HomeProfiles of Students, Staff, TeachersMeet the Future

Meet the Future

Creative, innovative, imaginative … Many of today’s students are all that and more in a vast variety of interest areas. Meet the Future features students with exceptional and unusual gifts.

A black belt in space

Godwin Heights Joanne Bailey-Boorsma

Earth will be safe with this future black-belt astronaut...

Creator and innovator

Kent ISD Joanne Bailey-Boorsma

For this Rockford senior, his decision to pursue engineering started with a bag of Legos...

Rider’s experience guided by love, respect for horses

Grand Rapids Erin Albanese

This one-person equestrian team is awarded for cleaning stalls, pitching in...

Avid outdoorsman aims to be one of his generation’s change-makers

Grandville Beth Heinen Bell

This Grandville High senior and police officer-to-be is committed to showing integrity and serving the Grand Rapids community...

Designing his own path, one stone and planting at a time

Cedar Springs Beth Heinen Bell

When this high school senior visits a park these days, he’s thinking about the types of trees planted there or wondering about the placement of a walkway. And he loves it...

00:07:06

‘Music is about saying things without words’

Meet the Future Morgan Jarema

Senior Elijah Cosby plays virtually every percussion instrument, including drum set, marimba, xylophone and timpani...

Nationally ranked in jiu-jitsu, she’s more than ‘pretty good’

Cedar Springs Beth Heinen Bell

This sixth-grader is fast becoming a pre-teen powerhouse in the sporting world of Brazilian jiu-jitsu, earning national rankings and competing with teens nearly twice her age...

Car enthusiast, shutterbug, entrepreneur

Rockford Beth Heinen Bell

Like many, this high school junior sought new ways to keep busy during the early days of COVID-19 shutdowns and quarantines. He’s now the owner/photographer of Mitten Project, a car photography business...

Math whiz, student surveyor, star-gazer

Forest Hills Morgan Jarema

This Eastern High School sophomore developed a survey this year to learn what areas her peers struggle with most. Programs to address what she found have already started...

00:00:48

Peacocks, goats, Legos: this fifth-grade farmer does it all

Cedar Springs Beth Heinen Bell

Not many fifth-graders can say that they live on an exotic peafowl and pheasant farm. But to Cole, life on the farm is hard to describe because it’s just… life...

Three-dimensional thinker

Meet the Future Joanne Bailey-Boorsma

She’s designing her life, from the roof trusses to her dream home to how she will impact others...

Poet uses words to empower others, inspire change

Meet the Future Alexis Stark

Senior Thang Lian’s award-winning poetry tells his story. His activism shows his passion for his home country and making a difference...

No blueprints required for this handy problem-solver

Meet the Future Charles Honey

Whether helping rebuild a car’s front end or custom-making a cabinet for the school’s front office, this high school senior has a special talent for coming up with designs and putting them together...

The sky’s the limit (or is it?) for this accomplished model builder

Meet the Future Erin Albanese

Creative, innovative, imaginative … Many of today’s students are all that and more in a vast variety of interest areas. This series features students with exceptional and unusual gifts...

Filmmaker, engineer, future rocket-builder: it’s all about creativity

East Grand Rapids Morgan Jarema

Xiangyu Chen says his twin passions -- filmmaking and all things science, technology, engineering and math-related -- draw upon similar principles...

Musical prodigy, international performer, fourth-grader

Byron Center Erin Albanese

When Cameron Renshaw was in kindergarten he kept asking his mom, Tina Renshaw, about the cello in her closet...

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School News NetworkA Window into Your Public Schools

ABOUT US

School News Network reports on the 20 public school districts in Kent ISD, which enroll more than 102,000 students. Founded in 2013 as an initiative of Kent ISD, we are supported by local districts and community sponsors, and powered by an experienced team of reporters, editors and multimedia journalists. We specialize in covering classroom teaching and learning, analyzing the many issues facing students and highlighting the education magic that happens each day in our public schools.

Her career path was laid in first grade

She helps students develop language, read, write & grow

Not just a volunteer, but ‘a piece of the library’

He is demonstrating how important English is in business

Mobile Farm Science Lab ‘udder-ly’ engaging

Partnership pairs high-schoolers with scientists for real-world research

Simulated crime ties science, critical thinking & data analysis

Opportunities abound at first in-house career fair

Newcomer students experience first Thanksgiving

Learning life skills ‘where life happens’

State of the Student tackles four big topics

High-schoolers talk mental health with education leaders, legislators

Meet the Future

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