About The Advance. (Vidalia, Ga.) 2003-current | View Entire Issue (March 1, 2023)
(Eift Aiiuancg The ADVANCE, March 1, 2023/Page 2A Photo By Makaylee Randolph FIRST PLACE WINNER - Treasure Green was honored at the recent Montgomery County Board of Education meet ing for winning 1st place in the Heart of Georgia RESA 2nd Grade Writing Competition, L to R: Superintendent Stan Rentz, Montgomery County Elementary School As sistant Principal Candice Keen, Treasure Green, MCBOE continued from page 1A attendees that the students recognized for the Heart of Georgia RESA Writing Contests had writing sub mitted by their teachers to the competition. Several students placed, and a few others earned honorable mention. Ayla Hardeman placed 4th in the 5th grade writing competition, while Carter Rodgers took the 4th place prize for 4th grade. Clara Cheek was an honorable mention competitor in the 3rd grade writing competi tion, Treasure Green took the 1st place honor for the 2nd grade writing compe tition, and Olivia Fussell earned an honorable men tion for the 1st grade writ ing competition. SOAR Students Students who earned the monthly SOAR Award, also known as the Student of the Month Award, were also recognized during the meeting. Keen explained that these students were selected by their teachers because of their adherence to the Eagle Code, which emphasizes the importance of striving to be one’s best, owning one’s actions, acting safely, and respecting them selves and others. The honored students were as follows: Pre-K: Elayna Dallas, Leilani Pineda Kindergarten: Ja’Nyla Lemon, Anthony McK enzie, Jaxson Pope, Cason Young First Grade: Ariana Garcia-Sanchez, Dailynn Jackson, Alondra Martinez Second Grade: Bryson Glisson, Wesson Clark, Le ticia Serrano, Adasyn Mc Coy Third Grade: Bretley Beasley, Jarrett Davis, Chris Palacios, Zoe White Fourth Grade: Makhail Jones, Jonathan Ramirez Fifth Grade: Monica Gracia-Lugo, Kayden Lee, Ayla Hardeman Action Items Emergency Authorization Assistant Superinten dent Brian Barnhill told the Board that after hearing a situation that needs to be addressed immediately re garding the roof at Eagle Academy, he became aware of the ability of the Board to complete an emergency authorization for contract work for the necessary re pairs, which will shorten the process by several months. According to Barnhill, the law which dictates that schools must go through a sealed bid proposal pro cess for these projects also explains that in emergency situations regarding public works and construction, the Board may bypass this sealed proposal process and immediately complete the needed task, which is in this case hiring a contractor. The contractor was ap proved by the Board. This occurred at a called meeting on Monday, February 27, as all Board members agreed that this was the best op tion for the school’s current situation. School System Attorney Daniel O’Connor also looked over the law to ensure legality of this ac tion prior to its completion. By enacting the emergency authorization, the repair process will now begin at the contractor’s next avail ability, rather than in several months, when the bid pro cess would have been com pleted. Technology Grant Budget The budget for a $100,000 rural technology grant was unanimously ap proved by the Board. The school system will use this money to provide laptops for staff and to complete the student Chromebook “rollout” replacement cycle for the schools. Although the grant did not fully fund the cost of these purchases, Federal Programs Director Julie Harrelson discovered the school had consolidat ed funding left over, which must be spent during the Photo By Makaylee Randolph 4th AND 5th GRADE SOAR STUDENTS - L to R: Montgomery County Elementary School Assistant Principal Candice Keen, Kayden Lee, Superintendent Stan Rentz, Ayla Harde man. Not pictured: Makhail Jones, Jonathan Ramirez, Monica Gracia-Lugo. Photo by Makaylee Randolph MOCO SCHOOL PAGEANT WINNERS — The Montgomery County School System crowned the king and queens of the annual school pageant on Saturday, February 11, at the Montgomery County Board of Education Auditorium. L to R, front row: Tiny Miss Montgomery County Elementary School (MCES) Elliett Hartley, Mr, MCES Johnny Heggs, Jr., L to R, back row: Miss MCES Kinley Cook, Miss Montgomery County High School (MCHS) Carley Moxley, Little Miss MCES Adasyn McCoy. Photo By Makaylee Randolph PRE-K AND KINDERGARTEN SOAR STUDENTS - L to R: Montgomery County Elementary School Assistant Principal Candice Keen, Elayna Dallas, Leilani Pineda, Ja'Nyla Lemon, Jaxson Pope, Cason Young. Back: Superintendent Stan Rentz, Not pictured: Anthony McKenzie, Photo By Makaylee Randolph 1ST AND 2ND GRADE SOAR STUDENTS - L to R: Montgomery County Elementary School Assistant Principal Candice Keen, Ariana Garcia-Sanchez, Dailynn Jackson, Alondra Martinez, Bryson Glisson, Wesson Clark, Leticia Serrano, Adasyn McCoy, Back: Superin tendent Stan Rentz, Photo By Makaylee Randolph 3RD GRADE SOAR STUDENTS - L to R: Montgomery County Elementary School Assistant Principal Candice Keen, Bretley Beasley, Jarrett Davis, Chris Palacios, Zoe White. Back: Superintendent Stan Rentz, school year. After provid ing $400 to teachers and staff members for needed supplies, enough of this funding remains to cover the technology costs at the Montgomery County Mid dle/High School. The grant also covers the technology costs for the Montgomery County Elementary School. Eagle Academy Program Model The MCBOE unani mously approved moving the elementary division of the Montgomery County Eagle Academy back to the Montgomery County El ementary School campus to allow the students to be re united with the remainder of their peers. The program will continue at this new lo cation, providing gifted ed ucation to the Eagle Acad emy students. The Middle School Eagle Academy stu dents will continue to meet at the current location. Little Eagle Learning Center Pay Scale The pay scale for the new Little Eagle Learning Center, an on-site daycare center for teachers and staff in the school district, was unanimously approved by the Board, which agreed that the lead teacher would get a $5 per hour supple ment to base pay, which paraprofessionals will re ceive. Eagle Thrift Shop Community Yard Sale The Eagle Thrift Shop will host several commu nity yard sales on Satur days each month. The store operators invite the public to browse their inventory. Members of the public may also sell alongside the Thrift Shop for $10 per day, while other clubs in the district may use this opportunity as a fundraising effort for a dis counted rate of $5 per day. Personnel All certified teachers currently on the roster for next year were accepted unanimously by the Board. Teacher Amber Durrance was voted on separately from the rest of the roster, as Board Member John O’Conner abstained from voting because of potential conflicts of interest. Resignations were ac cepted for Madison Thomas and Jessica Downie, which are effective at the end of the current contract. Dante Hall was hired as the Montgomery County Middle/High School As sistant Principal, Krista Sar- illo was hired as elementary school special education paraprofessional. Also hired were substitute Johnathan Whiting, substitute Alyssa Sanchez, and substitute Ty ler Tanner. SIADO KU Solu,lon - page 14A Fun By The Numbers Like puzzles? Then you’ll love sudoku. This mind-bending puzzle will have you hooked from the moment you square off, so sharpen your pencil and put your sudoku savvy to the test! Levs!: Intermediate Here’s How It Works: Sudoku puzzles are formatted as a 9x9 grid, broken down into nine 3x3 boxes. To solve a sudoku, the numbers 1 through 9 must fill each row, column and box. Each number can appear only once in each row, column and box. You can figure out the order in which the numbers will appear by using the numeric clues already provided in the boxes. The more numbers you name, the easier it gets to solve the puzzle! 2 9 0 4 5 2 1 7 8 4 5 6 1 9 8 4 0 7 2 7 9 5 2