The next item I would like to introduce the principal here at Alexander Hamilton Elementary School, Mrs. Jennifer Havens Rodriguez to talk to us a little bit about the good things going on at Hamilton School. So, thank you, Miss Havens. Thank you. All right. Um, you guys know I always like to highlight all the amazing things going on here. So, I'm going to start first with amazing things our kids are doing. Um, let's see here. We will start with our science bowl. Um, so Mrs. Quig was our science bowl coach this year. She did an excellent job with them. Um, I'm going to read what she submitted for that. Uh, she said, "Our 2425 science bowl was an amazing experience of teamwork. We had a challenge of the rough November to January schedule with holidays and flu and colds keeping some kids away. Uh my group of four wonderful fourth graders persevered through and stepped up to make sure that we kept our team.
Brianna Alderson is donating $20 for the high school cheerleaders. The Lions Club here in Lake Station is donating personal hygiene products for our students in the value of $200. The Crown Point chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution has donated $30 worth of books to the elementary schools so that they can have a copy of the book titled Lafayette, America's Youngest Hero and Guest. And that's $15 a book. And they have made a donation of $30 so we could purchase two of those books, one for each of our elementary schools. Finally, our last donation that we'd like to recognize comes from George Leath from the Leath Management Group who has made a donation of $500 and is putting that donation toward the senior class trip. And we appreciate and thank all of the organizations and citizens that have made a donation to Lake Station schools this evening.
In Smash Bros. edges are very scary places, especially when your opponent on on the stage and you're trying to get back to ledge. Yeah. Oh man, it is terrifying. There's just some current setup difficulties. A Yep. Hopefully that these won't be there for like too long. Mhm. Also, after a player has won a game, they must continue playing the same fighter until they lose within that set within that set. Any stocks a player has lost must be relinquished at the beginning of the next game. They must do so by jumping off the edge of the map. Once a team has no remaining players, which means all four have been eliminated. Um, the opposing team will be considered the winner of that crew battle game. Okay, so we're trying to take all of the Oh, wait. There's three people in the room. Uh oh, that that is a little bit weird.
So that makes a lot more competitive. It's really awesome. I believe the stat was that um in northern Indiana there was only one um public school um that made it to state or to to worlds and that was Sharp Creek Elementary. So that's pretty awesome. So you'll get that information later. Um but kind of want to share tonight too because it'll be quite a while until we have the next board meeting. All right, that's all I have. You have public comment agenda items only. All right, we'll move on to approval of minutes. Our last regular meeting, March 11th.
Similarly, pursuant to Indiana code 61.1 203.5, a school corporation must hold two public hearings and adopt a resolution to preliminarily determine to issue bonds or enter into a lease for a project which has a total project cost in excess of a non-control project. or if the school corporation has a debt service fund tax rate above a certain amount. These public hearings and the adoption of resolutions are the very beginning of the legal process. These resolutions establish the maximum financial terms for the proposed project. Thank you, Amy. We will now hear from Dr. Brown about the process of determining and communicating the project to the community and the need for this project and how this project meets the needs. Dr. Brown. Good evening. Tonight we stand before you not just to present a project but to share a story. A story of our community, our children, and our unwavering commitment to their future.
Ashland has a great housing plan put in place to allow for reasonable growth. We have a great planning board which has approved many projects and thousands of housing units over the past 10 years or so for Ashland to be in safe harbor. Two of those projects, 501 Pond and Memorial Drive, are on hold for reasons outside of the town's responsibility. Make no mistake, they will be built eventually. Two developers are using 40B to bypass most of the zoning Ashlin has put in place to allow housing at a manageable level. The proposed mill building project destroys arguably the most important historical buildings in Ashland. Henry Warren who standardized time for the entire world worked and invented here. It will replace them with a 69 foot six-story above grade apartment building with 250 apartments. This despite a very detailed letter from the select board as well as many other boards and individuals detailing why this project as design should not be allowed.
As the teacher coach, I have given 70 hours of work uh for the club um to prepare to run the meetings. Um this year we really wanted to win. And so um I put in a lot of extra hours to make sure that we were ready for the competition. Oops. In 2024, we were the underdogs. None of us had any experience, including our coaches, and we were up against the reigning champions, Los Plumus. And yet, we tied with 827 points. And this year, after just one more year of practice and new experiences, we blew LP out of the water, winning by over 100 [Applause] points. Thank you. And in addition to that, 13 out of our 15 members won individual awards. And Judge Rodriguez compared our skill to that of college teams. U mock trial itself does have some financial expenses. We have registration fees in order to be a part of the competition.
