Lakeshore Middle School PTO · Grand Haven Area Public Schools
That is the Lakeshore Middle School PTO's own motto — printed on its logo and its event banner — and this page is built around the work behind it: the donut mornings, the appreciation days, the meetings where parents and teachers actually talk, and the local businesses that keep showing up. Lakeshore is Grand Haven's only 7th- and 8th-grade building, so this PTO speaks for every family with a middle schooler in town.
Everything on this page about the PTO comes from the PTO's own public posts and flyers (December 2025 – October 2026) and from Grand Haven Area Public Schools. Illustrations are artwork created for this portfolio — the PTO's own photos live on its Facebook Page, linked throughout.
The year in their rhythm
Small dollars, constantly at work. The PTO's calendar is a steady drumbeat of fundraisers and small celebrations that pay for classroom support, FLEX time, and school-sponsored events — in the words of its own SaveAround flyer.
Donuts before school — cash, tap-to-pay, or pre-order — run in partnership with the Student Council. Their warning is cheerful and accurate: “We WILL sell out so pre-orders encouraged!” Pre-orders run through Cheddar Up.
The newest tradition on the calendar: soda cans at lunch, with the first Fizz Friday set for October 23, 2026. A dollar at a time, it adds up to real support.
The fall coupon-book fundraiser — QR code, online purchase, and coupons for local businesses — “supports classrooms, FLEX time, and school-sponsored events.”
Halloween Candy Grams (sales October 26–27, delivery October 29), Turkey Treats on November 24, and Drink Day on November 20 — small surprises that mark the seasons for students.
Volunteers staff the concession stands for football and volleyball. Their September call said it plainly: “Parents, guardians, high schoolers who need volunteer hours — WE NEED YOUR HELP!” Rosters run through SignUpGenius.
On-site surprises for classes with 100% attendance on Count Day (October 7), and Custodian Appreciation Day on October 2 — the PTO notices the days, and the people, that others walk past.
The PTO holds five general meetings a year at Grand Fun, 1051 Jackson Street, Grand Haven — a local family entertainment venue — at 6:30 PM, in the private room, with a $12 unlimited-play deal for kids during the meeting. In their words: “General meetings provide an update on past and future events, allow for parent and teacher connections, and provide an opportunity to discuss events, fundraising, and school support!”
| Meeting | Good to know |
|---|---|
| Sep 22 | School-year kickoff meeting, 6:30 PM at Grand Fun |
| Nov 9 | Moved from Nov 10 for the Band's Veteran's Day Concert — 6:30 PM, Grand Fun private room |
| Jan 12 | Mid-year meeting, 6:30 PM at Grand Fun |
| Mar 16 | Spring planning meeting, 6:30 PM at Grand Fun |
| May 11 | Year-end meeting, 6:30 PM at Grand Fun |
Dates and details as published on the PTO's October 2026 meeting flyer. Confirm the current date on the PTO Facebook Page before you go — the Page is where changes land first.
Gratitude, on the record
If you only read the PTO's Page for a month, you'd think its main job was saying thank you. It might be. Appreciation is their strongest content — and it deserves a permanent home, not just a post that scrolls away.
Illustration created for this portfolio.
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That was the PTO's own count for Bus Driver Appreciation Day, April 28, 2026 — 28 bus drivers, 5 driver assistants, and 3 office staff — honored with gift bags and handmade cards. It became the PTO's most-loved post of the year, at 180 likes. Gratitude, it turns out, is what this community shares most.
Five themed days for teachers: a BBQ kickoff, Taco Tuesday, the Snack Shoppe, trail-mix day, and a “Bear Hunt” finale.
A holiday luncheon with the “Penguin Game” and teacher gift bags — “Happy Holidays from your PTO!” — with food donated by local partners Pinwheel Kitchen and Papa's Tacos.
For Exceptional Children's Week, the PTO rolled out a Kindness Kart alongside the school's “POPS Tower of Peer Support.”
A farewell lunch, hosted with the Student Council, for teachers departing Lakeshore — appreciation that lasts past the last day.
The fall calendar opened with thanks for the custodial team — the people who make the building work before anyone arrives.
The adult learning layer
Parents can't back what they don't understand. The PTO's “ParentView” posts translate school and district business into plain language — and parents thank them for it by name in the comments.
“The PTO is comprised of parent volunteers and we are not employed or governed by the schools! Opinions stated are those of the author, and approved by the PTO Board.”
This is shared learning among adults, already happening. A shared portfolio gives ParentView a permanent, organized home — so a parent who missed a post in May can still find the explanation in October.
Shared portfolios, demonstrated
These are the businesses already standing behind Lakeshore families.
1051 Jackson Street, Grand Haven. Hosts all five PTO general meetings in its private room — and offers families a $12 unlimited-play deal for kids while the meeting runs. The PTO's living room, off-site.
Thanked for donating to the December 2025 staff holiday luncheon, and featured again as a partner in October 2026.
Named in the PTO's thanks for donating food to the staff holiday luncheon in December 2025.
A restaurant fundraiser day on the PTO's fall calendar for November 6, 2026: families eat, the school benefits, the business meets its neighbors.
The PTO already does the hard part — earning local trust. A shared portfolio simply gives that trust a lasting address: the PTO's causes get a better story to share, sponsors get year-round recognition instead of a one-day post, and parents get one place that stays current.
The seam to what comes next
The PTO's world already touches students directly — and reaches past Lakeshore's walls to the high school. That seam matters, because it's exactly where a student's next step begins.
The PTO's September 2026 volunteer call explicitly recruited “high schoolers who need volunteer hours” for football and volleyball concessions — a working bridge between this middle-school PTO and Grand Haven High School students.
