In the past two years, we piloted two more very expensive options, HM and Carnegie Learning. We were not su we were not able to successfully implement either curriculum and found both to be inadequate to meet the needs of all of our students. But now it appears to us that Carnegie was not actually a pilot but it is one of the three-year it is one of the three-year contract that we are being I'm sorry let me start that again. It appears to us that Carnegie was not actually a pilot, but a year one of a three-year contract that we are being told we must use. We have to use it for a second year and possibly a third year despite the cost and the math department's unanimous assessment that this curriculum is not best for our students. We were also informed today that next school year our department will lose two teachers, which means a loss of 10 class sections.
So So I want to thank uh everyone for even putting this together. Um and uh hopefully we see you there. Frank, did you want to say do you have a report? No. Okay. Um, and then now I'd like to call up Miss Bellinger, our director curriculum instruction, who is going to take over for the teacher empower professional of the year uh, recognition program. Thank you, Dr. Tom. Good evening to everybody. Uh, very excited to be here. This is the first year we went digital with the nomination platform for our teacher of the year program that's sponsored by Bernie County. And I'm excited to say we decided to add in power professionals of the year because we know they're working just as hard alongside those teachers and those students uh every single day. So there was a list of criteria that were present in each survey as far as teacher of the year and power of the year.
the first year of Spalding implementation for teachers and the second year of Spalding instruction for students. 37% of students ended the year at or above benchmark. Over the same three-year span, Freedom averaged 84% of students ending the year at or above benchmark, while non-spalding schools average 53% of students ending the year at or above benchmark. Next, we'll discuss a few limitations. There are two key limitations to consider. First, Freedom operates under a unique traditional school model, which may impact comparability to other schools. Second, it doesn't account for the day-to-day differences of a school, such as intervention programs or teacher assignments. For example, Countryside had one long-term sub, and the non-spalding schools had three long-term subs in the 2425 school year. This concludes the Spalding data presentation and Dr.
I also want to say thank you to my teachers, especially Miss Marshall and Mr. Blankenship for trans expanding my knowledge and transforming me into a leader. Lastly, thank you Independence High School for being my second home and family. High school has shaped us in distinct ways. And no matter where we go, these experiences will carry with us. As we turn the page to the next chapter, take your camera and seize every moment. Make the most of the time ahead, whether it's college, trade school, or the military. I wish you all the best as you embark on this new journey. As Frank Ocean says, we'll never be those kids again, reminding us that time never slows down, and the moments we have now are fleeting. It's important to capture them like a photograph before they slip away become memories we can never no longer um relive.
I would pretend to be sick on days where I knew I'd have to present in front of the class. I would beg my parents to let me stay home whenever we attended social events. I would have done anything just because I couldn't fathom the idea that I, as a human being, exist. It took me too long to realize that living wasn't supposed to make me miserable. So instead of hiding from embarrassment, I embraced it. Attending Greenway and partaking in programs such as Demon Drama, I learned to be okay with embarrassment and I began to truly live again. This is what I want you to take away from me. Embrace your embarrassment. You cannot expect to live a fulfilling life if every decision you make is dictated by how other people perceive you. Make those mistakes. Don't be afraid to ask questions. Learn to laugh at yourself.
Please join me in congratulating them on their hard work and academic achievements. Thank you guys. We're also joined by Moon Valley High School student body president, Mr. Andrew Malay, and our 2025 senior class president, Ayandipe. Both of these men should be commended on their leadership and passion for Moon Valley. Their commitment to Moon Valley is a true reflection of the many great things that we've seen from the class of 2025. I would also like to acknowledge those students who are ranked academically in the top 10% of their class. They are wearing red cords this evening. While I'm not going to present them all to you individually, let me draw your attention, please, to their names which are marked in your commencement program and ask you to applaud their accomplishments as honor graduates. Lastly, please also note these students wearing red, white, and blue honor cords this evening.
We pushed through. And today we get to celebrate not just our individual achievements, but what we've accomplished together. That said, while we should all be ecstatic, I urge you to let this be a starting point, not a finish line. The world we've known for the last 13 years is coming to a bittersweet end. But our lives are just beginning. Over these years, we've gathered the tools we need. And after today, we finally have the materials to build something bigger, something incredible. It's been a privilege to grow with all of you these past four years. As Coach Hop would say, together as one. No matter where life takes you, college, work, the military, or places still unknown, be bold, be kind, and most importantly, live long and prosper. Congratulations, class of 2025. Thank you. As the senior class president, it is with great honor that I get to stand here and speak to you all today.
