Janay Hackleman, left, instructor for Wawasee High School watersports classes, is shown with Bill Pipp, a member of the Wawasee Property Owners Association board of directors. WPOA donated $2,000 to the Wawasee Yacht Club to cover student fee costs for attending the classes at Lake Wawasee.

SYRACUSE — A fundraising effort by two Wawasee High School students on the campus radio station last year resulted in a public service award from the Indiana Broadcasters Association. During the regular monthly meeting of the Wawasee school board Tuesday evening, Aug. 14, in Syracuse, the board heard a report from Jeremy Van Lue, Pathways radio and TV instructor, about the award.

Students Conner Lucas and Nick Lesko came up with the idea for a fundraiser to help the hurricane victims in the fall of 2017. The two students were on the Warrior Leadership Committee and had been charged to do a public service project. They were on the air at the campus radio station, 93.7 FM The Mix, all day for one day in October 2017 and asked people to donate through Crowdrise, a website associated directly with the Red Cross.

More than $1,300 was collected during the fundraiser. The award will be presented in South Bend Aug. 22.

In other business, Dr. Tom Edington, Wawasee superintendent, noted the school corporation received a $50,000 grant that requires a match from the Indiana Department of Homeland Security to be used for school safety. Grant funds include $12,500 for a school resource officer and $37,500 for equipment. Edington added 10 metal detector wands were received at no cost from the state and will be distributed throughout each building in the school corporation.

In other business, the school board approved the purchase of five 78 passenger Blue Bird school buses and one 14 passenger bus at a total cost of $535,856. School buses are purchased yearly as part of a 10-year cycle to replace older buses.

Mike Snavley, transportation director for the school corporation, said Wawasee has a total of 38 bus routes, 35 of which are for general education students and three for special needs students. About 2,300 students ride a bus, he noted, and routes have to be adjusted each year as needs change.

Every bus will have a driver to start the 2018-19 school year, he said, which is unusual considering several school districts are in need of drivers.

On July 24 and 25, the Indiana State Police inspected 58 Wawasee school buses and found only one minor repair needed. Snavley noted a light was not working in one of the buses and was quickly repaired.

During his report to the board, Edington talked about the first teacher day, which was Aug. 14, and said it is the only time of the year when the entire staff gathers in the same location. A meeting was held in the high school cafeteria and the focus was on ways to apply a more than $300,000 Lilly grant received earlier this year to help meet emotional and social needs of students.

Other agenda items included:

• One Wawasee High School super mileage car placed third in the urban concept category during the Shell Eco-marathon in California in April. The car exceeded 500 miles per gallon. Another car was entered in a new hydrogen fuel cell category for the first time and did not compete.

• An overnight trip was approved for the Wawasee FFA dairy judging team to Harrisburg, Pa.

• The board approved the appointment of Deatra Kinney to the Milford Public Library board.

• The board approved renewing the agreement with the Wawasee Yacht Club for high school watersports classes.