May 7, 2025 • 4 mins
Matt Cook, Vice President of Community Relations with Lake Michigan Credit Union joins us to discuss Teacher Appreciation Week.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Well, because we're married to teachers, we'd better get this
one right. This is West Michigan's Morning newsty Kelly and
Brett Mekita joining us on the liveline. Our friend Matt Cook,
vice president of Community Relations at Lake Michigan Credit Union.
Good morning, Matt, Good morning. It is Teacher Appreciation Week.
Our friends at Lake Michigan Credit Union do a great
(00:20):
job of helping to celebrate. Tell us a little more
about it.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
Yeah, so we are really excited at ELMSU. We were
founded by a Grand Raffts Public schools teacher back in
nineteen thirty three, and so this is one of those
things that we love doing. It's a national celebration. I'm
also a spouse of a fellow educator, and so it
is important for in our household as well. But it's
a great chance for us just to lift up those
(00:45):
educators at all levels and be able to celebrate the
work that they do throughout the entire school year and
beyond to be able to say thank you for all
of their work as they're approaching really the throes of
that last few weeks of school, which we all know
is probably the toughest time to be able to get
the attention of those students, and this is a chance
(01:06):
for parents and in the community because surround those educators
and lit them up.
Speaker 1 (01:10):
We should start up a support group. There's something to
think about it.
Speaker 3 (01:16):
It is I like that and there's so many of
us out there, as Matt can attest to as well. Matt,
how can our listeners celebrate your participate in Teacher Appreciation Week?
You guys do a great job throughout the year and
people need to know. You can find out more LMSU
dot org. But you don't have to be a member,
and this is just something to help out in your
community because if you have kids, I'm sure there's teachers
(01:38):
that need to be taken care of.
Speaker 2 (01:39):
Yeah, I mean, I think there's lots of different ways.
You know, at LMCU this week we're lifting up. We
do a program where individuals can nominate teachers. Many of
your listeners do that and so we're celebrating them by
awarding one thousand dollars grants this week and announcing those.
So you can check out our social to see that.
But it's really simple. It doesn't take a lot. You
don't have to have students in the classroom or or
(02:00):
even really know a teacher, but there are ways to
connect with local school buildings. My wife came home yesterday
and mentioned that, you know, parents had put together, you know,
a lunch for them, and you know, a lot of
times there's no thank you throughout the entire year, and
so this is a chance. It could be you know, food,
it could be an email, you know, something as simple
as just a note from a student, you know, being
(02:21):
able to articulate both their current teacher or maybe a
teacher they've had in the past. You know, those go
a long way, especially in a fairly thankless profession, and so,
you know, our encouragement is just that you connect with
maybe a local school building and reach out and see
what they have going on, or if there's anything that
they need. Maybe it's volunteering or bringing coffee in, you know,
(02:41):
to the teacher's lounge. There's lots of different ways that
you can intersect, but the main point is really if
you can do it, just reach out and say thank
you to a teacher in your life.
Speaker 1 (02:50):
Yeah, and we'd kid, but let's talk a little bit
about the importance of teachers in our lives, right, because
that's what this is all about.
Speaker 2 (02:57):
Yeah, you know, I think I see it at home,
you know, but I also have seen it throughout my
entire life. There were teachers in my life that lifted
me up and encouraged me to go the route that
I did. I had a professor in college, you know
that he asked me, you know, what I wanted to
do and kind of encouraged me to take a leap
of faith, you know, to step out and take a
different class that I hadn't necessarily been aware of, and
(03:18):
that was instrumental for me to kind of end up
where I'm at today. And so I think personally that
has made so much of an impact. And there's tons
of teachers that I could talk about in my life
that had done that, including my life.
Speaker 3 (03:29):
Yeah, middle school speech teacher, missus Chuckna. I always give
her credit rock for public schools. That's why I'm here today.
She gave me the courage to give me the lead
and the play and the rest was history. But I
will tell you this, I wanted to take a moment
because I'm a part of this interacting with them. We
just got done with the Hut Scholarship lunch in which
was a great event that Matt and Ellams. You put on.
(03:50):
That's for high school seniors who can win college scholarships.
But you have this for teachers. You have different things
you do with us with high school football and basketball,
giving back to kids food basket. I just want to
say thank you Matt and LMSU for what you do,
because you've always stayed true to your roots and you
do other things outside of just you know, schools, but
you know how importantly are tying into the community and
(04:11):
you guys do it throughout the county year.
Speaker 2 (04:13):
Yeah, thank you, and it means a lot to us.
And it's just a small way that we can give
back and get involved in our community. So we really
appreciate that and appreciate the partnership. Brett.
Speaker 1 (04:22):
It was Missus Turner for me, who was a yeah,
physics teacher in high school and I went.
Speaker 2 (04:27):
To ooh physic.
Speaker 1 (04:29):
I did okay in physics, but it was just the
non classroom stuff that she was super helpful in helping
me find a little confidence, especially when it came to
public speaking. Same thing as a painfully shy kid who
eventually worked in public.
Speaker 3 (04:44):
What was I thinking, Yeah, I don't know.
Speaker 1 (04:45):
I'm afraid we're out of time. But Matt Cook, who
joins us from time to time with Lake Michigan Credit
Union as the vice president of Community Relations. Thanks for
your time today.
