There’s no such thing as a perfect school schedule, Great Bend Middle School Principal David Reiser told the board of education Tuesday. However, he thinks the new schedule implemented this year that allows students to take more elective courses has gone well.
“I think the students like the choices they get,” he said when GBMS hosted a luncheon school board meeting. To see what students think, he invited eighth graders from the student council to share their thoughts. Students Dominick Zimmerman, Mylee Maddow, Kya Behr and Slayde Apley had all experienced the old schedule as seventh graders.
“This helps us prepare for high school by seeing what some of the electives are like, and it gives us ideas of what we want to do in the future,” Behr said. “We’re learning more about real-world experiences and what is happening around us.” Her favorite electives have been weightlifting and Stuco.
Apley said he enjoyed a class about the Holocaust, Maddow enjoyed a class on the Civil Rights era, and Zimmerman’s favorite class was animal science.
“I will say it’s also opened up a lot more opportunities with the new schedule this year,” Behr said. “One of my friends last year was stuck in a class she just did not like at all. So it’s just nice to have all those opportunities when all the different teachers interact with different students.”
The school board also heard more about:
• JAG-K, taught by Adeline Thompson. The high school already offered the Jobs for America’s Graduates - Kansas course. Now middle school students who take this elective have the opportunity to go on trips to places like Barton Community College and Hutchinson for job explorations. They also do project-based learning to prepare them for the coming years.
• 7th-grade ag science, taught by Brandy Proffitt. Each student researched careers in ag that might be of interest.
• 3D art, taught by Pamela Williams. Her students have been working to create a marionette of a fairy tale character while learning about multi-step problem solving and more.
• Geographic explorations, taught by Scot Vink. Vink said this class allows students to learn about topics not presented in the core seventh-grade geography classes. This semester, topics have included Roman gladiators, the war elephants of Carthage and a tour of Iceland.
Challenges/opportunities
Reiser also shared some of the challenges facing GBMS, saying they are also opportunities.
One big challenge is chronic absenteeism. The school will launch an attendance challenge after spring break. Staff are identifying the reasons behind absenteeism and working with students and families to help improve attendance.
Another big challenge is dealing with social media.
Civic engagement
The eighth-grade student council has been active in civic engagement, Reiser said. Projects have included food drives, reading buddies and more. To provide earthquake relief, classes played “Free Rice.” Each correct answer resulted in 10 grains of rice being delivered to earthquake relief efforts in Turkey and Syria.
Personnel
The school board also approved the latest personnel report. Assistant Superintendent John Popp said this is the time of year when teachers announce their retirements or resignations.
Terri Rous, teacher of special education for Barton County Special Services, is retiring. Other teach resignations came from: Nancy Baldwin-White, English teacher at Great Bend High Schoo; Andrea Stalcup, science teacher at GBHS; Kelci Hall, first-grade teacher at Lincoln Elementary; Patricia Holoday, special education teacher at Eisenhower Elementary; Layne Smith, kindergarten teacher at Eisenhower; and Stephanie Jecha, kindergarten teacher at Lincoln.
