Category Archives: Schools

Fort Scott, Schools, Sports

FSMS Sweeps In Volleyball

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8th graders Kamdyn Farrell attacks the ball set by Keegan Yarick.
The Fort Scott Middle School Tiger Volleyball teams swept Jayhawk Linn at home on Tuesday night.
7B  27-25, 25-9
7A  25-8, 25-15
8B  25-12, 23-25, 15-8
8A  25-22, 25-10
Standouts for the 7th grade were B team-Graycyn Brown had 10 serves with 8 of those ACE serves. A Team-Hadley Forester-15 aerves with 10 of those ACE serves and one kill-Allie Brown with 2 kills.
8th grade stat leaders for the night were, Carsen Wunderly with 13 aces followed by Lauren Hull with 8 for the A team.  Leaders for the B Team were Brylie Schaub with 13 aces followed by Jadyn Messer with 8 and Hannah Peck with 6 for the night.  During our intersquad “C” match Delaney Faulk led the way with 6 aces followed by Delani Weddle, Lauren Orgen, Anna Hall, and Brittany McClure with 4 aces each.
Submitted by Angie Kemmerer
Fort Scott, Police, Schools

Police Escort Visitor Out of High School In Sept. 3 Incident

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Fort Scott High School.

An unwanted visitor entered Fort Scott High School on Sept. 3.

“We did have a person in the building at the high school early, before school started, Tuesday, September 3rd,” USD 234 Superintendent Ted Hessong, said.

The person was stopped by a high school teacher who asked why the person was in the building, he said.

” One of our custodians made sure the students in the building stayed away from the person while the teacher questioned him about being in the building,” Hessong said. “The custodian also contacted another employee of ours who was headed to the high school to assist with the situation, just in case additional support was needed. This employee contacted local law enforcement to also possibly assist with the situation. Police officers escorted the person out of the building, without incident.”

The high school staff followed the plan of approaching anyone who is in the building, who is not identified as checking in the office first, to see if they need help or to direct them back to the school office to check-in, he said.

 

“I want to commend our high school teacher, custodian, program director, and local law enforcement for managing the situation to make sure everyone was safe in the building,” Hessong said.

Fort Scott, Schools

FSHS Activity Fair Sept. 13 at 5:30 p.m.

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Submitted by:
Lauren Madison, FSHS Senior, [email protected]

 

FSHS ACTIVITY FAIR PRIOR TO FOOTBALL GAME

The first Fort Scott High School home football game will take place this Friday, September 13th vs. Paola at 7 p.m. Prior to the game, from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m., various FSHS clubs, sports and activities will be hosting an Activity Fair.

The event will take place on the front/west lawn of the high school at 1005 S. Main St. where high school students will host free activities for all ages. There will be games, face painting, prizes, food and fun. All ages are welcome to attend and share the Tiger spirit.

Fort Scott, Schools

New FSHS English Teacher: Jeni Hartman

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 Jeni Hartman is the new freshman English teacher at Fort Scott High School.
Her experience includes teaching kindergarten and substitute teaching for the last 10 years.
Hartman has a bachelors degree in elementary education;
licensed for K-9 with a certification for secondary English 6-12
She grew up in Olathe but spent most of her adult life in Ottawa.
She is  married to “my best friend, Chris Hartman, and we have been together for almost 22 years.”
“My oldest (son), Logan, is 18 and he and his girlfriend are having our first grandbaby in February,” she said.
“My youngest, Caleb, is 14 and he is in 8th grade. He is on the football team, wrestling team and the track team.”
In her spare time she “loves reading and taking a nap (and) I really enjoy spending time with my family.”
To become a teacher, she took a “long road,” she said.  “I started at Pitt State, missed my family, so I moved to Dallas and went to UNT, moved back here to get married and had my oldest, went back to Pitt State and drove from Overland Park three days a week! Now I am working on my Master’s Degree in Reading Specialist and will be licensed in that as well.”
A teacher inspired Hartman to teach.
“Mr. Barnes, my senior genetics teacher inspired me. He took us on a trip to St. Louis to see the students mapping the human genome.,” she said.
The best part of teaching for her is “Hanging out with young people, getting to do what I love most, reading and writing. They keep me young.”
What are the greatest challenges in teaching for you?
“When that tough student that you are starting to break through with makes a poor decision and you have to start all over with that student. But when you do get that breakthrough and they start trusting you, that is the best. For a student to know that ‘Yeah, Mrs. Hartman is cool. She gets me.’ And when the stuff they bring to school from home gets left at the door and they learn in my class, that is why I am a teacher.”
Bourbon County, Exercise, Schools

UHS Fitness Center Reopens After Additions

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USD 235 has a fitness center for its students and patrons.

