The Hancock-Henderson Quill, Inc.
Tuesday, at the La Harpe School Board's regular meeting, May 16 Paul Blythe spoke to the board urging them to consider the addition of another teacher and class section for next year's fifth grade class.
Larry Benne from Carl Sandburg College passed out the May edition of the Envoy and mentioned several articles of interest to the board.
The board approved the addition of another teacher and class section for the kindergarten and first grade and to pursue Title I services for fifth grade, approved an Ag teaching position for the 2006-07 school year, and approved the addition of two part-time positions in the high school of Spanish and English all for the 2006-07 school year.
In other business the board approved the football coop coaching recommendations from the West Prairie board which include Tim Lafferty, Dave Demler, Tyler Walker, Ryan Duffie, and Matt Zeringer, the summer custodial help, the FY06 amended budget, authorized participation in Federal Assistance programs for La Harpe school, adopted the amended 2005-06 school calendar and the proposed 2006-07 school calender, decided to pursue considering an athletic coop agreement with Carthage High School in boys' golf for the 2006-07 school year with all expenses to be paid for by the participants, adopted the interfund loan resolution 2006-3 for $19,000, approved offering optional student accident insurance from Hometown Insurance Center of La Harpe for the 2006-07 school year, and approved the distribution of the School Climate Survey to all school employees.
Junior High/High School Principal Lila McKeown reported that a Sportsworld speaker, Devon McDonald, spoke to the high school and junior high students on April 19th. His message was on making good choices in life.
The Student Council organized an hour of fun, the "Mr. LHS" contest. This year's Mr. L.H.S. was Derrick Daudelin. Dustin Huss was the People's Choice winner.
The post-prom committee did an excellent job of preparing the gym for the annual Prom Preview. Many members of the community enjoyed coming to see the students dressed in their finest. Prom was held at the New Orleans in Burlington, Iowa.
The junior and senior high spring musical was held in the gym on May 3rd. As always Mrs. Mencel did an excellent job in organizing and presenting the program.
The National Honor Society held their annual Penny Carnival in the gym on May 6th. The young children of our community really enjoy playing the games. The money raised is used to provide book scholarships for members of the senior class.
Baccalaureate was held at the Christian Church on Sunday May 7th. Reverend Bigley from the Methodist Church was the speaker. It was well attended by the parents and community.
The Hancock County Farm Bureau was here on May 11th to pass out soy candles to all of the students.
Mrs. Mencel took junior and senior high chorus and band students to the St. Louis area to perform on May 12th. They stayed overnight and enjoyed a day at Six Flags on the 13th. The students performed well and enjoyed the music field trip.
A reception was held for the 7th grade volleyball team on April 19th. They brought home the 2nd place state trophy to add to our collection of state trophies received this year.
The track team had another excellent season. Twenty-two junior high students (including two 5th graders) went to the state track meet. The 7th grade girls brought home the 4th place team trophy. The 8th grade boys 4x200 relay team brought home 5th place medals.
We have been blessed with an outstanding group of young athletes this year. Not only did they bring home the medals and trophies but they represented our school with dignity and good sportsmanship. Our coaches and parents should be commended for their role in the athletic endeavors of these children.
The Student Council sponsored a dance on April 28th. Mrs. Dittmer and her group decorated the grade school gym in a Hawaiian theme.
The Science Fair was held in the grade school gym on Friday, May 5th. The junior high students worked very hard on their projects. There were many interesting projects.
The 7th grade students went to Springfield for their field trip on May 8th. They toured the capitol, Illinois State Museum, Lincoln's Tomb, and the new Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum.
The junior high honors group fixed lunch for the teachers on May 10th. It was delicious.
The 6th grade students went on their field trip to Hannibal, Missouri, on the 10th. They toured the cave and spent a couple of hours at Sawyer Creek Park.
The junior high baseball team will be honored at the high school state championship game on June 2nd.
Barbara Cox read the Ag report prepared by Paul Mealiff. Lacey Pence and Lindsey Pollock will be delegates to the State FFA Convention and Genessa Cox plans to work with the Convention Press Core. Those members planning to work on the Convention Courtesy Corp include: Kirsten Johnson, Megan Poulter, Tanieka Rodeffer, and Mariah Myers.
Justin Sparrow, Lacey Pence, and Megan Poulter will receive their State FFA degree on June 15th at the convention.
Two teams competed in the Section XI FFA Trap Shoot on April 22nd at the Smokin Gun Hunting Club near Hamilton. Team #1 consisting of Jesse Palmer, Dillon McKeown, Ted Geissler, Randy Bray, and Skyler Pence placed 4th and Team #2 made up of Derek Van Fleet, Aaron Logan, Dillon Pollock, Joslin Dowell, and Alex Irish placed 8th.
The State Livestock and Dairy Judging CDE was held on April 25th at the U. of I. The La Harpe livestock team was composed of Mariah Myers, Dillon McKeown, Alex Bundy, and Tanieka Rodeffer. The Dairy team was composed of Megan Poulter, Dillon Pollock and Steven Ide.
The corn plot was planted on May 3rd. We appreciate Ryan Mullenix, Lance and Greg Blythe, and Andy Johnson who finished planting around 7:15 in a steady drizzle.
On May 5th, Alex Bundy, Dillon Pollock and Dillon McKeown helped Greg and Lance Blythe plant the soybean plot.
Members of the Horticulture class and FFA had another successful flower and plant sale on May 5th and 6th, with a closeout sale on May 12th and 13th. Both weekends were cloudy and cool, but the customers continued to come.
School board members in attendance were Barbara Cox, Dan Horton, Nancy Butler, Cindy Wear, R.D. Trout, and Ricky Johnson.
Also present were Jo Campbell, Pat Deitrich, Larry Benne from Carl Sandburg College, Paula Blythe, Rich and Becky Wilhite, Mindy Johnson, Wayne Bray, Cindy Jones, Kathy Kendall, Joyce Crim, Hollie Gebhardt, and Michelle Cox.
Lila McKeown attended the meeting following the high school awards program.