Highland School Board May Meeting

Members of the public and the Highland County Recreation Commission appeared before the Highland County School Board with a request during the Board’s regular monthly meeting Monday evening.

Cappie Hull, as well as Commission members Elaine Ratcliffe and Todd Brendel, spoke to the Board about the possibility of naming the school’s baseball field in honor of former resident Edwin Crigler. They described the tireless effort Mr. Crigler put into maintenance of the field, as well as his work with fledgling baseball and softball players, and with other recreation activities. Ms. Hull reported that Mr. Crigler is now 85, and in a Veteran’s Administration nursing home in Roanoke, and while his health is failing, he still talks about Highland County and baseball often, and how naming the field in his honor would be an appropriate gesture for his commitment.

Mr. Brendel summed up the request.

“Since this has come out, and we thank Cappie for coming to our meeting and talking to us about that, we have gotten so much community support for this. People are stopping and talking to me, and telling me how Ed was such a great guy – he did everything out there. And like she said, he would run that rake until there was no teeth left on it, and just a big member of this community. And this small community is founded on people like that, and to dedicate these fields, or the field, to him would just be a tremendous opportunity, and bring back the past. And like Mikey said, the Rec Commission has agreed to pay for signage to make it proper and everything, and we just appreciate, if it’s something that you all would like to vote on, that we could move forward pretty timely.”

Board chair Chris Amirault thanked them for the presentation, and assured them the Board would act quickly on the request.

The Board also heard a presentation from 4^th grade students, who regaled them with stories of their recent trip to Williamsburg, VA. Both school principals, and superintendent Dr. Thomas Schott, informed the Board of upcoming activities, including:

• a mock accident drill Wednesday at 2:00 pm, aimed at reminding students of the need for responsible driving ahead of the May 13^th prom;
• the FFA banquet on Friday, May 5th
• and preparations for SOL testing and graduation

In action items, the Board approved personnel as discussed in closed session, and approved the FFA’s overnight field trip to the state convention in June in Blacksburg.

The Board’s next meeting will be June 5^th.