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LARWILL – The Whitko Community School Board learned about new opportunities students can participate in during Jarrod Week at their regular meeting on Monday.
For Jarrod Week, students in grades six to eight will have a junior high giveaway, where students have an opportunity to participate and attempt to win something great to take home from Jarrod Week. JD Maurer, principal of Whitko Junior High School, stated this is a first for WJHS because of the upperclassmen usually owning the auction, and it not being fair for the junior high students. This will take place at 2:15 p.m. Friday, March 27.
“I’m excited to announce that this is the 17th year for Jarrod Day … even though it has turned into Jarrod Week since I was here,” said Kathy Longenbaugh, principal of Whitko Senior High School. “One of the things we do during Jarrod Week is competitions … Monday will be seniors versus the freshmen, Tuesday will be sophomores versus juniors; at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday we will be having the auction … and if people want to donate they still can.”
Longenbaugh also noted the fact that this will be the first year that WJSHS will have Jarrod Bucks, which is in an incentive program for students to use as money, and use in conjunction with whatever money they will spend at the auction. So far, Longenbaugh noted that $150 has been donated for Jarrod Bucks.
“I did have one of my former students reach out to me when he saw the very nice article about Jarrod Day written in the news. He said what do you need … would you like Cubs tickets? So, we even have Cubs tickets that can be bid on,” said Longenbaugh.
Longenbaugh gave admiration on how much Jarrod Week has grown since its inception, and that it still is something students get excited about every year.
Jarrod Week will be March 23 through 27.
The March students of the month were also recognized at the meeting. March students of the month were Sophie Keener, who was nominated by John Strayer; Gracelyn Rose, who was nominated by Megan Anderson; Jersee Mathias, who was nominated by Michelle Walker; and Alivia Anderson, who was nominated by Kennedy Musselman.
Liz Riggers, principal of Pierceton Elementary School. gave a big shoutout to her second- and third-grade teachers who “worked their butts off” during iRead testing. She stated that they all worked so very hard.
“I would also like to thank United Way of Kosciusko and Whitley Counties. We were just awarded a $5,000 grant … for our Purposeful Play Initiative,” said Riggers. This will help kindergarteners learn social skills.
Joel Holsopple, principal of South Whitley Elementary School, told the board about the upcoming kindergarten round-up, which will be March 25. He also showed a video made by one of his kindergarten teachers, Anna Busz, with the help of another teacher, Krista Busz, and several current kindergarten students.
Chris Benedict, director of Whitko Career Academy, gave the following updates:
• The medical students are currently doing rotations every Tuesday and Thursday throughout the semester at Parkview Whitley and Parkview Kosciusko Hospitals.
• The upperclassmen in construction trades are working on Tiny Home and are hoping it will be ready for auction in early May. The underclassmen are working on sheds and lockers that will be promoted through the WCS Facebook page in early April.
• On March 12, the wielding students competed in the Northern Indiana Machining and Welding contest at Warsaw Community High School.
• Students have been working with the Kosciusko Student Venture Challenge. They are set up in boot camp sessions, where students work with local business leaders and give business venture pitches. These pitches will be given Wednesday, March 18 at WCHS and will have a final culmination showcase from 5-8 p.m. April 16, at Grace College.
• Maurer noted that students have met the third checkpoint for iLearn this year. He noted that working with staff, they are looking at intervention where needed. The junior high school will also be looking and working on the State Accountability Model for the rest of this year into next year. Maurer also thanked United Way for the grant of $5,000 for WJHS to have a portable grill, with the check ceremony taking place Tuesday, March 17.
Athletic Director Drew Benedict noted a great ending to winter sports, with girls basketball finishing with a 25-2 season; Jayma and Reese Stonebraker were named Small School All-State; and Ally Brown receiving an honorable mention. The junior high girls basketball also had a strong finish to their season. Boys basketball also wrapped with a strong finish at the section semi-finals. Ethan Yates was named first team All-Conference, and Hunter Long received an honorable mention.
Benedict also gave a shout out to Melanie Napier, who placed first in the female elementary division in archery.
Rhonda Snavley, director of transportation, stated that the annual bus inspection will be Monday, March 23 and Tuesday, March 24. She has been working with new drivers with onboarding.
“So far, we have 98 away sports and 48 field trips between now and May,” said Snavley.
Snavley also noted that during spring break, they will be working on inspecting and servicing the equipment at PES and the WCA.
Joe Jackson, director of operations, said that the roofing projects for SWES and WJSHS are in the paperwork stage and once it’s completed, he will have a start date. They are also working on getting quotes together for the auditorium’s sound system and the fire alarm drawing review will be done during the week of April 13.
Board Secretary Lynn Studebaker asked if Jackson had seen any wind damage on any of the buildings during the last week, to which Jackson responded, “fortunately, we did not.”
Sieara Arnett, director of Whitko Little Cats, told the board about the carnival coming up on May 15. It will be held from 5-7 p.m. and the community is welcome to attend and they will have vendors come in and sell items. She also told the board about several staff members receiving their certifications.
Matt Buchanan, director of technology, told the board about the cleaning and organizing that will be taking effect during spring break. He also told the board about additional work they were doing with cybersecurity and prevention of phishing scams. He will also be working to have PowerSchool ready for kindergarten round-up.
In other business:
• The second and final approval of ISBA Book 4000 Policies, as presented, occurred.
• Superintendent Dr. Amy Korus thanked the following people for their donations to the Boomerang Backpack program: Rachelle and William Mabee, who donated $150; Amanda and Chris Clabaugh, who donated $200; and Scott and Linda Hixson, who donated $600. She also thanked Paragon Medical for donating an optical comparator, valued at $4,000, to support WJSHS math instruction.
• The establishment of a Venmo account to accept electronic payments or donations. This was questioned by Studebaker if Venmo would take funds of anything donated, which Business Manager Lynn Leininger answered that they do not and was approved.
• Approval of ISBA policies: Books 5000 and 6000 on first reading, with the second and final reading at the April 20 school board meeting.
• Spring sports are underway. The first official game for softball is March 23 at Warsaw; track and field will open their season at Southwood on March 24; baseball will open their season on April 3 at New Haven; girls tennis will open their season April 7 at West Noble; and boys golf will open their season April 14 at Eel River.
• Kari Walmer, director of special services, updated the board on their special-ed count, with this preliminary count showing 332 students. She also gave a brief update that there are currently 74 students who are English Language Program students.
The next school board meeting is at 5:30 p.m. Monday, April 20, in the Whitko Career Academy lecture room.
