SYRACUSE – Wawasee High School’s performing arts students and leaders made a presentation of their fall break trip to New York City to the school board Tuesday night.
Kristin Bonner and Mindy Coblentz began by telling the board the group of students took three classes: an improvisational workshop, a make-up workshop and a stage fighting workshop. Bonner said the instructor made it clear the students are not to attempt to stage a fight without a trained professional standing by.
The group saw four stage performances: “The Play That Goes Wrong,” “King Kong,” “Anastasia” and “Wicked.” They also visited the National 9/11 Memorial, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Radio City Music Hall and Lincoln Center. They did a few tourist-type things, including visiting Central Park, standing outside NBC’s “Today” show, walking down Fifth Avenue and visiting St. Patrick’s Cathedral.
Several students shared their impressions and renewed dreams for a future in the performing arts. Bonner said that rehearsals for their current show have been much more focused and “professional” since the trip.
Bonner said she hoped the trip, made possible by a grant from the Dekko Foundation, would serve as a catalyst to grow the performing arts department to include acting, music, lighting, special effects and even to put the school corporation in the position of needing to hire a performing arts director, similar to an athletic director.
In other agenda items listed as “good news,” the high school’s Iron Pride robotics team received a $10,000 grant from the Shoop Sports and Youth Foundation. The team had made a request, and the foundation board was so impressed they increased the dollar award.
KEYS students received compliments from the Kosciusko County Community Foundation for their actions as a recent event, as did united football athletes.
High school students Conner Lucas, Nick Lesco and Devin VanLue will hold a radiothon Monday on the school’s station, 93.7 The Mix. They will be on the air from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. and hope to raise $3,000 for the American Cancer Society.
Changes are coming to the driver’s education program. According to Wawasee High School Principal Kim Nguyen, soon students wil be able to take their final driver’s test at school from state-certified testers and, provided they pass, be able to go to the Bureau of Motor Vehicles with a stamped card and get a license without taking a test at the BMV.
Assistant Superintendent Joy Goshert discussed federal and state school letter grades. She gave a brief overview of the differences in the federal and state systems for determining how those grades differ. A federal letter grade was issued for the first time for the 2017-18 school year, and the state will change its scoring system after doing away with the ISTEP after the last school year.
In other business, the board:
• Approved a 1 percent pay increase for school administrators and a 2 percent raise for classified employees.
• Approved LuAnn Kissinger’s appointment to the North Webster Community Public Library’s board of directors and Dave VanLue to the Syracuse Park and Recreation board.
• Learned the corporation’s property and casualty premiums will go down by about $3,800 for the next year.
The next Wawasee School Board meeting will be at 5:30 p.m. Jan. 15 in the Warrior Room of the high school. Normally the board meets on the second Tuesday of the month, but the meeting was moved back a week to give people coming off of winter break time to prepare.
