Options.

Additional options are what Nicki Traul, USD 234 director of curriculum says is a good reason to offer school classes at home for students.

“Students for all reasons; medical, parent choice, multiple reasons find that a brick-and-mortar school isn’t for them,” Traul said. “High school isn’t a good fit for everyone.”

One example Traul gave is supporting a student who had surgery and wasn’t able to attend school, she said.

USD 234 started offering home-school options to junior and senior high students one year ago.

The school district initially looked at home-school options for students who failed a course and had to retake it, she said.

“I had worked at Greenbush (Southeast Kansas Education Service Center), and had a background in virtual learning,” Traul said.

But lest students think this is an easy way out of not having to attend classes at school, Traul says this option is not for everyone.

“You have to be disciplined,” she said. “You have to put in 30 hours per week and at least six classes…about the same as a brick-and-morter school. You can be truant if not putting hours into the school work. ”

“We meet with the student and parents,” Traul said. “I want them to fully understand it’s not easy. They have to be self-driven.”

During an initial orientation, students learn “all the ins and outs of the system,” she said.

Full-time students are provided with a computer on which to do assignments, with internet service to be provided by the student.

The computer is turned in at the end of the year, she said.

The district uses a state-approved system, Edgenuity, which has teachers instructing a lesson.

Edgenuity is a  provider of K-12 online and blended learning solutions including online courses, credit recovery, intervention, and test preparation, according to its’ website.

The system is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, she said.

Parents and students can meet with Traul at any point in the year.

A part of the program is letting students know if “they are on track or behind” in progress during the semester, she said.

Students must pay high school fees that other students are required to pay.

Funding for the initiative is from the U.S. Department of Education, rural and low-income school program.

Submitted by Fort Scott National Historic Site

“Life has a positive and negative side. Happy people ignore the negative side” Bangambiki Habyarimana

One hundred seventy-five years ago, soldiers established a fort atop a bluff overlooking the Marmaton River. Its purpose was to keep peace on the frontier and to contain westward expansion. To patrol the frontier, the army stationed dragoon and infantry soldiers at Fort Scott. These soldiers faced the challenges of boredom, isolation, the uncertainty of life on the frontier and the vast distances involved in patrolling the region. Nevertheless, they found ways to celebrate life and to make the best of their situation. They remained vigilant in their duties yet took time out to enjoy dances, dinner parties, evening socials, and camaraderie. They found a reason to celebrate at Christmas time, the 4th of July, and other occasions. Although isolated on the frontier, they sought excellence as they built “the Crack Post of the Frontier.”

Fort Scott National Historic Site will celebrate its 175th anniversary by presenting its 36th annual Candlelight Tour. The theme for this year’s candlelight tour is Happiness Amid Hardship. The tour will feature five scenes from the 1840s at Fort Scott, the years that it was an active military fort. Traditionally, the site’s candlelight tour has been “ghosted,” meaning that the reenactors in the scene do not interact with or even recognize the people on the tour. This year, Fort Scott staff is changing things up so that there is some audience participation in most of the scenes. Visitors might join in dancing at the dragoon barracks, participate in an evening social at the officers’ quarters, or discuss at the sutler store the reasons why they are going to become Oregon pioneers.

During the candlelight tour, over 700 candle lanterns illuminate the site and over 100 reenactors bring the fort to life. This year’s tours will be offered December 1 and 2, 2017. Tours on December 1, will begin at 6:30 p.m. and go every 15 minutes until 9 p.m. On Saturday, December 2, the tours will run from 5 p.m. to 8:45 p.m.

Ticket sales begin on November 1. You can purchase tickets by calling 620-223-0310 or by coming to the visitor center at Fort Scott NHS. Be sure to get your tickets early for your choice of tour times as this event usually sells out. Tickets are $8.00 each and are non-refundable. Children 5 and under are free.

From November 1 to March 31, Fort Scott National Historic Site, a unit of the National Park Service, will be open for its winter hours of operation from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. daily. For more information about the candlelight tour or other events at the site, call 620-223-0310 or visit our website at www.nps.gov/fosc.

Community Christian Church and Fort Scott Church of the Nazarene are partnering this year to produce “Halloween on Horton” on October 31.

“We are partnering to do advertising on social media about both churches doing something the same evening,”  Paul Martin, children’s pastor at CCC, said.

“We thought, let’s promote it together,” Jeff Dillow, associate pastor at the Nazarene church, said.

The CCC event is from 5 to 8 p.m., the Nazarene event is from 5:30 to 7 p.m. on Halloween evening. Both the churches are located on Horton Street near Fort Scott Community College.

“This is the sixth year we’ve done it on-site,” Dillow said. “A small army gets involved that night.”

Susan Lemon heads up the Nazarene volunteers, Dillow said.

“We want to take the opportunity to let our community know we care about them and their families,” Dillow said.

The Nazarene Church will have their Trunk or Treat event in its parking lot, at the corner of 18th and Horton Streets.

Community Christian Church has been doing a Halloween event since Martin came, in the late 1990s.

At first, they did a trick-or-treat event but when the church went through a fall sermon series in 2008, the event changed, he said.

“We were going through a fall series called 40 Days Of Community by Rick Warren of Saddleback Church in California,” Martin said. “We wanted to pull more people from the church to serve. We added more food and inflatables.” They changed the name of the event to Fall-O-Ween at this point.

The church staff and volunteers work with Martin each year to plan and facilitate the event.

“It’s an opportunity to love on the community and provide a safe place on Halloween evening,” Martin said.

“We would love to have people be a part of both events,” Dillow said. “You could easily fill a night of trick-or-treating between both.”

Check out the events on Facebook: Fort Scott Nazarene and  Community Christian Church.