It's not something you can teach. It's something that she carries with her. As both a counselor and a Stevenson alumni myself, I'm deeply passionate about encouraging students to not simply pass through Stevenson, but to fully experience it, to immerse themselves in our culture, build meaningful connections, and do things that challenge themselves to grow. Danielle has embraced that mindset since the very beginning. After four years, it's clear she's taken full advantage of what this building has to offer, making it her own and leaving her mark on everything she's done. Danielle embodies the portrait of a graduate and the Stevenson spirit, and we can confidently say she's achieved the success that we all hope for each of our students. >> While Danielle often expresses gratitude for the support she has received at Stevenson along with her mom, we would like to express our gratitude to her. Danielle, you are truly someone special and Stephvenson is better because of you.
It also brought with us some really rich vocabulary. One of the words that I'd like to highlight because it was one that gave them um lots of different viewpoints. The word was perspective. And if you think of the word perspective, it has a lot of different meanings. and we were able to tie it into most of those different meetings during the unit. So, we talked about artwork, we talked about the perspective in artwork and how perspective allows us to see a 3D image even though it's a two-dimensional thing and also the horizon line and all those things that allow us to create perspective in artwork. But we also talked about it in literature how perspective is character perspective in a story but also perspective of an author. So the novel that we read was written from the perspective of a Native American tribe um person who was writing about her native tribe and her family even though it was a fiction story.
Uh so that is to pay for the controls that will go forward and and program and control those rooftop units. We knew that that was going to be an expense that was not included in health life safety. It couldn't be included in the health life safety work. We had to pay for that. So we're looking at uh funding that through uh this mechanism. We've talked about the auditorium remediations at North and obviously we've talked also about and approved the the fieldhouse roof. So those three things, the controls, auditorium remediations, and the fieldhouse roof, um those those wheels are already in motion. Those things have to happen, uh type of a thing. So regardless of whether we move forward with this or not, we're we're going to have those projects completed. Um and so but we thought it would it'd be best to to weave that into uh into this funding uh mechanism.
>> We'd probably have to do 5:00 and then at 6:00 to allow enough time for the discussion and the public comment amount. >> Uh I have Can we move to next next item? >> Great. Yep. >> So I have uh just one thing I want to make public. Uh there's a new wireless device uh statute. Um Mr. Hoover and I and uh Mr. Fagan and I have been talking about that. I just want to be clear. This is a statute and for all intents and purposes what you need to know is that your children will not have access to phones or devices that they can communicate to you with that are not school owned during the school day from the time they walk in the door to the time they leave at the end of the day. And I'm only telling you that because we can control Sorry, this sounds like I'm talking down to parents and I don't mean to cuz I'm guilty of this.
So uh we we we we still want to dig into this a little bit and see um you know do we need both at all grade levels do we just need one or the other um you know and kind of where those fall um and so I I would approve I would recommend you guys approve it up to that amount but we we may very well go lower we may stay at that level. So um and then after that again um you know last 2 years ago I guess when the state uh removed textbook rental um from school funding they now allow consumables and so after this would be to get us through um the 26-27 school year. I don't know at this point if we could fast forward that enough to start charging for consumables but definitely in 27-28 we would start to charge for consumables um again so uh that $30 or $32 piece uh we would look to offset that with uh consumable um charges to parents so.
They're exhausted by that. They have two things that they're doing double duty here. You know, they're learning the content and at the same time they're learning language and they're trying to acquire that language and it's tiring for them. And as teachers, we need to recognize that. So, that was really powerful >> [clears throat] >> to see. And then just to know that they're they feel more confident when they are allowed to speak in class and they can practice and feel like it's safe. So, all of these were really powerful and and really important for us to take a look at. And when you think about that point that Kristen just called out, I'm thinking about the words and what they mean is tiring. Double duty as Kristen said, but even our native speakers, multi-meaning words, that's a hard target. It's a hard target and it is super tricky for our MLs.
>> Thank you. picture a second. >> Thank you. the handshake. >> Oh boy. Can't use my phone. >> You behind you. Sorry. >> Just stay up there. Can I get all three students up front? >> Bring your Bring your Yeah, please bring that. >> Yeah, bring that. All right, guys. >> Yep. >> Make sure they're not upside down. Somebody always Somebody always drops, so be careful. All right. Uh, awesome. >> There we go. Thank you. >> Everybody else, moms and dads, get a picture. Get it. Thank you very much for your time. We appreciate you. Thank you. >> Thank you. you know, we're um later on in the agenda, there's all kinds of things like treasures, bonds, and budgets and amendments and all these kind of things that are all important uh work that the board does, but I don't want to speak on behalf of the board, but I think this >> I think this is why we are all here and certainly why the board serves.
