The Press-Dispatch
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/1025312
The Press-Dispatch Wednesday, September 12, 2018 C-13 EAST GIBSON NEWS Submit school news: Email: egnews@ pressdispatch.net Deadline: Noon on Friday Mrs. Gantner, giving 'new' teacher a different meaning at Wood Memorial By Kenzie Rudolph Mrs. Maria Gantner, new to Wood Memorial High School, is teaching Language Arts for the first time. Gantner is familiar with the Oakland City area after getting a master's degree at Oakland City University and working in their Admissions Department, and she is happy to be back working in Gibson County, which has the small-town vibe similar to where she grew up in Spencer Coun- ty. She mentioned enjoying the small class sizes at OCU, and she liked the fact that it is a Christian school. She came to work at Oakland City University after budget cuts at the high school where she pre- viously worked. She loved being a part of OCU's staff. "I thought, I enjoyed my time there as a student, and I might as well see if I could get a job there... Everyone was so friendly, it was one of my favorite places to work. It was close-knit like a family... Wood Memorial is the same way. Everyone here is very friendly." "I'm happy to be here," Gant- ner said. Gantner worked at many dif- ferent schools as a Library Media specialist, and has other certifica- tions aside from Library Media. They include: Elementary Educa- tion and School Administration. She was hired at Wood Memori- al on emergency hire, and is cur- rently pursuing her certification in English/Language Arts, which she has always been passionate about. Mrs. Maria Gantner, a new English/Language Arts teacher at Wood Memorial High School. Ken- zie Rudolph photo At Wood Memorial, Gantner is teaching English/Language Arts to sophomores and seniors. Out of her 20 years of educating, Gantner said, "High school level is my favorite, some people look at me like I'm crazy." Gantner's father was a principal and a teacher, and her sister taught elementary school as well. "I think it was just, I saw them enjoy what they do," added Gant- ner. She mentioned her small size and said that she was scared to teach high school because the stu- dents were so much bigger than her, but her first job out of college ended up being in a high school, and she loved it. Oakland City Elementary Pictured are: Amelia Sweeney, Wyatt Brogan, Owen Nossett and Zackary Carlisle working on the letter F for four in Mrs. Tooley's kindergarten class. Jasmin Gray, Nora Criss and Kylie Wiggs work on the letter P for pirate in Mrs. Tooley's kinder- garten class. Kindergarteners in Mrs. Tooley's class talking about who helps them in their community. Mrs. Maria Gantner, a new English/Language Arts teacher at Wood Me- morial High School. Kenzie Rudolph photo Ava Hudson, Julia McCandless and Kyle Coo- per warm up for freshman P.E. class. Kenzie Ru- dolph photo Left: Chris Bradfield assists Jonathan Rich- eson with sit-ups in freshman P.E. class. Kenzie Ru- dolph photo Right: Som- mer Wilder works hard in the fitness center at Wood Memori- al High School. Kenzie Rudolph photo Wood Memorial WOOD MEMORIAL SPORTS SCHEDULED THURSDAY, SEPT. 13 Boys' Varsity Soccer vs. White River Valley, H, 5 p.m. Girls' Varsity Volleyball vs. Evansville North, H, 5:30 p.m. Boys' Varsity Tennis vs. South Knox, H, 4:30 p.m. SATURDAY, SEPT. 15 Boys' Varsity Soccer vs. Evansville Day, H, 4 p.m. Girls' Varsity Volleyball vs. Wood Memorial Invitational, H, 9 a.m. MONDAY, SEPT. 17 Girls' Varsity Volleyball vs. Eastern Greene, H, 5 p.m. TUESDAY, SEPT. 18 Boys' Varsity Soccer vs. Tell City, H, 5 p.m. Girls' Varsity Volleyball vs. South Spencer, H, 6 p.m. Boys' Varsity Tennis vs. Bosse, A, 4:30 p.m. MENU Thursday, September 13: Pop- corn Chicken bowl, hotdog, Ital- ian salad or PB&J, with sweet corn, fresh fruit, veggies and ap- plesauce. Friday, September 14: Pepper- oni pizza, corndog, grilled chick- en salad or ham and cheese, with tots, fresh fruit, veggies and mixed fruit. Monday, September 17: Chicken and noodles, breakfast, chef salad or PB&J, with tots, fresh fruit, veg- gies and Mixed fruit. Tuesday, September 18: Tacos, cheeseburger, popcorn chicken salad or ham and cheese, with peas, fresh fruit, veggies and diced peaches. Wednesday, September 19: Chicken tenders, corndog, taco salad or turkey and cheese, with baked beans, fresh fruit, veggies, diced pears and jello. CALENDER Sept. 12 – Third grade vision screenings Sept. 14 – Book Fair Ends Sept. 18 – Volleyball at FES, 4:30 p.m. Sept. 19 – Fifth grade vision screenings Sept. 20 – Volleyball vs. BTS, 4:30 p.m. Early Dismissal, 12:50 p.m. Sept. 24 – Think First Stay Safe Program Sept. 25 – Volleyball vs. Fort Branch, 4:30 p.m. Sept. 28 – Volleyball Tourney at FES, 4:30 p.m. County commissioners OK Peabody Road request By Janice