Plymouth High School’s recently hired agriculture instructor is working to develop combined science and agriculture classes for the School of Inquiry.
Jacob Riley plans to keep the traditional agriculture course offerings as well and says he hopes to expand the school’s existing program. He starts his new job with the Plymouth school system in July. He will also serve as the faculty adviser for the school’s Future Farmers of America program at Plymouth High School.
The award boasts a lengthy list of required qualifications, including a C-average and significant accomplishments in Supervised Agricultural Experiences. Jernas told WKVI morning host Tom Berg that her SAE covered beef production over two years, keeping records of projects as she built up her herd and maintained her beef production education.
Several Oregon-Davis students are trying to make a difference in not just their school, but the community as well. Oregon-Davis High School, as a New Tech high school, offers project-based learning to its students including projects with real-life applications.
A group of seniors approached their teachers with a request to undertake a challenge from Lexus to come up with a way to conserve energy in their community. The group, who called themselves “The Senior Six,” came up with the idea of starting their conservation project with the school itself. So the group, composed of seniors Dakota Cook, Danielle Marsh, Casandra Niles, Lincy Jones, Bailey Masterson and Ashley Thacker, scheduled an energy audit from Kankakee Valley REMC and Franklin Energy.
Oregon-Davis High School was recently awarded a $10,000 grant for Biology and Agriculture Technology for 21st Century Learners through America’s Farmers Grow Rural Education, sponsored by the Monsanto Fund.
Local farmers nominated Oregon-Davis teachers Debbie Awald and Jacob Riley to receive the grant, and their nominations were reviewed first by math and science teachers from ineligible school districts then by the America’s Farmers Grow Rural Education Advisory Council. The council, consisting of a group of 26 prominent farmers from across the country, was impressed with the teachers’ dedication to their students and their innovative ideas for improving their students’ educational experiences.
The check presentation ceremony will take place on Oct. 18 at 7:30 a.m. CT in the Oregon-Davis gymnasium, and every member of the community is welcome to attend the presentation to celebrate this great accomplishment by Awald and Riley for the students at Oregon-Davis.
Oregon-Davis School Superintendent Steven Disney proudly announced this week that Oregon-Davis High School received a $10,000 grant from Monsanto Fund to help with the school’s bio-agriculture department.
According to Disney, the school will use those funds to purchase necessary equipment for the program and integrate it into the classroom. The BioAg course combines the curriculum of both Biology and the fundamentals of Agriculture, and the grant will help to purchase items like probeware, Proscopes, graphing calculators, and other equipment.
Disney says teacher Debra Awald from the Science Department and Jacob Riley from the Agriculture Department teamed up to apply for the grant. Their project, “Biology and Agriculture Technology for 21st Century Learners,” was awarded the grant alongside ten other schools in Indiana that were awarded grants.
The third in a series of informational meetings on the Starke County Jail was held at Oregon-Davis High School last night.
Those in attendance heard plans for a bill to be heard in the state legislature that would allow the Starke County Council to adopt an ordinance imposing an additional county economic development income tax rate for the purpose of financing, constructing, acquiring, and equipping a county jail and related buildings and parking facilities. Although this method of funding a project has not been agreed upon by the Jail Committee, if passed by the legislature it would be a funding tool to be used exclusively or in tandem with a property tax levy to fund a new jail.
The second informational meeting held by the Starke County Jail Committee was held last night in North Judson.
Those in attendance heard Todd Samuelson of Umbaugh and Associates talk about the funding of a new jail, using the figure $13.5 million. If property taxes were used to fund the project, the tax implication would be $.12 per $100.00 of net assessed value. The bond issue would be for a maximum of 20 years according to Samuelson. Some members of the committee said they are looking into a combination of property taxes and income taxes if a new jail were built.
The Jail Committee stressed that no decision has been made on whether to build a new jail, or not.
It was pointed out that Starke has the second oldest jail in the state with many problems arising over the past year.
The final information meeting will be tonight at the Oregon-Davis High School at 6:00 p.m.
A series of meetings scheduled by the Starke County Jail Committee begins tomorrow night. The Committee is informing you of their discussions surrounding jail facility options. The Committee is pondering building a new jail facility, rehabbing the current jail or rehabbing an existing building to convert to a jail.
Starke Circuit Court Judge Kim Hall will be on the bench today, but it will not be on the third floor of the Starke County Courthouse. Judge Hall is taking his court on the road.
“We’re going to have court at Oregon-Davis High School,” said Judge Hall. “The reason for this is that for many years, Oregon-Davis would bring a bus load of Seniors to the Starke Circuit Court and watch the court proceedings and they always enjoyed that and it was always educational for them. For the last couple of years, for various reasons, they haven’t been able to get to the Courthouse. I’ve been talking with some teachers and we’ve decided that we’re going to bring court to the Oregon-Davis High School. I checked with the Supreme Court and the staff there was not aware of any other court in Indiana doing this, but they thought it was a good idea. This morning, we’re going to have the prosecutors, defense attorneys and the Sheriff there with some of the inmates and we’re going to have regular court.”
Greg Briles, Principal at Oregon-Davis High School, has been named the District 2 Principal of the Year. Briles said representing Oregon-Davis High School every day is an even greater honor than the award.
“It doesn’t come without hard work from the students, the parents, the community, the teachers that are around me and it takes those people to make this honor possible,” commented Briles.
Former Oregon-Davis star Gabi Minix is currently a freshman at Marquette University. Gabi has been averaging about 20 minutes per game for the Golden Eagles. In these pictures you can see Gabi taking on the Louisville Cardinals in Big East play. Gabi will be looked to over the next few years as the face of Marquette Women’s Basketball.
