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Across the Board – March 23, 2015

Published March 24, 2015

Students and staff members were in the spotlight at the Williamson County School Board meeting March 23, 2015.

Brentwood High student Alexander Qin was recognized as the Tennessee Chess Association Scholastic Individual State Champion. His teacher is Larry Kedigh.

Ian Seal from Centennial was selected for the US National Senate Youth Program while two Ravenwood students, Alexander Schramkowski and Nick Mucci, were selected for the 14-15 US Senate Page Program.

Ravenwood’s Sydni Vaughn was named a National Achievement Scholarship Finalist.

Brentwood High student Sailesh Sitaram placed first in the National German 2 Exam, and Michele Holtkamp placed first in the National German 3 Exam-Heritage Speaker Division. Their teacher is Emily Dawson.

Several students won first place at the Technology Student Association State Competition. Page High students Michael Bianchi and Riley Cochrane won for Structural Design and Engineering; Daniel Sokol won for Dragster Design; Ben Weaver won for Transportation Modeling; and Michael Bianchi, Riley Cochrane, Rian Gober, Camron Midgette and Jarod Teague won for Manufacturing Prototype. Their teachers are Beth Foreman and Jimmy Baker. Summit student Allison Baldwin won for Computer Aided Drawing in 2D, and Camden McNeely won for Computer Aided Drawing in 3D. Their teachers are Kris Schneider and Ben White.

Several students earned first place honors at the Tennessee High School Press Association competition. Brentwood High’s Samantha Rich won Best Illustration / Art. Her teacher is Jan Little. Centennial’s Andrew Knight won Best Digital Art/ Graphic Design. His teacher is Dawn Marek. In the media production category, Brentwood High students Shayna Funderburk won for Best Commercial; Dakota Payne, Ben Sherrill, Caleb Howard and Jake Fisher won for Best Music Video; Noah Osuna, Dakota Payne, Caroline Steele, Hamza Khalid, Ben Sherrill, Jack Burke, Julianne Martin, Katie Hart, Sam Dillard, Andrew Fischer, Caleb Howard, Jack Brimm, Jake Fisher, Morgan Yoder, Jared Smith, Caleb Howard, Stephanie Steele, Kelsey Brannon, Morgan Yoder, Rosie Gunger, Callie Lancaster, Mary Margaret Davis and Rachel Ault won for Best Live Sports. Their teacher is Ronnie Adcock.

At Franklin High the media production classes won the Best Overall TV Station; Michael Castellon, Christian Whittemore and Jakob Serban won for Best Sports Show; Michael Castellon won for Best Short Feature Story; Michael Castellon, Andrew Kochamba, Anna Glenn Grove, Christian Whittemore, McKenna Martin, Joe Brown, Conner Adams, Tyler Parrish, Laine Gates, Gwen Statz, Hope Dyra and Topher Brown won for Best Newscast. Their teacher is Keri Thompson. Independence High’s Parker Morley won Best Videographer; Anthony Bogdan and Noah Santana won Best PSA; and Ian Huber and Parker Morley won Best Video/Documentary. Their teacher is Matt Balzer.

Williamson County students had an excellent showing at the National Forensic League Tennessee State Competition. Brentwood High students Sarath Pavuluri and Rebekah Ninan won first place in Public Forum Debate, and Ninan was awarded the District Student of the Year. The Brentwood High debate team won the Debate Sweepstakes Award. Their teacher is Harriet Medlin. Ravenwood High’s Andy Gordon won first place in Humorous Interpretation, and the team won the Tournament Sweepstakes Award. Their teacher is Brian Kaufman.

In the arts, The Franklin Winds was honored for its performance at the Music for All National Chamber Music Festival. Members include Maddox Myers, Maegan Vincent, Madelyn Vincent, Christine Barham, Mia Uni, Claire Terrel, Chase Lantz, Emily Sanders, Kat Olson, Sam Stone, Chandler Wilder, Meredith Aydelott, Mikayla Ray and Audrey Binnicker. The director is David Aydelott.

