16
SATURDAY, SEP TEMBER 19, 2020 • KOKOMO TR I BUNE PROGRESS EDI T ION
FROM STAFF REPORTS
M
aconaquah School Cor-
poration has expanded
its security through the
implementation of its own
Police Department.
For the past seven years,
Maconaquah has employed
a full-time School Resource
Officer [SRO] through a
partnership with the Miami
County Sheriff’s Department.
While that partnership does
continue, Maconaquah has
heightened its security by uti-
lizing grant funds to create the
Maconaquah School Corpora-
tion Police Department.
The implementation of this
police department not only
provides crime prevention,
but also gives both students
and faculty a feeling of safety
within the school.
“Over the years we have
watched the dynamic both
inside and outside of our
school buildings change
positively through the imple-
mentation of the School
Resource Officer,” said
Maconaquah School Super-
intendent Dr. James Callane
in a release. “These officers
do more than protect our
students, they build relation-
ships with them. We are very
grateful to have Officer Chet
Sites through our partner-
ship with the Miami County
Sheriff’s Department, and also
excited to welcome Officer
Wayne Ives through our new
initiative, The Maconaquah
School Corporation Police
Department.”
Ives is no stranger to being
an SRO, having served as
one at Western High School
Corporation for 13 years and
also being part of the Howard
County Sheriff’s Department
for 32 years. Ives fell in love
with the SRO role because
of the relationships he got
to build with students and
building bridges between law
enforcement and students.
“I realize a lot of times they
don’t have good communica-
tion with law enforcement …
so this gives me a chance to
show them another side of
law enforcement, what law
enforcement is and build those
relationships so they’re not
afraid of us,” he said during
his first week on the job.
COVID RESPONSE
Quite possibly the biggest
growth to date has come from
a near complete change in tra-
ditional education due to the
pandemic.
“Our staff have worked
tirelessly to create a curricu-
lum that can serve students
both in the classroom as
well as those learning virtu-
ally,” Callane said. “We are
constantly changing and
improving our methods,
and both our students and
teachers have been resilient
during these trying times. If
we have accomplished nothing
else, we have at least watched
our corporation come together
to support our students in the
very best ways possible, and
for that I am very proud.”
FFA
The Maconaquah Future
Farmers of America’s Brave
Bunny Rabbitry saw growth
this year as a grant was
awarded to then-senior
Summer Thomlison.
Tomlinson applied for the
grant to try to give the rabbitry
a “good going away gift” before
she graduated and went to
Purdue. After receiving the
money, the rabbitry program
was able to buy new cages
instead of using used items
as well as equipment and a
breeding buck which will allow
the rabbitry to expand.
The rabbitry program has
already seen growth and pop-
ularity among students when
in 2019, while incorporating
Future Farmers of America
(FFA) with the rabbitry,
Manaquah agriculture teacher
and FFA adviser Dawn Baker
developed a show team of six
individuals for the rabbits.
The students cared for the
rabbits throughout the year,
feeding them and making sure
the rabbits meet the qualifica-
tions for the 4H fair of Miami
County
TRI-CENTRAL
ADAPTS AND
REMODELS TO
NEW NORMAL
FROM STAFF REPORTS
M
any things have changed in
this last year for Tri-Central,
andthe majority of the
changes were caused by COVID-19.
The biggest change that the
pandemic brought about is for the
school was to really ramp up its
technology abilities to handle live
virtual teaching to students. This
helped students and parents that
did not feel comfortable coming
back in the building for face-to-face
teaching, according to a release
Each teacher and classroom were
newly equipped with a new iPad
with video capabilities, a video iPad
stand, teacher microphones, and
teacher AirPods for communication.
Professional development for
teachers to be able to work with this
plan was also provided.
Not all changes are pandemic-
related.
Both Tri-Central and Tipton
schools were awarded close to a
$250,000 through a GEER Grant to
facilitate improved Internet connec-
tivity for students who live in parts
of the county where the Internet
is not reliable. The schools will be
receiving over 300 Wi-Fi hotspots
that students will be able to use
in their homes to facilitate virtual
teaching. The grant will provide this
for up to two years.
On a separate note, remodeling
took place at the main entrance
for the middle school/high school
door #2. This plan has been in the
works for a couple of years through
the School Safety Plan, according
to Tri-Central Superintendent Dave
Driggs.
The remodeling will now require
visitors to the school to enter the
main office where a background
check will take place and identifica-
tion will be verified.
Additionally, the west side of the
entire elementary school roof was
also replaced.
Finally, an additional new 78-pas-
senger bus was added to the school’s
fleet.
A NEW COP IN TOWN
MACONAQUAH FOCUSES ON KEEPING STUDENTS SAFE
EDUCATION
SPOTLIGHT
Maconaquah
Schools new
police
department
is made up of
officers Chet
Sites and
Wayne Ives.
Stephanie
Tidd, who is
the assistant
principal
at the high
school,
heads up the
department.
(Kokomo
Tribune file
photo)
