The Independent-News, Volume 116, Number 48, Walkerton, St. Joseph County, 25 April 1991 — Page 6

- THE INDEPENDENT-NEWS - APRIL 25, 1991

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JOHN GLENN SCHOOL BOARD MINUTES Regular Session CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL The Board of School Trustees of the John Glenn School Corp, met in regulare session on April 9, at 7:30 p.m. in the library at North Liberty School. Board members present included Nilas Miller, Mary Kay Stedman, Don Ludwig, Jean Ann Beem, Dave Hostetler, Dan Patrick and Gene Knowlton. The board and 30 observers began the meeting with the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Following discussion, a motion was made by Jean Ann Beem and seconded by Dave Hostetler to approve the March 26, 1991 regular session minutes and March 28, 1991 executive session minutes as corrected. That correction included striking the words “and accepted those answers” under Old Business, item 1. The vote was seven to zero. APPROVAL OF CLAIMS 539 through 617 A motion was made by Dave Hostetler and seconded by Gene Knowlton to approve claims number 539 through 617. Following discussion, the vote was seven to zero. PATRON RESPONSE Patron Gene Reese restated his position on behalf of a five member community committee. That position again voiced concerns about the new middle school project during a time when state funding could be reduced for local schools. RECOGNITIONS 1. Building Principals: Dick Reese, Urey Middle School principal, reported that Urey P.T.A. Citizens for the month of March were Jennifer Clark, Bth grade, daughter of Larry and Susan Clark, of Walkerton, and Eryk Bilski, Bth grader, foster son of Mark and Rhonda Dubuque, of Walkerton. On April 1, word was received that two Urey eighth grade students, Amy Paul and Tina Dickey, each won a poster and tee shirt for their entries in the St. Joseph County Parks and Recreation Department’s contest entitled “Troubled Waters”. The contest winners will receive their awards at a ceremony to be held on April 28, 1991 in the County-City Building in South Bend. Amy is the daughter of Harold and Linda Paul, of North Liberty. Amy took third place in the Poster division. Tina, daughter of Marvin and Karen Dickey, North Liberty, took third place in the Writing division. Urey would like to recognize the following Junior Achievement-Project Business consultants who are giving their time and professional information to the Bth grade social studies students: Christi Clark from Miller’s Merry Manor, Jayne Cooper representing Ist Source Bank, Sue Louzon from Farmers State Bank, Steve Kruszynski from Teachers Credit Union, Dave Behr from Walkerton Chamber of Commerce and Gary Brooks representing South Bend Tribune. Social studies teachers at Urey are Mrs. Michelle Chamberlin and Mrs. Francie Seville. On April 6, five Urey Middle School students represented Urey at the State Chess Tournament in Terre Haute. Members of the team are Al Clark, Steve Savoie, Nick Medich, Joe Pletcher and Rusty Young. Competing in the Bth grade and under division, the team played five rounds of chess and scored one and one-half match points and eight and onehalf game points. Al Clark led the scoring with four individual points. Mrs. Lisa Cox is sponsor of the team. The Urey Middle School Band participated in organization contest on April 6 at Bluffton High School, Bluffton, Indiana. The band played three songs and rc-

ceived a first division rating for their performance. Congratulations for a job well done to the members of the Urey Band and to their director, Miss Cathy Austin. Principal Mike Shuler. JGHS, announced that a new scholarship will be available for the first time at JGHS this year. Linda Parker, chemistry and physics teacher at JGHS, has established the Linda Parker Science Scholarship for seniors planning to major in college in a science related field such as teaching, engineering or pharmacy. Mrs. Parker will select the recipient from the students who apply. We applaud Mrs. Parker for her commitment and dedication to the Sciences and to JGHS students. A “Gearing Up for College” workshop is scheduled for April 10 at JGHS. All college bound juniors and seniors should attend. The meeting will seek to assist students with selection of colleges and how to help finance their education. Mr. Shuler announced that Patti Christensen has been awarded a 51,500 Art Talent Award to St. Mary’s College. The John Glenn Music Dept, will present their annual Spring Concert on April 11 at John Glenn High School. Walkerton Elementary principal Marilyn Lightfoot recognized 100 WES students for their achievement of being listed on the honor roll. Kindergarten registration has been completed with testing scheduled the week of April 15-19. Expected kindergarten enrollment for the 1991-92 school year is 95-100 students. With a number of new students recently registering, Walkerton Elementary has a record enrollment of 555 students. Brent Kaufman, North Liberty principal, said that Mrs. Gauss* kindergarten class had been keeping contact with Mr. Crone while he was stationed in Saudi Arabia during Desert Storm. Mr. Crone has returned home and he visited the classroom, discussed his duties, and showed his appreciation of the class for writing to him. The students were given coins from the area. A yellow ribbon which had been hung in the classroom in remembrance was given to Mr. Crone by the students. Mr. Kaufman reported that four North Liberty School Boy Scouts were pages recently for Betty Lawson. Mrs. Lawson presented the boys with an Indiana flag, which in turn was presented to the school. Mr. Kaufman recognized Aaron Degrof, Jeremy Craig, Ben Long and Greg Frazier for bringing the flag to the school. The boys are from Troop 241. The South Bend Symphony woodwind section will be performing at North Liberty School on May 9 at 1:30 p.m. and Mr. Kaufman invited the board to attend. “Abe Lincoln” will be visiting NLS on April 18 at 8:30 a.m. and the board was also invited to see that performance. Mr. Kaufman recognized Mrs. Kevin Russell and thanked her for volunteering her time to train NLS teachers in CPR. The first training date will be April 25. North Liberty kindergarten screening will be on April 25 and 26. There are currently 51 kindergarten students signed up which is the largest number of incoming students NLS has had. Mr. Kaufman noted that the NLS enrollment has increased with eight new students being added during the last two weeks. OLD BUSINESS 1. North Liberty property sale. Dr. Murray reported that they had received bids from the North Liberty Brethren Church to purchase land adjacent to the church. Dr. Murray indicated that the board needed to award that bid to the North Liberty Church. Nilas Miller questioned that the advertisement indicated the date April 23 and questioned whether that should occur at the next board meeting. Dr. Murray noted such. That business was tabled for the April 23 meeting. President Nilas

