Pictured, from left, are Jake Everett, TVHS assistant principal; Joseph Mushalla, TVHS English teacher; Andrew Childress, TVHS physical education/strength and conditioning teacher; Justin Goodenkauf, TVHS math teacher; and Brandon Kresca, TVHS principal.

MENTONE — The Tippecanoe Valley School Board approved multiple new hires for the corporation and accepted a grant from REMC during the meeting held tonight, July 15.

Tippecanoe Valley High School Principal Brandon Kresca introduced three of the school’s newest hires.

Andrew Childress was hired as a physical education/strength and conditioning teacher. Childress is from the Mishawaka area, where he played both football and wrestling. He graduated from Ball State with a degree in exercise science and completed several internships, including one in Florida training NFL combine athletes.

“We are really excited about having Andrew,” said Kresca. “He has come highly, highly, highly recommended.”

Joseph Mushalla was hired as an English teacher. He is a recent Purdue graduate and Kresca said he was highly recommended from their teaching program. Justin Goodenkauf was hired as a math teacher. Goodenkauf recently moved to the area from Arizona and is dual-certified in both English and math.

The board approved the three new hires. Other new hires approved during the meeting included Peggy McQuinn, instructional assistant at TVHS; Alexis Wise, cook at TVHS; Katie Kauffman, physical education teacher at TVMS; and Kristi Smith, mental health therapist for the corporation.

Lori Tilden-Geiger, director of marketing, public relations and grant writer, presented the Kosciusko County REMC Operation Round-Up grant in the amount of $5,000 to the board.

The grant funds were already used to attend an out of state conference in June. The Shipley School in Pennsylvania hosted a three-day training that consisted of a professional development program designed to introduce participants to the concepts, skills and best practices of positive psychology as they apply to schools. Tippecanoe Valley Middle School social-emotional learning teacher Maggie White attended the conference.

“We’d like to take this a step further and apply for another grant to bring this to Valley,” said Tilden-Geiger. “We’re really excited about what we learned and very grateful for the opportunity to take Maggie there through the Kosciusko REMC Round-Up Grant.”

The board approved accepting the REMC grant.

In other news:

• The next regular school board meeting will be held at 6 p.m. Monday, Aug. 19, at Mentone Elementary School.
• The board approved Tiffany Krotke to serve as the JV  girls’ basketball coach for TVHS.
• The board accepted resignations from Shannon Dickey, cook at TVMS; Alan Hoyt, automotive technology teacher at TVHS; Brandon Oswald, custodian at Mentone Elementary; Tina Berg, math teacher at TVMS; and Greg Prater, TVHS varsity baseball coach.
• The board approved facility-use contracts for both Beaver Dam Preschool and Jack & Jill Preschool.
• The board approved a real estate lease with Kosciusko County Head Start/Cardinal Services.
• The board heard initial consideration of school board policy changes related to teacher appreciation grants, early entrance into kindergarten, expanded criminal history checks for volunteer coaches and homeless students. These changes will be voted on during the August meeting.