001Yes. Good evening everyone. We've got a nice crowd tonight. So, welcome to the uh board meeting. First of all, I'd like to call the meeting to order. Okay. Step number two, I would like to go ahead and start with a roll call. Nick, Mrs. Eicholds >> here. >> Mr. Marks >> here. >> Mrs. Sing >> here. >> Mr. Summerall >> here. >> Mr. Tuls >> here. >> Okay, we need to adopt the agenda. Can I get a first? >> Still move. >> Second. >> All in favor? I >> I >> Okay, we're going to do the pledge of allegiance. Kirk, we got some special guests here. If you'd like to >> We do have some special guests here. Um Mr. Summer, I'd like to call at this time our Braves. If you could come up
002front, please, and face the audience. We've got Langston Dean here, Laura Lucini, Leah Harrell, Audrey Collie, Charlotte Kler, and Marles Vice. Thank you for being here. They're going to lead us in the pledge. Whenever you're ready. You guys ready? Okay. I pledge allegiance >> to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all. >> Thank you guys. Thank you. >> Thank you. Good job, Braves. >> Okay. Item five, public commentary. >> Mr. Davis, do we have any public commentary this evening? >> We have none this evening. >> Okay. Thank you. Item six, recognition, correspondence, and announcements. Kirk, can you lead us through that? >> Yes. Good evening, everyone. Welcome. First, I want to celebrate tonight the success of
003our global culture uh week that happened last week here, but this is an annual event at Indian Hill Schools. We had a celebration week. Uh this event cannot happen without a lot of partnership and volunteers from our community. Uh not only our global parent network, but the global group that extends beyond that network. We have staff, we have PTO members, uh we had help from lots of people, uh parentbased groups that come in and work with our students. Specifically, that global parent group comes in in K through 12. They work uh to enjoy a week-long cultural learning adventure that culminates with a global fair at our elementary school. Um primary students, they all get exposed to all sorts of amazing activities and events. It's an incredible opportunity for students to discover uh more about countries
004and cultures. uh many of our Indian Hill families of which we serve more than 40 global uh countries in in this district. So wonderful uh celebration again last week. Want to thank everybody who was a part of that uh and especially our global parent network group uh and all the staff that helped put those things together. Next up, we want to congratulate our high school mock trial team for earning second place overall or runner up to the 2023 Buckeye Bash Championship. This is a huge tournament uh hosted by Ohio State University last month. Uh in addition to our senior team going undefeated throughout the tournament and earning second in a tie break out of 22 teams across the state of Ohio. Our mock trial also captured a number of individual awards. Students Robin Codian, Sophie
005Chen each won a best attorney award. Joseph Kaine won best attorney twice. Audrey Phillips, Alex Tasner, Lily Andrews, and Ashwini Krishnan each won best witness. Congratulations. Our mock trial team continues to excel. Want to celebrate the launch of our Indian Hill High School's educators new collaborative chemistrybased podcast called Now That's Good Chemistry. This podcast is a product of collaboration with our toxicology excellence and risk assessment partners and teachers Sue Savage, Tom Mard, Julia Conungle, and Julie Feifer. This project draws from all academic disciplines in its quest to demonstrate how chemistry is the basis for everything, said Mr. Mard. Virtually anything can be broken down in its most fundamental form to chemistry. This show uh this podcast aims to uh show in an entertaining light and surprising way how you can make chemistry work. Uh you
006could subscribe to the podcast on Spotify and I know that our teachers including Miss Savage has worked really hard with the students to lead this project all all the way down to the music that you hear uh on the intro and at the end it's all student selected and student led. We want to celebrate Indian Hill Middle School's performance in the future city state competition that was held Saturday January 21st in Columbus. Our Indian Hill students, Ana Freed, Brooklyn Gotautle, and Arya Meyer Murphy, sorry, Ari Arya Murphy won best transportation system, earned runner up for best use of energy, and took fifth place overall in that competition. Again, this is a statewide STEM competition that takes place every year where students are problem solving and bringing solutions and ideas to be creative and be significant
007contenders at the state level to talk about what their city should look like in the future. Want to congratulate 56 Indian Hill High School students who qualified for the DECA state competition uh during the district level competitions held at the end of January at the University of Cincinnati. Look forward to the upcoming state event March 10th and 11th at the Hyatt Regency in Columbus. Again, 56 of our high school students moving on to the state tournament in a range of business related, financial, literacy related uh fields. Very proud of that group. We got a lot of celebrations here. I got to take another breath. We congratulate our high school students who earned 25 individual awards in the 2023 Scholastic Art and Writings Award uh competition recently. Out of more than 600 participating schools, our students
008received two gold key awards, 11 silver key awards, and 12 honorable mentions. Two of our students, Jenna O'Driscoll and Belinda Jeang, will advance to the national competition in New York City this March. We also want to congratulate our middle school certain team for placing both first and third in the Southwest Ohio finals on January 28th at 7 Hills. Certain is a quiz bowl style buzzing game that focuses on Latin and classical civil civilization learning and has been a tradition among our Latin clubs across the nation uh in this region for decades. Uh competitors included Arpod Lament, Michael Miller, Victor Jiang, Cole Compton, Grant Gibson, and Eric Louu. Our team will now advance to the state competition in March. Congratulations to all the students that were highlighted tonight and all of our programs across the district.
