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Starting STEM early
The Nevada R-5 school board met for its regular session meeting at the central office board room Wednesday evening. Superintendent Dr. Tyson Beshore called the meeting to order at 7 p.m. and informed the board since there were only two candidates for two open positions no election had been required. The two candidates, Mike McCaffree and Monty Smith were sworn in by Board Secretary Melissa Hendrix.
The board then set about the business of electing officers Jay Sloniker was nominated and elected board president. Jeremy Fast was nominated and elected vice president. Melissa Hendrix was nominated and voted as board secretary. Rhonda Culbertson was nominated and elected board treasurer and Joy Hawks was nominated and elected as the Missouri School Boards’ Association delegate.
The board then voted 7-0 to approve the consent agenda.
They then moved into the program planning and evaluation portion of the meeting.
The first presentation was from the Truman School Odyssey of the Mind team who recently won first place at the state championship.
The students had a slideshow of photos showing their preparations for the event and explained a little about what they had to do.
Odyssey of the Mind is a creative competition where students are presented with problems which they must solve. And the students must create the solution entirely on their own with no assistance from others.
“Thank you for your support,” the students told the board.
Next up was Debbie Spaur, from Bryan Elementary, who told the board about STEM Bins which some of the teachers have begun using in their classrooms and also about how some of the teachers are utilizing AppleTV as teaching aids.
The STEM Bins were created by the teachers with various learning-type toys which they showed to the board. The teachers explained they give the students problems such as building a structure to hold an item using the materials. In another example, the students dropped balls into a pan of flour to learn how craters are made on the moon. The teachers explained the students become very engaged with these kinds of activities.
“It’s a fun approach and it’s relevant to them,” said Spaur.
Sarah Swearingen then presented about how she uses the AppleTV in her classroom.
“One of the things I love about the AppleTV is the mobility,” said Swearingen. “I’m not anchored to the board. I can be back working with a group … and still be writing on the board with the iPad.”
She told the board she can use the iPad to instantly show on the class’ TV screen videos, photos and diagrams related to the lesson they are learning. For example the class was learning about castles and she was able to find a diagram on the internet and put it on the TV for the whole class to see.
She explained she can also hand the iPad to a student who can then show their work to the entire class on the TV.
Then the board heard the MSBA monthly report and budget and facilities updates from Beshore.
Having no unfinished business, the board moved to new business.
The board voted:
• 7-0 to approve the renewal of the Blue Cross/Blue Shield health insurance with a 3.5 percent increase in cost for the 2018-2019 school year.
• 7-0 to accept the bid from Hillyards for the refinishing of the gym floors and the high and middle schools.
• 7-0 to approve two new MSBA board policies regarding board member conflict of interest and financial disclosure and suicide awareness and prevention.
• 7-0 to approve the trip two students will make to Atlanta, Ga., to attend the DECA international competition later this month.
• 7-0 to approve a summer school food service addendum. Lunch prices for the 2018 summer school session will go up 8-cents.
The board then voted the move to closed session.