Finalist for superintendent

Three Rivers Community Schools Superintendent Roger Rathburn is a finalist for the superintendent’s position with Portage Public Schools.

Rathburn, who has been planning to retire from Three Rivers a year from now, is one of a trio of candidates for the Portage post currently held in an interim basis by Rob Olsen.

Portage school officials have indicated first-round interviews will take place next week. A meeting June 14 will narrow the field for second-round interviews June 19 and 20.

The 50-year-old Rathburn, who is finishing his 12th year as Three Rivers superintendent, currently earns more than $129,000 annually.

Teen suicide at Dowagiac

A Dowagiac teen is dead after suffering a self inflicted gunshot wound. Police were called to Dowagiac Middle School at 6:40 a.m. Monday morning, because a custodian saw a boy acting strangely outside the building. When police arrived 13-year old Darren James Price of Dowagiac ran into a wooded area near the school. Police surrounded the area, then heard a single gunshot. Public Safety Director Tom Atkinson says Price was rushed to the hospital where he later died. The school was put on lock down, and class was canceled for the entire district. Superintendent Dr. Mark Daniel says classes would resume on Tuesday with extra counselors on hand to comfort students and parents. Atkinson says the investigation is ongoing. Price was a sixth grader at the school last year, this year he was being home schooled with his two siblings.  (MRN)

TR graduate to receive scholarship

A Three Rivers High School graduate planning to attend Grand Valley State University was named the recipient of the 12th Ron Reece Scholarship.

Lizzy Skalski, a 2013 high school graduate, was awarded a $1,000 scholarship, renewable annually for a total of four years.

Named in honor of the late Three Rivers Community Schools superintendent, the Ron Reece Memorial Scholarship is presented to graduates entering the field of education. Skalski has indicated she would like to become a secondary English teacher.

The Reece family has awarded the scholarships over the past six years.

Ceremonial groundbreaking

A gathering of school officials and residents Wednesday in the White Pigeon Community Schools applauded the ceremonial groundbreaking of improvement slated to take place at the district’s two schools.

The event kicks off what will be a variety of building and design improvements at the district’s two school buildings over the next five years. The balance of the work this year will take place over the summer and focus on electrical, plumbing, bathroom, parking lot, and student pick-up/drop-off locations at Central Elementary.

District voters last year approved the renewal of a five-year, sinking-fund millage request to continue district-wide improvements.

Work to start on school

White Pigeon Community Schools officials are scheduled to stage a ceremonial groundbreaking at 5:30 this afternoon outside Central Elementary.

Superintendent Ron Drzewski  said the event marks the informal start of work following voter-approved renewal of a five-year, sinking-fund millage dedicated to school building improvements. The millage renewal request was approved a year ago and money to cover the improvements is now in hand.

School upgrades are slated to begin June 10 and conclude in late August, with all the work this first year centering on Central Elementary. Improvements include electrical, plumbing, bathroom, parking lot, and student pick-up/drop-off locations.

New sod for stadium

Nearly 40 people played a role in helping lay more than 9,000 yards of sod over the weekend at Sweetland Stadium in Constantine.

The school district’s $100,000 allocation toward the new grass surface covered the entire portion of the stadium’s field, the installation of an in-ground watering system and dirt and seed for two practice football fields, according to Constantine athletic director Mike Messner.

Several members of the school’s varsity football team joined in the work, which started Saturday and concluded Sunday afternoon.

Though sections of the field had been replaced through the years, some of the outlying areas around its perimeter were original from when the field and stadium were created in the 1930s, Messner said.

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