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“The Legend of Mulan” production will be featured on May 28 and 29 at Fort Scott High School. This is the first “normal” drama production of the school year, according to FSHS Drama Teacher Angie Bin.
The playwright, Kathryn Schultz Miller describes the show as an epic journey over mountains, rivers, through hills and valleys of fear and courage and human emotions of a girl who wants to make her mark and leave the world a better place, according to Bin in a press release.
For two weeks, 40 students, first through ninth grade, have spent preparing for the production.
Performances are at 7 p.m. on May 28 and 2 p.m. on May 29 at the
Fort Scott High School Auditorium.
The character of Mulan is played by 8th grader Ashley Cannon. Other notable characters include Captain Cheng, portrayed by freshman Mykael Lewis; Pika the Rabbit played by 6th grader Abel Chaplin and 7th grader Chrislen Newman; Imoogi the Dragon played by 7th graders Izzy Budd and Ana Rupprecht; and Momo, the Emperor’s Assistant, played by freshman Kaiden Clary, according to the press release.
The camp and show are directed entirely by FSHS Thespians.
FSHS Senior Christina King is the director, assisted by sophomore Regen Wells who also serves as stage manager and choreographer Kinsley Davis, a junior.
Technical staff include sophomore Lexi Hill – lighting designer, senior Khris Patel – sound designer, senior Breena Cox – music
director, sophomore Silvia Moreno – props and set designer, and junior Izzy Carreno – music operator. Many other Thespians serve as acting coaches and leaders.
Tickets for the show should be purchased in advance at fortscotthighschool.ludus.com.
Adults are $8 and children are $6. There may be tickets available for purchase at the door, but seating is limited. Masks and social distancing are required. Doors open 30
minutes prior to showtime.
About Drama Camp
Teacher Angie Bin started Tiger Drama Camp in 2014 as a way to teach younger children about the art of theatre both on the stage and behind the scenes.
“Several years ago we decided to expand the camp into a full production,” she said. “The first week is focused on introducing students to ways to use their bodies and voices on stage and how to design the technical elements of the theatre such as lighting, sound, costuming, make-up, and set design. The second week is focused on technical and dress rehearsals to prepare for the public performances.
“The camp is led by high school drama students who also utilize the production as a fundraiser to assist them in traveling to the Kansas State and International Thespian festivals or Broadway Tours in New York City,” Bin said.
“We have found that holding drama camp at the end of May is ideal as it does not interfere with other recreational activities or high school camps,” she said. “It also allows our high school drama students to begin designing the set and costuming before the school year ends. It is a great way for the students to jump-start their summer activities.”
The COVID-19 Pandemic affected how Bin taught drama students.
“We were initially set to produce ‘The Legend of Mulan’ last summer, but were unable to due to the pandemic,” she said. “Our performances this year have been very different from our normal production year.”
“We decided to shift our musical from the fall to the spring this year and were unable to hold our annual children’s Christmas show,” Bin said. “Our fall production was ‘The Monologue Show (from Hell)’ which allowed our students to rehearse in small numbers and as students were quarantined, they were able to still participate by video or through Zoom.”
“Instead of mounting a full-scale musical in the spring, we opted for a musical revue with individual solos and small group numbers and performed it in conjunction with our annual ‘Royal-Tea Party.’ ‘The Legend of Mulan’ will be our most normal production of the year, although students and audience members will still be masked.”
Upcoming FSHS Drama Events:
FSHS Musical Auditions – Aug. 30 – 31 at 7 p.m.
Ranked the Musical – Nov. 9, 11, 13 at 7 p.m.; Nov. 13 at 2 p.m.
Children’s Christmas show auditions: Nov. 15 – 16 at 6:30 p.m.
Children’s Christmas show performances: Dec. 10- 11 at 7 p.m., Dec. 11 at 2 p.m.
The Fort Scott Area Chamber of Commerce invites members and guests to a Chamber Coffee hosted by the Fort Scott High School Strength & Performance Program, Thursday, May 27th at 8 a.m. located at the FSHS Gymnasium, 1005 S. Main St. Attendees should enter through the northwest doors of the gym facing 10th Street.
