Pictured, from left, are Superintendent Blaine Conley and newly-appointed School Board President Aaron Zolman.

BURKET — The majority of the Tippecanoe Valley School Board meeting held tonight, Jan. 20, was spent hearing an update on the progress being made at Burket Educational Center.

Teacher Micah Lukens stated that the emphasis for Burket Educational Center this school year was to help students build and foster a plan for the future. This is being done through a four-pronged approach including the Business Pathway, Jobs for American Graduates, Warsaw Area Career Center and Workplace Learning programs.

In the first semester of this year, the school had 35 students attending throughout various times of the year who earned 155 credits. For the same period last year, students earned 73 credits.

In addition to the credits being earned, four students earned their Core-40 diplomas. Since the start of the Burket Educational Center in 2003, 345 students have graduated with help from the program.

“Thank you for your leadership out here at Burket with helping these young people achieve graduation and really help them get going down the right path,” said Superintendent Blaine Conley.

The board also recognized senior Quintin Allen. Allen was encouraged by his high school science teacher to apply for a Molecular Medicine in Action program through IUPI. This program provides high school students an inside view of research and science as students learn about molecular biology, cytogenetics and cancer therapy.

It was noted that only around 50 students from Indiana were chosen for this program. After being recognized, Allen informed the board that future plans include studying Paleobiology at college.

The next regular board meeting will be held at 6 p.m. Monday, Feb. 17, at Tippecanoe Valley Middle School.

In other news, the board:

• Accepted a $1,000 grant from the Kosciusko Community Foundation for the TVMS functional life skills cooking program.
• Accepted a $2,500 grant from the Kosciusko Community REMC Roundup program for Viking Vittles.
• Approved the hiring of Shannon Samuels, instructional assistant at Mentone Elementary; Breanna Martin, instructional assistant at Mentone Elementary; Midori Lee, instructional assistant at Akron Elementary; Melinda Kruger, custodian at TVHS; Patricia  Rudolph, custodian at TVHS.
• Approved assigning John Kauffman as the 6th-grade girl’s basketball assistant coach at TVMS.
• Accepted the resignation of Kasi Balanow, instructional assistant at Mentone Elementary; Heaven Peconga, instructional assistant at Mentone Elementary; Dustin Williams, instructional assistant at TVMS; Destiny Wallis, cook at TVMS; Mercedes Contreras, cook at Akron Elementary.
• Approved maternity requests for Paige Miller, 3rd-grade teacher at Mentone Elementary; and Valerie Lukens, kindergarten teacher at Mentone Elementary.
• Heard an update on the softball facility project.
• Initially considered an addition to the school board policy that would provide a framework for the public comment section of the meeting for people to sign-in with their comments and bring issues to the board before the meeting.