Contracts approved for secondary math and PE teachers

Contracts for two first-year teachers were approved by the Perkins County School Board at their April 16 meeting.

Alexandria Linnerson was hired for secondary math. Superintendent Phillip Picquet and High School Principal Dean Friedel interviewed her at a job fair they attended at University of Nebraska- Kearney, where she graduated in December. She student taught at Kearney Public Schools.  

Picquet said Linnerson stood out in interviews and they were impressed with her reference checks. Due to Troy Kemling moving to part-time in the fall, and previous staff changes when the junior high moved to the high school in 2015, a full-time math position was available. 

Linnerson will also be assisting Penny Hite in speech and assisting with mock trial. 

Tanner Collins, originally from Ogallala, has been hired as the secondary physical education teacher and head wrestling coach. He student taught in Houston, Texas through a UNK program, and has been helping with the wrestling, football and baseball programs at All Saints’ Episcopal School in Ft. Worth, Texas. 

Picquet said in speaking with the principal and wrestling coach at All Saints’, Collins “is really good at building relationships.”

Resignations

Vocal Instructor Conrad Gachne resigned from his position effective at the end of the 2017-18 school year. Picquet said Gachne will be on administrative leave for the remainder of the school year. 

Dustin Stodola resigned as secondary physical education teacher and head wrestling coach effective at the end of the school year. He has accepted an offer to serve as middle school PE teacher and head wrestling coach at Scottsbluff. 

Stodola stated in his resignation letter that working at PCS was a great experience and no better place to have developed professionally. He thanked PCS for the opportunity and offered to help in the transition of his duties in any way possible. 

Fate of girls golf

As activities for 2018-19 were discussed, girls golf was once again brought to the table for discussion. For the past several years, numbers have been down. 

In an interest survey distributed by Athletic Director Lance Steffen to eighth through 11th graders, two indicated they were interested in golf. While girls can golf individually, it takes four to compete as a team. They had four in 2016, but only two in 2015 and 2017. 

Due to the expenses of a coach, substitute teachers  and travel, this has the board questioning whether to dissolve girls golf in the fall and have those interested compete with the boys in the spring. 

The board will vote at the next meeting on Monday, May 21. 

TeamMates evaluation

TeamMates Coordinator Larry Pritchett, TeamMates Board President Deanne Bishop and Picquet participated in an evaluation of the program with regional coordinator Annette Woodhead. 

Bishop said the evaluation was positive and gave them some guidance for growth as they head into the next school year. 

Technology report

Technology Director Renee Seiler reported that the current PA system in the high school building hasn’t worked since the power outage at the ethanol plant. The bells have been rerouted through the phone system and can not be heard throughout the school, such as the gyms and weight room. The phone system is also not working properly. 

Seiler presented information for a new web-based program by Carehawk that would replace the PA, phone and bell systems. She is going to continue to gather more information and get a hard quote from the company. 

As far as the laptop cycle and looking at next year’s numbers, Seiler recommended purchasing 70 MacBook Airs for the seventh and eighth graders. The quote included a $75 discount on each unit and a three-year extended warranty. 

The current junior high computers would then be moved to the elementary, with designated computers for the fifth and sixth grade. Seiler said there are currently two laptop carts at the elementary school that may or may not have the full 20 laptops in each cart on any given day. 

The fifth grade class has 38 students, so if they need the computers, there aren’t any available for the other classes.

Picquet said they aren’t in a position to purchase $100,000 of computers at this time, but they’ll come up with a solution to meet the needs of the students.