A new shower, restroom and water container replenisher have been added to the USD 235 Fitness Center located at the Uniontown Junior/High School.

In May 2018  then Kansas Governor Jeff Colyer and Jake Steinfeld, Chairman of the National Foundation for Governors’ Fitness Councils, announced three Kansas schools that were selected to each receive a $100,000 DON’T QUIT! Fitness Center.

Uniontown was one of those schools.

The  USD 235 fitness center opened in October 2018 and is not only for use by students during the day, but evening and weekend, patrons of USD235 may use the center.

A bathroom and shower room were added to the center from an unused storage area nearby.

In July of this year, work began on the additions to the fitness center, with help from a Healthy Bourbon County Action Team Grant, funded by Pathways to a Healthy Kansas (A Blue Cross/Blue Shield iniative).

The grant covered nearly two-thirds of the total cost of the additions- $12,500, with the total cost once completed-$17,000.

The center is for patrons of the school district only, which serves the western rural part of Bourbon County.

 

The shower with changing room was added to the fitness center with a grant from Healthy Bourbon County.
A storage area was converted to a restroom in the facility.

The doors leading from the fitness center to the school will be locked. To gain entrance to the center from the outside door, a key must be purchased from West Bourbon Elementary School Principal Vance Eden, for $10.

Eden said community members will need to come to the office of WBE to pay and get their card for the fitness center from him.

 

Fitness center users now have access to a water fountain with which to fill a water container to use while working out.

The fitness center will have the following hours for the 2019-20 school year: Monday – Friday: 5:00-7:00 AM and 5:30-9:30 PM. Saturday and Sunday: 7:00 AM – 7:00 PM.

Some rules for use.
The junior high section of the school is where the location of the fitness center is, in the former library. Seen here is the door that patrons must use during fitness center hours.

For more information, click below:

 

Uniontown School District Receives $100,000 Grant For Fitness Center

New Fitness Center Opens at Uniontown

Improvements at the USD 235 Fitness Center Are Coming

Kansas, Schools

Put the Brakes On Fatalities Poster Contest

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Deadlines approaching for poster, video contests

Students and school/class/booster club can win prizes

 

The deadlines for the Put the Brakes on Fatalities Day poster and video contests are coming up quick. Kansas students can win great prizes and learn about traffic safety. In addition, the school, class or booster club of the grand prize-winning students will also receive money as part of the contest prizes.

 

Poster entries must be postmarked by Friday, Sept. 20. Video entries must be posted by 11:59 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 29.

 

Poster contest: For Kansas students ages 5 to 13 – three statewide winners will each receive:

sKindle Fire Tablet and case from the Kansas Turnpike Authority;

s$50 Amazon gift card from the Petroleum Marketers and Convenience Store

Association of Kansas;

sMovie passes from AAA Kansas; and

s$200 for the school, class or the booster club.

A total of 18 regional winners in the six regions and age groups (ages 5-7, ages 8-10 and ages 11-13) will receive a bicycle from the KTA and a helmet from Safe Kids Kansas. Information and entry forms are available here.

 

Video contest: For Kansas teens in grades 8-12. Prizes from the KTA include an iPad, a Go Pro and a DJI Osmo Pocket, and the grand prize winner’s school, class or booster club will receive $500. Information to submit entries is available here.

 

About 37,000 people die in traffic crashes each year across the United States. That’s nearly 101 fatalities every day. Let’s encourage everyone – drivers, passengers, pedestrians and cyclists – to exercise caution every day and Put the Brakes on Fatalities.

 

The Kansas Department of Transportation and numerous transportation organizations in Kansas are sponsoring the contests. More information about Put the Brakes on Fatalities Day is available here.

 

Winners from last year’s contests are listed below:

2018 Poster Contest Winners –

Northeast Kansas – Hudson Barrett, Spring Hill; Aurora Powell, Overbrook; Abigail Coons, Lawrence

North Central Kansas – Kierstyn Coup, Hope; Manny Morales, McPherson; Kira Carver, Herington

Northwest Kansas – Matthias Miller, Gorham; Janessa Miller, Gorham; Conner Miller, Gorham

Southeast Kansas – Hadley Holmes, Riverton; Brooklyn Green-Lawson, Riverton; Brayden Myers, Parsons

South Central Kansas – Kaymi Zink, Claflin; Finley Maloney, Kingman; Jeffrey Hamm, El Dorado

Southwest Kansas – Emmaline Luna, Holcomb; Mia Montes, Holcomb; Edgar Morales, Liberal

 

2018 Video Contest winners –

Andrew Marshall Tabb from Shawnee Mission West won first place.

