Category Archives: Schools

FSHS Talking Tigers Place First

FSHS Talking Tigers. Submitted photo.
Congratulations to the FSHS Talking Tigers Debate Team!  They placed first overall at the Pittsburg Virtual Debate Tournament on October 3rd.  The individual teams that placed were Neil Gugnani and Shekhar Gugnani: 1ST in the  Open division, Isaiah Self and Gavin Warfield: 6th place in the JV division, and Kinsley Davis and Lillian Collins: 7th in the JV division!
Way to go team!  We compete at the Wichita East Virtual tournament next.
Submitted by Angella Curran

UNIONTOWN HS VOLLEYBALL and FOOTBALL WEEK 5 RESULTS

Adelay Martin. Submitted photo.

Submitted by Adelay Martin, UHS Student Sports Reporter

The Lady Eagles traveled to Jayhawk Linn on Tuesday, September 29 for their volleyball matches. The JV lost their game, but Varsity was victorious against the Jayhawks.

Jayhawk defeated Uniontown in two matches scoring 25-18 and 25-19. Landry George scored 4 points.

The Eagles defeated Jayhawk in three sets, scoring 25-21, 25-19, and 25-20. Bri Stokes scored 12 points and had 11 consecutive serves in the first set. Libby Schaaf was 19/23 on attacks and had 2 kills, Danielle Howard was 17/20 on attacks with 6 kills, Karleigh Schoenberger was 16/20 on attacks with 3 kills, and Paige Mason was 14/14 on attacks with 4 kills. Gwen Fry had 6 solo blocks.

“We did not play our best, but still played well enough to get the win,” said Coach Hall. “Still continuing to work on the little things. We will host Marmaton Valley on Tuesday, October 6. This is our only home event!”

The Eagles’ football team went up against the Northern Heights Wildcats on Friday, October 2. The Wildcats were defeated 41-0. Hunter Schaaf had 17 rushes for 134 yards, while Drew Perry and Treden Buckman each had 11 rushes for 112 and 34 yards, respectively. Schaaf also scored 4 touchdowns and had 10 assists, and Perry scored 2 touchdowns. Jake Harvey had 7 assists, 2 unassisted tackles, and 1 Q.B. sack.

Head Coach Johnathan Stark said of the game, “I thought the team did a really good job of playing hard and playing together. We started off the first quarter really intense and ready to play, and we were able to maintain our intensity throughout the entire game. We had some really tough calls against us early in the game that went against our momentum, but we showed maturity and mental toughness by being able to overcome them and stay focused. I was really proud of some of the guys on the team at the end. We put in some of our subs and JV players, but the quality of play on the field stayed the same, and we won 41-0 against a team that has a lot of talent.”

FSHS After School Choir Enrollment Open


Students attending FSHS are invited to sing in the FSHS After School Choir, directed by MJ Harper.
Performers will further grow vocal abilities, musical knowledge, and choral repertoire. This ensemble will also
prepare students for district and state auditions and the spring musical. COVID guidelines will be observed.
Rehearsals will begin October 13th and will run 3:30-4:15PM Tuesdays and Thursdays at FSHS. Students
wishing to participate can enroll by scanning the QR Code on posters or by emailing
[email protected] , deadline October 9th.

UNIONTOWN HS VOLLEYBALL and FOOTBALL RESULTS

Adelay Martin. Submitted photo.

ARTICLE FALL 2020 WEEK 4

Submitted by Adelay Martin, UHS Student Sports Reporter

The Lady Eagles traveled to Crest for Varsity matches on Tuesday, September 22. They defeated the Pleasanton Blu-Jays in two matches with scores of 25-14 and 25-18. Aiden Holt scored 7 points and Bri Stokes had 9 assists. Danielle Howard was 11/12 on attacks and had 7 kills and 5 solo blocks.

The Eagles were defeated by the Crest Lancers in three matches with scores of 25-19, 22-25, and 25-23. Danielle Howard and Aiden Hold each scored 9 points and Danielle had 6 solo blocks. She was also 18/22 on attacks and had 7 kills. Libby Schaaf was 16/20 on attacks and had 2 kills, and Bri Stokes had another 9 assists.

“We didn’t play our best volleyball tonight, but I was extremely proud of the way the team rebounded in the second set of the Crest match to force a third set,” said Coach Hall. “It was a close match and could have gone either way. We just didn’t capitalize on the opportunities we were given and we will learn from that.”