Also from Franklin, Michael Hall, Ryan Fisher, Mikaela Ray and Audrey Binnicker were honored for becoming members of the Music for All Honor Band of America. Their director is David Aydelott. Other members of the Music for All Honor Band include Page High’s Rebecca Singletary, director Matt Emerson, and Ravenwood students Dustin Lin and Taylor Winkler, director Mark Kinzer.

Several staff members were honored during the Board meeting. Sunset Elementary’s Claudia Thorndike was named the TNESOL Teacher of the Year. Brentwood High’s Doug Anderson received the 2015 Grosvenor Teacher Fellowship. Ravenwood’s Addison Pate is serving on the Secretary of State’s Blue Book Curriculum Task Force.

In athletics, Spring Station and Summit High coach Pete Miller was awarded the National Wrestling Coaches Association TN Coach of the Year while Franklin High’s Frank Barbrie was awarded the Tennessee Wrestling Federation Volunteer of Year.

In the arts, Woodland Middle Principal Priscilla Fizer was honored with the Outstanding Administrator Award given by the Tennessee Music Educators Association while Brentwood High Principal Kevin Keidel was awarded the National Forensic League Tennessee District Principal of the Year for the National Speech and Debate Association.

In the Superintendent’s Report, Dr. Mike Looney encouraged all to attend the WCS Fine Arts Festival on Saturday from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m. at The Factory. He also shared the Profile of Excellence document which showcases the district. https://old.wcs.edu/wp-content/pdf/profile-of-excellence.pdf

In addition, Dr. Looney praised Fairview Middle Principal Gary Shrader and his staff for the strides in academic achievement being made. He also called on Brentwood High Principal Kevin Keidel who reported that the BHS class of 2015 was already at a 26.2 composite on the ACT.

In the Board Chairman’s Report, PJ Mezera thanked the Summit High trio, Triptych, for performing prior to the Board meeting. He also called on Board member Mark Gregory who congratulated the Brentwood High boys’ basketball team and Coach King for an excellent season.

The Board approved budgets for the 2015-16 school year including a $290,464,993 General Purpose Budget, a $12,101,388 Central Cafeteria Budget, a $4,329,965 Extended School Program Budget and a $11,367,029 Capital Outlay Request. The budgets will be presented to the budget and education committees of the Williamson County Commission before going to the full Commission for approval in July.

In New Business, the Board:

  • Approved an intra-category transfer for $259,133 for architects and design work for theaters at Fairview High, Heritage Middle and Page Middle.
  • Approved open zoned schools for 2015-16. A complete list can be found here: https://old.wcs.edu/infocus/2015/03/24/open-zoned-schools-announced/.
  • Approved the adoption of mathematics textbooks.
  • Approved the purchase of the adopted mathematics textbooks.
  • Approved a 2015-16 family tuition rate of $2503 for fulltime school district employees and $5578 for families moving into the district with a contract to establish residency.
  • Approved two resolutions regarding pending legislation. The Board voted to oppose HB 680/SB 785 regarding searching electronic devices without a search warrant. The Board voted to support any amendment removing schools from the “Guns in Parks” legislation, HB 995/SB 1171, HB 274/SB 314, HB 173/SB 149.
  • Announced the appointed committee to review the superintendent evaluation instrument for 2015-16 and report to the Board in June.

In other business, the Board:

  • Approved recommended field trip fee requests.
  • Approved the lease of Cross Country Church at Bethesda Elementary.
  • Approved and signed a Code of Ethics.

The next regular meeting of the Williamson County Board of Education is scheduled for Monday, April 20 beginning at 6:30 p.m. in the auditorium of the Administrative Complex.

Board packet information can be found on the school district’s website old.wcs.edu. Select About WCS; select Board Meeting Schedule; select the meeting date; and then select Agendas. Supporting documents are linked from the agenda.