001serving for two years the 28th annual berkeley county school scholarship pageant was held on november 23rd and 24 2019 at musselman high school as you know this pageant is sponsored by the discipline scholarship and berkeley county schools and is the annual fundraiser for the scholarship the discipnet scholarship was established in 1972 by the berkeley county council pta in memory of the superintendent of schools raymond dispanet 49 years later we are still helping students with their college education our current guidelines are the same as when the first pageant was held in 1992 to recognize students for their achievements in academics school activities community service and leadership the required wearing apparel remains something suitable for church there were 72 students competing representing 26 berkeley county schools community and business support was excellent with a value of seven
002thousand dollars being donated by 75 businesses and individuals there were 52 adult volunteers who helped with the pageant and 13 students from 12 schools who also assisted this year in 2019 the total receipts were 10 646.25 expenses totaled 3318.84 so the amount cleared is 7327.41 during the 28 years this pageant has been held there have been participants from all county schools more than two hundred thousand dollars has been made for the dispatch scholarship with thousands of dollars awarded to our students in in the miss category the winner received a 500 college scholarship sponsored by vic and shelly mcphillin thanks to the generosity of dr bill queen former president of this board therefore run herself also receives scholarships totaling 700 the goal of this pageant is to promote education and community service we encourage and involve
003the students in activities that serve this purpose students receive quality awards sponsored by area businesses and are recognized for doing their best to encourage academic excellence awards sponsored by jerry williams state farm were presented to contestants making always or always bees the last school year jerry has done this for the entire 28 years to recognize excellent school attendance medals sponsored by rick hill were presented for perfect and faithful attendance sparkling star awards were presented in the tininess and the littleness for achievement in school community service and extracurricular activities even though they are in grades k through 5 these students are already doing great things to help in their communities star plaques were awarded to the student in the little miss junior miss and miss for the best achievement and overall excellence in academics leadership school
004activities and community service a 250 signing star scholarship in the miss is sponsored by diana gantt my husband john and i along with the family of blood jewels sponsored the plaques interview award talks were given in the junior and missed categories the recipient of the miss interview award received a 250 scholarship sponsored by dianna gand janelle sperry sponsors supplies other sponsors not previously mentioned are chick-fil-a nvb bank hadley appraisals eric gates state farm insurance jefferson security bank and candy insurance also for 28 years walmart and kmart have let us borrow items to decorate our muscle and stage the dining room denny's and pizza oven donated meals for the judges our sponsors are wonderful and really so very generous with our needs a permanent rotating plaque for each division has the winner's name and grade each
005year and with their picture is displayed in their school during the year community service is an important part of the duties of the winners for 23 years projects involving all contestants have donated dozens of boxes of food to the shenandoah women's shelter for abused women and children have provided toys for needy children address salvation army bears have donated items for veterans at the local va center and have provided toys to hospitals for children who are patients in addition the 2019 school representatives have been salvation army bell ringers and served as pages during the legislative session in charleston as well as assisting with the backpack program they also participated in several parades for fun they normally visit the veterans during valentines for vets week at the va center help with special olympics and county pta award
006programs but due to the pandemic these activities were not held even though it is a year late tonight they're all excited to address this board i would like to introduce our 2019 winners and tell you a little bit about them the tiny miss competition includes kindergarten through second grade our tiny miss berkeley county schools is ava hoffman ava could you join me she is the daughter of andrew and ashley hoffman if you two would stand the students don't get to be great students without great parents thank you he was in the first grade at bunker hill elementary when she won and she will be in the third grade at bunker hill in the fall her favorite subjects are math and reading her favorite teacher is miss tyson and her favorite school activity is making crafts
007and completing art projects she is in the sulphur springs 4-h club south berkeley youth football league cheerleading as in and is in her fifth year of dance at berkeley center for dance taking ballet jazz acro and tap at the pageant ava received the sparkling star and faithful attendance awards ava hopes someday to be a pediatrician and a dancer miss ava hoffman [Music] my name is eva hoffman and i am a celebrator at bunker hill elementary yes i want to thank the school board for supporting the pageant and my favorite thing about being tiny mist was when i got to go to charleston and blue page [Music] that's pretty good for a child that young to get up before the board of education that's okay ava don't you worry about it the little miss competition includes
008third through fifth grades our little miss berkeley county schools is ava for congress we have two angels this time ava is the daughter of dawn albright and tony colleen do you understand this is her mom abel was in the fifth grade at potomac intermediate when she wanted she is now going into the seventh grade at spring mills middle school this fall her favorite subjects are math and reading her favorite teacher is mrs wils nelson her favorite school activity is the science labs at potomac intermediate she was student council president for 2019-20 participated in the math field day olympiad and yearbook club she's in her fifth year of dance taking five different styles of dance she supports the berkeley county humane society using profits from her lemonade stand gives temporary foster mom care to kittens and
009cats volunteers for the newspaper in education book sale and bake sale she placed second in the design and ad award she has received first place in school county and second place at regional social studies fairs she received a bronze medal for the school match field day olympiad at the pageant she received the sparkling star award and the faithful attendance award in the always award someday ava hopes to be a pastor and a professional dancer able for kindness good evening ladies and gentlemen distinguished members of our school board parents and my fellow queens it has been 16 months since our last event so i'm incredibly grateful to be able to speak to you today if you would have told me that i would be missing this brooklyn county schools for two years due to a global
010pandemic i would have never believed you it is impossible to stand up here and discuss my experiences as little miss without discussing the impact koval19 has had on our school year my family and i made the decision to choose remote learning from my sixth grade year i was nervous to attend school online and had reservations however i was pleasantly surprised because it was the best school experience i've ever had my teachers at springfield middle school are amazing they went above and beyond every day to make sure that i'm not under and i not only understood everything that was being taught but that they were there to support me and help me with anything school-related or not i cannot imagine how incredibly difficult it was to do this while also having a classroom full of students
011they answered my emails after hours gave me extra attention when i had questions and never made me feel frustrated with the process once our goal members also had a very tough job this year keeping us all safe while trying to give us a normal year was no easy task there were times when we woke up not knowing what changed the night before with coven we had to learn how to be flexible and wear with the punches during these unprecedented times many parents in caregivers supported by those children these past 16 months they were amazing and were the true heroes of this story their dedication helped us receive the education that we deserved and it did not go unnoticed being living with berkeley county schools has been a true honor i will look back and always
012remember this time as being one of the greatest of my life these experiences and friendships have taught me to want more for myself and my fellow students empowering and supporting girls changes i work for the better and that is exactly what the scholarship pageant does it represents charity community and education these things are what we need to thrive i would also like to pay special recognition to our wonderful sponsors and mrs sherry smith sherry is the reason the pageant is so successful and her hard work and dedication is admired and appreciated thank you for choosing me to represent berkeley county schools as a little miss it has been a blessing and a joy and i will forever be grateful for this opportunity and experience thank you [Music] the genuineness includes sixth to eighth grades this