So, I'm just saying it. He su He successfully dislodged the object and saved the student's life. His swift response, bravery, and deep care for our students went far beyond the call of duty. Tonight, we honor we honor you, Mr. Larry, with this award and as a token of our deepest gratitude and min for his courage and commitment to the well-being of our every child in our district. So, I know I'm a little bit emotional here, but it's very hard and I do a lot in the community. I'm a fireman. I'm first responder. I try to mentor our young first responders. It's it's a natural behavior that you did that. So, I commend you for that. It's very people get nervous and all that. He went to quick action and you saved one of our students. So, it could have been a bad day for all of us.
Come watch the film festival. Film festival. By the way, to all of the Swifties watching, my film has a lot of Taylor Swift in it. Exactly. Guys, thank you. Do I just stand here? Hey guys. So, we're going to talk about Taylor Swift about Taylor Swift. When do you guys think reputation is going to drop? Hopefully. So, I hope so, too. There's more people coming. Let's see who I can fetch. Maybe I can fetch a parent. Ooh, I see. Phillip, do you want to stop anyone? Do you want to interview someone? Go stop him, Phillip. Go get him. Get him. Mama girl. Hi. Thank you. And we're here with Gia. Gia, do you happen to be in any of the films as a producer and actor? No. Is there anyone you're here to see? Um, I'm here to see Giana, Christina, Roberto. Is that where are you excited?
They talked through the uh the group questions with each other and made decisions together. I could not have asked for better teamwork. We may not have placed but they finished what was started. I hope that they will have wonderful memories of working together and h have a better love and understanding of science that will continue to grow throughout uh their school career. The true value is the experience and learning that was had along the way. Uh the 2425 science bowl team consisted of uh Hayden Cassidy, Iris Lopez, Avery Cuk, and Cadence Milsap. I don't think we have anyone with us tonight, right? Good job to science bowl. All right, our math bowl team actually just competed last night. And so we have Miss Leighten here who is our math bowl coach. We have two of our math bowl members. So they started practicing in January.
Thank you very much. Thank you for that, Dr. Pribler. Any other comments? Just like to thank all the donations. Absolutely. Thank you all very much. We'll take it to a vote. Mr. Peska. I. Mr. Musk. I. Mr. Tinorio. I. And I vote I. Moving on to items under personnel. I'd like to recommend to the board this evening that they accept and distribute the early literacy grant funds that were provided to us from the Department of Education. And those early literacy grant funds are for eligible kindergarten through third grade teachers and staff per grant guidelines. This year the grant total amount was $7,79.14 and I would recommend approval and distribution of those grant funds. Hearing the recommendation. I make a motion to approve. I'll second the motion to approve. Any comments hearing? None. We'll take it to a vote. Mr. Fesca, I. Mr. Musk. I. Mr.
I mean, it's usually just our school and our opponent. It could be um their schools like cuz what we do whenever we play Overwatch cuz I I'm I was on the Overwatch team. We would have um JMO, our coach, play on one of the monitors and they would they would be like our spectator for the Eaglewood. Oh, look. They are in the spectator stands. Okay. Yeah. So, yeah, that it's Yeah, that's what I was saying. Yeah. So, it's just for them to spectate for their stream. Oh, look. Oh, look at that. Bird boys here. ready to party. Oh boy. He believes in blue. You know what? Me, too. Oh, that rhyme. You know what else is blue? Our captain. That's right. He's a blue J specifically. Blue Jay. Yeah, that's right. It's his gamer tag. He isn't like blue in real life. Yeah. Unless he's a smurf underneath.
Get a motion and second to approve those minutes. Got a motion and second to approve our minutes there for March 11th. All those in favor say I. Any oppose? All right. Claims and payroll number 17 questions on either of those you have any changes on that you probably saw the headum cost that annual cost mainly to our whites and bridge students. We do have some students that are high schools that participate in credit recovery. Question on claims.
This year, we've dedicated ourselves to aligning every action with our district's heart, student achievement, valuing every individual, and a relentless pursuit of staff and student well-being. It's this very heart that brings us to the critical issue at hand, the need for a comprehensive early learning center. Imagine our dedicated teachers, the very backbone of our educational system, facing the heartbreaking choice between their passion for teaching and the impossible reality of inaccessible child care. We've witnessed firsthand the loss of valuable educators driven away not by a lack of dedication, but by a lack of support. This isn't just a district problem, it's a community crisis. The data paints a vivid picture. Our successful $750,000 grant awarded in the winter of 2024 wasn't just a win, it was a lifeline, allowing us to launch a pilot program for our employees of three birthtoree classrooms that immediately filled to capacity, proving the desperate need.
