Waitsburg School Board discusses upcoming Job Fair

WAITSBURG—The Waitsburg School Board met Thursday, February 17, for a regular monthly meeting. Board members Christy House, Stephanie Cole, Lisa Morrow, Carol Clarke, and Sarah Boudrieau were all present.

Secondary Principal Stephanie Wooderchak had a short report this month, sharing that the ski days had beautiful weather so far, and the kids were enjoying their time at Ski Bluewood.

Wooderchak said the Social Studies curriculum committee had been meeting to determine if there is a need for a social studies department. They had reached out to surrounding school districts to see what other schools were teaching in social studies. Wooderchak said the last time the board considered a social studies department was in 2012.

The Job Fair will take place at the high school on March 8, and the list of exhibitors is just shy of 30 participants. The event will begin at 8:30 a.m., and surrounding schools have been invited to attend. Wooderchak said she hoped to have the FFA members act as greeters and help with the luncheon that afternoon.

Preston Hall Middle School will host an Open House event during parent-teacher conferences on March 29 and 30. The high school has requested that Senior Exit interviews be included in the conference period.

DW Sports Athletic Director Sam Korslund provided an update on the sports combine. He shared that middle school basketball was the only winter sport being played. Currently, 21 students signed up for baseball, 14 for softball, and only six for track and field. Three students have registered for golf. Korslund noted that the numbers could change a little bit before the season.

Korslund said he was sure two of the six students signed up for track would drop out before the start of the season. The combine requires a minimum of five athletes to have a team. Middle school students may be able to practice with the high school athletes, Korslund said, and eighth-grade students would be allowed to compete against high school students. Both the head and assistant coach are onboard with the younger students. Calls to rally track and field athletes popped up on social media over the weekend.

The Combine committee is considering a Wolfpack Booster Club to help split the costs associated with DW Combine, said Korlsund. Waitsburg’s Booster Club is currently inactive, while Dayton’s Booster Club is very active. The booster club would help raise funds for major projects, like football field repairs or improvements should they arise, and to mediate conflict between the two schools.

Korslund said he wanted to give the students a chance to provide feedback on upcoming coach evaluations. He acknowledged that a student could use their voice to retaliate against a coach. However, he would be comparing the student’s evaluations to his own. This information was all discussed at the Combine Committee meeting.

“I want to hear what the athletes have to say,” Korslund said. “This generation does not like to feel like their voice is not being heard.”

Closing out his report, Korslund said that the Combine committee was considering Wolfpack banners for both school’s gyms. He said each gym’s current branding would not be changed, but he wanted to get a Combine banner in each gym.

Superintendent and Elementary Principal Mark Pickel reported that the Jump for Heart event was so successful he might have to rent a wetsuit to fulfill a deal he made with students. Each student who raised at least $100 would get the opportunity to hit the principal with a pie. Pickel said that he would get all the pie-throwing out of the way in one day, though it sounded as if it was going to be an all-day affair. The elementary school had the goal to raise $4,000 for the charity, Pickel did not have a final amount to report.

Switching to the Superintendent’s Report, Pickel said Governor Jay Inslee announced the end of the indoor masking requirement on March 21, after two years of safeguarding against the COVID-19 virus. More information will be provided in the coming weeks.

Pickel reported that, in talking to some of the high school teachers, he had learned that the student representative had historically been the ASB president. He asked if the board would be interested in pursuing that or prefer to have students apply for the representative position.

Later in the meeting, board members House and Cole expressed that they wanted a student representative there because they are interested in the position, not just because they are the ASB president.

He brought up the idea of a Move-Up Night for the district so that students and parents could get to know their upcoming teachers and classrooms. The school hosted a similar event in 2019, which was well attended.

During old business, Pickel reported on enrollment, saying there were 113 elementary students, 70 middle school students, and 79 high school students, totaling 262 students in the district.