Fort Scott Community College closed on the purchase of the Red Ram Motel, 701 N. National Avenue, on May 30, 2018, for $90,000.

“The Patel’s (the former owners of the motel) donated $20,000 to the  FSCC Endowment Fund,”  FSCC President Alysia Johnston said.

The FSCC plan is to repurpose and clean up the property to be used for student housing for the college, according to Johnston. The property will become a part of the campus and therefore tax exempt.

When complete, the new student housing will be called the Greyhound Lodge.

“We are getting a code footprint on it by Ag Engineering (Uniontown), when that is done we will send it to the state and the city,” Johnston said.

Currently, the college is taking bids for cleaning the property of trees and other unwanted items, she said.

“We had at least three people interested in the Red Ram Motel sign,” Johnston said. “Rhonda Dunn (Fort Scott’s Community Development Director) suggested using it for a fundraiser.

There are 21 units at the lodge, with the possibility of 42 students.

Each room will have a small refrigerator and microwave oven.

Students can still purchase a modified meal plan if they will be eating on campus, which is across town to the south of the lodge property.

A two-bedroom apartment on the property will be remodeled for an assistant coach to live in for security and supervision duties, she said.

The current lobby area will be turned into a computer lab.

Behind the lab will be a student laundry facility and behind that will be a student lounge with adjacent student kitchen.

The old swimming pool area will be converted into an outdoor eating area complete with grills, a gazebo, and picnic tables, Johnston said.

“The cost to students will be $300 per month,  which includes everything except food,” Johnston said.

The lodge is expected to be ready for students in mid-August, Johnston said.

“It’s been fun to start the transformation,” Johnston said. “We hope to have a ribbon cutting at some point.”

Photo courtesy of Stephanie Potter

 FSCC Construction Trades and Masonry take on SkillsUSA Nationals

Fort Scott, Ks.—Fort Scott Community College Construction Trades and Masonry students head out to Louisville, Ky. to compete in the 54th annual SkillsUSA National competition held on June 25th-29th. Students who placed first at the state level competition earned the chance to take on nationals. FSCC took 13 carpentry students, 3 HVAC students, and 3 masonry students to state and 4 students came out on top; Alex Garcia and Coltin Oehme for masonry, Dylan Giager and Wil Jameson for carpentry.

FSCC sophomore Siarra Clark, who came in second at state, but only by a couple points, says “I was raised around concrete and construction so the program at FSCC was fitting. The competition was a great experience and I hope to compete in something like this in the future.” Siarra took 1st in the hands-on portion of the state competition and 2nd in the written portion, making it 2nd overall.

Pittsburg High School (PHS) senior and now FSCC certified mason Coltin Oehme came in 1st overall at the state level, so he will go on to compete at nationals. Oehme not only came in 1st but was the first one done even with making multiple corrections. “If the design isn’t correct and perfect, it’s an automatic loss,” says Oehme. FSCC Masonry instructor, Nacoma Oehme, Coltin’s cousin, says “Coltin did great at state and we’re looking forward to seeing what he does at nationals…he takes a lot of pride in his work, especially since it’s in the family. We come from a long line of masons. Coltin inspires others to look into masonry as a career choice.”

FSCC carpentry students Dylan Giager (FSCC) and Wil Jameson (PHS) will compete on the carpentry side of SkillsUSA. This is FSCC carpentry’s 7th year to nationals under the supervision of instructor Kim Coates. “You never know who is going to bring who,” says Coates, “Wil Jameson is the first high school sophomore to win gold and go to nationals…I was surprised and very excited.” Brady Newman, FSCC student barely came in 2nd behind Dylan Giager by only 2%, winning him a silver medal. Right behind him was Thomas Mayfield with a bronze medal.

2018 Fort Scott High School graduate Darby Toth is a National Speech and Debate Student of the Year nominee, she was notified last week.

Toth has qualified all four years of high school to attend the National Speech and Debate Tournament in Florida, this year June 15-23.

But this year she is one of five finalists for National Speech and Debate Student of the Year.

While at the national tournament this year, Toth will interview with selected debate coaches to find out her placement.

The honor is a dream come true, she said.

“I want to thank all my coaches,” Toth said. “Amber Toth, Travis Toth and Sarah Bahr for giving me the tools…and an avenue for this to happen, because this truly is a dream becoming reality.”

Two of the speech and debate coaches are her parents, both teachers at the high school.

Amber Toth taught debate,  forensic and speech,  Travis Toth teaches history.

“It’s a family rule,” Darby said. “You have to try (speech and debate) for one year.”

It has become one of her passions, she said.

Speech and debate have had “amazing” effects on her and has allowed her to follow her other passion: social justice, Darby said.

Through her high school years, Darby has honed her communication and goal-setting skills learned in speech and debate.

She helped organize a formal dress drive at her school as a sophomore.

“We got winter formal (dress) donations for anyone who couldn’t afford it,” she said.

Following Hurricane Harvey’s devastation of south-east Texas, Darby used the skills to help raise almost $5,000 for schools in Texas, she said.

She took it upon herself to start a sexual harassment awareness campaign when she learned that issue was a problem for some students at FSHS.

“It was definitely a challenge to get students, administration, and teachers on board,” she said. “It took a pretty detailed mapping of a plan…..they plan next year to have a sexual harassment awareness speaker come speak to the entire student body. We have several posters up around the school. Our counselors are more aware that it is an issue in our school and are working with the students.

“There were some kids who were not being appropriate in the classroom, physically,…they faced repercussions for what they did.

“I felt I needed to be a voice for people who felt as if they didn’t have one because I knew what happened in the classroom wasn’t even the tip of the iceberg. I heard personal stories of girls, whether in or out of the high school. They are suffering in their personal life.”

An AXA Achievement Scholarship was awarded to Darby’

“It’s a $1,000 grant to the high school… it’s used for teacher professional development,” she said. “I gave Mr. (Shawn)Thomas (FSHS Principal) all my research on the subject, Restorative Justice. Instead of a zero-tolerance program, it’s more restorative, therapeutic based…I asked that (the grant) be used for Restorative Justice.”

This topic includes focusing on the reasoning behind student actions, then mediating and working through it, she said.

The AXA Achievement Scholarship is awarded to students because they have demonstrated ambition and self-drive.

For more information on this scholarship click here:

https://us.axa.com/axa-foundation/AXA-achievement-scholarship.html

Darby received other recognitions as well.

She had a 4.0 Grade Point Average at FSHS in mostly honors classes and received an Ellis Foundation Grant, Peterson Scholarship, Garvey Scholarship, a Kansas Honor Scholar among others.

Darby is a four-time Speech and Debate National Qualifier, District Top Point Earner for two years, state champion in oration, state runner-up in impromptu speaking, number one debater/forensicator in Kansas, District Student of the Year, ranked in the top ten nationally, and recipient of the Debate and Forensics Scholarship-chosen by a panel of teachers.

Toth will attend Washburn University with a psychology major and leadership minor in the fall.

“I would like to work with children, especially the impoverished,” she said. “Starting my own practice would be cool… Working in a school would be cool. Which would provide an avenue to coach debate/forensics.”