Alva Review-Courier -

The final days of school are upon Cherokee students.

Baccalaureate is tonight, Wed., May 18. A meal will be served at 6 p.m. and the service will be at 7 p.m.

Eighth-grade graduation is tomorrow at 7 p.m. Later that night, at 9:30 p.m., will be senior awards, and junior and high school awards.

High school graduation will be May 20 at 7 p.m.

Swearing-in; Reorganization

The board's first action of the evening was to swear in Heather Collins, the newly elected board member for Seat 2. They went on to reorganize the board. Kory Littlefield remained as president, Shane Parker will be vice president, and Desiree Gibson will be clerk.

Elementary Activities

State testing began April 20 and wrapped up last week, said Elementary Principal Keela Patterson. Fifth and sixth grade track season came to an end on April 27.

"May 2nd, we had the music program scheduled but then canceled due to weather, unfortunately," said Patterson; "we all had to rush home to make sure we were all safe. And then nothing happened." Chuckles circled the table.

The school's students did well at the track meet, as did the concession stand, which was a fundraiser for the elementary school.

Today, we celebrated the students who met their 4th nine-weeks AR reading goal. It was a popsicle and extra recess time today. "One hundred nineteen students have met their AR goal all four nine weeks, and that's pretty impressive," said Patterson. As a reward, the entire group was to be taken two days later to the Rialto to watch a movie.

On the 12th, "Touch of Community" will be at the elementary, she said, adding that many field trips are in the works.

"We're going to do something new this year called Super Kids Day, on the 16th, just a fun day to come and play, and bounce in bouncy houses, and some parents have volunteers to host some games, so it's just a fun way to celebrate the end of the year," Patterson said.

Today, Wednesday, May 18, will be a half-day of school and the awards assembly will be at 10 a.m. The last day will be the 19th.

Other than that, we're getting ready for summer school, which will start June 6th and end June 30th.

High School Activity Report

The FFA attended the State FFA convention, said Principal Lane Pruett. Brant Failes was second in state in diversified agriculture production. The chapter was recognized for their work in donating to the hunger challenge and the chapter trust for the FFA Foundation. The FFA banquet was Tuesday evening at the fairgrounds.

Fifteen students qualified to attend the national FCCLA convention in July.

State Speech Results

Jason Paris was named NFHS/OSSAA Oklahoma Coach of the Year. Individual State Champions/runners up were Gay Wyatt (state champion Humorous Interpretation and Dramatic Interpretation); Gabe Wyatt and Jocie Shelton (state champions dramatic duet); Jocie Shelton and Xander Jackson (state champions, humorous duet); Avery Sanborn and Arron Tidwell (state runners up, humorous duet); Evan Mitchell (state finalist, Lincoln-Douglas Debate); Avery Sanborn (state finalist, poetry interpretation); Maryanne Heim (state finalist, prose interpretation).

Good Showing at Track Meet

The school hosted a regional track meet. Pruett thanked those who helped. The Lady Chiefs were Regional Runner-Ups. Several student athletes qualified for the state track meet that last weekend. Among the Chiefs, Aiden Sanborn qualified for state in discus; Kai McHenry in 200 dash, 800 relay and mile relay; Lathan Golden in 800 relay, mile relay; Nic Lambert in 110 hurdles, 800 relay, mile relay; and Zack Hellar – 800 relay, mile relay.

Lady Chiefs who qualified for state were Raylen Weve qualifying in 400 relay and 2-mile relay; Maya Grant – in 800 relay, 2 mile relay; Riley Hensley in 400 relay, 800 relay, 400 dash, mile relay; Bethany Landrum in 400 relay; Kynlee Kolb in shot, discus; Carsson Schanbacher in 2 mile relay, mile relay; Naomi Heim in 800 relay, 2 mile relay, mile relay; Chesney Berry in 800 relay, mile relay, 100 hurdles, 300 hurdles; Kenedy Hester in 400 relay; and Mae Nevels in pole vault.

Several made it to the medal stand. Among the Chiefs, Kai, Lathan, Nick and Zack placed third in the 800 relay, and Nic Lambert placed sixth in 110 hurdles. Among the Lady Chiefs, the State Champion girls shot was Kynlee, who also placed fourth in girls' discus; Riley placed fourth in the 400; placing fifth in the 3200 relay were Raylen, Maya, Carson and Naomi, placing sixth in the 1600 relay were Carsson, Naomi Chesney and Riley.

The sports banquet was Thursday, May 12.

Hirings and Resignations

The board voted to accept the resignation submitted by Amanda Stinnett. Stinnett has been employed by the school for five years and has been the social studies teacher and softball and basketball coach. Her resignation letter thanked everyone and said she'd enjoyed her time as a Chief.

The board, after return from executive session, voted to employ Riley Rieger as a fourth grade teacher, Natqalie Bockelman as a kindergarten teacher, and Mike Roberts for the 2022-2023 school year.

They also voted to contract with Karole Robertson and Alisha Bigheart, OPCs, for another year. "They see several students while they're here and do a good job with them," said Schanbacher. The board also re-contracted with speech pathologist Shanna Ream.

Schanbacher also told the board that they will be sending three teachers to Alva to attend special education teacher training that is put on by the state

Finances Still Improving

The board approved the consent agenda, consisting of past meeting minutes; reports on the general, building, and child nutrition fund encumbrances, purchase orders and warrants; the activity fund report; and the treasurer's report.

The financial situation continues to improve. "Thing are much better, but we still have work to do," said Superintendent Bryce Schanbacher. He'd stated at a past meeting that he was hoping the school's carryover would be around $500,000; "I still think that," he said, "and it could be a little on the low side. A lot of that is due to these federal dollars that we got, paying for things like our property insurance, trying to get us back on solid ground, and we are headed in the right direction."

The consent agenda also included increasing cash amounts for activity change boxes from $200 to $400.

Other Board Business

The board approved a resolution for schools and libraries universal services (E-Rate) for 2022-23. They also approved

contracts with OKTLE, Alcohol and Drug Testing, Inc., and Today's Therapy Solutions.

The board approved a resolution for schools and libraries universal services (E-Rate) for 2022-23. They also approved contracts with OKTLE, Alcohol and Drug Testing, Inc., and Today's Therapy Solutions.