Blog Bits

Where Are They Now? is a new feature for the Plymouth Truth. We are pleased to partner with the Pilot News to bring you stories about Plymouth High School graduates and their life after high school. While Where Are They Now? will concentrate on writing snippets about graduates, the Pilot News may pick up a story now and then for their feature Small Town, Big World.

If you have a story you would like to report about a son, daughter, brother, sister, any relative or even a neighbor, send the information to an in an email and make sure you include the person's email or phone number and we will feature the person in one of our weekly Blog entries.

Send emails to sdodson@plymouth.k12.in.us

PHS Boys Basketball Game

The PHS Boys JV and Varsity Basketball games scheduled for this evening at Whitko have been cancelled due to a power outage. The games will be rescheduled at a later date.

Basketball Game

The boys basketball game against Northwood has been postponed until Saturday, December 20, at the PHS gym. Game time is 6:15. At the same the the girls basketball team will play Northwood at Northwood.

Closed December 19

Freezing rain and other conditions have led to us closing Friday, December 19. Please be safe and enjoy your Christmas and New Years Holiday time.

2 Hour Delay

Because of freezing rain, Plymouth Schools is operating under at 2 hour Delay on Friday, December 19. Further determinations will be made by 8:00 AM.

Congratulations Plymouth High School

In the last several days, Plymouth High School has received two very prestigious awards.

First, Plymouth High School was awarded the Bronze Award from US News and World Report. This award is for the following:

1. Standardized Test Performance
2. Proficiency Rates of all Students (Including the Least Advantaged)

http://www.usnews.com/listings/high-schools/indiana/plymouth_high_school

Second, the Indiana State Chamber of Commerce named Plymouth High School as one of Indiana’s Best Buy Schools. Best Buy schools are those that give taxpayers the most for their money.

http://www.indianachamber.com/media/pdf/IndianasBestBuys2008.pdf

Congratulations Plymouth High School! We will have a community celebration for Plymouth High School when we return from Christmas Vacation.

REMINDER

With the chance of freezing rain and / or fog for Tuesday morning, please remember that IF we have a 2-hour delay, Plymouth Schools will cancel the scheduled in-service and students will attend school the entire day.

Riverside Takes First Place at District Spell Bowl

Riverside Intermediate 6th grade Spell Bowl team earned first place in Class 1 at the district spell bowl competition held at North Liberty Elementary on Thursday, November 20, 2008. Allegra Davis led the team with a perfect round. Brandon Milligan and Cody Gamble earned ribbons for near perfect rounds. Other members of the Riverside Spell Bowl team include Emma Trappe, Korie Rice, Nick Walker, Tyler England, Kennedy Schnieders, Andrew Gerard, Brantlee Joseph, Zach Ballard, Denise Altheide, and Ashley Clemons. The Riverside Spell Bowl team is coached by Sharon Scott. Angie Stults of Edward Jones Investments is the Riverside Spell Bowl team sponsor.

Apology

I have to apologize to the faithful Blog readers for not posting the delay and cancellation last Friday. I was struggling with my computer to get Internet and then I was struggling with a new form of technology that we were using for the first time. With click on weareclosedtoday.com all media outlets in the area, both radio and TV should be contacted. Once I got on the Internet, I spent the next 20 minutes trying to check radio on TV stations. To my dismay WSBT was the only media outlet contacted. This feature will work immediately and so will my memory. Once again, please accept my apologies.

School Board Meeting Notes - 11-20-08

The following is a summary of the Plymouth School Board of Trustees meeting’s Business Transactions held at Menominee School on Thursday, November 20, 2008, at 7:00 p.m.

1. Mr. Dunn presented the Menominee Elementary data results and growth plan.

2. Mr. Samuelson, Board President, presented certificates to school volunteers. In all 80 volunteers were honored.

3. The Board appointed Todd Samuelson to the Athletic Council.

4. An appointment to the Safety Committee was tabled until January.

5. The Board entertained the second reading of the Non-Resident Student Admissions Policy. A few changes were made. The Board will adopt this policy at their December 2nd meeting.

6. One student activity request for the high school choir was approved.

7. Donation reports were accepted for Menominee Elementary, Riverside Intermediate, and Webster Elementary.

8. Mr. Tyree updated the Board on the handicap ramp at Lincoln Junior High and several other projects in the corporation.

Blog Bits

Congratulations to Washington Elementary for being awarded a grant to provide all second grade students with a laptop computer. This $30,000 grant will benefit over 80 students at Washington Elementary this year and for years to come.

Congratulations to the Junior High Spelling Team. The team placed 6th in the State Junior High Spelling Bowl.

Thanks to the teachers and administrators at Lincoln Junior High for inducting their first group of students into the National Junior Honor Society last week. Nearly 30 students from Grade 8 were inducted. Students from Grade 7 are scheduled to be inducted in the spring.

Kudos to the Plymouth School Board of Trustees for being named an Outstanding Indiana School Board. A special congratulation also goes out to Board Member Frank Brubaker who has achieved Level 1 status as a Board Member

Condon Named Principal of the Year

Plymouth Schools is proud to announce that Jim Condon, Principal of Plymouth High School, has been named District Principal of the Year. Jim is in his second year at Plymouth after a long stint at Knox High School.