013year's junior miss is bailey o'raq bailey could not be with us in person she's on vacation but she will appear by the magic of zoom there she is i would like to share a little bit about bailey she is the daughter of dean and amy olak she was in the seventh grade at martinsburg south middle when she won and her favorite subjects are math reading and social studies her favorite teacher is mrs mott and her favorite school activity is show choir she will be in the ninth grade at martinsburg high school in the fall at south middle she was active in student council south spirit show fire anchor of the tv station and several other clubs she has also been very active in community activities including girl scouts apollo civic theater relay for life and
014church youth group she designs and sells bracelets to get money to buy gifts to take to the kids in the hospital she volunteers at the commission on aging participates in relay for life and helps fill backpacks for soldiers and school kids academically she has received awards in the social studies fair and the science fair she is a senior gymnast and performs in gymnastic shows at the pageant bailey received the judge's interview award and the always award in the future she plans to become an optometrist really would you like to speak would can you guys hear me all right all right hi i'm bailey olak i'm an upcoming freshman at martinsburg high school and i'm your junior miss berkeley county schools i'm sorry that i could not be with you guys tonight in person but before
015i tell you what a year i've had i wanted to thank sherry smith and janelle sperry for all their support through this pandemic although the pandemic has limited our activities we were still able to ride in a few parades serve as a page at the capitol tour and meet our governor meet the state superintendent of west virginia schools and represent berkeley county schools for the past two years and i just wanted to thank you all for guys for coming out and helping us through this rough time and thank you for including me in this opportunity thank you very have a good vacation through the generosity of vic and shelly mcphill and rocky glenn community a 500 scholarship is awarded to the winner in the miss division diana gantt awards another 500 in scholarships and dr
016clean another 700 in scholarships to winners in the miss category these scholarships are awarded separately from the bispinenet scholarship in this category includes 9th through 12th grades this year's miss berkeley county schools is elizabeth sperry elizabeth graduated from muslim high in 2020 and is the daughter of will and janelle sperry you know as i've said the parents the great parents make great students and it's a shame that all students don't have the same opportunity but we have wonderful parents for our kids her favorite subjects were civics and psychology her favorite teachers were mr brown and mr nipper her favorite school activities were participating in the band and spiritually she would be a sophomore at wvu this fall majoring in psychology at musselman she was in the national honor society history club theater club international thespian
017society marching in concert band indoor percussion team and the exit 5 jazz ensemble as a featured soloist it was performed in russian's theater production of aladdin in greece and won the outstanding supporting actress award for her role as jan she won first place awards at the school county regional and state social studies affairs she represented muscle muha in the business education partnership leadership academy and was the west virginia state pta youth representative she attended the 2019 national pta legislative conference in washington d.c as the youth representative for west virginia where she met with our senators and discussed the importance of addressing mental health in our schools in the community she has volunteered with special olympics race across america and valentines for vets at the local va hospital at the pageant she received the 500 queen
018scholarship the 250 judges interview scholarship and the 250 dollar signing scar star scholarship elizabeth is attending west virginia university to obtain a bachelor's degree in psychology and a minor in criminology she plans to pursue a career as a criminal psychiatrist elizabeth hello my name is elizabeth sperry and i'm serving as your current miss berkeley county schools i graduated from musselman high school in manukaudae all the while participating in after school activities and honor societies now i am 18 soon to be 19 years old and going to be a sophomore in west virginia university when asked my degree i'm a psychology major minoring in criminology planning on pursuing a career in being a polygrapher for our beautiful state well i tell people this they seem to be highly impressed as they are pretty big words with
019even bigger shoes to fill you have to be clever empathetic responsible compassionate adaptable and many other things you may ask well how does this have anything to do with me being miss berkeley county schools well i've gained all those traits by participating in this pageant being involved in my community and taking my education very seriously speaking of education one of the highlights of my senior year was becoming miss berkeley county schools in november of 2019. for me it seems eons ago as obviously there is going to be a little bump on the road soon to come obviously the cobra 19 pandemic hit everyone hard in particular seniors admittedly it was hard to see the bright side of things especially since it felt like many people in my class were looking at me for answers personally
020whenever i need a solution to a problem i go to my mom and even she didn't have any answers however with all the negativity and things i didn't get to do i could reflect on things i did get to do i was fortunate enough to have participated in the pageant every year since kindergarten and to have won little miss and junior miss in those years i have served as a page to the legislature gave canned food to the women's shelter gave many speeches gave valentines for veterans wrapped gifts for children gave medals and cheered on the olympians in the special olympics and got to speak to you all today not only that i have made many new friends that i still talk to today it can be easy to focus on the negative but what
021i've learned from this amazing experience is that positive outlooks can save the mindset of many as a young woman of today i view myself as someone who can be a leader of tomorrow without the pageant i truly feel i wouldn't be nearly as confident as i am today and i am proud representing our county and our schools i thank you all greatly for listening to me as well as many years of supporting the scholarship pageant i hope that i have represented our county well as it was an honor to serve you as miss berkley county schools thank you all of these girls are going to make our world a better place for all of us they're great representatives at berkeley county schools and i'm really proud of all of them we extend our thanks to
022board members darren gilpin and todd beckwith and the superintendent patrick murphy for being with us at the pageant to recognize our winners my appreciation to all of you for your support we are proud to recognize the many contributions these students have made to our schools and community thank you for supporting our efforts in raising funds for scholarships it has been a genuine pleasure for me to be able to work with so many great students through this pageant for 28 years for 19 years the dispense scholarship board of directors has also admitted administered the madeleine reiner memorial scholarship and the olive kiter memorial scholarship these two great women served on the dispennet board and were very active in local and state pta for many years through their scholarships they continue to support our students in 2019
023we were very happy to award four two thousand four hundred dollar dispatch scholarships one to a student at each of the four county high schools through the dispennet scholarship the scholarship pageant the reiner scholarship and the kiter scholarship we presented a total of ten thousand eight hundred dollars in 2019 in scholarships in 2020 we awarded 8450 in scholarships and in 2021 due to the pandemic and no pageant being held we still awarded 2 dollars 950. scholarships we are currently supporting seven students in college through the discipline scholarship i thought you might like to see a pageant program which michelle has distributed for me at your place it includes pictures and vita of all the contestants and lists the many contributors to the pageant contestant awards given along with our sponsors are also listed in the
024program does anyone have any questions they'd like to ask okay we thank you so much for supporting our program and letting us share it with you uh the girls love coming in here and it's a real learning experience for them to be able to present to the board of education i mean that's a big deal for them and for them to get up here and speak they they gain confidence and it's really good for them i appreciate you letting them do that and i believe jackie long has certificates from governor justice to present to the girls and bailey i will be getting your certificate from the governor to you sweetie thank you all so much for joining us tonight thank you sherry for all that you do for this pageant we really appreciate it our
