The Press-Dispatch
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/1086608
C-12 Wednesday, Februar y 27, 2019 The Press-Dispatch EAST GIBSON NEWS Submit school news: Email: egnews@ pressdispatch.net Deadline: Noon on Friday SOMETHING NEWSWORTHY? Give us a call: 812-354-8500 Barton Township Elementary Engstrom's OCE home with second grade By Kenzie Rudolph With "Be Awesome, Be Amazing, Be You" posted on the wall of her second grade classroom, Sandy Engstrom always tries to encourage her students. Engstrom has been in the same second grade room at Oakland City Elementary for the last 22 years, and she has definite- ly made it her own. A fter graduating from North Daviess, she said that she made her way to Oakland City University for college. She did her stu- dent teaching at Francis- co Elementary under Dr. Brewster, and then she was hired in 1986 with Oakland City Elementary, where she started teaching Title One Reading before the second grade position opened up for her. Engstrom said, "I like sec- ond graders an awful lot. They're really fun. They work real hard and they want to please, and they just soak in everything they can." She has been with OCE long enough to experience a lot of change, but she said that the changes are good. She also always adds to what she teaches each year to try new things with her stu- dents. Although she has worked with second graders for her entire career, she said that she does not get bored with her job. "I don't find it boring at all. Each group of kids bring something new to it," stated Engstrom. Even though it is no lon- ger a state standard, she teaches her second graders to write in cursive. She said, "That's some- thing exciting for second graders. They look forward to that." She also added that her students get to work up to double digit addition and subtraction in math. In read- ing, she said that they work on phonics and comprehen- sion. She said that her stu- dents find social studies and science class fun, and they love science experiments. When it comes to goals, she wants to get her stu- dents doing creative writ- ing every day to work to- wards the writing portion of the ILEARN test. Second graders, according to Eng- strom, also work on sub- jects and predicates, nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions and compound sentences using 'and,' and 'but.' One thing about second graders, according to Eng- strom, is that it is hard to keep them busy, and they need to move around and change gears every 15 to 20 minutes. When it comes to field trips, she said that Toyota sponsors a trip to CMoe in Evansville, and at Christmas time, she took her students to a nursing home to carol and give homemade cards. She added regarding the nursing home visit, "It's re- ally a good learning expe- rience for the children be- cause a lot of them have never been, so we talk about that ahead of time, and it just teaches them caring and compassion, and they feel good that they made some- body else smile." On rainy days, when the students cannot play out- side, Engstrom said that they like to work puzzles, play games together like Bingo. or watch movies. Sometimes they do Indoor Recess online, where she said the kids can work out or sing songs with motions while watching a video, so that recess in the classroom can still be interactive. When it comes to her job as a whole, she added that she is very structured so that her students can focus and learn to be better orga- nized. "I like to teach, I en- joy working with the kids to see them learn. I like getting them involved with hands- on activities, and I like see- ing them light up when they understand something." Mrs. Sandy Engstrom poses with second grade students Brayden Brown and Jesse Miller before school. Kenzie Rudolph photo Pictured are fifth and six grade Math Bowl members at Barton Township Elementary School. Front row: Phenton Conder, Talan Strickland, Alyssa Thurston, Kade Wiseman, Mya Hudson, Mylee Rhoden, Sage Miller, Madeline Balentine and Noah Doerner. Back row: Grace Strickland, Alex VanMatre, Eli- jah Schlottman, Kenlee Wiseman, Hattie Willis, B.J. Heichelbech and Ethan Kelley. Kenzie Rudolph photo Above: Silly kindergarten students at Barton, Garcia Pierce, Brynley Bruce and Lane Heldt. Kenzie Rudolph photo Left: Mason Montgomery, Maci Myers, Matheson Doerner, Madelyn French and Kayden Gibbs in music class at Barton Township Elementary school. Kenzie Rudolph photo Barton Township Elementary Math Bowl team places second By Kenzie Rudolph Barton Township Ele- mentary's Math Bowl team, comprised of fifth and sixth grade students, competed this past Thursday, Febru- ary 