The Hancock-Henderson Quill, Inc.
by: Shirley Linder - Quill Editor
Around forty guests came to Southern school board's regular meeting Monday evening, April 26th. The majority were there to support Southern's three year-old Ag program.
Due to financial difficulties the Southern board has been looking at ways to cut the deficit.
Community members knowing that the Ag program could be in jeopardy recently formed an FFA Alumni Chapter to help support the school Ag program. Many of the members came to the meeting to convince the board not to drop the program and to offer their help.
Jerry Keimig spoke on behalf of the FFA Alumni, saying their mission statement for the newly formed chapter is "to find a way to keep Ag strong."
Keimig presented President Jon Corzatt with a petition that had been signed by 54 students and another petition which was signed by community members in support of keeping Ag.
He said there is a real urgency in this matter since students are now registering for classes and the end of school is so near.
He asked the board to discuss the issue immediately or call a special meeting for next week.
President Corzatt thanked him for his input. No discussion or comments were made at that time.
Much later, following the closed session, the board agreed to a meeting on Tuesday morning of board representatives, Alumni representatives and Principal Dale Buss.
Keimig went over the FFA Alumni's goals:
Advisory: Support for the on going efforts in curriculum, internships and laboratory of the program.
Financial: Fund raising activities to support the long-term success of the Ag Program. Annual contributions from area Ag Business men and women
Scholarship: Ag Education foundation to pursue gifts for college scholarships for students wishing to further their Ag Education and career goals in agriculture.
Recruitment: Support in keeping students informed and interested in the Agricultural offerings of the program
Liaison: A Southern School board member to act as liaison for the school board and Agriculture Alumni
During the public comment segment Sara Lefler, Pat Brokaw, Kevin Kelly of the Warren Henderson Farm Bureau and Bob Pritchard a representative of Delabar Vocational from Monmouth all spoke on behalf of retaining the Ag program.
Sara Lefler, spoke first as a parent, wife, business woman, and a taxpayer. Her hope was that board members would listen to the concerns and advice of those who were speaking.
Pat Brokaw reminded members: "We live in an agriculture community." He disagrees that Ag is only a college subject as he feels much can be gained by having it in high school.
Kevin Kelly, Warren-Henderson Farm Bureau representative, who had spoken previously to the board, said Farm Bureau's livelihood depended on Ag livelihood. He, once again, offered any help the Farm Bureau could provide, to keep the program in existence at Southern.
Bob Pritchard, Delabar Vocational representative, said he represents 12 schools in the area and that Alexis and ROWVA have the strongest Ag program in the area. He suggested that perhaps more horticulture classes could be offered.
Lee Brokaw, Southern FFA President and Jason Mynatt FFA Secretary alternately gave highlights of the 17 page FFA annual 2002-03 report.
Guests were impressed with their delivery. The report included highlights of their activities, their enrollment, their courses and concluded with the message that if allowed one additional fundraiser, the FFA Chapter could be a self-sustaining organization and pay for its own gas or mileage to and from activities.
It was apparent all who were there could see the advantage of having the program and the confidence it gave these students.
Many who came commented afterwards, how students learned confidence in public speaking through the FFA program.
In other business:
Nick Burg asked the board to consider letting the Freshman class hold fund raisers for a Six Flags After Prom event their senior year (2006).
Nick said the parents would sponsor the event and 97% of the class wanted to go. He said they would charter a bus and it would be one day only. The class will not have a senior trip. When asked who would go Nick said, "the seniors and their dates."
Tina Waterman requested the board reconsider Jr. High Cheerleading. She said the program of not selecting cheerleaders was not successful last year. She stated other schools questioned her about not having regular cheerleaders. She also said it did not increase more support of decorating the lockers, etc. She offered her assistance in organizing cheerleading if it were reinstated.
Silas Pogue requested he be allowed to give a speech recognizing Mrs. Sherrill Leath, a substitute teacher at SHS. He said she had been a good friend to many and this is something he would like to do.
It has been the habit of the board after public comments are made, to thank people for their comments but not to have any discussion or to make decisions on the issues. Their reasoning, according to Supt. Charlie Barber, is because they are not agenda items.
In other business the board:
The board entered closed session at 8:00 p.m. once again showing their hospitality by having all guests wait outside until they returned to open session. Many got cold so did not wait around after 45 minutes or so.
Following closed session the board:
Present: Board members-Jon Corzatt, Doug Brooks, Melissa Livermore, Brendan Schaley, Dan Bowman, Rod Fox and Brad Arnold, Superintendent Charles Barber, Secretary Sharri Richard, Principal Lyman Schar, Principal Dale Buss, Terri Copeland, Pat Brokaw, Lee Brokaw, Tina Waterman, Nick Burg, Silas Pogue, Sara Lefler, Kevin Kelly, Brandon Tate, Bob Pritchard and many other Ag and school supporters.