Disney Way Changes Dowagiac Michigan–Review of 2011

Schools top local story

Published 8:49pm Tuesday, December 27, 2011

 

Dowagiac will remember 2011 as the year devoted to devising a five-point educational dream to reinvent the school system.
The goal since February has been to build a “one in 100” district for the 21st century that will drive a Dowagiac renaissance.

Months in the making, since “Disney Way” author Bill Capodagli immersed Dowagiac Union Schools, City Hall, Southwestern Michigan College and Borgess-Lee Memorial Hospital in the customer service principles of “Dream, Believe, Dare, Do,” Superintendent Dr. Mark Daniel Aug. 31 unveiled the Dowagiac Educational Dream.

The vision, which could take until 2015 to fully realize, started Oct. 17 with the administration move from the Wolverine Building into City Hall. The solution is to create three buildings housing five separate schools — a pre-kindergarten to first grade school housed in the same building as a separate school for grades 2-3, each led by an instructional leader/principal, an early education specialist and a math and reading development specialist. The two schools would share the gym, cafeteria, art and music rooms and support staff.
A second building would house fourth and fifth grades.

The Dowagiac Middle School campus, opened in 2005, would support sixth, seventh and eighth grades with a separate high school for grades 9-12, again sharing common areas such as the gym, cafeteria and Performing Arts Center.

Three buildings, Patrick Hamilton, Sister Lakes and Kincheloe, would join the Wolverine Building to jettison overhead and invest in energy conservation that would make the undertaking financially feasible when voters weigh in early in 2012.

The five points that, thanks to Disney storyboarding with focus groups, reflect beliefs of the school board, administration, faculty/staff, parents and community, include collaboration, differentiated instruction (students grouped by interests and their level of understanding to build upon their accomplishments and to engage them in learning), literacy and early childhood initiatives so 100-percent of third graders read at grade level), technology and Smart Boards and grade levels grouped together through all building transitions to encourage long-term relationships with faculty, continuity in extra-curricular activities (sports, clubs, arts) and student (opportunities for college credit at SMC).

Dowagiac’s new fall festival, Under the Harvest Moon, is well-received and coincides with the opening of Foodies Fresh Cafe.

Springsteen Realty merged with Cressy and Everett in February.
Cass County hired its third administrator, Charles Cleaver, after interviewing five candidates at the Council on Aging Feb. 12.

Chuck Clarke served in the interim when Terry Proctor left after two decades.

The “round house” on M-51 South was torn down.
Firefighters from area departments spent all day Jan. 23 batting a blaze which devastated Edward Lowe Foundation headquarters near Cassopolis. Fire March 3 destroyed the Glenwood landmark Drake’s Little Super northeast of Dowagiac.

Union High launched the 10th Interact club in Rotary’s 57-club District 6360 led by charter President Lauren Krueger Oct. 23.

Marissa Tidey was crowned Michigan Apple Queen for 2012.

Pokagon Band’s Four Winds Casino bet its second location, on Red Arrow Highway in Hartford, will hit the jackpot.

“Little Four Winds” opened Aug. 29, adding 400 jobs to Van Buren County from 12,000 applicants.

The New Buffalo location is expanding with another 250 hotel rooms in a nine-story tower, a multi-use event center and a Hard Rock Cafe opening this summer.

Dr. Nathan Ivey, Southwestern Michigan College’s first president from 1965-68, addresses graduates during the 44th commencement ceremony May 7.

Jimmy Keys, 31, was unanimous selection as Dowagiac Firefighter of the Year after losing his life in a Valentine’s Day crash in South Haven.

Deputy Fire Chief Dale Hutchings retired in June after 34 years with the city and was succeeded by Guy Evans.

Classic boat museum opens in Cassopolis. Cassopolis June 15 debuted a “destination” boat museum. Mahogany Outfitters Classic Boat and Auto Museum, 980 E. State St., contains room after room of vintage boats often trailered behind classic cars from the same year and fills the former Hayden-Beardslee Ford dealership.
It is a companion piece to the 1948 Sinclair gas station replica overlooking Stone Lake downtown which also grew out of Dr. Roger Pecina of Afdent dental clinics and his hobby.

Premier Tool and Die Cast Corp. plans a $3.2 million expansion in Dowagiac expected to create 179 jobs by resurrecting the former ICG plant across Paul Street as a new zinc and aluminum die cast and assembly operation, it was announced July 5.

Cass County Council on Aging conducted a $350,000 campaign for a Dowagiac Senior Center adjacent to City Hall.