Donut Day launched in partnership with the Student Council, and the two groups co-hosted the Teacher Farewell Lunch in June 2026. Students aren't just the audience here — they're co-hosts.
On 6th Grade Transition Day (May 7, 2026), the PTO helped welcome incoming students — the GH Class of 2032 — and supported the Class of 2032 Parent Meeting at back-to-school orientation in August, under a banner reading “making middle school matter.”
What is being built around your student — and where Lakeshore fits in it.
Your PTO page tells the story of this school. This section tells the story of what is being built around it — a student pathway that runs from these hallways to a working life, and that Lakeshore eighth graders would stand at the front of. Plainly, step by step:
Step one
The tools local businesses now run on — text messaging, email, voice, and A.I. agents (Advanced Intelligence) — taught as coursework, the same material working agencies use every day, inside the RezConnect platform.
Step two
Not mock projects: real pieces of technology — pages, campaigns, and communication systems — built by students for real local businesses, with a coach beside them. Many times people fail because they are not coached. Nobody in this pathway works uncoached.
Step three
Placement is by ability, not by grade: a student who is ready moves when she is ready. Builders become the students in the field — introducing local merchants, and selling the subscription that keeps the system running.
A subscription is $97 a month: $40 goes to the student who brought the merchant in — mailbox money, earned monthly while the subscription stays active; $7 goes to Walk the Beat, the music mission this work carries; and $50 goes to the platform that hosts it all. On the annual plan ($997, paid once), the same shape holds: $400 to the student, $97 to the mission, $500 to the platform.
Kiwanis built the rungs years ago; this pathway walks students up them: Builders Club (ages 11–14, the middle-school club) → Key Club (high school — Grand Haven High School's Key Club already exists) → student affiliates doing the field work → certification.
There is no Builders Club at Lakeshore today — nothing here should be read as saying otherwise. Starting one is a known path, with known requirements: a faculty advisor, a background-checked Kiwanis advisor, and eleven or more charter members including officers. Tri-Cities Kiwanis already uses this building — its Books vs. Badges Hoopla fundraiser is held here — so the conversation does not start from zero.
The Education Pipeline Portfolio — the full description of this pathway — is with the district for review: Mary Jane Evink, Grand Haven's Director of Curriculum, is reviewing it for curriculum fit — where work like this belongs, who teaches near it, at what level. That is a review, not a decision, and no one should read more into it than that.
Spring Lake is the next school preparing to walk the same path, with its own portfolio in its own colors. And for students who lean technical, the OAISD's Careerline Tech Center is the career-tech door the pathway connects to.
A seventh grader who watches this start in eighth grade could leave high school with a portfolio of real work for real businesses, real earnings of her own, working knowledge of the tools every employer around her is adopting, and a certification path walked one coached step at a time. That is the bigger picture this page exists to show you — because Lakeshore is where every Grand Haven student passes through, and the front of the pathway is here.
You are not the audience for this. You are one of its parts.
Everything on this page was built for the PTO to see first — and that is not a courtesy. It is the structure. Here is the seat parents actually hold in this pathway:
Parents see this before the merchants do, before the wider community does. If it doesn't make sense to a Lakeshore parent, it doesn't ship — your read of it is the first real test it gets.
Five times a year, your general meetings at Grand Fun are where Lakeshore families actually gather — parents and teachers in one room, talking about what serves these students. No other table in this pathway seats both. If this idea is ever discussed with families, it will be discussed there, because that's where families are.
Look at the businesses that already show up for your fundraisers — you know the owners, and they know you. The pathway's builders need real businesses to build for, and the warmest introductions in Grand Haven run through parents who already have those relationships. A PTO parent saying “you should see what these students can build” opens a door no salesman can.
The builders at the front of this pathway would be your students. Parents are the ones who watch a thirteen-year-old go from a classroom exercise to shaking a business owner's hand — and who can say, honestly, whether it is real. That witness is worth more than any brochure, including this page.
Nobody is asking the PTO to run this, fund it, or endorse it today — the district's review comes first, and it may land wherever it lands. The invitation is smaller and real: read the pieces linked below, bring your questions to a meeting, and if it earns it, let the conversation happen at your table. And if the PTO decides it isn't their table — say so plainly, and the pathway thanks you for the read and walks on. Either way, you saw it first. That part doesn't change.
No dead ends
The PTO describes itself as parent volunteers — not employed or governed by the schools — and its doors are already open. Here's how a Lakeshore parent joins in, using the same tools the PTO already runs.
Calendars, changes, flyers, and sign-up links all land on the Lakeshore Middle School PTO Facebook Page first (~550 followers and counting).
Five a year, 6:30 PM at Grand Fun, 1051 Jackson Street — Nov 9 · Jan 12 · Mar 16 · May 11 still ahead this school year. Kids are welcome, and the $12 unlimited-play deal runs during the meeting. Updates, parent–teacher connection, and a real say in events, fundraising, and school support.
Volunteer rosters run through SignUpGenius links posted on the Page — a concession shift is the classic first step. Donut Day pre-orders run through Cheddar Up. One shift is how most PTO stories start.
900 S. Cutler St., Grand Haven, MI 49417 · 616.850.6500 · School day 7:38 AM – 2:48 PM. Principal: Brad Cusumano (appointed 2025, formerly Assistant Principal at Grand Haven High School). Assistant Principal: Cortney Naber. Since 2012, all GHAPS seventh and eighth graders attend Lakeshore — about 700+ students — in the building that was the original Grand Haven High School, dedicated in 1954. The school's own mission is “Success For All,” with values of Excellence, Kindness, Respect, and Responsibility — separate from the PTO's, and noted here only so the two are never confused.