009It is always amazing to me what happens when we get back from the holiday break. January is a very busy time for student academic competitions and it just goes to show you we've got all sorts of coalitions and teams working on academic performance in the district. Next up, uh Erica Leopard, our director of people services is here and is going to join us to talk about our IDA Title One annual opportunity for public participation. Erica? >> Yeah. Do you mind pulling up the Yeah, >> the presentation. >> Hi, I'm Erica Leopard. I'm the director of pupil services for Indian Hill School District and one of my roles is to work with various stakeholders to determine each year how we will leverage our federal funding in order to meet the needs of our learners here in
010Indian Hill. So, two of those federal funding streams come through title one and IDA IDA um the individuals uh with disabilities education act. So annually we're required to share some information with you and also give our um stakeholders an opportunity to participate in helping us decide how we use that that money. So title one is allocated based on the number of students in a district who are considered economically disadvantaged. So that money we have used for many years and continue to use to um fund reading specialists in both the primary and the elementary school. that's been really successful for us over the years in ensuring that our students are proficient readers by the time they make it to the third grade, which we know is really, really important for success later on in life and
011down the road. IDEIDA is allocated based on the number of students with disabilities that are attending a school district. So, we historically through the years have used this in lots of ways. We typically use it to fund some personnel positions. But a couple of the new initiatives that are really exciting for us, one is the addition of the position position of dean of students. Um you'll see a picture of Danielle Lince there who many of you are familiar with because she has taught with us for many years and now she is taking on some leadership. In that position we are leveraging to make sure that students are receiving all of the supports that they need in a really systematic way. We've also worked on creating um some beautiful sensory spaces at the primary school. So,
012as all of the construction is happening, you'll see some beautiful new spaces that will support students sensory needs. And then we've also been able to send some of our staff to professional learning uh both at the state level and the national level to make sure that we are always on the cutting edge of what the gold standard is in special education. So, if there are uh folks here or that are at home watching and um seeing this board meeting, there is a QR code there if you'd like to share some feedback. That will take you to a Google form to share some feedback on those two particular funds. You could also send an email to myself, Erica.leppardihsd. us or our assistant superintendent for teaching and learning, Dr. Melissa Stewart. Thank you. Thank you, Erica. Next
013up this evening, board members, we have a presentation from our arts and activities director, Miss Amy Clark. Amy, could you join us, please? >> Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. You can tell I don't often use a microphone anymore. Um, to our incredible board of education members, um, our awesome administrative team, and to our community, thank you all very much for having me. I'm really excited to talk about activities and clubs at Indian Hill. Um, where we were, one of the things um, when I first joined the Indian Hill family was to talk about activities and clubs. And really the question arose, what is the difference between a club and an activity? And I think we started with the high school of really kind of narrowing that focus of what's the difference between a club and
014an activity. Um, and we explained that to the students and met with various teachers and administrators to help define that and begin gathering data. Um, and then at the high school, it was kind of easy to do. Um, obviously there's tons and tons and tons of opportunities for clubs at the high school level. And then we decided that we were going to look down at the primary, elementary school, and middle school to also gather data to see how many students were being impacted and to see how many club offerings were there. Where we are. So this is kind of where we've settled. Um right now there are 48 active clubs at the high school, 20 at the middle school, eight in the elementary school, and seven at the primary school. and they are a variety
015of interests from obviously things like drama club, film making club to things like deca mock trial um and primary pacers uh which for those of you that like to run join it's fun um and then the number of activities varies. We're still kind of culminating that information because activities is basically something that's a lot of fun for the students to do but there's not necessarily that staff advisor. So something like the pingpong group, uh they like to play ping pong. That's an opportunity our students have, but it's an an activity. Um and so we're looking at continuing to narrow that focus of what different opportunities we have all over. I think one of the awesome parts of uh kind of delving into this was to see that there are over 600 students at the high
016school and the middle school that participate in some kind of club or activity and many of them do multiple things which I think is what makes Indian Hill so unique. Um a student can do something with drama and then go do something with DECA and go do something with the physics club all in the same school year. And I think that that makes us very very special. Um likewise in the elementary school and the primary school there are over 200 students. So I just think that that is such an amazing opportunity for our community to I'm going to do that all night. Sorry. Um or for our uh community to just participate and try new things which I think is another thing that makes Indian Hill super unique and creative. And then where are we
017going? Um I think this has also been kind of fun to see what opportunities we have. Um, some of our dreams are to do something like a K to2 website. Um, where people can click and see what options are happening in each of the four buildings across the district. Um, do some kind of description, but also allow the students who are participating in those activities to do a video because who likes to talk about what they're doing more than our students? And who wants to listen to our students? Everybody, because they're amazing. So, getting them to be able to share their story, I think, is awesome. Um, we also want to kind of group the clubs by interest. So if it's a science, if it's a math, if it's a drama, those kinds of things.
