Schools

The Sturgis Public Schools Board of Education voted this week to endorse the district’s move to the Wolverine Conference. The decision means Sturgis High School will join Three Rivers and 10 other schools in the 12-member league starting in the 2014-15 academic year. With about 3,300 students, Sturgis Public Schools will be the largest in the all-Class-B conference.

Glen Oaks Community College officials have announced the school will expand its distance-learning offerings to include online programs as a result of approval received from the Higher Learning Commission. Patricia Morgenstern, associate dean of learning and workforce development, said the college has been offering distance learning classes for more than 15 years. The Higher Learning Commission’s approval, however, gives the …

A disabled man will be able to take a shower without assistance thanks to a hands-free, automatic shower system designed by students from a college in northeastern Indiana. A team of senior engineering students at Trine University developed the shower for 60-year-old Terry Haffner of nearby Fort Wayne. Haffner was born without arms and with partial legs. He says the …

A request to restore nearly three-tenths of a mill to the maximum rate of 2.75 mills for special-education services fell Tuesday, 1,150 to 1,018. Restoration of the mills would have generated an additional $620,000 annually for St. Joseph County’s nine school districts. The 132-vote difference was slightly less than the combined difference between yes and no votes in Cass County’s …

Three Rivers High School will have a neighboring rival in its league in the 2014-15 school year, as Sturgis Public Schools is expected to join the Wolverine Conference. An invitation requesting St. Joseph County’s largest school district to join the league was extended by conference officials late last week. Sturgis school officials have indicated they intend to accept the offer, …

Graduates from two area high schools put on a crowd-pleasing alumni football game over the weekend. With a full house of more than 3,000 fans looking on, Mendon’s alumni squad topped the host Schoolcraft Eagles, 30-21, Saturday night. Mendon’s alumni team featured a roster of 50 players, the oldest was Joe Baker, a 1977 graduate who contributed by recovering a …

Mendon Community Schools has been named the recipient of a grant of almost $10,000, which will help the district purchase iPads for classroom use. The Monsanto Fund, which recently awarded Riverside Health Clinic with a $10,000 grant, will provide a ceremonial check in the amount of $9,975 to Mendon school officials today during a media event at Mendon Elementary School. …

An alumni football game between two former St. Joe Valley Conference powerhouses is set to take place this weekend. An alumni squad from Mendon will challenge an alumni squad from Schoolcraft at 7 p.m. Saturday in Schoolcraft. Proceeds from the event will benefit athletic departments at both schools.

The Sturgis Department of Public Safety will be looking for a new director, as Dave Northrop is stepping down next month. The 47-year-old Northrop was named dean of students at Eastwood Elementary School. The Sturgis Public Schools Board of Education chose Northrop from a field of nine candidates for the newly created position, which replaces the job of assistant principal. …

Two cheer-team squads from Three Rivers had a successful experience in a national competition last weekend in Virginia Beach, Va. Caroline Goodall, coach for the Three Rivers Young Champions Cheer team, said its 21-person Division 4 team took first place in the national championship round Saturday. Meanwhile, its 27-member Division 5 team took second place in the nation. The age …