SYRACUSE – The Wawasee Community School Board had a celebration of sorts, highlighting some of the things its student body has been up to recently.
Several of the Wawasee FFA officers attended the meeting to thank the board for its support and to show what the FFA can achieve with it. Officers in attendance were Carter Grady, co-sentinal; Lucas Wilkinson, president; Jazlyn Weimer, student advisor; Abbi Harris, co-reporter; Emerson Krull, secretary and Colin Bucher, treasurer.
“We currently have 139 students enrolled in agriculture classes at Wawasee,” Grady informed the board. “All of our ag classes are dual credit through Ivy Tech College. In these classes we learn skills to help build our knowledge of ag-based businesses to help make our community a better place.”
The Wawasee Ag Department offers principles of agriculture, natural resources, welding, agribusiness management, advanced life science: animals, advanced life science: plants and soil and hydroponics and greenhouse.
FFA’s mission is “to make a positive difference in the lives of students by developing their potential for premier leadership, personal growth and career success through agricultural education.” One of the ways FFA accomplishes this is through community service. Wawasee FFA helps with projects throughout the community, including Wawasee Area Conservancy Foundation, haunted woods, Knights of Columbus roadside cleanup, Kosciusko County dairy barn cleanup, Tom Farms appreciation dinner church meal packings, and Feed the Farmers.
“Wawasee FFA Feed the Farmers is a project we started last year,” Wilkinson explained to the board. “Since last year we have been able to give out over 500 meals to farmers in the area during harvest.”
So far this year, the 53 member participating in community service has completed 1,484 hours.
Also in attendance was the Wawasee girls wrestling team. Girls wrestling has recently been sanctioned as a sport for the Indiana High School Athletic Association, after existing for several years as an “emerging sport.”
The girls wrestling team started with just seven wrestlers. Now, the team consists of 18 Lady Warriors.
On Saturday, the Lady Warriors placed second out of 23 teams at the Whitko Invite.
The Lady Warriors will be hosting its first ever home match today against John Glenn. The match will begin at 6:45 p.m. Afterwards, the team will be hosting a special meet and greet for community members. Fans can meet the Lady Warrior wrestlers and receive a commemorative poster, autographed by the team.
“This year, I made a deal with them. I would like six of them to make it to state. If six go to state, I will let them dye my hair. They have decided on neon green and pink,” Miguel Rodriguez, coach, explained. “The reason I am willing to do that is so I can tell their story and I will get to tell anyone who asks about their hard work.”
Last year, the team had two wrestlers qualified for state, Alex Garcia and Kenidi Nine.
The board also approved a short-term solution for its gymnastics teams. The corporation will be entering a leasing agreement with Shore Capital LLC. The now-rented space once housed PolarKraft, 300 E. Chicago St., Syracuse.
“This lease will provide a space for the teams to practice through this upcoming season which is a favorable outcome,” Superintendent Dr. Steve Troyer said.
Although it is just a short-term solution, as the lease runs from Nov. 1, 2024, to Oct. 31, 2025, it may be enough to buy the corporation enough time to find a long-term, permanent solution for the gymnastics program.
In other news, the corporation will be hosting a series of Community Coffee Chats. These casual events are designed to allow parents and community members an opportunity to meet with Dr. Troyer, learn more about the school corporation and obtain the answer to any question they have.
“Community insights are an important part of in the development of the district’s vision, goals and strategies,” Dr. Troyer stated. “It has been a tremendous honor to be in the community as much as we have been over the last few months in a variety of different ways and in a variety of different settings.”
The location of Community Coffee Chats will be rotating through all three communities: Milford, Syracuse and North Webster. The series kicked off last Saturday at Harvest Coffee, Milford. The next chat will be Nov. 23 at Lakeside Coffee, Syracuse. Chats begin at 9 a.m.
“Many of the things we have talked about is thematically the same but there has been a number of things that have come up that we have not necessarily talked about and it has been good and important to hear,” Troyer said. “Like, enrollment. We are in the early stages of data gathering and at some point in the next couple months we will be able to present some more specific information related to our enrollment and transfers.”
The corporation is currently waiting on the Indiana Department of Education to release the transfer report, as student count day was on Oct. 1.
“There is a lot of different challenges when it comes to enrollment,” Troyer said. The corporation is in the early stages of creating a campaign that will target the steep enrollment decline. “Just like there is with a lot of rural schools in Indiana. We are not in this alone.”
In other news, the corporation received a $15,000 to support two mini grants from Northern Indiana Educational Service Center. One grant was in the amount of $5,000 to be used for staff and student field experiences relating to college and career readiness. The second grant was in the amount of $10,000 to be utilized to pay a district career coach a stipend.
Additionally, Peggy Cook, seventh-grade science teacher, was granted $500 as a winner of a Via Credit Union Teacher Grant. The grant will go toward purchasing dissecting kits.
The next regular school board meeting will be 5:30 p.m. Dec. 10 in the Professional Learning Center, 801 S. Sycamore St., Syracuse.