Jared Martin, FSHS Strength & Performance Coach, is excited to showcase the program’s top-notch facility at Fort Scott High School. The USD-234 school board and administrators have made a considerable investment in the development of student’s health and performance. A summer program will be starting soon and for students ranging from 11-18 years of age. The focus for middle school students is to provide high quality opportunities for them to learn how to train properly in a fun and exciting environment. The high school age group will focus on performance enhancement as we build team chemistry and comradery through training together.
Homemade sticky bun-style cinnamon rolls and homemade sausage rolls reminiscent of Johnson’s at the old Daylight Donuts will be served. Fresh fruit and coffee from Common Ground will be provided as well. Along with that, there will be a variety of Tiger gear giveaways.
Chamber members and guests are invited to Chamber Coffee events each Thursday at 8 a.m. to network, make announcements, hear about happenings in the community as well as learn about the host business or organization.
***
This year’s annual Fort Scott High School Tiger Drama Camp performs The Legend of Mulan on May 28 and 29.
Nearly 40 students in 1st through 9th grade have spent two weeks at camp preparing for the production.
Performances are at 7 p.m. on May 28 and 2 p.m. on May 29 at the
Fort Scott High School Auditorium.
The playwright, Kathryn Schultz Miller, describes the show this way, “Mulan inspires us all with a grand desire to be the best we can be: honest, tenacious and brave. She leads us on an epic journey over mountains and rivers — through the hills and valleys of fear and courage and human emotion. Mulan knows it doesn’t matter if she is a boy or a girl. She just wants to make her mark, prove her mettle, and leave the world a better place.”
The character of Mulan is played by 8th grader Ashley Cannon. Other notable characters include Captain Cheng, portrayed by freshman Mykael Lewis; Pika the Rabbit played by 6th grader Abel Chaplin and 7th grader Chrislen Newman; Imoogi the Dragon played by 7th graders Izzy Budd and Ana Rupprecht; and Momo, the Emperor’s Assistant, played by freshman Kaiden Clary.
The camp and show are directed entirely by FSHS Thespians.
Senior Christina King is the Director, assisted by sophomore Regen Wells who also serves as Stage Manager and Choreographer Kinsley Davis, a junior.
Technical staff include sophomore Lexi Hill – Lighting Designer, senior Khris Patel – Sound Designer, senior Breena Cox – Music
Director, sophomore Silvia Moreno – Props and Set Designer, and junior Izzy Carreno – Music Operator. Many other Thespians serve as acting coaches and leaders.
During the 2-week camp, students learn about most technical theatre areas such as lighting, sound, costuming, stagecraft, and make-up. They also help to create the artistic set decor and learn sabre combat.
Tickets for the show should be purchased in advance at fortscotthighschool.ludus.com.
Adults are $8 and children are $6. There may be tickets available for purchase at the door, but seating is limited. Masks and social distancing are required. Doors open 30
minutes prior to showtime.
Kyle Parks was the Fort Scott High School Agriculture Instructor
from 1983-2021.
“My entire career was at FSHS,” Parks said. “I truly enjoyed working with youth that had ties or interest in the agriculture field. They are more mature, responsible and just a blast to be with compared to the non-ag students. I also enjoyed the teachers and admins at the high school. They are a great bunch to work with.”
For Parks, the last year with the COVID-19 Pandemic has been a challenge.
“The Covid and Zoom (classes) and other newer technology was a struggle for me,” he said.
RoAnn Blake has been a third-grade classroom teacher at both Winfield Scott and Eugene Ware Elementary Schools in Fort Scott from 2008 until 2021.
Sondra Ruhl taught Special Education at Eugene Ware Elementary School from 2012-2021.
“In 1987, I worked as a paraeducator at Winfield Scott Elementary School for 12 years,” she said. “Then I moved to the high school where I worked for three years. I then went back to college and earned my Bachelor’s Degree in Elementary Education. I was hired in Missouri and taught Special Education for eight years while getting my Masters Degree in Special Education Teaching. In 2012, I was hired to teach Special Education at Eugene Ware where I have been for the last 9 years.”
