UPDATE: 10:35 a.m. Thursday
A lockdown for Ellis USD 388 schools has ended, the district announced via social media just after 10:30 a.m. Thursday.
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ELLIS — Ellis USD 388 schools are being locked down after warnings from law enforcement about a suspect at large.
Parents were notified of the lockdown Thursday morning, and the district announced the situation via social media at about 8:30 a.m.
Check Hays Post for more as details become available.
By BECKY KISER
Hays Post
Hays city commissioners will hear an update on the progress of the Wastewater Treatment Facility Reconstruction Project during their meeting Feb. 28.
Eric Farrow with HDR engineers is scheduled to present the update.
The commission will also be asked to sign a letter of support for Overland Property Group, Leawood, which plans to redevelop the former Washington Elementary School, 305 Main, and construct income-qualified housing.
As part of the process to apply for federal tax credits, OPG must have a Resolution of Support from the local governing body. City staff is recommending the commission approve the resolution.
A low bid recommendation will be considered for purchase of a new double drum asphalt compactor for the Service Division. The low bid of $34,445.91 is from Murphy Tractor and Equipment, Great Bend; budgeted amount was $37,000. The equipment will be for asphalt and base compaction as well for asphalt and concrete projects.
Holly Dickman, Water Conservation Specialist, will provide an update to the commission on the Water Conservation Program and results from 2018.
The complete agenda is available here. The meeting starts at 6:30 p.m. in Hays City Hall, 1507 Main.
By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post
Some Hays USD 489 school board members are questioning the need for touchscreens as a feature on computers for the Hays Middle School students.
The board was set to vote on the replacement of 680 computers at HMS at its meeting on Monday. The purchase is part of a four-year rotation of computer buying for the district.
The district technology committee looked at three different devices for the HMS students.
These included replacing the school’s iPads with new iPads. Over four years, the computers would cost $254,320, which is less than the $290,000 the district budgeted for replacement.
Chromebooks with the same capabilities would cost $317,612 with a significantly lower resale value at the end of four years. A Windows device was significantly above budget at a cost of $344,071.
If the district bought iPads, the technology committee planned on not buying new devices for teachers. The district also would not have to pay for professional learning time if it stayed with the iPads.
The technology committee conducted a study this fall on the use of Chromebooks at HMS, in an elementary classroom and at the Learning Center. After the study, the committee concluded the iPads better met the learning needs of the district’s students.
Members of the board still questioned if the iPads were the correct purchase for the district.
Board member Paul Adams said, “I am interested, and the other board members are, in the reasons touch is such a vital need.”
Adams wanted to know what touchscreens were being used for besides annotation while reading.
“It’s not what you want; it’s what you are using,” he said.
Nineteen HMS teachers out of 32 indicated in a survey PDF annotation was important to students mastering learning objectives.
Board member Luke Oborny suggested staff email teachers to gather more information about how the touchscreens are being used in their classrooms.
Scott Summers, technology director, said teachers provide worksheets to students via their tablets, and they use the touchscreen to write with a stylus or draw with their finger to complete those assignments. The teachers then use the touchscreens to grade the worksheets.
Superintendent John Thissen also said during an Eagle Morning Show interview Tuesday, teachers use a variety of free educational game apps that are touchscreen based.
The technology committee checked with other similar-sized schools to see what type of devices they were using.
Board member Lance Bickle noted 15 of 23 of the schools were using Chromebooks.
“If there was a big price discrepancy or a difference in there … We are not the only district that struggles with cost. I’m just curious of what they are doing differently that we are not seeing,” he said.
Bickle added, “At the end of the day, I am merely looking at this from a cost standpoint. That is the biggest part I have struggled with, especially seeing this list. I know that most of these other districts are not using touch. I am just trying to see how they are getting around it. I am sure there are advantages and pros and cons each way. I don’t know what those are.”
Bickle also questioned if district needed video editing software on all of the devices in the school. The editing software is included on the iPads but would have to purchased for the Chromebooks.
Board member Greg Schwartz said he thought the district is spending too much from the capital outlay budget on technology.