018And then seeing if there's any interconnectedness. Um, so if there's any overlap, how can they kind of join together? Um, I think also consistent tracking of clubs across the district, whether that be attendance, whether that is, you know, just having an idea of what's going on, when, and where, so that if a student, you know, is a little overwhelmed when they're coming into a new building and they don't necessarily jump into a club right away, they still know that they're allowed to join it later on down the road. Especially, you know, I think about when I was a freshman, I was scared to do a lot of things and then about a month later, I was great. And I think that in talking with our students, they're kind of in that same vein. So, you
019know, getting seeing how school is going and, you know, focusing on your academics and all of these other things that we have. And then, oh, there are so many opportunities for us to do all kinds of different things. So, I think there, you know, the sky's is the limit. The students are the ones that bring these clubs into existence. They are the ones that run them. They are the ones that keep track of everything. And they are the ones that, you know, pass them along to the next generation when they graduate. And I think that that's super super empowering. So I think that was all. >> So Amy, um, one of the things we've talked about, uh, that I think would be great to hear your perspective on the time we've got you this evening
020is we're talking about over 83 clubs for a district that serves 1,400 unique families. Many of those families have multiple children, so they're involved in multiple activities. And all the research in education shows us that when a student is involved in an extracurricular activity, they tend to have more success while they're in school. and more success after they graduate from school. K through 12, you've been doing this now for two years with us uh as a halftime activities director. What have you learned about participation and how our staff work with the children? I think it would be important for us to hear your view. Um, I think that we talk about joy a lot in the district and I think for me watching the students, whether they're in the primary school or up in the
021high school, watching our students find that niche that makes them feel accepted for who they are and what they want to do is something that's really empowering to witness. And it also just it gives you a sense of belonging that I don't know if you find everywhere else. Um, I think the different opportunities that our students have to learn, to grow, to try new things, you know, you're not necessarily having to do one thing. You can do a bunch of different things and see what works best for you. And maybe you didn't know that you really loved the culinary world and all of a sudden you joined the culinary club and you're like, "Oh, food is really fun. What other things can I do with this?" And I think that that's that's something that makes
022us uniquely Indian Hill. But overall, watching the joy on a student's face when they find that thing that makes them happy is bar none the best part of my day. >> Thank you. >> I just want to thank you for that and everyone here tonight and everyone tuning in virtually. There is a lot of activities in Indian Hill and we thoroughly encourage everyone to explore that because there really is something for everyone as as uh was was just demonstrated by Amy. So, we really can uh would like everyone to think about that because it's a nice well-rounded way to to uh complement the education. So, thank you. >> Absolutely. Thank you, >> Amy. I want to say share something with you. So, I spoke to a couple of your students just to, you know, see
023because this was a new position that we created and we weren't sure that how this is going to shape up, but the impact that this position has created on the students is just remarkable to see. and some of the students that I spoke to. I'm not going to take any names, but I can I haven't had a chance to talk a lot about things what you do with you, but when I spoke to your kids, I can see your excitement in them because some of the things they said was she is super funny, she is a stress reliever, easy to talk to, a great supporter, a cheerleader. And you know when kids come and tell me that that tells me a lot about what you're doing. So thank you for everything that you're doing. Thank
024you. >> Thank you for that. And Amy, uh while you're with us, I think uh everybody needs to understand that uh we will address maybe remedying this idea that you're a part-time employee, but you are here 247 uh and promoting and cheerleading on the Indian Hill brand and all of our students and staff. We really appreciate all the work and the hours that you put in. And our board uh had as a goal when we talked about learner as the whole child to make sure we are attending to these kinds of things which is what led to the support of this position and really a way to bring some equity to the arts and activities and clubs uh to balance what we do as Mr. Summerl said and offer opportunities for all students to feel
025belonging and inclusive uh here. So we really appreciate all the work you do. >> It has been an absolute joy. So thank you. So, one thought to add on would be um I do think Mr. Connect, it's important to share how much we do appreciate the full spectrum because our district is unique in the fact that we have this balance between an athletic director and an arts and activities director that most districts don't and that's very unique and we appreciate it. I think the second thing is when we think about our professional educators association, Mrs. Feifer, I think is back there, represents that fabulous group of educators. To have that many clubs, we have to have a truly dedicated staff that is going to contribute above and beyond what their normal role is. And so,
026a shout out to all those folks. And I think, you know, at Indian Hill, we often think about on a report card, we look great, right? Our students perform well. Um, but it's about how we innovate. And so I think about, you know, as I talk to schools across the country, it comes down to does a child have a sense of purpose? Do they feel like they have a sense of belonging? And are they engaged? And your role and the effort of our teachers and staff creates that sense of belonging and that sense of engagement. So thank you for what you do. And for all of our third grade friends, there's lots of great stuff and it looks like you're taking advantage of one of those right now. So we know you're up next. We
027are so excited. You guys have waited so patiently. I mean, patience. They must be doing some really good things over there at at that primary building and now that you're in the elementary just built on top of it. So, we're excited. You're almost up, so be ready. Okay, >> Amy, thank you for your enthusiasm and everything. Appreciate it. >> Thank you guys. Thank you. >> So, next up, uh without further ado, we have the principal of our elementary building here with us, Whitney Buell, and some special guests this evening. Uh we have some staff here and obviously you know we have some young Braves that have joined us we'll turn it over to Miss Bule to hear about all the things happening at Indian Hill Elementary School >> and we also have a presentation. So
028when it's your turn but if those that have the brochures could you hand them out. So, we have a few brochures. Yep. Okay. That they're going to share with you. And these are student created to um welcome everybody that comes to the elementary school to showcase some of the things that we have going on at the elementary school. So, those are hot off the press. Um they were just created um with Amando Sopo's um guidance um in the last couple of weeks. Um so, we're excited to have those um to showcase. So, um, a lot of the talking is not going to be from me tonight because I want to celebrate, um, the things that our staff is doing and our students are doing. Um, so we have an agenda. Um, at the beginning, we'll
