Southern Illinois News

Anna Jonesboro Community High School District 81 Board of Education met Feb. 20.

Here are the minutes provided by the board:

The Anna-Jonesboro Community High School held a special meeting on February 1, 2024. Upon roll call at 5:00 p.m. the following members were present: Mr. Vosburgh, Mr. Houseman, Mrs. Johnson, Mrs. Plott, Mr. Mix, and Mr. Bracken.

On motion by Mr. Houseman and seconded by Mr. Bracken to approve the Agenda as written. All members present voting yes.

Recognition of Visitors and Correspondence/Public Comments: None

On motion by Mrs. Johnson and seconded by Mr. Mix for the Board to enter into closed session at 5:01 p.m. for: (1) the selection of a person to fill a public office, as defined by the Open Meetings Act, including a vacancy in a public office, when the public body is given power to appoint under law or ordinance, or the discipline, performance or removal of the occupant of a public office, when the body is given power to remove the occupant under law or ordinance. 5ILCS 120/2 (c)(3) On roll call, all members present voting yes. Motion carried.

On motion by Mrs. Johnson and seconded by Mr. Bracken to return to regular session at 6:13 p.m. On roll call, all members present voting yes. Motion carried.

Motion by Mr. Houseman and seconded by Mrs. Plott to adjourn the special meeting at 6:13 p.m. All members present voting yes. Motion carried.

The Anna-Jonesboro Community High School held its regular meeting on February 20, 2024. Upon roll call at 6:00 p.m. the following members were present: Mr. Vosburgh, Mr. Houseman, Mrs. Johnson, Mrs. Plott, Mr. Mix, and Mr. Bracken.

On motion by Mr. Houseman and seconded by Mr. Vosburgh to approve the Agenda as written. All members present voting yes. Motion carried.

On motion by Mr. Houseman and seconded by Mr. Bracken to appoint Grover Mays as new Board Member. On roll call, all members present voting yes. Motion carried.

Mr. Vosburgh administered the Oath of Office to new member Grover Mays.

On motion by Mrs. Johnson and seconded by Mrs. Plott to approve the Consent Agenda which contained the following items: approval of board minutes on 1/12/2024, 1/16/2024, 2/1/2024; approval of closed session minutes; approval of payment for bills; acceptance of financial reports and acceptance of resignation of Kelsie Clutts – Credit Recovery supervisor. On roll call, all members present voting yes. Motion carried.

Recognition of visitors and correspondence: Tim King-Kings Financial, Ryan Dodd-Dodd Architects, and Kevin Willis-Bernardi Securities.

Items of Interest from Student Council: Good evening AJ board members, administration, and guests. My name is Addyson Bailey and I am the vice president of the student council. My name is Alayna Menees and I am the senior representative for the student council. We had a dance on February 17th to try and raise money for the club and add more fun experiences throughout the year for the high school students. Presli, Jaylen, and Drue are all on the LEDSC Credential Committee; they went to training on January 18th. On February 15th they all went to Marion High School where they got to interview all the candidates running including Brooklynn Eastman who is running for Secretary. Student council also got the opportunity to sell AJ wildcat blankets as a fundraiser. We will be receiving those blankets in early March. We also bought a couple extra for anyone interested in buying one. Student Council, NHS, Beta Club, and FCA all sent volunteers to help with the Youth Wrestling Tournament and Anna Junior High Volleyball Tournament. This year we will be giving all the staff members a little gift for Leap Day which is a pack of extra gum with a note saying “Enjoy your EXTRA day this leap year!”

