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The April 15 meeting of the Rushford-Peterson School Board began with the introduction and congratulations of the students who will compete at the state level in speech and FFA. Kennedy Diepenbrock will be competing three times on April 19 in speech with her drama selection, “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.” The top three competitors at the section competitions moved on to state.
The State FFA Convention will take place April 21-23. R-P will be well represented by five teams who made it to state competition. The General Livestock team consists of Evan Kammerer, Carter Lorch, Trey Hegland and Owen Sauer. The Dairy team consists of Lilly West, Hailey West, Lucas Redalen, Kalli Tveten and Lyza Tveten. Ryker Dahl, Heiden Dahl, Mallory Olson and Eli Johnson will represent R-P on the Poultry team. The Soils team is made up of Kail Heiden, Gavin Olson, Isaac Oian and Caleb Bunke. Trygg Hegland, Brennan Kunst, Isaak Michel, Kellen Drinkall, Tahven Pepin and Nolan Happel will compete on the Conduct of Meeting team. In addition, the R-P FFA will send four delegates who will represent R-P, voice their opinions and vote on FFA bylaws.
School Roof Leaks
Superintendent Dr. Ben Bernard reported to the board that Wieser Brothers, the general contractor; WHV, responsible for maintenance and commissioning of the system; and Winona Controls, installer of the system met with Bernard and Nick Agrimson to inspect the leaking roof. Because it was raining the day they met, they were able to find the sources of two leaks and plan on how to find the other sources. Wieser Brothers will come back to investigate further and fix the leaks. Glacier, the roof warranty company, will be sent the bill for the repairs.
In his superintendent report, Bernard shared that he had attended a meeting of the Rushford Village Safe Routes to School. Calling it a positive move, Bernard commented, “This is moving in the right direction.” Routes from both North and South Rushford are being planned. At this time there is a need for a safe way for those students to walk to school.
Career Exploration Opportunities
MSHS Principal Jake Timm shared that on May 1 the eighth graders will be attending the first ever Career Exploration at Western Technical College in La Crosse, where they will be able to attend four different hands-on sessions in career areas they have chosen. Areas offered include a cheese testing and tasting, farm technology, digital media production, early childhood, electric mechanical technology, medical and nursing assistant programs, paralegal, and a virtual welding experience and more.
On May 3 the juniors will tour local businesses at the Career Exploration Day which was organized by Stephanie Eggert of the Rushford-Peterson Valley Chamber of Commerce. In this way, students will learn more about jobs and businesses in their own area.
Another career opportunity coming up is the Build My Future event. Five R-P students will also be competing in a welding contest coming up in Rochester.
Kindergarten Open House
Elementary principal Angela Shepard and Dr. Bernard shared details of the recent kindergarten open house. Thirty families attended the event. The kindergarteners explored the school with a scavenger hunt; student ambassadors helped them navigate the building. They were served food at the concession stand by volunteers.
Dr. Bernard called the event “well done” as he shared that he really enjoyed the event not only from his position as superintendent, but also as a parent.
Business Conducted
The school board conducted the following business:
- Approval of the list of 2024 graduates;
- Approval of the annual HVED Targeted/Satellite Services agreement;
- Hearing that HVED would be closing the following day on the centralized Winona location at the former Winona Mall;
- Approval of the second reading of policies as well as the first reading of other policies; both sets of policies had few if any changes;
- Acceptance of resignations from Adam George, music teacher, and David Lind, reading and math interventionist;
- Approval of the hiring of Joel Hinke as Activities and Community Education director as well as head football coach; Lindsey Olson as K-8 counselor and District Assessment coordinator; and Jenny Thompson as long-term EC/K-1 special education substitute teacher.
The next R-P School Board meeting will be May 20 at 6 p.m. in the forum room. The public is welcome to attend; a public input period is offered at the beginning of the meeting.
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