The Press-Dispatch
Issue link: http://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/1037900
The Press-Dispatch Wednesday, October 10, 2018 A-3 LOCAL Call: 812-354-8500 Email: news@pressdispatch.net or bring in a hard copy: 820 E. Poplar Street, Petersburg NEWS BRIEFS National Federal Employee meeting is today The National Active and Retired Federal Employees Chapter 1847 will hold the monthly meeting on Octo- ber 10, at the Schnitzelbank Restaurant in Jasper. The meeting starts at noon and is open to all active and re- tired federal employees. The speaker will be Kyle Ru- pert, the director of the Jasper Community Arts. PCHS Junior Class fundraiser The Pike Central High School Junior Class is cur- rently selling fruit, pecans and PC tumblers, from Oct. 1-15. For more information or to place an order, call Cassi Craig at 812-354-8478, ext. 480, by October 15. Delivery will be November 17. Dubois County Museum celebrates Fall Harvest Day Sunday, Oct. 14 Dubois County Museum on Sunday, Oct. 14, from 1- 4 p.m., will be having Fall Harvest Day in this Bicen- tennial Year of the founding of Dubois County. This is a fun day for the whole family. Room two will be abuzz in front of the log house area with many examples of long ago jobs and activities on the farm. A few things in store for the day will be corn shuck- ing for the youth, as well as letting them try a hand in shelling and grinding corn, playing a cornhole game, learning how the harvesting machinery worked from members of the Early Days Antique Club, getting a taste of fall with a hardy cup of homemade soup, chili and chicken noodle will be offered, tasting the differ- ence between honey, molasses, and sorghum, and try- ing the homemade butter. See what is going on in the model train room. Check out the small animals. An alpaca will be visiting for all to see. Come see what the ladies are working on with their needles. The Stone Carvers will be busy carv- ing on their stones. The museum is open Tuesday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sunday from 1-4 p.m. Closed on Monday. • Wife of George Gumbel, from Mt. Vernon, Ind.. • Mother of Geoffrey J. (Susan) Wood now of Newburgh, Ind.; and David M. Wood, of Winslow. • Grandmother of Michael Wood of Charlestown, Ind.; DJ (Valerie) Wood, of Otwell, Mallory (Nick) Terry, of South Easton, Mass.; and Travis (Vicki) Wood, of Petersburg. • Great-grandmother of Harper and Knox Wood and Liam Terry. • Daughter of George Kinman and Alice Virginia Beadles Kinman Kearby. • Sister of Carla (Greg) Willis and Bonnie (David) Weathers. WHO AM I? GUMBEL For Pike County Auditor Judy Kinman Wood PAID FOR BY JUDY GUMBEL FOR AUDITOR • My father was a WWII Veteran and purple heart recipeient, and many family members served in the Civil War including my great-great-grandfather, William Green Beadles. • Pike County native — My ancestors were here when Indiana became a state and Pike County became a county. Ancestral names include Selby, Kinman, Curtis, Gladish, Brenton, Beadles and Lemond. In short. I love Pike County. My roots are here. I learned right from wrong here and was brought up to love God and country. • My desire is to give back to the county that I love. at is the main reason I am running for Pike County Auditor, and I also know that I have the skills to be good at the job. I would appreciate your vote. Paid for by Frank Coleman for Sheriff COLEMAN VOTE PIKE CO. SHERIFF "The change you desire. The experience you deserve." "Always do the right thing." • Increase the level of security to protect our kids, faculty and administrators at school and protect everyone a ending special events on school property. As part of this effort, I will appoint former FBI agent John Bellamy as Special Deputy for Homeland Security to advise and work closely with our schools. John has spent the last 21 years working on Homeland Security issues. He has provided assistance to emergency response agencies across 21 states and our na on's capital. He has provided consulta on to the following schools to help them plan and train for response to emergency situa ons: » University of Florida » Penn State University » University of North Carolina – Wilmington » Florida Interna onal University • Conduct threat assessment inves ga ons without delay to promptly deal with poten al gun violence. • Establish emergency procedures for obtain- ing search warrants and use appropriate technology to obtain evidence needed to prevent an imminent a ack against one of our schools, whether inside the classroom or outside on school property. • Work with our state representa ves for mandatory repor ng of individuals who are mentally unstable who pose a threat to themselves or others. • Support school efforts to deal with bullying by enforcing in mida on codes and recrui ng students to apply posi ve peer pressure to stop bullying. • Support classes to teach kids how to resolve conflict in non-violent ways. • Update security assessment, emergency pro- cedures and training. If school officials decide to enhance security through the use of metal detectors then we'll support those efforts. Frank and Beth, his wife of 38 years. Frank has 28 years experience with the Indiana State Police. John Bellamy grew up in Winslow, and is currently a resident. He has lived in the county for more than 30 years. I'm commi ed to u lizing the resources we have available within our county, such as John Bellamy, to increase the level of protec on for our families. I have the experience you deserve and will make the changes you desire. I need your vote to make those changes. People have expressed to me that we need a change at the Sheriff's Department. I agree. As Sheriff, I'll commit the Sheriff's Department to the following proac ve measures to protect our children and adults: Boy Scout Troop 151 built grow boxes for residents Boy Scout Troop 151 recently made three grow boxes for Golden Living residents to use for flowers, herbs and vegetables. Pictured are: Camden Gundrum, Samuel Haycraft, Ayden Young and Justin Thorne. Also helping was scout Benny Hess and leaders Larry Haycraft and Bill Thorne. 