Tippecanoe Valley High School Principal Chad Cripe, far right, talks to the board during the Spotlight of the Valley section of the meeting.

AKRON — At the tail-end of a two-hour meeting, held Monday, March 18, the Tippecanoe Valley School Board heard about a newly proposed angler club and a few student achievements.

Tippecanoe Valley Middle School Principal Scott Backus told the board that he was recently approached by high school students Layne Prater and Quentin Aldridge about the creation of a fishing club that would also allow for a competitive fishing team through the school.

The Tippecanoe Valley Angler’s Club would be a sanctioned high school club under the Student Angler Foundation. Students would be required to follow the Viking Code, pay dues and remain academically eligible to participate. The club would operate year-round with local club events held in the summer and fall. A point system will determine the top anglers who would represent Tippecanoe Valley in spring competitions.

“I think you’d be surprised by the number of kids who will be into this,” said Backus.

To get the club started, students are seeking sponsors for the team to help cover financial aspects. The board expressed approval of the club and noted that to move on, the information needs to be added to the student handbook.

The school board took a few moments to recognize students who have recently made great accomplishments.

Dakota Prater was congratulated for his silver rating at the State Solo Ensemble for band. Prater plays the alto sax and this was his first year at state.

Kylee Masterson was congratulated for earning a gold medal at the State Solo Ensemble for vocal. It was noted that she also had the chance to perform the national anthem at the Unified Flag Football State Finals in October.

During the meeting, the board accepted the following donations and grants:

• Tucker Gold Beef LLC donated $500 towards bus cameras.
• The Tom Wilson Memorial Foundation, through the Northern Indiana Community Foundation, donated $1,450 towards bus cameras.
• Woodlawn Hospital donated flashing safety lights for each student in the school corporation to attach to their backpacks.
• A Donors Choose grant through Kaela Virgil, TVMS nurse was accepted for $284.55 towards hygiene supplies.
• A KEYS Grant to Kyleigh Gast in the amount of $475 for materials to support choice play time.
• A KEYS grant to Rosy Jansma in the amount of $1,500 for an IPad pilot project.
• A KEYS grant to Deb Miller in the amount of $252 for calming box materials.
• A KEYS grant to Dan Franklin in the amount of $593 for residential construction modules.

The board also:

• Heard a Spotlight of the Valley presentation from TVHS Principal Chad Cripe about the high school.
• Reviewed and approved various school board policy and handbook revisions.
• Approved the 2019 driver’s education program, which includes a summer classroom portion for $30 per student. The driving fee for the course is $255 with an optional $25 testing fee.
• Heard that the school corporation was named a #GoOpen Launch district by the United States Department of Education. This allows curriculum to replace a textbook using Open Education Resources.