Goessel School Board Hears of Seatbelt Safety Promotion at High School

The Goessel school board met on September 9 and heard from junior high/high school principal Scott Boden about a Bucks for Buckles seatbelt safety promotion that took place on September 3. Boden said that Billy Walker of State Farm Insurance was at the school that morning and gave a dollar bill to all students who were wearing a seatbelt as they drove onto the student parking lot. All passengers were also rewarded with a one dollar bill by State Farm if they were wearing a seatbelt too. Walker gave away $50 that morning. Boden said there were a lot of smiles. The few students who were not wearing a seatbelt did not receive money. The board wished to thank State Farm and Walker for the safety event.

Turning their attention to another matter, the board listened to superintendent/elementary school principal Dr. John Fast’s report about the Kansas State Department of Education’s invitation for representatives of Goessel’s preschool to come to the annual KSDE convention October 29 and 30. Fast said that Barbara Gannaway of KSDE was the person who contacted the school. She is the head of the state-wide program for preschools and has been watching Goessel’s preschool. She wants to “hold Goessel up” as a model program for other schools across the state. Fast said Gannaway “would like to showcase our preschool” at the convention. He will go, as well as Bonnie Gaeddert, Sheri Janzen, and Chrystiana Miller. Fast said they will have a booth and have been asked “to share and discuss with attendees how the preschool was established and how we run it.” He invited board members to attend also. Fast thanked the board for their support of the preschool.

In other business, the board:

* listened to the audit report from Vonda Brecheisen of Knudsen and Monroe. She said that Goessel “had a clean audit.” She also commended board clerk Joni Smith for her work. Brecheisen said that Smith “worked smoothly with them, was well organized, and did a very accurate job of documenting all of the accounts.”

* listened to a report by high school teacher Brittany Hiebert and three of her students who had attended the national Family, Career and Community Leaders of America convention in California in summer. They earned gold and silver medals for their presentations at the convention, one about mental health and another about food. In addition to individual awards, Hiebert said the Goessel FCCLA was commended for their “Lead to Feed” initiative of donated meals to the local food pantry. The students said they learned new ways at the convention to be active in their own community. Hiebert and the students thanked the board for their support. Board member Maynard Knepp commended the students, “You’re great representatives for our school district.”

* noted the numbers of students participating in fall sports as follows — high school football: 18 with two managers, high school volleyball: 20 with one manager, high school cross country: 16 with five managers, high school cheerleaders: 11, junior high football: 16 with four managers, and junior high volleyball: 19.

* heard that the elementary school open house went “very smoothly.” Fast said that participation was close to 100% at each grade level.

* heard from Boden that the orientation for parents of sixth graders was well attended.

* heard from Boden that Carla Lahey will direct the high school play. Silas Nicholson and Jacob Hess will assist her. Boden said the play will be “Our Town.” Approximately 25 students plan to participate in the play.

* heard from Fast that the August in-service had gone “extremely well.” He commended school consultant Rebecca Lewis-Pankratz for her presentation and for engaging with staff. According to Fast, she “helps schools address student needs, particularly those manifesting social and emotional behaviors that prevent them from learning.” Fast said that Heidi Goerzen from Prairie View will follow up with the school.

* heard from Boden that the in-service day had gone well at the junior high/high school also. He said that topics included bullying, suicide prevention, blood-borne pathogens, sexual harassment, emergency safety interventions, homeless students, and mandated reporting.

* heard from Boden that an emergency evacuation drill had been held on September 4, according to active shooter civilian response training, known as ALICE (alert, lockdown, inform, counter, evacuate).

* mentioned the junior high gym floor, noting that it should be available for use in October.

* approved the school’s updated policy book, which has been reviewed by the Kansas Association of School Board’s attorney to make sure the policies are all up to date. The table of contents alone takes 18 pages. The book itself is approximately 2,000 pages, and Fast has read every page of it.

* approved the financial statements of $85,896.50.

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