Warsaw Community School Board of Trustees Monday approved proceeding with the process of wireless network upgrades for the high school, Washington STEM Academy, Lincoln Elementary and Edgewood Middle School. The school corporation will allow Network Solutions, Granger, to continue with the federal process that will allow the wireless network upgrades. When the federal government approves the upgrades in July or August, the board will need to approve with proceeding to purchase equipment, Brad Hagg, WCS chief technology director, said. The total cost of equipment is $432,506.79. The school would be required to pay $86,501.36 and a portion of that will come out of the school’s budget Also during the meeting, JoElla Smyth, Edgewood Middle School principal, attended Monday’s meeting along with the school’s history teacher and former and current students to discuss National History Day projects created by eighth-graders at Edgewood. Mike Howard, Edgewood history teacher, said a team of 19 from Edgewood will compete in Saturday’s History Day competition at St. Mary’s College at Notre Dame. The 2016 theme is “Explore, Exchange and Encounter in History.” The competition is based on project-based learning and working in groups with students giving presentations on topics in U.S. history. Jennifer Straits, eighth-grade Edgewood student, is doing a project on fugitive slavery from 1793 to 1850. “I got to research a topic I’m interested in and enjoyed learning about it,” Strait said. She said she looks foward to competing in the project Saturday. The board approved Director of Food and Nutrition Services Marci Franks’ request to attend the School Nutrition Association Annual Nutrition Conference in San Antonio, Texas. The focus of the conference is on school nutrition programs. The board also approved four teachers from Claypool Elementary to attend a three-day event that “gives educators the insider knowledge, key skills and practical roadmap for academic success with kids from poverty,” according to information provided. Claypool Elementary has a significant population of students living in poverty. The teachers attending this conference want to understand poverty in a way that will allow them to intervene in a positive and practical way that can increase academic achievement. They expect to gain tools to help them engage students so they are interested in learning, enable students to have drive to be in the classroom and to help them become productive members of society, the information states. The board approved Chief Academic Officer David Robertson and one WCS employee to attend the regional Math, Science Partnership Program Conference in Baltimore, Md. The board accepted a $500 donation from Claypool Lions Club for the fourth-grade Camp Crosley Field Trip. This is a field trip providing students with the opportunity to experience nature activities, as well as teamwork activities. The board accepted a $1,000 donation from JanPaul Consulting LLC to Claypool Elementary School for its Nurturing Our Knights Fund. This is a fund that has been created to assist families with medical or emergency needs. The board approved a $3,500 donation to Washington STEM Academy from DEKKO Foundation in honor of the foundation's birthday and in support of continued STEM education.
