December 2025 Blazer Gazette

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Candy's Corner

A Season of Learning, Connection, and Joy

Winter is here, and across our network, the holiday season is in full swing. From festive spirit weeks to meaningful learning experiences, December has been filled with connection, creativity, and collaboration.

Holiday spirit weeks brought energy and joy to our schools. One standout moment was the “teacher underground” spirit week at Success Academy, where the classic “drink out of anything but a water bottle” day was my personal favorite. These moments of fun and laughter help strengthen culture and community during a busy season.

Our teams also stepped up in a big way this quarter, supporting students and one another during a period when staff illness was high. The flexibility, teamwork, and care shown across the network reflect the heart of our organization, and we are deeply grateful.

Alongside the holiday celebrations, we continue to advance our core work. This month, a team of elementary teachers and leaders had the opportunity to see World of Work and the RIASEC interest inventory in action. This work is central to strengthening our College & Career Readiness pillar and expanding experiential learning through career exploration, helping students identify interests and strengths early on.

Fourth and fifth grade students from Success Academy at the Boys & Girls Club visited our Central Office for an experiential learning field trip. Students explored the wide range of careers within our network, with a highlight being their thoughtful questions—especially when they asked each of us what our RIASEC codes are. It was powerful to see how classroom learning is becoming embedded in students’ thinking and language.

We also want to highlight the work of our AI Committee, which has been developing AI competency standards that all students will master by the time they graduate. The committee has also shared an AI usage menu to ensure we lead with ethical, responsible, and safe guardrails as AI becomes part of teaching and learning.

Finally, Bend Manufacturing, our student-run business, designed a violin prototype for the elementary music program at SABGC—an outstanding example of creativity, problem-solving, and real-world application.

As we head into the holiday season, we are grateful for the passion, collaboration, and joy our staff bring to our schools each day. Thank you for making this a season of meaningful learning and connection.

DECEMBER HR News!

Exhibition of Learning at the Portage Potluck

On Wednesday, December 3rd, the Portage community came together for our second Potluck of the school year. Potlucks are one of our favorite traditions here at the Portage School, as they strengthen the connection between school and home. During this Potluck, our students highlighted their contributions to the community from the Immersion Period. Our Exhibition of Learning was set up throughout the first floor of our building and showcased products and presentations from each Immersion.

The Freshmen Leadership Immersion set up a gallery walk of their murals on leadership, which will hopefully adorn the walls of our school in the future, and shared a video of their experiences at Five Star Life. During the Immersion Period, students gave Tedx Talks on what it means to be a leader in front of a panel of their peers and faculty members, impressing us all with their progress in public speaking.

Students in Bridging the Gap shared videos of their proposals to community partners, including the YWCA, One Roof, and the Center for the Homeless. During the Potluck, their group met with students, parents, and caregivers to discuss the process of narrowing down solutions to the “gaps” they found in the South Bend community, fielding questions along the way.

Our Civics Immersion, which included the entire senior class, focused on the issue of homelessness in St. Joseph County. After three weeks of research and preparation, the students collaborated to develop a three-pronged proposal to address homelessness in the surrounding area. It was a privilege to witness their presentation at the Potluck. Students spoke eloquently on their research, expertly answered questions from the audience, and collected signatures on their petition to raise additional awareness among our community. We are so proud of how they have grown in their time here at Portage and look forward to their upcoming visit to the St. Joseph County Council meeting, where several students will share their suggestions.

This Potluck was a true celebration of our students’ persistence, engagement with the local community, and critical thinking. We are excited to see what they create in the second trimester!

Competency Submissions

Throughout the year, Portage School students are invited to submit evidence of mastery of one or more of the 29 competencies that make up our Portrait of a Leader. There are foundational competencies, which all students are expected to earn as part of their graduation requirements, and advanced competencies, which are optional, but encouraged.

While the competency submission window is always open, we have dedicated the last several weeks of Wayfinding to preparing students for their formal submissions from the first half of this year. Wayfinders and other faculty members have been working with students to identify how they have grown this year and what they are most proud of, next combing through the competencies to see where they can find a match. Once they have selected a competency, they can gather or sort their evidence. Students can provide evidence of growth and improvement in their chosen competencies from school experiences, but also from their lives outside of school. Evidence can take a variety of forms, and we encourage students to use their strengths in determining how best to show their progress and mastery.

Students will finalize this round of submissions by Friday, but the submission window remains open all year. We can’t wait to continue celebrating our students’ achievements!

Career Academy Senior Rima Bahradine-Bell Co-Emcees the 4th Annual IDOE Educational Excellence Awards Gala

Career Academy senior Rima Bahradine-Bell was selected to co-emcee the 4th Annual Indiana Department of Education (IDOE) Educational Excellence Awards Gala, representing Career Academy at a statewide event honoring outstanding educators and leaders.

Rima learned of the opportunity unexpectedly and said she was excited to say yes and step into the role. Leading up to the gala, she participated in multiple rehearsals, both via Zoom and in person at the Indiana Statehouse, with Indiana Secretary of Education Dr. Jenner and event organizers, including script reviews and run-throughs, while being encouraged to bring her own personality to the stage.

One of Rima’s most memorable moments was seeing the ballroom before the event began and experiencing the behind-the-scenes coordination of a large-scale formal event. At the conclusion of the evening, she and her co-emcee were surprised with a $1,000 scholarship in appreciation for their work.

