Boyceville Board of Education approves safety plan and gives tips on how to beat the holiday blues
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By Amber Hayden
BOYCEVILLE — As the first of the new year approaches, the Boyceville Area School District has put the finishing touches on the safety procedures.
Superintendent Kevin Sipple asked the Board to approve the plan and documentation in order to submit the paperwork to the state by January 1.
School Board member Erik Evenson posed the question to the administration staff: if there is a crisis, are staff members going to have to read through a handout in order to assess the situation properly?
“Each employee has a binder with the safety plan, as well as meeting during the in-service days to go over what to do should a problem arise,” said Tiffany Creek Elementary principle Nick Kaiser.
“I was shocked that a lot of schools don’t have a crisis plan,” stated superintendent Kevin Sipple.
Tyler Moy, high school and middle school principal, informed the board that each safety plan is customized to each school and district. Since Boyceville is so small, there would be interaction between the districts including Colfax and Glenwood City.
Holiday Blues
With the upcoming Christmas holiday, Bonnie Barker, Director of Special Education/School Psychologist, gave the members a few quick tips on how to beat the pesky blues.
“I’ve had a lot of emails come through about how to take care of yourself and how to handle the blues,” Barker commented.
Here are several of the ideas Barker suggested – Acknowledge your feelings and know it’s ok to express them, reach out if you feel lonely or isolated; Be realistic— the holidays don’t have to be perfect; Set aside differences and accept family members and friends as they are; Stick to a budget, plan ahead and set aside specific days for shopping and other activities; Learn to say no instead of yes to keep resentful feelings from occurring; Keep up healthy eating and sleeping habits; But most importantly take a breather to make time for yourself.
Barker gave each member of the Board a Christmas ornament with a saying on it to celebrate World Disability day which took place on December 3. One of the sayings came from Stevie Wonder— “Just because a man lacks the use of his eyes doesn’t mean he lacks vision.”
In other business the Boyceville Board of Education:
• Approved the retirement of custodian Bob Salseg.
• Approved the hiring of Kacey Lane as Middle School girls’ basketball coach.
• Approved a new student activity account.
• Accepted a donation from George Christianson for $2,000 from the 2018 Alfalfa Fest proceeds.
• Accepted a donation from the Mayo Health Systems for $1,000 for the Wellness Walk.
The Boyceville Board of Education will meet again on January 16 at 6 p.m.