Class of 2026 Graduate Highlight: Sophie Harker-VanGunst is the daughter of Kaitlin Harker and Richard VanGunst. Sophie plans on attending West Shore Community College and continue taking welding courses to pursue a career in underwater welding. She also plans on working at Oceana County Animal Control. Good job, Sophie, and, "Make every weld better than your last!"
16 days ago, Toni Glover
Class of 2026 Graduate Highlight: Bode Powell is the son of Michelle Powell, Sara Woodmansee, Gordon Powell and stepmom, Lisa Powell. After completing his associates at West Shore Community College through the ASM tech program, Bode is looking to advance his education through the Air Force at the University of Arizona! Fly high, Arizona Wildcat!
17 days ago, Toni Glover
Class of 2026 Graduate Highlight: Jane Howard is the daughter of Sean Howard and Cheryl Howard. Jane plans to continue her education by attending The University of Michigan! Well done, Jane, and go blue!
17 days ago, Toni Glover
2 Pentwater Falcons will be heading to Chicago over the summer for 2 different 1-week leadership programs at the University of Chicago. Ben Roberson will attend the 10th-grade program, while Maggie Jorissen will attend the 11th-grade program.
This selective program is designed to equip students with ideas and tools they can take back to their communities to support growth and development. It offers opportunities to explore various career paths, experience life on a college campus, and engage with everything Chicago has to offer. Both programs also provide valuable chances to build skills that will benefit students in school and beyond.
Congratulations to both of them!
18 days ago, Kelly Sisung
The Middle School track team traveled to the Traverse City Invite on Monday, 5/4. This was a very large invitational and our Falcons competed against athletes from D1, D2, and D3 schools! They all showed incredible courage and determination that resulted in several personal bests, 2 scoring finishes, and one medal!
-3rd Place (medal): Lauren Macher - High Jump 4’ 2” (T3)
Personal Bests: (Khloe VanGunst, Lauren Macher, Karoline Slotegraaf, Maple Prescott) - 4 by 100M Relay, 1:02.57 (Anderson Barter, Porter Jaeb, Jordy Miller, Chi Jeruzal) - 4 by 200M Relay, 2:31.28 (Anderson Barter, Porter Jaeb, Jordy Miller, Chi Jeruzal) - 4 by 100M Relay, 1:10.45 Maple Prescott- Long Jump 11’ 2.75” Porter Jaeb - Long Jump 11’ 2.5” Valerie Smith - 1600m Run 7:39.14 Evie Bouye - 800m Run 3:03.77 Ayla Kokx - 800m Run 3:16.91 Khloe VanGunst- 70M Dash 11.06
The Falcons travel to Mesick on Thursday for our conference championship!
18 days ago, Toni Glover
Friday, May 1st, Pentwater Student Council hosted a Family Dance for grades K-5. With all the attendees dressed in their finest and dancing their hearts out, they had a lot of fun. Special thanks to Pentwater Library for coming, bringing glow-in-the-dark goodies, and hosting a book raffle.
19 days ago, Kelly Sisung
Pentwater Student Artists had an amazing showing this weekend at the Pentwater Arts Council’s Oceana County K-12 Art Show! Special thanks to all of the students, staff, parents and community members that attended. Congratulations to all of the selected artists. Awards and cash prizes were as follows:
“Best in Show” Elementary Art: Yvette Kokx
2nd Place Elementary 3D Art: Edie Mazur
3rd Place Elementary 3D Art: Arrow Steinke
1st Place Middle School 2D Art & People’s Choice Award: Cassidy Battista
1st Place Middle School 3D Art & People’s Choice Award: Sophia Skinner
2nd Place Middle School 3D Art: Riley Swanger
3rd Place High School 2D Art: Jojo Mannor
1st Place High School 3D Art: Bailey Case
2nd Place High School 3D Art & People’s Choice Award: Anaviolet Jeruzal
19 days ago, Carrie Jeruzal
We need to give a SHOUT OUT to our awesome PPS staff, thank you for what you do every day!
19 days ago, Toni Glover
Congratulations to K-8 Pentwater School Counselor, Cara Kuipers! Cara was recently recognized by the Pentwater Education Association with a local “Friend of Education Award.” Quotes from Cara’s nominations include:
“Cara supports not only the students by providing them different tools and a trusted adult to talk to, she also works to support teachers in the classroom by actively seeking input with what they are noticing and what she can do to support a better school environment.”
“Cara certainly cares about all stakeholders in our school community. She will do anything in her power to support us, as she seeks creative solutions.”
“Cara always finds time to listen to the needs of students and staff with a heartfelt ear. She truly makes you feel heard and has an amazing ability to build relationships with students to break down barriers in order to support students' needs. Her SEL lessons in the classrooms bring much needed eye opening perspectives to our elementary students to learn about themselves and each other. Cara's sincerity, her demeanor and her personality enrich the lives she has made an impact on.”
“Cara is a wonderful school counselor! She is kind, compassionate, empathetic, and knowledgeable! She helps both students and staff overcome obstacles they face, and encourages everyone to become their best selves!”
19 days ago, Carrie Jeruzal
Join us for the fun and meaningful Pentwater F.L.O.A.T.S. event that features art, ice cream and music Wednesday, May 6th anytime between 4:30 pm - 6:50 pm: "Falcons Learning by making Original Art for Transformative Service." Stay for the Band concert at 7pm.
