No more pencils?

TEN SLEEP — Ten Sleep students could be putting down the pencil soon, as Washakie County School District No. 2 considers utilizing Google Docs in the classroom.

A popular online word processing program hosted by Google, Docs enables students and teachers to interact in real time when composing essays, submitting homework and working on group assignments. According to Ten Sleep Principal Russell Budmayr, the school is seriously considering moving to the Google platform to streamline the teaching process and make class time more efficient.

Budmayr discussed the concept, still under review, during the Washakie County School District #2 monthly board of trustees meeting Monday.

With an interface similar to Facebook, students can use Google Docs to share their classwork with peers for review, easily research subjects with the built-in Google application, and receive immediate feedback from their instructor via either voice-recorded or written notes. The application also enables the teacher to evaluate the student’s revision process and see all changes with the click of a button.

In addition to discussing the Google platform, Budmayr reported that Ten Sleep enrollment is up to 101 for the 2015-2016 school year, with three new students pending. Also announced was the arrival of new music teacher Karen Loveland, formerly of Shoshoni, and counselor Chawna Wiechmann.

Land acquisition

According to previously published board meeting minutes, Washakie County School District # 2 has gone into executive session for a total of approximately four hours since July 14, to discuss the land acquisition for the proposed new school facility.

During public comments, Ten Sleep resident Alex Ogg questioned whether the District will hold a public meeting before any land acquisition is decided. Chairman Terril Mills said the board is looking forward to more information from the state before prioritization, and that community input will be solicited before a decision is made. Treasurer Dan Rice added that all acquisition decisions will be made public before finalization.

In other business, all outstanding bills, isolation requests, and bus routes were approved by the bwoard, and Jonna Abel was appointed to the Recreation Board.