Students from Eudora High School captured sec­ond place.

Students from Lawrence High School placed third in the video contest.

Fort Scott, Schools

FSHS Teaches New Class On Bourbon County History

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Students in Sara Jackman’s Bourbon County History Class work on are researching Zebulon Pike’s expedition using links posted in Google Classroom and are completing a map and graphic organizer.  Submitted photo.

Fort Scott High School has some teachers who wanted to bring to life for their students the stories of places/events where they live, where they have first-hand experience.

Brian Allen, an auto shop teachers-aide at Fort Scott High School, began a FSHS History Club several years ago to educate students about local history.

Brian Allen. Submitted photo.

“It has grown in membership and students have shown a genuine interest in knowing about where they live,” said FSHS History Teacher Sara Jackman.  “Last year, I approached the (USD234) administration about teaching a local history class and they were on board. After teaching a Bourbon County unit to junior high students at Uniontown for several years, I knew that it would be an elective I would enjoy teaching.”

Sara Jackman. Submitted photo.

“There is an interest from our students about the town and the county,” Jackman said. “They love to learn information about the places they see every day. The (FSHS)History Club’s membership numbers have been proof of that.  Additionally….we are trying to build pride for our hometown and county and respect for all of those who have made our community a good place to live.”

“I teach two sections of the class with approximately 53 students enrolled,” Jackman said.  “Mr. Allen helps me a great deal with content and guest speakers etc.”

A project at the end of the class will be for students to interview 80-90-year-olds in the community for future generations.

“The list of names for this year’s projects were selected by the HPA (Bourbon County Historical Preservation Association) board members,” Allen said. “The idea for the project came from them. We hope to interview people from all over the county. Arnold Scofield and some others on the board are working on the questions.  We will mostly focus on their memories and their contributions to the area. As you know, we have some great people who have come before us.”
“Our students will also be adding in questions of their own so that we can do the interview from multiple perspectives,” Jackman said. “We are always looking for volunteers.”
“I may in the future need to ask for volunteers for the interviews,” Allen said.  “But for now have enough for the 2019-2020 school year. If someone has a person they would like to have us consider in the future, they could contact me through Facebook. I hope to house the interviews in the HPA archives as well as with the genealogy society.”
“If they would like to participate they can contact either of us at the school 620-223-0600,” Jackman said.
“We are hoping to include the video production classes and have them filmed,” Jackman said.

The purpose of the new Bourbon County History class is to educate students about the history of the place in which they live, “Where we came from as a community,” Allen said.

“Our hope is that it gives them civic pride knowing about the rich history of Bourbon County,” Jackman said.

The first class in Bourbon County history began at FSHS on the first day of school, August 22.  It is an 18-week, one-semester course, that will be taught both semesters.

Curriculum for the course is from local authors and historical societies.

“Curriculum sources vary widely,” Jackman said.  “The textbook purchased for students is the Historic Reflections of Bourbon County Kansas by Fred Campbell, Jr. and Don Miller.  We also use many other locally written books, resources from the Kansas State Historical Society, the Bourbon County Historic Preservation Society, and lots of others.”

Pictured are the Bourbon County history resources that are being used for the new class at Fort Scott High School. Submitted photo.

These books are also available to the public through the Fort Scott Public Library.

The class is going well, Jackman said.

“We have started off learning about the Native Americans who would have lived in the area and some of the explorers who came to Kansas,” Jackman said. “On August 30, Mr. Reed Harford (came) in to speak to the class about the expedition of Zebulon Pike and his time in Bourbon County.”

“I am so impressed with Mrs. Jackman,” Allen said of the teacher and the class curriculum that she constructed.

Brian Allen is also the president of the Bourbon County Historical Preservation Association.

 

To see a recent KOAM News story on the subject, click below:

 

https://www.koamnewsnow.com/news/learning-local-history-in-bourbon-county/1115325896?fbclid=IwAR24pI29ZIKcEI6b16cgdUcjB8i3YzyBEG8nMH-fLtfvPz0DNgyQj5GL1e8

Fort Scott, Schools

New FS Student Success Center Teacher: Bo Graham

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Bo Graham. Submitted photo.

Bo Graham, 36, is the new Fort Scott High School Student Success Center Teacher.

