Two staff members at Northwest Education Services (North Ed) have recently scored lofty honors within the state of Michigan, the local intermediate school district (ISD) shared in a press release on Monday.

Last month, Governor Gretchen Whitmer appointed Marshall Collins, a member of North Ed’s instructional services team, to the state’s Black Leadership Advisory Council. Collins is a noted local leader in the space of diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB). In 2020, he helped launch Northern Michigan E3, formerly known as the Northern Michigan Antiracism Task Force. He’s also North Ed’s coordinator around DEBI and regional health, and is a founding member of the ISD’s Culturally Responsive Education Group, which works “to build understanding, trust, and relationships that span diverse backgrounds and needs throughout the region’s schools.”

As an appointee to the Black Leadership Advisory Council, Collins will serve “in an advisory capacity” to Governor Whitmer and her administration. The council “develops, reviews, and recommends policies and actions designed to eradicate and prevent discrimination and racial inequity in Michigan.” Collins’ term on the council will last until December 31, 2026.

Another North Ed teacher, Career Tech Center (CTC) instructor Jared Diephouse, has also achieved a major career milestone: 2024 Teacher of the Year honors from the Michigan Association of Career and Technical Education (MI ACTE). Per North Ed, Diephouse “teaches high school students in the field of power equipment,” with his instruction supporting “active learning in a shop setting” that “includes disassembling, measuring, and reassembling engines and equipment.”

Diephouse, North Ed’s press release reveals, was himself a student at the CTC – and an “exemplary pupil” in the academy’s power equipment program – back in the early 2000s. “His success story is no surprise, as he now leads innovative instructional efforts in our building,” said Pat Lamb, North Ed’s assistant superintendent of career and technical education.

MI ACTE will formally recognize Diephouse at the MI Career Education Conference, scheduled for January 29 in Grand Rapids.