The second group was led by Steve Yager, who was a superintendent for 19 years in the Northwest Allen County school district among his many stops.
Yager said he likes to listen to all stakeholders within a school district before making any type of recommendation.
“We’re coming in with no preconceived notions or thoughts or ideas,” Yager said. “We’re just going to come in and start asking questions and start a listening tour, so we can report back to the school board and the public as to what the public is interested in.”
Yager and his partner Rick Vorick will speak with groups from third graders to seniors, spending as much time as needed in each building, to get a feel for what the districts needs are in academics, facilities and instruction.
“He’s going to bring that qualatative study that allows anyone that wants to (bring) their ideas and their …concerns to the table, and I think that’s one of the best things that will be able to happen or us,” MSD Superintendent Mike Keaffaber said.
Some studies conducted by Yager and his team have included 100 meetings, with themes that often times bubble to the top, usually six or eight, he said.
Yager’s group has worked with school districts such as Wawasee, Huntington County and Whitko.
“All we do is make recommendations,” Yager said.”The recommendations are what bubbles to the top. You all make the final decision. It might be based upon what we bubble to the top. That’s what you’re hired for. You signed up for this gig, and that’s what you’re going to have to do.”
The first hour hour of the meeting was dedicated toward strategic planning.
The highlight of the school board meeting was a presentation of the Southwood robotics team to the school board.
Out of the 900 teams in the state, the Gray team is ranked 19th in the state and 218th in the world, while the Red team is ranked 104th in the state and 758th in the world .
The teams gave presentations of the type of competitions they will engage in during the state competition March 10 at Lucas Oil Stadium.
The board also approved the employment of temporary kindergarten teacher Cyndi Parman and special education aide Christian Daugherty, both at Southwoood Elementary. The board also accepted the resignation of special education aide Kim Campbell at Southwood Elementary.
The board approved the 2018 spring coaches for Northfield, including Clint Davis (head baseball), Tory Shafer (assistant baseball), Stan Cox (assistant baseball), Shane Vigar (assistant baseball), Devon Sheward (assistant baseball), Eric Hisner (assistant baseball), Mike Holley (head softball), Brian Thompson (assistant softball), Scott Burcroff (assistant softball), Collin Dawes (head boys golf), Richard Leming (boys head track), Peyton Birchmeier (girls head track), Sean Ream (assistant track), Brandon Baker (assistant track), Pam Peas (assistant track), Ryan Sincroft (junior high track), Gina Dale (junior high track), Leah Howard (junior high track), Mariane Milam (head tennis), and Casey Dyson (assistant tennis)
Several donations were accepted in the amount of: $2750.00
Staff spotlight: Matt Denney, teacher at Southwood Elementary School
Nominated by: Logan Hiner, student
The staff member was recognized for his/her: “He is funny, but at the same time we have to still get work done.”
Other Recognitions:
Southwood Elementary School’s two state-bound Robotics teams demonstrated for the School Board. Good luck at state on March 10!
Coach Colleen Gatzimos-Reed gave an update concerning the Speech Teams at Northfield and Southwood and their successes.
Metro North Elementary has seven student finalists for the Indianapolis Symphony in Color contest. Their artwork will be judges among hundreds of other music-inspired artistic creations from elementary artists across the state. Students include – Tenley Kuhn, Cooper Good, Hayven Haupert, Kevin Parke, Mikayla Meyer, Alexis Laferney, Collin Biehl and art teacher, Mrs. Katy Gray.
Results from the ISSMA State Contest held at Perry Meridian High School on Saturday, February 17th. The quartet of Hannah Miller, Daisy Sparks, Jessie Bunnell, and Alivia Lucas received a Gold Rating with Distinction. This means their performance was near perfect as indicated by the contest judge. Southwood senior Tyler Robison and sophomore Alivia Lucas received Gold Ratings for their solo performances. The trio of Victoria Holloway, Clara Snyder, and Makenna Norman received a Silver Rating for their performance. Congratulations to all students and to Mrs. Susan Keefer, Southwood Choir Teacher.
On February 15th and 16th, Southwood science teacher Reena Markstahler attended the annual Hoosier Association of Science Teachers, Inc. (HASTI) in Indianapolis, Indiana. While there, she delivered a presentation on teaching protein synthesis to high school students. Mrs. Markstahler was also elected vice president of the Indiana Association of Biology Teachers (IABT). We’re proud of Mrs. Markstahler and her efforts!
Congratulations the 4th grade conservation poster winner was…Logan Lyons! The 5th grade conservation poster winner was…Kameron Pratt! Both Logan and Kameron will receive a $50.00 monetary prize along with a pizza or Ice cream party for their class. The posters are going to be displayed at our Annual Meeting March 2, 2018. In June, these posters will be submitted to the Indiana Association of Soil and Water Conservation Districts for the next level of judging.
Southwood High School Student Congress and Honors Society members had the pleasure of volunteering at the Wabash animal shelter on Saturday, February 24th. It was a full morning of helping out and interacting with the animals. We would like to offer a special thanks to SHS interns Kyrstin Gouveia and Meghan Daub for coming in on a Saturday morning to give us a hand!
Another great day at ISSMA! SHS students Shannon Wolf and Micah Metzger represented SHS well at North Central H. S. on Saturday, February 24th. Shannon earned a Silver rating for her clarinet solo, and Micah earned a Gold rating for his baritone sax solo! Great job! Special thanks to Mr. Hickman for directing these students!
SHS is proud of our bowling team and their recent accomplishments. These three students were named All-Conference this season. Tyler Robison finished in 4th place overall this season and tied for 4th place in average. Emma Holloway finished 1st place overall for the JV season and tied with Tyler for 4th place in average. Matt Poor finished in 5th place in average for the season and 3rd place overall. Matt also placed 4th in Sectionals. Great job Knights!
Last week was our annual FFA Appreciation Week at Southwood. There were a number of events, including a staff breakfast. The week ended with everyone’s favorite event, the FFA Petting Zoo. Many SHS students were able to get up close and personal to the animals. We also had various elementary classes and community members stop by for a visit. Thank you to the FFA and Mr. Anderson for hosting! Also, a big thank you goes to our community members who brought their animals for the day!
Congratulations to Principal Paul Voigt who is now Dr. Voigt!
Reports:
Superintendent’s report:
eLearning Success – it is best to have our teachers in front of our students and eLearning is another avenue to provide discovery and independence. In our world today, eLearning is used all around us. eLearning also has provided us with much needed time for Professional Development for all of our staff – certified and classified.
Curriculum and Instruction report:
MSDWC received the competitive Digital Learning Grant of $75,000 to support our Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) instruction. The $75,000 will provide us with activity-, project-, problem-based instruction training. It will also include classroom science, computer science, and engineering equipment and supplies. Another exciting aspect will be the expansion of our robotic clubs and training.
For more from the MSD school board meeting, see the March 7 edition of The Paper of Wabash County.