025next recognition is the berkeley county diversity council champions for equity mr damon wright will come forward to give that presentation a good evening my name is damon wright as we just said i'm the chairperson for the berkeley county diversity council i'm here tonight because the diversity council has been around for for many years but we've never given out an award we've seen the volunteer of the month the teacher of the year et cetera and we felt that it was needed in our community for those that are fighting for equity and inclusion and diversity in our school system and in our community to be given an award as well we had a lot of different applicants we had faculty awards we have people in the faculty people in administration students uh several different categories that we
026had people nominated for and we as a committee committee came together and decided our winners which i'll be announcing this evening i did want to uh give a thank you to the other people on the list that were nominated but were not selected uh because even though they were not are not getting the award they are still doing the work in the community and in the school system uh some of those faculty are aaron peralta angel routson anna bach miss cheryl snyder allison burnett katie schramm michelle mullinax neil bucy laura cochran mr hammond and mrs brown caitlin clay coach church molly rakes sean kane amanda kisner and elizabeth sanchez we also had community members a master clad of clyde's karate as well as miss dr chiquita howard bostick of shepard university another organization was fairness
027west virginia as well as the eastern panhandle alumni chapter of delta sigma theta sorority we want to thank all of those that were nominated because they too are working to make our community better our first award will be going to a student miss katie hatfield katie created a scholarship called the future is yours west virginia child in may of 2020. her goal was to award scholarship money to a student or students who live in west virginia and are or once were a foster child awarded the state or an adoptee and also had an adhd diagnosis she spent several hours each week designing making and selling jewelry to fund the scholarship and with the help and support of school personnel her efforts gained traction she sold her jewelry at farmers markets and at westwood charm boutique
028and nelson supply by december of 2020 she was advised that she had earned enough money to create a perennial scholarship by investing in the community foundation of washington county maryland where her scholarship is located in april of 2021 she awarded two scholarships to students who were once in foster care she continues to work in order to fund even more scholarships in 2022 she is a 10th grade 16 year old student at hedgesville high school katie through volunteerism over a period of years knows that children in foster care have needs that children with intact families do not have because of the many unknowns a foster child faces she began volunteering at the children's home society while a middle school student as a volunteer she teaches manners lessons and art lessons she has developed a rapport with
029the children and conducts drives to help secure needed hygiene and secure security items for the children and is very aware of the extra help the children need as a person living with adhd she knows that children who have experienced trauma are often times more likely to suffer from this condition her leadership skills pushed her to research this phenomenon and she learned that a child with adhd receives 20 000 more negative messages than does a neurotypical child by the time the child reaches eighth grade her heart was touched knowing that the child who receives the receives the negativity is also likely the child who at least needs it and that led her to create the scholarship and to work even harder on behalf of children she is definitely an advocate for change and has dedicated her
030time and effort to helping to improve the opportunities available to children who have or had a difficult start in life she is an ideal candidate for the student berkeley county diversity council equity and inclusion award another winner we had that wasn't able to make it to this evening is miss celeste brown from martinsburg high school and the things that i'm reading here these are all from people that um these are things that were written by people that nominated them um i wanted to read what was sent into us rather than something that we came up with because i wanted it to be authentic and true to what they're doing and what other people felt that they were doing so miss brown has been a champion for equity for many years as a martinsburg high school
031history teacher she often supplemented curriculum to provide a more holistic view of history particularly including the contributions of marginalized groups that were not found in the textbooks ms brown cultivated a classroom environment that allowed students to analyze evaluate and discuss social issues and propose solutions to contemporary issues she recognized and appreciated students cultural identities evidenced by using course materials that allow students to see themselves reflected in curriculum she used instructional strategies and course materials designed to eliminate prejudice and stereotypes expanded on persons from the students perspectives ancestries and how said persons contributed to the history of the united states and promoted understanding of and respect for the united states as a pluralistic society within a global context ms brown's influence extended beyond the classroom as she has used her knowledge skills and abilities to facilitate
032for many years the school's multicultural club which in turn has facilitated numerous historical events and activities throughout the school year the richest of the activities exposes the entire student body to historical facts beyond what is provided in the curriculum the visuals of ms brown's instructional practices and content knowledge has recently insulted in her being selected to participate in and lead a west virginia department of education committee designed to develop content standards for an african american history course the standards will then be available to all 55 counties in the state of west virginia providing historic history teachers an opportunity to expand on what is presently available in the standards and curriculum ms brown became a key figure in numerous district initiatives under my under the leadership of this administration involving diversity multiculturalism costly responsive pedagogy cultural
033proficiency and equity and inclusion her assist assistance and impact influence fellow educators has been invaluable ms brown also every year would go on the hbcu college trip that the diversity council would have she was very influential in getting students involved getting students to come helping students to be prepared for their interviews their applications being ready and for helping students further their education by going on to college so i wanted to make sure that she was acknowledged this evening as well we have two more winners which i'll allow valerie ledford to announce and then we'll wrap up thank you good evening i'm going to announce kim patton and what was sent into us from this patent is miss patton is our school counselor and she has always worked hard to make all students feel included she
034has set up fabulous multicultural day activities and assemblies and this year as a click counselor she has still worked hard to create videos and activities that are inclusive of all students no matter their color race or gender she is a true champion of every child she has brought numerous resources to the attention of the director of academic coaching coordinator of project aware and the person who nominated her that i have an equity focus to ensure the social emotional needs of students are met through the lens of equity reducing the possibility of academic and counseling discrimination and bias miss patton facilitates a diversity club at her school which includes students who recently completed a powerful video addressing racism anti-racist racism blm the treatment of indigenous and asian-american persons the video is powerful and will be used
035as a staff development and student development tool starting with senior staff members sorry this is new for us let's see and then the next award um she is not here this evening is for charlotte norris and the destiny baptist church charlotte norris and destiny baptist church has served our school community for numerous years they helped initiate and facilitate the burke street promise neighborhood initiative which believes that every child should have access to the opportunities to help them go from cradle to career and reach their full potential pni coordinates resources and unites families neighbors and community organizations together we can work to empower children so they can improve sorry can improve and not and add the breaking the cycle of prop of poverty with this in mind they serve the school to ensure all students needs