The Waverly Street developer petitioned the mass housing and livable communities and was approved. Then a second developer took over who completely changed the project, excuse me, from four buildings to one huge building, change the entrance and exits just because they kept the same number of apartments. The MHLC approved it without requesting any new feedback from the town. My understanding is the MHLC approves 95% of the projects before it. That tells me they're rubber stamped. These projects will potentially cost Ashland millions, if not billions, in infrastructure to to support water, sewer, public safety, and schools. Where will the money come from? Throwing hundreds of units up without the infrastructure to support them is not responsible. Taking down granite buildings that will survive forever to put up buildings that may last 30 years is not sustainable. Putting residential units on top of NASA on a lot deed and not res residential is unconscionable.
We have to pay for transportation to get to Orville because it is hosted at the courthouse in Orville. And then I also supply snacks for the students in order to make sure that they are academically ready since we meet until 5:15, sometimes 5:30 um in the evening to go to the state competition which we had the ability to go to this year um just for registration fees and hotel rooms. It was going to be over $4,000 and that doesn't include the cost of transportation to get to LA. Unfortunately, this year we were not able to attend due to the timing of our spring break. um it negatively impacts our chances of being able to attend because obviously parents want to take their students um on trips and they have those planned in advance and so unfortunately a lot of our team could not go. So currently mock trial is the only opportunity for that offers students the first firsthand civic experience at Chico High School.
It turned out to be a good day for you. Thank you for always looking out for the kids in our high school and everything else. Thank you for all your positive energy on the on the on the football field and on the basketball court. Trust me, it goes a long way. A lot of kids look upon you, which we like to see that cuz in 10 years from now, it's going to be like coach Bernelli. We still call him coach, right? Right. All these years later, we still call him coach all. We still have the respect. So, you're building that foundation. So, we want to thank you with a little token here from all of us. Okay. So, thank you for everything. All right. All right. Thanks so much. Congratulations. You don't need to be nervous. Protection, man. You did that so good. I need to lose weight.
Is this your first time attending the film festival? Yes. I was going to go last year, but this is my first one. I hope you have fun. and enjoy. Is there anything you want to say to anyone watching? Enjoy the show. So cute. [Music] Maybe you should show over there. Has Phillip left you? Phillip left me. I need moral I need emotional support. He just left me. I might literally start talking out of my brain. I like I'm feeling I'm going to start saying so many random stuff. You want to You want to like start? Huh? Stop the films. Okay, guys. We're going to list the films cuz there's not much to do right now. People are coming. Oh, we have some surfers. We have some surfers. Guys, do y'all want to be interviewed? [Music] circle. They don't like me. I'mma get them. Do you guys want to be interviewed?
Um practiced all the way through. We competed yesterday and they took second place in their division. Um, so I would like to honor you have the certificates. All right. So here with us tonight we have Taylor Brenston. So great job, Miss Taylor. And we also have Mr. Logan Gilman. So good job Logan. Uh, we also two of our members are not here tonight. We had Braden Keel and Jesus Ruiz. Jesus. Uh we have our online con math and the goal is 40 minutes a week. He is a fourth grader and he averages about 400. So he said he wanted to stay home and do con minutes tonight. So he's not here. Um but good job. All right. So talked about students. I want to talk about um staff. So the biggest update I would say to the elementary program this year, I mean one of the things that Kim and I have worked really hard is to have consistency across both buildings.
Torner Tinerio. I vote I. Moving on to items under new business this evening. The first item is requiring no action of the board this evening, but I'm presenting for first reading to the school board policies 2340, which are titled field and other corporation sponsored trips, policy 8330, directory information, and policy 6250, proof of residency. and I am submitting these policies for revision to the school board for first reading this evening. At the April school board meeting, the board will be asked to consider revising those policies. Moving on to item number two under new business. I am recommending to the board this evening that they approve the facility request made by Eclipse drum and bugle corps to use Edison Junior Senior High School's band and choir rooms, auditorium and stage, football field and concession stands for the purpose to use our facilities for residency rehearsals performances and to sell concessions items at their performance.