Nineteen Haywood High students went on a field trip September 30 through October 5 to Dauphin Island Sea Lab in Alabama, organized by HHS science teacher Linda Baxter. Mrs. Baxter made a presentation on the trip to board members at the November meeting.

At the Haywood County School Board meeting on November 14, Director of Schools George Chapman gave board members an overview of the state’s recently released Report Card. It was good news all around. Board members also enjoyed a presentation by HHS science teacher Linda Baxter on a field trip to Dauphin Island, awarded mini-grants to teachers, and learned about a court decision affecting Haywood County Schools.

Haywood High School science teacher Linda Baxter opened the board meeting with a slide presentation of a field trip 19 HHS science students took to Dauphin Island Sea Lab in Alabama. Most of the students also attended the meeting. Baxter and the students expressed appreciation to the school board and Director of Schools George Chapman for allowing them to make this very interesting and educational trip. Mrs. Baxter and other Haywood County educators have been taking students to Dauphin Island almost every year since 1989.

Ten Haywood County teachers will receive $200 mini-grants, awarded each year by the board of education, to do something “extra” in their classrooms. Cheryl Moses, HHS Spanish teacher, will spend her money on “Pobre Ana,” a novel written for first-year Spanish students. Jeanetta Holloway and Delois Dailey, also HHS teachers, will organize a Multicultural Fair to promote cultural awareness. East Side teacher Abby Hooper will buy for her students “Exercise Your Brain,” a higher order critical thinking puzzle workbook.

Four other HHS teachers were also awarded grants for their classes. Math teacher Eddie Keel will purchase resources to update an ACT/SAT library in the HHS math department with one grant and purchase math and scholastic scope magazines for his students with another grant. Karen West, also a math teacher at HHS, will purchase “The Standard Deviants Project” for her students. Tracy Mitchell will use her grant to help students learn math in a creative way by purchasing Punchline Algebra Set, Math Imagination, and Punchline Problem Solving.

At Haywood Junior High, Jada Jordan and Becky Streeter were awarded two grants. One will be used to fund a field trip for students to the Hermitage in Nashville, and the other to pay for a field trip to the Tennessee State Capital and State Museum.

Director Chapman also informed board members that Haywood County received documentation during the last month from U. S. District Judge Samuel H. Mays Jr. that dismisses the long-standing desegregation lawsuit against the Board of Education. The Haywood County School System has been awarded unitary status with the dismissal of this action that was put in place in the 1960s. “I believe this speaks so well for our community,” Haywood Schools Board Chairman Patricia Gruenewald said. “This was possible because of all the support from the community and the educators.”

Last but certainly not least, Director Chapman gave board members an overview of the Haywood County results on the Tennessee Report Card that was released last Friday. The news was good. Haywood County students in grades 3-8 showed improvement in math, language arts, social studies, and science, based on results of the TCAP tests that they take each spring. The same was true for the writing achievement of local students. Also, based on results from the Gateway and End of Course tests students take at Haywood High, local students showed 81.7 percent proficiency in Algebra I compared to the state average of 75.8 percent, 91.8 percent proficiency in Biology I compared to the state’s average of 94.3 percent, and 93.9 percent compared to the state average of 93.7 percent.

Director Chapman also shared a chart with school board members showing how Haywood County Schools performed in comparison with other West Tennessee elementary schools and the overall state scores. The figures are impressive. We out performed all but 2 of the West Tennessee schools on the chart and we were only 1 percentage point behind the state numbers for grades 3-8 in math. In reading, language and writing, our students did as well as students across the state and again were only 1 or 2 points behind 2 West Tennessee schools in comparison.

Director Chapman expressed pride in the report and in the good job teachers are doing with students in the classroom.

Go to www.haywoodschools.com for charts of the locals schools results.