With the reported success of the first cooperative Mechatronics class with Pana High School, plans are in motion to expand the program for the 2009-2010 school year.

“All seven Shelbyville High School students have successfully completed the program and are eligible for summer positions at International Paper. One student has been accepted,” Shelbyville High School Principal Kevin Ross told the school board at the recent meeting.

The Mechatronics class was held during the spring semester at the former Tower Hill High School building under the direction of Greg Reynolds and Steve Bonzer and Lake Land College. Seven Shelbyville and seven Pana students participated in the class, which includes 12 specialized workstations, job shadowing, and a portfolio.

“I’m absolutely very proud of the students we had in the program. They have done an outstanding job,” said instructor Greg Reynolds.

The students are required to complete a work ethics class prior to taking the Mechatronics class.

“Some students have found they are right on course on their chosen career path. Some are looking at different careers,” Reynolds said.

Ross added that the students now see the value of math and science before they get into the class.

“The more we can link the real world to academics, the more they’ll get into what they’re doing,” Ross said.

In an effort to improve the program, Ross and Reynolds outlined the plans for the career readiness/work ethics class in the 2009-2010 school year which include:

- Pilot 8th grade Career/Work Ethics Class

- Move the High School course to the Junior level

- Use the High School course as a prerequisite to the Mentoring, Coop, and other Authentic Learning Experiences.

To improve the Mechatronics program, Ross and Reynolds plan to:

- Expand the program to one year long.

- Include a job shadow at IP and another local industry.

- Include a production project.

In a school-wide program the work ethics program looks to:

- Incorporate work ethics into the positive behavioral interventions and supports (PBIS) program

- Expand Work Ethics of the Week to involve community

- Use work ethics as evaluation tool for students in Authentic Learning Experience

Ross added that the work ethics program has proven “very valuable going out into the real world.”

Banners and posters are displayed in the high school with “Work Ethics Trait of the Week.” Students may also be nominated for the Work Ethics Hall of Fame.

“We would like businesses to partner with us in honoring students,” Ross said.

Ross added that they would like to develop a community advisory board.

“I have not had a negative response at all. The program has had a positive impact on students and the community,” Reynolds said.

In other business the school board heard about the possibility of an athletic coop agreement with Stewardson-Strasburg School District for the football program.

“Stewardson-Strasburg approached us about cooperating in the football program,” said athletic director Tony Pullen.

Pullen said that as many as 15 Stewardson-Strasburg high schoolers were interested in playing football at Shelbyville.

This would change Shelbyville’s enrollment from 393 to 552 and move Shelbyville from being a large 2A school to a large 3A school in the playoffs.

“It does not affect our status in the Okaw Conference,” Pullen noted.

Ross added that the move would have to be approved by not only both school boards, but also the Okaw Conference.

The four attending members of the board, Clay Miller, Rob Bosgraaf, Toby Koonce, and Mike Wheeler, all expressed their support for the cooperative program, though no formal vote was taken.

The board set budget amendment hearing for Tuesday, June 23, at 7:30 p.m.

“We’re unsure what the state will give us by June 30,” said Superintendent Robert Verdun, referring to state aid payments.

Verdun recommended increasing the education fund contingency by $55,000 and the operations and maintenance fund by $30,000. He added that the funds will only be needed if the state doesn’t come through.

Verdun also updated the board on maintenance projects.

He noted that no bats have been reported in the building in recent weeks.

“Critter Control is going to come on June 4 to check and to seal,” Verdun said.

Moulton Middle School Principal Jacque Eberspacher told the board that there is still an odor in some of the classrooms but agreed that no bats have been found by maintenance personnel.

He also told the board that asbestos tile in the east-west hallway hallway outside the gym in the high school will be removed and replaced in mid-July “after the camps are done.”

The tile removal will take approximately 2 1/2 days and cost about $7,000.

Ross told the board that the high school graduation will be at 7 p.m. Saturday, May 30. A final determination of the location will be made by 4 p.m. and parents will be notified through the alert system.

In other action, the board accepted the retirement of Jacque Eberspacher as Moulton Middle School Principal, effective June 30, 2010, and accepted the resignations of custodian Alicia Sanborn, effective April 22, 2009, and Betsy Lookofsky as National Honor Society Sponsor, effective June 3, 2009.