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.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Maroon Echoes StaffAdvisor- Ronnie Waggoner Archives
November 2020
Keep up with the latests by clicking the link below and following these accounts!
Buy A Target Yearbook Today!
Start Capturing Your Memories Here!
Sign Up for Our Newsletter Today!Want weekly updates from the Maroon Echoes Right in your inbox? Click the button below!
|