Coming up May 2 at the Lake Michigan College Mendel Center will be Heartwork 2024, put on by Berrien RESA.
This is the third year for the Heartwork celebration, intended to salute and encourage anyone working in education in Berrien County. RESA Superintendent Eric Hoppstock tells us teachers and other school staff need some appreciation.
“As we went through COVID and we were coming out of all of the pandemic, we realized that we don’t spend much time as educators just celebrating the hard work that all education staff do from bus drivers to custodians to teachers,” Hoppstock said.
So, Heartwork was started.
HEARTwork 2024 will be held at the Mendel Center on the campus of Lake Michigan College in the Grand Upton Hall from 5 to 7:30 p.m. on May 2. It’ll feature mingling, games, food, photo ops, and a guest speaker.
Hoppstock says the previous two Heartwork celebrations were major successes.
“It’s been so positively received that every time we end the event, they say, ‘Are we going to do this again next year?’ So, this is our third year doing it.”
The guest speaker this year will be Superintendent Buddy Berry from Eminence Independent Schools in Kentucky, who Hoppstock describes as an education rejuvenator. He’ll inspire those in attendance with talk about where education is going and the value of educators.
The first Heartwork celebration attracted more than 600 attendees, while last year’s brought in more than 800. Hoppstock says they’re hoping to reach 1,000 this year.
Anyone working in education is invited to register and then attend on May 2.