“I became an educator because I had coaches and teachers that made a huge impact on my life,” he said. “I hope to do the same for the students and athletes I come in contact with! Bob Campbell was the main person who inspired me to teach. But I also had many others who played a role in that.”

Graham has been in education for 15 years, having graduated from Pittsburg State  University with a masters of arts degree in education.

“The best part of teaching for me has been having students or athletes come back seven, eight or nine years later letting me know the impact I had on them. It makes every second worth it,” he said.

For Graham one of the challenges in education is technology.

“The greatest challenge I see in education is probably technology, and that being good and bad,” he said.  “The technology you use to run school changes yearly. And with the use of computers, tablets, and cell phones good and not-so-good things can happen.”

Fort Scott is Graham’s hometown.

He has been married to Jamie for six years and has a 3-year-old daughter named Blakely.

In his spare time, Graham likes spending time with family, golfing, and watching Duke basketball.

Fort Scott, Schools

New FS Jr/High School Vocal Teacher: Emily Elliott

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Emily Elliott. Submitted photo.
 Emily Elliott, 37, is the new Fort Scott Middle and High School Vocal Music Director.
Fort Scott Middle School.

She is passionate about sharing music with people of all ages and has 18 years of experience equipping individuals, choirs and ensembles with the skills needed for music excellence, she said.

 Elliott received her BME from Baker University in 2019, specializing in vocal music with percussion as her secondary instrument.

 Elliott and her blended family are originally from Lawrence but are “excited to be a part of the Fort Scott community”, she said.

Her partner in life is Brad Kirk, who works as a master welder and maintenance technician. Her son, Oliver, will attend Eugene Ware Elementary as a 5th-Grader and her daughter, Madeline, will be an 8th-grader at the middle school.

In her spare time, Elliott enjoys reading, hanging out with family and friends, kayaking, watching movies, adding stamps to her passport, and attending live music and comedy shows.

As a music educator,  Elliott looks forward to sharing with her students the world of music and giving them the tools for deeper understanding and discovery,  and will work to create a positive inclusive classroom environment and rely on differentiated instruction that nurtures and enriches all students in their music-making.

Bourbon County, Schools

New Inclusion Teacher at West Bourbon Elementary: Lori Ferguson

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Lori Ferguson. Submitted photo.
Lori Ferguson, 44, will be the new K-6 Inclusion/Resource instructor at West Bourbon Elementary School in Uniontown.
She has 21 years experience in education, 20 in special education,  and one year in physical education.
Ferguson graduated in 1998  with a bachelor’s degree from Pittsburg State University and in  2005  with a masters in education from Washburn University.
She grew up in Hesston and currently lives in Girard, KS.
Ferguson and her husband (Todd) have five children: Brett-19, Jordanne-18, Justin-14, Emily-12, Aric-4.
In her spare time, she enjoys hanging out with family, cooking, yard work and puzzles, she said.
How did you become an educator?
I love a challenge and competition, so teaching and coaching was a natural choice.
Is there someone who inspired you to teach?

Looking back…. my high school volleyball coach’s compassion and competitive personality really influenced my career path.

What is the best part of teaching for you?

The best part of teaching is celebrating the “little things” with the kids. In addition, an added bonus is continually growing as a person and educator.

What are the greatest challenges in teaching for you?

One of the greatest challenges with teaching is not having all the answers, immediately.

Fort Scott, Schools

New WS Technology Teacher: Karen Gordon

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 Karen Gordon, 56, is the new technology teacher at Winfield Scott Elementary School.
Gordon retired in May from  teaching in Missouri after 27 years.
She is a Nevada, MO native.
“I’ve had numerous jobs in education while at Nevada,” she said. “Most recently I was one of the middle school counselors. I have also been the counselor at Truman Elementary, school psychological examiner for the district, taught fifth-grade, gifted, keyboarding, and seventh-grade science.”
Gordon has a bachelor of arts degree from UMKC and a master of science from PSU, both in elementary education.
“I also have numerous hours in counseling from MSU,” she said.
Her husband, Tom Gordon, and she have one son, McCade Gordon, who is a sophomore at Mizzou.
Outside of school, she likes attending Broadway shows, her son’s concerts, walking, and “hanging out with friends,” she said.
“The best part of teaching, for me, is getting to shape young minds and show them that their only limits are those they place on themselves,” she said.
Her greatest challenge this year will be going back into the classroom after being in counseling for the last six years, she said.
“I’m so excited to work with the littles!”