There Was A Lot Going on At the School Board Meeting on October 10, 2016
The Board of Education meeting on Monday, October 10, 2016 was jammed full of agenda items and presentations. Listed below are just a few of the highlights.
The RHHS B.E.S.T. Robotics Team (Boosting Engineering, Science & Technology) gave a short presentation to the Board about the Robot they created and will finish in just 6 short weeks and to invite the board members and public to their upcoming “Game Day”. B.E.S.T. Sponsor Lee Ann Youse brought students Seniors Madison Partridge and Breana LaFever, and Sophomore Devin McMain to tell about and show the Board their composite robot. Through trial and error the students will be reconstructing their current prototype because the wheels are in the wrong location and the arm is too long to grasp objects. They brought with them the new composite base that they will be transferring the existing parts to. All the parts to build a robot comes in a bag, it is up to the students to erect a robot that will perform the task they are given. This year the theme is agricultural.
“Game Day” is the competition day for students from all schools who entered to show off their engineering skills on October 22, from 8:00 a.m., to 4:00 p.m. It is a free event located at the Charles Koch Arena. The B.E.S.T. Team extends an invite to all who desire to attend. If you do plan to attend, please wear the school colors or a Rocket shirt (red and white) and sit with the RHHS B.E.S.T. Team. The “Team” will gain points for audience support, table display, speech, spirit, notebook presentation, poster display, sportsmanship, media support and the working ability of the robot.
Superintendent Randal Chickadonz awarded Rose Hill Schools Food Service Director Jeanne Munsell an honorary plaque. Mrs. Munsell recipient of the Sunflower Spotlight received the honor for being the Purchasing Cooperative Agent for nine districts in Butler County, including Rose Hill. By doing so Jeanne is able to reduce costs while promoting a healthier school environment. This is not the first time Mrs. Munsell has been recognized as a recipient of the award; in 2012 she received it for identifying a reimbursable meal by using a unique idea of adding hooks to the Healthy Kansas Plate Poster on which they hang cards with the menu items for the day. She also developed a “Build A Lunch” chart to help explain/offer using food components. The chart hangs in the serving line.
In January 2015, an idea to form a purchasing cooperative was born after a monthly meeting among schools located in South Central Kansas over five years ago. The Kansas School Food Purchasing Association started with five schools and has now grown to a 10 school purchasing cooperative. Jeanne Munsell, Rose Hill Food Service Director, is in charge of the co-op and states that they are able to save $5 to $20 per case on items as compared to pricing if they were not in a cooperative. Jeanne states that this is possible because if she were to get bids on her own it would be for 1,000 meals per day as compared to the collective group that serves over 15,000 meals per day. Jeanne states, “The purchasing cooperative allows us to stay self- supporting by getting the best prices on items and provides the opportunity to purchase items that students want to eat that meet the nutrition guidelines. We choose to start our own cooperative so that we could have additional choices that other cooperatives weren’t offering. We can go to a food show, find a new product and add it to our bid list and since we have the quantity we can get the product into our cafeterias”.
The Sunflower Spotlight was developed to serve as a recognition program as part of the Team Nutrition Training Grant for Kansas’ schools who are promoting a healthy school environment. The Sunflower Spotlight, which is updated on a monthly basis on the KN-EAT website, features stories and pictures from schools to provide recognition and inspiration to others.
The District’s “Revised” One Page Calendar was on the agenda for approval. The Board of Education on October 10, 2016 changed the One Page District Calendar. (Note: The April 14, 2017 Teacher Inservice Day was changed to a No Classes Day).
School Board Vacancy – Since Kelle Cross resigned, as a board member there has been a vacancy on the school board. A public notice has been posted in the local paper and the application process ended on October 3rd. Monday, the Board chose to invite the applicants to the November 14th meeting for an open forum. They will draw a number to see who will begin first, second and third. At the conclusion of the forum nominations will begin and the applicant with the first 4 or more votes will be sworn in to take a seat at the board table.