Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
SYRACUSE - It was a big night for the Wawasee School Board Tuesday. They voted to spend more than $7.7 million in school renovations and to begin a trimester program at Wawasee High School.
In addition, four Wawasee High School students were introduced as National Merit Scholar finalists. They are: Paul Strycker, Jesse McDonald, Adam Drent and Jonathan Trojan. Principal Alan Frank said it is the first time since 1986-87 that four students received the coveted honor. About one million high school juniors nationwide take the test and only 7,700 make it to the finals.
Frank also introduced math teacher Kristi Harris, who received the Armstrong Teacher Educator Award for 2001-01 from Indiana University School of Education.
The vote for trimesters was swift. School Superintendent Mark Stock explained that teacher preparations will begin next fall; two paraprofessionals will be added the following school year; two teachers will be added for the 2003-04 school year; and another teacher will be added for the 2004-05 school year.
At the special board meeting on Feb. 17 to discuss trimesters, Frank explained that it will help students earn extra credits, 60 instead of 48, and that it will be easier for those who have missed a lot of school due to illness or poor judgment to return and graduate with their class.
He mentioned that the school dropout rate was high. Prior to last night's meeting Frank explained that Wawasee has about an 80 percent graduation rate while the state averages 90 percent.
"Part of our school improvement plan is to improve our graduation rate," he said.
Renovation bids came in about $1 million under budget and will allow the corporation to complete everything as planned.
They were awarded to W.A. Sheets and Sons Inc., Ft. Wayne, as general contractor; A. Hattersley and Sons Inc., Ft. Wayne, as mechanical contractor; and Shaum Electric Co. Inc., Elkhart, as electrical contractor. The food service equipment contractor will be G.V. Aikman Co. Inc., Indianapolis, and the plastic laminate cabinetry contractor will be Case Direct, LLC, Sanford, Mich.
Syracuse Elementary School will get a new bus drive, a new storage room and additional windows. Two restrooms will be renovated, classrooms and corridors will be carpeted and classrooms will receive new shelving, tack-boards and marker-boards. At the same time tunnel piping will be removed.
Plans for Milford Elementary/Middle School also include carpeting classrooms and corridors, removing tunnel piping and renovating classroom shelving. New lockers, some new windows, a change in the south entrance doors and tiles in the vestibule also are a part of the changes at Milford. A new condensing unit and restrooms round out the projects at the middle school.
The high school auditorium will have new ceiling tile, new carpet and new floor tile and a cyclorama for the stage, while the ceiling in the auxiliary gym will be renovated. In addition a temperature control server and central plant controls will be changed.
After a question by board member Brian Dawes, Stock explained that they may approve a change order in the remodeling projects to make heating and cooling systems operate more efficiently in all the schools. The NIPSCO bills paid in February were just under $162,000.
Bob Lahrman said construction of North Webster Elementary School is a little behind schedule, but the onset of warmer weather should correct that soon.
In other business, the board accepted an $1,800 donation from the Palace of Sports to buy golf bags and umbrellas for both the boys and girls golf teams.
Phil Metcalf, director of the Wawasee Area Career and Technical Cooperative, made an in-depth presentation of the program complete with video. He explained that college-bound students also benefit from it because they can get a taste of their chosen field before entering college.
In all of the programs students can earn certification, licensing or apprenticeships and journeyman level. Some even pay the students who are earning high school credits.
The health occupations program partners with Kosciusko County Hospital, which provides the classroom, and Ivy Tech, which provides the instructor. Students receive high school credit, college credit and a salary.
Presently the career and technical education track also offers interdisciplinary cooperative education, which allows a students to earn a pilot's license or to work in a law or other professional office; agriculture, auto mechanics I and II, building trades I and II, cosmetology I and II, printing and graphic arts, family and consumer sciences.
On personnel matters the board accepted the resignation of Douglas Pettyjohn, a custodian at Syracuse, and Barry Heflick, a special education teacher at Milford Middle School.
Board members agreed to medical leave for Russell Sonafrank, a Wawasee Middle School teacher, and hired Darci Gearheart to replace him through this school year. They also hired Cheryl Walker as bookkeeper at Milford, and accepted the retirement request of Nancy Janda, a Wawasee Middle School special education teacher.
