Hannah Styles
hstyles@thesmokymountaintimes.com
Monday night’s monthly Swain County Board of Education meeting started off with the school board recognizing school maintenance employees, thanking them for their hard work. Afterwards, students from middle and high school bands were recognized for their impressive All State Band achievement.
“We were out of roughly 900 people who auditioned in western North Carolina, and we had some of the top scores in our classes,” senior Allison Scheid who qualified for all state band said. “We got to go to WCU and work with conductors from all over and we prepared ensembles that we performed at WCU.”
High school Band Director Karen Williams-Lanning recognized Avery Maples, who was not present at the meeting but placed top five in the western district and made top 5 in the state of North Carolina.
“She will perform at Chapel Hill in May and represent Swain County, which is pretty awesome,” Williams-Lanning said.
The board has submitted the Needs Based Capital Grant that Kevin Allman put together and is set to hear back about the selection by the middle of April. If awarded, this would fund a new middle school and a new track.
Swain East Elementary Principal Amanda Sutton spoke about progress at the school, including attendance percentages surpassing state attendance.
“Sixty-five percent of our students are showing growth in reading and 54% in math,” Principal Sutton said. “Several students have also met their yearly growth in only half a year, so that is really impressive.”
Sutton added that 100% of students in the reading interventionists program, provided through funding made available by the Swain County commissioners, have shown growth.
Later on in the meeting, the school board accepted the resignation of Summer Childers and employed: Kevin Jones, Bruce Roth, Christopher Dyer, and announced the new high school football coach, Sherman Holt.
The next regularly scheduled board of education meeting is set for Monday, April 4 at 6 p.m.