Grabow ready to serve on board

By Carol Walker

It is official. At the Hill City School Board meeting  Monday, Dec. 12, Todd Grabow took the oath of office delivered by Anjar Voorhees, chief financial officer for the school district. He was appointed to the school board after Dennis Krull resigned to carry out his responsibilities as a state representative for District 30. Grabow will serve the term, and this position will be up for a three-year term at the next election.
Elementary teacher Kelley O’Brien was honored for receiving the VFW Voice of Freedom Award. O’Brien was nominated by Samantha Weaver, elementary principal, and he is one of three area teachers who were chosen by the VFW for instilling a sense of national pride in their students.
“Kudos to Mr. O’Brien. He has a great history background which he shares with the students as much as possible,” said Weaver.
In addition, 31 students participated in another VFW program. Middle school students Tatiana Arpan, Arianna Byers and Cory Ronish and high school students Owen Vaughn and Luke Rupert were winners of the VFW Voice of Democracy Contest and the Patriot Pens Contest.
Other good news revolved around Alan Grinsteinner, high school science teacher. He applied for and received a STEAM Grant, a Society for Science Research Grant worth $4,600, which will be used for electronic lab sensors and Microsoft Surface kits for students participating in a science fair. Christine Goodpaster, technology director, said she is looking forward to receiving and getting the units set up from this grant money.
“I appreciate Mr. Grinsteinner taking the initiative on this. He is very motivated about the start or a STEM Lab in Hill City,” said Todd Satter, middle and high school principal.
December is the month for the child count for districts across the state and Toni Brun, special education director, reported that Hill City has 67 students from K-12 receiving support services by the special education department. Some of the students require one on one assistance.
According to Supt. Blake Gardner, a couple years ago the district was able to hire two special education aides, funded through IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Act) money, which has been helpful.
“We want to provide the best education to every student and these positions were necessary. I believe we are at a good spot right now. We are at equilibrium in serving our students,” said Gardner.
According to Weaver, the elementary school is currently in the process of NWEA (Northwest Education Association) also called MAP testing, which occurs three times each year at the elementary level and middle school and twice in the high school. Gardner said this shows parents and teachers the growth of the students in various disciplines, and since the testing is grade level appropriate, teachers can see where they need to focus additional instruction.
“What is nice about the NWEA testing is they are 92-94 percent correlated to the state level testing,” said Gardner.
Satter said the high school and middle school students are also testing, preparing for final exams Dec. 21-22. They are working at making the exams more focused and more meaningful. He would like to see students reviewing material before and after school, even cramming if necessary for rigorous testing.
A report was given by Voorhees regarding the Angel Fund, which is currently standing at $5,016.45. This fund, overseen by a committee and funded by donations from community members/groups, was created to offset the cost of free and reduced lunches. According to Voorhees, this is not enough to cover the cost, but she will know better in March how much more is needed.
Brian Rupert said, “I know there are people in this room and in the community who would be willing to donate to this if we know what is needed.”
Big news regarding the Hill City Prom coming up on Apr. 22. Committee chairs Toni Brun and Stephanie Munive as well as the students are excited to hold the prom at the Diamond Spur near Three Forks. The school is being offered the facility pro-bono which is a plus for the event. Students would park in town and be bussed out to the facility.
“The architecture out there is beautiful. It’s post and beam. They won’t have to spend much on decorations because the building itself is so beautiful,” said Satter.
Gardner and board member Eric Lind talked about the future construction on Hwy. 385 which will result in a hard closure of the road between Calumet and Sheridan Lake Rd. The detour on Boulder Hill Rd. will add about 30 minutes driving time for students who live north of that closure. Gardner said about 10 percent of the Hill City student population falls into that category. To help those families the school is considering the calendar, starting a week early or a week later based on the construction time.
The board approved the purchase of a 68 horsepower Bobcat with hand controls from Jenner Equipment for $49,715. The capital outlay budget projected a new Bobcat at $60,000 so it fits well within those parameters. Jenner will sell the district’s old Bobcat with the proceeds coming back to the school.
The next school board meeting is scheduled for Monday, Jan. 9, at 6 p.m. in high school room 202.