The Press-Dispatch
Issue link: http://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/954165
B-8 Wednesday, March 14, 2018 The Press-Dispatch EAST GIBSON NEWS Submit school news: Email: egnews@ pressdispatch.net Deadline: Noon on Friday EARLY COLLEGE PROGRAM On Tuesday evening, March 20, 2018, Wood Me- morial High School will be hosting "Early College Night" at 6 p.m., in the lec- ture room. The intent of this evening is to provide infor- mation to the student and parent/guardian, on oppor- tunities to earn college cred- its during high school. Infor- mation will also be provided focused on our 2018 – 2019 course offerings for sched- uling consideration. Students, and their par- ents, who will be in high school next fall, as well as anyone with interest in learning about the "Early College" program are invit- ed to attend. VIRTUAL LEARNING DAY In keeping with our com- mitment to utilize technol- ogy as a resource for the growth and development of our children, Wood Me- morial High School and Wood Memorial Junior High School will be con- ducting a "Virtual Learn- ing Day" on Friday, March 16, 2018. During the day les- sons will be administered through electronic and dig- ital means. This is a great opportunity to enhance the overall effectiveness of the use of technology in the classroom. ROSETTA STONE PROGRAM In keeping with their commitment to serve the needs of every child, a new Spanish program has been identified for student con- sideration. The Rosetta Stone educational program was tested and supported for utilization by students representing Spanish I, II, and III. With this, students will been given an opportu- nity to move to the Roset- ta Stone program, or to re- main with the current Pla- to online course. Approxi- mately 50 % of the students enrolled in a Spanish course have elected to move to the new program. AGRICULTURE PROGRAM During the March school board meeting, Smith will be presenting a propos- al regarding the launch of an Agriculture curriculum and program for Wood Me- morial High School and Wood Memorial Junior High School. Student feed- back, to a recent survey in- dicated approximately 40 % of the high school students have an interested in enroll- ing in an agriculture course. In order to serve the needs of these students, the pro- posal asks for approval to launch the program for the 2018 – 2019 school year. ISTEP BEGINS The first round of ISTEP testing is just a week away, with February 26, 2018, serving as the first day of assessments. Students in grades 7, 8, and 10 will be administered the ISTEP test beginning on February 26 and running through March 8, 2018. Instructors have engaged state provid- ed practice assessments to assist with student prepara- tion. MAKE UP DAYS In order to make up the five (4) days of missed school, due to the recent winter weather, our schools will be in session on the fol- lowing dates: Monday, April 2; Wednesday, May 23; Thursday, May 24; Friday, May 25. The second semes- ter is now scheduled to end on May 25. OPEN OFFICE SESSIONS Once again this year, I will be utilizing a collabora- tive opportunity for all mem- bers – students, staff, par- ents, guardians, and com- munity members – of the Wood Memorial School Community. With this said, I believe to be most effective with the development and growth of our students it is imperative that every stake- holder of Wood Memorial have an opportunity to col- laborate and provide input in any area/aspect of inter- est involving our school(s) they may have. Thus, I will conduct monthly "Open Of- fice" sessions, focused on providing time for such col- laboration 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. Wood Memorial CALENDAR Wednesday, Mar. 14 National Honor Society Field Trip, 9:30 a.m. Ronald McDonald House HS Student Council Meeting, 12:15 p.m. WMJHS Spirit Club Meeting, 3:30 p.m. WMHS Softball Club Meeting, 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Mar. 15 Prom Committee Meeting, 7:30 a.m. Friday, Mar. 16 Virtual Learning Day, 8 a.m. Staff PLC Session, 8 a.m. End Quarter 3 ADDITIONAL DATE OF NOTE Math, Reading, Writing, US History, Civics, and Geography, Accuplacer – Part 2, Feb. 12 – Mar. 30 WMHS Softball Club Meeting Mar. 14 Science Academic Bowl Team Meeting, Mar. 14 WMHS Softball Club Meeting, Mar. 21 Science Academic Bowl Team Meeting, Mar. 21 JHS Renaissance Day, Mar. 23 Academic Banquet, Apr. 6 ISTAR Apr. 16 – May 18 ISTEP Part 2, Apr. 16 – May 4 Indiana Bass Nation High School Event, Patoka Lake, Apr. 22 'CRAZY' FOR COUNTRY Marla Potter, a Patsy Cline impersonator, sings "Crazy" during Elvis and Country Leg- ends Saturday at Broadway Theater in Princeton. The show also featured Brad McCrady as Elvis Presley, Allen Hilbert as George Jones, and Tiffany Puckett as Tammy Wynette. Ka- raoke followed the show. Janice Barniak photo Commissioners decide 'no zoning' for Gibson County By Janice Barniak Commissioners ended the coun- ty's exploration of zoning March 6, in three parts, by voting unan- imously to: take no more action on a Gibson County Land Use or- dinance, terminate the Advisory Planning Commission of their du- ties and dismiss the contract ser- vices of KDDK, a law firm with ex- pertise in zoning. "As we enter into the new busi- ness, we want the citizens to know we have been listening," said Com- missioner Alan Douglas. He said the commissioners did their due diligence to explore the matter and took an oath to repre- sent local citizens. The decision was on the heels of an anti-zoning meeting the night before, where Commissioner Ger- ald Bledsoe came out against zon- ing. The venue of the meeting was the Fort Branch VFW, which zon- ing attorney Mike Schopmeyer had recently criticized as having too many signs and said zoning would regulate that situation in the future, if adopted. At that meeting, members of the anti-zoning movement had listed their grievances with the ordi- nance, including disliking addi- tional regulations, the cost of zon- ing to home buyers and builders in the form of permits, and the ba- sis of the plan in what they per- ceived to be an outdated view of the county informed by a reces- sion economy. "I said a few months ago, fire the lawyers," said Cecil "Bob" Al- len at that meeting, in what would turn out to be a prescient com- ment, considering the next day commissioners decided to end the contract with the legal advisors. Bledsoe made his reasons for opposition clear. "The thing I have a problem with is the cost," Bledsoe said in the meeting. "The only way zon- ing can make money is through permits and penalties...if you look at the number of homes built in Gibson County, it's not that many, so the permits and penalties will need to make a lot of money. If the money falls short, it comes out of the commissioners' road money. This is something we definitely don't want." When the 2009 land use plan came to the then-commission- ers as a consequence of I-69 con- struction, Bledsoe was recorded in meeting minutes at the time as not being in favor of zoning, voting with the rest of the board to accept the plan as completed, but to state the commissioners had no inten- tion to pursue zoning. In public meetings, the most vo- cal of citizens and the majority of attendees were against zoning, but some did come to speak in favor. Proponents of zoning wanted to encourage residential growth, they said, and keep neighbors with conflicting interests in sepa- rate areas, as well as give the coun- ty control over controversial devel- opments, like landfills and adult bookstores. Commissioner Steve Bottoms, who made the three motions that ended the zoning push, said in an interview with the Star-Times that protecting those interests and providing economic development would be something the commis- sioners would continue to do with the existing tools at their disposal. While they looked at zoning to see if it was another tool they should add, he said as soon as commissioners educated them- selves on pros, cons and public sentiment, and knew they wouldn't move forward, they wanted to end the exploration quickly to cap the costs. "We know at some point some- thing's going to want to go into those interchanges...zoning was just another tool to cause the best economic development, but we did listen. I have nothing but praise for the people that were on the adviso- ry commission who spent days and hours for the good of the county. We really were listening," he said. He said he hoped the motions would be the first step toward bringing citizens of the county back together. "Let's all get together and heal this," he said of ending the con- troversy.