<p> January 23, 2017 Gifford, Illinois</p><p>MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE BOARD OF EDUCATION OF GIFFORD COMMUNITY CONSOLIDATED GRADE SCHOOL DISTRICT #188</p><p>The regular meeting of the Board of Education, Gifford Community Consolidated School District #188, Gifford, Illinois was held on Monday, January 23, 2017 at 6:00 p.m. in the Gifford Grade School Board Room.</p><p>Pledge of Allegiance & Roll Call The meeting was called to order by Vice-President Matt Lomax at 6:00 p.m. followed by the Pledge of Allegiance. The following members answered present to roll call: Neil Baker, Angela Crawford, Jennifer Frerichs Brandie Hedrick and Matt Lomax. </p><p>Also present were Mr. Rod Grimsley, Superintendent, Diane Baker, Office Manager, Cec Vermillion, Faculty and Chad Hesterberg.</p><p>Public Hearings and Petitions - None </p><p>Board Correspondence- None</p><p>Report of the Superintendent</p><p>Honor Roll for Second Quarter:</p><p>Fourth Grade: 1 High Honors, 8 Honor Roll Fifth Grade: 4 High Honors. 6 Honor Roll Sixth Grade: 1 High Honors, 15 Honor Roll Seventh Grade: 1 High Honors, 5 Honor Roll Eighth Grade: 2 High Honors, 6 Honor Roll Total: 9 high honors, 40 honor roll, 49/110 total 45%</p><p>Music Department News: Cathy Dunafin The music classes were busy preparing for the concert in December. The students did a very nice job showcasing some of the work they have done this year. K-5 classes performed as well as the beginning band, junior high band and junior high chorus. The students utilized the instruments that we were able to borrow from the Illinois Music Education Association. We are thrilled that through Helping Hands and Mr. Grimsley that we will be able to have our own once we return these at the end of January. </p><p>As we move forward the Kindergarten classes will be working on keeping a steady beat through movement and on instruments. We will also continue to work on melody. This week we are using the book Let’s Play by Henre Tullet to demonstrate higher and lower with our voices and to follow it with iconic notation.</p><p>First grade classes are working on reading quarter notes and eighth notes as well as high and low in music. We have used manipulatives to show high and low on a two line music staff and we have iconic notation to work with quarter notes and eighth notes.</p><p>Second grade is working on reading do, mi, so and la on the music staff. We have worked on this through game songs that focus on individual pitches and worked on writing the notes on the staff.</p><p>Third grade classes are working on B, A and G on the recorder. They will be composing with B, A and G in the upcoming weeks. They are also working on game songs to create a sense of community in the classroom. All of the intermediate grades have enjoyed the game song “Old Bald Eagle.”</p><p>Fourth grade classes are moving from B, A G on the recorder and learning E. They have been working on a simple composition using the song Rain and creating accompaniment patterns on the instruments.</p><p>Fifth grade classes are exploring different meters in music. They will be working with a poem and using a variety of meters to create beat patterns for the poem. They will also be working on reading low la and low sol on the music staff with the song Chicken on the Fencepost. The band and chorus students will be participating in solo and ensemble contest on April 1st at St. Joseph High School. </p><p>If you would like to see some student work you can go to the Gifford music site to see videos of some lessons. The site is: giffordilmusic.weebly.com</p><p>Physical Education Update: Mitch Pruemer In PE we just finished round two of fitness testing. The last round of testing will occur just before spring break in April. We have four tests that will be submitted to the state to see if we need improvement or meet the healthy fitness zones. The tests will be in Flexibility (Sit and Reach), Aerobic Capacity (Pacer Running test), Muscular endurance (Curl up/Sit up), and Muscular Strength (Push Up). All of the classes will have their scores on the tests kept, but grades 5 and 7 will be submitted to the state. The students have been doing a really good job with the tests and keeping the scores. Also upcoming in PE we have Hoops for Heart on February, 16th. This is the yearly event that we do and the community has always raised a good amount of money for the American Heart Association. Our goal this year is to improve on the $3797 that we raised last year. Finally we are starting our volleyball unit and getting ready to start health. The next few months will be really busy in PE, Hoops for Heart and doing workouts to improve results for the state testing standards.</p><p>Resource Update: Casey Flesner In the Junior High math classes, we've been working hard on equations and graphs, with 8th graders analyzing graphs with matching equations and 7th grade beginning to write equations. None of them love having letters in math now, but they are learning why the letters are there and what they can and cannot do with the letters. 6th grade reading just finished up reading Holes before break. We watched the movie after we read and discussed the differences between the two. The kids always seem to look forward to reading this particular story. The 7th graders started reading Crash after break. It's about a boy in 7th grade who's a bit of a bully. Each student has a character in the book that they can relate to and its fun to hear them tell their perspectives as we read. 8th graders are also working hard; we recently read a story about water conservation. It sparked some conversations about how the water we use often gets filtered and cleaned and then reused. </p><p>In 3rd through 5th, we've been working our way through the new readings series. Across the board the kids all seem to enjoy the stories in the Anthology book. I like that each grade level has approaching level materials that look almost identical to the on level materials. </p><p>In Kindergarten, we've been working on identifying letters and numbers. It's been a challenge.