Behind The Bell is a monthly storytelling series that takes readers beyond the classroom and into the heart of Traverse City Area Public Schools’ mission, values, vision and strategic goals. Through inspiring profiles, this series highlights the people, programs, and moments that shape our schools and connect our community. From unsung heroes to innovative initiatives, Behind The Bell offers an inside look at the stories that make TCAPS a special place to learn and grow.
I have the best memories of coaching after-school bike clubs and helping to lead a Safe Routes To School effort at Long Lake Elementary.
When you walk into Long Lake, you immediately feel the warmth of a school that is more than just a place of learning — it’s a community. It’s a place where students, staff, and families come together with a shared purpose: to support and celebrate student success.
This year, Long Lake is leaning into its Panther Pride theme, digging deep into what it means to be a Panther and recognizing students for demonstrating their Lifelong Guidelines — Trustworthy, Truthful, Active Listening, Personal Best, and Kind Words and Actions.
But beyond the daily moments in the classroom, on the playground or in the cafeteria, Long Lake is creating something special after hours, too.
Recently, the school hosted a family engagement night that was anything but ordinary.
Unlocking Learning: The Escape the Rainforest Challenge
Around 200 students and family members streamed into Long Lake Elementary on a crisp evening last month, eager for an adventure. The mission? Work together to solve puzzles, crack codes, and make a great escape — all while strengthening literacy and math skills along the way.
Escape the Rainforest transformed classrooms into challenge stations, each filled with hands-on learning activities designed to reinforce key academic concepts in a fun and engaging way.
“Thank you so much to all the staff who stayed late to help make this successful. Our family had so much fun!” one parent shared.
Families tackled different tasks to reveal a secret code, ultimately leading them to the final challenge in the cafeteria. There, students entered their code to unlock a prize box filled with raffle tickets for educational games — all designed to support literacy and math.
A District-Wide Commitment to Family Engagement
Long Lake’s Escape the Rainforest event was made possible through Title I funding, which provides resources to schools with high percentages of economically disadvantaged students. TCAPS has seven Title I schools, including Long Lake, all of which receive dedicated funds to support family engagement nights that foster student achievement.
“All of our Title I buildings have funds specifically earmarked for family engagement,” explained Dan Tiesworth, TCAPS Chief Academic Officer for Elementary. “Long Lake’s event was a huge hit, and the turnout was fantastic.”
Brittany Kay, TCAPS Director of Curriculum & Instruction, attended with her own kindergarten-aged child and was impressed by the thoughtful planning behind each activity.
“It was super engaging — very fun, and very well connected to the content that’s being learned across grade levels,” she said.
TCAPS Superintendent John VanWagoner also noted the excitement in the room.
“I had the chance to see the raffle, and the kids were all thrilled. It was incredibly popular,” he shared.
Connecting to TCAPS’ Strategic Goal 1A
Long Lake’s family engagement night wasn’t just about fun — it was directly tied to TCAPS’ Strategic Plan Goal 1A: Continuous improvement of academic achievement to maximize student success.
This goal focuses on:
📌 Curriculum alignment — developing systems to support curriculum mapping, common assessments, pacing guides, enrichment, and intervention support.
📌 The Portrait of a Graduate Framework — equipping students with essential skills for future success.
📌 A district-wide instructional framework — providing research-based best practices for student learning.
By designing an interactive event that engaged families in literacy and math skill-building, Long Lake Elementary put these priorities into action in a way that was meaningful, memorable, and fun.
Building Panther Pride — One Paw Ticket at a Time
Long Lake students don’t just demonstrate their Lifelong Guidelines during special events — they live them every day.
When students go above and beyond, they earn Paw Tickets as a reward for demonstrating Panther Pride.
These tickets are won by scoring a BINGO on their Panther Pride Board to help reinforce positive behavior and academic effort.
A Culture of Connection and Community
At the heart of Long Lake Elementary is Principal Kate Burwinkel, who has been with TCAPS for 10 years and is deeply committed to fostering a supportive environment.
“What I love most about working at TCAPS is seeing the dedication and care of our educators,” she shared. “I’m proud to work alongside a team that goes above and beyond to help students succeed.”
That dedication was on full display during the Escape the Rainforest Challenge — a night where families laughed, learned, and left feeling even more connected to their school community.
A community that also includes early literacy partners like Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library (DPIL).
“We were thrilled to be a part of Long Lake’s event, where we witnessed first-hand, families engaged with literacy activities and having a blast doing it! It was a perfect fit for the Imagination Library, which encourages families to engage in reading with their child to promote an early love of literacy and to build vocabulary, comprehension, and confidence as children enter kindergarten,” said Sally Thompson, Coordinator of Grand Traverse Region’s DPIL and retired TCAPS teacher (fun side note: Long Lake was where Sally retired in 2016). “Thank you, Kate, and TCAPS, for inviting us to this event promoting our shared goal of early literacy.”
At Long Lake, the message is clear: learning is an adventure best taken together.
Keep awesome, Panthers — and thank you.
Why storytelling matters when it comes to helping TCAPS kids succeed
Learn more about the goals of TCAPS’ Strategic Plan
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