St. Mary’s Catholic School Kindergarten Roundup will be held Wednesday, April 13 by appointment from 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM.
To enter kindergarten, a child must be 5 years of age on or before August 31.
If you would like for your child to attend kindergarten at St. Mary’s next year, please contact the school office at 620-223-6060 to schedule an appointment to be screened on April 13.
On the day of the screening, please bring your child’s social security card, birth certificate, immunization record/physical form, and if Catholic their baptism certificate.
A Kansas Certification of Immunization and/or a Kansas Child Health assessment must be filled out and submitted to the school before admission in the fall of 2022.
Parents may accompany their child into the building and wait inside until the screening is completed. At that point, a staff member will bring the child back out and discuss the results of the screening.
St. Mary’s Catholic School is fully accredited by the state of Kansas and welcomes students of all faiths.
Submitted by Angie Bin,Fort Scott High School Theatre and Speech Teacher
Students at Fort Scott High School Lead Community Advocacy Efforts
[Fort Scott, KS, March 21, 2022]—Students at Fort Scott High School are joining the national grassroots effort called Theatre in Our Schools Month (TIOS) to advocate for the benefits of theatre education in schools.
Members of International Thespian Society (ITS) Troupe 7365 are drawing attention to the need for increased access to quality theatre programs for all students, especially as schools reimagine programs in the ever-shifting landscape influenced by COVID-19 protocols.
To get the word out, the troupe is participating in many events.
Students are hosting the annual FSHS Talent Show and Miss(ter) FSHS Pageant at 7 p.m. on March 25 at the FS Auditorium. Tickets for reserved seats are $6 and available at fortscotthighschool.ludus.com or at the door.
The Thespian troupe is especially raising money to send students to the International Thespian Festival in June.
The troupe is also sharing information about the importance of Theatre in Our Schools and students’ personal stories via Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and Tiktok.
Thespians Shirt Thursday awards students to who wear theatre-related shirts to school with prizes.
The ITS is the theatre honor society for middle and high school students. These student thespians plan and implement TIOS activities in their schools, in their communities, and with elected officials. The presentations and activities explain how theatre education positively shapes students’ lives by instilling necessary life skills.
TIOS Month is an opportunity for students, parents, communities, school boards, and elected officials to come together to make theatre education more available to all students.
One of the key messages is that theatre skills help students develop vital 21st-century skills like communication, collaboration, creativity, and critical thinking, as well as social/emotional skills critical to students’ growth as young adults.
For example, according to The College Board, in 2015, students who took four years of arts classes in high school scored an average of 92 points higher on their SATs than students who only took one half year or less.
But, according to the U.S. Department of Education, only 28 percent of high schools in high poverty areas offer theatre instruction.
According to a 2018 poll, 72 percent of Americans believe the arts unify our communities regardless of age, race, and ethnicity, and more than 90 percent believe students should receive an education in the arts in elementary, middle, and high school. The poll, “Americans Speak Out About the Arts in 2018,” was conducted by Americans for the Arts.
To see ITS Troupe 7365 in action, come to the Spring Improv Comedy Show on Apr. 30 at 7 p.m. in the FSHS Auditorium.
Children can also participate in Tiger Drama Camp – The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales on May 16-28. Registration forms are available at Buck Run.
The Lake Fort Scott Advisory Board will meet on Saturday, March 26th, 2022 at 9:00 a.m. at the City Hall Commission meeting room at 123 S. Main Street, Fort Scott, Kansas. This meeting is open to the public.
The meeting will be available on the City’s YouTube channel.
The Fort Scott Kiwanis Club on a workday at Gunn Park in August. 2020, one of many community projects/events of the club. Submitted photo.
A local organization is helping to add more of a tree canopy to the community.
The Fort Scott Kiwanis Club is offering free trees to residents of the city.
“This is made possible through a grant from the Fort Scott Area Community Foundation,” Phil Gorman, treasurer of Kiwanis, said. “Sixty trees will be purchased and planted by the club in cooperation with Fort Scott Community College, Fort Scott High School, and the City of Fort Scott.”
“FSCC, and the high school, we are going to use some of their organizations for labor to help us get the trees in the ground,” Gorman said.
“The city helped us with the grant and they will help dig the holes and also help with logistics of where the trees will be planted,” he said.
Two large-growing tree varieties are being offered, Swamp White Oak and Shumard Oak.
To be considered for trees contact the City of Fort Scott at 620.223-0550, by April 4. Trees will be planted sometime in April.
For safety, the group won’t plant trees in the way of high lines or on street corners, Gorman said.
The Kiwanis tree planting program has been done for many years, Gorman said.
“Some street trees all around the city were planted by Kiwanis years ago,” he said. “I’d say in the thousands.”