“In the time we have started the one-to-one initiative at the high school to now, I think we have spent probably between $15 to $20 million on technology. All of it is coming out of the capital outlay fund. The next item on our agenda is to look at the bond issue. If I am right and it is $20 million, that’s an elementary school.
“You could have had an elementary school that is still here and around as we are seeing most of our stuff last three years and it is worth between $10 and $60. It really has zero value. There were educational uses for that, and hopefully the students learned and got some benefits back out of that, but I am still waiting for that study that definitively shows our investment in technology is paying back dividends.”
Schwartz also questioned if other districts were paying for their technology out of capital outlay.
The board is set to reconsider the computer purchase at its March 25 meeting.
By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post
A tragedy for a Victoria family has led to what they hope will be a blessing for others.
On Sept. 11, 2016, 3-year-old Matthew Wellbrock was injured in a tragic accident at his family’s home.
On the day of Matthew’s accident, Curtis, Matthew’s father, was mowing. Matthew loved everything to do to with gardening and farming and he loved to be with his dad, Matthew’s mother, Jeanna said.
Matthew escaped from lunch and snuck outside. Jeanna called to her husband to send Matthew back in the house. Matthew tried to come in through the garage.
“We will never know exactly what happened that day. Curt came in about 15 minutes later and asked where Matthew was. I had assumed that he had convinced Curt to let him stay with him,” Jeanna said. “Curt immediately went to the garage and found him trapped between the tailgate of the truck and the garage door. How it happened is anyone’s guess.”
The couple called 911 and started CPR. Victoria first responders quickly filled the home.
Matthew was taken to HaysMed and then flown to Wichita for further treatment.
Matthew’s parents refused to leave Matthew’s side while he was in the hospital in Wichita. A fellow Norwex consultant, who was also an EMT, showed up at the hospital with a bag of random items.
“Such things as toothbrushes, which I greatly appreciated after not brushing my teeth for more than 24 hours, water bottles snacks and other random things,” Jeanna said. “We had thrown some things in a bag before we took off, but we hadn’t taken our suitcases into the hospital. That bag had every necessity we needed, and it was a huge blessing.
“Although we did not have the ending that we hoped and prayed for, we have been able to continue to see the blessings we have been given from the first responders, the staff at HaysMed, Dr. Pope, who came in in her running clothes and had to identify herself to the ER nurses, EagleMed team, doctors and nurses in Wichita, our family and our friends. We have been blessed.”
In Matthew’s memory, Wonder Woman League, HaysMed and the Wellbrocks in cooperation with other sponsors have created a program in which other loved ones who are facing medical emergencies will receive the same bags of blessings the Wellbrocks received in the hospital when Matthew was injured.
The bags, which have been named Matthew’s Gift, will include snacks, basic toiletries, a deck of playing cards, a throw blanket, water, a gas card and other items a family might need.
“Because Matthew loved life and lived it with his whole being every day, when we were approached about this project, we wanted to team up with Wonder Women League, HaysMed as well as all the other generous sponsors to provide families and loved ones with loved ones being flown out with a bag that has the basic necessities in it,” Jeanna said.
Jeanna, surrounded by her husband and five other children, thanked the Wonder Woman League for allowing her family to share Matthew’s memory in a meaningful way.
“Matthew’s Gift is a way we can continue to honor all that Matthew gave us in his three and half short years,” Jeanna said.
HaysMed transfers between six and 10 patients a month out of its emergency department to other hospitals, said Terry Siek, HaysMed chief of nursing.
“When we heard the story and heard the part that we are not filling, which is how can we help someone who is in that situation and they don’t really have time to think or really do anything, they just need to grab and go. This is something we felt very important to work with,” he said.
He said one of the goals of HaysMed this year is to give back to the community and support volunteerism.
Other sponsors for Matthew’s Gift include D & L Bodyshop (Curtis and Jeanna Wellbrock), Hays Medical Center Foundation, Karst Water Well Drilling & Service, Jeter Law Firm, Victoria Knights of Columbus—Council 1867, First Kansas Bank, Five Star Auto Repair & Towing, Hamlin Creative Consulting, Kiwanis—Hays, ServiceMaster of Hays, State Farm Insurance-Wayne Voss, Walmart Supercenter of Hays, Golden Plains Credit Union and Werth Wealth Management.