Miller indicated that at that time the board would conduct a public hearing for that sale of property to be awarded to the highest bidder at $325, North Liberty Brethren Church. 2. Middle School. Dr. Murray reported that she had enclosed a contract from Fanning/Howey for the board to take action. She indicated that Mr. Peddycord had approved such and that it was not advisable for the school corporation to pay fees to Fanning/Howey until that contract was complete. Following many questions by the board in terms of pricing and contract language, a motion was made by Jean Ann Beem and seconded by Don Ludwig to table such until the next board meeting on April 23. NEW BUSINESS 1. Personnel a. Reduction in Force. WES, cancellation of contract as a result of RIF, Carol Beach and Pam Peeples. UMS, cancellation of contract as a result of RIF, Tana Tinkey. NLES, cancellation of contract as a result of RIF, Noelle Bough. Dr. Murray reported that the board needed to take action on nonrenewing contracts for first and second year teachers during tonight’s meeting. She indicated that semipermanent and permanent teachers contracts would be considered for cancellation during a meeting on May 21. Dr. Murray reported that statutory guidelines for such reduction in force vary. It is different for first and second year teachers as compared to semipermanent and permanent teachers. A motion was made by Dave Hostetler to regretfully nonrenew the contracts of Carol Beach, Pam Peeples, Tana Tinkey and Noelle Bough as a result of a justifiable decrease in the number of teacher positions (RIF) as a result of a reduction in state funding. The vote was six to one with Dan Patrick voting against that reduction in force. Dr. Murray then noted that if state funding were to improve that the school corporation would begin immediate callbacks for those teachers with contracts being nonrenewed and/or cancelled. b. Prom 1992. Dr. Murray noted to the board that she had received a request from Mike Shuler in terms of the location of the 1992 prom. Dr. Murray indicated that she supported that request. Board member Mary Kay Stedman questioned whether or not this involved board action and noted that this was perhaps a building decision. Principal Mike Shuler indicated that this was board policy. Superintendent Barb Murray indicated to the board that she had been trying to locate this policy in the policy handbook, but had not yet done such. The board indicated that future decisions of this nature could in fact be made by the building principal and that if it turned out to be board policy that a review of that policy needed to occur. A motion was made by Dave Hostetler and seconded by Mary Kay Stedman to support the recommendation for the location of the 1992 prom site. This prom site will be held at the Knollwood Country Gub on Saturday, May 2, from 9:00 p.m. until 12:00 a.m. The vote was seven/zero. 2. Superintendent’s Report. a. Capital projects fund. 1. Tennis courts. Dr. Murray noted that she had met with Mike Gark, high school athletic director, to evaluate the condition of the tennis courts at the high school. Dr. Murray noted that she had declared such as unsuitable for play as a result of safety and liability. She indicated that facility was fenced with a chain and padlock on the gate. She said that Brad Schmeltz had notified the company in Indianapolis that installed those courts to visit and give the corporation some information on what it would take to temp-