029talk about the Brave Room and, um, she doesn't like me to share this, but she is published in Edtopia and other um, publications for her uh, work with the Brave Room. Um, Sarah Kelllet, um, we have financial literacy. She also doesn't like me to publicize this, but she is University of Cincinnati's financial literacy educator of the year this year and will be celebrated in April [Applause] at TQL Stadium. Um, and then we'll talk about the five C's, the design thinking process, our partnerships that we have built, um, and what STEM in action looks like at the elementary school. So, they're going to present to you what they've been doing in the classroom. So, I am gonna pass it off to Mrs. Kelllet. Thank you. Good evening. I'm most excited for the end of the presentation
030tonight. Um, so I'm Sarah Kelllet. I am the counselor at the elementary school and I am excited to have the opportunity to share about our brave room. Uh, we really of course think it it's so important that our students feel safe emotionally. Um, and that allows them to take risks academically. they have that growth mindset, they build resiliency skills. So, one of the ways we wanted to continue the support in this area is to create um a safe space for students for emotional regulation, for resetting, for recharging, um just to take a break in their day. Uh we uh created this with a small team and our mind peace mind peace partners um in 2019 and it is a calming space. You walk in, there's bubbles. The students can speak to it. There's bubbles on
031the wall. There's soft seating. There's fidgets. Um there's a breathing sphere. There's an opportunity for everyone to go to a different center of the room and regulate their emotions. Um we see it as a positive space in our building. Every student in the entire school has an orientation at the beginning of the year. We really want it to normalize taking a break. It's really important for a balance for our students for them to have that self-care opportunity throughout their day. And you can see um to the right the protocol is shared in the classroom. Again, it's posted. Students know what to do in the room. They know how to use the tools and um it's just been a really positive space for our students and I think a a special place to be. On the
032next slide, it just shows some of the ways that our room has actually been recognized. We have been recognized nationally for the room um in Edutotopia Castle um which looks at academic, social, emotional learning um self-awareness, self-regulation. They've recognized our room. The Ohio State superintendent um went through a studentled tour. So, we've really been able to share and and partner with other schools, neighboring schools to share about our spaces. I think the best part has been that many of our students share that they have their own brave space in their homes. Um, so it's really um been a space that they find to be special and helpful for them. So I think that's been the best part and Betsie's up next. >> If I could just interject Sarah, thank you. The brave room for those
033who haven't seen it is really remarkable. Um I I've seen it both as a parent through my student and the impact it has and candly you have on all of our students. We're lucky to have you and lucky to have the space but it's a really great opportunity for our kids. Um and so cutting edge to have that. So thank you for everything. >> Thank you. I appreciate that. And you're welcome anytime to come for a tour. The students are the best tour guide. So we'll get you through. >> Hi. Good evening. I am Betsy Henning and I get to talk about financial literacy at the elementary school. uh our financial literacy learning has really grown over the years. Um we are very lucky to have wonderful PTO support and all of our students are
034able to participate in um something called the stock market game in fifth grade and we partner with the Alpaul uh family economics center at UC to offer these great resources to our students. We have consistently um ranked in the top um in the stock market competition in the city and the state over the last 15 years. It's a great experience for our students. And even at the end of the day today on on bus studio, a fifth grader came up to me and said, "I am now investing and I'm investing in Apple and Microsoft." And to hear that from a 10-year-old is very impressive and exciting. Um why do we do financial literacy at the elementary? Because it is authentic learning for students. Um it's learning that will last them a lifetime. It exposes them
035to careers and different um different experiences that they might not have normally and it integrates multiple subject areas. It also incorporates our five Cs which is something we'll talk about later but that creativity, collaboration, critical thinking, communication and citizenship. And we have one more slide. Um, in partnership with UC, we've also been able to offer um, the family financial literacy night for the last few years at the elementary school, which has been very well attended and uh, the parents really enjoy spending that extra time with their students talking about something that they might not talk about at home very often. Um, and we've had other opportunities not just in the fifth grade, but in other grades throughout the school. Um, one of our experiences in in third grade, which Mr. Mr. Jimenez is here tonight
036not to talk about that but another experience that he offers students. Uh but it is something that we are very proud of at the elementary school. >> Betsy, can you just clarify uh with the stock market game? >> Sure. >> Who our students are competing against? >> Yes. Um so we compete against um all schools in Cincinnati and throughout the state of Ohio. So, um the last time this fall we played um we were competing against 103 teams in Cincinnati and um we had seven teams in the top 10 in the city. So, we did very well. Um last year we had um in we competed in the fall and in the spring and we had teams both time both times win first place in the city and state and we went to UC to
037compete and they competed against elementary students, middle school students and high school students who are also playing the game and they got first place. They did a great job. So that was really awesome. >> Are they available for portfolio review? I was I was about to say that like will they give some lessons? >> I would love to have that. >> Yes. >> I've been working for an internship for them for years and they're all too talented to take me up on it. So >> they're definitely willing to take risks that I'm not willing to take. >> Um and then I also get to kind of bridge our next slide here is about STEM at the elementary school. And I've been very lucky to be a part of a lot of the STEM programming at
038the elementary school that um started back in 2014 with a wonderful partnership we have with the Cook Foundation where um it began and they really just encouraged us to think big and at that time we we thought really big um but not as big as we have been thinking over the years. So we started with the idea of a space and a space to offer um place for students to learn the STEM skill sets. And we were so proud of ourselves and really did a great job with that. Um reworking the whole master schedule to make that work so that every student had an opportunity for growth in that area. Um but then over time we really had an evolution in our thinking as well. And it's not just a space. We've realized that STEM
