USD 210 Newsletter

USD 210 Newsletter
VISIT OUR WEBSITE:
WWW.USD210.ORG
205 E. 6th Street
Hugoton, KS 67951
620-544-4397
INSIDE
THIS
ISSUE:
Cook is new
2 0 5
2
elementary
administrator
Elementary
3
focuses on
School Safety
Weeks
ACT scores
4
showing steady
improvement
Middle School
5
focusing on
Keys to Success
New teacher
round-up
6
7
Board of
8
E .
6 T H
S T R E E T
F A L L
2 0 1 3
Safety of our students is of utmost
importance in Hugoton schools
For the past five years,
USD 210 has focused its efforts on ways to both improve
its educational facilities and
make the district — and the
community — safer for students and their families. The
real push for improvement
began thanks to community
support in the form of new
buildings.
“In November 2008,
Hugoton voters overwhelmingly approved a $21 million bond
issue,” said Superintendent
Mark Crawford. “The 85,000
additional square feet of facilities has been a great addition to
student learning, and it allowed
us to more conveniently feed
our middle school and high
school students as well as close
lunch for high schoolers.”
“Our new Early Childhood
Development Center relieved
crowding issues at the elementary, and gave us the opportunity to offer all-day kinder-
“We want parents and
patrons to be assured that
we are doing all that we
can to ensure that USD
210 has safe and secure
schools.”
— Mark Crawford
garten for the first time and
expand preschool,” he added.
Student safety
While obviously an important boost to learning space
in the district, the extra room
has also increased safety for
all.
“The new facilities allowed
us to build two FEMA storm
shelters and safe entrances at
most of our schools,” Crawford
said. “Last year we were all
greatly saddened by the Sandy
Hook Elementary shootings
and also the Moore, Oklahoma,
tornado. We want parents and
patrons to be assured that we
are doing all that we can to
ensure that USD 210 has safe
and secure schools.”
Some of the safety features
include:
 Visitors to most school
buildings are not allowed
entry until office personnel assess the situation and
grant access.
 The Hullaballoo Room in
the ECDC is a tornado
shelter that meets FEMA
tornado structural guidelines for designation as a
tornado shelter
 The new wrestling room
behind the older part of
the high school serves as
both a student tornado
shelter for students in
grades 7-12 and also a
community tornado/storm
shelter after school hours
and on weekends.
Education
Meeting
Information
Speaker talks
8
about importance of life
choices
Some of the specifications on the Hullaballoo Tornado Safe Room include:
 Roof Deck is 5" thick reinforced concrete on oversized roof joists designed to support
tornado debris or even a vehicle if necessary.
 Walls are a minimum of 12" thick reinforced concrete block.
 The room was designed for a storm shelter occupancy of 485 people
 Concrete footings as wide as 5'-6" support the walls around the room
 Special doors with 3-points of latching at each door
PAGE
2
Cook is excited to join Hugoton
Elementary administrative team
“I love working
NEW FACES
with students
and helping
them through
difficult
transitions of
life, guiding
them through
the tough
stuff!”
— Ms. Cook
.
Kristen Cook, the new Student Support Administrator at
Hugoton Elementary, may be
new to Hugoton but she is
not new to Kansas nor to
education.
“Growing up in North Central Kansas, I had two parents
who were both teachers, and
early on, they taught me the
importance of a quality education,” Cook said. “They
both worked hard to instill
qualities in our family that
would support public education for many decades to
come.”
Originally from Abilene,
Cook grew up in the area and
graduated from Chapman
High School. She holds a
bachelor’s in business communication from Mid America Nazarene University in
Olathe, and a master’s degree
in counseling from Regis
University of Colorado
Springs, Colo.
“I have lived the past seven
years in Colorado Springs,
where I had worked as a human resources manager for
four years at an Association
for Christian Schools and
also as a youth sponsor at my
church,” Cook said.
