Becky Linnemeier

SYRACUSE — On Dec. 10, the Wawasee School Board met for the last time in 2019. When the board reconvenes Jan. 14 for the first time in 2020, it will be reorganization day and various appointments will be made.

Looking back at 2019 and looking ahead to 2020, board president Becky Linnemeier said, “I believe we are heading in a good direction.”

A major emphasis this year is now having all school corporation employees “trauma informed,” or trained in how to handle traumatic situations involving students, “which is huge,” she noted.

Linnemeier said this is important because it will help to address the social and emotional needs of students that can, and do, inhibit learning in the classroom. Today’s students are growing up in a much different world than their parents did.

She noted in the coming year, staff “will get the tools they need to help kids” in traumatic situations.

Another point of emphasis is the establishment of professional learning communities throughout the school corporation. Before the school year even began, it was noted at a school board meeting PLCs would be heavily emphasized during the school year.

“It (PLCs) is a good way for teachers to collaborate and make sure the curriculum is aligned,” Linnemeier said. “A better way to say that is PLCs will drive the way we instruct kids.”

PLCs can also be described as “a smarter way of working,” she said.

New vision and mission statements for the school corporation were also adopted and will “guide everything we do.”

Continuation of establishing PLCs will be on the 2020 agenda and “teachers and administrators are excited about it,” she said, adding a goal is for parents of students to be able to go online and see exactly what their kids are working on at that time.

Solar panels have been installed for each school building, including the transportation department building in Syracuse. The panels have already reduced the cost of electricity for the school corporation. In today’s world of tighter budgets for many school corporations, any way to cut costs is explored.

Also looking back at 2019, the turf field at Wawasee High School saw increasing use. There is a new family and consumer sciences room at Wawasee Middle School and security systems have been upgraded in each school.

For the coming year, other goals include growing partnerships with local businesses and focusing on increasing the retention rate of employees.

Also, Linnemeier noted the Indiana School Board Association has grown in its grassroots efforts to let legislators know what the needs are of school corporations. Each board has a legislative liaison and Wawasee’s is Don Bokhart. “There will be more lobbying done by school corporations,” she said.

Wawasee has different needs than, for example, Indianapolis, she said. Red for Ed Day Nov. 19 at the Statehouse was needed, but there also needs to be more of a local focus, she said.