A night of recognition… Elizabethton City School Board recognizes teachers for tenure, Teachers of the Year
Published 1:41 am Thursday, November 21, 2019
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Star Photo/Ivan Sanders The Elizabethton School Board recognized seven teachers who were recommended and approved for tenure during Tuesday's regular-scheduled meeting. Those teachers are Whitney Birchfield, Hailey Bishop, David Campbell, Rachel Darnell, Bonnie Grindstaff, Forrest Holt, and not pictured Matt Fox.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders Assistant Director of Schools Richard VanHuss presents System Level Teachers of the Year Kim Pless (Pre-K - 4), Janey White (Grades 5-8 & Spec. Areas), and Beth Price (Grades 9-12) with a check for $500 in recognition of them being selected for the honor.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders Caleb Tipton of Elizabethton High School shares with those in attendance about his learning experience from the Crosstown Student Exchange in October.
BY IVAN SANDERS
STAR STAFF
ivan.sanders@elizabethton.com
The regular scheduled November meeting of the Elizabethton City School Board was held on Tuesday evening in the Mack Pierce Board Room.
With a light agenda docket, most of the time was set aside to recognize teachers in the school system who were recommended for tenure as well as recognition of the 2019-2020 ECS System-Level Teachers of the Year and Building-Level Teachers of the Year.
Those teachers who were recommended and approved for tenure included Whitney Birchfield, Hailey Bishop, David Campbell, Rachel Darnell, Matt Fox, Bonnie Grindstaff, and Forrest Holt.
Selected as Building Level Teachers of the Year were April Richmond and April Pearson from East Side, Amy Tapp and Donna Townsend from Harold McCormick, Kim Pless and Lisa Adams from West Side, Janey White from T.A. Dugger, and Beth Price from Elizabethton High School.
Three teachers were recognized for being named System-Level Teachers of the Year.
Those included Kim Pless for Pre-K through 4th grade, Janey White – grades 5-8 and Spec. Areas, and Beth Price for 9-12th grade.
Richard VanHuss – Assistant Director of Elizabethton Schools presented Pless, White, and Price with a surprise check in the amount of $500 for being selected as the Teachers of the Year at the System-Level.
The board also heard from students who participated in the Crosstown Student Exchange in October. The students shared what they took away from their visit and how it stimulated their thoughts about education overall.
“I am going to be honest that when Mr. Campbell came and asked me to go I had no clue,” stated Elizabethton High School student Caleb Tipton. “Me and my mom talked about it and I decided it would be a good opportunity to see how they went about school on the whole different side of the state.
“My biggest takeaway was their grading scale was different than what it is here at Elizabethton High School and other schools. Their teachers would grade them off of how they went about learning their topic they were learning about.
“If they turned in a project-because it’s all project-based learning, and the teacher saw they put in an effort on the project then they would be graded by the teacher on a scale of 0-5 with 5 being the best and 0 being not the best.”
Dawson May added, “One of the biggest differences that I noticed was the interactions between students and teachers. I thought it was almost a personal relationship. It was something really special. Instead of teachers drilling into them note by note, page by page, they directed them in a way where they felt like they were taking over their own learning process. They had pride in their learning.”
Dr. Corey Gardenhour gave updates to the board on some things that have been in process including the STEM lab and advised there would be a called meeting once bids are received so the project can move forward.
Dr. Gardenhour also took the time to personally thank all the efforts by the local law enforcement and school administrators in regard to the threat situation that developed Monday into Tuesday. Many of the board members did the same throughout the meeting at different intervals.
Student liaison Audrey Landstreet brought to the board’s attention the need to fix the main entrance to the school from the student parking lot due to broken concrete and the lack of lights to light the area during the evening.
Landstreet advised that the possibility of using some of the Cops Grant might be a solution as the grant is intended to help with the safety of schools.
Other points of business included approving the naming of the tennis facility at Elizabethton High School the “Bill Armstrong Tennis Complex” and approved on first reading of Board Policy 4.600 Grading System as revised. The motion passed unanimously.
Light refreshments were served after the meeting to honor all the teachers for their recognitions.