The Wonder Women League is a comprised of women celebrating the power and influence to bring about positive change in the community through philanthropy and service. It operates under the umbrella of the United Way of Ellis County.
Other projects the group has worked on in its first year include the Born Learning Trail at Sunrise Park in Hays with partners Adams, Brown, Beran and Ball, a self-defense course, and cyber safety education at Hays USD 489 elementary schools.
The organization is accepting members. Donations made to the group are used for the health and betterment of children, families, community and neighborhoods.
The annual Power of the Purse fundraiser for the Wonder Women League will be 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 2, at Smoky Hill Country Club. Enjoy dinner with a purse auction and drawing for your opportunity to win handbags with extra goodies inside. Tickets are $40 and go on sale Friday. Raffle tickets are $5 each or five tickets for $20. Seating is limited.
I love how our spirit of innovation combines education with service to our communities! It is especially gratifying when community partners join us to accomplish goals of education, access, opportunity and service.
I have written previously about several of our community-based partnerships, as we are so proud of our faculty and students and how they positively contribute to Western Kansas communities. In fact, over the past couple of weeks, Dr. Tim Davis, chair of the Department of Social Work, and I have been visiting with legislators about furthering the work we are accomplishing in addressing the state’s need for social workers – especially in Western Kansas. Did you know that only 11 percent of the state’s Licensed Bachelor’s Social Workers and Licensed Addiction Counselors live and work in Western Kansas?
One of the key aspects our faculty realized early on is that if we were going to make an impact on social worker needs in Western Kansas, we could not wait for students to come to us. Boldly, we would go to them.
So in 2006, we partnered with Garden City Community College to address a severe shortage of licensed social workers in Southwest Kansas. The solution was a partnership between the state’s AccessUS program through the Kansas Board of Regents, Garden City Community College and our Department of Social Work. Students who were committed to their home communities could gain their associate degrees through Garden City Community College and then, without leaving their homes, enter into the three-year social work cohort program and gain the credentials needed to seek licensure.
A cohort is a group of students who enter the program together and stay for the three-year course of education. Classes are taught by FHSU faculty at the local community college. Dr. Davis said the model has proven successful in Southwest Kansas, noting in a recent story that, “The first three Garden City cohorts graduated 30 Bachelor of Social Work students, the majority of whom have remained in Finney County to practice. These students now make up over half of the Licensed Bachelor’s Social Workers in the county.”
The program later expanded to Dodge City, and Dr. Davis said the cohort scheduled to graduate there this year has 13 students. If all finish, it will double the number of LBSWs in Ford County.
Social workers perform valuable services in their communities. They work in child and family service agencies, mental health centers, hospitals and health care agencies, schools, nursing homes, social service agencies, addiction treatment centers, the courts and more. The services they provide, as it says on the FHSU Social Work website, help “people cope with complex interpersonal and social problems and assist in obtaining resources.”
The program also expanded into Seward County, Dr. Davis said, because local child welfare agencies could not fill open professional positions. The eight in the cohort there will more than double the number of the county’s licensed social workers.
Northwest Kansas also needs many more social workers than it has available. By Dr. Davis’s count, the 26 Northwest Kansas counties that the Dane G. Hansen Foundation in Logan considers its service area – stretching from Saline County in the southeast to Cheyenne County in the northwest – have a total of 166 licensed, bachelor’s level social workers, but 92 of them are in Ellis and Saline counties. Five of these counties have none, 16 have three or less.
But the AccessUS program was created by the Kansas Legislature to expand educational opportunity only in Southwest Kansas. The fund helps pay for the added costs that come with offering an entire educational program at a distance, and not only does it pay for certain administrative costs, but it also provides for student scholarships.
Absent additional legislative funding, Dr. Davis and the department sought other partners. The Hansen Foundation stepped in. A $95,000 grant will fund expansion of the program to Colby and Colby Community College this fall and, with the assistance of Valley Hope Inc. and the CCC outreach center, to Norton as well.
Two more communities and faculty with a vision to further serve the needs of Western Kansas – that is impact. That is evidence of a culture of thinking out of the box. We understand that our success is the community’s success and the region’s success. This is a great example of reshaping education and opportunity in new and creative ways to prepare students for the future and communities for success.
