SC4 Provides Free Mental Health Services and Opens Free Student Pantry

Mental health is taken seriously at St. Clair County Community College. The college is expanding its support network in response to the growing need for mental health services.

Students can access telehealth sessions 24 hours a day, seven days a week, through the BetterMynd service that provides licensed mental health counselors. The fifty-minute sessions are private and confidential and can be done on a laptop or smartphone. Students are eligible for at least five free sessions.

Director of Student Wellness David Goetze said, “We want to provide our students with the mental health and wellness resources they need to maintain a balanced and healthy lifestyle—and to succeed in an academic environment.

Goetze said, “The past few years have been very challenging for many of our students. BetterMynd will help enhance our offerings and provide students with even greater access and support.”

Services are also available with SC4 Student Wellness.

SC4 has also launched Skip’s Corner Pantry, to provide free food and personal items to students in need. The pantry is located on the first floor of the Welcome Center and is open during college business hours.  

Reporting for WGRT – Jennie McClelland

ArtCrawl 2022 Coming to Sarnia

ArtCrawl 2022 is looking for vendors to join them at this year’s event which will take place on August 6th from 10 AM – 5 PM from George to Davis on Christina Street.

ArtCrawl takes place as part of Sarnia’s First Friday and Weekend Walkabout sponsored by the Sarnia Lambton Chamber of Commerce. The Sarnia Chamber works with downtown business owners to have special events throughout the First Friday weekends in the summer months, and it includes vendors, live music, and Sunday car shows.

The theme for August’s weekend is Local Market and Art Walk, and ArtCrawl will be the main event on Saturday, August 6th. During the weekend, Christina Street will be closed to traffic to allow pedestrians to stroll around to local businesses and enjoy the vendors.

Those who want to join ArtCrawl as a vendor can contact info@theiso.org for an applications. Cost is $100 per booth.

For more information about Sarnia’s First Friday and Weekend Walkabout visit their website here:

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Reporting for WGRT – Jessie Wiegand

State Budget Allocates $555 Million to Address Teacher Shortage

Teachers are in short supply in Michigan, but that could change with substantial state investment in teacher recruitment and retention. Having students pay to student teach could be a thing of the past, along with other changes to the traditional way that students have embarked on teaching careers.

The Michigan legislature allocated $555 million to support the educator workforce in the fiscal year 2023 state budget. 

The Future Proud Michigan Educator Staff program supports employees who are working on teacher certification and creates education career exploration programs.

The Michigan Department of Treasury is getting involved with the Future Educator Fellowships and Student Teacher Stipends to the tune of $355 million allocated for the compensation and scholarship programs.

There is also a program to recruit military veterans to become teachers and an investment in recruiting technical education educators.

Funds will be available after October 1st.

Future Proud Michigan Educator webpage 

Reporting for WGRT – Jennie McClelland

August 2nd Election is Near: Still Time to Register, But Too Late to Mail Absentee Ballots

It’s really too late to mail in an absentee ballot. With the August 2nd election less than two weeks away, it is best to hand deliver absentee ballots to the local clerk’s office or to put them in a local drop box.

Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson said, “Drop boxes continue to be among the safe options that voters have to return their ballot securely this year, in addition to hand-delivering their ballot to their clerk’s office, voting early at their clerk’s office, or voting at their polling place on Election Day.”

While it’s too late to mail in a ballot, it’s not too late to register to vote. Registering needs to take place in person at the local clerk’s office and can happen right up until the end of election day. Online and mail registration is not permitted within 14 days of an election.

You can check the status of your ballot or absentee application online at Michigan.gov/Vote or by calling your local clerk.

The Michigan primary election requires voters to vote for only one party’s candidates. Voting for candidates in multiple parties on the same ballot will cause the ballot not to be counted.

Reporting for WGRT – Jennie McClelland

Garfield Street Closed Until End of July

Beginning today, the City of Port Huron will be making improvements to Garfield St. at Gator Avenue. These improvements will include new asphalt pavement, concrete curb and gutter, and sidewalk ramps.

Funding sources for this project includes the voter approved
street millage and Housing Development Action Grant funds.

Garfield will be closed to thru traffic until approximately the end of July.

We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. If there are any further questions regarding this matter, please contact the Department of Public Works.

Submitted by the City of Port Huron

New StoryWalk at Ft. Gratiot County Park

On Thursday, July 28th from 2- 3:30, a new feature will be unveiled near the playground at Ft. Gratiot County Park. StoryWalk, a joint effort between St. Clair County RESA, St. Clair County Great Start Collaborative and others, will enable families to experience a picture book together while walking around to 21 displays in the park.

The StoryWalk panels are free-standing displays that house pages of a children’s book which will change throughout the year. The first book, “Don’t Feed the Coos!” written by Jonathan Stutzman and illustrated by Heather Fox, is installed and ready for the ribbon-cutting.

Those who attend the unveiling will get to see the displays and enjoy fun activities for kids while also spending some time in nature and playing at the park.

St. Clair County Great Start Collaborative Coordinator Riley Alley said, “We welcome all our area children, families, caregivers, and teachers to enjoy the StoryWalk. It’s a fun way to engage with a book and makes literacy interactive in an unexpected way. We plan to have fun with this project year-round.”

Along with St. Clair County RESA and the St. Clair County Great Start Collaborative, this project was supported by State Farm Agent Megan Simmons, the Community Foundation of St. Clair County, St. Clair County Library System, St. Clair County Parks and Recreation, and the Michigan Department of Education.

Reporting for WGRT – Jessie Wiegand