036are equitably met by eliminating potential areas of gaps so that learning may occur beyond the promised neighborhood initiative destiny baptist church meets every need of burke street elementary whether it's assistance with after-school tutoring meals school supplies supporting the school's initiative by supplying volunteers to name a few they want to see every child succeed and take action steps to ensure such a curse now we just wanted to thank also the board i know it's been a challenging year for everyone but we want to thank the board and superintendent for uh their support the administration for um allowing us to give out this award for um trying to put an emphasis on helping everyone uh we know it's difficult uh especially even in this political climate with everything being politicized uh to try to not get caught
037up in that but to be focused on what is best for the students ultimately and what is best and also and also what is best for the staff we hope to continue that effort continue that work with the school system with the board of education so that we can continue to promote teachers and students that are working to for the benefit of everyone and we want to continue this annual award and continue to promote equity and inclusion for all thank you thank you and uh congratulations to mrs patton and to katie thank you for joining us you guys are welcome to stay for the rest of the meeting but now would be a good time if you want to uh head on out we have anyone signed up michelle for citizens forum okay next item
038is citizen's forum and mr damon wright hey i'm back um no sign of a citizens forum because of uh the recent announcement that dr walker will not be returning i know in previous meetings there was a lot of people that came up and spoke uh in regards to mr dillard are leaving and what they would hope the next person would be that would place them my hope is that this board will take into consideration the need to have somebody that will further what dr walker has been doing even push even even more so for equity and inclusion in our school system we are hoping that it's someone that is not going to be intimidated by those in the community that do not want to see change those in the community that do not want to
039hear another voice other than their own that will be able to educate and be able to be transparent but at the same time not give in and not get them given under pressure to what they know is not right and what will not work for the students things are changing in this world whether people like it or not um things have been taught to people that we're not we're not correct and there are things that were withheld from people that unfortunately it's uncomfortable when you learn something that you didn't know a lot of people just learned about the tulsa riots i learned a few years ago because i actually went there and saw it for myself uh saw the roads and walked the streets and saw the museum so when people hear things that they
040didn't know about it's it's like it can't be real but we want somebody that's going to push for the truth no matter how painful it is to whomever it is everyone has negative things in their history it doesn't mean that we can't learn from those things or that we shouldn't teach those things so i'm hoping that the next person will be somebody that will strive for the truth and i hope the board will allow the diversity council and the community to have some input as to that selection thank you our next item is the consent agenda and contained in the consent agenda are the minutes of the regular meeting held on june 7th minutes of the special meeting held on june 10th chaperone requests three curricular and extracurricular trip requests with one prior request approved
041one use of school property eight budget supplements and 32 transfers the payment of the bills and approval of invoices we have the financial report the treasurer's report the pre-k calendar for the 21-22 school year renewal of the adult learning center lease the mcgraw-hill instructional materials ela adoption contract these items are contained in the consent agenda can i have a motion to accept the consent agenda we approve the consent agenda as presented have a second second any discussion just one question mr president the renewal for the adult learning center police i realize it's uh it's already it's paid by the state but will we have any other rental property after we filled out the warehouse the warehouse and move the printing shop anything but we have any other rental properties that we're renting do you want
042to come forward mr spanogle you probably know this better than i but i i don't believe we're going to have any other rental properties once we consolidate to the warehouse but would you confirm that that's correct uh the print shop is the only rental property we have this time thank you any other discussion all those in favor of the consent agenda hi opposed carries unanimously the next item or the monitoring items and under that is equity and inclusion into the year summary and dr veronique walker will come forward to give that presentation good evening dr gilton board members dr murphy and fellow senior staff colleague this evening donnie dellinger this evening i wanted to get take a moment of time to provide an end of the year summary for equity and inclusion and this particular
043summary is a follow-up to the august 20th presentation that happened regarding the board of education and then also as a result of policy idf which is the equity and inclusion policy that in that policy states that an annual update to the board of education happened the board approved the updated equity and inclusion policy in 2018 and then confirmed again the policy on august the 20th 2020. so some of the items that were on the august 20th agenda were policy idf stakeholder suggestions in the district's response 2020 2021 initiatives and then the board as stated already of education confirmation of policy idf so as a snapshot and a reminder there are overall goals in policy idf that drive what equity and inclusion is for the district before this policy was updated it was created originally in
044the 80s and the policy was multicultural education and it was approximately three sentences but now as the policy has been updated twice once for multicultural education and now for equity and inclusion it is more thorough and contains the road map for everything that we as a district will want to see in our schools and as what you as the board of education agree to as a reminder equity and inclusion is about making sure students have what they need that is a nutshell explanation of equity and inclusion that they have what they need regardless of anything that identifies them any different anything such as that one thing about equity is that it is in everything that we do this particular slide as was shown in august 2020 shows that there are 10 dimensions of equity and
045it indicates that different areas or equity is to be examined and to make sure that things are in fact meeting the needs of students such as school funding high quality early learning student support and intervention instructional time and intention and attention one of the things when i was preparing this presentation i began to think about my history here in berkeley county schools from up until this point one of the things i was thinking was i've had the opportunity historically to influence through equity and inclusion many many different programs so i wanted to give a snapshot to the board of education about the different programs that i as uh through equity inclusion it was previously called diversity different things that i oversaw and different things that i had the opportunity along with those around me and
046wasn't alone i had others support me but those are the things that i oversaw in my tenure during my tenure here and not only oversaw but also built programs around regarding equity diversity inclusion the items highlighted in green are the items that have they've changed so to speak and they've enfolded or folded into other areas such as the martinsburg initiative with safe and drug-free schools educating teenage parents has essentially been given back to the counselors so those are programs that aren't technically still in place and i also added the last bullet on the on my right hand side other duties as assigned or assisted as many of us in berkeley county schools we have our assignments we have our duties but then we have the things that we step up and step in to help
047whenever we have the opportunity because we want to make sure every student succeeds key programs that have the equity and inclusion influence over the course of the 2007 to presently some of the things as you see with the policy updates i have the opportunity through equity and inclusion to update all of those policies to make sure that students are represented and to make sure that it aligns with the state's expectations i was on equity and inclusion diversity was at the beginning of many of the other programs that you see there the ovaes bullying prevention program project aware the martinsburg initiative this is a snapshot of just the things that equity and inclusion has had the opportunity to influence with the duties and responsibilities one thing that i took to heart and i felt was very
048important was professional learning so during this the 14 years it's been 14 years had the opportunity to facilitate co-facilitate create research or lead 275 plus professional learning opportunities and here's a snapshot of some of the topics that were included were covered over the last 14 years so sometimes when we think of diversity equity and inclusion i'll speak for myself i would think well if it's only diversity and equity and inclusion if it has it in the name but however making sure that every student has what they want and need may look like many of the other things that's listed on this screen today for example mental health and social services academic and the professional growth and development not only for students but for our faculty and staff members i was speaking to a colleague just
