The Press-Dispatch
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/1089368
C-12 Wednesday, March 6, 2019 The Press-Dispatch EAST GIBSON NEWS Submit school news: Email: egnews@ pressdispatch.net Deadline: Noon on Friday Wood Memorial Barton Township Elementary Reed gives back to East Gibson as principal at FES and BTS By Kenzie Rudolph Barton Township Elemen- tary School and Francisco Elementary share a prin- cipal, Jane Reed, who has been with East Gibson her whole life, starting as a kin- dergarten student at Barton. Reed graduated from Wood Memorial in 1986 and attended Oakland City Uni- versity for a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Education, with a major in Visual Arts Educa- tion. She graduated as an Oak in 1990. Reed said, "At that time, I was married, and I subbed in the corporation and stayed home with our son, who was born in 1992." In 1998, Reed said that she got to teach for a woman on extended maternity leave at North Middle School in Mt. Carmel, Ill. Reed's teaching career really began in the summer of 1999, when she was of- fered a high school teach- ing position at Mt. Carmel, along with a junior high job at Wood Memorial. She said, "I decided to ac- cept the position at Wood Memorial for various rea- sons, among them being on the same schedule as my son, being able to not have child care before and after school, and finally, I wanted to be home. It was important to me that I contribute some- thing to the school and com- munity that had prepared me for my future." Reed then added that in 2007, she decided to head back to OCU to earn a Mas- ter's in Administration, which eventually led to her current position as the prin- cipal of both FES and BTS. "I had always been inter- ested in administration, but had never really pursued it until that point in my life. At that point, I had the time, fi- nances and the freedom to really work on obtaining my degree," added Reed, which she finished in the summer of 2009. She kept growing as the years went by. She said that in 2015, she added Building Level Administrator to her license, and in 2018, she was offered the position of Bar- ton Township/Francisco El- ementary principal in May. Daily, Reed said that she strives to give equal time to both schools, but that it is often hard, because things come up and she is pulled in both directions. She praised her staff members who un- derstand and lend a hand when needed. "At times, this is impossi- ble due to situations that oc- cur at one building that de- mands my attention. I have a dedicated staff that I de- pend on daily to help meet the needs of the students at times when I am not at that building," stated Reed. She likes her job because she gets to help students be- come successful. Her job is not always easy though, and some days she spends more time working on standardized tests and curriculum then getting to spend time with students. She added, "It is import- ant for me to analyze the da- ta and make choices about curriculum and strategies that help our students to reach their full potential." Reed taught art for ma- ny years in the East Gibson Corporation, and some days she misses that job. "As far as the classroom, yes I miss being in the class- room, having that one-on- one interaction with the stu- dents daily. I miss seeing the students faces light up when- ever they understand a con- cept or whenever they cre- ate something that is unique and beautiful," said Reed. She works for the im- provement of both schools, and things are definitely on the rise. Laura Mesker, from the Upgrade program, said, "Francisco Elementary and Barton Township Elemen- tary are the newest mem- bers of the Healthy Cafete- ria Club. Each quarter, Up- grade recognizes cafeterias that go above and beyond to bring healthy choices to stu- dents. Both Francisco and Barton offer fresh fruit and vegetable bars at lunch and also kicked off their success- ful SuperFood Heroes taste testing this year. You should see how much these kids love radishes. Students also have a daily opportunity to choose salad as their main lunch entree." Reed described new things going on with the schools, like SuperFood Heroes, for example, along with new clubs and activi- ties to make her elementary students' time there worth while. Jane Reed, BTS and FES principal. Kenzie Ru- dolph photo Above: Wood Memori- al High School students dressed as Disney char- acters for spirit week leading up to boys' bas- ketball sectionals. Ken- zie Rudolph photo Right: Kacy Williams, Madison Frederick, Bridget Reel and Layney Robbins dressed as the Incredibles for Disney day at Wood Memori- al last Friday. Kenzie Ru- dolph photo Lower middle: Adi- son Stone and Bristynn Graman showed up to school at Wood Memo- rial as Mike Wasows- ki and Boo, from Mon- sters, Inc. Kenzie Rudolph photo Below: Trojan Bris- tynn Graman decked out in red, white and blue for a sectional-week spirit day. Kenzie Rudolph photo Alex Poe and Aubree Speicher dressed as Mick- ey and Minnie duo for Disney Day at Wood Memo- rial. Kenzie Rudolph photo East Gibson Food Service Supervisor for both schools, Allison Lee, FES cafeteria work- ers, Nadine Akles and Lisa McEllhiney, BTS cafeteria workers, Nicole Kammerer and Con- nie Wilson, and Laura Mesker, Upgrade. Contributed photo OAKLAND CITY ELEM. CALENDAR Mar. 8 –Second grade trip to C'MOE. Mar. 10 –Daylight Saving Time. Move clocks up! Mar. 11-12 –IRead practice for third grade. Mar. 13 – End of third quarter. JA in a day, kindergarten through sixth grade. Mar. 15 –Early Dismissal at 12:50 p.m. Mar. 17 –St. Patrick's Day. Mar. 18 – Kindergarten Registration, call for an appt. Track practice begins. Mar. 19 – Kindergarten Registration, call for an appt. IRead Testing for third grade. Mar. 20 – Yearbook sales begin. Mar. 25 -29 – Spring Break. MENU Thursday, March 7: Chicken nuggets with roll, cheeseburger, taco salad with roll or turkey and cheese; baked beans, diced pears and Jello. Friday, March 8: Max sticks with marinara, hotdog, Italian salad with roll or PB&J; all served with sweet corn and applesauce. Monday, March 11: Pepperoni pizza, mini corndog, grilled chicken salad with roll or ham and cheese sand- wich; all served with tots and mixed fruit. Tuesday, March 12: Chicken noodles, pancakes and sausage, chef salad with roll or PB&J; all served with tots and mixed fruit. Wednesday, March 13: Beef soft tacos, cheeseburg- er, popcorn chicken salad with goldfish or ham and cheese; all served with peas and diced peaches. Going, going, gone: Oak Grove hosts auction Laynie Stoffel, left, celebrates a winning bid of $5 on a box of items that includes a whoop- ie cushion at the Oak Grove General Baptist Church in Oakland City Saturday morning. Below: Ricky Mason, acting as auctioneer, points to the winning bidder during a bid-off of Americana items.