Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
Presentations and recognitions took most of the time of the Warsaw School Board’s 100-minute meeting Monday.
Superintendent Dr. David Hoffert kicked it off by presenting Mandarin Chinese teacher Dr. Shu-Chun Tseng with a certificate, announcing she was selected as the teacher of the year at the secondary level of Chinese language by the Chinese Language Teachers Association of Indiana.
Hoffert said the certificate was for the gratitude by WCS for the work Tseng does with students in the school corporation’s Chinese program.
Director of Transportation Mark Fick then recognized five school bus drivers who had a combined 140 years of experience. Colleen Fritcher has 25 years, Bernie Waikel has 26, Sally Johnson has 28, Jackie Clase has 30 and Lisa Wallen has 31 years of experience.
Edgewood Middle School Principal JoElla Smyth recognized her school’s Project Lead The Way teacher, Abbi Richcreek, and two of her students, seventh-graders Owen Stevens and Milana Whitaker, for programming Rowdy the Robot to ride a horse. The robot rode the horse at The Shipshewana Wild Wild West Show in March, and they’re attempting to get the feat into the Guinness Book of World Records for the first time a robot rode a real horse.
Lakeview and Edgewood middle school students presented their National History Day projects, which are advancing to national competition in Washington, D.C., this summer. They competed at state competition April 14 and won first place to advance to nationals.
From Lakeview, Kaylee Ochoa and Rachel Doyle have an exhibit on Eleanor Roosevelt, while Elena Sullivan, Abigail Rahn and Hannah Shapiro have one on Alexander Hamilton.
Edgewood students Keller Bailey, Jason Benyousky, Geoffrey Hochstetler and Ryun Hoffert will be giving their junior group performance on Ambrose Bierce and the Civil War at nationals. In 2017, the four boys went to nationals with their NHD group performance on Joe George and Pearl Harbor.
NHDI is a yearlong program dedicated to enhancing history education. Students in grades four through 12 explore a historical subject and then use their research to create a documentary, exhibit, paper, performance or website. To reach the state contest, students must qualify at one of seven regional or district contests around Indiana.
Hoffert said, “This is a huge incredible honor for Warsaw Community Schools, to have students competing at the national level. National History Day is at the same level as the national spelling bee and some of the other academic competitions we see on ESPN. So very excited for this.”
A little later in the meeting, Tracey Akers, WCS head nurse, gave the board an update on the Boomerang Backpacks program. It provides a backpack of snacks for children over the weekend during the school year so they don’t go hungry.
The program at WCS began in 2012 at Lincoln Elementary School for about 100 students, followed by Lincoln and Leesburg the following year. This year, it provided weekend food for 475 students at six elementary schools and Gateway Educational Center.
“That’s a big change. We need a lot of people to help,” Akers said.
She said it’s been wonderful to see the community help, and the community also has been very generous with grants and donations. Representatives who have been on board have included people from Riley Children’s Foundation, Maple Leaf Farms, Tri Kappa, Atwood Lions Club, Bertsch Family Trust and “many other churches, businesses, service organizations and individuals.”
Akers said there’s 15 Boomerang Backpacks chapters in Northern Indiana and she asked the accountant for a rundown of the donations the Warsaw chapter has had over the last six years. It was five pages long and the total was over $210,000.
“I was amazed. I really didn’t have any idea that it was that much,” Akers said.
The program relies on volunteers, and all the money raised goes toward the food and backpacks. “It’s good to know that I can tell people when they’re donating that this is going to the children,” she said.
Helping get the food to the storage room and pack the backpacks every week are the Junior ROTC cadets at the high school.
