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March 18, 2008

Chinese language added to Concord curriculum

By SHEILA SELMAN

ELKHART, Ind. — “Ni hao, wo-duh ming-d’zih …” will be on the tongues of a number of Concord High School students this fall.

Mandarin Chinese will be introduced into the curriculum, following approval by the Concord Board of School Trustees Monday afternoon of a Hanban Grant and participation by the high school in the Chinese guest teacher program.

According to Superintendent George Dyer, last week Concord officials were notified that Hanban had approved the grant so Concord could host a guest Chinese teacher.

There are no salary obligations for Concord — the Chinese government takes care of the cost, Dyer said. However, Concord will need to provide housing and transportation for the teacher.

So far, 63 students have signed up for the classes.

After the meeting, High School Principal Dan Cunningham said he applied for the grant because it’s “very beneficial for children in the future to learn as much as possible” about Asian culture and economy.

Cunningham said he should know the name of the teacher in April.

“We’re looking forward to it,” he said. Not only will the guest teacher be teaching language, but he or she will be sharing culture in other classes as well.

And for those who didn’t understand the Chinese greeting at the beginning, in English it’s “Hello, my name is …”

Administrative changes

Along with approving Chinese instruction, school board members learned that some administrative staff changes have been made and will take effect July 1.

South Side Elementary School Principal Beth Hollingsworth will be the new principal at Ox Bow Elementary. The new Ox Bow assistant principal will be Gerry Donlon, who will transfer from East Side Elementary.

Bryan Waltz will assume the principal’s job at South Side Elementary School. He was associate principal at the high school. Assisting him will be Katy Scukanec, who is transferring from Ox Bow.

Shad Hartsough, the current assistant principal at South Side, will move to East Side to assist Principal Sabrina Fritz.

That leaves an opening for associate principal at the high school.

Budget

Dyer gave board members a brief update about some of the impacts the new state budget plan will have on schools.

Dyer said, “We don’t know the full impact of that yet.” School officials will be going over the 600-plus page state report.

One of the changes state legislators made was creating a referendum system for projects. Referendums will kick in for a $10 million and above project in kindergarten through eighth-grade school projects and $20 million and above for high school projects.

As for Concord’s current building project, Dyer said, “We’re in pretty good shape there, but we have the high school project coming up.”

The $20 million limit for high school projects is where Concord could be impacted, he said.

“There’s a lot we can’t explain at this point,” Dyer said. “I guess we’ll see how it shakes out then.”

Construction

Dyer said that Fetters Construction, the general contractor for the new junior high school, will being construction around April 1. If the weather holds, the date could be soon.

A groundbreaking ceremony is set for 4:30 p.m. March 25 at the site of the new junior high school at C.R.s 11 and 24.

Other matters

In other matters, board members:

• Learned that Concord Dollars for Scholars callers earned more than $16,000 in pledges for scholarships. Students made 4,797 phone calls. The top five callers were: Elizabeth C. Fish, Kylie R. Bontrager, Brittany N. McKinley, Gabriela M. Ziebold and Tyler A. Bourdon.

• Approved hiring Stephanie Konfara, second-grade paraprofessional, West Side Elementary school, and Angela Brugh, corporation bus driver.

• Approved the resignations of Anne Wadzinski, South Side Elementary School art teacher, and Lindsay Allen, West Side Elementary School second-grade paraprofessional.

• Approved a $14 million additional appropriation to renovate the existing elementary and current junior high schools. The funds will be in a construction fund.

• Awarded a $168,086 contract to City Roofing, Elkhart, to reroof a portion of the roof at Ox Bow Elementary and at Concord High School.

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