The Uniontown Eagles’ football team faced the Olpe Eagles on Friday, September 25. They lost 48 to 2, but played a tough team, with Olpe being ranked number one in the state. Drew Perry had 23 rushes for 45 yards and Hunter Schaaf had 18 rushes for 51 yards. Schaaf also had 7 tackles, and Jake Harvey had 4. Treden Buckman had one QB sack as well. The team played hard, and the fans and the band were with them on every yard!

St. Mary’s School Makes Changes for Pandemic

St. Mary’s Catholic School students have some classes outside. Submitted photos.

School started for St. Mary’s Catholic School on August 27.

 

But with the COVID 19 Pandemic, this year is not school as usual.

 

“We have moved our 3rd/4th grade combination classroom into our gym space, to ensure that there is at least six feet between all students,” Josh Regan, St. Mary’s Principal, said. “From the very beginning, one of our top priorities has been to make sure that there is adequate social distancing in every classroom.”

 

Regan knows the school is fortunate to be small enough to be able to social distance, and that not all schools have this ability, he said.

 

Regan is thankful for the cooperation of staff and the community in setting the school up for the start of school.

 

“I want to commend our 3rd/4th grade classroom teacher, Amber Russell, for her hard work in creating a classroom space in just a couple of weeks,” Regan said.  “She really went above and beyond in making that space not only conducive to learning but also inviting and comfortable for kids.”

 

Amber Russells’s 3rd/4th class allows social distancing in the school gym. Submitted photos.

“We also want to thank Matt Ida and Brian McGowan at Extrusions Inc. for their generous help in constructing temporary walls for that classroom,” Regan said.

The administration and staff want to maximize time the students can be without a facemask, one of the ways they are following government guidelines to stop the spread of the disease, he said.

” We want to maximize the time that kids can be kids, without the restriction of a facemask that we feel strips away part of our God-given human connection with others since we cannot see concealed faces,” Regan said.  “Communication is damaged and relationships are much more difficult to build when we cannot tell whether a child is frustrated, sad, happy, or somewhere in between based on their expression!!”

“So much communication is nonverbal, especially in how a teacher reads the emotions of students and how kids interact with each other,” he said. ” Our kids wear masks as mandated, but we have worked hard to maximize time outside where they can remove masks safely and laugh, talk, and enjoy the time with their friends! ”

Students bring beach towels to school each week to spread out on the school’s lawn to eat lunch.

St. Mary’s students enjoy lunch outside. Submitted photos.

” About a month before school we also started asking school families, parishioners, and community members to allow us to borrow any picnic tables that we could get our hands on,” he said. “A couple of our families even anonymously bought and donated outdoor tables.”

“Our teachers frequently take classes outside and use the tables to distance kids with masks off,” Regan said.

In addition, the school has all its’ physical education classes outside.

“It has worked out great for us, mostly because God has blessed us with beautiful weather so far this year,” Regan said.

Students at St. Mary’s learn outside. Submitted photos.

USD 234 Early Release Day on Wednesday, October 7, 2020

 

There will be an early release day for students on Wednesday,

October 7, 2020.  Students will be dismissed at the following times:


Fort Scott High School and Eugene Ware School – 1:01 p.m.
Fort Scott Middle School – 1:11 p.m.
Winfield Scott School – 1:06 p.m.
Fort Scott Preschool Center and New Generation Preschool – 11:05 a.m.

 

There will be no afternoon preschool sessions and no after-school child care.

U234 Special Board Meets For Purchase of Student Computers

NEWS RELEASE

 

Friday, September 25, 2020

 

Members of the USD 234 Board of Education met virtually at 12:00 p.m. on Friday, September 25, for a special board meeting.

Vice-President James Wood opened the meeting.  The board approved the purchase of computers for students.

The board adjourned.

 

 

Members of the USD 234 Board of Education met virtually at 12:15 p.m. on Friday, September 25, for a special board meeting.

President David Stewart opened the meeting.  The board approved a SPARK Memorandum of Understanding.

The board adjourned.

 

Tiffnie Spears: New FS Fifth-Grade Teacher

Tiffnie Spears. Submitted photo.

A teacher at Fort Scott Middle School resigned in August and  USD 234 had a fifth-grade teacher request to transfer to the middle school, creating a 5th-grade opening.

Tiffnie Spears is the new fifth-grade teacher at Eugene Ware Elementary School in Fort Scott.