</p><p>Technology Update: Tammy Pollard This has been a busy time in the technology lab. K-2 has been continuing to work on basic skills such as logging into the computers, maneuvering websites, using the mouse and keyboard, and basic keyboarding. They also use some of their time in the lab to work on academic programs such as Lexia and Jolly Phonics. They also had fun creating their Christmas videos! Grades 3-5 are starting some exciting new projects. Third grade will be using Legos and iPads to create their own stop motion film, fourth grade is learning about binary code and will be learning to code their own names in binary. Fifth grade is learning about electricity and circuits so that they can create their own battery powered robots. The junior high classes have been working on a series of three week mini units this year and all three classes started the year off with a refresher unit on Google apps. Since then, sixth grade has learned about the Engineering Design Process, Digital Citizenship, Delivering Narrative Speeches, Financial Literacy, and JavaScript Programming. Seventh grade has covered Debate, Digital Citizenship, Graphic Design, Informative Speeches, and JavaScript. Eighth grade has worked on Debate, Video Creation, Graphic Design, Traditional and Digital Storytelling, and JavaScript. Some of our future units for junior high include the living wax museum, robotics, ag science, persuasive speeches, career research and preparation, and 3D design and printing. In short, we are gradually moving more towards a tech curriculum that encompasses more STEM and language arts activities to better prepare our students for high school, higher education, and their future careers. </p><p>Title One: Bobbie Mills By the end of the month all students will have completed the AIMSweb winter benchmark screeners in reading and math. This will inform the teachers of each student’s strength and/ or weakness area. The teachers and I are able to work together as a team and give each student what they need in reading and math. In kindergarten through second grade will make changes to our morning reading small group instruction. In third through eighth grade I will be able to see what growth each student has made to see if the qualify for RTI services in reading and math. We will continue to work on addressing each student's need during the Jr. High Language Arts class and the afternoon small groups.</p><p>Items from Board Members-None Non Action Items 1. Graduation Date Discussion- May 19 at 7 pm? 2. School Calendar thoughts for next year- Starting Date, Christmas Break, and Spring Break are the main points for discussion. 3. Operating Costs Per Pupil and Tuition Charges from ISBE- handout 4. Sports Survey Results</p><p>Approve Consent Agenda Items *IT WAS MOVED by Secretary Crawford and seconded by Member Frerichs to approve the minutes of the Regular Meeting of the Board of Education of Gifford Community Consolidated School District #188 of December 19, 2016, the Treasurer’s report dated December 31, 2016, the payment of bills dated January 23, 2017 and the Imprest Fund and Petty Cash Reports of December, 2016. The destruction of audio tapes older than eighteen months. Keeping the closed session minutes closed. Destruction of verbatim records of closed session minutes prior to June 15, 2015 and the second reading of Press Plus Policy updates.</p><p>Roll call vote was taken as follows: AYE: Baker, Crawford, Frerichs, Hedrick, Lomax NAY: None. Motion carried unanimously.</p><p>Approve Promotion Time and Date *IT WAS MOVED by Member Baker and seconded by Member Hedrick of the Board of Education of Gifford Community Consolidated School District #188 to approve May 19, 2017 at 7 p.m. as the Eighth Grade Promotion time and date.</p><p>Roll call vote was taken as follows: AYE: Baker, Crawford, Frerichs, Hedrick, Lomax NAY: None. Motion carried unanimously.</p><p>Approve Tuition Reimbursement *IT WAS MOVED by Member Frerichs and seconded by Member Hedrick of the Board of Education of Gifford Community Consolidated School District #188 to approve a tuition reimbursement of $500.00 for Bobbie Mills for Spring Semester 2017.</p><p>Roll call vote was taken as follows: AYE: Baker, Crawford, Frerichs, Hedrick, Lomax NAY: None. Motion carried unanimously.</p><p>Approve Part-time Administrative Assistant *IT WAS MOVED by Secretary Crawford and seconded by Member Frerichs of the Board of Education of Gifford Community Consolidated School District #188 to approve the hiring of Jami Roberts as a part-time Administrative Assistant.</p><p>Roll call vote was taken as follows: AYE: Baker, Crawford, Frerichs, Hedrick, Lomax NAY: None. Motion carried unanimously.</p><p>Move to Executive Session *IT WAS MOVED by Member Frerichs and seconded by Secretary Crawford of the Board of Education of Gifford Community Consolidated School District #188 to move into executive session to discuss personnel issues.</p><p>Roll call vote was taken as follows: AYE: Baker, Crawford, Frerichs, Hedrick, Lomax NAY: None. Motion carried unanimously.</p><p>Entered into Executive Session at 6:48 p.m.</p><p>Move out of Executive Session *IT WAS MOVED by Secretary Crawford and seconded by Member Frerichs of the Board of Education of Gifford Community Consolidated School District #188 to move out of executive session.</p><p>Roll call vote was taken as follows: AYE: Baker, Crawford, Frerichs, Hedrick, Lomax NAY: None. Motion carried unanimously. Regular Session resumed at 7:19 p.m.</p><p>Adjournment *IT WAS MOVED by Member Hedrick and seconded by Member Baker of the Board of Education of Gifford Community Consolidated School District #188 to adjourn the Regular Meeting of January 23, 2017 of the Board of Education.</p><p>Voice Vote: All yes. Motion carried unanimously.</p><p>The Regular Meeting Adjourned at 7:19 p.m. Recorded: January 23, 2017</p><p>______Angela Crawford, Secretary Board of Education Approved: February 13, 2017</p><p>______Michael Schluter, President Board of Education </p>