Dr. Shelly Wilfong, assistant superintendent for Wawasee Schools, discusses ways to make summer school more impactful for struggling students during the Wawasee School Board meeting Tuesday night, Feb. 14.

By Lauren Zeugner
InkFreeNews

SYRACUSE — Kristin Bonner, a language arts teacher at Wawasee High School, made an impassioned plea for a performing arts center during the Wawasee School Board’s regular meeting Tuesday night, Feb. 14.

Bonner noted years ago she served on a committee looking at facilities for the corporation because she wanted a performing arts center. Instead, she voted for the construction of a new North Webster Elementary School.

She went through a list of additions at the high school while also noting there has been a marked increase in the number of students participating in the school musicals and plays. “Tuck Everlasting,” the spring production, has 50 students involved.

Bonner noted the current auditorium no longer works for the following reasons: There is no workspace for sets so they have to be built on stage; the stage is landlocked; there are 58 broken seats and there is no slope to the floor, making it hard to see around taller people; and the dressing rooms are tiny and smell bad.

After pleading her case, Bonner presented the board with letters from Wawasee alumni stating how impactful participating in the performing arts was, both during high school and after.

She read excerpts from letters written by two past valedictorians who are pursuing STEM careers. Both stated their time in performing arts helped them in their careers.

Dr. Shelly Wilfong, assistant superintendent, provided the learning report. She noted she and the committee have been collecting data regarding the effectiveness of summer school. “There’s room for improvement,” she told the board.

She and the committee have been discussing more effective ways to approach struggling kids. They are looking at a “during school year program,” whether that be tutoring after school or something else. Wilfong also noted summer school is only half-day for approximately three weeks after the school year.

School officials have a difficult time convincing parents to give up part of their summer, and with summer school being a half day, this causes problems with child care and transportation. It is also difficult to convince staff to participate as well.

In his report, Dr. Stephen Troyer, superintendent, followed up on the South Shore and Milford Tax Increment Finance Districts. A Zoom meeting is being set up with Baker Tilly, a certified public accounting firm, to discuss the matter with board members.

Troyer expects the TIF districts to come before the board at the March school board meeting.

The corporation’s technology team received kudos throughout the night for its work in restoring the corporation’s computer system after it was attacked by ransomware last month.

Wade Wirebaugh, director of technology, noted the hackers attempted to access Wawasee’s systems two days after its initial attack and were unable to get back in.

The board approved stipends for the technology staff who worked through the weekend of Jan. 20-22 for the 30-plus hours they put in bringing the corporation’s computer systems back on line.

The first of several community meetings made up of school personnel and representatives of Milford, North Webster and Syracuse will be held Monday, Feb. 27, at Wawasee High School. The 47-member committee will be looking at school programs and facility needs.

In public input, Rich Rhoades, Milford, asked for an update on the Wawasee Veterans Wall. Troyer said the designers were working on it.

Women of Today presented a $2,500 check to be distributed evenly among all Wawasee schools to be used to assist kids as needed.

The board accepted the following donations:

• $10,000 from the Korenstra Family Foundation.

• $1,300 for the wrestling team from Knights of Columbus.

• $1,150 for gymnastics from the Knights of Columbus.

• $1,300 for the swim team from Knights of Columbus.

• $1,000 for FFA from Johnny Poppers, Nappanee.

• $500 for the super mileage car from Main Channel Marina.

The board approved the Wawasee FFA chapter to send two teams to Danville for a horse judging contest May 5-6.

The board also approved overseas trips to Germany/Austria/Switzerland; and an Ecosystems of Ecuador trip, which would include visiting a cloud forest, the Galapagos Islands and the Amazon rainforest.