049last week and she said one of her favorite quotes was from simone biles and simone biles said work hard in silence and let your success be the noise and as you can see simone is holding many gold medals and the beauty about this saying is that the success for berkeley county schools and for every school district across this nation and world may not be necessarily the precious metal of gold but it's the preciousness of our students anything less than serving our students and making sure that students needs are met is not worth the effort and it was just very appropriate that tonight that the equity and inclusion award was given to this individuals that you saw receive the award tonight because many of those individuals worked in silence they weren't looking for accolades they did
050their jobs and there are many people i will say it i'm going to say it my last word meeting presentation there are people across this district who are working in silence for the benefit of our students and every role is important from the service personnel to teachers to administration is the best way that we can we as a district can make sure every need is met for our students so some of the initiatives that were discussed at the beginning of the school year were the employees of color as a result of some of the turmoil that was happening the political unrest the social unrest we met with the boys of colors as a reminder here were some of the things that they stated that was needed for them from that point forward and prior even
051to that point but especially after the unrest occurred out of that particular series of events the multicultural employee association was formed here we have listed their mission their statement and they've had the opportunity to meet every month to offer a place of support for any educator who wanted to come to the table so to speak and have a conversation and they plan to continue to grow this particular employee association and so we're looking forward to what they have to offer and what will continue to be available for employees in berkeley county schools again there was the 10 dimensions of equity in august we shared several guiding questions such as does each student have access to strong teachers do the teachers reflect the diversity of the student population or do the administrators other questions do students
052do does each student who needs it receive additional instructional time and or attention are the schools safe and supportive other guiding questions that were there does students have access to high quality preschool and also do students attend schools and classes that are racially ethnically and socially economically diverse these are questions that across the district across this last year have been discussed and have been ensured that there are areas yes definitely as a district berkeley county schools is meeting those needs and there are as data reflects opportunities for growth so one of the initiatives was to research the answer to the guiding questions it is ongoing other initiatives i'm going to backtrack was for more professional development we were able to have the administrative and staff book studies and then also continued use of the equity
053and inclusion liaisons occurred there's one in every school other aspects of the initiatives or professional learning was establishing the more accountability system for safe schools professional learning so that individuals completed more of the required trainings for the safety of our students which again is another area of equity here if you see at the bottom the last bullet on this page or this particular screen is the creation of a local history supplemental curriculum that being the ramer center that is still to be determined and in progress but i want to backtrack to continue student advisory meetings we had the meetings this year we there were different things that came from that meeting that students recommended as a reminder each year some of the bullet points you see there are the things that students said that they
054wanted and needed but one of the things i want to share with you is actually a part of one of the winners tonight for the individuals who was recognized tonight she worked with her students in her diversity diversity club that would be kim patton school counselor and they created a powerful video you heard about the video tonight i'm going to show you two minutes of this five minute video approximately two minutes so you can get an idea of what students want to talk about what students want to address no one in this video was coerced or prompted these were their ideas and so we're going to take a a moment just to watch a snippet of this particular video i believe the board members also have this presentation so you can go back and watch
055the entire video when you have the opportunity indigenous people have been mistreated since like the beginning they literally were the first people to be here and now they're treated as if they're outsiders but i've read some sherman alexey books and i kind of understand how the government has mistreated indigenous people throughout the years and it's kind of affected where they are as a people today their culture is used as a costume that people wear on halloween and they always say native americans when they should be called indigest and i see some people harassed on the street for being indigest and it's terrible they just look at someone differently because they have different beliefs and that person [Music] i believe it is necessary for the world to change lots of people have been excluded including black
056lives and they have been killed and they should not be killed just for their skin tone the black lives matter movement to me is inspiring it has honestly just been a platform for black people to express their voices and express their opinions to the entire world and empowers so many people especially me um i thought that the black lives matter movement was important for our history and they didn't have to really get very violent but they still got their coin across and they made their mark in history well i think that the violent protests that happened this past summer have kind of become a scapegoat and that's all that people think about when they think of black lives matter when in reality most of the black lives matter protests the smaller ones are actually peaceful
057and they're just trying to get out there and make people aware of systematic racism in the u.s i'm really happy that during quarantine people started to understand more of the problems that we face as black people and all the things that you've had to go through and what's wrong with our justicism and how it's been helping other minority groups with their problems because they feel like now they can speak up as well i think that it was a very good thing to see people work together to make a difference in something that they believe in i do feel like there are a lot of people being silent and i do feel like they just need the courage and soon to show them that it is okay to stand up and is it okay and it
058is okay to express how they feel i think and so there's about three more minutes of that video and as you can see the students were very vocal and very open about their impression of what they want to see in society in our community and in our schools at the beginning of the year there was a nice assessment sent out for school administrators classroom teachers and other other represent school counselors social workers and those were the individuals who completed the needs assessment and this is very tiny but this is some of the things that individuals who completed the survey identified as their impression of how the temperature so to speak the culture represents and exists in berkeley county schools and the county overall and then in each individual school or their particular representative school but
059as individuals filled out their comments about what do you want to see more of what is more needed there were three themes that rose to the top above everything increased resources and opportunities for dialogue and professional learning increase diverse staff at all levels of the district and increase student voice and support for students and families with the strategic plan that was the goal to find out what were the top priorities based upon people's feedback and this these there were several themes but these themes right here the three that you see were the themes that were indicated as priorities or most needed at that particular stage when the or the survey was dis disseminated so again the goals uh policy idf and equity and inclusion are clearly outlined in policy idf and moving forward i want
060to echo the citizen forum request is that equity conclusion programs and initiatives continues to grow so that is my request as the current associate superintendent of berkeley county schools for equity and inclusion there has been a strong foundation built but as i move on to my next that the person who follows will then take this to the next level and as i shared with you the programs that i've overseen over the years several of those programs are now overseen by other individuals and i am going to name them christy heaton elise gregory and hal van meter and they have indeed taken the programs and taking them to the the next level and that is my hope for equity and inclusion and with that in mind that is the reason for the request and the approval