“The best part of teaching is seeing my students have that ‘Aha’ moment when they were finally able to understand a concept that used to be hard for them,” Ruhl said.
“The most challenging part of teaching is all of the paperwork that goes with teaching special education,” she said. “This year has been the biggest struggle with Zoom meetings and the challenges that came with COVID teaching.”
from 1989-2021.
Ronda Peterson has taught for 36 years.
Patty Giltner was the 7th grade English Language Arts teacher 6th-8th grade English as a Second Language teacher at Fort Scott Middle School from 1995 until 2021.
For the 2020-21 school year Uniontown High School participated in Project-Based Learning.
Project-Based Learning (PBL) is a teaching method in which students learn by actively engaging in real-world and personally meaningful projects, according to www.pblworks.org/what-is-pbl
Each UHS participating student chose a project that they presented to a board of teachers. The incentive: students got to opt-out of finals.
Uniontown High School Students Kristy Beene and Mason O’Brien, both juniors, decided to start a vinyl t-shirt business.
“They are custom-made shirts or a design that the customers choose,” Beene said.
“There was a lot of deciding that came with starting this business,” Beene said. “During the first semester of the 2020-21 school year, (we) decided that the best way to start this business was to fundraise the money in order to get the machines and supplies necessary.”
“We started this business in Mr. Feagins room, at UHS,” Beene said. “We chose him to…help us in the money and business itself.”
“One of the first orders of business was a name,” she said. “There were many names we considered but the one we chose was The U.”
“The first semester we raised the money needed through fundraisers and purchased a silhouette cameo and a heat press,”
Beene said. “By the end of the semester, we were starting to get up and going. At the start of the second semester, we added Skyler Coulter to our team as an extra hand for making shirts.”
Coulter is a sophomore.
“We have been staying busy with everyone’s support for our small business,” she said. “We have been so happy that we are able to make products that our customers love!”
This student-led business will be set up at Good Ol’Days in Fort Scott making custom shirts and water bottles.
“We hope that this will be a good aspect for our business and help us grow, both with customers and knowledge of the business industry itself,” Beene said. “Next year we hope to expand even more and invest in a screen printing machine.”
ESSER Funds were established by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act,(CARES) the core purpose of the ESSER II Fund is to provide direct money to states and districts to address the areas most impacted by the disruption and closure of schools caused by COVID-19, according to the website https://www.nj.gov/education/ESSER
Preschool – 8 – 11 a.m. at the preschool.
Jumpstart – at Winfield Scott Elementary from 8 to 11 a.m.
Primary (K-2) – 8 to 10 a.m.
Intermediate (3-5) – 10 a.m. to noon.
Middle School – 8 a.m. to noon.
High School – 8 a.m. to noon. (credit recovery)
NEWS RELEASE
Monday, May 10, 2021
Members of the USD 234 Board of Education met at the Fort Scott Middle School Commons on Monday, May 10, 2021, for their regular monthly meeting.
President David Stewart opened the meeting. The board approved the official agenda. The board also approved the consent agenda as follows:
A. Minutes
B. Bills and Claims
C. Payroll – April 20, 2021 – $1,424,631.30
D. Financial Report
E. Activity fund accounts
F. LCP Assurances
G. May 15 – Baccalaureate – 4:00 pm; Graduation – 8:00 pm
Gifted teachers, Angie Kemmerer and Paulette Howard, presented a program on
the gifted education program.
There were no comments in the public forum section.
Reports were given by the following:
· Brenda Hill, KNEA President
· Administrators’ written reports
· Dalaina Smith, Academic Director
· Ted Hessong, Superintendent
· Gina Shelton, Business Manager/Board Clerk
Board members approved the following:
· Adjustment in adult meal fees for 2021-22
· 2021-22 Fees
· Masonry bid
· Summer Camps
· 2021 Summer pay, pending negotiations
Board members shared comments and then went into executive session to discuss personnel matters for nonelected personnel and to discuss upcoming negotiations sessions and returned to open meeting.
