Faculty member receives recognition from school district for professional achievements

HORNERSVILLE, Mo. -- A member of the Senath-Hornersville faculty was honored during the Board of Education meeting on Thursday after becoming certified in several fields of study.

Jessica Zolman, an upper-level math teacher at Senath-Hornersville High School, was presented with a certificate of achievement from Superintendent Larry Wood after becoming officially certified in ninth through 12th-grade math, and fifth through ninth grade language arts, social studies, general science, and math.

"We can use her just about anywhere now," Wood said.

Superintendent Larry Wood, left, presents Jessica Zolman, right, with a certificate of achievement for becoming certified in ninth-12th grade math and fifth-ninth grade language arts, social studies, general science, and math. Staff photo by George Anderson

Following the presentation to Zolman, the board discussed the Aramark service agreement.

Wood said Aramark is the company responsible for maintaining the district's mop heads, dust mop head, rugs, and various other supplies.

Wood said the district was in a six-year contract with Aramark that was costing $1,400 per year.

After speaking with a lawyer, Wood said he was able to get out of the contract and seek bids for a new service supplier on a 12-month contract, to be re-evaluated each year. Aramark was the only company to bid, entering a bid of $439 for the 12-month contract, according to Wood.

Wood added that part of the agreement was that the district would take care of its own rugs.

The board approved the new contract.

During the principals' reports, Elementary Principal Kevin Reddick reported an average daily attendance of 95.2 percent in the elementary, with 321 students enrolled in kindergarten through fourth grade and 60 enrolled in the preschool.

Reddick said nearly 85 percent of the cookie dough from the recent elementary fund raiser has been delivered, with the school raising nearly $10,000.

The principal then said there will be an awards assembly during the first part of December, although an official date has not been set..

"Things have been going pretty well," Reddick said.

At the middle school, Principal Chad Morgan reported a 93.2 percent average daily attendance with 243 students enrolled.

Morgan said the school recently held its first quarter pizza and movie party for students with perfect attendance and honor roll, adding that 97 students made the honor roll and 71 students had perfect attendance.

Morgan then reported that the eighth grade recently attended Arkansas State University in an attempt to decrease the district's drop-out rate.

Morgan said the college representatives spoke about the importance of graduation and advised the students about graduation scholarships.

"The kids had a good time," Morgan said, adding that he is planning trips to a junior college and a vocational school for later this school year.

In an update on the middle school sports, Morgan said the girls' and boys' basketball teams were still playing in the conference tournament during the meeting, and he was "very happy to announce that we put Kennett out tonight."

Morgan said the will begin the South Pemiscot tournament today, Friday, Nov. 20.

Morgan then said nine staff members recently attended the University of Virginia Turnaround Program meeting at Caruthersville, Mo., adding that it was "very informative."

At the high school, Reddick gave the report for Principal Kim Campbell, who was absent from the first-half of the meeting.

In the report, Reddick said the high school had an average daily attendance of 92.8 percent with 216 students enrolled.

Reddick reported that the "Meet the Players Night" will be tonight at 6 p.m.

Reddick then said the Drama Club will host a Gong Show at 2 p.m., on Saturday in the high school auditorium.

In the superintendent's report, Wood said the district currently has 778 students enrolled with an average daily attendance of 93.5 percent.

Wood said the district is down 12 students since the beginning of the year.

In other matters, the board approved the renewal of the Life Touch Photography contract for the 2010-2011 school year.

The board closed the meeting by adjourning to executive session, in which it voted to install temperature alarms on the cafeteria freezers after losing $4,500 worth of meat on Halloween weekend. Wood said that at some point during the weekend, one of the school's freezers "went bad" causing the temperature to drop significantly, resulting in spoiled meat. The approved device will sound an alarm when the temperature in the freezer drops below the preferred cooling level.