061thank you for approving the equity and inclusion coordinator which is a 210 day employee because this is more than a one person position or one person job so to speak if true work and true change is needed and wanted because it's all about the students at the end of the day anything less is not worth it thank you board of education i have had a wonderful time presenting to you this evening and i thank you for your time and attention support and commitment to equity and inclusion in berkeley county schools thank you so much dr walker for your 14 years in berkeley county schools it's always been a joy to see you and to hear your presentations look forward to seeing what you do in the future thank you our next item are the action
062items and the first uh mr brad spinaugle we'll we'll present the next few here the first is the transportation supply bid thank you dr gilpin transportation supply bid for fiscal year 22. i will read off the supply item along with the winning bidder first off we have batteries 12 volt battery mart 65.55 cents uh windshield washer fluid we did not have a bid so we'll choose a local vendor to uh meet that supply antifreeze goes to corals at seven dollars and fifty cents per gallon motor oil 15w 40 will go to hn funk houser 8.35 cents per gallon transmission fluid will go to corals at 1752.85 cents per 55 gallon drum diesel exhaust fluid goes to corals at a dollar fifty-six per gallon unleaded gasoline goes to holtzman at a .25 refinery price deviation diesel
063fuel will go to rm roach at .117 refinery price deviation propane will go to rm roach at .409 mount bellevue price deviation number two fuel oil will go to holtzman at a .2425 refinery price deviation tires bridgestone r268s will go to mccarthy at 342 attire bridgestone r250s will go to mccarthy at 3 1880 per tire firestone fd663 will go to mccarthy at 312 per tire bridgestone 255s will go to mccarthy at 313 dollars per tire and for our returns the 11r225s will go to mccarthy at thirty dollars each and the 225 70r 220 22.5 will go to mccarthy at 15 each that concludes the transportation supply bid we recommend that the board accept the bids as presented i have a motion to accept the transportation supply bid second second any discussion all those in favor
064action carries unanimously your second item are the transportation physicals bid yes the transportation physical bid for physical year 22 is as follows we had two physicians bidding dr terry chambers at ninety dollars per physical and dr david morris at ninety seven dollars for physical we'd also like to remind the board that any berkeley county school driver who would like to see their own physician we will we will reimburse up to the maximum bid which is 97 per physical we recommend the board accept the transportation physical bids as presented to have a motion to accept the transportation physicals bid so moved have a second second any discussion all those in favor opposed motion carries unanimously next item is transportation uniform bid the transportation uniform and facilities bid services bid for physical year 22 is as follows
065if you're looking at the chart i'd like to turn your attention to the column labeled weekly rental we had two competing vendors one company named domestic and another company named unifirst the way this bid worked the company that won substantially most of the categories receives the entire award and in this case unifirst won 11 of the 15 categories that's 73 percent and i'll quickly go through the supply items insulated bids bibs will be 74 cents per week high visibility jackets will be 80 cents per week t-shirts will be 80 cents per week enhanced visibility pants 32 cents per week enhanced visibility shirts 28 cents for short sleeve 32 cents for long sleeve per week under facility services shop towels will be five cents each shop towel auto replacement would be two percent of inventory at
06649 cents each soiled towel lockers are free 3x5 mats are a dollar twenty each four by six mats dollar ninety two each three by ten mats two dollars and forty cents each four by six logo mats three dollars and twelve cents each scrapper mats a dollar ninety two each air mist 1.50 and nylon bag and stands are free now we recommend to the board they accept the transportation uniform and facilities bid for fy 22 as presented i have a motion to accept the transportation uniform bid a second second any discussion oh just a quick question um is is the rentals are they like washed yes is that the purpose yes yes the company comes in they take out the towels and take out the mats they wash them and replace them with new ones even
067the shirts and stuff yes is this the same company we use for maintenance i believe it is the same company we used for me is this the same company we we are presently using uh no the company we are currently using for transportation is domestic any other discussion all those in favor opposed motion carries unanimously workman's compensation bid workers compensation bid for fiscal year 22 is as follows we had two competing companies first we had travelers they did 484 thousand 724 dollars in cova also known as brick street bid 548 we recommend that the workers compensation bid be awarded to the lowest bidder which is travelers at 484 724 can i have a motion to accept the workman's compensation bid second second any discussion all those in favor opposed motion carries unanimously thank you our
068next item are the personnel actions and mr lewis mullinax will come forward to present those good evening dr gilpin and distinguished board members um dr murphy and senior staff we've been working very hard in the hr department and like to start out by saying it's just a pleasure to work in berkeley county dr schooley is representing us at the national aspa conference in denver and he's asked me to deliver these personal actions today i'd like to start out by thanking the hr department like michelle brock she's worked extra hard here recently to make sure that everything is processed in our board actions and all the scanning and the contracts they're all complete and as you've noticed these board actions have been a little lengthy here recently there are a lot to look through also the
069people that are working so hard in our department is lauren garrett she's processing the summer sole program new hires and the substitutes susan cook is for processing all their certifications and recertifications salary increases and um employment verifications debbie walker she's currently right now even going through our insurance premiums and correcting those and karen hinsel is working on our service to make sure everything gets lined up and posted and our last addition to our department was megan baldwin she found 60 individuals to staff our soul program that we couldn't find a couple weeks ago so a lot of energy and effort's been put into the by the hr department so before we get started this afternoon um there's a couple of corrections that we need to make on tonight's board meeting or board agenda line 69
070we have it's the technology integration specialist and it's 210 days all these positions were on your agenda as 200 days but they are actually 210s so that's line 73 is a 210 day line 76 210 day and line 77 210 day where we would also like to pull lines 156 and 159 we're pulling those from your personal actions because further action is needed before you guys should approve those actions the superintendent recommends the following professional service coaching and substitute personal actions for tonight coaching actions we have nine appointments one interim appointment four resignations the extended summer school actions appointments 46 grant our grant actions appointments six policy 5000 transfers three and just general transfers 12. leave actions we have an unpaid leave of absence one of those professional actions we have 17 appointments one we're
071going to rescind the appointment two policy 5000 moves two we're removing from the transfer list and assigning eight resignations two retirements and sixteen transfers service actions we had five appointments we'd like to remove from the transfer list of nine people and assign them two resignations one we would like to rescind the resignation one retirement 16 transfers and 22 upgrades the summer feeding program actions the summer appointments we had 32 of those seoul summer school actions 144 appointments correction on the dates of the ones that you approved last week we added a couple of training days that we didn't have that information the very beginning so that is 176 actions substitute nurse actions renewable contracts to substitute service actions appointments to and remove from the substitute list one substitute teacher actions one appointment seven withdrawal of
072contracts and 12 resignations today we have a total of 563 actions and with us so you guys are introduced to some of our new and our new um assistant principals we have amy hetter she's in the back she's a new assistant principal at musselman middle school and we have carissa tress over here to the side she's the assistant principal at hedgesville high school and i was formerly her assistant principal at tomahawk that tells you how old i am and we have nick emery here he's the new assistant principal at mill creek are there any questions can i have a motion to accept the professional service coaching and substitute personnel actions with the uh changes noted by mr mullinax need to recuse myself from page 32 of those actions if we could note that can i
