NORTON SHORES, Mich. — Our newest Teacher of the Week is not in your traditional classroom but is still helping students learn skills they can use for a lifetime. Mona Shores High School leaders pulled in some of their choir students for the surprise.
“I was totally surprised. I never expected this,” said Michael Reinhardt, the school’s auditorium manager. He also teaches at the school.
Jennifer Bustard is the Mona Shores High School principal. She said, “Mike is such an eccentric, amazing, compassionate person, and he’s really behind the scenes and kind of an unsung here and so when I heard it was him, I was super excited for him, and it was hard to keep the secret.”
“I work behind the scenes. I don’t usually stand in front of a camera or get out on stage and in front,” said Reinhardt.
He’s originally from Ohio and started out with a very different plan for his career.
He said, “I went to Ohio State and was studying electrical engineering.”
A summer job would change his mind.
“I went out east and worked for a performing arts summer camp,” said Reinhardt. “I was hooked from there.”
He’s now teaching Mona Shores students those same skills.
“He teaches the kids the skills to use the drills, the hammers, the paintbrushes, but he also empowers kids who don’t usually have that connection to school to be a part of something bigger than themselves,” said Bustard.
Reinhardt said, “They may not go into building something for theater, but they can maybe do a repair at their house or help their parents paint something.”
“The kids love him. I mean absolutely love him. He gets them to do things they didn’t think they could do,” said the principal.
Some of those students have turned those skills into careers.
Reinhardt explained, “I have a former student who now runs most of the tech stuff at the Frauenthal. Another former student has my job at the college here at the community college. So, yeah, it’s very rewarding to see that the things that I’ve been able to do with some of these students have given them a career and they’ve moved on and are doing wonderful, wonderful things.”
It’s his second time working for the district.
“I opened our Performing Arts Center in 1998 and then I left for a short period of time.”
This second stretch is going on 17 years.
Bustard told 13 ON YOUR SIDE, “We would say our musicals are Broadway level because our set, the lights, the music, everything is really high quality.”
“These kids come down and come in after school and help build sets and set up for events,” said Reinhardt. “They do that, hopefully, because they’re having fun and hopefully a little bit because they like me.”
Bustard adding, “Our teachers in our state of Michigan – our beautiful state and our nation – are absolutely the first responders. They make the biggest difference in kids. They set the foundation and they are the most important people in this world and they deserve everything that they get for sure.”
If you have someone you’d like to nominate as our next Teacher of the Week, just text the word “teacher” to 616-559-1310.