orarily repair such. Dr. Murray noted that temporary repair would be inexpensive and therefore was underway. Dr. Murray also noted that the money set aside for major repairs on those tennis courts would be channeled to the North Liberty site to also patch the cracks in the North Liberty tennis courts and to repaint those surfaces so that they were more suitable for play. Dr. Murray further noted that provisions were set aside in the 1993 Capital Projects Plan budget to in fact remove and reconstruct the tennis courts at the high school. She indicated with the selection of the middle school site being in the current tennis court location that eventually they would have to be removed. She noted, however, that due to their poor condition that that money had already been set aside for such for 1993. Jean Ann Beem noted to Dr. Murray that emphasis needed to be placed on the fact that Capital Project money was totally separate money from General Fund money which supported teacher salaries. Board member Jean Ann Beem noted that she did not want patrons to get the wrong idea about the school corporation thinking that spending money on tennis courts was more important than teacher salaries. Dr. Murray agreed with Mrs. Beem and further affirmed that those funds were totally separate funds and that law would not allow for using money across funds. 2. Summer work. Dr. Murray noted that the corporation was in the process of taking bids for summer work and she would keep the school board posted on that progress. 3. School insurance. Dr. Murray noted that she had spoken with the John Small Agency and that he, along with other insurance company personnel, were drawing up specifications for corporation insurance. Dr. Murray indicated that that insurance would be advertised for bidding in the near future and that she would keep the board informed about that business. NEXT BOARD MEETING The next meeting date was set for April 23, at 7:30 p.m. at Urey Middle School with an executive session following for the purpose of discussing job performance evaluation of individual employees. ADJOURNMENT A motion was made by Dan Patrick to adjourn the meeting. That motion was seconded by Jean Ann Beem. The vote was taken at six to one to adjourn that meeting with Dave Hostetler voting against adjourning the meeting at that time. The meeting was adjourned at 8:35 p.m. John Glenn FFA Enjoys Banquet The John Glenn FFA Banquet was called to order at 6:50. The welcome was given by president Brian Norris followed by Tim McCormick giving the invocation. The meal was served followed by a meeting held in the auditorium. The meeting was called to order by president Brian Norris at 7:45. The opening of the meeting was followed by the parliamentary procedures (a descriptions of each officers job). Secretary, Mike Birk announced that there were 24 members, one advisor and 46 visitors present. After the official opening of the meeting, Indiana State Sentinel, Beth Myers, gave an enlightning speech on motivation. Following the speech of Ms. Meyers, Mr. Leon Verhaeghe aided by Ms. Meyers, gave out the 1990-1991 awards won by the members of the John Glenn FFA Chapter. The FFA competed in many diversified areas of agricultural contests. Starting with Dairy judging, in the district contest seven members competed with only three advancing to the area contest. The

four members who didn’t qualify for the area contest did place fourth in the district contest though. In Livestock judging, six members competed with three of them advancing to the area contest. Members on the Dairy judging team who advanced to the area contest are Brian Norris, Tuan Hesters, Craig Ross and Mike Birk. Those that advanced in Livestock judging are Aaron Williams, Mike Birk, Craig Ross and Steve Chase. Proficiences were next on the agenda which is a record keeping project that is judged on an individual basis. Those that competed are as follows: Ag. mechanics, Aaron Williams, Fruit & Vegetable Production, Mike Birk; Placement in Agriculture, Travis Replogle. These people just mentioned deserve an honorable mention for just competing. There were a few who took it a step further by winning a first, second and third place. They were Mike Birk, third in Diversified Livestock; Shawn Eddinger, second in Turf & Landscaping; Craig Ross, second in Soil & Water Menagment; Tuan Hesters, first in Specialty Animals; and Brian Norris, first in Feed Grain Production. Six FFA members also traveled to Fairfield, Indiana to compete in the district 2 Leadership Contest. An honorable mention goes to Tim McCormick for entering the Public Speaking contest, Craig Ross for entering the Sales Demonstration, and Steve Chase for entering the Horticulture Demonstration. Craig Ross won second place in the Essay contest and Travis Replogle took first in the Job Interview contest. The first place winners in the District 2 Leadership contest and the Proficiency winners will advance to the state level. Good luck goes to these winners: Brian Norris, Taun Hesters and Travis Replogle. The three last awards go to three special people of the FFA. The first award goes to an outstanding first year member. This member must start a record keeping project, show leadership and also be active in the FFA. The 1990-1991 Greenhand is Aaron Williams. The second award goes to an active senior member in the FFA. Not only is he active in FFA but he is also active in his studies. The 1990-1991 DeKalb award winner is Tuan Hesters. And the last award goes to a four year senior, who has shown leadership, been a member of the FFA for four years and has attended many FFA activities. The 1990-1991 Chapter Farmer is Brian Norris. After president Brian Norris started the closing ceremonies, he asked if there was any new or unfinished business. Reporter, Travis Replogle stood and said, “Mr. President I do”. At that time the senior members had one last award to present. This person has served as FFA advisor for 26 years and has been there when you needed him no matter what time it was. At that time the senior members gave Mr. Leon Verhaeghe a chair. On the chair is the FFA Emblem, Advisor and his name. The seniors are proud of Mr. Verhaeghe and all he has done for them. The meeting was then officially closed. A special thanks go to the 19901991 sponsors for all the help throughout the year: Fair Oil Co., Rader Equipment, and Denny Fisher Farms. Fairbanks, Alaska, is the closest city in North America to the Arctic Circle.

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