Special programs having positive effects

By SEAN KENNEDY

Special programs at Tahlequah Public Schools are having a positive effect on the students enrolled in them, according to Sheryl Ridenour, principal of Tahlequah Alternative School.

During the Tahlequah I-35 Board of Education’s monthly meeting Thursday night, Ridenour, along with Preventionists Nikki Hurst and Teffany Goodwin, reported on the success of the Alcohol Reduction Grant and programs offered through TAS.

“We have the research to show the programs are working,” said Billie Jordan, assistant superintendent for grants and federal programs. “We’re anticipating greater improvement when we survey our high school students again this spring.”

In its second year, the Alcohol Reduction Grant is already offering services that aren’t found at many other schools in the state. The district has started an Alcoholics Anonymous program that serves 11 students on average.

“Nobody likes to think we have these problems with our children,” said Nikki Hurst. “Through this grant, we’ve been able to get these kids counseling, and we’ve had as many as 30 students in attendance.”

The program is confidential and provides a safe place for students to discuss their problems and have adults work with them.

Goodwin said preventionists often help students deal with problems that go far beyond the classroom.

“The situations these kids bring to you are just incredible,” said Goodwin. “If you’re not trained in this area, it’s hard to understand what kinds of situations these kids have to go through.”

Through the district’s CARE teams and other agencies in the county, preventionists work with the students and their families to get the help and support they need.

“The interphasing of all our community resources is just amazing when you see the coordinated effort of all our community folks,” said Superintendent Paul Hurst. “The people working in our district sell caring and sell hope for our kids, and we’re proud of our people and these programs.”

To educate other students on alcohol and drug behaviors of classmates, the district adopted a social norming campaign that began with a survey of high school students on alcohol consumption. The survey revealed that 79 percent of the students had not drank an alcoholic beverage in the past month.

After a campaign at Tahlequah High School involving students from groups like Students Working Against Tobacco, the students at the schools got excited about the statistics, Goodwin said.

“We’re about to start a new survey to what kind of an impact that campaign had,” said Goodwin. “The poster campaign really got kids talking, and we think it’s convinced the kids that the results are true.”

Jordan also reported the district received two grants from the Cherokee Nation, at $6,400 each, for a summer school fitness program at Cherokee Elementary and Tahlequah Middle School. The district will purchase the Coordinate Approach to Child Health program, which provides curriculum and equipment to support and encourage a healthy lifestyle.

The district also received a $25,000 GEAR UP grant for TMS to provide training for teachers in several professional development areas.

Greenwood and Cherokee Elementary Schools were the recipients of grants from Great Expectations, a professional development program for teachers, to become model Great Expectations schools.

“The appreciate our school personnel’s interest in the Great Expectations methodology,” said Paul Hurst. “It’s a very productive program and we look forward to the proliferation of that in our schools.”

Paul Hurst also reported the district had begun tightening its belt as a result of the revenue shortfall from the Oklahoma lottery, and in anticipation of further losses from tax cuts passed by the Oklahoma Legislature.

“There is a lot of work to do with the lottery, there’s still some growth there, but not nearly what the Legislature had anticipated,” said Paul Hurst. “We shouldn’t be putting the education of our youth on the backs of gambling.”

He added that funding from the lottery was supposed to be in addition to money schools were already receiving, but that instead of providing additional funds, it supplanted money that had normally been provided for common education.

“We’re all preparing for a more trying year next year and even more financially trying year the following year if all the proposed tax cuts are passed,” said Hurst. “We have time to look down the road now and try to be nimble in our spending and concentrate on the general appropriations bill for 2008.”

Other action

Following an executive session, the board approved a one-time stipend commiserate with a standard step raise for all certified teachers, counselors and librarians in the district. The amount varies depending on years of service.

In other action, the board approved:

• Rehiring all administrators and certified teachers, counselors and librarians for 2007-2008.

• Setting a date for the sale of the $4.3 million General Obligation Building Bonds of the school district – approved by voters April 6, 2004 – for May 23 at noon in the district’s Administration Building.

• Contracts with Diane Walker to provide team building training; Pitney Bowes Inc. to upgrade the module for postage machine; and Texas Migrant Council for use of the facilities at Central for a migrant student program.

• Declaring property adjacent to 107 Tommye Lane surplus and authorizing the superintendent to offer the property for public sale.

• District funding for two Business Professionals of America students to attend the BPA National Leadership Conference, May 8-13 in New York City.

• Fundraisers for TMS Yearbook, Greenwood Parent-Teacher Association and TMS Relay For Life.

• A districtwide penny war to benefit the Red Cross.

• Adding a new job description for the athletic grounds custodian, and revisions to the job descriptions for assistant transportation director; bus driver; safety and driver trainer; grounds-transportation; grounds secretary; mechanic grounds; assistant mechanic; grounds maintenance/transportation; bus driver; driver/special education and substitute bus driver ,to include a requirement for a state endorsement to drive a school bus.

• Overnight trips for THS girls’ golf, THS boys’ golf, THS softball, THS girls’ tennis, THS track, THS boys’ tennis, TMS FCCLA, THS Special Olympics and THS Band.

• Out-of-state trips for THS track to Rogers, Ark.; Christine Gonzales, Nikki Hurst and Teffany Goodwin to Denver for the GRAA Regional Technical Assistance Meeting; THS BPA to New York City for the BPA National Leadership Conference; TMS students to Seneca, Mo. for the Tribal School Adventures Challenge; and Val Dobbins to Quincy, Mass., for the Community Anti-Drug Coalition of America Regional Training.

• A memorandum of agreement with TESPA to make up for snow days.

What’s next

The next meeting of the Tahlequah I-35 Board of Education is Monday, May 14 at 6 p.m. in the Administration Building.