039should be in every space. So, we have really worked to get STEM into all of the classrooms. And that is our our most exciting um evolution where we are today. I'm gonna turn it over to Okay, one thing I do want to add is that um something that came out of the pandemic that was a positive um was when when we were going into the pandemic, not every fifth grader got to participate in the stock market game. Only kids in Discovery got to participate in the stock market game. We wanted to keep it going. And so, um we thought, well, how can we do it? So, we asked PTO, "Can all of the kids do it in fifth grade?" And then we got through everything because, you know, we couldn't move and all those things
040and and so um we got through it and we're like, "Well, we're not going to go back. We just added this for all of our kids." And PTO has been very supportive, um with that. And then the foundation is um our big supporter behind our ILAB and STEM and our connection with um the Dorothy Cook Foundation. Um, for people that don't know, Dorothy Cook was actually a teacher at Indian Hill Elementary. Um, and so we're we're very proud to have that partnership. Um, so like Betsy said, we're really trying to reinvision STEM at Indian Hill so that um, kids get it in every part of their day. They get it in ELA, they get it in social studies, they get it in um, science, math, all of the arts. And so we have tried to
041reinvision it and say STEM is not science, technology, engineering and math. It's the strategies that engage the mind that we often um connect to science and technology. But you can you can use those skills wherever you are. Um we've developed the habits of mind to go along with that. Uh which are our five C's, which I'll talk about in a second. design thinking. We um we have all of our kids follow a process as they solve problems and they do this and we practice with them. And then finally, project-based learning, which the kids will talk about. Um so our um habits of mind, like Betsy said, these are things that we want all of our kids um to learn their life skills. We actually build off the primary. So the primary has the four C's,
042creativity, critical thinking, collaboration, and communication. And then we add citizenship at the elementary school. So we talk about ways that they can do these things and how they can be creative in their different environments and and collaborators. And then ev um every Monday on the announcements, uh we have students talk about each of the five C's so that they're teaching each other how to use it. And they practice on the announcements. them announcements. I'll pause for like a minute and say, "Okay, go practice this creative activity and and or think about this critically and um so the students have opportunities to do that, too." So, um we're really proud of um what we've um accomplished so far. And Mr. Hayden's going to talk about design thinking next. Hello, Cash Hayden, assistant principal. So up in
043front of us now we have our design thinking process and these are the stages. It's a sequence of stages that students use to solve problems and they do that by actually as you can see they ask questions and then they follow that sequence all the way around to improve on their act on the idea that they might create and then move on to actually launching the project. One of the things that Mr. Himenez was actually pointing out this is a fluid process and in that process you might get to the improvement spot and then recognize you still have a problem that you need to go back to. So you will go all the way back to the ask and then you actually imagine hey how can we improve upon that again. So once again this
044is this is the design thinking process that students use. on our next slide. Uh these are some of the partnerships that we have here at the elementary school and the ways that we've used some of those uh partnerships have helped us with our project based learning experiences and one of them that I would like to point out is our airmark food services and they've worked with our fourth grade class some of our fourth graders and creating a fantastic project. So we want to thank our partners in our district. >> Thank you. I'm g pass it over to Miss Himenez. >> All right. So, my name is Mr. Himemenz, third grade teacher. Um, I just want to point out how proud I am of these six brave braves in front of us and the other 34
045students who parttook in this um challenge that they actually came up with. um they brought energy every day to this challenge and they took it on and their ideas were the ones who drove what we accomplished. So I hope um that you guys are proud of yourselves because I'm super proud of you guys for what you've accomplished. So um with that u I'm going to let them take over and let them introduce themselves briefly. So Miles, if you step up just tell your name really quick. >> Hi. My name is Miles. Hi, my name is Laura. >> Hi, my name is Audrey. >> Hi, my name is Leah. >> Hi, my name is Langston. Hi, my name is Charlotte. >> All right, so we're going to start out with where this all began. So, Link,
046if you don't mind, can you tell them how this all started? How this all started was we wanted to learn more about the Cincinnati History Museum. We voted on going on a field trip because we can see more about Cincinnati's history. Thank you. Hi, we Hi, we create um those questions for the Cincinnati field trip, for example, transportation. First, how many people can go in one bus? Second, how many buses? Then we interview the lady from the museum. We ask her these questions. For example, How much will it cost for a student and an adult? Then we emailed the transportation for information. Thank you. We applied many different math skills using multiplication, addition, elapse time, counting, problem solving, division, rounding, and decimals. Why and why? Why are we going and what are we doing? To
047learn about Cincinnati history and to get inspired to create flesh invent a building, transportation, or invention for a better and more sustainable future, something that can last for a long time. It needs to help the economy and protect the environment in Cincinnati. Thank you. admission. There will be 190 people going and the total cost will be 1,953. We applied multiplication, addition, and the distributed property to find the total cost. Thank you. >> Transportation. We'll have to have four buses in one van. The van is for Emma and Liv. It will take four hours if you count all the bus's time. I did distributive property to solve this and I got $525 as the cost. We used the laps time to create our schedule. We will leave to the museum at 9:30 and get there at
04810:00. Our total time is 30 minutes on the bus. Then we will go to Queen City Belt at 10:00 to 11:30. Our total time is an hour and a half. Then we will have lunch at 11:30 to 12:00. Our total time is 30 minutes. Then we will go to Model City at 12:00 to 1:30. Our total time is an hour and a half. Then we will get back on the bus at 1:30 and get back at school at 2:00. Our total time on the bus was 30 minutes. Any questions? >> So, when is the field trip? >> So, we So, they actually presented to the PTO and the PTO actually agreed to fund this. So, I'm super excited. Um, we the first group is going February 27th and so they the whole third grade will
049actually be going. So, >> all all at once? >> So, they're going to be um pair teachers are going to be going. So, we have four different dates. >> So, yes. So, this is something new that was not planned that they were able to create on their own. So, we can learn about Cincinnati history. >> Are you old guys from third grade? >> Sure. Positive. Are you doesn't seem like my high schooler and my college kids, they're not they don't plan this well the way you guys have done it. So, that's why I was wondering. Thank you for presenting here. You guys are amazing. What was the most fun part about coming up with the project? >> Would you like to go on another field trip? >> Let's bring that up tomorrow. >> Morning meeting.