At Fort Hays State, we say that our personality as an institution and as people is one of innovation, hard work, dedication, and caring about others, seeking ways to help them succeed. In many ways, the same can be said about Western Kansas – the values of one reflect the other, and each is willing to invest its energy and creativity in the common goal of preparing people for successful lives and making the world better.
Emporia State University
Talented. Phenomenal. One in a million. These are the words used by the people who work and learn from the seven teachers chosen as the 2019 Kansas Master Teachers, announced today:
• Paula Barr, Second-Grade Teacher at Quail Run Elementary School in USD 497 Lawrence;
• Dedra Braxmeyer, Mathematics Teacher at Manhattan High School in USD 383 Manhattan-Ogden;
• Laura Gaughan, Elementary Reading Specialist at O’Loughlin Elementary School in USD 489 Hays;
• Michelle Hilliard, Mathematics Teacher at Complete High School in USD 266 Maize;
• Lisa Jarvis, English Language Arts Teacher at Council Grove Junior-Senior High School in USD 417 Morris County;
• Carolynn Phalen, First-Grade Teacher at Grace E. Stewart Elementary School in USD 305 Salina
• Linda Vena, Elementary Reading Specialist at Mission Trail Elementary School in USD 229 Blue Valley.
The 2019 master teachers represent 180 years of classroom experience.
Through the support of the Bank of America Charitable Foundation, each Master Teacher will be presented with a check for $1000.
The recipients were selected by a nine-member committee including representatives from the Kansas Association of Colleges of Teacher Education, Kansas Association of Elementary School Principals, Kansas Association of School Boards, Kansas Association of Secondary School Principals, Kansas Parent Teacher Organization, Kansas National Education Association, ESU’s Kappa Delta Pi student organization, and representatives of the 2018 Kansas Master Teacher class.
The 2019 Master Teachers will be honored on Master Teacher Day to be held Wednesday, April 3 at Emporia State University. On that day, as part of several recognition activities, the teachers will present a seminar at 2:30 p.m. in the W.S. and E.C. Jones Conference Center in Visser Hall. The teachers will then be honored during a social hour at 5:45 p.m. in Webb Hall Lobby of Emporia State’s Memorial Union followed by the banquet and award ceremony at 6:30 p.m. in Webb Hall.
Tickets for the dinner cost $20, and reservations are required by Friday, March 22. For more information, see www.emporia.edu/teach/master/reservationform.html.
Emporia State established the Kansas Master Teacher awards in 1954. The awards are presented annually to teachers who have served the profession long and well, who also typify the outstanding qualities of earnest and conscientious teachers. Information on the 65 years of educators named Kansas Master Teachers is available at www.emporia.edu/teach/master/past.html.
Since 1980, Bank of America has pledged more than $100,000 to permanently endow the Kansas Master Teacher awards. In 1984, the Black family of Broken Bow, Oklahoma, established an endowed chair for Kansas Master Teachers. The fund provides a stipend to bring two Master Teachers to Emporia State for several days. During this time, the teachers present to classes of education students.
By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post
If the district could pass just a small bond, it would free up money in the capital outlay budget for other needs in the district, Hays USD 489 Superintendent John Thissen told the school board at its meeting Monday night.
The school board last month heard a proposal for a $29.4 million bond from its architect and construction manager. The plan included HVAC repairs at Hays High School, expansion of the cafeteria at Hays Middle School and renovation and repairs at Roosevelt Elementary School with expansion of the school to accommodate five sections of each grade.
The plan would allow the district to close Lincoln Elementary School, which is more than 90 years old and has significant infrastructure issues.
“The question is could this set the stage for some possibilities in the future?” Thissen said.
The heating and cooling systems at both Roosevelt and HHS need to be addressed very soon, Thissen said. If those projects were paid for through a bond, money dedicated to those projects in the current capital improvement plan could go to repairs that are needed at Wilson and O’Loughlin elementary schools.
“If you were able to walk away from another building, not just what has already happened with Washington and Munjor, but also walk away from Lincoln Elementary,” Thissen said, “once again you have buildings that have existing needs and you would be able to say we are not going to put money into those buildings and that money can be redirected.”
