Colfax School District WIP intern: Hayden Goodman
PROTECTED CONTENT
If you’re a current subscriber, log in below. If you would like to subscribe, please click the subscribe tab above.
Username and Password Help
Please enter your email and we will send you a password reset link.
By LeAnn R. Ralph
COLFAX — Hayden Goodman says one of his goals is to help students find out they can do something that they did not think they could do — math.
Goodman is employed in a teaching internship at Colfax High School and introduced himself to the Board of Education at the March 11 meeting.
Goodman, and the Colfax school district, are participating in a new program called the Wisconsin Improvement Program teaching internship.
WIP is offered by the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction. The program is new, and the DPI wants to expand it, William C. Yingst Jr., district administrator, said during the Board of Education’s December meeting when he told the school board that an intern teacher in math would be starting in January.
Following a closed session at the Board of Education’s December meeting, the school board approved a retirement request from Vicki Seston, high school math teacher.
According to the program description on the DPI’s website, “The Wisconsin Improvement Program (WIP) provides an excellent opportunity for school districts, educator preparation programs, and the Department of Public Instruction to collaborate in the preparation of future teachers. WIP pairs promising student interns with experienced cooperating teachers in a semester-long clinical experience in a school district.”
Unlike student teachers, WIP teachers are paid interns.
Educators
Goodman, a student at UW-Eau Clare, told the Board of Education he is from Chippewa Falls and that he is the oldest of three brothers.
“I come from a family of educators. My parents started out as teachers, and now they are both administrators,” he said.
Working with students and “helping them to find out they can do what they did not think they could do” is one of his goal’s as a teacher, Goodman said.
Mathematics is typically not a well-liked subject, and students often convince themselves they cannot do math, he said.
Goodman said his goal is to make connections with students and “make the classroom somewhere they want to be.”
After students decide they want to be in the classroom, then they can work on finding out that they can do what they did not think they could, he said.
Math is applied everywhere in life, and it is the second-most important skill people can have. Math fits in right after knowing how to speak a language, Goodman said.
Ken Neuburg, a member of the Board of Education, noted that in his work, he uses complex mathematical equations but that he is still bewildered by how many teaspoons are in a tablespoon, or how many tablespoons are in a cup.
Neuburg is a packaging engineer.
Tilden
Goodman said his uncle is a math teacher in Marshfield. His mother is the high school head principal in Chippewa Falls, and his father has worked for CESA 10 and is now the middle school principal in Fall Creek.
When asked if he lived locally, Goodman said he grew up in Tilden and that he is commuting from Eau Claire right now.
After he graduates from UW-Eau Claire, Goodman said he plans to move back to Tilden to live with his parents.
Goodman played football for the UW-Eau Claire Blugolds and noted that he has started working out in the weight room at Colfax High School.
“I love football. I would like to help coach,” he said.
CESA contracts
The Colfax school board also approved two CESA contracts for the 2024-2025 school year at the March 11 meeting.
The contract with CESA 10 is for $20,950 and includes special education and pupil services, such as in-district personnel for Early Childhood, speech/language, a special education paraprofessional and a social worker.
The CESA 10 contract does not have a total associated with it but instead includes a list of services, some with dollar amounts for those services.
The curriculum mapping portion of the contract has changed from 20 days to 10 days,Yingst said.
Curriculum mapping helps teachers to make sure their curriculum is aligning with the state standards, he said.
Curriculum mapping is listed at $1,120 per day.
Other instructional services and professional development listed include comprehensive consulting and networking services for $6,890; healthy, safe and respectful schools for $2,675; and a special education instructional media center listed as $3,650/$5,400/$6,970.
The costs for other services with CESA 11 are listed as percentages of the annual Title 1 allocation; a consortium grant paid with federal funds; or calculated on an individual district basis.
Special education consultation is $1,145 per day, while school based services is listed as $75 per Medicaid eligible student, and supporting students with disabilities network is $2,760.
Other business
In other business, the Colfax Board of Education:
• Learned that the FFA Banquet will be held April 10 at 7 p.m. in the Colfax High School cafeteria.
• Learned that the National Honor Society Banquet will be held on April 3 at 7 p.m. in the Martin Anderson gymnasium.
• Learned that middle school track has 30 to 40 students; high school track has 27 students; softball has 24 students; baseball has 19 students; and four to seven students are interested in boys’ golf. Track started March 4. Softball started March 11. Baseball started March 18. Boys’ golf will start March 25. Middle school track will start April 1.
• Learned that the Colfax High School Science Olympiad team qualified for the state meet in Stevens Point on April 12 and 13.
• Learned that the Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) students have qualified for the state meet in Appleton on April 8 and 9. FBLA students participating in the state meet will be Amelia Schmitt competing in Hospitality & Tourism; Amanda Lemur competing in Web Design; Abigayle Fruit competing in Help Desk.
• Learned that the Family, Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA) competed in the Students Taking Action with Recognition (STAR) events at UW-Stout on February 15 and qualified for state in the following areas: Carmella Gullickson in Job Interview; Elizabeth Schmitt in Culinary Creations; Nathan Bosel in Baking & Pastry; Jordan Johnson in Baking & Pastry.
• Learned that students participating in Accelerated Reader at Colfax Elementary have an average score of 88 percent on quizzes, and that so far this year, students have read 63.2 million words, with nine students who have read over one million words, two students who have read over two million words, and one student who has read more than three million words.
• Leaned that “Stuart Little Family Night” on March 5 had 45 to 55 adults who participated. The event featured a light dinner and then activities for students related to the novel “Stuart Little” by E.B. White. Chris Peterson, the “Parenting Professor,” presented “Love and Logic” to parents.
• Learned that the Forward testing window for grades 3 to 8 and for students in grade 10 in the area of social studies only is March 18 to April 26. This is a computer-based test.
• Learned that ACT Aspire testing of students in grades 9 and 10 will take place between March 8 and April 26. The test will take place over the course of several days and is very strenuous.
• Learned that the open enrollment application window for the 2024-2025 school year remains open until April 30 at 4 p.m.
• Learned that parents of students in home school education are reminded that they must fill out the homeschool report (PI-1206) every year. The form must also be updated if parents and children move into an area served by a different school district. The form is available on the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction website.
• Learned that Door D at Colfax High School and Door T, which opens onto the Dee Clark Pavilion at Colfax Elementary, have been replaced.
• Learned that the school district’s workers’ compensation experience rating is 1.21. The rating had decreased for several years, but now it has increased again, Yingst said, noting that the school district has 120 employees. Yingst said that every year, he reminds teachers and coaches to be careful about not demonstrating overly-strenuous athletic technical skills and techniques and to be careful during playground and recess duty.
• Approved applications for Early College Credit for two students. Jaci Ackerlund, school board member, said that two students seemed to be fewer than in the past. John Dachel said two is less than in the past but that students want to take the classes offered at Colfax High School instead. Ackerlund asked if the school district is required to offer ECC, and Dachel said the school district is required, but that now there is a limit of 18 credits.
Following a closed session, the Colfax Board of Education:
• Accepted the resignation of Laney Dicks, teacher aide.
• Approved hiring Hayden Goodman as an assistant football coach.
