The Warsaw School Board meeting Monday night was all about good things happening in the school corporation.
Lincoln Elementary School third-grade teachers and students started the board meeting presentations with their biography projects.
The students chose famous people they admire and that inspire them to learn more about them. The students created posters with a hole for their faces, and when they gave their presentations the third-graders had to act as that person.
Each student had an outline they had to fill out for their poster.
A free video of the presentation is available on the Times-Union website at www.timesuniononline.com
A Leesburg third-grader, Kaden Sleighter, was recognized by his student teacher, Abby Humbarger, for coming up with a Custodian Appreciation Day at his school.
A couple of months ago, Humbarger said Sleighter went to his mom with an idea. She took the idea to Leesburg administrative assistant Bobbi Cleveland, who then took it to the school principal. Sleighter wanted to have a day to show appreciation to the custodians for all the work they do at the school.
Kaden’s Custodian Committee was formed to plan the day. The committee included Sleighter, his mom, Cleveland, Humbarger and three of Sleighter’s friends. The special day was planned for March 20.
Board Secretary Randy Polston asked Sleighter how and why he came up with the idea. Sleighter responded, “I see custodians every day. I see how hard they work. I thought they should have a day for them.”
Humbarger said the custodians appreciated the gesture, with some even shedding tears. She said Sleighter has a lot of selflessness in him and truly enriches the lives of others. He also would like to see the idea spread to other schools.
Curt Hermann, board member, congratulated Sleighter’s parents for raising such a good young man.
In another presentation, Builders Association Kosciusko Fulton Counties Executive Officer Joni Truex and former Executive Officer Carol Huffer presented on the association’s Coats for Kids program.
Huffer said she started the Coats for Kids project in 1996 after seeing two girls at Madison Elementary School who didn’t have coats.
Truex said the program started with 52 coats in 1996 for kids in Kosciusko and Fulton counties public schools. The total dollars spent then was $686.60. It has grown to 329 coats purchased in 2014 at a cost of $6,962.39.
The coat project is supported by the association’s annual golf outing now, which is June 2 at Stonehenge Golf Course this year.
“We’ve had some great partners” on the project, Truex said.
It started with Kmart, then moved to Walmart. Now, Meijer partners with the Builders Association.
Truex said Meijer orders in the coats needed and has employees help pick coats out per school and per gender. Meijer stores the coats in their training room until they are ready to go out to students in need. On top of that, she said, Meijer financially supports the program.
“I’m very proud of the fact that Carol started this and I was able to continue this,” Truex said.
Warsaw Community High School Junior ROTC cadets gave a presentation on the “State of the Tiger Battalion.”
Battalion Commander C/LTC Gary Spratt led the briefing. He discussed the progress the JROTC made over the last two years and where it’s headed.
A free video of the first nine minutes of the presentation is available on the Times-Union website at www.timesuniononline.com
Jasen Gibbens, his Introduction to Manufacturing students and Don Swartzentruber’s art students also presented their class project of building and painting outdoor chairs.
Della Swain, former director of transportation for Warsaw Community Schools, was thanked for donating a wheelchair for the Transportation Department. The chair will be used in training special needs drivers and assistants. The chair will allow the drivers and assistants to have actual hands-on practice to learn proper loading and tie down procedures.
In other business, Superintendent Dr. David Hoffert reported:
• Enrollment for April was 7,169 students.
• WCS has open positions. The positions are posted on the WCS website under the Human Resources tab. He said they hope to fill the positions by the end of May.
• The kindergarten round-up was a huge success with a large turnout. Twenty-three students were signed up for the half-day kindergarten program at this point. If more kindergarteners are signed up, a waiting list will have to be started.
• Harrison Principal Lee Snider and WCS Chief Academic Officer David Robertson graduated from the Indiana Principals Institute.
• Edgewood Middle School students were winners of the National History Day state competition over the weekend. They will head off to Washington, D.C., for the national competition.
At Monday’s meeting, the school board approved:
• Its minutes from previous meetings, financial reports, out-of-state travel requests and personnel report as presented at the board’s public work session April 21.
• The Math Science Partnership grant for $650,000 from the Indiana Department of Education as presented at the public work session.
Math Science Partnership grants provide funds for sustained, intensive and classroom-focused professional development for educators aligned with state and local standards and mathematics and science curricula, according to a previous press release from the IDOE.
The next Warsaw School Board public work session is at 4 p.m. May 12, with the regular meeting at 7 p.m. May 18.
(Story By The Times Union)
