Southern Illinois News

Anna Jonesboro Community High School District 81 Board of Education met March 17.

Here are the minutes provided by the board:

The Anna-Jonesboro Community High School held its regular meeting on March 17, 2025. Upon roll call at 6:00 p.m. the following members were present: Mr. Vosburgh, Mr. Houseman, Mrs. Johnson (by phone), Mrs. Plott, Mr. Mix, and Mr. Mays.

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

On motion by Mr. Houseman and seconded by Mr. Maysto approve the Consent Agenda which contained the following items: approval of board minutes on 2/18/25; approval of closed session minutes; approval of payment for bills, acceptance of financial reports, and approve resignation. On roll call, all members present voting yes. Motion carried.

Recognition of visitors and correspondence: Matt Denny – Charlie Pearson

Items of Interest from Student Council: Good Evening AJ Board members, administration, and guests. My name is Brooklynn Eastman and I am the Student Council President. I am also here with Drue Teske, Homecoming Coordinator. March 5th we hosted the Little Egypt District Student Council Convention. We had 400 students and 24 Chaperones in attendance. Our opening speaker was Mr. Detering followed by Josh MicVicar. They both talked about The Magic of Connections. Decorations were donated from Pop N Creations (Kristin Chamness). We were presented with the top fundraising school from St Jude,raising $3795. With Aidan McFadden being one of the top fundraising students. To fund the convention we were able to raise $6100 between sponsorships, 50/50 at basketball games, and community night at Pizza Villa. After all expenses and all of our fundraising we were able to give St Jude $10,664.00 and LEDSC a $100 donation. Tess Wilkins, Grayson Garner, Brooklynn Eastman, Drue Teske, and Jaylyn Althoff were all presented with Pillar Awards. We will also be hosting the AJ Talent Show on April 11th with the National Honor Society. Our next blood drive is April 29th. Please sign up on redcross.org

Items of Interest from Teachers: Owner of H&R Block Mary K Harris came in and spoke to Mrs. Hase’s Co-op class on how to file their taxes. Since they all have jobs this was very helpful information. She answered all their questions. Spanish II and III classes participated in “Locura de Marzo”, which is a bracket-based music competition in which hundreds of schools world-wide participate to vote on their favorite Spanish-language songs. The students are exposed to authentic text, geography, and culture. As a culminating project, students create a “Smash Doodle”. For this they choose inspired lyrics from one song and pair images with them. They also highlight vocabulary gained through these songs. Mrs. Vancil and Mr. Stamp took thirty-one studentsfrom cast, crew and Drama class to Drama Daze at SIU. The students attended workshops which encompassed various aspects of theater. These included performance, script writing and development, musical theater dance, tech olympics, and costume design. The students learned a lot and had fun as well. Lauren Jackson was named “Theater Royalty” for the day for her active participation in all of the workshops. Mrs. Hase has organized a Secret Student

Appreciation Week for the last week of March. Each staff member is matched up with a student. The students will get the faculty little gifts throughout the week and on Friday the staff member will find out who their student is at a breakfast in the library. Mrs. Massey’s classes will provide breakfast for all 120 participants. Mrs. Maze’s Civics classes are currently working on their service learning project. Students have been looking into school policies in our student handbook, and researching what other schools have in its place. They are currently formulating letters to send to our administration for them to consider when we begin discussing handbook changes for next school year. Some of these policies include adding bereavement days for students, this would mean that instead of it being counted as a student absence excused, students would have a day to be with family after the loss of a loved one without it being counted towards exams. FFA Week 2025 was a huge success! We had weekly dress up days, a cornhole tournament during both lunches and a championship round between the two lunches during the assembly on Friday, an Ag scavenger hunt around the school and around town and our FFA member pancake breakfast. We also had our annual kiss the pig contest where Mr. Rice was selected as the “winner”! The AJ FFA livestock judging team is state bound for the third year in a row after a 1st place out of 12 teams win at the section 24 livestock judging contest. Layne Murray placed 2nd out of 49 participants, Macayla Nance placed 5th, Ella Helton placed 7th, and Dalton Cobb placed 8th. The team will head to Champagne to represent Anna Jonesboro and section 24th on April 25th at the state Illinois livestock judging contest. The National Honor Society and Mrs. Frownfelter would love for the Board of Education to join us for this year’s National Honor Society Induction Ceremony on March 27th at 6:00 PM in the AJCHS Auditorium. It’s a special night to celebrate our newest inductees and their dedication to scholarship, leadership, service, and character. We’re also excited to welcome Dr. Laurel Bailey Fick, an AJCHS alumna and former NHS member, as our guest speaker. Your support would mean a lot, and we hope to see you there! Mrs. Richbourg, Jennifer Eastman, and Brad Stamp took 40 Beta Club members to the Illinois State Convention on March 6-7. We brought home 17 plaques ranging from third to first. All members who received a plaque are invited to compete at the National Beta Convention in Orlando in June. We also won a state office for the second year in a row. Raelynn Sadler is the current Illinois Beta Secretary. She is also invited to run for National Beta Secretary at the National Beta Convention in June. Mrs. Massey’s Culinary Arts Occupations class has had several catering opportunities and several more this month. We prepared food for the hospitality room during both nights of Regionals. We just prepared cookies and drinks for the boys’ basketballbanquet and we have Parent/Teacher meals that we prepare for our faculty and staff each Fall and Spring. It’s a great opportunity to showcase the culinary talents in our school. We have also been asked to cater the wrestling banquet and National Honor Society induction coming up too. Mr. Stamp, Mrs. Norton, Mrs. Vancil and the cast and crew would like to invite you to our annual spring musical. Grease (the high school version) is performed beautifully by our many talented students. Don’t miss our performance. Show times are Friday and Saturday at 7pm and Sunday at 2pm. We hope you enjoy the show!! Prom will be held on May 3, 2025 at the Southern Illinois Airport. Prom court was just voted on and this year's Junior Attendants are: Prince-Foster Needling & Princess-Enma Piqueras. King Candidates are: Ryder Ottolini, Trevor Goins, Logan Ebersohl, JonahWatkins, Levi Jones, Daylon Butler. Queen Candidates: Zoe Jones, Kayma Dawson, Gabby Sands, Hallie Plott, Keara Bible, Brooklynn Eastman

