The Board of Education held a meeting on Jan. 27 to recognize Hays area students and educators. The Board also discussed the month’s financial reports and maintenance at the district’s schools.

Elementary teacher Mackenzie Justice and high school Westside teacher Katey Whitesell were given the Making a Difference Award for “exemplary first-year teachers who perform in a way that distinguishes them as outstanding.”

Justice and Whitesell also applied for the state recognition.

“Although neither were selected at the state level, we are proud of both of them and honor them for being outstanding teachers in our district,” superintendent Ron Wilson said.

Marie Henderson and Kyle Carlin were recognized for being selected to present at the 2019 Learning Forward Annual National Conference held in St. Louis in December. Their presentation, Flexible Learning Experiences (FLEX): Redesigning Professional Learning, was one of more than 300 concurrent sessions offered at the conference.

Marie Henderson was also among four educators in Kansas selected to serve alongside 550 educators across the United States in being named a Microsoft Innovative Educator Expert (MIE Experts).

The exclusive program was created to recognize global educator visionaries who are using technology to pave the way for their peers in the effective use of technology for better learning and student outcomes. Thousands of educators apply for the program every year.

The Student Spotlight Award highlighted the work of the O’Loughlin Elementary Chess Team, who took first and third place in the Elementary age group at the TMP Chess Tournament. They all finished in the top ten individual placings.

Senior Nathan Leiker and juniors Andrew Duke and Caitlin Leiker were recognized for bringing the community the student-run production of “Twisted: the Untold Story of a Royal Vizier.” Duke served as the director of the show, Caitlin Leiker as the music director, and Nathan Leiker as the choreographer.

Vocal director Alex Underwood supervised the fundraising project, which brought in $5,000 for Chamber Singers to go towards their summer trip next year.

“It was a really great educational experience for the students to be able to step up and be the ones who were really running things,” Underwood said. “I tried as much as I could to sit in the back and let them figure it out instead of me solving the problems for them. It was impressive and inspiring to watch.”

Students from Hays Middle School, Lincoln Elementary, Wilson Elementary, O’Loughlin and Roosevelt Elementary were also recognized for their achievements in the Spelling Bee.

Towards the end of the meeting, Director of Buildings and Grounds Rusty Lindsay discussed maintenance at the USD 489 schools and the projected costs of new repairs.

The largest topic of conversation was the units that were replaced in Hays High’s gyms, the Wrestling Room, the Multi-Purpose Room, the Lecture Hall, and the rooftop unit for room 145.

Lindsay said he has been working with an engineer with Integrated Solutions in Wichita to draw up repair plans. Hiring Integrated Solutions to complete the plans will cost about $100,000.

“We’ve got to stop piecemealing and start taking some steps to do some replacement,” Lindsay said. “When we were doing the last bond, the high school was not included in the bond. We already have a history with Integrated Solutions. We already have a direction we’re going with a plan. Whatever we decide to do, we’ll at least have the drawings.”

Lindsay said the maintenance on the units has gotten to a point where the existing staff is struggling to keep up with the necessary repairs in the district’s buildings. He proposed taking the replacements in portions as the budget allows.

“If we hire more staff to do it, we just spent more money on staff and less money on replacements,” Lindsay said. “If I hire companies to come in and do it and pick up some of the slack, now we’re putting money into that and not into replacement.”

21cleiker@usd489.com