Thissen said the district could propose a bond just to make repairs, but it could end up investing hundreds of thousands of dollars into buildings the district ends up walking away from in just a few years.
“There are times when you live in a home long enough that you end up saying, ‘Is it worth the money to dump money into it or do you look for a new home?” he said.
Thissen said this plan does make repairs, but it takes the district one step forward toward the future with the expansion at Roosevelt.
Board member Paul Adams said he wanted to know what projects the district could do if it could redirect the approximately $6.7 million that had been budgeted for repairs of the HVAC system at HHS, as well as what could be done if repairs at Roosevelt were rolled into a bond.
“You are right,” Adams said to Thissen. “It is not just this work, but the work to the whole physical plant of the district. But I don’t really have a good sense of what that looks like. That comes back to some of what we have talked about — what’s our long-range planning?”
In November 2016, the board considered hiring a firm to complete a long-range facilities plan. However, the board decided not to move forward with that contract. Thissen said the board could revisit hiring a firm to do a long-range facilities plan.
However, a long-range plan would have to be altered if the district had a catastrophic failure in one of its systems, for example the HVAC at Roosevelt.
Adams said this latest proposal takes care of some of the district’s highest priority needs.
“Whether we move things around or do something with another building, we have to take care of the physical building we now call the high school. We have to get the HVAC. We need to take care of the needs at Roosevelt and repair it. The plan in place looks good, just also give me an idea of where we will realize the money we would have put to the high school. … You’re not just doing one project. That vote is actually several projects.”
Board member Mandy Fox said she would to like the same information on long-range capital improvements. She said she thought the next step is to present the project to voters to get their feedback.
Board member Lance Bickle wanted to make sure any bond proposal would keep the cost within what surveys have said voters are willing to pay per month in a tax increase. He also noted voters have indicated they want a much shorter term than the 30-year bond that was proposed in the last bond issue.
Board member Greg Schwartz said he did not support the plan. He said he did not think it fit with the concept the board had discussed seven months ago that would have reduced the number of elementary schools from four to two. He said he wanted to know more about the cost savings that could be achieved by consolidating into two elementary schools.
“I think throwing out bonds without a plan, we are going to get the same results we have always gotten,” Schwartz said.
Thissen said there are districts that do 20-year plans, but they are usually large districts that are growing. Smaller districts, such as Hays, typically complete projects as they can.
“The issue of putting together a big plan is fantastic,” he said, “but, at some particular point, some people are going to have to start.”
The board is not scheduled to discuss the bond again until late March or early April.
In other business, the board:
• Designated board members Mike Walker and Lance Bickle and Interim Director of Finance Keith Hall as agents for teacher negotiations with board member Sophia Rose Young as an alternate.
• Adopted the five-year capital outlay resolution. The levy will remain at 8 mills.
• Approved administrative contracts for building level administrators
• Reviewed the 2019-20 school calendar.
Kansas Lottery
Philip Likens of La Crosse has a particular strategy when buying instant tickets, and this time his plan paid off with a $20,000 win when he played the $2 Double Bonus Crossword!
“I always buy two of whatever tickets I’m getting,” said Likens. “This time I bought $18 worth of tickets, but only two of each kind. When we get home with the tickets, I’ll take one and my wife will take the other, and then we’ll scratch the tickets together.”
Likens explained he miscounted the number of words on his crossword ticket at first and his wife, Gretchen, figured out how much they had actually won.
“I only counted eight words at first, and I was pretty excited for $500! She’s the one who recounted and figured out how many words we had, and how much the ticket was worth. I still don’t believe it,” he said.
The Likens family was already planning a vacation, so their big win comes at the perfect time.
“We were planning a cruise for us and our daughters for this year. We will probably use some of the winnings to pay for the trip, and put the rest into savings for now,” said Likens.
The winning ticket was sold at Casey’s General Store 1905 at 1315 10th Street in Great Bend. There are still six $20,000 top prizes left in the $2 Double Bonus Crossword instant scratch game, as well as thousands in other cash prizes.
FHSU University Relations
For four days, three performances and a matinee, “Barefoot in the Park” is coming to Fort Hays State University beginning on Thursday, Feb. 28.
