School board celebrates historic cross-country victory

At the Washakie County School District No. 1 Board of Trustees meeting on Oct. 28, Superintendent Tawn Argeris used his time during his report to celebrate high school Cross Country Coach Tanya Kienlen and her boys team.

Worland High School’s boys cross-country team won the 3A State Championship in Cheyenne on Oct. 26, propelled to victory by one point over Buffalo with a first-place finish by senior Trajn Swalstad.

This is the first cross-country state title in the history of Worland High School.

Kienlen added that her girls team placed fourth at the state meet.

WYTOPP RESULTS

Assistant Superintendent Jodi Rakness gave an in-depth presentation on each grade level’s performance in spring 2024 Wyoming Test of Proficiency and Progress (WY-TOPP) assessment, a standardized test taken by grades 3 through 10 in all public schools in Wyoming.

Although Worland schools didn’t top the list in any categories, Rakness pointed out some standout performances:

Third graders placed 10th in math, sixth graders placed 10th in math, ninth graders placed 10th in English language arts (ELA), and 10th graders placed 10th in science and fourth in math. Among 3A schools, Worland placed ninth overall.

Winning testing results doesn’t itself earn any prizes though; while parsing through the performance of every grade in every category, Rakness showed board members the value in the data obtained through standardized testing, pointing out areas for improvement that will arm the teachers to prepare their students in the future, with the goal of getting as many of their students to either meet or exceed the academic standards represented on the test.

MIDDLE SCHOOL FFA

Worland Middle School Principal Brittany Miller was excited to share that Audrey Crockett, a first-year teacher at WMS would be heading the school’s new middle school FFA program. She said that the program was introduced as a club to start with, and Crockett had submitted paperwork to get the program recognized as a full-fledged FFA chapter, pending approval.

The middle school FFA program will be a separate entity from that at the high school run by Grace Godfrey, but it’s a welcome addition to build upon agricultural education in Worland schools.

STAFF

The board approved the resignation of middle school ELA teacher Ayni Garza, effective Dec. 20.

Three new classified staff were approved: Brittney Barrett as East Side paraeducator, Aurora Guthrie as South Side life skills paraeducator and Tyler Hasbany as middle school part-time special education paraeducator.

POLICY

The board approved a revision of Policy 2.12 – Healthy Kids on first reading. The changes reflect an update to guidelines given by the National Free Lunch Program, which still affects the elementary schools and middle school.

BUILDING REPORT

Chief Operations Officer Charlie Cauffman said that the building projects the district underwent this summer have all but concluded; the sole issue remaining is the tread on the stairs in the newly renovated weightlifting gym at the high school. The material used initially has started to detach, creating tripping hazards. Cauffman said that new tread should be installed by December.

For upcoming projects, Cauffman said that a bathroom also at the high school was due for an electrical upgrade as well as general renovations.

He also said he had reached out to an engineering firm to begin the process of building a permanent location for Whitehawk Academy. Cauffman said the district has tentative plans to break ground on the alternative school building in April of next year.

WHITEHAWK ACADEMY

Counselor Katie Kirby gave a brief update about the new alternative school. She said that of the 16 students, there are four with perfect attendance, and the other 12 have missed three or less days of school.

She said she spoke to her students about this attendance, and they compared it to their last school year at Worland High School.

Kirby said many of the students who now attend Whitehawk Academy had 10 or more absences by this time last year, attributing the difference to a newfound desire to come to a school they feel comfortable at.