The Haywood County School Board met in regular session on November 8 with all board members present. Chairman Harold Garrett conducted the meeting. After Superintendent Teresa Russell celebrated Haywood County Schools, board members approved out-of-state travel for a group from HHS, the granting of the fall mini grants, the System’s Compliance report and heard reports of the audit of school activity accounts and cafeteria funds and budget amendments.

Superintendent Russell gave recognition to the HHS Tomcats as they prepare for the second round of the football playoffs. They will play Memphis East on Friday, November 11. She also commented on the many fundraising events going on in the community for different school projects, saying that the schools are so grateful for the community’s participation in these events.

Superintendent Russell introduced Samantha Sammons, a third-grade teacher at Haywood Elementary, who gave a presentation about improvements, additions and projects going on at her school. She reports that they have found funds to complete several projects, including having learning murals painted on some of the walls and a greenhouse project that students are enjoying and learning from. They are also raising funds for new playground equipment and other projects. Samantha reported that staff members have also joined together to “refresh” some areas of the school.

In other business, board members approved out-of-state travel for Three Career and Technical teachers to take FCCLA officers to the FCCLA National Cluster meeting in Orlando, Florida, November 15-20. They also approved the System’s School Compliance Report that the state requires each year.

CFO Larry Livingston reported that the Catherine Truss Colhoun Scholarship fund has a balance of $187,629.36 as of September 30. HHS seniors in the Class of 2016 received $12,000 in scholarships in May. He also presented budget amendments to board members that they approved.

The board approved 10 Fall Mini-Grant Literacy Awards to teachers. Receiving the awards are:

Tera Gagnon – Anderson – “Rolling Literacy Cart” – This project will provide all teachers and students in pre-k and kindergarten the opportunity to practice literacy skills through engaging apps accessed on iPads.
Amelia Morrison – Haywood Elementary – “Load the Library” – The goal of this project is to place as many books in our students’ hands as possible to encourage and foster the life-long love of reading.
Lana Hester – Haywood Elementary – “Load the Library” – Haywood Elementary School is partnering with Haywood County Schools to roll out “Haywood Reads” reading initiative by creating three Free Little Libraries on the campus.
Vivian Miller – Haywood Elementary – “Load the Library” – Haywood Elementary has created three Free Little Libraries on its school campus to encourage and foster that love for reading to all of our students and support the “Haywood Reads” initiative.
Rhonda Jones – Haywood Elementary – “Increasing Science and Social Studies Literacy” – To develop and/or enhance a better understanding of science and social studies concepts based on the TN state standards.
Valerie Sceals – Haywood Elementary – “BrainPOP Jr.” – BrainPOP Jr. presents content in a fun and engaging way. Many skills can be introduced in a way to maintain students’ attention through animated movies, learning games, and interactive quizzes.
Shalondria Shaw – Haywood Middle School – “OMG! Shakespeare: Teaching with Emoji Literature” – The object of this project is for students to read and comprehend the literary works of William Shakespeare and expand and deepen their knowledge of content area vocabulary.
Sally Brown – Haywood Middle School – “The Best Books” – This activity was created as a result of researching the best books for middle school classroom libraries; the list of “best books” was voted upon by middle school students, (before, during and after reading).
Lauryn Spitzer – Haywood Middle School – “Bound for Greatness” – The objective of this project is to introduce and motivate students to actively participate in all aspects of the writing process leading up to and resulting in bound student-created books.
Robyn Claxton – Sunny Hill – “Teens Read” – “Teens Read” promotes teen literacy through relatable and relevant reading materials.

The next board meeting will be held on Tuesday, December 13, at 6 p.m.