SYRACUSE - At its monthly regular board meeting Tuesday, the Wawasee School Board honored numerous teachers who have worked to improve the lives of their students and numerous student athletes who represented Wawasee at state tournaments.
Carlye Phagan Snider was selected as the Indiana Council for Exceptional Children 2024 Special Education Rising Star award winner. Each year, the Indiana Council for Exceptional Children honors individuals from across the state who go above and beyond in working with students with exceptionalities. This award is given to an outstanding special education teacher in the first five years of special education teaching. Phagan Snider was officially recognized at the INCEC annual conference in Bloomington on March 6.
The INCEC also honored Teresa Weideman as the recipient of the 2024 Paraeducator of the Year Award. To receive this award, Weideman: demonstrated knowledge, skill and sensitivity in advancing the opportunities, life potential and achievement of children and adults with disabilities; often went above and beyond what is typically expected in the profession and served as a role model and inspiration to their students, teachers and community.
Shelly Judy was awarded the Indiana Association of School Principals’ Service Award at the annual Secretaries Conference on March 8.
Carla Winegardner, a special education teacher at Wawasee Middle School, achieved a milestone by passing the exam to become a board certified behavior analyst. This certification is the result of her taking classes, completing over 2,000 hours of internship-like work and passing a final exam. Winegardner is now able to supervise registered behavior technicians, which will provide even better support for students with behavioral needs and will increase the resources available to support these students. Winegardner is the only staff member in the district with this designation.
The school board then got to congratulate multiple student athletes on their recent athletic endeavors. From the girls swimming and diving team, Addie Beasley, Reese Beasley, Emma Yoder, Julie Mishler, Joscelyn Gibbs, Emma Young, Brooklyn Roose, Ella Schmucker, McKenna Close and Sofia Caligara were honored. The team placed 10th overall.
From the wrestling team, Donovan Blair and Kaleb Salazar were honored. Blair finished with a 3-2 decision loss and Salazar finished by first round pin.
From the boys swimming and diving team, Nathan Harper, Cade Garden, Zack Kryder, Ivan Meier, Coltin Bucher, Layclan Saylor, Noah Mettham and Dakota Nguyen were honored. The team placed 31st place overall.
In other good news, the Wawasee FFA won the 2024 National FFA Lily Grant for Indiana Agricultural Education. The grant will be used to enhance the classroom and program.
During his report, Superintendent Dr. Steve Troyer informed the board about the concerns about the Wawasee Middle School pool and announced “Eclipse Day” procedure.
After meeting with a panel of parents and community members, Troyer committed to having “a thorough assessment of the pool” performed. Elevatus Architecture performed the assessment on Feb. 7 and included architecture, mechanic, electrical and plumbing. The report and recommendations are still currently being reviewed but more information should be available in the spring. Smaller issues have already been addressed, including lane lines, starting blocks and new diving boards.
Eclipse Day is April 8. There will be a near-total eclipse. The eclipse timeline starts around 2:30 p.m. and lasts until around 4 p.m. Since the peak eclipse will occur around 3:09 p.m., close to dismissal time, school dismissal times will be slightly delayed. Elementary schools will be released at 3:20 p.m. and the middle and high school will be released at 3:25 p.m. The school corporation will be providing NASA-approved eyewear so students can safely watch the eclipse.
If parents would like to pick up their students early on Eclipse Day, the school corporation asks parents to pick up their child before 2:30 p.m.
Numerous donations were generously made to various entities within the school corporation. Brooke Stahly and Holly Tuttle, of Women of Today, presented a donation to be used for student needs.
“Women of Today have been raising funds to help the lives of the kids in our community since the 1980s,” Stahly said. “We recognize that our school corporation is at the front lines with the kids in our community. We want to give you this money because you know who needs it. You know it belongs better than we do.”
Among the donations made to the WHS band were: $250, Metcalf, Payne & Bell; $100, Smiley’s Lawn Service; $1,000, Borkholder Archery; $150, Snyder, Morgan, Federoff & Kuchmay; $250, Next Generation Mechanicals; $1,150, Knights of Columbus Council 6323; $500, ERA Crossroads; $100, Lakeland Spinal Health; $250, Lions Karate; $100, Leland and Mary Dush; $250, Dynamic Spine; $500, Ousley Seawall Construction; $100, Stephanie Brown for Marshalls; $100, Scott Gingerich; $250, China Seas; $1,000, Mr. Rooter of North Central Indiana; $100 and Price Auto Repair.
The Knights of Columbus Council 6323 also donated $500 for the Academic Hall of Fame banquet. Medtronic donated $250 and Main Channel donated $500 to the WHS Super Mileage.
Among the donations to the WHS Student Council for the Pow Wow were $250, Ye Olde Tackle Box; $250, Guys Lawn Care; $1,000, Ryan and Amy Thwaits; $500, Anthony Truex; $250, Shoemaker Electric; $250, Wawasee Boat Company and $100, Syracuse Bud’s Body Shop.
The next regular school board meeting will be 5:30 p.m. April 16 in the WHS Warrior Room, 1 Warrior Path, Building 1, Syracuse.