Speaker 2 (04:55):
Yeah, thank you both.
Well, because we're married to teachers, we'd better get this
one right. This is West Michigan's Morning newsty Kelly and
Brett Mekita joining us on the liveline. Our friend Matt Cook,
vice president of Community Relations at Lake Michigan Credit Union.
Good morning, Matt, Good morning. It is Teacher Appreciation Week.
Our friends at Lake Michigan Credit Union do a great
(00:20):
job of helping to celebrate. Tell us a little more
about it.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
Yeah, so we are really excited at ELMSU. We were
founded by a Grand Raffts Public schools teacher back in
nineteen thirty three, and so this is one of those
things that we love doing. It's a national celebration. I'm
also a spouse of a fellow educator, and so it
is important for in our household as well. But it's
a great chance for us just to lift up those
(00:45):
educators at all levels and be able to celebrate the
work that they do throughout the entire school year and
beyond to be able to say thank you for all
of their work as they're approaching really the throes of
that last few weeks of school, which we all know
is probably the toughest time to be able to get
the attention of those students, and this is a chance
(01:06):
for parents and in the community because surround those educators
and lit them up.
Speaker 1 (01:10):
We should start up a support group. There's something to
think about it.
Speaker 3 (01:16):
It is I like that and there's so many of
us out there, as Matt can attest to as well. Matt,
how can our listeners celebrate your participate in Teacher Appreciation Week?
You guys do a great job throughout the year and
people need to know. You can find out more LMSU
dot org. But you don't have to be a member,
and this is just something to help out in your
community because if you have kids, I'm sure there's teachers
(01:38):
that need to be taken care of.
Speaker 2 (01:39):
Yeah, I mean, I think there's lots of different ways.
You know, at LMCU this week we're lifting up. We
do a program where individuals can nominate teachers. Many of
your listeners do that and so we're celebrating them by
awarding one thousand dollars grants this week and announcing those.
So you can check out our social to see that.
But it's really simple. It doesn't take a lot. You
don't have to have students in the classroom or or
(02:00):
even really know a teacher, but there are ways to
connect with local school buildings. My wife came home yesterday
and mentioned that, you know, parents had put together, you know,
a lunch for them, and you know, a lot of
times there's no thank you throughout the entire year, and
so this is a chance. It could be you know, food,
it could be an email, you know, something as simple
as just a note from a student, you know, being
(02:21):
able to articulate both their current teacher or maybe a
teacher they've had in the past. You know, those go
a long way, especially in a fairly thankless profession, and so,
you know, our encouragement is just that you connect with
maybe a local school building and reach out and see
what they have going on, or if there's anything that
they need. Maybe it's volunteering or bringing coffee in, you know,
(02:41):
to the teacher's lounge. There's lots of different ways that
you can intersect, but the main point is really if
you can do it, just reach out and say thank
you to a teacher in your life.
Speaker 1 (02:50):
Yeah, and we'd kid, but let's talk a little bit
about the importance of teachers in our lives, right, because
that's what this is all about.
Speaker 2 (02:57):
Yeah, you know, I think I see it at home,
you know, but I also have seen it throughout my
entire life. There were teachers in my life that lifted
me up and encouraged me to go the route that
I did. I had a professor in college, you know
that he asked me, you know, what I wanted to
do and kind of encouraged me to take a leap
of faith, you know, to step out and take a
different class that I hadn't necessarily been aware of, and
(03:18):
that was instrumental for me to kind of end up
where I'm at today. And so I think personally that
has made so much of an impact. And there's tons
of teachers that I could talk about in my life
that had done that, including my life.
Speaker 3 (03:29):
Yeah, middle school speech teacher, missus Chuckna. I always give
her credit rock for public schools. That's why I'm here today.
She gave me the courage to give me the lead
and the play and the rest was history. But I
will tell you this, I wanted to take a moment
because I'm a part of this interacting with them. We
just got done with the Hut Scholarship lunch in which
was a great event that Matt and Ellams. You put on.
(03:50):
That's for high school seniors who can win college scholarships.
But you have this for teachers. You have different things
you do with us with high school football and basketball,
giving back to kids food basket. I just want to
say thank you Matt and LMSU for what you do,
because you've always stayed true to your roots and you
do other things outside of just you know, schools, but
you know how importantly are tying into the community and
(04:11):
you guys do it throughout the county year.
Speaker 2 (04:13):
Yeah, thank you, and it means a lot to us.
And it's just a small way that we can give
back and get involved in our community. So we really
appreciate that and appreciate the partnership. Brett.
Speaker 1 (04:22):
It was Missus Turner for me, who was a yeah,
physics teacher in high school and I went.
Speaker 2 (04:27):
To ooh physic.
Speaker 1 (04:29):
I did okay in physics, but it was just the
non classroom stuff that she was super helpful in helping
me find a little confidence, especially when it came to
public speaking. Same thing as a painfully shy kid who
eventually worked in public.
Speaker 3 (04:44):
What was I thinking, Yeah, I don't know.
Speaker 1 (04:45):
I'm afraid we're out of time. But Matt Cook, who
joins us from time to time with Lake Michigan Credit
Union as the vice president of Community Relations. Thanks for
your time today.
Speaker 2 (04:55):
Yeah, thank you both.
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