Valley Insight: Student Leadership And The Future Of Our Community
Posted
Brett Boggs-
This is the first in a series of monthly Valley Insight articles to be written during the 2012-2013 school year by members of the Tippecanoe Valley Administrative Team. Each will focus on Valley’s Hedgehog Concept – Student Success Through Character Education, Leadership and Literacy – and how it relates to what happens daily in our schools. The Hedgehog Concept reflects what our schools are passionate about, what we are best at, and what drives our educational engine. Early in 2012 the future of Prill School came into question. Prill School is one-room brick school built in 1876 that stands at the corner of the Old Fort Wayne Road and CR 700E in Fulton County’s Henry Township. Cared for by the Prill School Museum Association since 1980 when the Board of School Trustees of the Tippecanoe Valley School Corporation granted the PSMA a 50-year lease, the school’s future was in question because of the PSMA’s decline in membership. At first it was thought Prill School continued to be the property of the Tippecanoe Valley School Corporation. However, further study found the property was deeded to the Trustee of Henry Township in early April 2000 and in turn deeded by Henry Township to the PSMA later the same month. This was done so the PSMA could apply for grants for the continued care of Prill School. Fulton County Historian Shirley Willard scheduled a “Save Prill School Museum” meeting for Aug. 28, 2012, and encouraged the public to attend. This caught the attention of Tippecanoe Valley High School teachers, June Yazel and Jeff Shriver, co-teachers of the American Studies class at TVHS. American Studies is a dual credit class for which students earn high school credit and college credit through Grace College. The multi-disciplinary class (language arts and social studies) features project-based learning. Yazel and Shriver brought the Prill School dilemma to the attention of the class and the students decided they wanted to learn more about Prill School. As they conducted research and talked to individuals with knowledge about Prill School, the students decided they would like to be involved in the effort to save Prill School. Several students attended the Aug. 28 meeting with the intent of learning how they could be involved in saving Prill School. Encouraged to take a leadership role in the effort, three TVHS juniors – Casimir Kromkowski, Mitch Randall and Ben Shriver – were selected to the PSMA Board along with Valley teachers Jeff Shriver and Micah Lukens. The first official meeting of the new PSMA Board was Sept. 10. The three student PSMA Board members are now working with the PSMA Board and their classmates to plan several activities to benefit Prill School. A “Prill School Service Day” is planned for Oct. 6 starting at 8 a.m. and continuing as long as necessary. The purpose of the service day will be to clean up the grounds and to complete tasks necessary to prepare the building for the upcoming fall and winter weather. According to the student PSMA Board members, the school’s foundation is in need of repair and a new roof will be needed in the near future. The class will assist by conducting fundraisers and writing grants to obtain funding for the needed repairs. An immediate goal is to resume electrical service to the building and improve security by installing security lights on the property. Randall has taken great interest in the history of Prill School and has already spent several hours at the Akron Public Library conducting research. The community can be very proud of these three TVHS students for the leadership they have demonstrated in becoming members of the PSMA Board. Because of their interest in and commitment to the community in which they live, the future of this historic structure looks much brighter.
