Decatur Proud School Board Recognitions: August 13, 2024

At the regularly scheduled meeting of the MSD Decatur Township School Board of Education on August 13, 2024, Assistant Superintendent Mr. Chris Gearlds led the Decatur Proud recognitions.

For the first recognition, Mr. Gearlds introduced Mr. Todd Sconce, Director of Transportation. Mr. Sconce shared that, “Our Transportation Department is called the ‘Elite Fleet’ as they strive to get better every day to become elite. Our drivers are the first (and last) MSD Decatur employees our students see each day. If they don’t do their job well, it impacts everyone else’s job.”  During the 2023-24 school year, the 75 buses and 100 employees of the MSD of Decatur Township transportation department helped transport more than 5,700 students over 900,000 miles and transported students and teams on 1,221 trips. Congratulations to the following bus drivers for having perfect attendance during the 2023-24 school year:

Cris Barr

Mistie Hartloff

Kellie Norris

Susan Phillips

Linda Poore

Gail Sharp

Kevin Schrader (In addition, Kevin is a 2nd generation MSD Decatur bus driver who has not missed a day in his 10 years of driving for Decatur Township!)

Mr. Gearlds then invited the following STEAM teachers to come forward at the meeting:

Rebecca Bersani (STEAM and PLTW K-6 Coordinator)

Shawn Powers (Blue Academy)

Andy Riester (Gold Academy)

Maxwell Golden (Lynwood Elementary)

Helen Harris (Stephen Decatur Elementary)

Carla Monical (Valley Mills Elementary)

Ryan Stroud (West Newton Elementary)

Mr. Gearlds announced that Blue Academy, Gold Academy, Lynwood Elementary, Stephen Decatur Elementary, Valley Mills Elementary, and West Newton Elementary have been named Project Lead The Way (PLTW) Launch Distinguished Schools for the 2023-24 school year. This honor is given to a select number of elementary schools across the U.S. for providing broad access to transformative learning experiences for students through PLTW Launch, an elementary STEAM curriculum. These students engage in critical and creative thinking, build teamwork skills, and develop a passion for and confidence in STEAM subjects. This recognition honors schools committed to increasing student access, engagement, and achievement in their PLTW programs. To be eligible for the designation, each of these six schools had to have more than 75% of the student body participating in the program and had to offer at least one PLTW Launch module at each grade level during the 2022-23 school year. Congratulations to our elementary schools and these teachers for their dedication to helping their students achieve exemplary results.

Dr. Scott Collins (Superintendent) and Mr. Justin Dixson (Director of Operations) introduced Mr. Nick Jenkins as our new Assistant Athletic Director at Decatur Central High School. Mr. Jenkins has previously served Decatur Township as the Armstrong Pavilion Manager and is proud to take on this new role.