MAS committee advocates for students’ well-being
News | Published on October 3, 2022 at 11:14am CDT
By Melanie Stegner
At last week’s Minnewaska Area school board meeting, the Safety and Welcoming Committee was recognized for its work in securing a School Resource Officer and organizing ALICE training for staff. ALICE training is the number one solution and preparedness education program for active shooter training.
The committee consists of several staff and community members. They meet once a month to discuss ways to build awareness around safety issues and to create a welcoming environment for students to feel comfortable and safe in their learning environment.
Last year, the committee organized Rachel’s Challenge, a prevention program devoted to school violence, bullying and suicide. Rachel Scott was the first victim of the Columbine school shootings. The program is student-led and teaches students how far a little kindness can go. They also collaborate with the Be Kind group.
The focus has been on the mental health and well-being of the students under the Minnewaska Area Schools umbrella. The committee has led diversity and inclusion training and created the school food shelf, the Lighthouse. They helped with the day of caring trees, the Laker Wave Maker program, Mental Health Mondays, fitness challenges for staff and the diversity, equity and inclusion committee.
Some of their current projects include a program to get more male volunteers into the school. They’re also looking at the Youth Frontiers program for the school. They lead retreats that help students develop character and learn how their character can shape their destiny and impact their communities. The program takes place at the school or in the community.
They are also working with Horizon Public Health to start a vaping prevention group that includes students as positive role models. They’ve also brought in the My Life, My Quit program for students who are caught vaping to help them with addiction.
“It’s important for us to support every kid where they’re at and we want to stay educated and supportive to all students regardless of who they are or what they believe,” said Principal Nate Meissner.
“The student resource officer has been a game-changer for us and has already identified some problem areas in the school. He’s doing patrols around the school regularly and has made a huge difference just with his presence,” added Superintendent Chip Rankin.
The board also recommended to certify their initial levy at the maximum level and work from there. “We can work to lower that before December, but this is how we’ve done it in the past and it has worked out,” Rankin mentioned. The county auditor will have detailed information on this amount after October 1.
Several donations were made to the school and accepted by the board this month. The donations totaled over $33,000. Many of the donations were directed to the Angel Fund. “There are no free lunches anymore as the government is not subsidizing meals. We use that fund to help those that are identified as needing assistance in those cases,” Rankin added.
The board has set November 17 at 7:30 a.m. to canvass the November 8 election results. An approval was made for collaboration between West Central Community Action Head Start and Minnewaska Area Schools. The labor agreement for the school’s mental health professionals was approved.
