Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Students Lauded By Board During Meeting

Students in the Prescott School District were recognized for their academic success at the regular monthly meeting of the Prescott School Board.

First up was kudos for McRae Middle School student Aaron Morton who recently won a national storytelling contest.

Morton explained how he came to be on the MMS storytelling team and involved in the national event in Denton, Texas.

The board approved a resolution to be framed and presented to the MMS Quiz Bowl team for its third place finish in the state contest, a first for the district. The team was also the runner up in the district event.

Further recognition of students came from Teresa Ragsdale, who had her math students design a handicap ramp for the main building at Prescott High School.

Three designs were presented to the board, with two students on hand to discuss their ideas.

Ragsdale said a handicap ramp is something the board must consider anyway, so she had students in Algebra II make the designs. They had to make scale drawings of their ideas and give minimum and maximum angles used.

Additionally, the students had to make a sales pitch for why their design should be used.

Two of the three presented to the board were straight ramps, with the difference being in angle and length. The other was a curved type so students in wheelchairs wouldn't build up as much speed as they would on a straight ramp.

The board will be addressing the need for a handicap ramp at PHS at a future meeting.

Sheila Virden followed praising students in the accelerated reader program.

The program, she said, requires students to read books and answer quizzes about them. With the way the program is designed, students can't take shortcuts or watch movies and pass the test.

Students in the program reviewed it, with the results given to the board. All of the reviews were positive, with one review stating the student who wrote it gave up running the streets at night to stay home and read.

Those students reaching goals they set at the beginning of the program were taken to the Perot Theatre in Texarkana, where they chose to watch the Chicago River Dance Troupe.

Anyone thinking the books being read by the students are easy needs to think again. According to Virden, students are reading such classics as "Gone with the Wind," "Death be not Proud" and "War and Peace."

From there the board discussed the future of the block schedule. It was decided, by the committee, to leave things as they are at this time, as it wouldn't be fair to the teaching staff to make changes at contract signing time.

However, the schedule committee will meet on a monthly basis to discuss possible changes, and return in December with its recommendation.

The ideas presented to date have been to leave the block schedule in its current 90 minute class format, or go to an A/B schedule where students would have 50 minute classes Monday-Wednesday-Friday, and 90 minute classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Superintendent Ron Wright said two bids were received for the scoreboard for the new gym. Both were within the $15,000 donated by the Bank of Prescott.

However, one of the bids was for a two-sided scoreboard, while the other would be four-sided.

The board went with the four-sided scoreboard bid from Nevco. A Nevco scoreboard is being used in the renovated MMS gym, and, Wright said, this company sets the industry standards.

The scoreboard will be suspended from the ceiling with a winch and cable system, so repairs can be made to it easier. In addition, the lights will be LED, instead of standard bulbs.

The bid also included shot and end clocks.

The board also approved a bid of $7,379 to purchase a new John Deere mower.

Kathy Hodges presented science books for the board to adopt for the coming school year.

The books selected will be primarily from the Holt Co., with two from Prentiss Hall.

The biology book, she said, has more pictures and charts, while being easier to read.The district will be offering Earth Science for the first time.

Additionally, she said, the active physics books, which come in a set of six, are better than the physics book currently being used. These books show how physics exists in everyday life, making the course more interesting for students.

This series of books comes with five compact discs for computerized training.

The chemistry book selected comes with 35 CDs for training purposes, along with a chemistry kit for the computer, along with computerized demonstrations of what is being studied.

Hodges said the science department is ordering a Stanford 9 practice test, which could be shared throughout the entire department.

The only lab book being bought is for chemistry. Copies of the lab book will be made and distributed to the students.

Wright told the board the district has been approved for a $75,000 science grant, with the money already in the bank.

The district, he said, has also been approved for an East Lab, and received $70,000 for it.

While there was some question about whether the district would get the money for the greenhouse at times, Wright said the money has been secured from the state.

The concern was due to the many cuts the legislature had to make in the state's budget during the recent session.