April 20, 2020
This issue Contains The Following:
  • Questions Regarding Graduation and Diplomas
  • Pinning Ceremony On Hold
  • Spirit Week Is A Success
  • Book Returns
  • Fall ECAC Course Registration
  • Allegan Advantage-Dual Enrollment
  • Welcome Class of 2023!
  • College Virtual Tours
  • Important Dates
Lake Michigan College Commencement Postponed
COVID-19 has wreaked havoc on many lives and has caused many "milestone celebrations" to be cancelled or delayed until it is safe for large crowds to meet again.

The current plan for those wishing to participate in Commencement is to attend the ceremony in August. As these details emerge, we will contact the 3rd Cohort to see who is still interested and available to participate.

If a student was on the path to graduate, they will still receive thier diploma or certificate in the mail. This usually takes up to a month after the semester ends. Graduates will also need to send an updated transcript to their next University. This is done through Wavelink.

Final grades will be sent to your high school and your High School diploma will follow sometime in June. Check with your school to confirm if it will be mailed to them or if it will need to be picked up.

ECAC staff is proud of our graduates and the growth, strength, and readiness you exhibit for what ever is next in their journey! The light is at the end of the tunnel. Stay focused, healthy and safe!
Pinning Ceremony On Hold
Since the beginning of the Early College program,13th year students have attended their Lake Michigan College graduation and ECAC pinning ceremony. However, this year is different.

When the time is right, we would still like to have the pinning ceremony in Allegan. Hopefully this will occur before many of the students have to begin college classes in August. Everyone will be notified by email if and when it will take place.
The pinning ceremony is a special part of graduation that only our 13th year students take part in. It is a way to celebrate the cohort's accomplishments with their families. Each graduating student receives a certificate of successful completion from our ECAC program. Furthermore, the graduates are presented with a pin by two of their college instructors as a memento of their achievement. After all the hard work put in by the students, it is a gratifying closure and send off to the next chapter of their lives. The evening ends with plenty of pictures, smiles, laughter and some tears.
Do We Have Spirit? Oh Yes We Do!
Students may not be attending classes face to face, but they still show their class spirit! Originally, students from both the ECAC and Allegan Advantage programs were to partake in a Spirit week activity, which was set for April 6-9th. However, due to the Coronavirus, the building was closed.

We wanted to reach out to the students during this difficult time and have some fun. For those who participated, their name went into a drawing for each day they participated for a gift card. This required students to either join a Zoom meeting scheduled each day or email a picture of them self participating in the daily event. The schedule was as follows:

Monday- PJ Day-messy hair day (bonus)!
Tuesday-Bring your Pet to School day (no pets?-show a baby picture instead!)
Wednesday-Dress Up Day
Thursday- Dress in Your Home School Colors Day or College wear
Friday-Food Fest, eat what ever you like.

Winners will be contacted this week to confirm mailing of gift cards.
Dwight has spirit, how about you?
Jocelyn Selby shows off her school spirit in her Otsego Bulldog Tee-shirt!
Madison Dalton, Fennville High School senior, joins in Dress Up day during spirit week.
Way to show your Blackhawk Pride Katlynn Trevino!
Snap shot of participants.c It was great to see their faces and hear their voices!
Meet Remy! KC Robertson showed off her gecko on spirit day!
Book Return Options

Students will have two choices for returning books. A survey was sent via email to choose what will work best for them. These choices include:

1. Printing shipping label that will be emailed to them by the bookstore and shipping from May 4th- May 22nd.

2. Drop books off to the Tech Center the week of June 1st. Drop off will be set up in the parking lot using Social Distancing. Times will be sent later in May.

3.Most importantly, if you do not return your books then you will be charged and your home school may place a hold on your diploma.

Links for Book Survey:


Registration for Fall
Procedure for Registering for Fall classes
  1. Students will be sent an email this week with a form to complete online. Form must be completed by 4/27/20.
  2. Mrs. Houser will fill out registrations based on information provided by student, consult with counselors, send registrations to the local districts for approval, and submit to Lake Michigan College.
  3. At this time we are NOT requiring parent/student signatures.

Allegan Advantage
Lake Michigan College/Allegan Advantage packets will be made available to local districts as soon as they are available. This is for students who want to earn college credit through Lake Michigan College at the Tech Center and are not a part of the 13th year, Early College Program.
Time Well Spent and it's Free!
Many students are finding they have extra time on their hands after their school work is completed. The Early College strives to help prepare students with experiences and resources to help them take the next steps in their academic careers on their way to their chosen profession. It is never too early to start exploring which college will be the best fit after Lake Michigan College.

What does this look like during a pandemic? College virtual tours are now at your finger tips!

According to John Michaels of EAB " High school seniors are taking these tours at a rate 228 percent higher than they were at this time last year." EAB  acquired YouVisit , the leading provider of virtual tour and interactive web content for higher education, in December 2019.

Eab. (2020, April 20). Demand for Virtual Campus Tours Surges During Coronavirus Closures. Retrieved from https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2020/04/20/2018615/0/en/Demand-for-Virtual-Campus-Tours-Surges-During-Coronavirus-Closures.html

Check out another popular website " CampusReel " in the Mlive article:

This is also a great time to start thinking about and planning ahead for scholarships. 4th cohort can start getting serious about these searches. 5th Cohort can start to educate themselves and bookmark scholarships for next year. Check out this resource provided, it is a great place to start as well as your local districts' Guidance Departments and their website pages.


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Welcome ECAC, Lake Michigan College
Class of 2023!
We have completed our application process and would like to welcome the following students to our program: We look forward to the time we can send a group picture, until then, here they are by district: Allegan: Joe Allen, Kenna Baker, Ryan Brink, Olivia Clearwater, McClain Garvin, Mikayla Hooker, Charles Keith, Megan Melson, Cameron Pierce, Connor Valenti, Layla Webb, Hunter Weeks. Fennville: Corey Callejas, Vivianna Espino, Tony Fish, Isabel Garcia, Sarah Pitts, Delinna Ramos, Annabelle Vanderscheer. Martin: Zach Bailey, Trent Kimmel, Javan Lowe, Jenna Marsman.
Hopkins: Jaylynn Dean, Liberty Laforest, Riley Landrigan, Brynn Landrigan, Kenton Landrigan, Aubrey Russell. Otsego: Kaleb Baker, Chais Carpenter, Dagim DeBoer, Evelyn Dekema, Donovan Goodwin, Kendalyn Haskin, Trenton Johnson, Katie LaBonte, Brenna Meyers, Cailynn Phelps, Nova Plumley, Marah Slager, Elise Tolan, Destiny Wheeler. Plainwell: Evan Beauregard, Kenison Bosman, Olivia Vanderlugt. Wayland: Camden Strader.

Important Dates
* Online Book Return Form due: ASAP
Book Returns -
  1. Ship to Lake Michigan College Bookstore: May 4th-22nd
  2. Drop off: Week of June 1st to the Tech Center
* Online Fall Registration Form due: 4/24/20
* Last Day of Winter Semester: Friday, May 1, 2020

* Final Grades Available - Thursday, May 7, 2020  
* Pinning Ceremony-TBD
* Lake Michigan College Commencement-August           
Early College Allegan County | AESSA.org