Rima encourages other Career Academy students to remain open to opportunities, noting that saying yes can lead to meaningful experiences and personal growth.

Success Academy @ Boys & Girls Club Visits the Central Office

On December 11, the CANOPS Central Office welcomed some very special guests—elementary students from Success Academy at the Boys & Girls Club—for a joyful holiday visit filled with curiosity, laughter, and seasonal cheer.

The morning began with a guided tour of our Central Office, where students explored behind-the-scenes spaces and learned how different teams work together to support schools across the network. One of the highlights of the visit was time spent with Superintendent Candida Van Buskirk, who delighted students by reading a story and thoughtfully answering their many questions.

Throughout the visit, students enjoyed festive treats including cookies, hot chocolate, candy canes, small toys, and other holiday surprises. They also had the opportunity to meet members of our district leadership team, along with staff from the Business Office, IT, Marketing, and Human Resources departments.

The visit offered students a firsthand look at the many roles that help keep schools running smoothly, while staff had the opportunity to connect with the young learners who inspire our work every day. The atmosphere was filled with excitement, learning, and holiday spirit.

We are grateful to everyone who helped make this meaningful and memorable experience possible. It was truly a wonderful way to celebrate the season together.

Holiday Spirit on Display: Hat Day at Success Academy at Boys & Girls Club

Success Academy at the Boys & Girls Club was filled with holiday cheer during festive Hat Day, as students from kindergarten through fifth grade proudly wore their SABGC logo hats to celebrate the season. From warm winter hats to fun and festive styles, the halls were filled with smiles, laughter, and Christmas spirit.

Students were excited to show off their hats, sharing their joy with classmates and teachers while enjoying the warmth and togetherness that make this time of year so special. Hat Day was a simple yet meaningful way to celebrate school pride and the holiday season as a community.

Wishing all students, families, teachers, and staff a joyful holiday season and a happy New Year. Thank you for making Success Academy at the Boys & Girls Club such a warm, caring, and spirited place to learn and grow.

Success Academy Showcase

Success Academy recently hosted its Project Showcase Night, highlighting the incredible STEAM-integrated projects created by our K–5 students. Each grade level proudly presented hands-on work that demonstrated their learning and creativity throughout the semester. Projects included:

Kindergarten: Conducted a Homes Study by learning about different types of homes, communities, and built houses out of cardboard, Styrofoam, and other materials.
1st Grade: Space Study was filled with all things solar system! Students made dioramas of our solar system and learned various facts about space.
2nd Grade: Bat Study, where students learned about bats from all over the world and then used their knowledge to build bat boxes with the laser in the Makerspace, so local bats have safe habitats.
3rd Grade: Extreme Weather Study helped students understand extreme weather situations. Students were presented with an extreme-weather scenario, then had to build a shelter to withstand it, made tornado simulation bottles with water, glitter, and two bottles, and assembled a severe-weather go kit in case of inclement weather.
4th Grade: Simple Machines Study. Students learned about simple machines in the Makerspace and then incorporated them into Rube Goldberg projects and interactive carnival games that could be played at the showcase.
5th Grade: Students read the Novels — Esperanza Rising and The Wild Robot Escapes. Then, students learned to make yarn dolls, like characters from one of their books, following step-by-step directions that required wrapping, tying, and braiding their yarn. Students also made ancient treasure maps that track the journey of the main characters in the other novel that they read, describing the many challenges they faced along the way. To help younger students understand the novels they read, fifth-grade students made ABC books to understand important themes, characters, traits, places, and events from each text, perfect for practicing letters at bedtime. Students also wrote a five paragraph essay about an animal main characters from their novel might have encountered then created a model or poster about their animal.
Lifeskills: Light and Sound Study explored topics such as sources of light, reflection and shadows, and how sound is made through vibrations. Through hands-on experiments, observations, and simple investigations, students learned how light helps us see and how sound travels.
Families also enjoyed exploring the Makerspace, where our young creators brought their ideas to life using tools and technologies available to them every day.

Another exciting highlight: our students are already learning to use safe and supported AI tools at school! Special thanks to Mrs. Marks, our computer teacher and an active member of our network’s AI Committee, for helping lead this important work.

Visitors to the Makerspace may have also met two SASB alumni who returned to represent our robotics program. Now middle schoolers, these students spoke with impressive knowledge and passion—proof that our robotics pathway is helping build confident, skilled learners. With several robotics teams this year and continued growth on the horizon, we’re thrilled about the expanding opportunities ahead for our students.

Career Academy Middle School Winter Programs Highlight

There has been a lot of after-school greatness happening at Career Academy Middle School! Ms. Lee and Ms. Wigfall recently represented our school at the Attendance Awareness Campaign Kick-Off at the CASIE Center, where they met with the Mayor to discuss bringing this critical attendance initiative to Career Academy.

We also hosted a successful Family Literacy Night at the St. Joseph County Main Library Community Center. Families enjoyed engaging in literacy games, light refreshments, books, and opportunities to win gift cards. Thank you to everyone who joined us for an evening centered on family learning and connection.

Most recently, our talented 8th Grade Symphonic Band, alongside the high school Jazz Band, held their holiday concert, and our ELL Family night, Cocoa & Calculations, where families enjoyed hot cocoa, cookies, and math games!

Career Academy is a Notre Dame Flagship Partner

Ciao