19 days ago, Carrie Jeruzal
The middle school track team traveled to Marion on 4/30/26 for their third conference jamboree. The weather was very cold but everyone persevered! There were 16 scoring finishes and 6 personal bests! Results are as follows:
-1st Place: Evie Bouye - 1600m Run 6:47.9 Karoline Slotegraaf - Long Jump 12’ 9” 4x200m Relay (Evie Bouye, Karoline Slotegraaf, Lauren Macher, Maple Prescott) 2:18.80
-4th Place: Chi Jeruzal - High Jump 3’ 10” Brianna Musil - Long Jump 10’ 4” Valerie Smith - 800m Run 3:21.0 (PB)
-5th Place: Chi Jeruzal - 800m Run 2:57.6 David Gaston - 70m Dash 10.36 (PB) Ayla Kokx - 800m Run 3:27.1
-6th Place: Maple Prescott - Long Jump 9’ 11”
-Personal Best: Anderson Barter - 70m Dash 13.33 Valerie Smith - Long Jump 8’ 10.5” and 200m Dash 37.80 Evie Bouye - 400m Dash 1:24.2
The team travels to Traverse City on Monday for a JH Track invitational.
22 days ago, Toni Glover
Benona Shores was a chilly but beautiful day for a golf tournament! Competing against 16 high schools ranging from all 4 divisions. As a team we came in 14th & 2nd for division 4 schools shooting a team score (378). Gavin Macher was low for our team with 2 pars and a consistent 44/43 (87). Izzabella Kolenda shot her best varsity 9 hole score (42) but followed with a 48 to finish (90). Aiden Henry started off rough, but finished with a dependable 10 bogie stretch to also finish (90). Carson Stein is growing his game each time he plays! Today’s score (111) included a par on #2! Eli Orde is also learning so much every time he plays! His bad holes are getting fewer and his incredible shots are wowing us all! Keep Swinging, Falcons!
22 days ago, Toni Glover
Pentwater Varsity Softball traveled south to Hart to take on the Pirates in a doubleheader to close out the month of April. In game one, Aubrie Adams racked up four strikeouts in just five innings, as her consistent strike throwing kept the Pentwater defense on their toes. The Pirates' hot hitting was slowed down by fine putouts from Grace Riggs, Paige Sadenwater, and Amelia Barter. Hart’s strong pitching performance put a stop to Pentwater’s offense as the Falcons fell to the Pirates in game one. Hart 10 - Falcons 0.
Pentwater came to life in game two, taking advantage of early walks and a sharp single off the bat of Amelia Barter to go ahead in the second inning 4-1. Despite a number of marvelous running catches by center fielder Lauren Davis throughout the game, the hot bats of the Hart Pirates took the game over as Pentwater was unable to mount a comeback. Hart 14 - Falcons 4
22 days ago, Troy Holstad
Class of 2026 News!
23 days ago, Toni Glover
Kari Wilson from the Oceana Conservation District delivered white pine seedlings to the 3rd grade students in honor of Arbor Day! Thank you & Happy Planting!
23 days ago, Pentwater Public Schools - Third Grade
The Wolf River Golf Park in Bear Lake generously allowed our whole team to come play Tuesday, 4/28! Top 6 competed for Bear Lake’s Conference match. Pentwater trailed Grand Traverse Academy throughout the match. On the very last hole, the Falcons made a big push to even the score; one putt was the difference. Grand Traverse Academy took the lead this week (183), Pentwater (184), Bear Lake (207) and Mesick (234). The team was stacked in scores with Gavin Macher 3rd place (44), Bode Powell (45), Izzy Kolenda (47) and Brody Austin (48). Our tie breaker would have gone to Aiden Henry (58) & Carson Stein (70). We have one more conference match next week at Mesick to try and tie it up for the season. Good Luck, Falcons!
24 days ago, Toni Glover
This FREE class is designed to prepare students 11-15 to be safe when they're watching younger siblings or babysitting!
25 days ago, Toni Glover
Pentwater Varsity softball found themselves in Bear Lake, Michigan, to take on the Lakers in a spring doubleheader. Pentwater took the early lead in game one following a leadoff single from Aubrie Adams and an RBI double to deep center by Charlie Swanger, who later came in to score. This lead fell to the Lakers in the fourth inning when they were able to string together a number of hits to take back the momentum. A number of throwing and unforced errors by the Pentwater Falcons in the fifth inning put the game out of reach as they fell to a final score: Pentwater 4 - Bear Lake 14.
Bear Lake’s defense showed up in game two as a number of hard-hit balls found their way to being outs, stopping any push from the Pentwater Falcons. Despite this, Pentwater was able to create four runs led by Karina Olivarez’s sharp two-RBI single. Bear Lake was able to put pressure on all of game two, manufacturing runs every inning despite Pentwater’s best efforts. Final score of game two: Pentwater 4 - Bear Lake 14.
25 days ago, Troy Holstad
Pentwater Summer Project Focus enrollment is now open. Please check out the attached flyer for more information.
25 days ago, Steve Rossiter
Everyone is invited to stop in to see some amazing K-12 Art at the upcoming Pentwater Arts Council's Art Show on May 1st and 2nd. Stop in to cast your votes and to support our Pentwater Student Artists!
