Grand Marais Schools

direct lender payday loans

Superior Pines Disc Golf Course, the Upper Peninsulas first professional quality disc golf course is one big step closer to completion. With generous monetary support from Burt Township as well as the Grand Marais Chamber of Commerce, SPDGC was awarded a 2% Funding Request Grant from the Sault Tribe of Chippewa.  Although the total amount awarded has not yet been disclosed, Burt Township Schools would like to thank the Sault Tribe for their generosity.

Throughout the fall school year, students in Outdoor Woodshop began the first steps of opening the course by clearing the holes and trails of brush.  The next phase will begin this spring as Woodshop class students make the signs to be used on the course.  The real grit and hard work of placing baskets and posts will begin in the summer and the course will be complete and open to the public in mid August. Be sure and check our website for updates on this exciting project and bring your discs with you next time you come vistit!  And again, thank you Burt Township, Grand Marais Chamber of Commerce and Sault Tribe of Chippewa for your support, this project would not be possible with out it.             -Mr. Prill

Burt Township teachers, Amy Ross, Helen Scaife and Nicole Filizetti, spent Friday Nov. 12 and Saturday Nov. 13

participating in professional development at Michigan Tech University, learning how to build and operate an

ROV (remote operated vehicle).

They were also shown many ways devices such as these can be incorporated into the curriculum, across many grade levels.  The big bonus is that they were able to bring the vehicle they created back to our school to use with our students.  Students are already excited just seeing it in the building and we are looking forward to using it in our local waterways.   From problem solving, and team building, to studying underwater environments, the possibilities are endless.

A big thank you goes out to Michigan Tech for this opportunity.

See you all in the water!

Although a little late in reporting…the Mackinac Bridge/Mill Creek Field Trip was a great success in highlighting the role of innovation and ingenuity in our world today.  At the bridge, two lucky students (who won an essay writing contest) were able to climb to the top of the suspension towers, what a view and experience! The rest of the school climbed into the depths of the anchor blocks and were amazed by this concrete belly of the beast. At Mill Creek we went on a guided canopy tour high-lighting different ecosystems within the forest, then zip-lined the 450’ back to the start of the trail, got to rock climb a climbing tour and then watched a replica mill from the 1790s cut through a log using nothing more than the power of water.  To say the least, it was a day jam packed with examples of innovation and ingenuity.

These two virtues are being showcased this academic year at our school as we study the role humans have played in changing the world and also the role we can still play in producing positive changes.  As a capstone project for this social studies special feature, the 7^th-12^th grade classes will be completing their own bridge building project right here in Grand Marais in the Spring.  We will be constructing a 30’ long by 2’ wide pedestrian bridge over 1^st Creek in the Donahey Woods.  This bridge will connect Woodland Park through the Donahey Woods to the start of the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore Trail.  This bridge will improve our town’s tourism infrastructure and reopen the closest trail to town. Be sure and check our site

for further updates on these exciting themes and projects!

-Mr. Prill

We have a new teacher’s aide and her name is Kim Amthor. She went to Kendall College of Art which is in Grand Rapids, MI. She brings enthusiasm and experience to the Burt Township team. Amthor substituted for twelve years, and tutored for two years while raising her daughter Brett, who is now twenty- one years old. Amthor also states that she really enjoys working with kids and enjoys working with the high school students because she likes their sense of humor. She also enjoys working with elementary.

She has lived in two different cities in the State of Michigan, Grand Rapids and Fenton. She currently resides at the Sunset Cabins because she has converted her summerhouse into an art gallery called The Fishnet, which is only open in the summer. Her hobbies are hiking, cross-country skiing, reading, and any kind of art. Kim’s love of hiking and camping, as well as the beauty of the area, brought her to the area.

By: Taurie Horst

Upper elementary students at Burt Twp. School have been busy having fun in a scientific kind of way! Students visited Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore where they solved a mystery using their knowledge about basic needs and energy flow, got dirty learning about the soil cycle and wet learning about the watershed and stream monitoring. They also put on their hiking shoes to trek through the park to learn about earth materials and fossil fuels. Students all seem to agree that the best classroom is the one without walls.

On Wednesday, October 13 the Kindergarten through sixth grade went on a field trip to explore the North Country Trail in preparation for a visit from the author, Lorana Jinkerson. Ms. Jinkerson wrote a terrific informational story about the North Country trail. We had a great time hiking the trail and looking for “blue blazes!”

Mrs. Scaife & Mrs. Ross