Lamar School District RE-2 welcomes new year with two new board members, celebrates Board Appreciation Month at meeting January 12

Superintendent Dr. Chad Krug with Robbie Adamson, and Jill Bellomy, new board members for RE-2

The Lamar School District RE-2, at its first meeting of the new year, celebrated Board Appreciation month and welcomed the two newest board members, Jill Bellomy and Robbie Adamson.  All board members were present, as was student board member Lucas Andrade of Lamar High School.  In his update, Lucas told the board that he visited Lamar Middle School to meet with students to hear their concerns.  Items they mentioned that they would like to see addressed were better bathrooms, more elective classes to choose from, more hands-on learning and girls sports including softball and flag football.  Representatives from Chartwells, the district’s food service provider, gave updates in which they told the board that more local foods are being used in the school menus, including beef from Wiley Beef and mushrooms from Great Plains Fungi, and saying they have been trying to be more innovative in meals offered.  There will be a celebrity chef, Jonathan Zaragoza from Chicago, visiting the Lamar Middle School on January 22 for a Global Eats Showcase to introduce Mexican-inspired meals to the students.  Students will meet for an assembly, and partake in an interactive lunch.  High school students in the culinary group will also participate in a cooking demonstration.  Board members were invited to attend.  As a show of appreciation for board members, Chartwells presented an offering including chili, homemade tortillas, and banana cake for the board members to enjoy after the meeting, saying everything was made from scratch.

Principal updates from both Washington and Parkview elementary schools were presented at the meeting.  Washington Principal Kenny Davis first thanked the board members for all that they do for the teachers and students in the district, saying “you take good care of us and do a thankless job, so thank you very much”.  He then presented data regarding recent student testing and metrics of achievement, saying that overall the students are above average, with the kindergarten students well above the average.  Overall growth is very good across the board for the school.  He said both the art show and Christmas concert were well attended and enjoyed by all.  The Lamar elementary basketball camp, which is free to students, began just before the night’s meeting and will continue for four weeks at Lamar Middle School.  He spoke of how excited several students were about being able to attend, with one girl in particular repeatedly telling Davis each time she saw him throughout the day that she was so excited that she could attend because her parents couldn’t afford it if it wasn’t free.

Parkview Principal Mat Biszak also gave metrics of student test scores which are also above average, and explained Colorado’s READ Act to board members.  The READ Act involves getting students reading at their grade level before entering fourth grade.  He said that it has been shown that students who are not able to read at their grade level by this time have much higher dropout rates and lower testing scores as they progress.  With Biszak was Kathleen LaCost, Parkview’s Gifted and Talented teacher.  She told the board about those students, whom she teaches once a week after the regular school day.  The students participate in STEM challenges which they very much enjoy, loving the ability to experiment.  As part of their November reading program, the students read the book “Mary Poppins” and then attended a stage presentation of Mary Poppins as part of a field trip to Colorado Springs which was very much enjoyed by the students from their third-row seats. After the show, they discussed differences between the book, movie and stage presentation.  Their next hands-on project was to construct an umbrella (inspired by the Mary Poppins show) made from coffee filters, string, glue and straws.  Biszak had brought with him a large tray of live plants which he showed to the board.  They included a chili pepper, perennial flower, thyme, lima bean, and an okra plant that was flowering.  Most interesting to the students was the lima bean plant that was already forming beans.  The plant had been grown from an inexpensive bag of lima beans purchased at the grocery store and he said it gave students an opportunity to see how plants can grow food that not only can be eaten but later found in stores.  The students learned about soil, how plants can get rootbound and need larger pots and Biszak said that gardening also gives them experience in responsibility as they keep the plants alive.  The plants were grown in the school by students as part of their greenhouse project.  He said there were over 500 plants currently growing at the school in preparation for the spring plant sale fundraiser.

The board approved travel study trip requests for the Lamar High School FFA to attend the National Western Stock Show in Denver January 21, Parkview 4^th grade students to travel to the US Olympic/Paralympic Training Center and Museum in Colorado Springs on January 22, and the Lamar High School DECA students to travel to the Broadmoor in Colorado Springs February 22-24 to attend the state competition.  Hirings of four personnel were approved, as was the transfer of two personnel and resignation of one person.

By: Barbara Crimond