The group is rejuvenating the program and hopes to make it an annual event.
The Fort Scott Kiwanis logo. Submitted.
About Kiwanis
Kiwanis is a global organization of volunteers dedicated to improving the world, one child and one community, at a time.
They meet each Tuesday at noon at the Presbyterian Church, 308 S. Crawford.
“There are currently 35 members,” Gorman said. “We are always open to new members.”
Addisyn Fowler, Fort Scott High School Key Club member, left, along with Fort Scott Kiwanis Club members Bob Eckles and Clyde Stepps serve pancakes at the annual Pancake Feed in February 2020.Angelyka and her dad, Daniel Simonds, pick up Easter eggs in the preschool section of the Kiwanis Easter Egg hunt in this 2018 photo.Some of the projects of the Fort Scott Kiwanis Club were showcased on a poster of the gym at Buck Run Community Center during the annual pancake feed in 2020.
USD234 WILL BE RECEIVING $4M+ IN ELEMENTARY & SECONDARY SCHOOL EMERGENCY RELIEF III (ESSER III) FUNDING. HELP PROVIDE FEEDBACK ON THE BEST USE OF THESE FUNDS.
TROLLEY TOURS START FOR THE SEASON TODAY, ON THE HOUR FROM THE CHAMBER!
Friday 11am, 12pm, 1pm, 2pm
Saturday 10am, 11am, 12pm, 1pm, 2pm
$6 adults, $4 children 12 & under
50-minute narrated tour of Historic Fort Scott!
3/18 ~ Friendship Soup Lunch hosted by First United Methodist Church 11:30am – 1pm
First United Methodist Church will host a
drive-through soup lunch. A variety of soups including potato, vegetable beef, and chili will be served along with a dessert for a free-will offering. The soup lunch will be sponsored by the Mission Committee at FUMC
301 S. National Ave.
3/18 ~ Lenten Fish Fry hosted by Knights of Columbus, Dine-in or Drive-thru, 5-6:30pm, see flyer below for more info.
3/19 ~ Dale & Betty Johnson Estate Auction, 878 209th Terrace, Ft Scott,10am, see flyer below for more info.
3/19 ~ Kansas Limousin Southeast Kansas Spring Classic, click here for more info.
Concessions starting at 8am by Care to Share
@ 4H Building.
3/19 ~ Bourbon County Angels Donation Exchange, 8am-2pm, 111 W. 3rd St., click here.
3/19 ~ FSHS Tiger Baseball Alumni Scrimmage at the LaRoche Complex, 5-7pm, click here.
3/19-20 ~ 6th Annual Fort Scott Games, Fitness competition at Smallville Athletics, 4-6pm, 1905 S. Judson
The Lowell Milken Center for Unsung Heroes in Fort Scott is organizing the encouragement of the Ukrainian refugees in Poland through letters.
At the center, 1 S. Main, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. tomorrow, Saturday, March 19 there will be letter-writing stations set up for both adults and children to write letters of support that will be taken to refugees being harbored in Poland.
“Marzanna Pogorzelska, who was an Irena Sendler Outstanding Teacher about 10 years ago, is in charge of this in Poland,” Executive Director Norm Conard said. The whole Pogorzelska family has taken time off of their jobs to help with the refugees, he said.
Ronda Hassig is in charge of the event in Fort Scott on March 19.
Ronda Hassig. Taken from the Lowell Milken Center Facebook page.
The following is from an email from Pogorzelska to Conard.
“We have been experiencing a horrible time,” Marzanna Pogorzelska, Lowell Milken Center in Europe (Poland) said.
“The war in the Ukraine reminds us of the times we thought would never come back. Polish society is now one big network of support for our Ukrainian brothers and sisters.
In this network there are thousands of organizations and people, but I think that one person with her network of supporters is missing now and here.
I can only imagine Her, Irena Sendler, these days. Finding safe places for Ukrainians mothers. Organizing cars to take them from the border to somebody’s house. Collecting food for small babies. Making sure the sick ones get necessary medicine….And many, many other things.
I also imagine Her determination and anger which she could always change in true care and support in her own, incredible way.”
To learn more about Irena Sendler, view this prior publication:
Fort Scott City Commissioner Pete Allen resigned at the March 15 city meeting.
On March 16, during a special meeting at city hall, the rest of the commissioners voted to accept his resignation, except for Mayor Kevin Allen.
In an interview with fortscott.biz, Allen said “I’m done. Mission accomplished. I am 82 years old and I have other things I want to do.”
“I feel like I’ve given it my all…I worked tirelessly seven days a week since I was elected,” he said.
Allen took office in January 2020 and because he was the leader in the amount of votes he received, he won a four-year term, he said. His term ends in January 2024.
