South Nodaway improves elementary technology
Submitted Photo
A South Nodaway R-IV student uses a chromebook that has been purchased by the district. The school purchases enough chromebooks for the Kindergarten and first graders this spring and will be available in the fall. After the purchase of the final chromebooks, students K-12 will have a chromebook to use.
For years, schools have slowly implemented desktop computers and laptops for student use.
However, each year brings a new advancement in technology and new opportunities for classroom learning.
“We are a one-to-one technology school,” South Nodaway Elementary Principal Darbi Bauman said. “This past year, every student had their own Chromebook in grades second through 12th.”
Kindergarten and first-grade classes were the only remaining classes without Chromebooks until the South Nodaway R-IV School District recently purchased additional Chromebooks.
“With a donation from Kawasaki this spring, we were able to go ahead and purchase a set of Chromebooks that our kindergarten and first-graders will share,” Bauman said. “The more our students get to use technology and different operating systems, the more prepared they are for college and/or careers.”
The addition of technology has created a new atmosphere in the classroom and Bauman said the introduction of technology has been helpful.
“We use Google apps for many things,” Bauman said. “This allows students to work cooperatively on assignments from their own homes. Our elementary students do not take their Chromebooks home, but the seventh- through 12th-grade students not only take them to class, but can take them home.”
The new Chromebooks for the kindergarteners and first-graders will be ready to use in the fall.
In other business from Wednesday night’s board of education meeting, the resignations of C.J. Clark and Cameron Christensen were accepted.
The school board also approved hiring Seth Jenkins as the eighth- through 12th-grade English teacher and Dan Collins as the hunter safety teacher. The school district continues its search for a seventh- through 12th- grade history teacher.
During the meeting, it was also announced that Alison Recic had been hired as the varsity cheer coach and a new sponsor system had been created allowing sponsors to follow a class from eighth grade until 12th grade and concessions will be operated by the sophomores, junior and seniors.
The South Nodaway board further discussed adopting a new name for teams in the sports cooperative agreement with Jefferson.
The schools agreed it was important to have students from both schools work together to come up with mascots and colors for the co-op. They also discussed starting a co-op booster club that would be combined membership and would help pay for uniforms and sell team paraphernalia. South Nodaway leaders would like to have the changes fully implemented by the time the schools enter the Highway 275 Conference for the 2016-17 school year.
The school district was accepted for the Missouri Educators Unified Health Plan and is offering three plans for the staff. The district is still covered by Blue Cross/Blue Shield, but now from St. Louis instead of Kansas City.
The next South Nodaway R-IV board meeting is scheduled at 6 p.m., June 22.
