WLSCD Recognizes Two Students As Friend of Diversity Award Recipients

From The Walled Lake School District: The Walled Lake School District is proud to recognize Hayden House, second-grader and Meagen Granberry, a third-grade teacher, both at Mary Helen Guest Elementary School, as Friend of Diversity Award recipients.

They were recognized at the District’s Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration on Jan. 16 at Walled Lake Northern High School with more than 400 people in attendance.

“Walled Lake Schools continues to build a culture around taking action for social justice. I am proud that our 2017 Friend of Diversity Award recipients, Hayden House and Meagen Granberry, who are making significant contributions toward bringing social justice projects to our students, staff, community and for those less fortunate. These two individuals, one a young student, and the other an accomplished educator, exemplify what it means to be an Upstander. Bystanders are on the sidelines watching while Upstanders take decisive action that benefits others. We are proud of the intentional choices Hayden and Meagan are making to reach out to others with positive and impressive initiatives,” Kenneth Gutman, Walled Lake superintendent, said.

House was nominated by teacher, Kathy Murray, who said: “Hayden organized a food drive, volunteered at a women and children’s shelter in Detroit and plans fundraisers to help others.”

It is very rare that a student as young as Hayden is selected to receive the Friend of Diversity Award-- he is unique in the sense that he began doing community service work to help those in need when he was in kindergarten!

Mrs. Murray shared in her nomination that when Hayden was in kindergarten, he became inspired when he attended the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Celebration and he heard a middle school student, speak about his work to help homeless people in Detroit. As a five-year-old, Hayden asked his mom if there were ways that he could help people, too. Hayden then organized a food drive at his school where almost 500 pounds of food was collected for a local food bank. He also volunteered at a women and children’s shelter in Detroit where he ate, played games, and made crafts with the children.

Last fall, as a second grader, Hayden organized a “Hat Day” at his school where students donated $1.00 to wear a hat, and all of the money went to the women’s shelter. Last fall Hayden also organized a paracord bracelet sale at his school. He made the bracelets—and all of the money that he raised was again donated to Detroit shelters.

Hayden worked with some of his friends to pack up over 200 shoeboxes with small toys and personal care items through a program called “Operation Christmas Child” where needy children all over the world receive the box as a gift. Whether the projects have been done in school or at home, Hayden has a passion for serving those in need.

Hayden’s principal, Michelle Fiebke-Lang, said, “I am very proud of Hayden for the work that he has done to make the world a better place, and he is inspiring others at our school to do the same. Hayden is a young person who has truly made a difference by the compassion and caring that he has shown for those in need in the Detroit area and around the world.”

Granberry was nominated by Guest principal, Michelle Fiebke-Lang, who said: “Meagen has been instrumental in creating and implementing programs to bring diversity and social justice awareness to our students and the community.”

“Granberry has worked tirelessly in all areas of her life as an advocate for diversity and social justice. At her school, Meagen has been instrumental in creating and implementing school-wide programs to bring diversity awareness to the students of Mary Helen Guest. Meagen has a deep understanding of what it means to be a teacher for social justice, and she integrates social justice and diversity topics throughout the curriculum for her third grade students,” Fiebke-Lang said.

She is a long-standing member of the Walled Lake Schools’ Social Justice Committee. She has invested a lot of time in working on our school district’s social justice initiatives, and she is eager to share her passion for this work with others. Meagen is one of the lead authors of the four social justice training modules that were written for our school district during the past year, and she has co-presented the module that she wrote on “Small Changes to Integrate Social Justice Topics in the Classroom” several times for both teachers and administrators. Meagen’s principal, Michelle Fiebke-Lang, said in her nomination for Meagen that “I have no doubt that Meagen’s daily interactions with both students and staff have planted the seeds of peace deep in the soil of our community”.

Through her church, Meagen has worked with the World Vision organization to raise money to bring clean water to villages in Africa. She is also an active member of the Royal Family Kids organization, which is a humanitarian organization working to improve the lives of children who have suffered abuse. Meagen has dedicated her time over the past two summers as a counselor at the Royal Family Kids summer camps for foster children and she is currently mentoring one of the children.

Granberry is an outstanding leader for social justice at her school and in Walled Lake Consolidated School District, who inspires her students and colleagues with her passion for social justice work.

“Meagan has done so much over the years to help children and adults who are facing the challenges of poverty, hunger and injustice. Meagen is a warm and caring person, and a talented and dynamic educator who has truly gone above and beyond the call of duty to make our diversity initiatives in the Walled Lake Schools very successful,” Fiebke-Lang added.

For more information, please contact Judy Evola at judyevola@wlcsd.org.

Image Courtesy of The Walled Lake School District