050>> What was it? My favorite part of it was like >> Great job, guys. >> Thank you guys for your great job. [Applause] >> So, that's an example of PBL. they needed to learn about um Cincinnati history. So, they came up with all of the ideas of how they could learn about Cincinnati history. And then they came to me and said, "Can we go on this field trip?" And I said, "Why don't we present it to PTO?" And they did that. They got up there, they were courageous, came to the PTO meeting, presented it all, and uh blew PTO socks off. So, I think it just shows that PBL is a way to keep kids engaged like you were talking about earlier. um and you know and really involved in that learning. It's real world
051learning. They plan that field trip. >> Whitney, um first of all, fabulous. Again, Braves, thank you for being here and presenting tonight about problem based learning. We're so proud of you. Was I'm so glad you tackled that uh field trip question. Um Whitney, can you just talk about this idea sometimes right out there in the the edges of speak. We talked about this in our community meeting last night a little bit, but people in our community understand what problem based learning means. They understand what the five Cs are about when they hear those words. They understand um what we're trying to do with design thinking because many of them do that in their jobs every day. >> What are our students doing on a daily basis that you're seeing change over the last few years
052as the principal now? You're a veteran principal in this building. You've been leading it for some time with your staff. We got to hear a lot about how this culture has been building since 2014. What are the tangible benefits you're seeing? >> Well, I you see third graders get up and be able to present um to a board of education and a PTO on a project that they have actually completed. They did all of the work. They planned it all. Um and they said it was um fun, right, Charlotte? Um and and I think that's awesome that she said that's what's the most fun part about it. Um, and so I just think the real world experiences help them understand the standards that we're supposed to be teaching. Um, we can stand up in front
053of them all day long and teach and in our way, but if we're not engaging them in activities and real world experiences, um, you know, they're not going to really understand those connections. And I think it's all about the connections when they go out into the world. And it's never too early to start teaching them these things. I just want to say for the record um we have some amazing teachers that are here tonight that presented and I know you're representing an amazing staff. You should all be very proud of the work you're doing. I've had a lot of opportunity board members uh through the Ohio Department of Education's uh STEM advisory to visit schools around the state that are trying to do what Whitney and her team have done over the last few years.
054And it is absolutely bar none the best culture in the state of Ohio. and there's nobody doing this kind of work at this grade level or those other grade levels. So, congratulations. >> And I just want to applaud you for thinking out of the box and your team. I think to echo Kirk's comments, it's it's truly extraordinary to see that and please keep doing what you're doing because it is making a huge impact. Thank you. >> So, I'll say one quick thing. This is I don't know our 14th or 15th board meeting. Um, easily the favorite board meeting we've had so far since I've been on this board. Um, but thank you on behalf of the board and more importantly, thank you as Satie's dad uh for leading such a wonderful school. We are blessed
055to have everything you guys are doing. >> Thank you. >> So, Mr. Simal, maybe we can have our third grade friend stand up one more time. We give him a big round of applause. Would that be okay? >> Yes. [Applause] Great job, Braves. >> Thank you, Miss P. >> Superintendent report. Uh board members, tonight uh we have several items under uh number seven. Uh starting with letter A there, uh we have the approval of a annual resolution for our membership in the Ohio High School Athletics Association. Uh this is something we do every year to reaffirm that partnership. We have approval of some overnight field trips uh under letter B, some personnel actions under letter C, items uh one through four. And I'd like to point out specifically uh number one, which is the pending
056approval of an administrative contract for Amy Clark as full-time arts and activities director this evening. Thank you, Brace. >> Thank you. Uh if there are no uh questions, board members, I would ask that you would entertain number seven, items A through C4B at this time. >> May I have a motion to accept the superintendent report? >> I will make a motion to accept items 7 A through C4. >> Second. >> Mr. Davis, will you read the role? >> Mr. Tullus? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Singh? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Holtz. >> Hi, >> Mr. Marks. >> Yes, >> Mr. Summerl. >> Yes. >> Thank you all. And I just like to say uh Amy had to leave the room because we have a band concert going on tonight, but I know that she's very appreciative and
057we want to congratulate Amy and we're really excited to have her join the team full-time move. Just to kind of reiterate what Nolan said earlier, I think having this role is so important from we've got the athletic director. schools have always had athletic director, but stating this is equally as important and we're going to have that full-time position um is a great testament to finding activities for kids, whether it's a club, an art, a sport. Having that connection um is great and it's glad we can do that. Thank you. >> Okay, we'll keep moving with the treasures report. Mr. Davis, will you read the treasures report? Item A this evening is to approve the minutes of the January 10, 2023 organizational and regular meeting combined. Item B is to approve the financial reports for the
058month ending January 31st, 2023. We have one contract for 24 school year. It's with the Hamilton County Developmental Disability Services. It's $50,000 per student. This is an annual contract. Um as of now, we have no students that are being served. Um this is just simply presented to us by this uh this commission and we approve it on an annual basis. I have change of appropriations. Um you can see the list of six of them there. These are for grant funds. Um as the year moves along we get sometimes we get reallocation, sometimes we get money removed. Um that's just simply uh the accounting side of taking care of those funds. Item E is to prove the following construction contracts. There are five items there. Uh we have a change order for playground for uh an
059addition of ADA access 54,211 dollars. As we designed that uh playground, it was very important to us to make sure that it was inclusive for all and wanted to make sure we got everything into that playground that would indeed uh reach that goal. This is a change order above the playground that will uh make sure we we do meet. Was >> this primary school or elementary? uh elementary. I believe it wasn't an elementary. Yes. >> Uh the second item is a change order for upsizing the upper level hydronic piping. >> Item three is a temporary electrical transformer. This was an item that we hoped we wouldn't have to do that we would be able to get the the permanent transfer the permanent uh transformer in in time. It doesn't look like it will arrive. So,