So it was her perspective we were getting but also talked about the perspective of historical events and how when you look at two different sides of a historical event you sometimes get a different story. So when we talked about Westport expansion from the side of what the Native Americans felt of it, we got a very different perspective than what we had heard before. Um the kids ended the unit up by doing a written essay. They wrote a five paragraph essay about the Native American tribe from the novel The Birch Park House, which was the novel that we read. and showing why we want to remember their culture and bring their culture forward so that their culture and their beliefs get sustained over time. So, it was a really good um set of lessons and the kids were really engaged and really excited for it. Um so, I'm Jennifer Sharp.
So do you want to highlight a little bit about the the financing component? >> Sure. Uh Tammy and I have met with our underwriter to discuss various options that we have for financing these projects. Bond council initially suggested that we contact our underwriter um and instead of looking at a taxexempt lease um and so what has been recommended are issuing debt certificates. Debt certificates do not affect the levy. It's those are paid for with operating funds. And the way we would do it is I believe it's up on this slide um >> talking about the annual debt payments would be supported by the energy savings from all the upgrades, the revenue generated from the solar and then approximately $200,000 would come annually from the operating budget. And that is just something that we would plan and budget for each year. This would be um these debt certificates would be paid back over a 20-year period.
We we can't we can control your children here at school, but we can't control you trying to get a hold of your kids here at school. And I'm concerned that parents are going to be very frustrated at 2:30 in the afternoon when they got to get a message to their kid and their kid doesn't have access to their phone. So I'm only telling you that because we will have policy that we have to adopt and they'll be getting that soon. It'll come from the uh Indiana School Boards Association and I just want to make sure that everybody hears us say that that is a state law. It's not a central office law and kids will have to put their phones away when they come in the building uh and then we'll have access to it until they leave. We'll let you be things on that when we know more about that.
And Mrs. Golden Mrs. Aker feel free to share anything else you want to share on that. Well that was a nice summary for sure. CKLA is core knowledge language arts and basically there's two strands so there's like the skills teaching kids how to read and then the other strand is the knowledge like the background knowledge that we've been learning. Those two have to exist and work together science of reading wise um and so yeah the biggest point is finding something that aligns well with OG because our data especially our early data this year has shown us that we're on the right track with phonics and phonemic awareness which OG does for us but we're really missing those other three pillars of literacy the vocabulary the comprehension the fluency and those pieces so we need a curriculum that's aligned to the science of reading, but we also are are balancing that with we want to keep going strongly with OG and in those components.
And we asked them advice for newcomers and they just said don't be afraid to say something wrong. So, they were really so heartfelt in that they wanted to tell people who would be new to the country [clears throat] and new to our schools, who are incoming, that they shouldn't be afraid to say something wrong and that's what they've learned. So, that was a really important comment. And at the end of the day, all of our work, again, comes back to high quality instruction and ensuring that all of our current and future multilingual learners have the same access to the same thinking opportunities, the same learning opportunities as all of our other students and just keeping in mind that belief that multilingualism is an asset, ensuring that all of our systems and practices, you know, that we're building that consistency moving forward and that those again, those systems and practices are reflected in all of our classrooms.
Um and as much as we heard um some thanks to um the teachers and you know administrators, board members, um thank you to our students for sharing the stories because they're truly inspirational. So thank you all and thank you for being here. >> Thank you very much. >> Although it's important work that's coming up, it's really boring. Um, so we'll take like a two-minute pause and feel free to kind of find your way uh on to less boring things. So, thank you all for >> Oh, sorry. The band presentation will be great. >> Yeah, it'll be great. >> Are you okay? Yep. Couple more years. >> Thank you. Have a great night. >> Thanks everyone. >> Thank you. Yes. Oh, thank you. >> Thank you. I like to cry >> sometimes. A good >> exact unless you want to. >> You don't want them to stare at you.