The board approved the following employment matters:
A. Resignation of Baylee Newman, Eugene Ware paraprofessional, effective May 13, 2021
B. Resignation of Kristin Bishop, Winfield Scott paraprofessional, effective at the end of the 2020-21 school year
C. Resignation of Vernon Hill, Winfield Scott cook, effective June 3, 2021
D. Transfer of Jennifer Tourtillott, Winfield Scott kindergarten teacher, to Winfield Scott counselor for the 2021-22 school year
E. Contract extension request from Angella Curran, high school debate and forensics teacher
F. Leave of absence request from Natalie Kitsmiller, Winfield Scott paraprofessional
G. Additional duties for Krista Gorman, high school/middle school instructional coach, as high school lead administrator for the remainder of the 2020-21 school year
H. Employment of Madeline Martin as a gifted teacher for the 2021-22 school year
I. Employment of Todd Magee as a Eugene Ware third grade teacher for the 2021-22 school year
J. Employment of Trent Johnson as a high school agriculture education teacher for the 2021-22 school year
K. Employment of Carol Glover as a Winfield Scott cook for the 2021-22 school year
L. Employment of Eileen Strakal as a Eugene Ware cook for the 2021-22 school year
M. Employment of Millicient Willard as a Winfield Scott cook for the 2021-22 school year
N. Employment of Lynn Barr as high school head girls’ tennis coach for the 2021-22 school
O. Termination of Joie Moore, high school cook, effective April 1, 2021
The board adjourned.
“There were recommendations by the National Association of Music Education, that outside is a safer place to make music,” she said.
Last fall the district had outside performances in the local park.
“We had an event held last fall in Uniontown City Park by the 4th and 5th grades, and the junior high and high school music and art students called Art in the Park,” Allen said. “It was very successful.”
“And we knew, an outdoor venue would not require us to limit the audience for these young performers,” she said. “An indoor program would be limited to four audience members per participant.”
SOAR is a summer camp offered to West Bourbon Elementary 4th through 6th-grade students.
“It’s an opportunity for students to spread their wings and experience and enhance their learning through the exploration of new concepts and activities.,” she said.
The camp is June 1 – 28, Monday through Friday, from 8:30 a.m. to 1:45 p.m., and is free to district students.
“Our goal is to provide a place for our students to continue their growth academically while learning through hands-on activities such as robotics, coding, life skills, community service, and science experiments,” Travis said. ” Furthermore, it’s an opportunity for our students to spend time with their friends while engaging in fun activities.”
These are the planned activities for the camp:
Field trips to Fort Scott Cinema, Trampoline Park, nature exploration, roller skating, and a bouncy house.
Outdoor games, such as bowling, ladder golf, cornhole, horseshoes, badminton, water games, slammo game, ring toss, basketball, and volleyball.
Indoor Activities include 3D puzzles, bead pets, catapult wars, wooden construction science projects, sewing kits, magnetic design and paint tiles, food science experiments, cooking, photography, science experiments using microscopes, gardening, Legos, banking, fishing, tie-dye shirts, community service, reading session, and virtual reality headset activities.
Daily camp schedule and activities.
Students will arrive at West Bourbon Elementary be served a free breakfast.
Then the activities begin.
“Our summer program is designed to offer new enrichment activities while they are continuing to learn science concepts, technology, engineering, and math,” Travis said. “Our program is all hands-on activities, which the students love!”
There are three different enrichment activity classes daily, a thirty-minute session focusing on reading, a physical activity, and a healthy, nutritious free lunch for all students.
“Our SOAR camp will end daily at 1:30 p.m., from which the students will be sent home via school buses,” she said. “Every day will offer new and exciting learning opportunities for all our students. We all are gearing up for a great time at summer camp!”
Daily Schedule
8:30 – 9:00 a.m. is check-in time, attendance, and breakfast.
9:00 – 10:00 a.m. Enrichment class #1
10:00 – 10:20 a.m. Recess – outside or gym
10:20 – 11:00 a.m. Reading session
11:00 – 11:50 a.m. Enrichment class #2
11:50 – 12:00 a.m. Recess – outside or gym
12:00 – 12:30 p.m. Lunch
12:30 – 1:30 p.m. Enrichment #3
1:30 – 1:45 p.m. Family time – load onto buses