Curriculum Director Finders reported on ACT testing and proposed legistration.

Principal Rice spoke about upcoming dates, Outstanding Educators, 8th Grade Night, Leadership Team, 5 Essential Survey.

Superintendent Detering spoke about E-Rate, Wall of Fame, School Calendar 24-25/25-26, and the soccer complex.

On motion by Mr. Houseman and seconded by Mr. Vosburgh for the Board to enter into closed session at 6:49 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) Collective negotiating matters or deliberations concerning salary schedules for one or more classes of employees. 5ILCS 120/2(c)(2) Student discipline. 5ILCS 120/2(c)(9) On roll call, all members present voting yes. Motion carried.

On motion by Mr. Houseman and seconded by Mr. Vosburgh to return to regular session at 9:56. On roll call, all members present voting yes. Motion carried.

On motion by Mr. Vosburgh to approve resolution authorizing the dismissal of Ronald Barnett, a second year non-tenured teacher effective the last teacher workday of the 2024-2025 school year. Motion did not receive a second.

On motion by Mr. Mix and seconded by Mr. Vosburgh to approve a resolution authorizing the dismissal of Mariza Charicata, a second year non-tenured teacher effective the last teacher workday of the 2024- 2025 school year. On roll call, (yeas-Vosburgh, Houseman, Johnson, Mix) (Nays-Plott, Mays). Motion carried.

On motion by Mr. Mays and seconded by Mr. Houseman to approve bid for technology infrastructure improvements. On roll call, all members present voting yes. Motion carried.

On motion by Mr. Vosburgh and seconded by Mr. Houseman to approve the 2025-2026 School Calendar. All members present voting yes. Motion carried.

On motion by Mr. Houseman and seconded by Mr. Mix to approve the date for Organizational School Board Meeting at the regular school board meeting on April 28,2025. All members present voting yes. Motion carried.

On motion by Mr. Houseman and seconded by Mr. Mays to approve overnight trip for FFA State Convention. All members present voting yes. Motion carried.

Discusses Board Policy on Display of Flags.

On motion by Mr. Houseman and seconded by Mr. Vosburgh to approve Technology Coordinator Contract as presented. On roll call, all members present voting yes. Motion carried.

On motion by Mr. Houseman and seconded by Mr. Vosburgh to approve Assistant Principal Contract as presented. On roll call, 9yeas-Vosburgh, Houseman, Plott, Mays) (Nays-Johnson, Mix). Motion carried.

On motion by Mr. Houseman and seconded by Mrs. Plott to approve Bookkeeper Contract as presented. On roll call, all members present voting yes. Motion carried.

On motion by Mr. Houseman and seconded by Mr. Mix to approve tenure for Nelly Corbit, Jess Howell, Emily Richbourg, and terra Webb. On roll call, all members present voting yes. Motion carried.

On motion by Mr. Houseman and seconded by Mr. Maysto approve Hayden Ralls as Volunteer Baseball Coach pending background check. All members present voting yes. Motion carried.

On motion by Mr. Houseman and seconded by Mr. Vosburgh to adjourn the Regular Meeting at 10:26 p.m. On Roll call, all members present voting yes. Motion carried.

Next regularly scheduled meeting is Monday, April 28 2025 at 6:00 p.m. in the High School Library.

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