SYRACUSE – Plans for summer school were presented to the Wawasee School Board Tuesday night.

Assistant superintendent Joy Goshert said the corporation will pursue expanding the kinds of classes offered in the summer, but what classes will take place will be determined after the enrollment period ends in late April or early May.

All the corporation’s summer classes will take place at either Syracuse Elementary or Wawasee High School. The idea is to centrally locate the classes within the district and provide transportation to and from classes.

Elementary summer school will run from 8 to 11:30 a.m. June 4-22, with lunch following classes each day. Elementary students will be in one of three groups: kindergarten/first grade, grades 2-3 and grades 4-5. Rotations of reading, robotics, math and physical education will be made available.

Junior high and high school sessions will begin on the same day, but run a week longer. Graders 6-12 can participate in a Holocaust-themed ELA, hands-on science, family and consumer science, outdoor sports with fitness and nutrition focus, applications in agriculture, exploring art, and ELA and project-based learning.



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Grades 9-12 will be offered APEX learning, English/language arts, theater, a history course, and radio/television.

In his school improvement report, Syracuse Elementary Principal Eric Speicher said there’s been a lot of getting used to with the new building, and using technology in the classroom, but the transition has gone well. Software vendors have been quick to respond to the school’s concerns, Speicher said.

He added that about 60 students, or around 10 percent of the student body, are getting individualized attention to help such as tutoring, counseling or participation in programs such as Lunch Buddies.

Reese Bailey and Charlotte Kompagne, students in Molly Hunter’s third-grade class at Syracuse Elementary, gave a presentation on their “Box Tops for Education” fundraiser. The two showed how they used a 3-D printer to make donation boxes, then called area businesses to ask if they would serve as collection sites.

They collected 5,731 box tops, generating  a $573.10 donation for the school.

Staff members throughout the corporation have raised more than $2,300 for the Conrad Scholarship fund. The fund was created in honor of the late Kim Conrad, the Syracuse librarian who, along with her son, Stephen, was killed in an automobile accident on Christmas Night 2016.

Superintendent Tom Edington said the school corporation received a donation of 13 weather radios from Kosciusko County Emergency Management. There will be at least one radio in each school plus the bus garage, but Edington added they hadn’t yet fully evaluated the most critical areas for the devices.

The board also was notified that Women of Today will donate $1,500 to each of the five schools in the corporation. Milford Principal and WOT member Cindy Kaiser said a form was being developed for building principals to receive requests for funds, which can go to help students in need or for  teachers and their classrooms.

The board recognized several winter sports athletes who qualified for state competitions in their events. Certificates were awarded to Jared Krugman, Brady Robinson, Grant Willaman and Isaiah Metcalf from the boys swim team; Jace Alexander, Jeremiah Brooks and Elijah Tipping from the wrestling squad and gymnast Reagan Atwood. Frank Bumgardner was also recognized for being named Class 2A wrestling coach of the year by Indiana Mat and the regional coach of the year by the Indiana High School Wrestling Coaches Association.

Edington said several structural projects were planned for the coming months. The re-carpeting of North Webster Elementary is nearly complete, and interior renovations will soon begin at Milford School, including a new restroom and concession stand building in the field. A similar building is planned for the soccer fields at Wawasee Middle School, and HVAC equipment at the high school’s auditorium, pool and auxiliary gym is scheduled to be replaced in the fall.

Ten out-of-state or overnight trips were approved by the board, including a trip to Europe for the boys soccer team.

In the public comments portion of the building, a number of parents and students spoke on behalf of Wawasee swimming coach Julie Robinson. Pat Park, a parent of a student-athlete and an assistant coach, said Robinson has been under fire for not spending time with all the swimmers.

Board president Rebecca Linnemeier allowed several parents and students to speak briefly, but constantly reminded them that this was a matter that the board “couldn’t and shouldn’t hear.”

She asked those concerned to meet with WHS athletic director Cory Schutz and principal Kim Nguyen about the matter.

No one spoke against Robinson in the meeting.

In his legislative update, Edington said that a change was considered to the laws concerning how human sexuality was taught. Currently, parents have to give permission to have their children in those sessions, and the proposed change would eliminate that.

Edington said that he had been in contact with legislators who serve the corporation to ask for an opt-out provision.

The board will next meet at 5:30 p.m. April 10 in the Warrior Room at Wawasee High School.