Tiffnie Spears, 29, graduated from Fort Scott High School in 2009 and graduated from Wichita State University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Communications in 2013, then received her Master’s  Degree in Elementary Education from Western Governors University in April of 2020.

“I was born and raised in Fort Scott and, as soon as I graduated from Wichita State, moved back home to be near my friends and family,” she said.

” I was able to do my internship hours with Mrs. Malone in the Fall of 2019 and did my student teaching with Mrs. Stepps this past Spring semester.”

She has been married to her husband, James, since 2011 and they have a 4-year-old son named Jacoby.

“My family loves to travel and our goal is to get Jacoby to as many states as possible before he graduates high school,” she said.

 

How did you become an educator?

“There wasn’t much that got me as excited than seeing my son, niece, and nephews grow and learn new things so I just knew I needed to go back to school to be a teacher. I was torn between following through with being a communication major or an educator so going back to school was a pretty easy choice.”

Did someone inspire you to teach?

“It was my son who inspired me to teach. After Jacoby was born, I knew I wanted to not only help him to grow and learn every day but to have a positive impact on as many children as possible.”

What is the best part of teaching for you?

“The ‘Ah-ha!’ moments are the best and most rewarding moments for me. Being able to see the positive impact you’ve made in helping that student succeed means everything.”

What is the greatest challenge in teaching?

“Starting my first year in the classroom during COVID-19 has so many obstacles but the students are doing so great with the changes we are all being faced with.”

Uniontown Football and Volleyball Sept. 11-12

Adelay Martin. Submitted photo.

Submitted by Adelay Martin, UHS Sports Media Reporter

UHS Football

On Friday, September 11, the Uniontown Eagles’ football team faced the Wabaunsee Chargers. The Eagles were defeated 20-14, bringing their record to 1-1.

Hunter Schaaf rushed 26 times over 118 yards and scored 1 touchdown, and Drew Perry rushed 16 times over 102 yards scored the other touchdown. Perry also completed 4 out of 8 passes over 12 yards.

“The past couple of weeks, we’ve come out and we’ve dug ourselves a hole by turning the ball over to start the game and giving up an easy score. That’s my fault as a head coach for not having the team ready to go at the start of the game,” says Coach Stark. “This past week, we played a pretty poor first half and Wabaunsee really put it to us; they deserve a lot of credit. They’re a well-coached team, and they have some pretty talented players. They wanted to win the game more than what we wanted to the entire first half. After going into halftime down 13-0, I challenged the team and they came out and played the second half with much more heart and passion than in the first half. The second half, we were a different team. Unfortunately, we dug ourselves too big of a hole to get out of.

“One thing I am proud of is how hard we played in the second half. At one point in the second half, we were down 20-7 and we went on a 23-play scoring drive to put ourselves down one score in the fourth quarter. We overcame multiple penalties and we easily could have quit, but we didn’t, and we got into the endzone.

“One thing we have to improve on is how many penalties we’ve been having. I take responsibility for that as head coach for not having the team ready to play a clean, mistake-free game. In order to win in the future, we’re going to have to do a much better job of starting the game off strong and playing a clean game and eliminating our mental mistakes of false starts and holding penalties. I’m confident we’ll get those things corrected and be ready moving forward.”

JV Volleyball

Members of the Junior Varsity Volleyball team competed at the Moran JV Tournament on Saturday, September 12. The tournament was modified, moving to just pool play within each gym. Uniontown swept their pool with three wins!

Uniontown defeated SCC in two matches with scores of 25-17 and 25-23. Kristy Beene scored 9 points, and Skyler Coulter was 3/3 on attacks with 1 kill.

Uniontown also defeated Northeast, with scores of 25-15 and 25-19. Landry George scored 15 points, and Rylee Coulter was 6/8 on attacks with 1 kill.

Lastly, the Lady Eagles defeated Pleasanton with matches scoring 25-10 and 25-18. Hannah Moore scored 12 points and Landry George was 7/7 on attacks with 2 kills.

Let’s congratulate our Junior Varsity Volleyball team!

-Adelay Martin, UHS Sports Media Reporter

USD 234 Board of Education News Release

NEWS RELEASE

 

Monday, September 14, 2020

 

Members of the USD 234 Board of Education met at the Fort Scott Middle School Commons on Monday, September 14, 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 – August 20,  2020 – $1,259,778.71

D.    Financial Report

E.     Activity Fund Accounts

 

One patron participated in the public forum.