“I then decided to
go get my master’s
in counseling so
that I could work
with children and
adolescents and
their families in
dealing with issues
in their lives and be
better equipped to
help them process
through them.”
Regarding her
subsequent high-quality work
opportunities, Cook added, “I
feel well-prepared to work
with students as my experience in counseling and my
other volunteer experiences
Ms. Kristen Cook
have put me in places to learn
so much about kids’ lives.”
Cook plans to be married in
December, and her fiancé
teaches weights and physical
education at Hugoton High
School and also coaches football and wrestling.
“I’m so excited to be here
at HES and working with the
staff and administration,” she
said. “My new position has
brought about some exciting
opportunities and changes
here, and I’m looking forward to being able to get to
know all of the students and
settle into my new job quick-
to cook and bake, as well as
read or watch old movies.
“I have a few hobbies,” she
said. “I can play the piano
and sing, and love to do that
when I can, but I also enjoy
knitting and crocheting. I’m a
huge fan of the Colorado
mountains and will spend
most of my free time traveling there to enjoy so many
things about them.”
She is enjoying her new
role as part of the Hugoton
Elementary School administrative team.
“I think HES is such a wonderful place for students to
learn, be challenged,
and discover who they
are, as I have seen
teachers and staff enthusiastic about teaching and helping them
learn and grow,” Cook
said. “I can tell that
the staff and teachers
love working with the
kids and want to see
be successful
Cook students
in their future lives.
“I am excited about
this opportunity to share my
passion to serve the community and our school, and to
share my expertise in counseling and psychology with
the district,” she said.
“[Hugoton Elementary]
is such a wonderful place
for students to learn, be
challenged, and discover
who they are…”
— Kristen
ly. I love working with students and helping them
through difficult transitions
of life, guiding them through
the tough stuff!”
In her spare time, she likes
Check out our website! www.usd210.org
USD
210 NEWSLETTER
PAGE
3
Early Childhood, Elementary focus
on teaching various safety skills
Both Hugoton Elementary School and the Early Childhood
Development Center have set aside two full weeks this year to
focus on learning and practicing important safety skills. The first
“School Safety Week” was held Aug. 26-30, and the next one is
planned for Jan. 610.
“With one School
Safety Week each
semester, we get
practice on many
different aspects of
safety,” said Principal Tiffany Boxum.
In August,
School Safety
Week kicked off
with Bus and Bicycle Safety on Monday. Hugoton Chief
of Police Courtney
Leslie visited with
the students about
bicycle safety, and
bus drivers educated the children on
bus safety.
“We even practice an evacuation
plan off the back door of the bus in case of emergency,” Boxum
said.
Tuesday featured Fire Safety and a fire drill. On Wednesday,
faculty and students practiced a lockdown drill.
“A lockdown drill is when we practice what happens if an intruder tries to access the school,” Boxum said. “We practice the
possible steps that could be taken so that everyone knows what
to do if we are ever in that situation.”
Thursday was the personal safety drill, where students and teachers learn
and practice what to do if
an incident occurs outside
and they are on the playground or on school
grounds, she said. And
the week finished on Friday with a tornado drill.
The Hullaballoo Room at
the ECDC is a FEMA
tornado shelter, which
holds a maximum occupancy of 485 people.
Pedestrian safety
Throughout the year, the
schools will also focus on
pedestrian safety. Teachers rotate on crosswalk
duty before and after
school to help make sure
students cross the streets
safely, and a traffic pattern map (see below) has been distributed
to all parents so they know how the drop-off and pick-up traffic
procedures work around the HES and ECDC campuses.
PAGE
4
Hugoton ACT scores show steady
Trend data
shows ACT
scores have
risen steadily
over the past
five years.
increase over past five years
Scores on the ACT test
taken by Hugoton High
School students have been on
the rise, according to high
school counselor Brittani
Mahan.
“We received our five-year
trend data, and the scores
have steadily improved over
the course of those five
years,” Mahan said. “We are
very excited about that!”
