By HOLLY GASKILL
Norwell Middle School will implement a new program to prepare students for college and careers over the next three years.
This PCC curriculum will join current related arts programs. It will first be integrated with the eighth grade this fall and will expand to seventh and sixth grade over the following two years.
Superintendent Mike Springer told the board of trustees for Norwell Community Schools that the curriculum will work through 15 modules that the school chose to sample a diverse breadth of career pathways. These modules are called alternative energy, environment and ecology, energy and power, engine/stand/mat combination, flight and drone technology, robotics, digital audio production, computer-aided drafting and design, home maintenance fundamentals, personal finance, computer graphics and game development, design and marketing, introduction to engineering and design, introduction to health science foundation, and mechanisms.
Board member Chad Kline asked if the curriculum would be comparable to Bluffton-Harrison Middle School’s PCC “experiential classroom,” which Springer confirmed. Springer also referred to the NMS classroom as an “exploratory lab” for the units. Kline encouraged the administration to visit the BHMS site, which similarly integrates the PCC curriculum with hands-on tools and equipment.
Alongside this addition, Springer also presented a new “SOI Systems” curriculum to build “structure for intellect” at the preschool and early elementary levels. Springer explained that the program essentially identifies potentially weak learning areas in students and then provides personalized workbooks to help target the student’s needs. The focus areas, as identified Tuesday, are sequential thinking, patterning, processing abilities, visual processing, auditory attending, focusing skills, coordination and motor skills, self-control, and sensory integration.
Students will work through personalized workbooks through intervention time in a Lancaster Elementary School Principal Ginger Butcher called a “Bridges Classroom.”
“Because kids are not all coming to us with the same first five years of their experience — they just aren’t,” Springer stated. “And it makes a difference.”
“If we can catch a few of these kiddos, it could be life-changing for them,” added Ossian Elementary School Principal Theresa Casto.
Springer recognized that the curriculum won’t be a “magic bullet” for learning issues but provides an intervention piece for students to catch up in fundamental ways.
Like the PCC curriculum, SOI Systems will be integrated into multiple grades over the next several years. The district will first add a full-time teacher and assistant and identify 12-15 students in need this fall. Over the following two years, the program will expand to serve students as needed throughout the elementary.
Additionally, Springer notified the board that the district had been approved as an “On My Way Pre-K,” allowing them to receive state vouchers from those who qualify. The district will hold an informational session about the qualification from 4-6 p.m. on June 19, at LES.
Also during Tuesday’s meeting, the board:
• Recognized the retirement of custodian Marlene Taylor and her extensive service to the district.
• Accepted resignations from LES kindergarten teacher Jennifer Amstutz, LES fourth grade teacher Grace Moser, NMS seventh grade science teacher Holly Kimball, 7th grade English teacher Sara Robinson, NHS alternative school teacher and track coach Adam Prater, special education teacher Byron Osborn, part-time bus assistant Jenna Bauermeister, bus driver Brenda Springer, Erica Gaham from NHS color guard and Kay Szelis from food service.
• Approved employment recommendations for Elizabeth Stalla as NMS math teacher, Zoe McNulty for NMS vocal/show choir, Haylie Bohata as OES kindergarten teacher and Emilie Buzzard as LES fifth grade teacher.
• Renewed a contract with the Wells County Sheriff’s Department for a school resource officer. Springer noted that the administration had discussed other school security measures but would revisit the matter.
• Accepted donations of $500 from Roembke Manufacturing and Design, $100 from Wells County Lock-up and $100 from Family Ford of Bluffton for the NMS Robotics Club, and $6,320 from a Student Employee’s Benefit Trust wellness grant.
• Renewed the food and nutrition services contract.
• Declared old elementary curricula as “no value” items.
holly@news-banner.com