Terry Sercer with Diehl, Banwart, Bolton, gave an audit report for the district with no violations of state statutes or federal regulations.

Board members heard a report from Brenda Hill, KNEA President.

In addition, reports were given by principals from each building on the beginning days of

school.  The board heard reports from Dalaina Smith, Director of Academics; Ted Hessong, Superintendent; and Gina Shelton, Business Manager/Board Clerk.

Board members approved contracts for provision of educational services, the 2020-21 Emergency Operation Plan, and the appointment of Ted Hessong as a USD 234 BEDCO representative.

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.    Resignation of Shelley Rooks, middle school teacher aide, effective at the end of the 2019-20 school year

B.    Resignation of Haley Jones, high school paraprofessional, effective September 10, 2020

C.    Resignation of Julie Carpenter, high school paraprofessional, effective September 16, 2020

D.    Employment of Carissa Bowman as high school FCCLA sponsor for the 2020-21 school year

The board adjourned.

 

Uniontown High School Eagles Volleyball and Football Results Sept. 1 – 4

Adelay Martin. Submitted photo.

 

 

by Adelay Martin, UHS Sports Media Reporter

On Tuesday, September 1, the Lady Eagle Volleyball team opened their 2020 season at Erie with non-league play against the Erie Red Devils and the Girard Trojans. Both the Varsity and JV teams were defeated by the other two teams.

On the JV end, Erie defeated Uniontown in three matches with scores of 25-19, 21-25, and 15-8. We were also defeated by Girard in two matches with scores of 25-14 and 25-18. Alexis Herring lead the team in points, earning a total of 14 across all five matches.

The Varsity team lost to Erie in three matches with scores of 25-16, 24-26, and 25-16. Bri Stokes lead in points and assists, garnering 7 and 6 respectively. Danielle Howard was 21/22 on attacks and had 5 kills, while Karleigh Schoenberger was 13/15 on attacks and had 3 kills. Girard won against the Lady Eagles in two matches, both ending with scores of 25-19. Danielle scored 7 points, was 11/12 on attacks, and had 2 kills. Karleigh also had 2 kills, and was 6/8 on attacks. Bri Stokes had 2 assists.

“Even though we came out with losses, we are very proud of the way the girls played. They have worked hard for the past two weeks in practice and we needed to see how we looked against another team. We will continue to work on correcting parts of our game, and get better each time we step out on the court,” says Coach Hall.

Thursday, September 3 saw the Lady Eagles headed to Fredonia to play against Sedan and Fredonia. The JV lost all six of their matches, but the scores were incredibly close. Varsity won their four matches, bringing their season record to 2-2.

Submitted photos.

The JV played two Fredonia teams, losing to the first with scores of 25-23 and 25-22. Rylee Coulter lead this game with 11 points. The second Fredonia team won in two matches with scores of 26-24 and 25-20. Skyler Coulter scored 5 points total. Sedan also defeated the Eagles in two matches, the scores being 25-15 and 25-19. Brooklyn Dreisbach lead with 5 points.

The Varsity Lady Eagles beat Fredonia in two matches with scores of 25-14 and 25-21. Danielle Howard lead with 10 points. She was also 9/12 on attacks and had 3 kills. Gwenyth Fry was 8/9 on attacks, and Bri Stokes had 5 assists. Uniontown also defeated Sedan in two matches, the final scores being 25-15 and 25-14. Paige Mason scored 16 points. Danielle was 14/14 on attacks and had 4 kills, while Karleigh Schoenberger was 9/10 on attacks with 2 kills. Bri Stokes once again lead in assists, garnering 4 total in these games.

Coach Hall said, “All teams played very well. Adjustments that were made seemed to work, so we will continue to work and improve our play.”

On Friday, September 4, the Uniontown Eagle Football team faced off against the Southeast Lancers. This game also served as Senior Night, and we honored our senior fall athletes and band members and their families. The Eagles beat the Lancers 40-12 in our first home game of the season.

UHS football, Sept. 4, 2020. Submitted photos.

Hunter Schaaf had 20 carries for 103 yards and scored 2 touchdowns. Treden Buckman had 22 carries for 185 yards and also scored 2 touchdowns. Drew Perry had 12 carries for 62 yards and one touchdown, and 1-3 passing for 27 yards with one touchdown. Tyler Harvey had 1 catch for 27 yards and a touchdown.

Overall, this was a very successful first week for the Uniontown Eagles!

-Adelay Martin, UHS Sports Media Reporter