Colfax schedules student-staff team building Aug. 29 & 30

By LeAnn R. Ralph

COLFAX  —  Students and staff in the Colfax school district will be working on team building activities August 29 and August 30 before the first day of classes September 4.

August 29 and 30 would count toward summer school minutes, said William C. Yingst Jr., district administrator, at the Colfax Board of Education’s April 23 meeting.

The school district can try it for one year. Attendance is not mandatory, and the school district would provide bus service for those students who want to participate, he said.

The purpose of the two days is for the teachers to get to know the students, for the students to get to know the teachers and to help with transitions to new grade levels, Yingst said.

The team-building activities will be for students and staff from kindergarten through 12th grade.

Once the students and teachers are back in a regular classroom schedule, “it’s rush-rush-rush, rules, and academics,” Yingst said.

“It would be valuable to try,” he added.

The team building exercises would be built around the “Tribes” concept, Yingst said.

According to the Tribes website (www.tribes.com), thousands of schools across Canada, the United States, Australia and other countries have become Tribes Learning Communities.  

Tribes is described as a step-by-step process to achieve specific learning goals through which four agreements are honored: attentive listening; appreciation and no put-downs; mutual respect; and the right to pass, according to the website.

Trevor Hovde, principal at Colfax Elementary, has had training in Tribes 1 and Tribes 2.

The concept is to build a learning community with kids through listening and respect, Hovde said.

There are “tons of activities” to build a sense of community. Considering all of the mental health issues among school children in America today, the Tribes concept allows school staff to build relationships with kids and to connect with them personally, he said.

At times, teachers feel under pressure to encourage students to reach their full potential by focusing only on academics, Hovde said.

With the Tribes program, there is no pressure for the curriculum, but instead, students and teachers learn how to play together to connect and to build relationships from a positive perspective, he said.

“You had me at the word ‘trial.’ I am always for trying something and then evaluating it,” said Ken Bjork, school board member.

The Colfax school district has a poverty rate of 45 percent, and Yingst said he is hoping for over half of the students to participate.

The school district would serve breakfast and lunch and the students can ride the bus, he said.

Jodi Kiekhafer, school board member, wondered if the students would sign up for the program so the school has an idea of who will be participating.

The bus drivers check in with each of the families on their routes before school starts, so perhaps the bus drivers could also confirm then whether the students in the family will be participating August 29 and 30, Yingst said.

The team building days were introduced as part of the school calendar for the 2018-2019 school year.

The Colfax Board of Education unanimously approved the 2018-2019 school calendar.

The last day of school for students will be May 31, 2019.

Vans

At the April 23 meeting, the Board of Education also approved buying up to three used low-mileage vans to replace the school district’s aging fleet of vans.

The referendum projects came in under budget, and with some of the money that remains, the school district could upgrade the vans, Yingst said.

The 1995 and 1996 red vans used by the school district have 150,000 miles and 189,000 miles on them. The third van, a Pontiac Montana mini-van, has 179,000 miles, he said.

Colfax Chevrolet and Gilberts of Sand Creek have a number of mini-vans available in the $20,000 plus range, Yingst said.

The school district’s insurance company frowns on the bigger, older vans, he said, noting he prefers not to send the big vans out very far from the school district.

The vans are essential when four, five or six students need to be transported somewhere, Yingst said.

Kiekhafer said she did not want the school district to be in the position of having to replace all three vans at the same time at some point in the future.

Since the school district has money available now, the vans should be purchased. Just because all three are purchased at once does not mean they all have to be used at the same rate so the mileage can be staggered for replacement purposes, Bjork pointed out.

Todd Kragness, school board president, said he was in favor of the purchase if Yingst could “get a good deal” on the vans.

Ken Neuburg, school board member, asked if the old vans would be put up for sale.

“Yes,” Yingst replied.

This would be an opportunity to get those old vans off the road, said Kyle Knutson, school board member.

The Colfax Board of Education unanimously approved a motion to purchase up to three vans at a cost not to exceed $70,000.

Other business

In other business, the Colfax Board of Education:

• Held the organizational meeting and re-elected Todd Kragness as president; Kenneth Neuburg as vice president; Christie Hill as clerk; Kyle Knutson as treasurer. The Colfax Messenger also was approved as the official newspaper and the official meeting date was confirmed as the third Monday of the month. The school district’s official auditor is Wipfli LLP, and the legal firm is Weld Riley. Christie Hill was confirmed again as the CESA No. 11 delegate, and Ken Neuburg was confirmed as the Wisconsin Association of School Boards representative.

• Learned Yingst had sent a letter of intent to the Department of Justice for the amount of $200,000 for a school safety grant. The money would be used for more security cameras and door-locking devices for the classrooms. Yingst said school districts were advised to send a letter of intent because the DOJ does not yet have official grant applications forms.

• Approved keeping the summer swimming lessons at the same cost of $20 for one student and $30 for a family.

• Approved the resignation of Vicki Seston as the swimming lessons coordinator.

• Agreed to keep liquidated damages at the same amount. If a teacher resigns between June 16 and July 31, the amount assessed is $1,500 for breaking the contract, and if the resignation comes in after August 1, $3,000 is assessed for breaking the contract.

• Accepted the resignation of John Nelson, agriculture teacher and FFA advisor. In his April 17 letter, Nelson offered to help train his replacement if someone is hired prior to the Colfax Free Fair. Nelson has taught at Colfax for five years. He will be going to the Cochran-Fountain City school district, Yingst said.