As part of the Tippecanoe Valley School Corporation’s ongoing partnership with Lutheran Health Network Kosciusko Community Hospital, each month we share a health tip with our parents and staff. This month’s tip is about maintaining a healthy heart.

A link to a free heart health assessment can be found here: http://lutheranhealth.staywellsolutionsonline.com/Search/42,CoronaryArteryDiseaseMRA

More information about the partnership between KCH and TVSC can be found here: http://tippecanoevalleyschools.com/tippecanoe-valley-and-lutheran-health-network-kch-announce-10-year-partnership/

The Tippecanoe Valley School Corporation is offering adult education classes at various school sites now through March.

Courses offered include canvas painting, first aid and CPR certification, high school equivalency test training and a series on nutrition. The classes are open to the public for a cost, or for free depending on the class. Here is the schedule of classes offered:

CPR/First Aid Classes

Date: March 6, 13, and 20

Time: 6 to 9 p.m.

Location: Tippecanoe Valley High School

Cost: $35

Details: Take this class to get certified or re-certified in first aid and CPR. Participants will also learn about automated external defibrillators and emergency first aid for gunshot wounds. Participants must attend all three classes to be certified. Call Debbie Johnston or Jeff Shriver at (574) 598-2100 to register or for more information.

Rustic Bouquet Canvas Painting

Date: March 28

Time: 6 p.m.

Location: Mentone Elementary School. Enter through the back of the building at door J.

Cost: $18

Details: Register at http://www.happypaintbrush.com by clicking the event calendar and event date.

Call or text Karla Hayden at (574) 268-4977 with questions.

Creating a Wooden Welcome Sign

Date: April 25

Time: 6 to 8 p.m.

Location: Mentone Elementary School. Enter through the back of the building at door J.

Cost: $25

Details: Register at http://www.happypaintbrush.com by clicking the event calendar and event date.

Call or text Karla Hayden at (574) 268-4977 with questions.

Zumba and Yoga Classes

Date: Wednesday evenings beginning Feb. 5

Time: Zumba is from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. and yoga is from 6:45 to 7:45 p.m.

Location: Bell Memorial Public Library in Mentone

Cost: $3 per person, per class

Details: Contact Eva Mudd on Facebook or by emailing [email protected] for more information.

Nutrition Class Series

Date: March 15, 22, and 29

Time: 6 to 7:15 p.m.

Location: Tippecanoe Valley High School – Family and Consumer Science room

Cost: $10 to cover cooking demonstrations and food sampling

Details: Is it time to achieve a healthy lifestyle? Come to these sessions for three weeks and you’ll learn how to take the first step to achieving a healthy way of life. Join Nancy Hudson, HHS Extension Educator, as she uncovers “three easy bites” to better health.

Session 1 – Start with Breakfast – Thursday, March 15, 2018
Many of us skip out the door in the morning with nothing for our body to use as fuel. Learn how to make breakfast simple, quick and healthy.

Session 2 – Snack Right – Thursday, March 22, 2018

When we are hungry we reach for the quickest, most convenient food to satisfy our hunger. Strategize on ways you can snack in a healthy way that won’t add calories to your plan and sabotage your healthy goals.

Session 3 – Enjoy a Healthy Plate – Thursday, March 29, 2018

Adults of all ages have different nutrition and physical activity needs as their lives and bodies change. A strong and healthy body can provide many benefits. Maintaining healthy habits is an important way to lower your risk for cancer, diabetes, heart disease and hypertension. This session will help you create a healthy eating plan.

HSE/GED Classes

Date: Monday and Wednesday evenings (ongoing)

Time: 6 to 9 p.m.

Location: Akron Elementary School

Cost: Free

Details: This class helps people learn the skills necessary to complete his or her HSE/GED certificate.

Contact Debbie Johnston by calling (574) 598-2100 to register or for more information.

Open Weight Room

Date: Tuesday and Thursday evenings now through March 29

Time: 5 to 7 p.m.

Location: Tippecanoe Valley High School – Enter through door 8

Cost: Free

Details: Elliptical equipment and free weights are available for people to use.

