The NCOE School Board is now headed with fresh leadership following the April 1st election results. Matt McArthy has been chosen as the new President. Heath Rush was chosen Wednesday night as Vice President, and Mike Hite was chosen to serve as Secretary again. New to the board is Alex Ridge who won his seat in April. He joins Frank Graves, Kyle Hoskins, and Rhonda Forston.
The group was detailed by educator Heather Savage concerning a new Teacher Mentoring Program the district will launch. Savage explains the purpose behind the program and in general how it should help new educators.
This goes beyond just where do I get coffee in the morning…which is important, I didn’t know that for 3 years. Those are things you’re not told; you just show up and here ya go. So it’s more than just that; it’s also having a dedicated person to go to if you have questions about things in your classroom and being able to observe a teacher without thinking you’re bothering them because they’re YOUR person. I was fortunate to have someone that stood up and was my mentor without being told to be my mentor. That’s not always been the case at our buildings.
Savage says what made her realize how necessary a program was having a new teacher tell her that if it hadn’t been for her husband who was also a teacher, she would’ve quit after her first year. The program is part of a 4 year rollout that’s aimed at improving educator support which should lead to strengthening instruction and improving student outcomes.
Principal reports included those from David Reavis. He detailed the Book Blast initiative which will provide free books to students. Additionally, some students have proven record setters athletically. Two track school records were recently broken. Hadley Douglas ran an 800 and a mile that broke records. She ran the half mile in 2:32 breaking Chris Vines previous mark set in 1987. Douglas also broke the 1600 meter record at 5:47 previously held by Kim Poston since 1994. Beyond that, Avan Scala broke the high jump record of 5’5” held since 1988 by John Buchta. Avan also beat the long jump record with a leap of 17’3” held since 1986 by Jim Thomas.
From the high school Brad Wehlermann says there will be 35 graduates this year and also bragged on some academic achievements of students.
We had two students go up to Eastern Illinois University to compete in the ACES challenge. That’s the Academic Challenge of Engineering and Science. Landen Garrison finished 3rd in the state in Chemistry; Braylon Phillips finished 1st in the state in Chemistry.
Disappointing news from Superintendent Matt Vollman as he had to report a locked up engine on one of the district’s 2020 school bus. It’s currently at Vaughan’s in Fairfield getting repaired. That’s expected to cost around $12,000.
Finally, with the bond measure passing on the April 1st ballot, the board was able to move forward with improvement plans. Following discussion, the board opted to go with Zeller Construction out of Marion at a cost of $926,900. That covers floors, doors, and the Home Ec room. Abestos abatement will be handled by Shemel Companies out of Perryville, Missouri to the tune of $70,900. Work is expected to commence on June 1st and will hopefully be complete by August 1st.
The board went into executive session at 8:03pm to consider resignations and employments.
