“Blessings in a Backpack”

The Reverend Jess Felica, one of the pastors at the New Hope Lutheran Church in Minnehaha Springs addressed the Pocahontas County School Board’s October 26^th meeting during the “Delegations” portion of the meeting.  Jess explains what she has in mind.

“We at New Hope are looking to start a project through the program called Blessings in a Backpack” Jess said. “Blessings in a Backpack is a national organization whose goal is to make sure that children in Elementary Schools who are eligible for free or reduced lunches are able to access food on the weekends. Children who come from homes that are eligible for free or reduced lunches frequently come from food insecure homes.”

Jess told the Board how this could work.

“The goal of Blessings in a Backpack is to send home every Friday a bag of food that contains a healthy snack, an entrée and some breakfast foods” said Jess. “So you would look at things like oatmeal and granola bars and cans of ravioli or meals that a child can prepare for them self. The cost is about $80.00 per child and so as New Hope looks to partner with some civic organizations and other congregations in the County we have to keep that in mind. So there’s a limit on how many kids we can do this for to start with.”

Jess looks to start the program next school year at Marlinton Elementary School and explains why.

“We think this is a need in our County” Jess said. “According to Local School Directory dot com, there is 73.9% of the kids at Marlinton Elementary School who qualify for free or reduced lunches. That’s higher than the other Elementary Schools in our County and because Minnehaha Springs is just down the ford from Marlinton. We’ve chosen Marlinton as our focus for the pilot project, but the hope and the prayer is that this is something that could grow.”

Jess cited studies that show that children fed by Blessings in a Backpack get in less trouble, do better in school and feel cared for by their community. The food will be provided in such a way as to maintain confidentiality so others do not know who is getting the food packs. The School Board members seemed very interested in the program, but because it was not on the Agenda could not take any formal discussion or action on the idea.  It will be placed on a future Board agenda for discussion and or action.

Ruth Bland, acting on behalf of Interim Superintendent Beam who is away attending meetings, delivered the Superintendent’s Report and Special Recognition. She recognized the victory of the PCHS Girls’ Soccer Team in winning their Sectional match and moving on to Regional’s playing Pikeview High on October 29^th in Nicholas County.  The Boys soccer team lost its Sectional Match but had a great season.  She also congratulated the Football Team for their upset over 3^rd Ranked Man High School by a score of 40-14. This improved their State Rankings to 8^th from 13^th and if they can hold this ranking they will get a home playoff game. The Band recently qualified at the Battle of the Bands in Keyser, WV for an invitation to the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament of Bands which will be held in Hershey, Pennsylvania.

Emily Booth, the Student Representative to the Board – an also a member of the victorious Girls Soccer Team- reported that the team won their Sectional game in the last few minutes after trailing by 2-0 most of the game. She also reported that the PSAT tests will be given at the High school on Wednesday to sophomores and juniors.

School Treasurer Sherry Radcliff reported that the County schools will not be receiving any funds from the Innovative Grant this year, but will receive funding for Power Teaching from the Dominium Grant.

During Matters from the Board, it was reported that 70% of the PCHS students take the SAT tests each year and score well, with average scores of 18 to 21. Board Member Steve Tritapoe reported that he understands that Tennessee pays the cost for each student to take the SAT tests one time, and thought that should be done by West Virginia. The cost for each student to take the test is about $60.00 to $70.00. Board Member Joe Walker suggested that the Board could put it in next year’s budget to pay for one test for each student taking the test, or possibly a grant could be found to pay for this. About 50 students take the test, so the total cost would be $5000.00 to $6000.  It was noted that the tests are now used for entrance to Vocational schools in addition to academic colleges. The Members seemed to agree that they should look into this.

The Board approved a number of Personnel moves which can be found on our website, alleghenymountainradio.org. The meeting ended with an Executive (closed) Session dealing with a personnel matter which would not be voted on at this meeting.