Russom Park garnered $600,000 in state grants in December thanks to a cooperative effort between Dowagiac and Silver Creek Township.

Three of five Keeler Township board members, 26-year Supervisor Bill Kays and Trustees Don Blackmond and Patrick Daly were recalled Aug. 2 in a close election precipitated by their decision at the annual meeting to contract for five years with Coloma

Emergency Ambulance, which spelled the end of Sister Lakes’ service.

Dowagiac welcomed Belgium’s 58-member Maasmechelen Concert Band, which performed Aug. 9 in the Performing Arts Center.

SMC hosted a movie premiere Oct. 28 for Debra Tolchinsky’s “Fast Talk,” which makes debate a metaphor for the hectic pace of our lives.

Dailey Church in LaGrange Township turned 125 years old in August.

Leah Sovine is installed as Dowagiac postmaster Sept. 16.

Dowagiac author Michael Collins March 26 publishes his seventh novel, “Of Uncertain Significance,” and Sept. 8 receives the grand prize at the Deauville American Film Festival in France.

Eighty National Guard soldiers with “Charlie Company” (C Troop, 126th Cavalry) deploy to Afghanistan Sept. 24 after a farewell at Union High School.

SAVE THE DATE–WED. FEB 15th, 2-3:30pmEST–NEW WEBINAR: Creating Magical Customer Service–The Disney Way!

Stay tuned for details on registering for this exciting new webinar!

LAUP’S Storyboard Success

Here’s an example of the power of storyboarding.  Last evening, there were 16 LAUP (Latin Americans United for Progress) high school students in Holland, Michigan who answered the question, “What is the IDEAL high school experience?”  (They did this on their own time!) They prioritized using the following method:

Red Dots:  Most important to them

Green Dots:  What their school is doing well

Blue Dots:  What their school needs to improve

In less than two hours, these exceptional students identified more than 200 ideas.  Their next step will be to storyboard actions applicable to selected items that were important to them and need improvement. 

As a nation, we are failing to engage our students in true critical thinking, problem solving, and creative learning experiences.  It’s refreshing to see that these LAUP students are proactive rather than complaining about their lives and school experiences. These teenagers take time out of their busy schedules to learn the skills that our educational system is ignoring.

Hopefully, the school administrators will review this process and the amazing results and recommendations that will be forthcoming.

We are proud to post this wonderful storyboard! Thanks to LAUP director Roberto Jara, and his talented and dedicated students for an enlightening evening!

 

Pollys Pets Adopts The Disney Way

“After traveling to Disney World and Disneyland several times since the middle of the 1980's I have always marveled at the cleanliness,
friendliness and freshness of the parks.

Owning my own retail stores I was amazed at how such a huge
organization can have so many staff on the same page. I have fewer
than 30 employees and have found it almost impossible to keep everyone on the same page or even in the same book!

I started reading as much about Disney as possible. Through my reading I discovered "The Disney Way". This book has helped to clarify and explain how Disney accomplishes such great customer loyalty and satisfaction. This book explains how customer satisfaction does not happen overnight and is actually one of the hardest areas of any business to maintain. This books not only explains the what customer satisfaction is it also show examples of businesses, not just Disney, putting their care programs into action. It has shown me that "The Disney Way" isn't just something that happens it is something that is constantly worked on and constantly being improved.

During these tough economic times I am finding that customers are what we need to be focusing on not just the price of a product. Reading this book, several times now, continues to remind me that we are in the business of pleasing our guests (customers). Almost all of our functions should in some way be geared toward that end. This is marvelous book that doesn't just show the "why's" but explains the "how's.” Great job!”

Steve Housley
owner, Polly's Pets
pollyspets.com

Latin Americans United for Progress using Disney Way Storyboarding

Tonight, we will be working with the Hispanic youth in Holland, Michigan to help them unleash their creativity through Storyboarding.  Storyboarding will help them identify and address critical issues they currently face in their schools and the community. We look forward to being involved in preparing these bright and motivated young people to become community leaders, and further both their education and future careers.

In 2006, Michigan Future Inc. released a report in which 4 area Chambers of Commerce formed a coalition to enhance business development and success. The name of the report is named “Strategies for a culturally Competent Region”. It emphasized that diversity is now part of our culture and is key in business strategy and development. The report also recognizes that there is much to gain from the richness of a multi-cultural community. Another key finding of a report from the West Michigan Strategic Alliance indicates that our area needs prepare for a more educated workforce so we will be able to fill a variety of highly skilled jobs. Such dynamics will support success in our region economically and socially. This is exactly what LAUP seeks to accomplish through our Steps to Success and Youth Development Programs.