Today marks a milestone and I hope everyone here has the best of luck in the near future. Thank you, Hawks. To the future we [Applause] go. Good morning everyone. Today I am honored to be standing at this podium and I want to take this opportunity to thank all those who have supported me. I want to thank my family namely my mom and dad who once gave up their lives and careers in Mexico so that my siblings and I could have more opportunities in America. [Applause] Uh, I also wanted to thank my friends and let them all know that I love them. Lastly, I wanted to thank my teachers and coaches, especially Coach Vega, for building who I am as a person today. The lessons that I've learned through wrestling are part of the reason why I am standing here. Above all, I thank God for the life he has given me.
Um you know right now uh everyone has to go and like refresh the page on the on the board meeting site um to look at the agenda and determine if there's a meeting. Uh it would be better although maybe you're not required to do so. it would be a better practice to send an electronic notification out, push out uh notification of regular board meetings, time changes, special board meetings, board committee meetings which aren't even posted, although they should be uh I believe under OMA uh district committee meetings and other forms that are subject to open meetings act uh or that contain an agenda item for public comment or that are expressly for the purposes of community input. How can the community provide input if they're not notified? Uh also recording those open meetings including all portions of the open meeting. So for example, you have an open meeting, then you go to close session, you come back to open meeting.
These force here had to overcome many challenges to be standing in front of you here tonight. Uh first and foremost, they had to under overcome, you know, 30 other math students at Northside, very talented math students at Northside um to become our representatives for the math bowl team at North Side. Um next they had to overcome a very strong Central Middle School math bowl team. And uh it seemed like during the competition, every single time we would get one right, Central Middle School would also get it right. And you're watching the the score ticker go up. And all of a sudden, we got kind of lucky and Central Middle School missed one. We got it right and we had this one question lead. And I kept just hoping Central Middle School give us some breathing room and missed one more question. But they didn't. They just got everyone right the rest of the time.
Sorry, moved you too far. Perfect. Thank you. Have a chance to come in. Okay. Welcome Colonel Wheeler. Colonel Wheeler academic Super Bowl team. I'm gonna read your accommodation and then I ask ask a coach to come up and uh present you guys your accommodations. Resol resolution of accommodation. The Crown Point Board of School Trustees is honored to commend the 2024 2025 Kerner Wheeler Middle School academic Super Bowl team for notorious achievement. Be it hereby resolve that the board of school trustees for the Crown Point Community School Corporation wishes to express sincere congratulations to the 2024 2025 Wheeler Middle School epid academic Super Bowl team for winning third place in the state and English category and first, second, and third place awards in the region in English, math, science, social studies, and interdisciplinary categories at the Indiana Academic Super Bowl competition. The board of school trustees publicly recognized this achievement, renders it permanently to its minutes to be preserved for public posterity dated this 19th day of May, 2025.
Hello. Welcome. My name my name is Megan Meadows. Um, and I just wanted to say in honor of teacher appreciation week earlier this month and also the n national teacher thanks been going on for the duration of May. Um, a special thank you and shout out to all the teachers and staff at Greencastle schools. Uh, we'll actually have our a student of our own enrolling at Greencastle schools in the fall. And so uh, the teachers that we've already spoken with been really supportive and really really Wonderful. And so just wanted to so publicly please say thank you. Thank you. And Carson Brown, come on down. He's actually Is he for later? He's for later. Yeah. Okay. Sit down and wait your turn. I always wanted to say that up here. Okay. All right. Did I miss anyone? Okay, very good. Thank you for everyone's uh attendance this evening in that and your kind work.
This will increase the average class size in CCR to the target max of 24, which we know can go as high as 30 students per class. This will now match our honors classes, which are already at the target max of 24 students. Therefore, we are having our CCR students pay the price for our inability to adequately budget for their education. And as we all know, it is this group that includes our students with all our learning disabilities. Thank you for your time. Thank you. Anybody else? Seeing no further people wishing to speak, we will move on to approval of the minutes. Seeking a motion to approve the regular minutes of May 5th. So move, Madam Chair. Second. All in favor? Oh, excuse me.
