Don Bokhart, center, is shown leading the agenda at the Dec. 14 meeting of the Wawasee School Board. On the left is Mike Wilson and to the right is Andy Cripe. Photo by Tim Ashley.

By Tim Ashley
InkFreeNews

SYRACUSE — It was a year of many changes, but also one of several accomplishments for the Wawasee Community School Corporation. School board president Don Bokhart took time recently to share some thoughts on what has transpired in 2021.

Bokhart noted the vision and mission statements for the school corporation were rewritten and “we came up with our core values, beliefs and expectations,” he added. “It kind of grounds us and says where we want to go from here.”

The vision statement “All Wawasee Community School Corporation students are confident, well-rounded, college and career ready citizens who possess integrity and positively impact their communities,” is recited at the beginning of each school board meeting.

Work on implementing professional learning communities kicked into high gear after being set aside in 2020 due to COVID. “We are looking at and evaluating curriculum, what we teach, how we teach, how we assess and what we do with that data,” Bokhart said.

Teachers work together in teams with a major goal of aligning the curriculum across the corporation. For example, if a third-grade student transfers from Milford Elementary to Syracuse Elementary, they should be able to pick up where they left off.

“We want to align the curriculum so all elementary schools (and middle schools) are teaching the same things at about the same time,” said Dr. Steve Troyer, WCSC superintendent. “They end up in Wawasee High School and the teachers there will expect some consistency. They need the same ‘bucket’ of knowledge and experiences.”

A four-year implementation plan for PLCs was presented to the school board earlier this year and Troyer termed it “a big, big project.”

Also this year the teacher contract was addressed. “The Legislature came through for funding to give teachers a pay raise,” Bokhart said. It was a significant raise of slightly more than 10% and also included a complete overhaul of the master contract. Classified staff and administrators were also given pay raises.

Pre-K and toddler early learning centers in the school corporation are now all state-certified. “That is big for the community also because of the lack of childcare available in the area,” though Bokhart emphasized early learning centers are not just day care centers but they prepare kids for kindergarten.

Troyer began as superintendent in early January; also this year a new assistant superintendent, Dr. Shelly Wilfong, was hired. “We had a lot of change in the central office this year,” Bokhart said.

In his first few months this year, Troyer spent a lot of time gathering information from stakeholders through public meetings and other means. The school board identified two critical issues to address in increasing student achievement and the financial health and well-being of the school corporation.

And Wawasee High School had two Lilly Scholarship winners in Nyla White and Samantha Kolberg.

“We would like to continue going forward telling our story,” Bokhart said.