060we're going to make sure we're ready uh to get things started when we need it and have that transformer in place. Item four is a change order for the um the overage for the elementary school theater and stage allowance. Um this is not to exceed $26,33 in total. You can see there there's some extra language um that I've put into this resolution that gives us a little bit of flexibility that hopefully we can save some money. It won't be a huge savings, uh, but it'll give us the opportunity to maybe directly reach out to those vendors and partner with them, be able to save some money there. Item five is the, uh, primary school theater and stage allowance overage. Uh, this one's not to exceed 287,459. The same language is in that one. Um I
061do want to point out that uh while we are watching that contingent contingency and we are you know making sure that we want to have enough in that contingency to get through this project. We are making decisions as we move along through the project that will affect several things including um timelines um being able to open the schools on time, making sure we have the construction, being able to put things in um without having to go back and do them doing them later that will be an additional cost. So, there's a lot of moving pieces to this as we as we go through and and approve these change orders. Um, and we want to make sure we wait until the last minute to make sure we've got all the savings in them we can. And
062then we put them, if they're over 25,000 in front of the board of education to get those approvals so we make sure that our children are getting all the things we want out of this construction project that our staff's going to be able to use these facilities for the next 30, 40 years to teach those students everything they need. So, it's important to keep those things in mind as we look at these change orders and work through that contingency. The goal of the construction team is to make sure that there's money there at the end that we get through the entire project and we are making sure that we are watching every every dime that goes into it. >> Mick, if I might add to, I'd just like to thank uh some of our staff
063members. Uh Eric Samini who is an expert in looking at theater and stage design and production. We are so lucky to have him on our staff. uh Heather Hickden, Denny Dups, uh Amy Clark, uh Melissa and Jim spending time with vendors and and working through different companies and vetting things on the inside while they're working with our project team on the outside to make sure we're trying to get the best packages that are unique to Indian Hill and that also could be assembled and installed on time for this project. Much like the furniture project, this has been a year-long uh project that many of those staff members have worked on. And I think they've put a lot of great quality worked on that's already uh found some savings for us. And then Mick has very
064strategically here built in I think some flexibility that will allow us to continue to search for savings as we go. >> If I could just add I guess a comment um for anybody watching at home and I guess a thanks to Eric. I had a had a question on the change orders for the two theater packages and really they're allowances more than anything else than a change order and they're also done to the standard that we expect at Indian Hill and Mick went through the savings that that Eric and his team uh realize but also making sure we're getting a top quality project. So thank you for the effort that went behind that. >> I have a two clarification questions. Uh the Hamilton County that annual agreement it is just the uh it's C number
065one. >> Yep. >> So that's just an agreement, but we don't have any students that we >> have no right now we have no students participating in it. Currently um there are times throughout the year that we may need it. >> Yeah. Erica Leopard will help make those decisions along with the parents and the teachers that are that are teaching those individual students, but right now we currently have no students. And then the last E and number five which is the primary school theater and state stage alliance. Uh was it not part of the original renovation part like is this part of it or >> so as as we began the project we um we gave certain budgets to certain things initially >> and we worked through those as time went on. Um the budget
066that was initially given to that that area was not what we um anticipated after we started to look through what we needed. The size of the theaters, you know, the lighting, the sound, and starting to put everything together as the design process finishes up. Um, and then our team went to work with with our partners and started vetting out those areas and vetting out the materials and all of the items that were going to go into making sure it was everything that met Indian Hill standards so our students could be getting the best possible experience in those areas as they were moving through those areas K through 12. So that's how that it became it was a small it was a smaller line item and then as we made sure we were we were fitting
067something that's going to be in our buildings for 30 40 years we wanted to make sure we were doing it right now so we're not going back in five years and trying to figure out how to retrofit in 10 years when material is not living up to the standards we want. So, you know, great. Again, kudos to our staff for vetting that out with with our partners and making sure we're getting the right items in there. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Just a qu are there I I know we're looked through the materials before. We're pretty close to being done with any change orders. Barring any surprises and maybe it's a question for the team in the back. Do we have any more big allowance decisions to make? any more big um potential change orders
068coming down the the road here that we aren't thinking about? >> So, there is a document that we provided. We did show that document um I believe it was last month during the board of education meeting. Um we have been updating that document as it as we move through the project. Um, I do know on the March um the March agenda potentially there is a $100,000 item for um uh a connector for the building. Um what else am I missing in that March >> uh technology will be the big one. Um it's the same thing we did for our theater packages. Um we put a we put an allowance in there. We put a budget um as we're our technology people are going through there and vetting out what we need actually in our buildings
069to make sure we are up to every every standard we can be for technology. There will be an overage for that one as well. >> Technology uh Mr. Tullus security uh branding and graphics packages that's what's coming. Uh there'll be presentations on those in March and April with the interior designs as well. And what we've asked the project team to do, just like with the theater and stage allowance projects, is make sure that we're providing the information upfront to the board before the decisions need to be made and that we continue vetting as we go along and that we have a timeline where we will bring those up for decision- making, but we've got a about another five weeks of work here on some of those packages that are coming. >> Great. Thanks. And then
070as we move through those, obviously we do anticipate there to be some other items that are going to come out. It's just a matter of how we manage those and how far into the future we can sort of forecast that and make sure we're protecting that contingency. >> Mr. Davis, a question and then a comment on on um D2, the increase in the 507 with the ESR funds. >> Yeah, >> that was not new dollars received. Was that just a reallocation of something we spent ESR on and then OD made us reclassified as general funds or what was >> No, that's actually from the state. It's they're classifying it as they they did SSR one SSR 2 and I believe they're calling this one the state activities uh funding. There's a different name to it.
