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NEVC board hears request to form Jr. high volleyball
At its Wednesday evening meeting, the Northeast Vernon County R-1 school board heard a parent request formation of a junior high volleyball team, heard from the school’s first ever gold medal winner in Family, Career and Community Leaders of America national competition, considered bids, set the district’s tax levy hearing and continued discussion on air conditioning the high school gym.
Heather Brown, mother of two junior high aged students, stood before the board and requested the establishment of a seventh and eighth-grade volleyball team.
“We need to get these girls to be prepared for competition in ninth grade and to do that, they need to compete in junior high,” said Brown, who lives within the NEVC district and is thinking of transferring her daughters from El Dorado Springs Christian School.
She and her sister had identified enough students interested in forming a team, had spoken to the high school volleyball coach and received encouragement and had researched area teams to play in competition.
“It’s possible the girls could ride with the varsity team and play a J.V. game first and later ride back,” said Brown.
The board thanked Brown and said it would take this under advisement.
After a brief calendar hearing, the board’s first item of new business at its regular meeting was a presentation by Laurie Bybee and Haley Elliott.
Bybee, the faculty advisor for the school’s FCCLA club, displayed obvious pride as she introduced Elliott saying, “Since I’ve been here and I know in the past, our FCCLA club has had members who won at districts and state but I don’t think this school has ever had anyone make it to nationals, let alone win at nationals until Haley.”
Elliott achieved gold in the Recycle and Redesign Sr. Category, one of 30 categories in which 7,500 FCCLA students and advisors competed in at the National Leadership Conference held in Nashville, Tenn., July 2-6.
In her project, Elliott took a nightstand and turned it into a sink and stove unit for use in play by children.
Asked about the greatest challenge she faced in the project, Elliott said, “Time management. You not only have to make the project but you have to take pictures and write about every one of the steps and put it together in a book and also make a project board summarizing what you did.”
Wearing her gold medal, the May graduate said she is enrolled at Crowder in Nevada and after two years will finish at a four-year college.
District superintendent, Charles Naas, opened and read aloud the bids for dairy, diesel and propane for the coming year with the board accepting the lone bid received in each category.
A district tax levy hearing has been set for 6 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 24, the date of the board’s next regular meeting.
Since the county assessor has completed the state mandated odd numbered year assessment of all properties in the county, and there has been an overall increase in valuations, Naas said there may be an increase in the assessed valuation on property within the district which may mean an adjustment in the tax levy.
For a number of months, the board and superintendent have been looking at various designs for air-conditioning the gymnasium. Information has been gathered from several Nevada companies and Naas reported on a visit by Larry Stutesman of Stutesman Heating and Air of El Dorado Springs.
Stutesman suggested placing the units under the bleachers and venting the exhaust outside.
“Won’t that be pretty noisy?” asked board member Connie Gerster.
“Not as loud as our exhaust fans are now,” said Naas. Adding, “Larry said some of the newer units they’re making these days are quieter.”
Discussion turned to air tonnage and costs. Board members provided names of further individuals and firms to contact.
A brief discussion on finding the right consistency of dirt for the baseball field rounded out the meeting before the board went into closed session.