073have a motion to accept these actions a movie approved the professional service coaching and substitute positions as presented with the corrections as noted mr mullen acts a second second any discussion uh mr president uh first without any uh comments i want to vote separately or not separately but i want to be on record as being against position 100 and position 75 to 261 day contracts totally um first question i have um we have 30 plus administrators in the sole program and i was just wondering are they going to be treated like the other employees and not be paid for the west virginia holiday in the fourth of july true yeah they're not paid for the holiday um the employees listed under grant they're under classification what happens to them when the grant expires employment wise
074i'm actually not the one to be answered that question um but i'm what my intent what i'm thinking is that at that by that time we will have the funding to complete these complete their contracts and continue this so hopefully our population grows and that our board is generous at that time and keeps these positions quite a number of positions um and we have the interventionists and we have interventionists and other people where will they be in the classrooms with the teachers where will they be housed or how will they intermingle the interventionists will be housed in the school buildings themselves and and yes the intention is that they will be in the classrooms with the teachers instructing them and i know i'm going to speak as a former principal that is a job that
075dottie pannell when she was in my building she played a vital role there because some multiple times i could not get into the classroom to model lessons for the teachers and that person will be modeling those lessons and carrying out the instructional part of and assisting assistant administrator so i i see that as a vital role okay just a comment we're talking about the students here dr walker was speaking previously berkeley county has a minority enrollment of 27 percent by a report i'm reading here and since 1999 we had 1120 minority students at that time and now we're at 5 000 plus so that's triple the number of minority students in our system and i i know we're trying to employ similar individuals there one last concern i have internationally we we're losing tonight on
076this list a couple of exchange teachers from china and i just hope that our our staff and the schools are making sure they feel safe as well as welcome for teaching our children the chinese language and i i i just noticed that while you were doing your presentation and i hope we're sensitive to the times and the pressure that the people of chinese descent are experiencing unfortunately in this country thank you one question mr mullanex uh on your summer of learning corrections there's various date strikethroughs some of the ending dates are july 22nd and summer july 29th i want to make sure that's correct so we don't have to do a correction to the correction but uh if it is correct why do we have different ending dates some of the programs are different and
077they end at different times with their their linkedin is totally but depends on where the teacher is teaching and what what part of it they're teaching mr beckwith that that's due to the credit recovery at the high school the because of the getting the credit and taking the courses okay that's that's the addition the the sole program is the enrichment uh intervention part of the program the the the additional days is from the credit recovery from the high school thank you students requirements thank you any other discussion uh in in the june 7th newsletter i've read what is a tis position that's a technology integration specialist that's somebody who as a new teacher um learning the new the technology whenever you're issued a macbook ipads things like that that person assists those teachers with using
078that technology within the classroom um we've moved a long way since the overhead projector where you just click the button if you don't understand how this works or what it works and every textbook everything is online everything is digital now and you have teachers that are coming in they need that the person teaching them how to use this equipment so that it's used effectively even to the substitutes when you have a substitute in your building this this t this this individual can go into that classroom to make sure those kids get that instruction that day they can assist that teacher i know how they feel thank you all those in favor the personnel actions with the noted recusals and also i voted against the two positions opposed motion carries unanimously with uh board member murphy's
079uh noted votes against items thank you our next item our board announcements and just as a reminder uh this is our last meeting here at spring mills we will return uh to the central office or the administrative office on winchester avenue for our next meeting and uh i want to thank everyone uh here from spring mills i know it's been a lot to uh set these meetings up and uh we really appreciate it um i didn't get a chance to run this by mr dillinger but i was reading the charleston gazette the uh the test assessing secondary completion the ts tasc will be discontinued august the 31st so these are people who are trying what i call the ged if they're in the process of getting this passing this test and they have to take
080a segment of it they should be getting on the ball and getting it done so that if they have to go to a new test i don't know what's going to happen here mr dillinger actually we've been working on that over the last few few weeks uh with mr pack ken pack and christy eaton we do that test at several sites one is with our option pathway site those students that are close have been informed and we'll be having the opportunity to complete that the others that are ed site and our adult ed are contacting those individuals who have come in are working on it also also part of that policy is those students who have taken the part of the task once they choose the new test will not be penalized due to moving
081from one to the other oh good good thank you superintendent announcements all right thank you very much dr gilpin all right i'll start off this evening by uh thanking everyone in berkeley county for this year's work uh we uh produced the annual report which is going to be made public actually i shared this uh this evening with the school board as part of my annual evaluation and i think we highlight many of the things related to student achievement the progress we've made in addressing many of the issues this year with the pandemic but look for that to be coming out on our webpage and posted and again i just want to thank all the individuals that have been involved in this there is a tremendous amount of data and information here that gives you kind
082of a sense of what was accomplished this year and as i've said we set out with some very you know laudable golds but we've had to make adjustments and be flexible and i think we've addressed that and been very very adaptable and i just want to recognize folks for those achievements this year we also want to uh celebrate um this part of the state is becoming noted for lacrosse along with many other uh athletic uh endeavors but we want to celebrate the folks here at spring mills who defeated uh wheeling central catholic for the division one championship game and this was actually a title rematch from 2019 and then also the second group there is the bulldogs won division two uh state lacrosse championship over putnam county and they took that division championship so congratulations
083to both of those teams and i also want to thank mr dellinger because uh he has uh uh sort of championed the recruit lacrosse effort here in berkeley county as it's kind of continued to grow we'll see that expand here as we move forward to next season i also want to congratulate benjamin crowder benjamin is a first grader at marlow and was this year's regional winner for the west virginia treasurer's smart 529 essay he won 500 in the smart 529 account and marlow also received an additional 500 for the school west virginia children in grades k-5 can enter to win money in a smart 50 529 college savings account by writing about their future here's how it works a child writes a short essay that begins when i grow up i want to be and
084then tell why they chose that particular career the 529 is a tax-advantaged savings plan designed to encourage families to save for college earnings on 529 investments accumulate tax-free and distributions are also tax exempt so congratulations benjamin and keep setting those expectations high and hope you meet that goal and we'll be hearing from you in a few years as you head off to college we also want to thank the martinsburg sunrise rotary program in its fourth year several years ago it just started with one school and that was burke street and it's grown to include all berkeley county schools second graders literacy obviously is our number one initiative and it's valued by rotary international thank you to the sunrise valley or sunrise rotary for their fundraiser grants efforts to make it possible for 425 students to
085receive books in their particular schools that encourage reading over the summer we also want to recognize our schools this year for the kids american heart challenge there are our top schools participating that raised over 47 thousand dollars this year and i am going to announce them springville's primary was our leader followed by potomac intermediate valley view elementary hedgesville elementary mountain ridge intermediate berkeley heights elementary orchard view intermediate hedgesville high bennington elementary opec elementary spring mills middle and musselman middle so thank you to all those who sponsored heart healthy events and fundraisers this year the district as a result of our fundraising efforts will receive over three thousand dollars which will go for purchasing of physical education and playground equipment we have a strong relationship with the american heart association we thank folks for that a