She attributed the increase
in test scores to many factors.
“Last year’s senior class
was a strong class academically, and that’s one reason
why,” Mahan said. “But we
also have several things in
place that help our students
succeed on the ACT:
1) Mrs. Hagenah facilitates an ACT Prep
class as an elective for
high school through
our Edgenuity Program;
2) We also have received
free ACT practice
study guides from
ACT, which I gave to
10th through 12th
graders;
3) Studying on their own
is an option; and
4) Offering the ACT at
our high school on the
October test date helps,
as kids are more familiar with our school and
that helps ease test
anxiety.”
Hugoton High School
Principal Gregg Errebo said
a larger number of students
are now taking the ACT
than in the past.
“Our numbers have
increased over the past few
years,” Errebo said. “More
of our Hispanic students are
taking the ACT, which is a
good thing.”
Mahan said the strength
of the HHS curriculum is
also a factor in the rising
test scores.
“The classes that we
offer help our students do
better,” she said. “We offer
a lot of upper-level science,
good solid math programs,
and have excellent and dedicated teachers.”
Hugoton Five-Year Trends Average ACT Scores
Average ACT Math Scores by Course Sequence
23.0
20.6
19.3
16.4
13.0
Value added by mathematics courses
Students who take a minimum of Algebra 1, Algebra 2, and Geometry typically
achieve higher ACT mathematics scores than students who take less than three years of
mathematics.
In addition, students who take more advanced mathematics courses substantially
increase their ACT mathematics score.
USD
210 NEWSLETTER
PAGE
5
Middle School focusing on
‘Keys to Success’ this year
Throughout the school year, Hugoton Middle School students will be focusing on this
year’s theme, “HMS: Your Key to Success.”
“We are teaching students to be focusing
on four ‘Keys to Success,’ one per nine-week
period,” said HMS Principal Lance Custer.
The Keys are:
1) Responsibility
2) Respect
3) Persistence
4) Pride
“If students are observed by a teacher or
adult going above and beyond using one of
those qualities, they will get a Key to Success card. Those students’ names will be
put into drawings for iTunes gift cards each
nine weeks.
Safety at HMS
Custer said student safety is of utmost
importance at HMS.
“The entrance to the office is now
locked, and visitors must be buzzed in by
office personnel,” he said.
In addition, safety drills are conducted on a regular basis.
“We use the FEMA shelter for at least three tornado
drills a year, we have monthly fire drills, and we have lockdown drills twice a year, with different levels of lockdown
to practice,” Custer said.
The crosswalk and pedestrian safety is also an area of
concern, he said.
“We have been making our students aware to use the
crosswalk, and have teachers present during those times,” he
said. “In addition, the parking lot has one-way traffic, entering on the east and exiting on the west, which helps with
pedestrian safety.”
Hugoton High students practice safety drills,
attend Stuco camp, learn leadership skills
As with all USD 210 schools, safety is
of utmost importance to administrators and
faculty alike.
“Our FEMA shelter is not only important to the school, it is important to the
community,” said Principal Gregg Errebo.
“This summer with the fire in Moscow, we
had a lot of people come and spend the
night in our shelter. It was a nice place of
safety for those in our community and surrounding area that needed it, and the people
were great.”
Errebo said the FEMA shelter gets use
as a public tornado shelter outside of
school hours as well, especially by those
who live near the school.
“We also have tornado drills three
times a year, monthly fire drills, and lockdown drills — two announced and one
unannounced,” he said. “We do our best
not to disrupt learning, but it is important
to understand what we need to do in case
of an emergency, like an intruder in the
building.”
Adding to the overall safety of the
school is the buzzer system on the high
school, a system that is being expanded.
“We are adding safety doors to the Ag
Building and to the older section of the
high school that will enhance our safe environment,” he said.
Student leadership
Errebo is now the HHS Stuco sponsor,
and is excited about a good start to the
year.
