Dayton Independent School District Superintendent Jay Brewer presented board member Diane Huff with a certificate for completing level One of the training in advanced leadership through the Kentucky School Board Association. He read the statement from the president of the KSBA.
“On behalf of the Association, and Kentucky’s 857 locally elected school board members, we are grateful to these individuals for their substantial investment of time and attention in achieving Academy of Studies certification,” said KSBA president Davonna Page, who is a Russellville school board member, when she bestowed the honor at last week’s board meeting. “This level of commitment to professional learning will pave the way for even more success in our Commonwealth’s school district.”
Huff was very appreciative of the honor, and said she intended to pursue more of the training that is offered, saying she believes it helps her do her job on the board.
The KSBA offers training in their 12 locations throughout the state, and offers online training sessions. Board members all over the state are expected to pursue training commensurate with their years serving on their local board of education.
Lincoln Elementary school principal Heather Dragan gave a report on the school’s partnership with Learning Grove, which was formerly Children’s Inc.
“A grant through Learning Grove is allowing all of our students in grades 4 through 6 to take the Clifton Strength Explorer,” Dragan explained. “We are focusing our efforts in early primary in the area of strength spotting. We will continue with this work in the months to come with our culminating family partnership on Tuesday, May 16, where we will be sharing individual student strengths with families.”
Brewer is very excited about the program also.
“Kids are taking these assessment tests to find out where their strengths are,” he said. “We all have our strengths, whether it is being dependable or caring, or good with numbers, or whatever they can do well. And when those strengths are known, teachers can play into the strengths for a better chance of success for those students.”
He said there are 10 areas, and the students have their strong points noted, highlighting the top three, which are probably the greatest strengths. The findings will be shared with the families in May, and the teachers will use the results of the tests to maximize the curriculum to fit with the students.
Dragan also announced that Lincoln Elementary again received the Primetime Reading Grant, which comes through Kentucky Humanities. She explained that on six different Thursday nights families of the students are invited to the school to have dinner and engage in the reading of books, and then discussing them afterward.
They have a storyteller, who puts extra emphasis on reading the story, and a discussion leader who can also give tips about effective reading techniques. Families are able to take the books they read home to put in their children’s libraries.
Several students were honored as students of the month. From seventh grade to 12th grade, the students are Alyssa Mullins, Emily Hall, Trinity Rankin, London Vance, Cora Volkman, and Fate Jones.
Artist of the month is Owen Overman, who has been showing great leadership in the band, helping out when things were happening in the band, and showing that he could be counted on.
The athlete of the month is Russell McIntyre, who improved his bowling score to 168, and that improvement helped the boys team to move on to the state competition.
