AKRON — The Tippecanoe Valley School Corporation has recently submitted an application to Lilly Endowment for a a comprehensive counseling initiative for Indiana K-12 students. The goal of the initiative is to promote emotional health and academic success and prepare students for life after high school.

During the Tippecanoe Valley school board meeting on Monday, Jan. 17, Akron Elementary School Principal Chrissy Mills, director of marketing, public relations and grant writing Aaron Leedy, and school counselor Jon Ekhoff informed the board they have recently submitted a planning grant proposal that will allow TVSC to learn more about the best practices for comprehensive counseling programs in Indiana and from around the country.

According to a report, through the initiative, the Endowment will provide non-competitive planning grants and competitive implementation grants. The size of each grant will be based on student enrollment. Planning grants are non-competitive and will range from $30,000 to $50,000. After the initial planning grant is received, schools will submit their plans and be in the running for implementation grants that can be used throughout a four-year period. The implementation grants range from $100,000 to $3,000,000.

During the meeting, the board approved the reorganization of the roles of the board. The trustees unanimously voted to make Todd Hoffman the president, Stan Miller the vice president, Adam Heckaman the secretary and Jessica McFarland the treasurer.

Students updated the board on the progress of the Farm to Fork Initiative at TVHS. Earlier this year, students built a three-sided shelter to house cattle to provide meat that will be eaten in Tippecanoe Valley School cafeterias. Currently, the shelters holds four calves.

TVHS is currently one of two schools in Indiana that has cattle on schools grounds.

Students have been a crucial part of the initiative since it’s inception. Assistant superintendent Blaine Conley mentioned that the idea for the initiative was really motivated by students, “Kids really wanted to see something happen in our schools.” Students put in a fence and poured concrete for the the shelter.

Tippecanoe Valley has been accepted as one of the 33 school district that will participate in the 2016-2017 Unified Champion Schools Preschool through eighth grade program. The opportunity is designed to promote a stronger awareness, respect and inclusion of people with disabilities in schools and the community. The program is a sports play program for students with and without intellectual disabilities. At the end of the school year, Tippecanoe Valley will work with the Special Olympics Indiana to host an end of the year Unified Game Day for students.

The board approved  a $1,095 grant Kosciusko REMC Operation Roundup for PLTW Vex Kits ,a $250 grant from Zimmer-Biomet for the robotics team and a $2,375 grant from Kosciusko County Community Foundation for the TVMS/TVHS leveled library.

The board approved the hiring of Brittany Howard, custodian, TVHS; Bob Hinkle, part-time math teacher, TVHS; Mary Dunnuck, bus driver, TVSC; Katie Williamson, drama director, TVHS; Eric Carlin, assistant track coach  TVHS, Caleb Prater, assistant track coach, TVHS; Jeff Shriver, assistant track coach, TVHS; and Stephan Moriarty, head football coach, TVHS. They approved the resignations of Darin Holsopple, math teacher, TVHS; Veronica Bahena, custodian, Mentone Elementary; and Maria Ramirez, custodian, TVHS. The retirement of Lois Buss, french teacher, TVHS, was approved.

Other News:

• The board approved the dates, times and locations for the school board meetings through April.
• New employees Mary Dunnuck, bus driver, and the new high school football coach Stephen Moriarty were introduced during the meeting.
• The board approved the pre-written claims from Dec. 3 in the amount of $3,349,667.74 and Jan. 16 for $234,912.64. The board also approved the payroll amounts from Dec. 9 in the amount of $463,989.94 and Dec. 23 in the amount of $417,892.20.
• The board accepted a donation from Kerlin Automotive.