At the Logan County Board of Education Aug. 12, board members Kenny Robertson Johnny Dawson, Ralph Cropper, Phil Baker and Tim Hall heard reports from the schools, the teachers’ association and the superintendent about good things going on in the six schools in the system.
Their reports were as follows:
Good News
Adairville:
We had a very successful Back-to-School Night with almost 100% of parents and students in attendance.
Our three 7th grade students who took Algebra I as 7th graders earned the 2 highest scores of all 7th, 8th, and 9th grade students who took the Algebra I EOC exam in the spring.
We have eight very talented new staff members this school year! They are Tara Cox, Kindergarten; Mallory Wheeler – 2nd Grade; Rebekah Link – 3rd Grade T; Kaye Hendricks – Reading Interventionist; Karen McGee – Instructional Aide; Justin Kirby – Music & Band; Jamie Neal – Physical Education; Christie Dotson – Instructional Aide
Auburn:
Auburn Elementary School had an incredible turnout for Open House on Aug. 28 with approximately 90 percent of our families in attendance!
Chandlers:
Over 90 percent of Chandlers parents attended Open House on Monday, July 28.
Six students won Android Tablets for completing summer work materials developed by teachers.
School shooting survivor Missy Jenkins Smith spoke to middle school students about the potential effects of bullying.
Lewisburg:
The following students participated in the Middle School Summer Musical Program “Traveling Light” at Crossroads Church in July: Ana Nash, Makayla Strode, Makenzie Forrest, Madison Forrest and Ellie George.
The following students participated in the Logan County/Russellville Arts Summer Program “The Music Man” in July: Cade Johnson, Cameron Bunce, Chelsea Siegers, Ellie George
Olmstead:
Sixth graders in Mrs. Jennifer Wilcutt's library rotation wrote, directed, and recorded a "How-To Check Out a Library Book" video for lower primary students.
Lilly Morris, a 7th grader, was recently selected to participate on an elite team of swimmers from the State of Kentucky. Lilly was 1 out of 8 girls to represent her age group, she being the youngest member of the team. The team flew from Louisville to San Antonio, Texas to compete against 15 other State teams in the Southern Zone Swimming Championships July 28-Aug. 3. Lilly competed in 6 individual events: the 50- and 100-yard backstroke, the 50- and 100-yard butterfly, the 100-yard freestyle, and the 200-yard Individual Medley. She had personal best times in several events to finish out her long course swimming season. Team Kentucky finished 5th overall. Lilly is looking forward to beginning the short course swimming season and leading the Cougar swim team this school year.
Kathleen Bailey, middle school social studies teacher, applied for and was awarded an $800 grant to help fund the Land Between the Lakes field trip. Each year, Mrs. Bailey takes students to Murray State for a campus tour and then on to a camp at LBL where students learn survival skills and practice team building activities.
LCHS:
As the first district to begin school in the state, LCHS was featured in the Bowling Green Daily News. http://m.bgdailynews.com/features/logan-high-leads-the-way-lchs-rocks-in-new-school/article_e49393fa-69ea-5d1e-bfbb-0fd36898342c.html?mode=jqm
As part of the RTT-D grant, all teachers have been trained in the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, and we are incorporating those habits in our CATS time each week. In the last two weeks, we have covered Habit 1: Be Proactive and Habit 2: Begin with the End in Mind.
As part of the Jostens Renaissance program, every student received a Commitment to Graduate (C2G) green wrist band, and all freshmen received a C2G t-shirt with the number 18 on the back, indicating their graduation year. http://www.jostens.com/educators/edu_svcs_lp_renaissance.html
Enrollment at LCHS is 1,122 as of Aug. 12 - the highest enrollment in school history.
FFA Attended FFA Camp in Hardinsburg the first of July. Five students received leadership awards for being in the top 10 percent of students at Camp. Students were: Brianna Wooden, Nick Stuart, Morgan Hunt, Wesley Hadden, and Kelly Eicher.
LCAS:
Doug Binkley is the new principal at the Logan County Alternative School.
RATC:
Russellville Area Technology Center is off to a strong first week with 600 students in attendance; 467 of those are Logan County Students.
LCEA:
LCEA President Sandra Bollenbecker introduced officers and building representatives. They are: Vice President-Amy McLean, Secretary-Greta Winchester, Secretary-Earlene Appling, Adairville Representative-Jody Eblen, Auburn-Georgia Bryson, Chandlers-Sherrie Pryor, LCHS-Sam Kessler and Tammi Jones, Lewisburg-Crystal Britt, and Olmstead-Nathan Powell.
SUPERINTENDENT’S REPORT:
By Dr. Kevin Hub
During the second week of July, I attended New Superintendent Training and the KASA Summer Leadership Institute in Louisville. New Superintendent Training is required for all new superintendents. During KASA, I was present to see our LCHS JROTC present the colors at the Opening Ceremony, and for former superintendent Marshall Kemp to receive the KASA Distinguished Service Award. I also spent time with our Logan County principals and assistant principals who attended the institute. They are such a talented and dedicated group.
I have been busy meeting people and building relationships throughout Logan County. I have had individual meetings with each principal and Board member. I have met with our LCEA representative, several local pastors and various community leaders. I have been inducted into the Rotary Club and selected as a member of this year’s Leadership Logan County cohort, sponsored by the Logan County Chamber of Commerce.
I had the privilege on Monday, July 28 to address the entire Logan County staff. It is an honor to lead such a fine group of adults who are student-centered and focused on excellence. The staff was welcoming and enthusiastic about beginning a new school year. The student performances were so much fun, and showcased the immense talent that we have in our district. It was also exciting to see the local vendors that came to welcome our staff back to school.
Speaking of back to school, my best day in education was July 30, when I got to visit each school as they welcomed more than 3400 local students to their schools. From the red carpet and rock ’n’ roll at the high school, to the picnic lunch at Adairville, it was a great day to be in education.
We have begun the process of intentional meetings, to increase the communication, collaboration and support from our Central Office to our schools. I meet with CO leaders weekly and together with principals each month. The feedback so far has been very positive. I’m excited for the conversations we will have in the future.
Our Professional Growth Academy (PGA) welcomed more than 20 new teachers to Logan County. Together, we discussed what it looked like to be an “effective teacher.” It’s clear to me that our principals and their SBDM teams did a fantastic job this summer in finding the very best teachers for our children. The conversations we had about effective teaching inspired everyone in attendance to strive for excellence. It was also great to see three of our experienced teachers (John Creech & Tina Campbell from Chandlers and Lynn Head from Auburn) teach sessions about Discovery Education and Data Notebooks.
Last week I had the privilege of being interviewed by Mrs. Bonnie Hartley’s Journalism class at the high school. They peppered me with questions and I responded with answers one after the other. We had lots of fun, and I believe they got a chance to learn more about me as a leader and more importantly, as a person. I look forward to more student interviews in the future.
This week I’ve had the opportunity to wear my instructional leader hat during school visits with principals and assistant principals. During these visits we discussed tools and resources to help make the TPGES process more efficient and more effective.
In my free time, I’ve been spending early mornings at the Carpenter Center and occasional evenings on the golf course.