“My kids do such a good job of welcoming new kids and including them,”
Errebo said. “I feel good about where
we’ve started this year. We have some
good, new, young teachers, and our enrollment numbers are pretty steady.”
Mr. Merritt, assistant principal and
football coach, is teaching a weekly leadership class to student council during seminar.
“We do our best to identify leaders and
promote leadership,” Errebo said. “We sent
three kids to Stuco leadership camp in Emporia this summer. With around 500 of the
best kids in the state in one place, there are
bound to be good things that rub off on
them.”
The students who went to stucco camp
were Bradley Campbell, Jackie Garcia, and
Katie Weaver.
“They are a great team, ready to lead
our school,” Errebo said.
“I think it’s going to be a great year,”
he added. “We have good kids with great
qualities. If they do things the right way,
they have a chance to make Hugoton High
School a special place this year.”
PAGE
6
USD 210 new
Rita
Edmonds
Rita Edmonds teaches English and
Language
Arts at
Hugoton High
School.
Originally
from the
Leavenworth
area, she
graduated from Lansing High School, and
holds two bachelor’s degrees in secondary
social studies and secondary English language arts from Emporia State University.
“This is my first job,” Ms. Edmonds said.
“I student-taught at Tonganoxie Middle
School.”
In her spare time, she enjoys spending
time with friends, playing with her dog Zuko, playing card and board games, and
watching “Firefly.”
“The people here are very friendly, welcoming and helpful,” she said of her new
city. “My students are pretty amazing!”
Melissa
Sullivan
New kindergarten teacher
Melissa Sullivan grew up
in Hugoton.
After earning
a bachelor’s
degree in elementary education from
Fort Hays
State University, she taught first grade in
Dodge City for two years.
She and her husband Kenny have one
daughter, Elodie, age 6 months.
Her hobbies include spending time with
her family and reading.
NEW FACES
Becky
Sohm
Becky Sohm,
new second
grade teacher
at Hugoton
Elementary, is
no stranger to
Hugoton
schools. Years
ago, she was a
school psychologist
working in Hugoton.
“It feels like coming back home to be
teaching here,” Mrs. Sohm said.
After growing up on a farm south of Rolla
and graduating from Rolla High School,
Sohm earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Baylor University and both
master’s and Specialist in Education (Ed.S)
degrees in school psychology from Emporia
State University. Later she earned a bachelor’s degree in elementary education from
Oklahoma Panhandle State University.
“I returned to live in the area in 1998 after
completing graduate school at ESU,” she
said. “I worked as a school psychologist for
High Plains Educational Cooperative for
four years, then taught general psychology
as an adjunct faculty member for Seward
County Community College for 12 years.
This is my first year teaching elementary
school.”
She and her husband Greg have been married for 17 years, and have two daughters,
Aspen, fifth grade, and Carissa, second
grade. Her hobbies include reading and traveling.
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and community, we invite everyone to visit the
new USD 210 Facebook
page, and click “Like”
to keep updated on our
district!
USD
210 NEWSLETTER
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page, please notice the Commenting Guidelines post for
assistance and feel free and
en-
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PAGE
teacher round-up
210.
In her spare time, she enjoys shopping, traveling, walking, fishing, and
For new
going camping. Her significant other is
fourth grade
Casey Settlemyer, and her parents, brothteacher Tina
er, and sister all live in Maryland.
A&M, earning a bachelor’s degree.
Salmans,
“I love Hugoton so much! The people
She taught elementary school for the are wonderful and it’s a great place to
teaching at
past eight years at Permian Basin of Tex- live!” she said, adding with a wink, “I
Hugoton is
as, and taught at Andrews, Texas, before just wish we had a little more shopping
literally
that.
“coming
nearby.”
McSpadden and her husband have
home.” She
been married for 14 years and have two
was raised in
children, Malori, age 12, seventh grade;
Hugoton and graduated from Hugoton
Savannah Thomas
and Jyles, age 9, fourth grade.
High School in 2000.