Jim’s strengths include both curriculum development and organizational management. However, what made Jim an outstanding choice for this award was the way he works with students, staff, and community members.

Jim will receive the award on November 23, 2008 in Indianapolis. He will also learn that evening if he is named Indiana Principal of the Year. Jim and eleven other principals from around the state are up for that award.

Blog Bits

Nearly 40 people attended Dr. Jerry McKibben's presentation on future demographics for Plymouth this past Monday night. From his numbers, it is obvious that the economy has put a small dent in our enrollment, but he believes our numbers will stay fairly stable. He also addressed the number of graduates who leave our community and never return and talked about the economic development role in our enrollment growth.

Our next meeting is December 1, 2008 at 6:30 p.m. in the Plymouth High School cafeteria. Remember, all stakeholders in Plymouth Schools are invited to attend.

http://www.updatesoftware.com/plymouth/attachments/Plymouth%20presentation%2010-26-08.pdf

Superintendent's Advisory Committee Meeting

The third meeting of the Superintendent’s Advisory Committee will meet tonight at Lincoln Junior High’s Cafeteria. Tonight, demographer, Jerry McKibben will present his calculations on future enrollments in light of the recent economic problems that have taken hundreds of jobs from this area.

The meeting is from 6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. and all are invited to attend, ask questions, and be involved.

Blog Bits

RE: THANKSGIVING HOLIDAY

On Thursday, November 27th and Friday, November 28th school will not be in session due to the Thanksgiving holiday.

Blog Bits

Re: In-Service ½ Day

Wednesday, November 5, 2008, is scheduled as a corporation in-service day.

All elementary, Riverside, and LJH students will be dismissed at 12:20 p.m.

PHS students will be dismissed at 12:30 p.m.




Re: PHS ½ Day


On Friday, November 7, 2008, Plymouth High School students ONLY will attend ½ day.

Plymouth High School students will be dismissed at 11:00 a.m.


Lincoln Junior High, Riverside Intermediate and all elementary schools will attend a full day on November 7th.

Strategic Plan Meeting #2: The Futurist

Over eighty educators and stakeholders met at Christo’s Banquet Center to hear a three hour presentation by Ed Barlow, Futurist, titled “Engaging the Future: It’s a Journey, Not a Destination.” Twenty-one of the audience members represented Plymouth Schools and the Superintendent’s Advisory Council.

Barlow organized his talk around eight areas of change we will all go through. They include:
1. Change Continuum
2. Economic Change
3. Global Change
4. Environmental Change
5. Science and Technology Change
6. Demographic Change
7. Organizational Change
8. Human Resources Change

If you would like to see notes from Ed Barlow’s presentation, they will be online starting October 28, 2008 at www.creatingthefuture.com and the password is MCEBS.

Our final three meetings are scheduled on the following dates:

November 3, 2008 6:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m. LJHS Café Demographer
December 1, 2008 6:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m. PHS Café Focus Group
December 8, 2008 6:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m. PHS Café Focus Group

Please plan to attend and bring a friend with you. We need to snowball our small group into a large group.

Strategic Plan Meeting #1

Approximately 30 citizens attended the first meeting for the development of Plymouth School’s Strategic Plan last night in the Plymouth High School cafeteria. Those assembled listened to Plymouth Administrators paint a snapshot view of the Plymouth Community School Corporation.

Meeting #2 will feature futurist Ed Barlow who will address the eight stages of change for the future in education. The second meeting is scheduled for October 20, 2008 from 5:30 – 9:00 p.m. at Christo’s Banquet Center. There are still a few seats available for that presentation. If you would like to attend, please call Rosalie Babcock at 936-3115.

Blog Bits

Lady Pilgrim Golf Team “3-peats”

The Lady Pilgrims Golf Team will compete at their third consecutive state finals today at the Legends Golf Club in Franklin, Indiana. Members of the team include Rebecca Moberly, Alex Starr, Allison Bayley, Ashley Lenne, and Erin Kinney. Coaches are Julie Stauffer and Jack Kinney.

Good luck girls! You too, Jack!

Blog Bits

This is a reminder Plymouth Schools is embarking on a major effort to create a new strategic plan. This educational think-tank will start Monday, October 6, 2008 in the high school cafeteria. While some received a written invitation, please understand everyone is welcome to attend. All meetings are open to the public except for the October 20, 2008 meeting at Christo’s Banquet Center due to the limited seating. Please print this schedule and plan to attend as many meetings as you can.

• Monday, October 6, 2008, 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., Plymouth High School Cafeteria, Orientation

• Monday, October 20, 2008, 5:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., Christo's Banquet Center, Ed Barlow, Futurist

• Monday, November 3, 2008, 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., Lincoln Jr. High School Cafeteria, Jerry McKibben, Demographer

• Monday, December 1, 2008, 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., Plymouth High School Cafeteria, Characteristics of a Plymouth High School graduate

• Monday, December 8, 2008, 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., Plymouth High School Cafeteria, Programming needs

We understand that schedule conflicts may keep you from attending all meetings. Please do not let that stop you from attending some of the meetings. All input is valued and appreciated.