Pictured, from left, are Corporation Treasurer Jessica McFarland, School Board President Aaron Zolman and Superintendent Blaine Conley during the live-streamed meeting.

By Maggie Kenworthy
InkFreeNews

AKRON — The monthly Tippecanoe Valley School Board meeting was held virtually via a Facebook Live video Monday night, April 20.

The board heard a report from Lori Tilden-Geiger, director of marketing, about a $30,000 grant from the K21 Health Foundation in support of the TVHS Project Lead the Way Biomedical Program.

“They’ve just been an outstanding and vital partner in education,” said Tilden-Geiger. “And today, more than ever, we see the vital and critical importance of the biomedical education and the healthcare career path.”

This grant will fund the PLTW curriculum, supplies and professional development. Students will have the ability to investigate a career in the health fields in ways that had not been offered to them before this class was available. It was noted that this will provide an opportunity for career development in the orthopedic and biomedical career field, which is a driving force in the community given the proximity to Zimmer-Biomet, DePuy, Medtronic and others.

The board voted unanimously to accept the grant.

The board also approved a donation of emergency supplies from Tippecanoe Valley School Corporation to the Office of Homeland Security. This donation included 60 boxes of gloves, 160 N95 masks, hand sanitizer, safety glasses and loose gloves.

Superintendent Blaine Conley explained that the school was thankful for these donated supplies and wanted to return the favor. “They have provided us with a lot of supplies for our classrooms and with the current situation of COVID-19, we are asking you to approve a donation of those items back to the office of Homeland Security,” said 

At the end of the meeting, School Board President Aaron Zolman took a moment to thank all the staff members for their hard work recently.

“It just makes me smile to see all the good things that are happening. Everybody is chipping in, they’re working together. I’ve seen nothing but positive coming out of this. On behalf of the board, I just want to say a big thank you to your entire team and staff.”

The next regular school board meeting will be held at 6 p.m. Monday, May 18. The hope is that this meeting will be held at Akron Elementary School.

In other news, the board:

• Accepted a $1,000 Indiana Commission for Higher Education-Teacher Residency Planning grant.
• Accepted a $200 donation from the Akron/Mentone Kiwanis for the Unified Champion Schools Program; a $500 donation from the Lakes Area Autism Network for the Unified Champion Schools Program; a $100 donation from Splendor Boats for the Unified Champion Schools Program; and a $1,000 donation from Lifetouch Ministries & Counseling Center for Boomerang Backpacks/Viking Vittles.
• Approved assigning Doug West as the varsity volleyball coach at TVHS.
• Accepted the resignation of Jeanann Dean, instructional assistant at Mentone Elementary.
• Heard an update on the progress of the Softball field project.
• Gave initial consideration of revisions to the student, staff and athletic handbooks for the 2020-2021 school year.
• Approved an updated grading policy for TVHS that was discussed during the work session.