Photo and story by Crystal Hayduk
The two staff members whose hiring was approved by the Chelsea School District Board of Education in August were introduced at their meeting on Sept. 8.
Principals Stacie Battaglia and Nick Angel introduced Emily Verbeke, the school psychologist whose service will be shared equally between South Meadows Elementary School and Beach Middle School.
Battaglia summarized that Verbeke was born and raised in Albion, and graduated from Albion College prior to earning her Master’s Degree at the University of Denver. She covered four schools in the Plymouth-Canton area since 2010. Angel said that Verbeke “…wears a lot of hats,” and has “hit the ground running.”
Principal Marcus Kaemming introduced the new kindergarten teacher at North Creek Elementary, Kelly Ryan. Ryan graduated from Michigan State, and received her teaching certificate from Eastern Michigan University, before pursuing her Master’s Degree at Doane College in Nebraska.
With little lead time to prepare a classroom for the youngest of Chelsea’s students, Ryan has “jumped right in,” said Kaemming.
The official student count day will be Wednesday, Sept. 17, but Superintendent Andy Ingall reported that he expects about 20 more students than last year. The increase led to the need for the additional kindergarten teacher, and contributed to the reinstatement of English classes at the high school.
According to a written statement from Mike Kapolka, principal of Chelsea High School, three sections of Advanced Placement Literature, two sections of Honors English 9, and the Popular Literature elective have been restored to the high school class schedule.
“By doing so, we were able to address some class size issues with our senior and freshmen English courses and provide additional balance to offerings in the department,” Kapolka wrote.
The board heard updates on progress toward meeting district goals from several administrators, including Julie Deppner, assistant superintendent; Teresa Zigman, executive director of business and operations; Ron Livengood, director of operations; Jeff Knasiak, transportation services director, and Sue Gregg, food service supervisor.
Highlights of the presentations included plans for revision of report cards, piloting of the latest version of Everyday Math at South Meadows, and plans for some teachers to attend the National Science Conference in Chicago for professional development. Deppner said that teachers can rarely attend national conferences due to the cost associated with distance, but Chicago is close enough for teachers to drive.
There are plans for safety drills to practice severe weather scenarios with bus drivers, according to Knasiak.
He also hopes to pilot a leadership program at Beach in which tutoring will take place on the bus, to take advantage of lengthy routes. The program would be called “Ride and Learn.”
At the conclusion of the presentation, Deppner said, “We are looking forward to a great year. We have a lot of work to do, but we’re excited to get started.”
The Marching Band Exhibition, featuring a variety of high school bands and the Eastern Michigan University Eagle Marching Band, will be held at the football field on Sept. 17 at 5 p.m. Tickets are $5 per person, $3 for students and senior citizens.
The next school board meeting will be Sept. 22 at 6:30 p.m. in the board room at the Washington Street Education Center.
