New staff and grants discussed at DePue
DEPUE — New staff members and grants were on the table at last week’s DePue School Board meeting. Superintendent Ann Chandler discussed with board members new, grants and other possible changes.
Included in those changes is the addition of several new teachers. Paige Funfsinn will be taking over the pre-kindergarten program, while Petra Estrada and Adrianne Espinoza will be heading up the English Language Learner program. Also new to the staff is Mallory Matocha, teaching elementary reading, and Joshua Johnson for the physical education, driver’s education and kealth classes.
Another change for the school year is a new Early Childhood Education grant, which has been approved for the pre-kindergarten program. The state grant money, in the sum of $136,000, will be used to purchase educational supplies for the new school term.
A grant from e-Rate, also known as the Schools and Libraries Fund, has been approved for the amount of $83,000. The grant was used to upgrade the school’s network system, including its servers, routers and hardware. The school will pay the $83,000 this year, and receive a 90 percent refund.
After a technology grant last year permitted the school to purchase new computers and iPods, the system was running behind and was in need of an upgrade. The Exxon Mobile Corporation has donated $6,000 to aid in the cost.
The board is currently awaiting confirmation on yet another grant, this one in the sum of about $1.2 million. The School Improvement Grant is a three-year, federal-based grant. If approved, Chandler, along with the board, have several plans for the money. Two top priorities for the school, as stated by Chandler, will be the addition of a new roof over the boiler room and gymnasium, as well as the hiring of four new instructors to improve training for the teachers.
The grant is used for the lowest performing schools in Illinois to improve education, and this year, a total of 11 schools have applied for the grant.
Also discussed was the recent Regional Office of Education’s Summer Institute, where two of the school’s teachers attended a two-week workshop specializing in math, science and technology.
Rosemary Goosens and Gabriel Larios, math teachers, both were present at the Summer Institute to further their training in new methods of teaching. Both educators brought back several thousand dollars worth of new technology equipment, funded by a special grant for math and science. The teachers will be using their experience this summer and implementing it within the classroom in the form of lesson plans regarding new technology.
The school also hosted the Freshman Academy program for the first time, which was a four-day program from Aug. 10-13 to prepare the new high school students for their upcoming freshman year.
The program was funded by a 21st Century Grant and included a tour of IVCC, along with activities such as “Relationship Smarts,” “Welcome To The Real World,” and “Time Management.” Each activity and program was to give the new students a better understanding of high school, the importance of team building and furthering their education after graduation.
The program concluded on the fourth day with a trip to Echo Bluff and a potluck with the parents. The program was run by Monico Nunez, along with Roberta Butler, Dale Bartlett, Patricia Hyson, Shelley Gorenz and Timothy Stevens, all teachers from DePue.
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