“We’ve accomplished a lot,” he said. “I’m not taking credit for all the things we got done, it takes at least three people on the commission. I was part of a team.”
At the regular city meeting on March 15, Allen said he “wasn’t happy with the reception I got….they didn’t want to work with me on a policy on how we use our funds.”
Allen listed all of the commission’s accomplishments on his Facebook page:
“I feel during the past 2 ¼ years we have made tremendous strides toward the movement of the improvement of our infrastructure.
We have hired an engineering firm and just think, we have more than doubled the funding for our streets as well as our sewers.
We have stopped the transferring of funds from our sewer utilities, and we now have sanitary sewer projects and a storm sewer project either under contract or awaiting contracts.
We also have three water line extension/replacements in the design stage with applications for grants being applied for.
We have undertaken the puzzle of the KDOT Connecting Link Agreement and stopped the proposed mill and overlay on Highway 54 (Wall Street) that was to be done fully at the city taxpayer’s expense under the previous administration. We are in the process of applying for a grant from KDOT that will fund that program at a 90/10 split, thereby saving the taxpayer’s nearly $160,000.
We have replaced a $200,000 per year out-of-town city attorney with a $48,000 local attorney, thereby saving the taxpayer’s another $152,000.
We have placed our insurance coverage through a local agency, keeping those funds in town.
A few short years ago we had to borrow $600,000 (each year over 4 years) to fund our street department and the budget this year is nearly $2 million, including the paying back of some of those funds we borrowed ($194,000). And these funds have come with no additional taxes.
We have done this and more, and we have not cut any “quality of life” funding. In fact, we have increased our parks budget by around $62,000. Our golf course is well on the way to becoming self-funded.
We have raised nearly $500,000 through the sale of lake lots (thanks to Mayor Allen’s expertise and guidance). Those funds are dedicated to improvements at the lake. More lots are scheduled to be sold soon with fund usage to be determined.
When I became a commissioner our street department consisted of two workers. Through the efforts of our newly hired human resources director, we now have three crews of three workers each, all being funded within the budget for 2022.
For our sewers, we have funded a new cleaning/camera machine so we can clean/camera/rate our aged sewers with our crews. We have also funded the inspection/rating of all our sewer manholes and our engineers are working toward providing a sanitary sewer master plan.
Our engineers have studied and made recommendations for alterations/replacements of our main pumping station (Davis) that overflows into Buck Run regularly with each major rain event. with cost estimates of $1.5 million to $2.0 million. The commission has authorized rate increases designed to fund these programs. Maybe you have noticed your water bill has gone up.”
Community involvement in city projects has also increased in the last few years, he said.
“Look at the 200 volunteers for parks cleanup under the leadership of Seth Needam, the 200 volunteers for the downtown spring cleanup led by Bailey Lions, and the 40 volunteers to repair cracks and resurface the Woodland Hills Tennis Courts (along with donations from others for purchasing materials).
Certainly, there are more improvements/changes I would like to achieve, but I feel I am leaving the commission, and the city, in a much better condition than when I started, and that I can be proud of! Again, thank you for allowing me to represent you in this endeavor.”
Fort Scott City Hall.
Those Interested May Apply For the Vacancy
People interested in applying to fill the position vacated by Commissioner Pete Allen are asked to submit a letter of interest to: City Clerk, Diane Clay at 123 S. Main, Fort Scott, Kansas 66701 or by email at [email protected] according to a press release from the city.
These letters of interest must be received by the clerk by noon on Monday, March 28th, 2022.
The individuals must live inside Fort Scott city limits.
Once the appointment has been made, it will become effective at the April 5th, 2022 City Commission meeting and the term will expire in December of 2024.
Effective March 16th, 2022, Harold “Pete” Allen has resigned his position as City Commissioner on the Fort Scott City Commission. Persons interested in applying to fill the position vacated by Commissioner Pete Allen are asked to submit a letter of interest to: City Clerk, Diane Clay at 123 S. Main, Fort Scott, Kansas 66701 or by email at [email protected]. Letters of interest must be received by the City Clerk by 12:00 p.m. on Monday, March 28th, 2022. Only individuals who reside in the city limits of Fort Scott are eligible to apply. Once the appointment has been made, it will become effective at the April 5th, 2022 City Commission meeting and the term will expire in December of 2024.
Any additional information or questions may be obtained by contacting Diane Clay, City Clerk at 620-223-0550.
There will be a Special Meeting of the Fort Scott City Commission held at 2:00 p.m. on Wednesday, March 16th, 2022. This meeting will be held to accept the resignation of Commissioner Pete Allen.
This meeting will be held at 123 S. Main Street in the City Commission meeting room and will be broadcast on the City’s you tube channel. This meeting is open to the public.
