MENTONE – Several students were recognized during the Tippecanoe Valley School Corporation Board Of Trustees meeting Monday.
Mackenzie Costello, Hannah Engstrand, Marissa McLean and Payton Mills were presented as Rising Stars of the Indiana Class of 2021.
“The organization that puts this on is the Indiana Association of School Principals,”?said high school principal Brandon Kresca. “All students are chosen based on their academic achievement and their leadership qualities. We’re really impressed with what these four juniors have done and we go to them when we need leadership.”
Each high school was invited to nominate four juniors for recognition as a member of the Rising Stars of Indiana Class of 2021.
Kirstyn Yoder was recognized as the recipient of the Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship Program.
The scholarship program is designed to “help raise the level of educational attainment in Indiana,” said Kresca. The scholarship is awarded to 143 students in the state on a yearly basis. Yoder will have a full-scholarship to any four-year university in Indiana.
Yoder said she has Notre Dame or Purdue on her radar.
The last student recognition the school made was to Faith Kamp as a Coca-Cola Scholars Program semi-finalist.
Kresca said 1,928 semifinalists were chosen from over 93,000 applications nationwide this year.
“It is given from areas of leadership, academic achievement and dedication to community,” Kresca said.
The school board also approved several grants. The board approved a $336 donors’ choice grant for pizza pans, aprons and electric can openers to add to supplies for the Functional Skills cooking class.
The board also approved a $232 donors’ choice grant for two swings and a 3.9-foot sensory lamp for teacher Jeanna Lidecker to use in her preschool class. Lidecker said in paperwork presented to the board that the current swings her class uses are difficult for students to use on their own.
“These sensory items will assist my students when they need to take a moment to calm down,” Lidecker said in paperwork.
The board also approved a $750 Fulton County REMC Roundup grant to support the radio and television class at the high school. The class will use the funds to upgrade either TVs to use with Roku Sticks or upgrading computers, according to paperwork provided to the board.
The board approved a second $750 Fulton County REMC Roundup grant to support the physics program at the high school, which will be used to purchase equipment.
The last grant approved was a $200 Lake Area Autism network grant to purchase fidget spinners to help students with Autism and ADHD who have sensory issues at the middle school. Boxes for the fidget spinners will be used to prevent students from taking the items home or losing them.
