By Stephen Smoot
During the all too brief interlude between bitter cold and snow on one hand and an ice storm on the other, the Pendleton County Board of Education convened at Pendleton County Middle/high School to first receive a presentation by middle and high school staff, then hold their regular twice per month meeting.
Board members, administrators, faculty, staff, Local School Improvement Council representatives, and other guests first ate a delicious meal of two soup options, baked sandwiches, fruit salad, and a variety of desserts. Students prepared the food and Sonny O’Neil, board of education member, gave a blessing.
At 6 p.m., all went to the school library for the PCM/HS presentation.
Nicole Hevener, first year principal, led off. She opened by stating, “We thank you guys. We appreciate all the support. We just wanted to say first that we appreciate you.”
She then shared her thanks for the faculty, staff, administration, and students at PCM/HS, saying, “It has been overwhelming to me how supportive everyone has been to me in my new role.”
Hevener quickly ceded the floor to Derek Hinkle, faculty senate president for PCM/HS. Faculty senates date back decades, giving teachers a way to work out problems in their own forum and to have a voice with administrators, central office staff, and board members.
“We did finally get the alt ed building,” shared Hinkle. For many months, Pendleton County Schools waited on delivery of prefabricated halves of a building for alternative education students. Inmates at Huttonsville Correctional Facility constructed it, but the logistics of moving it from Randolph to Pendleton County proved difficult to solve for a long time.
Hinkle added about the new building that it’s “a great new space, a better environment that will create more positivity.” Additionally, he reported that the wrestling team uses the former alt-ed space to conduct its practices, an example of the school finding the most efficient use of the limited resource of space.
Next came Jeremy Eye, the faculty advisor for the middle school student council of Carolina Kimble, Ashlyn Wimer, Ziva Jones, Ava Bowers, Jacey Thompson, and Weston Boyer. He described the council as an effective, but quiet, group that has “some of the best hearts I’ve ever seen. Their hearts are amazing. They are great kids.”
One example of how “they always think of other people” came in their work with Operation Christmas Child. He said of their efforts that they packed the boxes and “prayed over them.”
The middle school student council has a number of goals to achieve, including working with Communities in Schools to raise money for a Washington, DC, trip, sending St. Valentines Day cards to residents at Pendleton Manor and more.
The high school student council, consisting of Kiera Heavener and Dakota Huffman, advised by Amanda Rader, has also remained busy. Their goal lies in improving student morale while improving the school. They have conducted root beer float fundraisers and sent candy cane messages at Christmas among other projects.
Hinkle returned to the podium to talk about the work of the faculty senate so far this year. Much of the work centers on “trying to support our teachers and other staff” and “help with the hiring of new staff members.”
“The big thing is staying consistent with everything,” notes Hinkle, who went on to explain that the faculty senate worked to support educators and “trying to be those leaders” who can get positive accomplishments done.
“Whatever the need is,” Hinkle said, “the faculty senate has to step up.”
On behalf of the faculty, Hinkle expressed appreciation for the leadership of Hevener. He said, “We cannot thank her enough for her leadership and support.”
Board members and the superintendent then heard about career education programs at the high school, including the “Grow Your Own” to help get future teachers an early start. They also heard about “Educators Rising,” a career and technical student organization that exists to start “empowering tomorrow’s leaders.”
Next, they heard about accolades earned by the high school’s Future Farmers of America, both collective successes and individual honors.
Hevener shared with the board some problems and concerns facing the school. This starts with the condition of the lockers in the middle school. She went on to add that some bathrooms in the building have inconsistent or no hot water. Projects ongoing include a “systematic” painting of classrooms. “Students notice and appreciate that,” she said, then stated that it makes the school more welcoming to visitors.
The school has also worked on strengthening safety protocols and running emergency readiness drills. These were conducted along with “great collaboration from law enforcement,” said Hevener.
Emergency readiness served as one of three main goals, the other two focusing on the school’s climate and culture, and also professional development.
Dayne Davis, who serves with Hevener, Martin Kniley, and Jackee Propst on the Local School Improvement Council, shared that the LSIC has focused a great deal on discipline. Though Pendleton County has avoided some of the same issues seen elsewhere across the state and nation, efforts would help to ensure that problems do not develop at PCM/HS.
LSIC members have also worked on improvements and solutions in the balanced scorecard, the strategic plan, student achievement, and attendance.
Discipline and attendance work has in part worked on “making sure students are where they are scheduled to be,” said Hevener. While only a handful actually have skipped class, many go to other classrooms during the day to seek help from other teachers on their academics or other issues.
Hevener related the frustration felt by administration when parents or guardians come to pick up children during the day and have to wait because they cannot be immediately found.
The remainder of the presentation centered on discussing how the plans have been focused on attendance, academics, and other issues.