Ever since moving to Berlin Township in 2001, Stephanie Hawkins has been curious about the strange geography of the two school districts in that township (Airport and Jefferson). Eventually she had an opportunity to research the topic, and she discovered that the consolidation of school districts in Monroe County was a long, complicated, and very often contentious process. She learned of the controversial consolidation that created the Airport District, the debate that pitted neighbor against neighbor in Whiteford and eventually required State Supreme Court intervention, and many more surprising events that occurred to help merge Monroe County's 141 one-room schools into the nine school districts we know today. On February 5, Mrs. Hawkins will present the results of her research on the Monroe County school consolidations of the mid-20th century at the monthly meeting of the Genealogical Society of Monroe County. She will expand upon the stories shared in her November 1 Monroe News article, detailing the fascinating tales surrounding the origins of each of Monroe County’s school districts.
Mrs. Hawkins is a co-founder and current president of the Berlin Charter Township Historical Society. She graduated from Wayne State University in 1993 with a bachelor's degree in History and received the History Department's award for best senior thesis that year. She received an M.B.A. from Wayne State in 1998 and currently works as a Customer Experience Designer for Ford Motor Company. She also engages in hobby photography and has had numerous photographs as well as several articles published in the Monroe News.