FUN EVENTS CLOSE TO HOME
If you are feeling the need to get out of the house and beat the winter
doldrums, please join us for some great entertainment options that are close to
home!
Tomorrow (Friday, March 6) the VHS Winter Guard will host their annual
Winter Showcase beginning at 7:00 PM at Vermilion High School. Tickets are $5.00 for adults and $3.00 for
students and senior citizens. Twelve
area high school and college groups are participating this year. This is always a fun evening. The group will offer basket raffles, a bake
sale and concessions, but the best part of the evening is watching the
performers. It is great fun to see the
variety of routines and unique talents of each group.
Parents of seniors will host a delicious fish fry dinner at Sailorway
Middle School prior to the Winter Guard Showcase on Friday. Dinners are $15.00 and are available at the
school or for take-out from 4:30 to 7:30 PM. Proceeds from the dinner will support Prom-to-Dawn.
On Saturday, March 7, Vermilion High School will host the OHSAA Boys
Basketball Sectional tournament starting at 7:00 P.M. Come out and support our Vermilion Sailors as
they take on the winner of the Firelands-Padua game. Since this is an OHSAA tournament, all
tickets are $6.00 for adults and $4.00 for senior citizens and students. No passes will be accepted for this
event.
Next Saturday, March 14, National Honor Society is offering an
opportunity for residents to enjoy the outdoors by participating in their 2nd
annual 5K run/1 mile walk to support the Vermilion Food Pantry and NHS. Registration is $15 plus one non-perishable
food item. The registration form and
more information is available on our website.
The VHS spring musical is always a great community activity, and is
popular with residents. The show this
year is “Anything Goes” featuring music and lyrics by Cole Porter. We have some really great performers in this
show, and I encourage you to come out to see the talent that VHS has to offer. Performances will be on March 19, 20 and 21 at
7:00 PM. Tickets are $9.00 for adults
and $7.00 for senior citizens and students.
They can be purchased at Vermilion High School, or by contacting
Marianne Prete at 440-396-7149.
MANDATED TESTING
As discussed in a previous article, State and federal mandated testing
is here. Testing started last week at
Sailorway and Vermilion Elementary, and is ongoing at all schools. Despite the controversy surrounding these tests, we
have tried to create a supportive environment for our teachers and students. Our support
team, led by Testing Coordinator Heidi Riddle and Technology Coordinator Shawn
Bergman, planned well in advance to insure technology tools and training were
available and the testing was efficient for all. Heidi spent many hours planning test schedules,
organizing materials and training teachers.
She created easy to follow Keynote instructions for teachers that made
sense of the complicated instructions provided by PARCC. Shawn and his team made sure the technology
was ready, and have dedicated their time to supporting students and teachers on
each day of testing. All of this advance
preparation was important to reduce the stress on our administrators, teachers
and students. While there has been much
negative publicity about these tests statewide, the reality is that the tests
are mandated by law and schools must comply. I would like to thank Heidi, Shawn,
and our entire staff, for their professionalism and dedication to making our
testing experience as positive for our students as possible.
On a related note, we have received communication from
two area legislators asking for our input and support as they look for alternatives
to the current testing mandates. I am
encouraged that these individuals are listening to parent and educator
concerns. It appears they are ready to
revise the process to make the assessments effective while reducing the time
needed to prepare and administer the tests.
It is important that we come to a more realistic compromise so that
teachers can focus on teaching, developing instruction and offering curriculum
that will reach everyone’s ultimate goal:
preparing students who are college or career ready when they
graduate.
FISCAL
MANAGEMENT
Recently the online news source “Huffington Post”
shared some graphic demonstrations of the size of the national debt. The graphics are interesting and somewhat
disconcerting. They can be viewed at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/26/us-debt-visualized-graphic_n_906239.html
.
This article caused me to think
about the management of public schools as opposed to what is happening at the
federal level. Public school funding is constantly
scrutinized by the media, in both positive and negative articles. Many times I
am told that schools should run “like a business”. There are many differences
between the requirements for managing public funds and the rules that businesses
must follow to manage their money. As
public officials, we must always be cognizant of the fact that we are supported
by taxpayer dollars. It is our
responsibility to do everything possible to maximize the use of those funds. Public schools in our area do a good job of
managing their affairs and using funds efficiently. We have to, because what we do is
transparent. Fiscal reports are public
documents and are closely monitored by your elected Board members.
You have heard me say several times that I do not want
to ask the taxpayers for additional funding, and will do everything possible to
operate the schools with current voted millage.
While we must, by law, ask the community to renew existing millage, I
would like to emphasize that we are working within our means to provide Vermilion
students with the best facilities and educational opportunities available. Over the past 5 years our leadership has
developed and implemented a plan to improve facilities while reducing costs for
taxpayers. Our goal is to reduce the
cost for operating and maintaining buildings so that we can divert those
dollars toward educational growth.
Please feel free to contact me if you are interested in learning more.
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