“We will be having a Zoom meeting at noon on Wednesday, January 6, thanks to Robin and Allen County Thrive,” Billie Jo Drake, the chairwoman, said in an email.
Bourbon County Inter-Agency Coalition
General Membership Meeting Agenda
January 6, 2021
The SPARK recipients are working to complete COVID-19 related projects by the end of 2020, as required by the grant program.
SPARK is responsible for the statewide distribution of the U.S. Coronavirus Relief Fund.
The total amount of grants disbursed in Bourbon County to over 100 entities was $2,835,212.86 on October 21, 2020, according to Bourbon County Economic Director Jody Hoener.
To see the list of recipients:
https://fortscott.biz/news/spark-projects-in-bourbon-county
The Strengthening People and Revitalizing Kansas (SPARK) taskforce is leading the state through recovery from the far-reaching effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic, according to its’ website. https://covid.ks.gov/spark-recovery-office/
“Congress recently passed the new COVID bill that gave an extension to states and cities on spending this money for a year,” said Jody Hoener, the Bourbon County Economic Development Director. “The State of Kansas Recovery Office indicated there will be an extension on our spending plans, but unknown at this time how much of an extension we will receive.”
Locally, SPARK recipients have been balancing and reconciling expenses.
“At the county level we gathered the department heads who have been awarded funds for programs,” Hoener said. ” We went through every single dollar amount from the department and made sure it matched exactly what the County Clerks Office cut for a check and what Greenbush have in their reports. Any errors are caught and quickly corrected. From there, we subtract the total amount spent from the total amount allocated and have a final amount left to spend.”
The other recipients are also required to submit receipts and invoices of SPARK money, she said.
“For the community’s grant/award expenses( they) need to submit receipts and invoices to show dollars spent,” she said. “Greenbush is going through every single receipt and invoice with a fine-tooth comb. It is very time-consuming as you can imagine. From this, we have a very clear understanding of the amount spent and how much is left to be spent.”
The Southeast Kansas Educational Service Center (also known as Greenbush) was hired by the county commission to administer the SPARK distribution and oversight.
“Greenbush was contracted to administer the county SPARK funds,” Hoener said.
As with life in America at all levels, the COVID-19 Pandemic has affected schools.
Sunbeam Christian Preschool received SPARK funds to help them continue to teach young children, said owner Lindsay Hill.
“We are very thankful for the SPARK grant as it helped keep our doors open for another year,” she said. ” We are a private preschool, so we rely on tuition to pay bills and staff. We did not collect tuition after March but continued to provide online services for our preschoolers. This grant allowed us to continue to pay our staff and bills.”
“Although enrollment is down this fall because of COVID, Sunbeam Christian Preschool continues to provide a Christian learning experience for all their Sunbeamers,” she said.
“Sunbeam Christian Preschool has taken extra precautions to make sure their students can continue in-person learning, with extra cleaning, temperature checks at the door of children entering the building, no parents or adults allowed in the building, and much more,” Hill said.
History of Sunshine Christian Preschool
Sunbeam has been in operation since 1985, 30 years under the direction of Marilyn Barker.
Sunbeam Christian Preschool is now owned by Lindsay Hill and directed by Tonya Defebaugh.
The preschool has 3-5-year-olds and offers three different class times:
Monday, Wednesday, Friday from 8 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.; Monday, Wednesday, Friday from 12-1:30 p.m. and Tuesday and Thursday from 8 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.
“We are extremely blessed to be apart of the Fort Scott community and thankful for First Baptist Church, where our classroom is located,” she said. The church is located in downtown Fort Scott at the corner and Second and State Streets.
SPARK, The Strengthening People and Revitalizing Kansas program, is federal COVID-19 Pandemic recovery money that was given to the states and then to local entities.
Congratulations to our Fort Scott High School 2020-2021 4A State Qualifiers in 4-Speaker debate!
Trent Toth and Sam Deloney on the Affirmative with Regen Wells as alternate and Kinsley Davis and Lillian Collins on the Negative with Anna Hall as the alternate.
Fort Scott placed 3rd at regionals with a 5-5 record and 14 ballots!
FSHS competed well last night in Emporia.
Oliver Witt took 1st in the 200 free swimming a state consideration and a personal best time of 2:00.97. He also got a personal best of 1:02.25 in the 100 Butterfly placing 4th.
Sam Mix took 2nd in the 50 Free and 9th in the 100 Breast taking 2 seconds off his previous best time.
Bobby Kemmerer took 1st in the 50 Free and 2nd in the Breaststroke swimming state consideration times in both events.
Tuesday was a successful night for the Uniontown Eagles. Both Varsity teams, as well as the girls’ JV, were victorious against the Yates Center Wildcats.
