Arianna Weisbrod joined Claire Reay as a student representative to the Houston School Board at their regular meeting September 10. The duo gave details of the first day for seventh graders at the high school. After a morning filled with get-to-know-you activities, the mentors took over. The seventh graders came to the secondary school ready and happy to be there.
The student representatives took turns sharing details for homecoming which is slated for September 27 through October 3. A “space” theme was selected for this year. The Powder Puff football game will be on Sunday at 5 p.m. with all grades welcome to the game and grill out. The royalty coronation will be on Monday morning. A Powder Tough will be held Monday evening; this event will have the football players competing in volleyball. Once again the homecoming dance will be held outside.
Hope Squad, which is a peer to peer group, will be holding a walk on October 3 at 9 a.m. at the Nature Center. Their goal is to raise $6,000.
At the end of the student representatives’ report, Nickki Johnson suggested including some student representation from MNVA as well. Superintendent Angi McAndrews agreed that this would be a good addition to the board. With the new screen available for use during board meetings, it will now be easier to have the student representatives from MNVA join the meetings virtually.
Grounds Tractor
The board accepted a quote from MIdwest Machinery for a new X758 Signature Series John Deere grounds tractor. The company was willing to take both the 2013 Bobcat 3650 and the 2015 John Deere Z997R owned by the school in trade. The trade-in value totaled $17,008. The final price for the tractor was $15,792 with another $1,375 for an extended warranty of seven years or 800 hours.
The board decided to wait on the purchase of the mower attachment until next year; this saved $2,000 at this time. The purchase included the field grader. Delivery was guaranteed by November 1 with the cab installed.
A quote had been received from Breyer’s Sales and Service as well, but they were not able to accept the trade-ins. The board decided they wanted to just trade in the old equipment rather than having to sell the items themselves.
Hurricane Heroes
Four Hurricane Heroes were recognized at the meeting. Ethan Scheck was nominated by his wife Kayleen who presented the award. Scheck wears multiple hats at the district – he teaches social studies at MNVA, coaches junior high football, started a fellowship of Christian athletes and drives a morning bus route.
Online teacher Rebecca Swedberg was recognized as a Hurricane Hero for providing outstanding support and online assistance for the testing in the past week.
Hurricane Hero Leah Stinson was recommended by Dale Moga for her willingness to go the extra mile to assist the staff and students which makes MNVA successful.
Hurricane Hero Alicia Katka MNVA MS math teacher was recognized for her all-around leadership at MNVA.
Other Business
In other business the board:
•Removed the personnel contract for Tammy Bartz for marching band instructor pending clarification of what events the marching band participates in;
•Dissolved the cooperative agreement for boys and girls cross country; Houston has not had anyone go out for cross country in recent years; the cooperative agreement could be entered into again in the future if there are students who wish to participate;
•Accepted donations of $2,110 from Jonathan Huhn for football and boys basketball; $500 from American Legion Post 423 for the band trip; $650 from various donors for Hope Squad; $500 from Forget Me Not Garden Club for FFA Activity Fund and $1,500 from American Legion Post 423 for boys basketball uniforms;
•Heard from Mr. Mangan that strider bikes had been delivered for the first graders and kindergarteners to use; the American Legion and Houston Foundation had purchased the bikes;
•Were recognized by Superintendent Mc Andrews for the time and work they put in as school board members; this is School Board Appreciation Month.
Leave a Reply