From left are FFA Advisor Michael Jones, Sidney Petersen, Amber Evans, Hayley Backus, Cheney Canada and School Board President Adam Heckaman.

MENTONE — The Tippecanoe Valley School Corporation’s board of school trustees honored its high school FFA program Monday night, Nov. 12, during the board’s monthly regular meeting.

“This will be the first time in school history a soils team from Valley has made it to nationals,” said Superintendent Blaine Conley during the meeting.

According to Conley, the soils judging team from Tippecanoe Valley High School competed at the state level Oct. 20 in Morgan County. Students in the program judge soils in a variety of ways and based their determinations on both agricultural, as well as residential use. Such competitions are divided into two divisions — 4-H and FFA. At state competitions, the top five teams in each division earn a spot in the national contest, to be held in Oklahoma City in April and May 2019.

Valley’s FFA team of Sidney Petersen, Cheney Canada, Amber Evans and Hayley Backus finished fifth to garner the national nod. Valley’s FFA team placed 18th in the field of 51 teams. Team members were Makenzie Woodcox, Brandt Alber, Sarah Kelley and Nicole Ziemek.

FFA advisor and leader Michael Jones introduced the fifth-place team to the board and posed for photos with School Board President Adam Heckaman.

The board approved a series of grants and donations totaling $3,434.

One of those donations was a $500 gift to Cathy Olson, a teacher at Tippecanoe Valley Middle School for her functional skills classroom. The grant was given to Olson by the Indiana Retired Teachers Association, represented at the meeting by former Tippecanoe Valley teacher Ann Chubb.

“I’ve been retired from Valley for 14 years now and we still have our fingers in everything and I was so happy for Cathy,” said Chubb. “Cathy received our $500 grant. We’re very proud of Cathy.”

Olson told the board that she would be using the grant for the purchase of teaching tools called workboxes. According to Olson, the workboxes mimic common items that might be found in the home or workplace that require specialized skill to operate, such as the assembly of a common electrical box for house or business place wiring configurations.

“When I started the workboxes at the elementary level, it was basically just putting together things,” Olson said. “We’re putting things together, things that have real-life value to them.”

The board also approved the following grants:

• A Donor’s Choose Grant of $234 for a program called Help! I Can’t Express Myself.
• A $500 donation from the Atwood Lions Club to benefit the school corporation’s Boomerang Backpack program.
• A $200 donation from Lakes Area Autism Network for Magic Meadows Therapeutic Horseback riding program.
• Two $1,000 donations from Beaver Dam United Methodist Church to benefit the Viking Vittles program, as well as TVSC Champions Together.

The board also approved the master school calendar for the 2019-2020 school year.

Prior to the meeting, Heckaman paid homage to the victims of the Oct. 30 bus stop accident, which killed three TVSC elementary school children and severely injured a fourth.

“During the moment of silence portion of our meeting tonight, we take the time to reflect and remember everyone who was affected by the recent tragedy,” said Heckaman. “We want to thank all of those locally and across the country who have responded with the outpouring of love, support and prayers for our families and our community. Please continue to remember all as we start the healing process.”

From left are Cathy Olson, retired teacher Ann Chubb and School Board President Adam Heckaman.