The Varsity Lady Eagles won their match against the Wildcats 57-25. Karleigh Schoenberger scored 21 points and had 4 boards. Danielle Howard followed with 14 points, 3 rebounds, 5 assists, and 8 steals. Laney Covey, Gwenyth Fry, Sammie Hampton, and Kaydra Woods each scored 4 points, and Fry had 5 rebounds. The JV girls won 37-24, with Rylee Coulter leading the team with 14 points.
“Proud of the effort, attitude, and toughness that was displayed by the team tonight. Both the Varsity and Junior Varsity took care of business!” says Coach Miller. “We will get back to work tomorrow on those fundamental skills that make the game of basketball fun to play.”
The Varsity boys won their game 63-45. Jake Harvey scored 32 points and had 8 boards and 3 assists. Clay Sutterby followed with 20 points and 6 rebounds. Luke Perry also had 6 rebounds, as well as 4 assists. Drew Perry had 4 assists and 4 steals.
“The boys put together a complete game tonight. They got after it on the defensive end and played well together on offense. This was a great way to start league play,” said Coach Hays.
-Adelay Martin, UHS Sports Media Reporter
From USD234 Superintendent Ted Hessong:
“At our board meeting on Monday I inaccurately shared incorrect information with the Board and in the information I shared with families and staff yesterday,” Hessong said in a press release.
“I was informed that the Bourbon County Health Department has only adopted updating the quarantine from 14 days to 10 days. The information I referenced was from the Kansas Department of Education and I did not realize that the 7-day quarantine was not going to be used by the health department. I thought the 7-day and 10-day quarantine went “hand in hand” but that is not the case.
I apologize for providing incorrect information. See attached statement.”
The final game of the Humboldt Pre-season Tournament saw Uniontown face the Crest Lancers. Both Varsity teams won against the Lancers.
The Lady Eagles defeated Crest 61-26. Danielle Howard scored 25 points and had 5 rebounds and 9 steals. Rylee Coulter scored twice and had 4 steals and 1 assist. Karleigh Schoenberger scored 16 points with 4 rebounds and 4 assists. She was also 2/2 on free throws. Sammie Hampton had 5 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 steals. Addisyn Hall, another freshman, also had 4 rebounds and 2 steals. Gwenyth Fry had 3 rebounds and 2 assists.
“It was good to get a win going into the weekend,” said Coach Miller. “It’s time to rest, regroup, and get back to practice. Looking forward to playing at home next Tuesday when we take on the Yates Center Wildcats.”
The boys played a close game, winning 44-42. Jake Harvey led with 19 points and 7 rebounds. Luke Perry scored 12 points and had 3 assists. Drew Perry had 3 steals, Dawson Dreisbach had 2 steals, and Clay Sutterby had 15 rebounds.
Coach Hays said of the game, “I am proud of our boys. It wasn’t always pretty, but we executed a play late that was just enough to get us our first win. We defended and rebounded well enough to keep us in the game. We missed a lot of shots in the paint that we need to finish.”
Before winter break, the Eagles will face Yates Center at home on Tuesday, December 15, and Marmaton Valley at Moran on Friday, December 18.
-Adelay Martin, UHS Sports Media Reporter
Monday, December 14, 2020
Members of the USD 234 Board of Education met at the Fort Scott Middle School Commons on Monday, December 14, 2020, 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 – November 20, 2020 – $1,424,756.14
D. Financial Report
E. Activity Fund Accounts
F. Fundraiser Application
There was one comment during the public forum. Board members heard reports from the
following:
· Brenda Hill, KNEA President
· Dalaina Smith, Director of Academics
· Ted Hessong, Superintendent
· Gina Shelton, Business Manager/Board Clerk
Superintendent Hessong discussed the Return-to-School Plan. Board members approved an update to the length of quarantine time for close contacts to seven days if there is a negative COVID test taken along with no symptoms; otherwise the close contact quarantine is ten days.
Superintendent Hessong also reported on the KSHSAA COVID-19 guidelines.
Board member approved the following items:
· The release of Dave Regan Tiger Tough Scholarship funds to the Regan family for future investment
· Workers Compensation Insurance with Ryan Insurance
· An adjustment in the 2020-21 school calendar for January 4, 2021, to change from a student contact day to a teacher collaboration day
· Health insurance rates for 2021
· Broker contract with RPS Benefits by Design Inc.