I teach third grade over at Terrace and um the unit I piloted was the C. And so, we read a variety of engaging texts that students truly enjoyed. were fiction, non-fiction, biographies, fables, um, and poetry within this unit. And, um, and then in addition, we examine several works of art to deepen the understanding of the theme as well. But what I found especially exciting is that writing will now be embedded within the curriculum. This provides the district with a consistent writing framework that all teachers can follow, allowing skills to build progressively from one grade level to the next. During this unit, um, students wrote several informative essays using a structured approach called the painted essay. And this painted essay is a writing strategy that uses color coding to help students organize their ideas. So think of an introduction would be red and then um you had your thesis that was green.
And so if we move forward with these projects, we would plan to bring back all the specifics at the May board meeting. >> Jerry, where did that solar revenue number come from? >> That that is part of um Honeywell provides that as part of the projections and within that that is the first year uh full year of the of the solar use. um we would receive revenue an annual check for that that 20 years and it's projected out to to grow at about 4% um each year. So when we look at that that total estimated cost or actually the the payments for the debt certificate that's factored in we would utilize those funds uh to help make that make that payment. And we're having the underwriter structure our repayment schedule that will fit with in all of these like for the first year our savings would be less than it would be for the second year and when we receive like the federal credits and all of that.
Uh report cards. So one of our fund raisers or fund raisers one of our cost cutting measures is going to be to uh go to electronic report cards. So, we will still print report cards if kids want them, but generically we are going to have electronic report cards. We spend several thousand dollars a year in mailing report cards home. So, most parents can see their children's report cards. We will show them how to access them again and again and again if we have to, but that is just something that we're going to try to move to. >> And you can print them on a case-by-case basis. >> We're literally printing them on a case-by-case basis. We're just not going to run 1,100 copies and send them home. Okay. Um and then what am I missing here? Oh, uh departments department video. Sean, do you have anything else after the high school?
So, um our teachers from we're just looking through the samples, we did a couple of surveys, um and they largely the majority definitely want CKLA. Our kindergarten and first grade teachers are the ones that don't think it aligns quite as well. And also the rigor of of science of reading in general is is just upping the ante once again. We've all heard that kindergarten isn't what it used to be type of a thing. Well, it's just taking it it another step farther. Um but, I do think that and we've had a lot of conversations with Mr. Yule about letting them go see it, talk to other schools who are trying to use it alongside OG like we want to do, and then also giving them maybe some time to to rearrange units so that it's not overloading our kids cognitively as they go into kindergarten and first grade.
So, our major goals are We want to make sure that folks are comfortable with how to provide those scaffolds and supports instructionally so kids can access curriculum. We want to continue to improve family communication and we want to make sure that every student has their students successful moving forward. Thank you. Questions, Tim, Heather? Can I ask a question? I don't know if I'm allowed. She's the chair. She can decide. >> [laughter] >> You're not allowed, but you you can give them to us and we'll get answers back for you. Okay. Is there anything Thank you for this. Is there anything in the budget that would help or you know, that's going to Is there anything in the budget given that the multilingual learner position that was requested? I mean, you know, there's the instructional supplies for things like the language line that we provide to parents when they have you know, it's all those little something.
>> They could for you actually. No, it's not. >> Is there any extra Kleenex around >> always? >> Okay, great. >> We know that those are generally a tough act to follow, but anybody who can do it, >> we >> it is the fine arts team. >> We are so thrilled to have to share the amazing work of our band team. um always at the fronting front cutting edge of of thinking differently about how we approach our students in such large capacities. Um in the fine arts, we know this is music art, theater, dance in our music department alone. We're talking about band, we're talking about orchestra, we're talking about choir, we're talking about music production, uh guitar, it it's a massive program and and our band program is so exceptional. We're excited to share their work today. So, I'm going to pass it over to our team >> and here we go.
Two proof paragraphs, you had um yellow and blue and then the conclusion was green. So when you paint this essay, each section is a different co color. Um the students gain a clear understanding of how an essay is structured and how to support their ideas with details and evidence. And so we just finished this um unit last week and for our final essay, they had to write about Doc Kustoau and um and how he explored the sea. All my students, most of them did a fabulous job. They were able to follow this painted essay and um pretty much write independently a nice four paragraph essay. So, it turned out really well and they were all excited to see what could come by the building and see >> and while the middle school um teachers come up here, I also want to point out that one of the artwork pieces downstairs was uh is highlighted in the third grade arts and letters.