The doors will open at 7 p.m. and curtains will open at 7:30 p.m. through Saturday, March 2, at Felten-Start Theatre. Sunday’s matinee performance begins at 2:30 p.m.
Premiering in 1963, the play follows newlyweds Corie and Paul Bratter’s adventure moving into their first apartment after coming home from their honeymoon. Corie is romantic, impulsive and enthusiastic, while her husband, Paul, is a stuffy young attorney more concerned with his legal career than with honeymoon bliss.
“Hilarious and clever, it firmly established Simon as a master of comedy with his witty one-liners and snappy dialogue,” said Tomme Williams, instructor of music and theatre.
The play opened on Broadway in 1963 and closed in 1967 after 1,530 performances. It was nominated for three 1964 Tony Awards, where it won the award for Best Director (Dramatic).
Tickets are $15 for the public and $10 for senior citizens. They are available for purchase at the Student Service Center or at the door.
Kansas Chamber president and CEO
Nearly a hundred years ago, a group of Kansas business owners determined politicians in Topeka and Washington, DC were making it difficult for them to expand their companies, hire more employees and support their communities. They established the Kansas Chamber of Commerce to improve the state’s business climate so all Kansas businesses can succeed and support their communities. Today, members of the Kansas Chamber employ nearly 300,000 Kansans across the state.
Each year the Kansas Chamber and its members identify legislative issues important to Kansas businesses and their employees. This year’s focus includes education, health, HR, energy and taxes.
Taxes can be complicated. In fact, Kansas “conforms” with many federal tax codes to help simplify state tax codes. So, when Congress passed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) in December of 2017 to grow the country’s economy, Kansas tax codes also changed. Unfortunately, some of those changes increased state taxes on Kansas individuals and small and large businesses.
Senate Bill 22 being debated in the Kansas Legislature this session would decouple our state from certain federal tax changes and stop the unintended state tax increases. The Kansas Chamber and its members support Senate Bill 22.
Despite the claims of many, including most recently Ed Flentje in his February 25th column in the Wichita Eagle, there is nothing in Senate Bill 22 that reduces current tax rates, eliminates any existing tax liability, or collapses tax brackets. To say otherwise is being untruthful to Kansans.
The reasons Kansas lawmakers and Governor Laura Kelly must act to stop the state tax increases are pretty simple.
First, Kansas does not allow individuals to itemize their state tax deductions if they don’t itemize on their federal tax returns. The TCJA significantly increased the federal standard deduction to $24,000. So now, most Kansans will take the federal standard deduction and will not be able to itemize their deductions on their state returns. This will cause their Kansas income taxes to increase.
Because many Kansas businesses (especially small businesses) are LLCs or Sub-s corporations, they are taxed at the individual rate, and therefore, in-action in this area also will increase their state income taxes.
Also, when Congress passed TCJA, it broadened the corporate tax base to bring down rates. Part of broadening the base was the creation of a new tax liability called “Global Intangible Low-Taxed Income” or GILTI. Since the GILTI liability didn’t exist prior to December 2017, Kansas didn’t tax it. If Kansas does not decouple from this provision, this will be a NEW state tax on businesses and increase their taxes.
Another important part of the TCJA is the treatment of repatriated income as a “deemed dividend”. Since in the past these foreign profits weren’t mandated to be repatriated, this would be another new, unexpected tax for Kansas businesses.
Last year’s federal tax cuts were meant to reduce the tax burden of individuals and small and large businesses and to energize our country’s economy.
Make no mistake, if Kansas doesn’t decouple from the federal tax changes to prevent these tax increases on individuals and small and large businesses, our state will be in an extremely uncompetitive position compared to nearly every other U.S. state.
Ed Flenjte did get one thing correct in his column – Kansans prefer economic liberty. Unfortunately, he fails to understand it and instead, tries to mislead his fellow Kansans so politicians in Topeka can increase the state tax burden on individuals and businesses and then increase state government spending.
Kansans can learn more about the Kansas Chamber and its work to improve the state’s business climate and to make Kansas a top state to do in business at www.KansasChamber.org.
Alan Cobb, President & CEO of the Kansas Chamber, a statewide association whose members are small, medium, and large businesses from a wide variety of industries and professions.
