Two votes leave MHS graduation on Sunday

McCOOK, Neb. -- After two votes, the McCook School Board voted Monday night to keep graduation on Sunday next year.

The first motion the board voted on, to have commencement on Saturday, May 7, 2016, was a split vote, with Teresa Thomas, Tom Bredvick and Bob Elder voting for it and Diane Lyons, Loretta Hauxwell and Brian Esch voting against it.

After much discussion, another motion was made, this time for graduation on Sunday, May 8, 2016. This motion passed 5 to 1, with Bob Elder casting the lone dissenting vote.

During discussion, the board addressed several concerns, including both the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and UNO having their graduations on Saturday, May 7. Other concerns raised were underclassmen attending the night-long Senior Celebration on Sunday and not attending class on Monday; travel time for relatives and friends to attend a Sunday graduation and whether there were enough venues to accommodate receptions if the graduation were on Saturday, according to Superintendent Grant Norgaard.

"The board wanted to make sure families could get together and celebrate with their kids," he said.

Graduation went well this year, Norgaard said, adding that it was nice commencement was at an indoor location, the Events Center at McCook Community College, instead of outside, so plans didn't have to be changed at the last- minute due to inclement weather.

In other action, the board unanimously approved three resignations, including one received Monday from FFA instructor, Tracey Cooper.

Other resignations came from Kimberly Heimann, teacher at McCook Central Elementary for three years and Jeffrey Ellis, physical education teacher. The board also approved a new teaching contract for Stephanie Storrs of McCook, for McCook Elementary. Storrs, who graduated from the University of Nebraska at Kearney, has been student teaching at McCook Elementary and at Central Elementary in Kearney. Nebraska.

The board also approved other items, including:

* McCook High School band trip to Disneyland in 2016. The trip will be in May 2016, with 80 to 90 students and chaperones attending. The students will perform at DisneyLand and also do some sight-seeing, including the visiting Universal Studios and the coast. Students will be fundraising to pay for the trip.

* the $357 donation from the Optimist Club for WIN materials. The "What I Need Now" period at the high school is a 25-minute extension of fifth period before lunch and the materials will be for sophomores and freshmen.

Board members also recognized the Optimist Club for sponsoring the barbecue on May 6 at Weiland Field prior to graduation practice and the Hometown Competitiveness Youth Task Force for providing seniors with hometown mail boxes.

Addressing the board was Arianna Van Pelt, a McCook Junior High student, who competed in the state History Day competition and has qualified for the national competition this summer. Van Pelt read her essay on about Allied finding and saving pieces of art from Nazi Germany during World War II. The national competition is June 13-18 in Washington, D.C. and the school district will help fund her trip, Norgaard said. He also updated the board on the external team visit in February, when administrators from other school districts visited the McCook School District. The visit is part of the state accreditation process and reviews from the team were good, he said, with the district commended on several areas, including its scholastic intervention program, where teachers identify where students are struggling scholastically in a subject. Norgaard relayed to the board a favorable comment made by the team leader of the external visit, who said team members are working in their own districts to get where McCook is at today.