Items of Interest from Teachers: Two teams attended the ROE Brain Games competition. They consisted of one student from each grade level. Students attending were Natti Corbit, Grayson Garner, Drue Teske, Jay Althoff, Ruby Yates, Chesnee Marks, Matti Houseman, and Brianna Bruner. One team placed third and will be advancing to the sectional competition in April. The ACES team placed third in regional competition at SCC. The following students placed individually: Chesnee Marks - 3rd in physics and chemistry, Ruby Yates - 2nd in physics, Payton Brust - 2nd in biology, Victoria Perez - 3rd in math, Tysen Tripp - 1st in English. The individual medalists will advance to the sectional competition at SIU in March. The Culinary classes made chocolate covered strawberries for the annual sale. We also teamed up with Annabelle Market and sold Strawberries at Galentines this year. Mrs. Massey was also approached by Liz Wilkins from Country Roads Flower and Gift shop to team up with her and she is incorporating the strawberries into floral arrangements. We are also helping cater the girls’ basketball banquet later this week. Student Services hosted this year's first FAFSA night in January. This was a co-op with SIU, Shawnee Community College and Cobden High School. We had a great turn out and several families were able to attend. Mrs. Miller and Ms. Webb were also able to attend a training session at Shawnee Community College in January to learn about the many changes coming to the Federal Student Aid program this year. We are planning another FAFSA day here at AJ this spring as well as a Parent education night with Shawnee Community College in March. This will provide parents with the opportunity to receive information about Dual credit classes, scholarships, college applications and FAFSA. Ms. Charicata kicked off the second semester SEL lessons with vision boards which covered the lesson topics of setting life goals and envisioning your future. Mrs. Sawyer was able to attend the McKinney-Vento/Youth-In-Care training in January where she was able to gather new information on ways to help our McKinney-Vento students and network with other area liaisons. Lastly, our Social workers attended the Behavior Assessment Training Project at SIUC. This training was to help improve mastering writing adequate Functional Behavior Assessments (FBA’s) and Behavior Intervention Plans (BIP’s) for students. Conversations Mrs. Houseman and Mrs. Frownfelter have had with their students this month as a result of the curriculum currently used in English III classes:

• The recent conviction of a parent of a school shooter (manslaughter). We’ve been discussing how much responsibility parents bear for their offspring and whether or not the expectations for parents are realistic.

• We talked about tribalism and the ways in which social media has potentially pushed that concept to the point that it’s not unusual to reduce another person’s humanity to whatever side they’re defending.

• We discussed the difficulty of self-reflection while also acknowledging its value.

• We discussed the fact that depression and anxiety are the MOST TREATABLE of mental illnesses—and that treatment doesn’t just mean medication.

• We reviewed what we’d been discussing about false equivalence and the ways in which media can potentially distort information to make it appear as though all information carries the same weight. We also discussed how social media specifically causes this particular issue in current society.

• Classes watched The Social Dilemma and discussed the fact that social media IS currently the news people receive, but it also gives everyone a platform–reporter or not. Using these platforms requires self-restraint, a solid understanding of how they work, and the ability to sort through “fake news.”

• We talked about positivity—and not toxic positivity. We discussed the value in practicing gratitude and how those with resilience often find worth in their circumstances (good or bad).

Our Scholar Bowl teams performed well at the conference tournament. JV placed 1st in their division and Varsity placed 2nd in their division. Drake Bible (a sophomore) made the all - conference team at both events! AJ artists attended the Scholastic Awards on the 11th in Mt. Vernon. The students were presented their awards on stage at the event. (see program) Art students attended the Little

Egypt Awards ceremony on Sunday the 18th in Marion. Kricket Koehn received a 5th place in this competition and a cash award. (see program) The math department attended the 38th annual Illinois Council of Teachers of Mathematics Conference. This was held at John A Logan College on Thursday, February 15th. They attended sessions with the following presented concepts: increasing student involvement in the classroom, learning by doing and not watching, mentimeter.com, maximizing learning and practice in the classroom, implementing problem based instructional tasks, facilitating students making mathematical connections, math requirements for college of business majors at SIUC, challenging students in abstract and complex concepts, and engaging in visual stories and simple lesson plans. The math department is excited about the new and intriguing concepts they learned about at the conference. They will be holding a math department in the coming weeks to discuss with each other ways to implement some of these new concepts into their classrooms. The math department would like to thank Mr. Wright and the board for once again allowing all of them to attend this informative conference. The National Honor Society completed acts of kindness in the community and school on Valentine’s Day after school dismissed at 11:30. Some groups delivered thank you cards and notes to teachers, others left notes of kindness and inspiration on lockers, cars, and mirrors, and others returned shopping carts, left change at the laundromat, or popcorn on the Redbox. Groups came up with their own activities to complete and worked in teams to carry out their acts of kindness. Mrs. Maze’s Civics students are currently learning about the importance of citizenship and how to be involved in our communities. Students will be encouraged to attend future school board meetings, while also reaching out to board members about specific issues in the building they would like to see addressed. Mrs. Maze has recently been nominated as the 2024 National History Teacher of the Year by the Gilder Lehrman Institution. Last semester, she was awarded the 2023 Teacher of the Year by McDonalds. This week marks the celebration of National FFA Week. Earlier today, our chapter had the honor of engaging with our feeder schools to educate students on agricultural topics. We discussed the importance of pollinators with Anna's second graders, the corn production process with Jonesboro's second graders, sunflower growth and germination at Our World Learning Center, and beef cattle with the Lick Creek FFA members. Tomorrow's dress up day theme will be Red, White, and Blue Day. We will also be in attendance at the Southern Illinois University FFA Night basketball game, where they will face off against Murray State. On Thursday, we will host a Hat and Pajama Day, where participants can contribute $1 to support P.A.W.S. The week's festivities will conclude on Friday with several engaging activities. Students will have the opportunity to partake in 'Drive Your Tractor to School Day,' followed by a complimentary pancake breakfast at 7 a.m. We will also show our chapter spirit on Blue and Gold Day, participate in a teacher vs. student’s obstacle course, and hold the much-anticipated 'Kiss the Pig' event. The teacher who garners the most donations will have the honor of kissing a pig during a school assembly. All proceeds from this week's events will directly benefit P.A.W.S.