Things that encompass what what makes somebody deserve deserving of being recognized as a teacher of the year such as building uh fostering a love of learning with their students. um inviting them into the classroom, creating a warm and friendly environment, student achievement, building relationships with staff and with parents, so many things that go into it, things that we all possess. And each school has a committee that they went through all the nominations and after a lot of work, which I thank the principles for spearheading that in their buildings because it was a little bit of a challenge doing it in a digital platform this year. Uh we were able to come up with a recipient for each building from every single one of our schools from preschool all the way up to high school. One teacher of the year and one par professional of the year.
Asai and I will now stand for any questions. Thank you so much. You're welcome. Um I maybe just for our uh some of our new board members and maybe some some audience members, can you speak to the differences? Um you mentioned like the unique environment at at Freedom maybe compared to some of our other schools. Can you speak to that a little bit? So, Freedom being a traditional school um has a different structure to it. Freedom's our only school with uniforms. Um they do have a very uh a very like I do, we do, you do a very direct approach to all they do. Um another unique thing about Freedom is if you look at the beginning of the year data, I always say beginning of the year data was not my students. That's what their parents sent them with. Um, so they do come in at a higher rate of reading for the beginning of the year, 74% compared to 38 or 45% with other schools.
It's no longer about having a great summer, but about having a great life. Thank you, class of 2022 25, for all the memories that we've created together. It's been an unforgettable ride. Good luck on all your upcoming journeys. Congratulations once again, class of 2025. Now, please welcome to the stage, Dominic Wood. [Applause] Good afternoon, esteemed faculty, family, and of course the graduating class of 20125. My name is Dominic Wood, and I would like to start by expressing gratitude for those who have supported me in this pretty tumultuous ride of passage. I had such an honor working with some brilliant faculty, those who cared about wanting me to succeed and pushing me to do just that. I am also blessed to have such a supportive family who have given me the ingredient for me to do better and keep pushing myself. That ingredient being love. And I've made so many new friends who I'm just super grateful to have in my life.
Understand that you are embarrassing, but so is everyone else. To wake up every day is to face rejection. To make mistakes is to live. To be cringe is to be free. To be embarrassing is to be human. And being human is the best thing you can be. Congratulations once again, class of 2025. Here's to embracing the rest of our very embarrassing lives. Thank you. [Applause] And now I would like to introduce our next speaker, Zade [Applause] Moabi. When I first arrived at Greenway, I looked a little different. I talked a little different, walked a little different, thought a little different. And I think I can speak for the rest of our class in saying we all came out a little different from where we started or what would probably be more accurate to say a lot different. As time's gone on, I've made it my mission to become closer and closer to my true authentic identity.
These students will be entering the military upon graduation. Would you please show your appreciation to these graduates as [Applause] well? At this time, we will hear from our three members of the top 1%. And we're going to kick things off with Mr. Lynn Ang. [Applause] Now, I'd like to talk a little bit about my grandfather. He lives in a small town back in Myamar. We uh we called Minbu. It's a beautiful place full of lush forest and a whining river that cut through the middle of town. There was no wonder why he called it home. If I had to describe him, he is the kindest soul you ever meet. He's a fantastic father to all 10 of his children, and he likes to walk a lot. In fact, he will walk for miles every morning and sometimes he will take me on these trips where we will prominate across the word workshops, the fish markets, the farms, the ranches.
I'd like to thank everyone who helped me get here. My parents, family, teachers, anyone that knows they helped, and even military recruiters. Without them, I wouldn't be the person I am today. I am so proud to say I'm graduating with you all today. Whether or not our paths cross again, I hope everyone here accomplishes great things. And it is with great pleasure that I get to announce this year's senior gift, which is new scoreboards for the baseball and softball field. I know these new scoreboards will help light up the games held in our improved baseball field. I hope that these teams make great use of the scoreboards and bring the community together at the games held at Cortez. Congratulations, class of 2025. I hope you all carry this momentum to the next chapter of your life. and for my [Music] parents. Thank you, [Applause] Ubaldo.
All right. I I hope that every graduate's future is bright and I hope you all have a great [Applause] day. Thank you all for coming today. I want to start by saying I'm proud of all of you. We've lived very different lives these last four years, but now together we celebrate the final step in this journey. Personally, I have developed deeply these last four years, and I'd like to leave with a final message. Please be kind to others and keep in mind our perspectives. As you look around, remember that these people have carried the weight of their own decisions and unimaginable pressures just like you. So truly, I am proud of all of you, even without knowing what you've gone through and the weight you've carried. Lastly, I'd like to take some time to appreciate my dad, my mom, who supported me through it all and were my backbone.