Derrick Fisher, marine mechanics instructor, talked about the program prior to the school board meeting Tuesday evening.

SYRACUSE — Indiana ranks dead last in the United States in teacher salary increases during the last 15 years. Twenty-one percent of all school districts will receive less state funding than the previous year.

Those are among the reasons a rally will be held Tuesday, Nov. 19, at the Statehouse in Indianapolis to encourage more legislative support of public schools. Although several nearby or regional school districts are actually closing school Nov. 19, Wawasee schools will remain open that day.

Dr. Tom Edington, superintendent of the Wawasee Community School Corporation, during his report to the school board noted approximately 20 teachers will be attending the rally but substitutes have been secured.

The school board held its regular monthly meeting Tuesday evening, Nov. 12, at the marine mechanics building near the high school campus in Syracuse.

In conjunction with the report about the rally next week, Edington noted Dr. Phil Downs, a superintendent of an Allen County school district, gave a presentation Thursday, Nov. 7, in Warsaw about public school funding trends. Downs shared statistics showing public school funding increases have been minimal but funding for vouchers has increased considerably more.

In other business, Don Bokhart of the school board shared some thoughts from a presentation he attended along with Edington given by the Indiana School Board Association about public relations. Bokhart noted school districts need to emphasize and make public the good news because there are some media outlets emphasizing the negative too often.

Concerning good news, certificates of appreciation were presented to Wawasee High School FFA members Jack Stover, Serena Lesko, Arrington Krull and Leina Helfers for winning the FFA division national championship in horticulture judging in Lincoln, Neb. Horticulture judging involves judging several types of plants and also answering many test questions.

Also, Evan Coblentz, a senior WHS student and the president of the Wawasee FFA chapter, was recognized for attending the World Food Prize Global Youth Institute in Des Moines, Iowa, in October. He was one of seven Indiana students to attend and presented a paper he researched and wrote addressing dairy herd problems in Uganda.

During her report to the board, Joy Goshert, assistant superintendent, said on Friday, Nov. 8, teachers in each school worked on increasing their knowledge of professional learning communities, which are being emphasized this year in the school corporation. “Teachers really valued that,” she said and a program known as Illuminate will be implemented to create a platform for PLC assessments “that will really push this forward,” she added.

Goshert also noted this is the first year Indiana schools are required to do a universal screening of all students in kindergarten through second grade to check for characteristics of dyslexia. She emphasized it is only checking for characteristics and is not a diagnosis.

Wawasee has finished screening for grades one and two and will finish kindergarten students later in the school year. Reading interventionists in each building have been trained in a state-approved approach to intervention for students with characteristics of dyslexia.

Other agenda items included:

• Four Wawasee Middle School teachers received a grant to attend a three-day workshop called “Make It Your Own,” which will focus on STEM-based learning and how it can combine with the Makers Initiative to provide student owned learning. The teachers will receive a $1,000 mini grant and $1,400 in materials gifted to the school.

• The WMS PTO Craft Bazaar to be held Dec. 7 is already at full capacity for registration.

• This year’s United Way campaign within the school corporation had 112 staff members participate, far exceeding the 61 participating last year and $5,603 was raised.

• Revisions are still being made to the school corporation vision statement and it will be either the December of January board meeting before the final statement is approved.

• OrthoWorx is conducting diversity training during Wednesday morning Smart Starts focusing on how to handle and dismantle hate and bias in classrooms. Training will eventually be held in each school in the corporation.

• Cindy Hilgenburg was approved as an appointment to the North Webster Community Public Library Board of Trustees for a four-year term beginning Jan. 1, 2020.

• Several overnight or out-of-state trips were approved for Wawasee High School, Wawasee Middle School and Milford Middle School.