A Principal goes Above and Beyond – Celebrating Principals Month in Powell Township

A Principal goes Above and Beyond – Celebrating Principals Month in Powell Township 

Principals across the nation work every day with one thing in their minds: the success of their students. They understand that a child’s health and wellness is essential to their learning. For this reason, principals have always been a critical part of ending childhood hunger in America.

Today, principals face an extraordinary set of challenges in the fallout of the pandemic. Learning gaps have grown, many students face additional social and emotional challenges, and staff shortages have impacted educators’ ability to address all the needs of their students. This Principal Appreciation Month, we’re highlighting a school leader who, in the face of these immense obstacles, continues to work hand in hand with their school nutrition team to ensure kids have the food they need.

Powell Principal Michelle Gill

Michelle Gill is the Principal of Powell Township School, a K-8 school located in Marquette County in the Upper Peninsula. Powell is a small civil township with 49 students in the district. As such, Michelle is also the Superintendent, Transportation Director, and Athletic Director of the district.  She is charged with performing all of these duties on a part-time basis, 150 days per year.   

While there have been many challenges in Powell during the pandemic, the resilience of the local community and Michelle’s team has been inspirational. 

During the pandemic, transportation has been a major issue as the school now has only one bus driver. Previously they had three drivers. Occasionally, the school asks parents to pick up or drop off students if the driver is unavailable. Some families don’t have transportation so the school van is sometimes used to transport students.  Michelle called neighboring school districts – which are more than 25 miles away – to arrange transportation for some of the students. Additionally, the part-time music teacher at Powell even stepped in to take on the role of the bus driver on top of his teaching duties. 

The students in her school didn’t have sports for the last couple of years, but this year, sports are back, which means Michelle is driving the van to make sure kids get to where they need to be for cross country meets. Co-ed middle school basketball for grades 5 – 8 will be starting in mid October and track will occur in the spring.  

Michelle also understands the importance of physical activity for growing minds.  Students in her district walk for a mile every day before the school day starts. During this time, students take time to learn about the outdoors and spend time in the fresh air.

Staff prepare meals for students.

Michelle is always willing to put in the work to get things done. She and her husband, the 1st / 2nd Grade Teacher, even went into the school on Labor Day to  finalize a flooring project so it was ready for the start of school. They got it done, and school started on time.  

Michelle is supported by Holly Dewit, Administrative Assistant, and Amy Havel, the school’s Food Service Head Cook and Menu Planner. Together, this small but mighty team makes sure to provide meals for students to ensure that no kid goes hungry. 

The school participates in the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP), which serves free meals to qualifying students, and is looking to utilize more scratch cooking in their meal programs. However, as students will need to go back to paying for their meals, there is concern among the staff that students will have difficulty paying. The pandemic also brought more families to the area of varying economic statuses which affects if the school will be eligible for CEP in the coming years. 

Additionally, Michelle and her team receive food deliveries monthly and there is not enough space to store the food. However, No Kid Hungry Michigan was able to provide a grant for not only more freezer space, but a salad bar, cart, and another lunch room table. At Powell, students and teachers eat their meals together, and No Kid Hungry Michigan is proud to assist such a welcoming and tight-knight community like Powell. 

As 1 in 7 kids in Michigan could be living with hunger, we thank school principals like Michelle who understand the importance of school meals. 

You can join us during Principal Appreciation Month by celebrating principals in your community who have helped champion school meals and student health.