Liam HalawithMaroon Echoes Editor-In-Chief On Monday, June 8th, the Mount Pleasant Community School District Board of Directors meet in their regular monthly board session. In this session, the board approved a Memorandum of Understanding with the iJAG program stating that the district would continue the program next year. The iJAG or Iowa Jobs for American Graduates program focuses on students who are at risk of dropping out of school. The program helps give them somewhere that they can be understood and learn things they wouldn’t normally learn in a classroom. The program acts as another student advisor of sorts to those in the program. This year’s program was a success with a 100% graduation rate in the program. High school principal Todd Lichety, swears by the program stating that most of the kids in the program wouldn’t have made it without the help of Mr. Toni Swayzer the iJAG program coordinator for the high school. According to Mr. Swayzer, the goal of the program is to help kids understand their potential, “We are going to put our kids in a position to understand every opportunity that is presented to them. This is a great school district and there are lots of opportunities that kids do not realize.” According to Mr. Lichety the program allows for students to find their place in a less traditional way than others: “The iJAG program fits another niche of kids. You have kids who are into athletics, kids who are into academics, kids who are into art, etc. Those are all niches that kids fit into and this is another place, where we have a unique set of kids that aren’t involved in anything else, that they can become involved in.” The program allows for the school to make a connection with students who don’t feel like school is the right thing for them. It helps the high school connect with kids who are troubled, and allows the school to make a difference in a meaningful way. According to Mr. Swayzer the program is designed to help seniors figure out what their plans are after high school whether it be college or work: “Our goal is to put our kids in a position to be successful - not everyone has to go to college, and if they do our job is to help facilitate that. We also help them find a way after high school if they are going straight into the workforce.” The program has a lot of benefits for the high school, but now the school district has to find the money to pay to continue to support the program. Mr. Henriksen is looking to get a donation of $10,000 from a local business to help offset the district’s cost for the iJAG program. For the first year iJAG covered the district’s share of the bill. Now in its second year, the district must pay ⅓ of the operating cost for the program. The total cost of the programs runs $60,000 per school. This year the district must contribute 20,000 dollars for the program, this is unless Mr. Henriksen can get local businesses to donate half of the cost. According to Mr. Henriksen, he has a business lined up but is having some issues with corporate, “I told the finance committee that I am working with a local business to try and get a $10,000 donation to that program [iJAG] and the business here locally would love to do it. Corporately the challenge is that we need to be at 50% free and reduced lunches [at the high school] for that donation. I am still working with that business to try and make that happen.” The board also discussed the Return-to-Learn guidance published by the Iowa Department of Education. The school district has to come up with three plans for curriculum delivery by July 1st. That includes a remote learning model, a hybrid model, and a “brick and mortar” model; one in the actual school building. The department of education has left it to the individual school district’s on how they are going to apply the rules of social distancing to their school. Mr. Henriksen is still in the planning phase for the submission. He hopes to have a solid plan in place by July 1st. He is meeting with public health officials, building principal’s, and other administrative support staff to begin the process. For more from the school board meeting, watch the full meeting on MPTV’s youtube channel at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xEP6M4JgMU The school board meets again Monday, July 13th, 2020.
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Liam HalawithMaroon Echoes News On Sunday Afternoon Maggie Fitzpatrick [2021] and her friend Emma Crull [2022] took to the Mount Pleasant town square to stand up for what they believed in.
The two were there to give their voice to the national conversation on race and police brutality. Armed with signs, the two marched around the square, waving at traffic, and showing their support. This national movement began after 46-year-old George Floyd was killed by Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin. Floyd was arrested on the suspicion of using a counterfeit $20 bill. Bystanders recorded the interaction between Floyd, Chauvin, and two other officers. In the video, Chauvin placed his knee on Floyd’s neck in an effort to restrain him. In the recording, Floyd can be heard saying: “I Can’t Breath”. Fitzpatrick was hesitant at first to talk about the issue, “At first I was super nervous because I don’t want to shove my privilege on them and make their story insignificant, but then I realized that I am just trying to help and support their stories.” She organized the protest because she doesn't want things to continue the way they are. She wanted to speak out, “I just can’t let police brutality and systemic racism go on any longer.” She says her goal is to enlighten others about systematic racism, “As a white person… I recognize that I have a privilege in America that people of color do not. So I wanted to use that to educate people.” Fitzpatrick hopes that everyone reflects on their own, “Question your current beliefs, because you think you might think you're not racist, but I think there are subconscious parts of us that are racist.” Fitzpatrick believes there are many ways people can get involved in the movement. You can share it on social media, participate in the protest, and make sure you have hard conversations with the people you love. This one protest is just a small part of a nationwide movement to end police brutality and injustice towards African Americans. Maggie and Emma were not the only MPCHS students who wanted to contribute to the national conversation. On Friday, Olivia Larson [2021] hosted a protest on the Iowa Wesleyan University campus. The assembly started with a speech on the issue by the organizer Olivia Larson. They then held an 8-minute long moment of silence for George Floyd. Then the protesters took to the sidewalk to spread their message. See coverage at the Southeast Iowa Union News. This comes along with nationwide protests on police brutality and racism. These protests have shot through almost every community in the nation. In Mount Pleasant, we are seeing peaceful protests often enough for a community conversation on the issue. Follow us for more on what our students are doing about it. Liam HalawithMaroon Echoes Editor The Iowa Department of Education announced in late May that the Iowa high school summer sports season could start practices for summer sports on June 1st and begin playing games on June 15th. The department of education also released guidance for the school districts that want to participate in the 2020 summer sports season.
The guidance particularly explains how athletes are to maintain social distancing while playing softball and baseball. In accordance with this guidance, the Mount Pleasant Community School District wants to make sure that student-athletes are safe and comfortable. “We have taken the proper safety protocols put out by the CDC and IDPH. Our coaches have been trained as well as our administrators to make sure the guidelines are met and followed,” said Scot Lamm the activities director in a press release published last Friday afternoon. The school district asks that all parents, athletes, and fans help everyone stay safe and healthy by taking social distancing into account when they attend games. “Our goal is to provide a safe environment for our student-athletes to compete and showcase their talents. This is a tremendous opportunity for everyone, with all eyes on Iowa. We can take great pride in being the first to open up high school athletics and to do so in a safe manner,” said Mr. Lamm in the same press release. These guidelines went into effect after Governor Kim Reynolds announced that school activities could return on June 1st. The Iowa High School Sporting Association and the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union set out to determine what this would look like and the results were the guidelines that were released by the department of education. These guidelines make things a little more difficult but are designed to hopefully not hurt the competition. “The guidelines laid out by the Department of Education and the Department of Public Health will enable us to safely move forward with a softball season this summer," IGHSAU executive director Jean Berger said in a statement. "We are grateful for their leadership and support." “We know the games will have different circumstances and that we will all have to work together to keep everyone safe, but we are confident that we are up to this challenge.” The Mount Pleasant Panther’s first game of the season is scheduled to be a varsity doubleheader against the Fort Madison Bloodhounds on June 15th at Mapleleaf athletic complex. Listed below are the social distancing guidelines that have been put in place for practices starting June 1st:
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