School employees earn high-fives for jobs well done
At the Jan. 16 Madison Board of Education meeting, Knights of Columbus presented $4,480 for Madison students in special education. Coordinator of special education Jamie Hill, at right, accepts the check from Grand Knight Danny Garcia. Also show are Knights Warden Tom O’Donnell, from left, student volunteer Michaela Philip and special education teacher Zandra Morgan. (CONTRIBUTED)
MADISON – The Knight of Columbus shared a sweet gift for students at the Madison Board of Education meeting on Jan. 16.
Special education staff Dr. Maria Kilgore and Jamie Hill accepted $4,480 collected by the Knights of Columbus with its annual Tootsie Roll drive. “Eighty percent of the money goes directly to Madison schools and 20 percent to the state, which the Madison district can apply for,” Kilgore said.
Since 1999, the Knights have collected and donated $102,360.35 to the Madison district. Hill recognized students Michaela Philip, Heather Gray and Allie Dutton for their work with the candy drive.
Superintendent Dr. Dee Fowler recognized several employees. Chris Chesser received the ‘outstanding attention to detail’ award for locating a transformer problem at James Clemens High School. Chesser’s alertness avoided lost power at the school and, worse yet, a potential explosion.
Operations and maintenance supervisor Kevin Guest and maintenance technician Dennis Klein were commended for maintaining the district’s heating systems during subzero wind chills on Jan. 5-8.
Also concerning the cold weather, all of Madison’s buses cranked, and drivers ran their 62 routes. Fowler recognized transportation employees Shannon Pease, Michael Osborn, Dennis Etheridge, Jimmy Purdue and Patrick Woods.
Amy Thaxton, instructional partner at Bob Jones High School, explained ‘da Vinci Fridays.’ Inspired by the da Vinci exhibit at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center, art teacher Robin Lakso suggested that students attend 30-minute sessions of their choice “to have a little bit of da Vinci at Bob Jones.”
Dr. Claudia Styles, principal at Mill Creek Elementary School, led teachers in discussing a motivational project, “Dear Santa, I want a puppy for Christmas.” Students gathered facts to convince parents that a dog is an affordable pet.
The board approved Camp Invention, sale of six buses and one truck on govdeals.com and an agreement for $450,000 with Nola VanPeursem Architects P.C. for the Nance Road pre-school.