21, 2019, at Cedar Crest Elementary. Students on the team are Grace Strickland, Alex VanMatre, Elijah Schlott- man, Kenlee Wiseman, Hattie Willis, B.J. Heichel- bech, Ethan Kelley, Phen- ton Conder, Talan Strick- land, Alyssa Thurston, Kade Wiseman, Mya Mud- son, Mylee R Zhoden, Sage Miller, Madeline Balentine and Noah Doerner. Math Bowl coach Karen Miller said, "Barton Town- ship Math Bowl students did great! They tied for sec- ond place with a score of 20 points. Nine local teams competed." According to Miller, the competition consists of four rounds with eight questions each. The teams each have three students competing in each round. Questions are presented on a large screen and read aloud. The teams have 30, 45 or 60 seconds to come up with an answer, de- pending on the type of ques- tion. "Barton tied with Tenth Street for second place... Cedar Crest and Ireland School tied for 1st with 24 points," added Miller. Miller stated that the most successful team from Barton consisted of team- mates Alex VanMatre, Mya Hudson and B.J. Heichel- bech. Lawsuit alleges dangerous conditions in county jail By Janice Barniak A class action lawsuit, filed on Valentine's Day against the sheriff's office and the county, alleges violence be- tween prisoners, inmates sleeping on the floor, an in- ability to separate prisoners by category, understaffing that leads to fewer inspec- tions than necessary, and other conditions the suit cites as unacceptable. Gibson County Commis- sioners learned of the com- plaint and forwarded it to the county's insurer. "Just to let you know, our ongoing problem is now be- coming a bigger problem," said Commissioners' attor- ney Jim McDonald meeting last Tuesday. Filed by current inmate Zeberiah Stilwell on behalf of himself and all inmates cur- rent and future, the Gibson County Sheriff and the coun- ty have 21 days to answer the summons, putting the dead- line to answer at March 7. According to the suit, the jail is a "place where violence between prisoners is com- mon and dangerous condi- tions prevail." The suit alleges prisoners are prohibited from receiv- ing publications, which the suit cites as a violation of the U.S. Constitution's eighth and 14th amendments. The jail, built in 1988, con- tained 100 beds at opening, and, according to reports to the Gibson County Commis- sioners, it now has 120 beds. The suit alleges having three people in a two-bed cell causes one prisoner to have to sleep on the floor near the toilet, which causes not just tension, but the bed-less in- mate to be stepped over when the other inmates have to use the toilet. When the jail exceeds 80 percent capacity, the jailers can no longer separate dif- ferent classifications of pris- oners, including, according to the lawsuit, separations of prisoners with mental and physical disabilities who may be preyed upon by other in- mates. The suit alleges inade- quate staffing to monitor the inmates, due in part to a layout that doesn't allow vid- eo monitoring inside cells, which leads to frequent as- saults and delays in getting medical attention when need- ed because of too few guards. There is inadequate space for exercise in the cells and prisoners rarely have the op- portunity or equipment to ex- ercise outside cells accord- ing to the suit. Stilwell has been incarcer- ated since October 2018 after he violated probation. According to the filing His cell block has six dou- ble-bunked cells, (12 beds), for 17 inmates. Initially, as the third person in his cell, he slept on a mattress on the floor. Prisoners eat on trash- cans or even on the toilet in the common area when the 12-person seating at the ta- ble area is full. Because of the overcrowding, Stilwell al- leges that predatory and vio- lent inmates are not able to be separated from the gen- eral population, and he spent two months with an extreme- ly violent prisoner on the block. According to Stilwell, on one occasion, a prisoner had a medical issue, and inmates had difficulty alerting staff, having to kick on their doors for a response, which is the only way to alert staff after the 10 p.m. to 6:40 a.m. night- ly lockdown. Prison staff rarely look in on prisoners during daytime hours, according to Stilwell, and the block camera can- not see prisoners, which al- lows physical altercations to occur. Stilwell has not been offered an opportunity to go outside during his five months of incarceration, and according to the suit, has filled out multiple complaint forms on the issue without response. On Jan. 15, the Sheriff's Office reported 161 inmates, but added as many as 190 had been housed in the 120 -bed facility.