Our district has enjoyed many successes this school year, beginning with the involvement of our new teachers in our mentoring program, under the direction of Mary Jo Huffman of Fort Scott. Our new teachers have formed lasting relationships with our mentors, continue to ask great questions, teach from the heart, and have set high expectations for their students. We are so excited to see them continue in their growth as educators, and ready to welcome next year’s batch of new educators. The mentoring program has been able to provide a much-needed feeling of connection, regardless of the sometimes great geographic distances between our schools.
March 1st brought about a new roster of leadership in many of our board and chair positions, and we are happy to announce that all our Assistant High School Chair positions have been filled. This will bring about better continuity, especially since many of our assistant chairs have served in a leadership role before. We thank Rosie Sweeney of Sedan, past vice-president, for her service, leadership, wisdom, and kindness as she has served our district these past six years. We welcome Willey Abati of Girard as our vice president, and Megan Gabehart of Altamont as our president-elect and look forward to all we shall accomplish these next two years.
Our middle school and elementary mini-convention was iced out this semester. The board discussed creating a weather-out date for next year, but with travel basketball on the weekends, there really isn’t an option for that. We will try again next year, and are excited to announce that Frontenac will be taking a turn to host our event. Our high school district auditions will continue to be hosted by Fort Scott Middle School, and our high school mini-conventions will continue to be hosted by Pittsburg State University in their gorgeous Bicknell Family Center for the Arts, which is officially finished! All our high school ensembles will be able to remain under one roof during our high school mini-convention.
We have several retiring teachers in our district this year, and we thank them for their service to young people and the profession. All of us have been assisted and looked after by our retirees over the years, and without them would not be the teachers we are. The impression they’ve made on young lives using music simply cannot be measured. Thank you, all. You are so important and cherished, and we wish you all the best.
The dates for next year are as follows:
November 9th, High School auditions at Fort Scott Middle School
November 14th, District Jazz Band at Bicknell Family Center for the Arts, PSU
December 7th, District Band/Choir/Orchestra at Bicknell Family Center for the Arts, PSU
January 18th, District Elementary Choir and Middle School Band/Choir at Frontenac High School