086little bit of update on our summer learning engagement and so we've had over 1400 students in our sole program and close to 2 000 in all of our summer programs part of that is credit recovery i want to make a special thank you to the entire staff who provided multiple options as well as retirees and high school students that are coming back and staff that is working to provide education and enrichment activities uh you just heard mr mullin x we've got varied schedules we've got flexible schedules we're trying to get people to come in and they are working with us and seoul is going very very well i also want to thank our transportation folks who've had to make adjustments along the way as well but i think we're now a well-oiled machine and going
087well and the feedback from the kids is they're enjoying the day and enjoying the time so thank you to all who've been involved in that so i know we're getting many questions about base coverings and where we stand with that right now the governor has listed lifted the face uh covering requirement following federal guidelines but private businesses and schools were given the authority to make decisions for their own organizations we are waiting to be consistent in moving and how we move forward for some additional guidance from the west virginia department of education as well as from dhhr we hope to be making those decisions so please be patient and bear with us but we want to make one decision not have to backtrack or change directions um so we have clarity of message and we're
088hoping that decision will be made here uh tomorrow or in the next day coming all right uh finally uh there are several individuals that we would like to recognize uh this evening uh as this evening is our final board meeting for our fiscal year ending june the 30th so i would ask that dr gilpin join me down here to recognize these individuals we're going to provide each individual an opportunity to say a few words but also want to thank them and giving them the berkeley county schools golden apple and we will start with uh dr veronique walker our associate superintendent for equity inclusion and you heard from her a little bit earlier this evening but dr walker if you would please come forward and we'd like to recognize you thank you thank you this is
089beautiful really my presentation i said it all but again i want to thank the board of education for support and then the colleagues that i've worked with over the years dr murphy who's behind me and donnie dellinger and everyone i don't want to start naming names because i'm going to forget but there is there are a group of people that uh there is a group of people i do want to acknowledge and i have been stationed in pupil services for my entire career at berkeley county at the district level and i would be remiss if i didn't mention my pleasure working in that department with a great group of individuals we are tight-knit we're i'm gonna say we're like a family you know uh and it's we sometimes get on each other's nerves as i'm
090gonna say it but then we also rise to the occasion there's nothing that we won't do to help a student and so that is for ron stevens at least gregory trudy engel and then also um holly branch who is in our office and pupil services is extended to attendance the attendance workers and then pat patton who has joined us this year so thank you i appreciate it and i'm excited for everyone for berkeley county schools for what's next and then also for myself the next individual we'd like to call forward is uh mr dave banks dave has served the district in a number of different roles and he is taking on a new leadership role in jefferson county as their deputy superintendent so mr banks thank you very much i just want to say that
091you as a board you're blessed there are so many dedicated individuals in this county and it really came out during the past year and a half everything that people did to reach out to families students whether they were click or brick that it never stopped and you should be very proud of the accomplishments that uh our folks had i have been blessed myself to work with great school administrators teachers support staff certainly the department of curriculum instruction has been awesome i also want to thank mr dellier who's taught me a whole lot about curriculum instruction and also about how things have how things run in berkeley county schools so thank you board for the opportunity to help students and staff during the past four years i greatly appreciate it then the last individual we'd like
092to recognize this evening is uh don dellinger and i do want to thank him uh he's been very helpful uh as i've come on board and transitioned here into the school district he's also very knowledgeable with over 43 years here in some capacity within the school district and i think his just his background here in the community speaks well to him i do also want to uh maybe at the end of the evening we could join in of course of happy birthday to him because i understand today is his birthday so donnie congratulations yep um you know the one thing that when you reflect back on what what you've been able to uh to do uh i've been blessed i uh grew up in a great community and from marlow grade school to north junior
093high school at that time and actually i was the last group of students who left martinsburg or left marlow that had the opportunity to go to martinsburg high school i was going to be a bulldog and that's that was the direction i was headed in and at that time they redistricted in the march the marlar bennington area then had to go to hedgesville and i had a younger sister who was going to hedgesville and uh you know we was best for the family for me to uh to go to hedgesville at that time and uh it had uh great teachers all the way through uh from marlow to north and uh hedgersville high school and uh you had the opportunity to to go on and then come back to hedgesville to teach and coach and
094eventually move into uh being the athletic director assistant principal and then principal and then finally here and you know when you it's the people that make everything worthwhile and uh i had the opportunity to work with just wonderful wonderful students whether i had them in class or whether i was able to coach them in fact i'm thinking myself mr beckwith was a teacher when i went to hedgesville was able to uh teach and coach tyler jackie's son and uh again it's just those connections that you make um you know the wonderful parents that we dealt with you know i had amazing staff that were colleagues that i worked with and just the community and one of the things i think we have to remember here in berkeley county is the fact that we're blessed because
095we have a county that in a community that values education i don't think that's true everywhere you know we have a county that that holds you know education and high esteem they're willing to uh to do the little things that make the difference we're very fortunate that to be able to uh to run a lot of the programs that we're able to run that our county's able to support them uh and it goes beyond passing levees and bonds but uh i know that there are times that uh at all at whatever position i have whether it was teaching coaching or athletic director or being the principal or or even this position you you reach out to your community and say yeah this is something that we that we really could value and we need and
096it would help students and um i think as long as you know we we have a situation where we have a community that values education and keeps kids and keeps students number one in mind and we're all this this county is always going to be successful and it's always going to be at the top of the list and again thank all of you and thank everybody i've had the opportunity to work with and just sort of further with what people said tonight just looking at what we've done for summersol our summer school program it's amazing and it's amazing how many people whether it's the transportation department our cooks uh our staff in the board also our teachers have stepped up our assistant principals who are working those buildings uh we are providing a program that
097not not it's not only working with instruction and academics this summer but it's meeting the health and wellness needs of kids who need it most right now as we get ready to come back to normal next year and again that's sort of uh that uh sort of is what this community values and is a tribute to them so thank you very much open while you're making your way back to your seat to uh make the motion to adjourn the meeting i will just echo your original comments and thank spring mills high school and the staff here for the work that they've done this year we very much appreciate the transition and the help especially from our uh technology department who has uh also been part of us a very you know supporting role so let's
098give them a round of applause thank you [Applause] i also wanted to thank our new assistant principals that joined us this evening it's nice of you to to join us we really appreciate that i have a motion to adjourn all those in favor we are adjourned you