The Tippecanoe Valley School Corporation is seeking nominations for the Tippecanoe Valley Distinguished Alumni Class of 2018.

Distinguished Alumni are graduates of Tippecanoe Valley High School, Akron High School, Beaver Dam High School, Burket High School, Mentone High School, or Talma High School (living or deceased) who have led successful lives while making substantial contributions to their chosen field of work or have provided outstanding service to their community, state, or country. The Class of 2018 will serve as a vivid example for current and future students of what is possible for Tippecanoe Valley graduates.

Individuals selected as Tippecanoe Valley Distinguished Alumni will be asked to share their experiences with current Tippecanoe Valley High School students when they are honored publicly in September.

To nominate a graduate for the Tippecanoe Valley Distinguished Alumni Class of 2018, go to the corporation website at www.tippecanoevalleyschools.com. Click on the Distinguished Alumni Quicklink in the middle of the page, then complete the online nomination form. Paper copies of the Tippecanoe Valley Distinguished Alumni nomination form are available from the office of any Tippecanoe Valley school or the administration office.

Nominations are due no later than May 1, 2018. Questions about the Tippecanoe Valley Distinguished Alumni may be directed to Superintendent Brett Boggs by calling (574) 598-2759, ext. 2767.

Click here to read more about the Distinguished Alumni Class of 2017.

Tippecanoe Valley School Corporation Superintendent Brett Boggs has announced he will retire at the end of the current school year.

The board of trustees officially accepted his retirement at the Jan. 15^th school board meeting, but Boggs will continue to serve as superintendent through June 30^th. He is putting an end to a 40-year career as an educator at Tippecanoe Valley. Boggs has served as a teacher, coach, assistant principal, principal, assistant superintendent and superintendent over the past four decades.

“Having had the opportunity to work with many students and staff members during that period of time has been extremely fulfilling and rewarding,” said Boggs.

Boggs graduated from Grace College in 1978 and began teaching fourth grade and coaching junior high basketball and track at Akron School, which at the time, was kindergarten through eighth grades. He moved into administration in 1985 as assistant principal and athletic director and became principal in 1988. He served as the principal of Akron School for 17 years before being named assistant superintendent in 2005 and superintendent in 2008.

“Tippecanoe Valley is a community where people truly care about each other and put the needs of children first,” said Boggs.

Boggs was named Indiana Administrator of the year for 2002-2003 by the Indiana Association of Student Councils and the District 2 Elementary Principal of the Year by the Indiana Association of School Principals in 2003.

Some of the more notable achievements during his tenure at Tippecanoe Valley include establishing the Valley Hometown Fund, honoring the first class of Distinguished Alumni in 2010, the implementation of the Professional Learning Community model in each Tippecanoe Valley school, completion of the $17.6 million Akron Elementary School renovation project, establishing Project Lead the Way classes at all grades levels and the achievement of Tippecanoe Valley receiving district accreditation by the AdvancED Accreditation Commission in 2008, 2013 and again in 2018.

But along with the positive achievements Boggs looks back on, he said there have also been plenty of challenges to education during his time as superintendent.

“One of the most significant changes I’ve seen in education in the past 10 years involves schools competing for students. Because of legislation passed by the Indiana General Assembly, the same schools we should be collaborating with we are now competing with for students. Since the state took over each school district’s general fund in 2009, the funding follows the child, which has resulted in intense competition for students,” said Boggs.

Other notable achievements Boggs said he is proud of are the energy-saving upgrades to several Tippecanoe Valley facilities. Those upgrades include a comprehensive energy-savings initiative at the Burket Educational Center in 2009, the construction of a 900 kilowatt wind turbine on the campus of Tippecanoe Valley High School and Tippecanoe Valley Middle School in 2011 and a new 44-panel solar array being installed on the grounds of Mentone Elementary School during the winter of the 2017-2018 school year.