071We we received an additional 555,000. Um that's why we're doing that that uh change of appropriations. Now um we've already identified um uh about $86,000 worth that we're using to upgrade a firewall that will help us with our internet speed here. So Esser funds were out there to help with connectivity and making sure our kids can work from home if they have to or that they, you know, that we make sure we have the internet system in place here so we can continue to use that technology to the best. >> So that was an additional SR3 drop that we got from them. >> Correct. Yes. >> That's awesome. Yep. >> Great. Thank you. And then just a comment. Um, I just think when I when I look at section E four and five on the
072theater work that we're doing at the elementary primary, I think it's I think it's really great that we're taking it to that level because I think one of the things that makes us unique is when you think about most elementary schools, primary schools from an artistic standpoint, it's usually pretty bad, right? I mean the microphone it's like wow you know you could get something better at Kmart, right? I see a lot of Mr. Hayden and others are shaking their head. So I think you know that that's the base level, right? But we're talking about taking it to a to a to a pretty high level. And I think that our kids deserve it. Our folks that work there deserve it. And I'm appreciative that um Mr. Nichols and Mr. Davis and the rest of the
073team are making those decisions and bringing those to us. So thank you very much. So to close out my report this evening, uh the the part that I love the most is acceptance of donation. It's the uh the folks out there who are willing to uh put extra funds into the district to make sure that we are able to obtain the best for our students this month. Uh the IH foundation uh donated $1,000 for the biology capstone grant. the IH uh elementary school is receiving a laser cutter. Uh we're going to get $11,400 for that. And then Stuart and Sarah Aken uh their parents for the uh high school uh theater spam a lot donated $1,000 to the production. So as always, we we absolutely appreciate those donations and love it when the the folks
074reach out to us and want to help. So with that, if there are any questions, >> I just have a point of order for the vote. U we need to vote on um item 8, letter A, separately since I was not at the meeting in January. >> So I'll make a motion to approve item 8A. >> Second. >> Okay. Okay. So, Mr. Marks and who is my second on that. Okay. >> Mr. Davis, will you read the role? >> Mr. Marks. >> Yes. >> Mr. Summer. >> Yes. >> Mr. Tullos. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Eyultz. >> Abstain. >> And Mrs. Singh. >> Yes. Make a motion to approve the treasurer's report item 8 B through FC. >> Second, >> Mr. Marks. >> Yes. >> Mr. Zikols. >> Hi. >> Mr. Singh. >> Yes. >> Mr.
075Tullus. >> Yes. >> Mr. Summer. >> Yes. >> Thank you. Okay. Just uh before we uh finish up this evening, u if there's no other business, I just want to thank again Whitney and the staff that are still here, I appreciate our uh partners uh for being here again tonight uh for any clarification. And we will uh board members have some uh great presentation time next month uh with the project team. Again, also want to uh thank our partners as Mick just did. Again, the last month, as you probably saw tonight, our boosters, our PTO, the foundation, there have been so many things going on that they have helped lead along with our faculty and staff and the time that they put in. It it truly is amazing when you when you think about all
076of those activities lined up in a calendar. Uh it it's packed full. So, really appreciative of our partners. Anybody who got to attend Trivia on the Hill with the PTO, it was an absolute home run hit again. people getting together socially again for the first time in a while. Our boosters have big plans this weekend with their Uker tournament. Uh and our foundation continues to support us in so many ways with activities in and out of the classroom and on field trips. Really, really appreciate their help. >> Do we have the final scorecard from trivia night to put into the official record? Your team came in a distance last. >> Thank you. Um, one thing I'd like to say some thanks to you as well is, um, thanks to all of the folks that are
077part of the Indian Hill staff and also to their spouses or partners and their families because, you know, I just think about it, you know, I see you guys are here not just at the board meetings, but you're at these activities and these events and I think often it gets lost in translation how much time you all put in >> after the school bell rings for the kids to get catch the school us and how much time um your spouses or partners put in and the time that you're away from your own individual family. And we can't measure that. >> Um the role that you all play as educators in my opinion is the most important and um profession there is. And so thank you. And please pass it on to your spouses, partners, and
078others. >> I can't say that any better, so I'm not going to say anything. So, thank you for that comment. >> Any other comments or questions? >> I would echo the same thing. And one thing I would say is thank you Whitney for bringing these braves. That was by far the best. You know, it's always nice to hear from your student. So, future also, please bring them along. >> Yeah. Mike, Mike, Chris, Holly, good luck next month. Topping that. >> We're going to make a construction club. >> Better bring some cute kids or it's not going to be the same. Okay. At this time, I'd like to adjourn the meeting. May I get a motion? >> So moved. >> Second. >> All in favor? >> I >> Thank you everyone. >> Exclusive coverage on the
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