The Press-Dispatch

October 11, 2017

The Press-Dispatch

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C-6 Wednesday, October 11, 2017 The Press-Dispatch EAST GIBSON NEWS Submit school news: Email: egnews@ pressdispatch.net Deadline: Noon on Friday Wood Memorial WOOD MEMORIAL INDIANA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION ACCOUNTABILITY GRADE On Wednesday, October 4, 2017, the Indiana Depart- ment of Education released the 2017 A – F Account- ability Grades for Indiana Schools. Wood Memori- al High School received a score of "A", representing an improvement of two full let- ter grades. The high school was a "C" school in 2016. Earning the status as an "A" school is certainly a great accomplishment, the result of laser focus on our core mission and values by students, instructors, staff, and parents. In particular, I am pleased for our children and instructors to be recog- nized with such an honor. The improved high school score is a direct result of the modified accountabil- ity formula implemented in the state two years ago. The Growth Domain, which measures student assess- ment growth in year – over – year comparison, provided the high school with a posi- tive impact on its' scorecard. This was the first time that this domain was calculated for Indiana high schools. Another positive impact for Wood Memorial, as well as other high schools in the state, was the deci- sion to provide a grace peri- od around meeting the new federal mandate (Every Stu- dent Succeeds Act) remov- ing the inclusion of gener- al diploma students for a schools graduation rate cal- culation. For this year's ac- countability, the 2016 grad- uation rate data was utilized. Without question, this year's rating provides an in- dication of the impact of our growing focus on provid- ing a rigorous and relevant instructional environment, built on the establishment of positive and effective re- lationships. While taking great pride in our "A" high school it is important to rec- ognize that much work re- mains for all of us, as we con- tinue to work to eliminate mediocrity as a goal for the education of our students. For the educational growth and development of our chil- dren we must settle for noth- ing but greatness. Wood Memorial Junior High School received a "C" accountability score for 2017, a drop from the "B" rating attained in 2016. The drop was directly related to a lower score in the Growth Domain area for our 7th and 8th grade students. This re- sulted in a reduction of 9.3% of the junior high school point total, in year – over – year comparison. WMJHS was only four points away from earning a "B". There is no question we all would have preferred not to have had the drop in our score, however I do believe that we have an opportunity to recover in 2018. OPEN OFFICE SESSIONS Once again this year, I will be utilizing a collabo- rative opportunity for all members – students, staff, parents, guardians, and community members – of the Wood Memorial School Community. With this said, I believe to be most effec- tive with the development and growth of our students it is imperative that every stakeholder of Wood Me- morial have an opportuni- ty to collaborate and pro- vide input in any area/as- pect of interest involving our school(s) they may have. Thus, I will conduct monthly "Open Office" ses- sions, focused on providing time for such collaboration to occur. I encourage you to come meet anytime to review items of interest you may have. You may schedule a meeting by calling 812-749 - 4757 and requesting a time. In keeping with the theme of collaboration and com- munication, I want to invite Wood Memorial stakehold- ers to follow the happenings at the junior high and high school by joining us on twit- ter at WMTrojans1. IMPORTANT DATES AND MORE SCHOOL INFORMATION • Information on how to join your respective class Remind and Schoology ac- counts has been posted to the Wood Memorial High School website. The ac- counts have been estab- lished as a communication and collaboration tool by the student services orga- nization. By joining you will be able to receive pertinent information such as, schol- arship opportunities, col- lege admission dates, and much more. Please contact Ms. Hill or Ms. Carlton for assistance. • Look for your oppor- tunity to obtain a "Trojan" check card from German American Bank. Details can be reviewed at the high school website. CALENDAR Tuesday, Oct. 10 Student Picture Re - Takes Red Cross Blood Drive JHS Spell Bowl Practice, 12 p.m. Youth League Basketball Meet- ing, Lecture Room, 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 11 End of First Grading Period PSAT Assessment Biology Field Trip, Patoka Nation- al Wildlife Refuge, 8 a.m. Athletic Honor Jacket Ordering, 5 p.m. – 