Loyal School Board Discusses Contract for Music Teacher

Tuesday, December 27th, 2022 -- 12:01 PM

The Loyal School Board discussed the contract for their music teacher.

The Board approved a contract for Vocal Music/Choral Teacher for 2023-24 school year. Jessica Minders was hired to be their K-12 vocal music/choral teacher next year. She is currently teaching in Luck and is looking forward to returning to the area. She is originally from Spencer.

Next, they hired Annalyse Stratton as a kindergarten teacher starting on January 18, 2023. She is currently student teaching at Greenwood. The Board also discussed the Operational Referendum.  The Board will be going forward with an operational referendum question at the Spring Election.

They will be meeting on January 11th to finalize the referendum question and the amount. During the discussion, it was clarified to the public that the baseball infield project was being paid for by Fund 46, the Capital Improvement Fund, and the money has been there for seven years.

Also, they will be using money from Fund 80, Community Service Fund, and donations of services by local businesses. The building trades class will be constructing the new dugouts.

They also approved several coaches Jaedyn Pieper and Nick Schlagenhaft were hired as middle school girls’ basketball coaches. Randy Montalvo and Derek Dieckman were hired as the High School Baseball Coach and Assistant Coach.

They are currently looking for JV and MS Coaches for baseball. Greg Brock was hired as the Head Softball Coach and Angie Kollmansberger and Samantha Linder were hired as the Middle School Softball Coaches.

There were two other coaches hired by Greenwood as they have a combined program. They are currently looking for a JV coach for softball. They hired Jim Genteman as the Head Coach for Track. Morgan Malm, Bernie Stuttgen, and Kyle Damask as Assistant Coaches.

Rebekah Smith has been hired as the Middle School Track Coach. One of the assistant coaches will assist Rebekah Smith with MS Track. They also discussed starting a Middle School Baseball Cooperative with Greenwood.

Loyal currently has 20 middle school boys interested, mostly in 8th grade, and Greenwood has 10-12 boys with a large amount in the 7th grade.  A cooperative would allow more flexibility as we could use both Loyal’s and Greenwood’s fields.

The Board approved the cooperative starting with the 2023 season. The Board also received the results of the State Report Card.  All three schools (Elementary, Middle, and High) have “met expectations.”

Even though they have work ahead of them to grow, during the last two years they are very proud of their students’ and staff commitment to “Ensure All Students Learn.” They will continue to work on improving our scores but know that all involved are committed to being the best they can be.

The Board accepted a letter of resignation due to retirement from High School Math Teacher Mike Strick.  He will be retiring at the end of the 2022-23 school year.

The Board also heard the Administrators’ Reports. Elementary Principal Popp reported the kindergarten class had their Fall Program in the elementary gym on Friday, November 18th. The children sang songs that they had prepared for their parents and other family members.

The SOLES Committee hosted a Movie Night, showing The Little Rascals, on Saturday, November 19th. A reminder that this committee meets on the last Monday night of each month at 6:30. The Seal-A-Smile program is back working in schools again this year.

This program offers children the opportunity to have their teeth cleaned and checked as well as sealants applied for no cost.  The ladies were there December 5th, 12th, and 16th.

The 4K – 5th grade Holiday Program was held on Friday, December 16th in the high school gym, it was rescheduled because of a snow day on Thursday. The students did a fantastic job.

The staff and Mrs. Genteman worked with the kiddos very hard starting right after Thanksgiving up until the concert. The elementary students were supposed to enjoy a special activity before they left for Christmas break.

One December 21st, the 2nd grade would go roller skating at Melody Garden for the afternoon. On December 22nd, Kindergarten students would be going to Huey’s Hideaway Museum in Medford.

This museum has several rooms set up as different occupations so that the children can interact with the tools in the setting.  First grade would go to the Rec Center in downtown to do some games and activities that their teachers have planned.

The 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders will be going to Bruce Mound to tube.  This has been postponed until after Christmas because of the weather. The annual Spelling Bee will be held on Tuesday, January 17th at 1:30 in the cafeteria.

There will be one contest for the 5th and 6th grade students and another one for the 7th and 8th grade students. The winners of these contests will then participate in the CESA 10 contest.

The backup date for this contest is Wednesday, January 18th at the same time in the same place. Next Professional Learning Day for the whole staff is January 20th. Part of this time will be used for continued FastBridge training.

Middle/High School Principal Doug Dieckman reported that in the past 30 days:

• They completed all staff observations for Term 1;
• Term 1 completed - many students on the honor roll;
• Staff PD on Nov. 21 and 22 went very well;
• Rhonda Clark, reading specialist, started;
• Continue to work with our Leadership academy students;
• Behavior management plan now with both 7th and 8th grade;
• Course description books out with staff for review/updates;
• ARC virtual visit was done on Dec. 2;
• Their new choir coach has been coming on Tuesdays and Thursdays for HS choir and small group lessons;
• All HS sports teams are progressing through their seasons and doing well;
• MS boys basketball finishes their season this week;
• First broadcast of the multimedia class show aired;
• And MS/HS band concert was well attended and a great performance.

In the next 30 days:

• Winter break Dec. 23-Jan.2;
• MS GBB will start on Jan. 3;
• Planning will begin for the 2023-24 master schedule;
• Planning with our guiding coalition team for upcoming collaboration meetings with Greenwood;
• Midyear budget review by department with a push to get budgets closed out early;
• PD planning meeting with our CESA partners.

Challenges include staffing.

Finally, Superintendent Christ Linder reported that:

• School was closed December 22nd due to the weather;
• Dr. Aldon Hill will be donating $150,000 in a matching funds campaign to the Loyal Splash Pad and, in honor of his 102nd birthday, the Splash Pad Committee is trying to get 102 people to donate $102 each.

Feel free to contact us with questions and/or comments.