The USD 107 Board of Education met Oct. 11. President Kenny Mizner called the regular meeting to order. Those present were: Kenny Mizner, Brenden Wirth (Zoom), Marc Grout (Zoom), Brandon Hollerich, Rex Boley, Sam Meyers and Janet Higer. Guests were Jenna Langer, Paige Zadina and Troy Duskie.
On Monday interested juniors and seniors attended a college fair hosted at Cloud County Community College.
Kara Gilbert, high school science teacher, will be attending a data analytics conference on Wednesday Nov. 3 in Beloit. Ms. Gilbert received her data analytics certification this summer so that she can provide certification to students at Rock Hills.
Kevin Ost, high school industrial arts teacher, attended a 2-day session to receive training on the Dremel 3-D printers and CAD programing that have been purchased as part of NCKC4 Consortium. He is now a certified trainer for the Dremel 3-D printers and can provide training and certifications to the students in Dremel 3-D printing.
Rock Hills will host a career fair on Friday, Nov. 5. Students will have the opportunity to attend five different sessions with local and regional presenters representing 14 different career paths. Career presentation options include: agriculture, architecture and construction, welding, digital media- marketing-journalism, cosmetology, education, entrepreneurship, finance- banking-insurance, government-law-politics, health care, HVAC-plumbing-electrical, law enforcement, IT-technology, real estate-property.
Rock Hills has partnered with NCK-Tech in Beloit to offer industry recognized certification programs to students. Through the state’s EXCEL in CTE program, Rock Hills students are able to take these college career and technical education classes free of charge and earn certification through NCK Technical College. Rock Hills currently has three students enrolled in the certified nurses aid certification (CNA) program and four students enrolled in the commercial driver’s license certification (CDL) program. Additional students plan to take advantage of these opportunities later in the year as they meet the age requirements.
Sept. 30 the Cosmosphere presented STEM activities to the first, second and fifth grade students. The students made lunar modules and released them from a height to see if their astronauts (marshmallows) would survive the landing.
Mrs. Duffy went to 3-D printing professional development. She returned to school with a 3-D printer and a grizzly bear she made while at the training. She is working on adding a 3-D printing project for the 5th graders in the second semester.
The district will be starting the process to review the social studies curriculum to implement next school year and also looking into social-emotional learning curriculum.
The district received a child nutrition and wellness grant for three of the four equipment items that were submitted for. The junior-senior high will receive a new stackable convection oven and a tank less convection steamer. The elementary school will receive a new stackable oven. Total of the grant is $32,824.
In cooperation with the Jewell County Health Department, the district developed a modified quarantine
protocol in efforts to keep students and staff in the classroom at school.
Kansas Education Commissioner, Randy Watson and State School Board member Denna Horst will be visiting Rock Hills Schools. Monday, Dec. 6.
The new busses and Suburbans have been ordered.
Jenna Langer, along with students Paige Zadina and Troy Duskie were present with an out of state FFA National Convention request. They made a presentation to the board explaining the benefits of attending the national convention and talked about their fundraising to allow FFA to pay for this event. They made a formal request to the board for permission to attend the convention and for school provided transportation. The board approved the requests.
Zac Snethan and Jen Hannon from HTK Zoomed into the meeting to discuss and answer questions concerning the facilities study, community survey and staff survey. The board held a long discussion concerning these items. Mr. Boley informed the board there would be special meeting, Wednesday, Oct. 27 at the Junior-Senior High Little Theatre. This would be the start of the process for the district’s facility study.
Mr. Boley discussed the Schools for Quality Education (SQE) and recommended that USD 107 join for an annual membership of $500. He explained this organization gives the small school a better voice. The board approved to join for one year, but not renew next year without evaluation by the board.
Mr. Boley discussed staff years of service recognition with the board. He presented an outline of what years would be recognized and told the board that staff would be recognized at an end of the school year luncheon on the last working day for teachers.
Mr. Boley said COVID is aggressive in Jewell County at this time. He recommended that USD 107 do a parent survey checking for interest in parents wanting to vaccinate kids 5+ when it is available. He also talked about a survey for parents concerning testing for the following reasons:
To know – If their child has COVID
To Learn – So they can stay in school if a contact, but they test negative
To Play – So they can stay in extra-curricular activities if a contact but continue to test negative.
Mr. Boley is looking into a grant through KDHE for funds that would flow through USD 107 to the local health department as our contractor.
The board received a request from FBLA to attend the national fall leadership convention. This brought about a discussion on the policy regarding organizational travel guidelines. The FBLA request to attend the national convention was approved.
The board approved the following supplemental positions: boys junior high head basketball coach – Zach Duffy; boys junior high assistant basketball coach – Tycen Higer; girls junior high head basketball coach – Jamie Harvey; and girls junior high assistant basketball coach – Kevin Feldkamp.
The next regular meeting is scheduled for 1 p.m., Monday, Nov. 8, in the board room of the district office.
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