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 12 Start of Second Grading Period NHS Meeting, 7:30 a.m. 7th Grade Science Sensation, 8 a.m. HS Spell Bowl Team Practice, 11:31 a.m. Volleyball Sectional vs. Northeast Dubois, at Tecumseh, 6:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 13 Reconnecting Youth Field Trip, 8 a.m. JHS Girls Basketball Callout Meeting, 12 p.m. Football at Crawford County, 6:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 14 Volleyball Sectional Semi – Fi- nals/Championship at Tecumseh ADDITIONAL DATES OF NOTE Accuplacer – Part 1, Oct. 2 – Nov. 22 Oct. 10 Student Picture Re-Takes, Oct. 10 HS Spell Bowl Team Practice, Oct. 12 7th Grade Science Sensation at Princeton, Oct. 12 JHS Spell Bowl Team Practice, Oct. 17 WMHS Athletic Council Meet- ing, JHS Conference Room, Varsi- ty Coaches, Oct. 17, 6 p.m. HS Spell Bowl Team Practice, Oct. 19 2017 – 2018 National Honor Soci- ety Induction, Oct. 23, 6 p.m. JHS Spell Bowl Team Practice, Oct. 24 Jostens Senior Graduation Or- der, Oct. 30 Senior Area Spell Bowl, Oct. 30 JHS Spell Bowl Team Practice, Insurer recommends more jailers By Janice Barniak The insurance agent for Gibson County Jail spoke to Gibson Coun- ty Commissioners Oct. 3 saying that hiring five jailers is what the insur- ance agency would consider a "good faith effort" toward rectifying the overpopulation problem. Sheriff Tim Bottoms told com- missioners the average per day was 143 last month, with 27 work release prisoners per day. The insurance representative said that underwriters had serious concerns about understaffing that could affect workmen's compensa- tion and other insurance ratings. It isn't settled what would happen if five jailers were not hired, accord- ing to the insurance representative. According to Bottoms, at times there are not enough jailers to go back and forth between buildings. Commissioner Alan Douglas said they would recommend the hiring to the County Council. I-69 zoning debate delayed until after autumn harvest By Janice Barniak While Gibson County Com- missioner Alan Douglas said the commissioners had agreed to take no I-69 zoning action un- til after harvest, due to most peo- ple affected being farmers, oppo- nents of zoning still debated their stance in the meeting Oct. 3. Commissioners said there will be no October action, and because of crowd size, they'll choose a larger venue when they decide to have the zoning de- bate. At this point, the two com- missioners who have not been at the meetings (Douglas and Ger- ald Bledsoe), know no more than they did at the previous meet- ings, since public officials are not supposed to discuss policy with each other outside public meet- ings, Douglas said. "There will be nothing done in October," he said. Commissioners' counsel James McDonald said he'd been sent a rough draft of a potential zoning map to look at, though he hadn't had an opportunity to look at it, so he wouldn't be able to answer specific questions at that point. That did not end the debate, however. One attendee wanted to know who approved hiring the attorney who had been work- ing on the zoning study, and his hourly rate, information that was not on hand at the ready. How- ever, whatever work had been billed so far would have been out of fees set aside for consult- ing, McDonald said, and other or- ganizations/entities are possibly contributing to zoning funding if that would pass. "There's a lot of false informa- tion going around," said Commis- sioner Stephen Bottoms. "We've been to every meeting you've re- quested. We've answered every question we could...but we keep getting this false information out there we're not putting out, that's scaring people, like in Somer- ville, telling them they have to go on sewer, which is false, tell- ing them their taxes are going to go up, and they will not." By focusing on efforts across the country to re- move or restrict access to books, Banned Books Week draws national attention to the harms of censorship. The American Library Asso- ciation Office for Intellectu- al Freedom compiles lists of challenged books as report- ed in the media and submit- ted by librarians and teach- ers across the country. A challenge is an attempt to remove or restrict mate- rials, based upon the objec- tions of a person or group. A banning is the removal of those materials. Challeng- es do not simply involve a person expressing a point of view; rather, they are an attempt to remove materi- al from the curriculum or library, thereby restrict- ing the access of others. As such, they are a threat to freedom of speech and choice. The books featured dur- ing Banned Books Week have all been targeted with removal or restrictions in li- braries and schools. VU's Banned Books Week Readout Vincennes University