· Technology purchase
Board members shared comments and then went into executive session to discuss personnel matters for nonelected personnel and returned to open meeting
The board approved the following employment matters:
A. Retirement of Deb Rice, Winfield Scott special education teacher, effective at the end of the 2020-21 school year
B. Early retirement request from Larry Lawrence, high school technology teacher, effective at the end of the 2020-21 school year
C. Leave of absence request for Andrea Heckman, preschool teacher
D. Employment of Jennifer Durkin as a high school paraprofessional for the 2020-21 school year
E. Employment of Allison Nighswonger as a high school paraprofessional for the 2020-21 school year
F. Addition of a Winfield Scott paraprofessional position; employment of Francis Torres as a Winfield Scott paraprofessional for the 2020-21 school year
G. Addition of a high school wrestling coach position; employment of Tyler Bell as a high school wrestling coach for the 2020-21 school year; cancellation of Strategic Games for the 2020-21 school year
H. Resignation of Mikiah Anderson, Eugene Ware paraprofessional, effective at the end of the 2020 year
The board adjourned.
Submitted by Adelay Martin, UHS Student Sports Reporter
The Eagles’ Varsity basketball teams traveled to Humboldt once again to face the Erie Red Devils. Both teams were defeated by Erie.
The Lady Eagles lost to Erie on Thursday 29-32. Sammie Hampton scored 10 points and had 9 rebounds and 2 steals. Gwenyth Fry had 1 assist and 8 rebounds, and Karleigh Schoenberger had 10 rebounds and 2 steals. Rylee Coulter, a freshman, had 4 rebounds and scored 4 points, one basket being a buzzer-beater that took us into a second overtime.
“As much as we hate losing, we really needed this experience tonight,” said Coach Miller. “Foul trouble, coupled with our usual top performers stumbling, required us to step outside of our comfort zone. This unfortunate outcome may have helped our team more than the sting of the loss will let us realize right now. Get bitter, or get BETTER. I know what these girls will choose.”
The boys’ Varsity team also lost to Erie 39-53. Jake Harvey scored 15 points and had 9 rebounds and 2 assists. Clay Sutterby scored 7 points and had 4 rebounds, and Luke Perry scored 6 points and had 5 rebounds. Drew Perry had 1 assist and 2 steals.
“I’m extremely proud of the guys on our team,” Coach Hays said. “We competed hard and left it all on the court. We defended and rebounded much better tonight. We need to continue to work on our chemistry on the offensive end, but that will come with time.”
UNIONTOWN HS BASKETBALL 2020-21 RESULTS GAME 1
The 2020-21 Uniontown Eagles’ basketball season kicked off at Humboldt with the first game of the Humboldt Tournament. Both Varsity teams played the Humboldt Cubs.
The final score of the first tournament game was 55-38, Uniontown. Danielle Howard was 5/5 on free throws and scored a total of 29 points. She made four three-pointers and had 4 assists, 6 deflections, and 5 steals. Alie Fuhrman had 4 rebounds, and Sammie Hampton had 3 rebounds. Karleigh Schoenberger scored 18 points with 2 three-pointers and had 4 steals, as well as 2 assists.
“We are blessed to be able to get back on the court and compete,” said Coach Miller. “We are grateful for everyone that made this possible. Our first game was a little rough, but we know how to fix it and we will. Looking forward to getting back in the gym to get better.”
The boys’ game, which ended after one overtime, was lost 55-59. Jake Harvey scored 23 points and had 7 rebounds and 3 steals. Clay Sutterby scored 13 points and had 5 rebounds. Cade Goodridge had 6 rebounds and Drew Holt had 4.
Coach Hays said, “I thought the boys competed hard against Humboldt. They have a really good basketball program and are well-coached. It was nice to see our boys play hard and fight back to take them to overtime. We have some things we need to improve on. We need to rebound the ball better and hit our free throws. We also need to do a better job of attacking the rim when our shots aren’t falling. We will continue to work hard in practice and prepare for Erie.”
The tournament will resume on Thursday, December 10 at Humboldt, where both teams will play Erie. Friday’s game will also be at Humboldt, where the teams will face Crest.
-Adelay Martin, UHS Sports Media Reporter
Missy Reynolds is a new school nurse at Fort Scott High School, since the end of August 2020.
She has been a district nurse substitute over the past several years and prior to that worked at Nevada Medical Clinic.
Reynolds graduated from FSHS in 1989, then graduated from Fort Scott Community College in 2008 with an associate of applied science degree in nursing.
She was born and raised in Fort Scott.
She has been married to Mike Reynolds for 26 years and has three children. Garrett, Kennede, and Kerigan. Kerigan is currently a sophomore at FSHS.
Reynold became a nurse to help people.
“I wanted to be a nurse to be able to help people,” she said. “I was busy raising my children but the opportunity came up for me to go back to college later in life so I was a non-traditional student.”
“The high school has not had a full-time nurse in the past so this has been a great addition for them. I see students for all basic medical needs, keep health records up to date and communicate with parents as needed. Every day is something new.”