Curriculum Director Finders spoke about the annual report on student performance and academic improvement.

Principal Detering spoke about failure reports, 5 essentials survey, and discipline.

Superintendent Wright reported on a school resource officer, IASA Shawnee Division meeting, school program maintenance grant, summer projects, NSLP equipment grant, and Dongola High School.

On motion by Mr. Houseman and seconded by Mr. Mix for the Board to enter into closed session at 8:36 p.m. for the following reasons (1) the purpose of appointment, employment, compensation, discipline, performance, or dismissal of specific employee of the public body or legal counsel for the public body, including hearing testimony on a complaint lodged against an employee of the public body or against legal counsel for the public to determine its validity. 5ILCS 120/2(c)(1) On roll call, all members present voting yes. Motion carried.

On motion by Mrs. Johnson and seconded by Mr. Vosburgh to return to regular session at 11:47. On roll call, all members present voting yes. Motion carried.

Mr. Wright passed out Economic Interest Statements to each member.

On motion by Mr. Houseman and seconded by Mrs. Johnson to approve contract as presented employing Brett Detering as the new Superintendent beginning July 1, 2024. On roll call, 5 yeas (Vosburgh, Houseman, Johnson, Plott, Mix) 2 nays (Bracken, Mays). Motion carried.

On motion by Mr. Bracken and seconded by Mrs. Johnson to approve the Memorandum of Understanding regarding an additional assistant track coach. On roll call, all members present voting yes. Motion carried.

On motion by Mrs. Johnson and seconded by Mr. Bracken to approve the Memorandum of Understanding with Centerstone. On roll call, all members present voting yes. Motion carried.

On motion by Mr. Vosburgh and seconded by Mr. Mix to approve the bid from Mike Keller for mowing the soccer fields. On roll call, all members present voting yes. Motion carried.

Mr. Wright reminded the board members of their responsibility as Mandated Reporters.

On motion by Mrs. Plott and seconded by Mrs. Johnson to accept the Rescission of Resignation from Reagan Morrison. On roll call, all members present voting yes. Motion carried.

On motion by Mr. Mix and seconded by Mrs. Johnson to approve energy contract with Direct Energy for 48 months as Presented. On roll call, all members present voting yes. Motion carried.

On motion by Mr. Vosburgh and seconded by Mr. Houseman to approve the following assistant and volunteer track coaches: Assistants: Kyle Kueker, Andy Bundren, Marlee Smith. Volunteer: Mike Chambers. On roll call, all members present voting yeas. Motion carried.

Old School Business: None

Other School Business: A consensus was reached to repair the freezer/cooler, seek bids for renovations to the science labs and to work with kings Financial to issue working cash bonds.

On motion by Mr. Vosburgh and seconded by Mr. Houseman to adjourn the Regular Meeting at 12:35 p.m. On roll call, all members present voting yes. Motion carried.

https://aj81.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/February-2024-Minutes.pdf