Achievements highlighted at A-JCHS Board meetings

<p class="p1">Accomplishments and achievements were highlighted at recent, regular monthly meetings of the Anna-Jonesboro Community High School District 81 Board of Education. </p><p class="p1">Here’s a look at some of the highlights from minutes for the board’s December and November meetings.</p><p class="p1">The board had a public hearing at its December meeting regarding a proposed property tax increase for 2016. No public comments were made.</p><p class="p1">Reagan Morrison represented the student council at the December meeting. Morrison shared that:</p><p class="p1">Several members participated in an annual Christmas shopping event on Dec. 8.</p><p class="p1">10 kids were adopted through Pay It Forward.</p><p class="p1">The council has agreed  to pay $1,000 towards a gym floor cover roller and will work to raise the funds which are needed if no other clubs or organizations help out.</p><p class="p1">The council agreed to paint the Union Hall lobby this summer.</p><p class="p1">Tina Vancil and Amy Fitzgerald-Wilson represented the teachers at the December meeting. Items of interest which they shared included:</p><p class="p1">FBLA planned to send 41 students and an advisor to a Southern Area Conference in January at Southern Illinois University. A-JCHS students JC Smith, the Southern Area treasurer, and Meghan Smith, the Southern Area reporter, will have responsibilities at the conference and will help to organize the event.</p><p class="p1">FBLA is working to set up a scholarship fund for FBLA students. The scholarship will be given at the end of the school year at awards night.</p><p class="p1">A-JCHS students Megan Dammerman, Madison Jacobs, Hannah Reach, Sophie Shaffar and Jacob Stark have been named as Illinois State Scholars. Selection was based on class rank and ACT scores from the students’ junior year, which were submitted to the Illinois Student Assistance Committee.</p><p class="p1">Faculty member Hannah Maze has started a new club, which is called Get Involved, Value Everyone. The club wrote and mailed 70 cards to soldiers and veterans from the Southern Illinois region. Students plan to write to soldiers and veterans throughout the school year and to send care packages to those serving overseas.</p><p class="p1">The new club has been working on a project called “Skin Deep,” which is an anti-bullying campaign. Club members hoped to have the project completed by early January and on display in the hallways at the school.</p><p class="p1">Tori Shaw from the WPSD-TV channel 6 weather team spoke to science classes at the school. She talked about weather forecasting and science-related careers.</p><p class="p1">The A-JCHS Marching Wildcats band participated in the Holiday Lights Fantastic parade, which was held Dec. 5 in Carbondale. The music department also presented a winter concert which featured the chorus, concert choir and symphonic band.</p><p class="p1">Members of the education association at the school donated more than $400 and were able to give eight gift cards to students for Christmas.</p><p class="p1">FFA and FCCLA raised more than $600 for the Day Star Community Center in Cairo because the last grocery store in the community had just shut down.</p><p class="p1">A total of 75 units of blood were donated during an American Red Cross blood drive.</p><p class="p1">In November, faculty member Julie Lewis took four of her seniors to Springfield. They toured the Lincoln Museum and Lincoln’s Tomb. Lewis received a $100 grant from the PAST organization of Union County, which paid for the fuel for the trip; a $100 private donation, which paid for the students’ meals; and the museum paid for their tickets. Lewis said that none of the students had been to Springfield before and “they all really enjoyed the trip.” Lewis also said “thank you for being allowed to take the students – it is something the students look forward to every year.”</p><p class="p1">Faculty member Alysha Bottje invited Byron Dodd from Taylor, Dodd and Wood Insurance to come and talk to her resource class about insurance.</p><p class="p1">Faculty member Hannah Maze and the freshman class made cards for the Fabec family. They also donated $100 towards the Fabec scholarship program.</p><p class="p1">Students in the sophomore classes wrote research papers that analyzed the causes and effects of various disaster topics. Many classes utilized Google Drive in writing their papers. This allowed the students to share their essays with the teachers early in their writing. The teachers then were able to read and comment on the students’ papers during the process. Because of this, the students were able to make corrections to their errors and mistakes before submitting the final papers.</p><p class="p1">Dana Stute’s English 4 class invited three guest speakers to their classroom. Guest speakers were from Shawnee Community College, Southern Illinois University Carbondale and the National Guard. The guest speakers spoke to the class about post-secondary education opportunities in college and in the workforce. The class plans to continue to invite guest speakers throughout the remainder of the year.</p><p class="p1">The Marching Wildcats band earned a third-place finish at the Ste. Genevieve, Missouri, marching contest in the fall.</p><p class="p1">The Culinary Arts and Foods I classes prepared the football banquet dinner. They also prepared food for the Beta Club initiation dinner. The classes worked on gingerbread houses for the holiday celebration in downtown Anna. The classes also were going to prepare food for a Union County Women in Business Christmas party in December.</p><p class="p1">Faculty member Tina Vancil’s portfolio class competed in a chalk art contest in the fall in Harrisburg.  </p><p class="p1">Faculty members Lyn Bame and Tina Vancil took two students to National Portfolio Day at Washington University in St. Louis in the fall. Sophie Shaffar showed her art portfolio to representatives from several colleges. Many professors reacted favorably to the drawings and paintings that were shown and commented on the rigor of the curriculum at A-JCHS. Shaffar received “some great feedback” and learned about universities she is interested in attending.</p><p class="p1">Auditions for the school musical were held in November. “Seussical the Musical” will be presented. Work has begun on the sets for the musical.</p><p class="p1">The Beta Club at A-JCHS welcomed 35 new members at an induction dinner which was held in November. The club sponsored a schoolwide food drive for Bethany Village in Anna.</p><p class="p1">For American Education Week, FFA provided doughnuts, Mu Alpha Theta and FCCLA provided treats, NHS provided tacos for lunch, the art club provided breakfast, and the student council provided a cake for teachers.</p><p class="p1">The National Honor Society had a random acts of kindness day.</p><p class="p1">Jake Stark was selected as an Anna-Jonesboro Rotary Club student of the quarter.</p>