OSKALOOSA — Drinking and driving can have serious consequences, from facing thousands of dollars worth of fines, having a permanent mark on
your record, to taking the life of another person while behind the wheel.

Oskaloosa High School seniors got a lifelike look at those consequences of drunken driving Wednesday in the parking lot of the high school. Each year, a mock accident is held before graduation in an effort to reinforce that drinking and driving is never the right decision to make. Students watched fellow students, firefighters, law enforcement and ambulance personnel reenact a drunken driving accident scene.

Oskaloosa has been doing the program for more than 20 years, making it a longstanding tradition at the school. The education program relies on donations and volunteers. The cars are donated and the firefighters and ambulance personnel contribute their time and equipment, he said.

The Mahaska County Sheriff’s Office, the Oskaloosa Fire Department, Mahaska Ambulance, Oskaloosa Community Schools, Bates Funeral Home
all helped to make this event possible.

Story provided by The Oskaloosa Herald

OSKALOOSA — The Oskaloosa School Board held a somewhat routine meeting on Tuesday following a retirement reception for district staff members.

The most heated part of the meeting was actually centered around something very commonly discussed at meetings — the staff reports, as Carl Drost expressed his disdain for a GoMath pilot project. He brought homemade graphs to the meeting to try to convey his point to his fellow board members.
“This is not speaking highly of our math curriculum at the present time,” said Drost. “I don’t believe with these kind of results I would consider GoMath any place in the District.”

He compared 4th and 11th grade math scores with state averages, which were above the Oskaloosa High School scores on his graph.

“This is just common business and people tell me education is different. Education is our product,” he stated. He went on and explained the facilities
and staff were not to blame, but the curriculum was the culprit of the low averages.
“I will fight it every board meeting until I am elected off of this board,” he concluded. Board member Kraig VanHulzen sympathized with concerns but said that the school would need to increase math instruction time in the elementary to try to remedy the concern. No motions were made at this time, as it was only part of a staff report and not an action item.

Then came presentations on the Supplemental Education Services and High School Multi-Tier System of Support (MTSS) Scheduling. Board member Sharma Parlett expressed that she was disappointed by the gains for the price of the programs during the Supplemental Education Services presentation. A big purchase was approved by the District with the 1:1 server system for the price of $98,745.63.

Both public hearings held, one for the house students constructed and another for a 2015-16 budget amendment, went without public comment. The
area amended in the budget was in instruction, from $17,896,359 to $18,996,359, for the purchase of instructional technology. This change in estimates of expenditures will be financed from increased receipts and balances not budgeted or considered in the current budget. There will be no increase in taxes to be paid in the fiscal year ending June 2016.

A contract with Timberline Billing Service LLC. was also approved. Timberline assists school districts as a Medicaid provider in accessing Medicaid reimbursement for covered services.

Timberline will coordinate Medicaid claiming on behalf of the District, identify and notify staff of students eligible for Medicaid claiming, and more. The fee the District will be has been changed to equal 8 percent of the net Medicaid reimbursement retained by the District. This fee is calculated monthly based on paid claims for the preceding month. The contract will go into effect July 1 through June 30, 2019.

Five instructor resignations were also approved during the meeting as well as discussion and action on terminating seven staff contracts. The contract termination does not necessarily result in a staff termination, as contracts can be reconstructed to better fit the needs of the school with the same staff listed. There will be more discussion on that topic by the Board next week on May 18.

Story provided by Hailey Brown of the Oskaloosa Herald

Middle school can be one of those awkward times in a students’ life. Finding ways to help a student move from child to adult can be a challenge. Oskaloosa Middle School has taken on a program to assist some of those students make that transition.
The Best Buddies Program helps students form meaningful friendships with their peers, secure successful jobs, live independently, improve public speaking, self-advocacy and communications skills, and feel valued by society.
The Best Buddies Program accomplishes this by matching students with disabilities with their peers for the purpose of creating long-lasting friendships. This is the first year for the Best Buddies Program at Oskaloosa Middle School. Dana Hols, At-Risk Coordinator, and Teena Andrews, special education teacher, co-direct the program with the help of student Chapter President Jaden Moore and Co-Chapter President Nathan Andrews.
The plan was to start with a small group and to use students that currently serve as peer helpers in the Peer PE program. This year the Oskaloosa Middle School program has 17 members, which includes eight Buddy matches.
To launch the program students had a pizza party in which they were given a cup with the name of their buddy match. Students have enjoyed time with their buddies at school.
On Feb. 11 the Best Buddies participated in a field trip to the Des Moines Performing Arts Center (Civic Center), then visited the Iowa Historical Museum. This trip was part of the Oskaloosa Middle School’s sixth grade trip.
The Best Buddies matched up and sat with their buddy at the presentation by the Jessica Lange Dance Company. Making the short trip toward Capitol Hill, the students ate lunch at the museum before embarking with their buddies and adult leaders on a tour of the museum.
Teena Andrews sees the program as a way for students make a difference in other students’ lives.
“As I reflected on this past year working with the Best Buddies I had a hard time putting my feelings into words,” said Andrews. “The laughter, smiles, friendship, and fun all the students had this year was amazing. They have learned that we all are different and we celebrate those differences. Our hope as these students move on in life is that their experiences with Best Buddies help them with all aspects of their lives.”
The Best Buddies have had two other outings in which they were treated to a show through the Des Moines Arts Council and the Performing Arts Center. The trips provided the students an opportunity to explore different art forms and encourage each other.
As with any educational endeavor the initiative comes at a cost.
“We have had a very successful first year,” said Hols. “Our future challenges will be financial sustainability to pay for our friendship activities. We would ideally like to find sponsors to help us with funding these friendship building activities that provide socialization opportunities for our students.”
Oskaloosa Middle School and Oskaloosa schools in general have taken on several new programs and initiatives in the past few years to assist and encourage all students to be all that they can be. The program has received support from administration as one of the positive based behavior models.
“To me, the Best Buddies program was one of the highlighted programs of our school year,” said middle school assistant principal Mark Scholes. “Students in the program were exposed to many adventures and experiences that helped them grow socially throughout the year. I am very happy with the confidence that has developed in our students, because of the program and look forward to continued progress with it in the ensuing years.”
The students closed out the year with a short trip to Mahaska YMCA for a few hours of swimming with the Peer PE students. Best Buddies co-president may have summed it up best about the program.

“It’s been fun,” said chapter co-president Nathan Andrews.

Story provided by RD Keep