Barniak Gibson County Commission- ers approved a request from Pea- body Coal to close CR 1225 E., at crossroad CR 1025 S., for at least two years, starting at or af- ter April 2019, during their meet- ing Tuesday night in Princeton. Mike Engleman, on behalf of Peabody, presented the request, saying the company would ex- tend CR 950 S. as a detour road, provide signage, and when fin- ished, make the current narrow gravel road a smoother vertical road connecting CR 1000 S. with CR 1025. They also said they would not close another road within a mile of this one during the time it was closed and would be responsible for drainage. The CR 950 S. extension will be permanent, and the company will need to create a cul-de-sac for a bus route on the road. Commissioners had a special meeting with a Sheriff's Dept. member and Gibson County EMS to apprise them of how to reach those residents after the road closure. Commissioner Steve Bottoms made the motion. "I'll second it, because it's in your area, and you say it's taken care of," Commissioner Gerald Bledsoe said. The measure unanimously passed. Bottoms also asked Peabody for an update on CR 1125 E., from CR 350 S. to CR 450 S., wonder- ing when it would reopen. Engleman said a Gibson Wa- ter line had to be reinstalled and the company needed to post stop signs, but the rock is there, and the company would request the road's release in September. The next commission- ers' meeting is 8 a.m. Sept. 4. Council looks at county workers' compensation By Janice Barniak Gibson County council has preliminarily set county work- ers' raises at $750 for this year, a little more than $14 per week, and the same across the board for all workers, though the council made some exceptions to that, and again had the ar- guments for and against mer- it-based raises. Councilman Jeremy Overton brought up a compensation com- mittee that could look at job de- scriptions and hear arguments to up pay for certain workers; however, in the past, department heads, (most recently Clerk Jim Morrow), have vocally opposed taking those decisions out of the hands of the elected department heads. According to Overton, the committee would be able to look at the job descriptions and help differentiate between different jobs, especially at the court- house. While the county highway de- partment has six levels of pay for different skills, the courthouse has one, which means many employees have hit their high- est level, and the county does not have longevity pay or merit raises—the county employees generally all receive the same raise every year, with a few ex- ceptions. "We know that there are peo- ple working above the value they're being paid and at or be- low what they're being paid, not just in the county, but in the country," Overton said. Auditor Sherri Smith was one department head in favor of the committee. She said many of the job positions have been changed by computers and technology. "You can't tell me in a lot of these jobs that the computers have come in and replaced all that work done by hand, and not changed the amount of work," she said. Smith's proposed budget for the auditor's office caused con- troversy last year, when she de- cided to redistribute the duties of the people in her office as they retired to bring down the number of people needed, and then use the savings from that employee to give a raise to audi- tor's office workers. While the council originally passed the budget for her office accepting the change, it was lat- er changed when other county workers protested the office re- ceiving higher raises than oth- er workers. Assessor Kim Minkler was at last week's meeting, and had op- posed the additional raise of the auditor's office at that time, say- ing some departments can't fol- low suit as they're already doing all they can to save money. "They're being punished be- cause they've been running bare bones all along," Council- man Jay Riley said, when he said he was for the same rais- es across the board for workers. Wood Memorial boys' lose to conference foe Vincennes Rivet 0-5 The Wood Memorial boys' varsity tennis team fell short when facing their conference foe Vincennes Rivet on Wednesday, Sept. 5 by a score of 0 -5. Trojan Jalen Doerner lost to Rivet's Colten Mouzin 2-6, 0 -6 in the number one singles. Wood Memorial's Paxton Schwomey- er lost to James Hancock of Vin- cennes Rivet 1-6, 4-6 in the num- ber two singles. While Trojan James Gates lost to Rivet's Sam- uel Hinkle 1-6, 2-6 in the number three singles. In the number one doubles, Wood Memorial's Ryan Mem- mer and Braydon Bell lost to Ma- caine Claycomb and Noah Don- ovan of Vincennes Rivet 0 -6, 0 - 6. While Trojans Isaiah Norrick and Jacom Elaman lost to Rivet's Grant Freeman and Charlie Nie- haus 0 -6, 0 -6. Freshman P.E. at Wood Memorial High School. See WORKERS on 14