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MENTONE -ÊTippecanoe Valley school board members and former students questioned the new curriculum as proposed by the Indiana Department of Education.
With the demise of such subjects as industrial arts and auto mechanics, both board members and students, along with a local business, questioned the logic of doing away with the projects.
Greg Steele from the Department of Education explained why the subjects are being discontinued. Steele cited decreased enrollment and losingÊ students in the arts programs as some of the reasons. He said the new programs include lab activities that would be 80 percent of the course, five minutes of lecture time, problem-solving decisions, activities for student abilities, and applied use of tools and machines.
The board received a letter from Christopher Tucker of Bellefontaine, Ohio, a graduate of Valley. In his letter Tucker stressed the need for life skills classes at Valley.
"What you may not know is that while at TVHS, I took several electives in welding, electronic, small engine repair, and other similar classes so that I could 'build up' some life skills. My grandparents and parents told me that no matter how much formal education I might accumulate, I would always be able to use the hands-on training from the TVHS courses mentioned above. How true this has been even this far in my young life."
In a letter from Bud Hammond, production manager of Par-kan of Silver Lake, Hammond said he felt it would be a mistake for the school to discontinue such classes. Hammond said his company hires students who have taken the classes and he would assist the school corporation in any way he could to see that the classes were continued.
Mark Wise asked Steele what the phrase 'hands-on' means.
Steele said the courses did not specify certain skills. "A lot will deal with problem solving. Teachers will still select specific problems. There is a difference in industrial education and technology education. You have to take the futuristic approach. Now we communicate with keyboards."
Wise said, "There is a need in this community for life skills. Maybe not Indianapolis and Kokomo. I think this is wrong."
Board president Bruce Andrews said, "I'm of the understanding that we need to do away with what we have now and adopt the new."
Wise asked Steele if obtaining a waiver is possible.
Steele said the state encourages waivers. "They would not be opposed to a need of a mechanics class."
Valley teacher Rick Ralston told Steele that the big part of his program is to build self-esteem in the students. He said his students have taken the education and went on to operate businesses. "They can excel at something and enjoy themselves."
In other business, the contract of superintendant Dr. Karen Boling was questioned by Wise and Eaton.
Wise said he has concerns about the contract and moved not to renew Boling's contract. The motion was denied by a 3 to 2 margin with Fred McSherry, Tom Weaver and Andrews voting against.
A motion to extend Boling's contract was approvedÊ by a 3 to 2 margin, with McSherry, Weaver and Andrews voting for the contract extension.
The board renewed contracts, including those of Akron principal Brett Boggs, Mentone principal Jack Fisher, middle school principal, Doug Jacobs, and coaches Scott Bibler, Bill Patrick and Gary Teel. The contracts of athletic directors Duane Burkhart and Scott Bibler were also approved.
Boling presented the ISTEP finding for Tippecanoe Valley students in grades 3, 6, 8 and 10. She said math is the weakest area and the sixth grade students are of the most concern.
Boling said Valley ranks 280 out of 363 schools. "It may not look good but I am optimistic about much better results next year."Ê
High school principal Charles Mills said "we want the students to be successful. But some of the parents are apathetic. Only one-third of the parents show up to the general meetings. We offered summer remedial sessions and only 12-15 of the students attended. If one group fails to support efforts, the whole thing falls apart."Ê
ÊIt was also announced that an auction at the Mentone School will be held June 10 and the open house for the building trades home will be May 23 from 1 to 4 p.m. The house is on Fulton CR 500N.
