from budgeting to cash flow forecasting and bonding oversight. ISD officials said the two local school …

Mendon Community Schools has become the third district in the county to raise its full-day pay for substitute teachers. Members of the district’s board of education Monday approved the full-day increase from $80 to $85. The move comes two weeks after Centreville Public Schools took an identical course of action, and more than a month after Three Rivers Community Schools …

Schoolcraft Middle School was on lockdown for about 90 minutes Monday after a student found a small-caliber bullet in the hallway. According to Schoolcraft Police Chief Bryan Campbell, the department was alerted to the situation at 11:30 a.m. The school was then placed on administrative lockdown. A search of the building was conducted by school staff, and police personnel from …

A Centreville native was specially recognized by the Future Farmers of America during its national convention last month. During a ceremony staged in Louisville, Ky., Mark Trowbridge of the Centreville FFA Chapter received the highest degree possible for an FFA member, the “American Degree.” As a longtime FFA participant, Trowbridge worked his way up through the various levels of FFA …