Gary Blumenthal – Volunteer Work at JHS – Kevin Shelton asked the Board to join with him in commending one of our district parents, Gary Blumenthal, for volunteering his time to take on the time consuming task of checking and fastening the bolts in each seat in the auditorium to make sure that they are all properly secured.

Diane Frantz and Deb Wartell – Student Assistance – The Board joined with me in commending Transportation Department staff members, Diane Frantz and Deb Wartell for their fine efforts in constructing a Halloween costume for one of Bush School’s special needs students. I noted that this was the second year that Diane and Deb had designed a costume for this student’s wheel chair and that he was very excited to wear his front-end loader costume during the Halloween parties.

PTO – Halloween Dance – On October 28th the PTO sponsored the Halloween Dance for the Junior High students. This event is a very fun, positive activity for our students and we appreciate the work that the PTO members put in to ensure its success. The Board joined with me in commending all of the PTO members who volunteered their time and efforts to this event.

District Staff – Parent Teacher Conferences – The Board joined with me in commending the staffs of each building for the extra time and effort they put into preparing for and conducting the recent Parent-Teacher Conferences. I reminded the Board that the conferences were held at the beginning of the month this year due to the calendar revision and to allow the parents the opportunity to meet with their students’ teachers earlier in the school year. I also expressed to the Board our feelings that the conferences are a critical component of a student’s educational progress and that our staff always does a great job to make them as successful as possible.

Junior High School Breakdowns – Nancy Hurckes asked the Board to join with her in commending all of the Junior High staff members and students as well as the High School students that were involved in the recent breakdown activities for the 7th and 8th grade students. She noted that the breakdowns were very positive events and that the High School students who participated wore t-shirts that contained a poem that was written by senior Christian Nugent. Nancy explained that the poem illustrated the purpose of the breakdowns and she had Christian read his poem to the Board. The Board applauded and commended Christian for his efforts.