Born and
In her spare time, she likes to watch
“Hugoton is great,” she said. “It’s
raised
in
college football (“Go, Red Raiders!”),
where I grew up!”
Hugoton,
watch
baseball,
play
golf,
hold
movie
Salmans holds a bachelor’s degree
new sixth
parties with her family, and watch her
and an associate’s degree, and taught
grade ELA
kids
grow
and
participate
in
activities.
sixth grade in Emporia for seven years.
writing
“My
family
and
I
really
enjoy
“My primary focus was on literacy
teacher SaHugoton
so
far,”
she
said.
“Everyone
has
with interventions in both math and readvannah
been extremely nice and helpful.”
ing,” she said.
Thomas atShe and her husband Greg have two
tended the
children, Olivia, age 5 and in kindergarUniversity of
ten, and Blake, age 2. Greg is a nurse at Beth
Kansas and
the local medical clinic, and she is the
Wilcher
graduated
daughter of Ted and Judy Heaton.
Perhaps
with her
In her spare time, she spends time
the
new
bachelor’s degree in education in 2012.
with family “just hanging out and listenteacher
farShe will complete her master’s of sciing to music.”
thest from
ence in ESOL in December 2013.
home is Eliz“Before I returned to Hugoton, I lived
abeth Wilchin Olathe and was completing my student
MistyMcSpadden
er, fourth
teaching year,” she said. “I spent the first
High
grade.
semester at Bonner Springs High School
school biol“I grew
teaching government and World War II
ogy teacher
up 30 miles
history. The spring semester was spent
Misty
north of Baltimore, Maryland, about
with the Kansas City, Kansas, school
McSpadden
halfway between Baltimore and Philadel- district at Argentine Middle School
comes to
phia,” she said. “I attended Coastal Caro- teaching seventh grade Kansas history.”
Hugoton
lina University in Conway, South CaroliIn her spare time, she likes to travel,
from her
na. I lived in Myrtle Beach while attend- garden, cook, and write. Thomas has a
native Texing school.”
cat named Sophie. Both of her parents
as. She
Wilcher holds a bachelor’s degree in still live in Hugoton and her younger
grew up in
elementary education with a minor in
brother lives and works in Kansas City.
Miami,
sociology. She graduated in December
“Being back in Hugoton is strange
Texas, and
2012, and did her student teaching stint
and has been an adjustment from life in a
attended
just before moving to Hugoton. She also city, but it isn’t that bad,” she said with a
Texas Tech University and West Texas
served as a substitute teacher at USD
smile.
Tina
Salmans
NEW FACES
Look for more new teacher profiles in the winter newsletter!
7
Students practice letter-writing skills
Students in Tonya Hill’s class spent
a few weeks practicing writing letters, and mailed them to local veterinarian Dr. Baughman, who visited
the classroom and answered the
questions in person, much to the
delight of the students!
HUGOTON USD 210
BOARD OF EDUCATION
USD 210
Hugoton
Stephanie Heger, President
Martin Daharsh, Vice-President
Don Beesley, Todd Gayer,
Barry Hittle, Paula Rowden,
Matt Mills
DISTRICT MISSION STATEMENT
Hugoton Schools will ensure academic
achievement for all students. This will be achieved
through:

Relevant educational opportunities

Rigorous coursework

An environment built around caring
Relationships
Agendas for the Hugoton Board of Education
meetings are published in the Hugoton Hermes and
available at the Central Office and all district attendance centers on Friday, prior to the Monday Board of
Education meeting. Board of Education meetings are
generally scheduled the third Monday of the month at
6:30 p.m. If you have any questions, please call the Central Office at 620-544-4397.
The general public and patrons of the school
district are werlcome to attend Board of Education
meetings and building site council meetings. Please call
the Hugoton Central Office (544-4397) for times and
dates of these meetings.
USD 210 Central Office
205 E. 6th Street
Hugoton, KS 67951
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Hugoton, KS 67951
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