41 percent of Pike County students pass ISTEP+ By Ed Cahill The Indiana Department of Education released the Spring 2018 ISTEP+ results on Wednesday, Oct. 3, show- ing that a little more than 41 percent of Pike County students in third through eighth grades passed both the English/language arts and math tests – almost 10 percent less than the state- wide average. According to the ISTEP+ results, 55 percent of all Pike County students in third through eighth grades at Ot- well Miller Academy, Peters- burg Elementary School and Winslow Elementary School passed the English/Lan- guage Arts test and 49.1 per- cent passed the math test, while 41.1 percent passed both tests. Statewide, 64.1 percent of all students in third through eighth grades passed the English/language arts test and 58.3 percent passed the math test while 50.7 percent passed both tests. In 2017, 56.8 percent of all Pike County students in third through eighth grades passed the English/lan- guage arts test and 50.3 per- cent passed the math exam, while 42.4 percent passed both tests. At Winslow Elementary School, 57 of 136 students in third through fifth grades – or 41.9 percent – passed both tests. In 2017, 44.1 per- cent of all Winslow Elemen- tary School students in third through fifth grades passed both tests. At Petersburg Elementa- ry School, 95 of 228 students in third through fifth grades – or 41.7 percent – passed both tests. In 2017, 39.9 per- cent of all Petersburg Ele- mentary School students in third through fifth grades passed both tests. At Otwell Miller Acade- my, a public charter school which opened in the fall of 2017, 10 of 25 students in third through fifth grades – or 40.0 percent – passed both tests. At Pike Central Middle School, 157 of 411 students in sixth through eighth grades – or 38.2 percent – passed both tests. In 2017, 43.3 percent of all Pike Cen- tral Middle School students in sixth through eighth grades passed both tests. (Petersburg Elementa- ry School had a total of 239 students and 12 teachers – a student-to-teacher ratio of 20 :1 – in third through fifth grades during the 2017-18 school year; Winslow Ele- mentary School had a total of 158 students and nine teach- ers – a student-to-teach- er ratio of 17.5:1 – in third through fifth grades during the 2017-18 school year; and Otwell Miller Academy had a total of approximately 25 students and three teach- ers – a student-to-teacher ra- tio of about 8.3:1 – in third through fifth grades during the 2017-18 school year.) The Pike County School Corporation, comprised of Petersburg and Winslow el- ementary schools and Pike Central Middle and High schools, 309 out of 775 students in third through eighth grades – or 39.9 per- cent – passed both tests. In 2017, 42.4 percent of all Pike County School Corporation students in third through eighth grades passed both tests. In addition, at Pike Cen- tral High School, 39 of 157 sophomores – or 24.8 per- cent – passed both tests. In 2017, 23.5 percent of all sophomores passed both tests. "Overall, the scores for the district showed a few ar- eas of improvement, while most areas stayed close to our previous scores," PC- SC School Superintendent Suzanne Blake said. "This was the second year for the more rigorous test and there are still challenges regard- ing the transition." "As a district, we have im- plemented several strate- gies to help students," Blake continued. "We added a two- week reading workshop for incoming third graders this summer and we have adopt- ed Curriculum Associates materials for mathematics and language arts, which adhere to the state academ- ic standards and assess- ment blueprints. Older stu- dents are using IXL for addi- tional practice and review in mathematics. We also add- ed a Math 10 course for high school students. The class- room teachers are checking the IDOE for resources and networking with other edu- cators throughout the state." Following are additional school-by-school results: OTWELL MILLER ACADEMY At Otwell Miller Acad- emy, 14 of 25 students in third through fifth grades – or 56.0 percent – passed the English/language arts test and 13 of 25 students in third through fifth grades – or 52.0 percent – passed the math test. In addition, three of 12 students in the fourth grade – or 25.0 percent – passed the science test while five of six students in fifth grade – or 83.3 percent – passed the social studies test. "It's important for me to state from the beginning that I am not personally a fan of the current testing environment," OMA direc- tor Rich Padgett said. "I do not feel that any child or school should be judged on the basis of one or even two test windows. This is espe- cially true when the target and test are constantly be- ing changed and the bench- marks moved. There is more to the education of an indi- vidual than the results of a test." "That being said, I under- stand that we will be judged by these instruments and held accountable for re- sults," Padgett continued. "I am proud of the work and ef- fort by our school communi- ty of students, teachers, sup- port staff and parents in ho they approached the testing last year. The results were not where we would like to have them, nor are they where they will be in the fu- ture on the state measure- ments. When you look at the added strain of chang- ing locations and opening a new school last year, and building a new team, we are pleased to be on relative ground with the other coun- ty schools." Padgett noted that efforts to address student growth were set in motion from See ISTPEP+ on page 6