Exchange Students Attend CCR-1 Board Meeting
Exchange Students Attend CCR-1 Board Meeting
By Kevin Fox
The Clark County R-1 School Board of Education met at its
regular monthly meeting on Thursday evening March 12. The Board approved the
financial reports as well as receiving the high school and middle school
activity account reports. It was also reported that the ADA (Average Daily
Attendance) for the district was 886.25, which was well above last years by
68.01 and a number, which can be attributed greatly to the Wyaconda students.
The winter bus route ridership list was approved. Each day district busses
travel approximately 1,065 and 1,069 miles.
Ryan Bergeson,
Black Hawk assistant principal, presented the Board a report of the
Professional Development Committee. Strengths of the District are the fact that
most requests are filled and many are using the recourses available through the
programs. If there are weaknesses it is what will be the future of the program
when funding is cut in overall budget reductions, and the district needs to be
more uniform with objectives. There also needs to be more focus on long-range
goals. Julie Brother Elementary Principal added, “We need to look at where we
are at, where we want to be, and how do we change instruction to get to “All” the
students.
Chris Shoup then addressed the Board. Accompanying Shoup
were three Foreign Exchange students. Shoup who is a family sponsor of one of
the Exchange Students as well as a Coordinator with World Link first thanked
the Board and administration for their support of the program. The program
serves to expand communication between the people of the United States and the
partner countries in the interest of promoting mutual understanding and
respect. The students come from countries, which were a part of the former
Soviet Union or under its control. The program also serve to promote
international security and peace by educating American and foreign participants
about each other, thereby alleviating misunderstanding and making for a better
informed citizenry able to deal more effectively with international issues. The
students who participate are awarded scholarships based on a number of criteria
with English language proficiency being one of those. Of the 50,000 students,
which apply only 1200, are selected. When the students arrive at their host
schools they are to get involved in student government and as many areas that
they can to learn about democracy as well as leadership.
The first student to speak was Yulia Tsoi of Kyrgyz Stan; “I
want to first thank you for the opportunity to attend your school. The school
is much different from my school, where the government selects your classes.
Another big difference are the buses. In my country we have to ride public
buses, which are always crowded, and in order to get a bus you have to get up
very early around 6:00 a.m. Here the buses come to your house. It was a very
good year at Clark County, which I was very nervous about the first day. But
the students and teachers were all very nice and friendly and helped me. Mr. Reardon
was also very helpful in History and
Government. It was also an exciting year with the football team winning the
state championship.”
Ljubisav Misevic, of Serbia, next spoke, “I also want to
thank the school for allowing me to attend Clark County. I come from a village
of around 3,000. Our school is also different than Clark County as the
government also selects your classes for you. We have 17 subjects we must take.
My morning starts with an hour a 45-minute walk to school. I could ride a bus
but they are always crowded. I have enjoyed being at Clark County and everyone
has been very friendly and kind, especially the teachers.
The last student to speak was Mihajlo Pajleic, also of
Serbia. “I have enjoyed my time at Clark County and everyone has been very nice
and have accepted us very well. I have been active in a number of student
organizations and have also enjoyed that as well as my classes in U.S. History.
Our schools are different in that we also have to learn at least four foreign
languages before graduation. Thank you so much for the experience.”
The students all spoke English fluently and it’s probably no
wonder as two of the students had taken it as early as the third grade and
another began in Kindergarten.
In the final action before going into closed session the
Board approved two requests for overnight trips for the FFA and the FCCLA.
In closed session, the board hired Darin Little for the position of Building Trades Instructor
for the 2009 – 2010 school year.