student Kane Jones reads a selection during VU's Banned Books Week Readout on Sept. 29 in front of the Shake Learning Resources Center. This annual event cele- brates the freedom to read. Banned Books Week, Sept. 24-30, brings together the entire book community - librarians, booksellers, publishers, journalists, teachers and readers of all types - in shared support of the freedom to seek and to express ideas, even those some consider unor- thodox or unpopular. Vuteq receives $220,000 redevelopment refund By Janice Barniak While you may wait until Janu- ary to file and receive your tax re- fund, Vuteq Corp. will receive a lit- tle more than $220,000 this year in refunded redevelopment funds. Don't be jealous though—the amount represents three years of overpayment to the county, though the company will receive interest that amounts to $ 6,600 for the back payments. The error was due to overvaluing parcels by about $ 3 million due to the parcel having two parcel num- bers that later combined and the second parcel not being deleted, said Gibson County Assessor Kim Minkler. The taxes paid by Vuteq as part of the TIF district went straight to redevelopment, which means re- development had to be the entity to pay it back, Minkler said. Part of the repayment can be in the form of a credit for Vuteq's most recent tax bill for November—that is right around $ 39,000. Total cost after that is $181,000 plus interest, bringing it to between $188,000 to $189,000, depending on how quick- ly the board would get the money back to the company. Vuteq also said a payment plan would be an option, but the mon- ey owed is with $2,000 interest per year, approximately. Board member George Bal- lard asked what the company pre- ferred, and that was to be com- pletely paid back as soon as pos- sible. Minkler recommended repay- ment, adding it was required by law when the company won their tax appeal. "It's their money, we need to give it back to them," said Bal- lard, who made a motion to pay them back as quickly as possible. It passed unanimously. SPARKclubs focus on youth skills Looking for fun, hands-on activities this fall? Join Gibson County 4-H and participate in a 4-H SPARK club. SPARK clubs are short-term, interactive clubs that teach specific skills. There are three upcoming Spark Clubs this fall: 1. Calling all inventors, engi- neers, and designers! Purdue Extension invites youth to join the maker movement at two dif- ferent makerspace events. The first event, a 4-H Makerspace Spark Club, will be at the Vin- cennes University Campus in Fort Branch (8100 US 41 in Fort Branch) on Monday, Oct. 16, 2017, from 9 a.m.-3 p.m., with lunch provided. This event is open to all individuals from 3rd- 8th grade. Registration is re- quired and registration forms are due by Oct. 12. Participants will have the opportunity to learn and experiment with different gadgets, robots and kits to build and design new things. They will explore innovative new tools, in- cluding Makey Makeys, Straw- bees, Raspberry Pi, Ozobots, Edi- son Robots, 3D pens, 3D printers and more. There are only 30 spac- es available at each event, so reg- ister early. 2. The second 4-H Makerspace Spark Club will be at the Wood Memorial High School Cafeteria on Thursday, Oct. 26, 2017, from 9 a.m.-3 p.m., with lunch provid- ed. This event is open to all indi- viduals from 3rd-8th grade. Reg- istration is required and regis- tration forms are due by Oct. 24. Participants will have the oppor- tunity to learn and experiment with different gadgets, robots and kits to build and design new things. They will explore innova- tive new tools, including Makey Makeys, Strawbees, Raspber- ry Pi, Ozobots, Edison Robots, 3D pens, 3D printers and more. There are only 30 spaces availa- ble at each event, so register ear- ly. 3. Antique Tractor Restora- tion SPARK Club. Ever wonder how antique tractors run? Curi- ous about how all the parts go to- gether? Then this program is for you. The Antique Tractor Res- toration SPARK Club will take place Saturday, Oct. 21 from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. at the Gibson Coun- ty Fairgrounds, with lunch being provided to all participants. It is open to all youth in grades 3-12. There is a $20 4-H Program fee (free for current 4-H members) to attend any of the Spark Clubs. All current 4-H members can contact our office to register. Non 4-H members will need to enroll in 4-H and then contact the Pur- due Extension Office to complete the registration. Once registered in 4-H, youth are able to partici- pate in all 4-H events. Fee waivers are available for those that qual- ify. Be on the lookout for more Spark Clubs this winter, includ- ing a Cookies and Crafts Spark Club.

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