Salina educators Brooke Hawkins and Michael Billinger are the 2019 Horizon Award winners in USD 305.
They were honored Tuesday at the USD 305 Board of Education meeting. Salina USD 305 presents the Horizon Award to teachers who have demonstrated excellence during their first full year of teaching.
2019 Elementary Horizon Award
Brooke Hawkins, Heusner Elementary School
Hawkins is into her second year as third grade teacher at Heusner where she serves on the School Improvement Team and has helped with teacher recruitment at the district level. She earned her bachelor’s in elementary education from Kansas Wesleyan University.
Building relationships with her students comes naturally for Hawkins. But she also has the ability to do this as a part of setting high standards. She provides her students with scaffolding and support; this combination sets her apart.
Hawkins has a heart for teaching as well as the skills. She strategizes and makes adjustments to meet students where they are at emotionally and academically. Heusner Principal Lori Munsell added, “Brooke is one of those magical teachers who makes teaching look easy.”
An early adopter of one-to-one Chromebooks, she piloted Google Classroom and co-led a staff development session about it for her colleagues. Hawkins’ friendly, professional manner encourages those around her to reach further. Always prepared to collaborate, she enhances Professional Learning Communities and seeks out feedback from her team and coaches with Heusner students in mind. The wonderful part is that Hawkins is just beginning.
2019 Secondary Horizon Award
Michael Billinger, Lakewood Middle School
Billinger is in his second year as computer studies teacher at Lakewood, having earlier served as a coach and a paraeducator for USD 305. Currently finishing his Transition to Teaching degree from Fort Hays State University, he earned his bachelor’s in business administration from Brown Mackie College.
A natural teacher and coach, Billinger builds a good rapport with students with many of them seeking him out for counsel. He has been key to helping establish Google classroom and leading character building lessons during advisory class at Lakewood. His honesty, dependability and work ethic compliment his kind heart and open ear when it comes to his students and coworkers. He is extremely positive and supports students beyond the regular school day by coaching basketball and tennis.
Bonnie Welty, principal at Lakewood Middle School, shares, “The strong relationships Michael has built allows him to leverage his tremendous understanding of technology to benefit both staff and students. He differentiates projects for all student levels and offers technology assistance to fellow teachers.”
Described by a fellow teacher as honest, dependable and incredibly hard working, Billinger is respected by colleagues and his students. He has established a foundation for a bright future in education.
Videos featuring Horizon Teachers were created by Mustang Media students who are on the Salina Central High School broadcast staff, including Molly Michaelis, Kamryn Arnold, and Miles Denning. The videos are shared on the USD 305 YouTube channel.
Wednesday Areas of freezing fog before 9am. Cloudy, with a high near 17. Wind chill values as low as -7. North wind 9 to 13 mph.
Wednesday Night Cloudy, with a low around 10. North northeast wind 5 to 8 mph becoming calm.
ThursdayMostly sunny, with a high near 33. Wind chill values as low as 3. South wind around 6 mph becoming east in the afternoon.
Thursday NightMostly cloudy, with a low around 17. Light and variable wind becoming south southeast 5 to 8 mph in the evening.
Friday Partly sunny, with a high near 37.
USACE
MARQUETTE – Due to construction work at Kanopolis Lake in Ellsworth County, the lake will be drawn down an additional foot to elevation 1461.0 feet. Dive work associated with the construction work requires releases to be shut off for safety purposes.
The lake will be drawn down before the dive work starts then releases will be shut off while dive operations are active. Nightly releases will likely be made to slow the rise of the lake during this period. The current plan is to release up to 500 cubic feet per second each night. Once the lake reaches the top of the multipurpose pool elevation 1463.0 feet, dive work will stop until the lake can be drawn back down. Additional rain in the basin may impact construction and release schedules.
With changing lake elevations and river levels, the public is encouraged to exercise safety on and near the water. Lake level and release information can be obtained at the Northwest Kansas U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) website at https://www.nwk.usace.army.mil/Locations/Water-Management/ and,
https://www.nwk.usace.army.mil/Locations/District-Lakes/Kanopolis-Lake/Daily-Lake-Info-2/.
For additional information, contact the Kanopolis Project Office at 785-546-2294.