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PERSONNEL AGENDA

October 26, 2015

Professional and Service Personnel

EMPLOYMENT:  LESA McCARTY, as Project Site Coordinator (Project: SPLASH), at Green Bank Elementary-Middle School, retroactive to October 13, 2015, up to 9 hours per week (programming 2 hours/day, 4 days a week; 1 hour/week for planning) for up to 25 weeks, plus additional planning/meetings before program begins, at $23 per hour. (NOTE: Hours contingent upon adequate student enrollment.)

EMPLOYMENT:  CHERYL JONESE, as Counselor (Project: SPLASH), at Green Bank Elementary-Middle School, retroactive to October 13, 2015, up to 5 hours per week (1 hour planning, 2 hours of instruction daily-2days per week) for up to 25 weeks, plus additional planning/meetings before program begins, at $20 per hour. (NOTE: Hours contingent upon adequate student enrollment.)

EMPLOYMENT:   AMANDA NOTTINGHAM, as Homework Help Teacher (Project: SPLASH), at Green Bank Elementary-Middle School, retroactive to October 13, 2015, up to 9 hours per week (1 hour planning/reports, 2 hours of instruction daily – 4 days per week) for up to 25 weeks , plus additional planning/meetings before program begins, at $20 per hour. (NOTE: Hours contingent upon adequate student enrollment.)

EMPLOYMENT:  KIMBERELY N. SHINABERRY, as Project Math Tutor/STEM Instructor (Project: SPLASH), at Green Bank Elementary-Middle School, retroactive to October 13, 2015, up to 7 hours per week (1 hour planning, 2 hours of instruction daily – 3 days per week) for up to 25 weeks, plus additional planning/meeting before program begins, at $20 per hour. (NOTE: Hours contingent upon adequate student enrollment.)

EMPLOYMENT:  GREGORY D. MORGAN, as Performing Arts Instructor (Project: SPLASH), at Green Bank Elementary-Middle School, retroactive to October 13, 2015, up to 2.5 hour per week (1/2 hour planning, 2 hours of instruction daily – 1 day per week) for up to 25 weeks, plus additional planning/meetings before program begins, at $20 per hour.  (NOTE: Hours contingent upon adequate student enrollment.)

EMPLOYMENT:  ALISON FLEGEL, as Visual Arts Instructor (Project: SPLASH), at Green Bank Elementary-Middle School, retroactive to October 13, 2015, up to 2.5 hours per week (1/2 hour planning, 2 hours of instruction daily – 1 day per week) for up to 25 weeks, plus additional planning/meetings before program begins, at $20 per hour.   (NOTE: Hours contingent upon adequate student enrollment.)

EMPLOYMENT: ANNE M. SMITH, as Special Education Teacher (Project: SPLASH), at Green Bank Elementary – Middle School, retroactive to October 13, 2015 for up to 5 hour per week (1 hour planning, 2 hours of instruction daily – 2 days per week) for up to 25 weeks, plus additional planning/meetings before program begins, at $20 per hour. (NOTE: Hours contingent upon adequate student enrollment.)

RESIGNATION:  GREGORY P. BALL, as Principal of Marlinton Elementary School, effective at the end of the day on October 30, 2015.

EMPLOYMENT: Of the following as Teachers of Homebound Instruction, effective October 28, 2015, as needed, for the remainder of the 2015-2016 school year, at $20 per hour:

Cheryl Jonese

Jean O. Srodes

David W. Vanorsdale, Jr.

EMPLOYMENT: Of the following as Substitute Teachers for Pocahontas County Schools, effective October 28, 2015 (or upon completion of the RESA Online Substitute Training Program), as needed for the remainder of the 2015-2016 school year, at state basic pay.

Paul F. Barb

Rachel Cain

Whitney Fedak

Dondi S. Stemple

EMPLOYMENT:  MELISSA ERIN BALDWIN, as Substitute Teacher for Pocahontas County Schools, retroactive to October 20, 2015, as needed for the remainder of the 2015-2016 school year, at state basic pay.