Boggs is also highly involved in the community in which he lives. He currently serves as board president for the Palestine Bible Church and the Palestine Cemetery and is a member of the board of directors of the Fulton Economic Development Corporation, Kosciusko Economic Development Corporation, Fulton County Chamber of Commerce, Gradway and the Fulton County Leadership Academy.

Boggs also served on the board of directors of the Akron Carnegie Public Library for 16 years. He is the founder and currently a member of the Akron Community Relations Task Force and is also the founder and chair of the Tippecanoe Valley Community Mental Health Task Force. The task force was formed with the vision of empowering all citizens to good mental health and the mission to both increase knowledge and provide support, while reducing the stigma of mental illness.

“The two and one-half year period in which we lost multiple students and staff members to suicide and tragic accidents was the most difficult period of my professional and personal life. Today, our students, staff and the community are better prepared to see the warning signs and know how to properly respond to individuals at risk of suicide,” said Boggs.

Brett and his wife, Sarah, live in Akron and are the parents of three grown children with three grandchildren.

“We enjoy being a part of this community. I am looking forward to finding something that is flexible and will keep me busy. I am looking at a few possibilities, but no decisions have been made. There is no more noble profession than that of educating the young people of our community. There is no place I would rather have been than Tippecanoe Valley,” said Boggs.

As part of the Tippecanoe Valley School Corporation’s ongoing partnership with Lutheran Health Network Kosciusko Community Hospital, each month we will be sharing a health tip with our parents and staff. January’s health tip is all about community wellness screenings.

More information about the screenings can be found here: http://kch.com/wellness

With the winter season in full swing, Tippecanoe Valley staff members, parents, and students are reminded of the ways to receive school delay and closing information.

School Messenger

• Students are automatically registered to School Messenger based upon the primary contact information provided in Chalkable(STI). New students and any updated primary numbers are automatically uploaded to School Messenger daily.
• New staff members are added when they complete their New Employee Enrollment package and turn it into the TVSC Administration Office.
• If a parent would like to have a different or additional number called (they are allowed up to 5 different numbers), then they must call TVSC Director of Technology Keith Lang at (574) 598-2759 and ask for the number(s) to be added. They must include with the number(s), the name(s) of their student(s), their grade level, and the school.
• If a staff member would like to have an additional number added to the call list, they need to send an email to Mr. Lang’s attention indicating the number(s) they wish to receive calls at and the primary building in which they work.

The School Messenger system is a service TVSC provides for school employees and its students.  If someone from outside of these two lists would like to be informed of a closing, TVSC recommends that they listen to the local media outlets to which TVSC provides delay/cancellation information, or sign up for one of their texting services.  The media outlets are:

Radio

WRSW* & Willie 103.5*            https://www.newsnowwarsaw.com/schooldelays/

WROI                                       http://www.wroifm.com/closings–delays

WIOE                                        http://wioe.com/site/2018/01/wioe-school-delay/

Television

WNDU*                                      http://www.wndu.com/weather/closings

WSBT*                                      http://wsbt.com/news/local/closingsdelays

The * indicate texting service is available. 

Social Media

In the event of a delay or cancellation, each school’s Facebook page will post a status update with the information.

TVSC: https://www.facebook.com/TippecanoeValley/

TVMS: https://www.facebook.com/Tippecanoe-Valley-Middle-School-1574471089447534/

TVHS: https://www.facebook.com/tippecanoevllyhs/

Mentone Elementary: https://www.facebook.com/Mentone-Elementary-School-201649846662868/

Akron Elementary: https://www.facebook.com/Akron-Elementary-School-356826074490517/

School Websites

Delay and cancellation information can also be found on each school’s website in a scrolling message at the top of the homepage. You can also find the information at the bottom of each homepage in the colored weather information box.

TVSC: http://tippecanoevalleyschools.com/

TVMS: http://tippecanoevalleyschools.com/schools/tvms/

TVHS: http://tippecanoevalleyschools.com/schools/tvhs/

Mentone Elementary: http://tippecanoevalleyschools.com/schools/Mentone-elementary/

Akron Elementary: http://tippecanoevalleyschools.com/schools/akron-elementary-school/