GC school board gains hands-on experience
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HOW TO STACK CUPS — Glenwood City Elementary student McKinley Olson demonstrated how to sport or cup stack during the December 12 school board meeting. —photo by Shawn DeWitt
GLENWOOD CITY — In their final meeting of 2022, members of the Glenwood City school board gained some hands-on experience – stacking cups.
Elementary physical educational teacher Holly Olson brought four of her students, Arleigh Jansa, McKinley Olson, Ryker Steies and Connor Ohman, to the Monday, December 12 meeting to demonstrate cup stacking or sport stacking for this month’s staff presentation to board members.
Olson said the four students that were in attendance to demonstrate sport stacking had become the fastest and most proficient when the unit was taught as part of the phy ed curriculum.
Olson explained that cup or sport stacking, which has participants stacking and unstacking plastic cups as quickly as possible, is a fitness-based sport that kids and adults of all backgrounds and abilities can do. It is an effective activity in enhancing hand-eye coordination and reaction time which utilizes both sides of the brain.
Olson informed the board that the Glenwood City Elementary had also participated in the 2022 WSSA Stack Up where local students helped to set a world record for the “Most people sport stacking at multiple locations” which involved 737,863 total people.
Following a power-point presentation that included photos and video of Glenwood City elementary students learning to sport stack, it was time for board members and administrators to try their hand at the activity.
After the four students each demonstrated the skill, they took turns in leading the adults in trying to stack cups which proved to be a fun activity for all present.
At the conclusion of their presentation, the students were given a round of applause and thanked.
In other business, Superintendent Tim Johnson reported that the new state report cards had recently been released and that the Glenwood City High School, Middle School and Elementary School all received score that were exceeding expectations. Johnson noted that Glenwood City was the only district out of 39 school in their CESA region to achieve that ranking for all of its schools.
Several items were covered during the administration team’s report to the board this past Monday.
Erin McCarthy gave an update on the district’s safety and security assessment that was begun in the fall of 2021. She also gave details on the upcoming child development day which will be held January 27.
Elementary principal Betsy Haltinner shared some insights that were learned during the district’s recent professional development days which were held November 21 and 22. Haltinner also noted that some of the playground equipment is aging and needs replacement which the Parent Teacher Connection is working on.
An update on next summer’s CTE project was given by high school/middle school principal Marcy Burch. She also stated that the update may include replacing floor tiles in the commons, high school cafeteria and stage area. Burch told the board that preliminary bids revealed a cost of $41,000 to replace the tiles with the cost possibly being covered by a current surplus in the food service account. Board members expressed concern and said they would like to investigate using the surplus to improve the quality, variety and nutritional value of school lunches.
In his report to the board, Superintendent Johnson said the district would need to hire a new firm to do the district’s annual audits. Johnson said that Bauman Associates, who has handle the district’s audits for many years, would no longer be doing audits of school districts. He told board members that CLA or CliftonLarsonAllen LLP would now be doing the audits noting that the firm with local offices in Eau Claire and Rice Lake do audits for many area school districts.
Johnson also informed the board that the WIAA has released its new football-only conference realignment proposal for the 2024 and 2025 seasons. In that proposal, Glenwood City would be moved out of the Dunn-St. Croix conference and placed into a newly formed Heart O’ North Small Conference that would also include Cameron, Chetek-Weyerhaeuser, Clear Lake, Grantsburg, Ladysmith and Turtle Lake. Expressing his displeasure, Johnson said the proposal, if approved, would significantly increase travel times and eliminate several long-standing rivalries. He told members that he would be attending a hearing in January on the proposal to express the district’s concerns.
During the action items portion of the meeting, the board approved a request by Johnson to allow the district to setup automatic monthly payments to Reliance Standard and New Era. Reliance Standard charges Glenwood City about $2,000 per month to handle its life insurance and short-term and long-term disability insurance. New Era is a contracted services company that the district’s uses to technology and back-up services at a cost of $1,600 per month.
In other action, the board:
•Accepted the resignations of Casey Nolde as assistant track coach and Rachel Nied as assistant golf coach.
•Approved Connor Williams as a full-time, 12-month employee for Hilltopper Hangtime.
•Approved the 2023 Spring sports coaches: Dean Fayerweather – head baseball; Tom Stack – assistant baseball; David Popko – head golf; Tryn Gross – middle school track; Matthew Schutz – head softball; Tracy Marback – assistant softball; and Tom Klatt and Ron Hanestad – co-head track.
