USD 489 looks forward to 2023

On this episode of the Post Podcast Hays USD 489 superintendent Ron Wilson recaps 2022 and shares what the district is looking forward to in 2023.

Hays Virtual School celebrates graduates

On this episode of the Post Podcast Hays Virtual School director Oliva Rice shares details about the program.

Five-year Hays USD 489 capital budget includes sports fields

On this episode of the Post Podcast, Hays Post reporter Cristian Janney recaps the latest USD 489 Board of Education meeting with superintendent Ron Wilson.

USD 489 prepares for parent-teacher conferences

On this episode of the Post Podcast Wilson Elementary principal, Anita Schieve shares information about the district's first parent-teacher conference of the year.

Hays High students, alumni prepare for 2022 Homecoming celebrations

Hays High is once again getting ready for Homecoming. From Hays HIgh Stuco Rilee Schwarz and Hannah Eikenberry stop by to share the details on this episode of the Post Podcast.

USD 489 Board of Education meeting recap: Sept. 27, 2022

On this episode of the Post Podcast Hays Post reporter Cristian Janney recaps this week's Hays Board of Education meeting with superintendent Ron Wilson. 

Go Truck Go set for Thursday

On this episode of the Post Podcast USD 489's Early Childhood Connections child development specialist Michelle Dannels shares information about the Go Truck Go event.

School year well underway at Hays High

Students at Hays High have hit the ground running for the academic year principal Shawn Henderson stops by to give us an update on this episode of the Post Podcast.
Transcript:
EDITORS NOTE: Transcripts are provided by an automated service and are not verified for accuracy.
 
James Bell 
Students at Hays High have hit the ground running for the academic year principal Shawn Henderson stops by to give us an update on this episode of the Post Podcast.
 
Shawn Henderson 
we have several new teachers that have joined us this year. And it's always exciting to see the energy that they bring in. Also to watch our people that are already part of our team, welcome them in and make them feel like they are part of this great thing that is Hayes Hi.
 
James Bell 
Love that, you know, it's it's gonna bring in a new energy and new kind of feeling when you have instructors in the beginning of the year and like new ideas and the collaboration and all that probably just to me seems like it would be I don't know, like a fun way to kind of kick off the year and move on into 2020 to 23. academic school year.
 
Shawn Henderson 
Absolutely. And here's the thing. I mean, as an educator, there's nothing more exciting than the beginning of the year, right? I mean, get your new backpack, pick out a first day outfit, and come in and all those connections that are made, you know, our theme this year was engaged. And it was fun to watch that happen to watch our people engage with the students. And vice versa. We even had Open House on Monday evening and to get to have all of our clubs and sponsors out and to have parents come in and see our school. It's It's really neat.
 
James Bell 
Yeah. And some exciting stuff going on in the district just in general. But we talked a little bit or we want to talk a little bit about this enrollment up as well. And you've got that new school coming here in the next few years is probably going to be like, Oh, my gosh, I want in there now. Right?
 
Shawn Henderson 
Yeah, I think patience is going to be is going to be a real thing. But I'll tell you what, we have a great design team construction team, the district we continue to meet and talk about what this vision for the future looks like. So it's kind of fun, because we already we have feet on both, you know, on both ground here we are in the current school with the current people and we are doing all that we can. But we're also getting to plan for this new exciting thing that is on the horizon. And just knowing what impact that will make on not only our school, but the whole community is is really exciting.
 
James Bell 
Yeah, with this increase in enrollment, is it? Are you guys like add capacity, or you still got a little room for them to get around? Okay,
 
Shawn Henderson 
we definitely can feel the students, the the the extra people that we had last year, you know, we're up over 950 now. And we ended the year at about 888 last year. So we definitely have more students. And we have some teachers sharing some spaces as well. And obviously, but at the same time, it creates some new collaboration. You mentioned it earlier, and some of our new people are in those collaborative spots. And so it's been, it's been fun watching that happen. And actually, as we plan for the new high school, that collaboration and teacher spaces and how people work together to impact student learning. That's really where we're headed. So we're just we're getting there already. So
 
James Bell 
love that. So what kind of stuff you guys you know, and I know, you gotta get into the academics of it all, but what kind of stuff goes on in the first part of the year to kind of ease into the rest of it.
 
Shawn Henderson 
There's not much easing at the high school. That's okay, though. That's the energy that we like. And you know, it's so fun to walk down the halls and see the students dressed up. You know, today we have, you know, soccer and we've got tennis that's in town, we have the volleyball team that's on the road, we have cross country that's on the road this morning. So we've already got hundreds of kids that are out, you know, doing their thing just today, and that's a random day in the fall. Doesn't feel like fall, by the way, one day, we might get some fall weather, right. Yeah, I mean, that's, you know, and then Friday Night Lights tomorrow, highlighting, you know, it's never just about football, it's all of the things, it's the community. It's the brand new band uniforms, which we debuted last week, which was really cool. And the cheerleaders and the dancers and I mean, it's, it's everyone, and there's just nothing like it. Actually, we love that Friday Night Lights. So yeah, we just have a lot of activities up and running. And we've had a lot of success with our groups. And it's, it's fun to watch them thrive. And so that's really exciting.
 
James Bell 
Very cool. Very cool. Anything on the academic side this year, that's kind of harder than usual, or is it just businesses? Businesses normal there?
 
Shawn Henderson 
Yeah, it's businesses is normal. But you know, one of the things that we're really proud of right now is our CTE and pathways. pathways in the state of Kansas is a conversation about how do you get students out and into internships and turning their, their, their academics from school into future opportunities are both at the post secondary and, you know, training level and, and so we have a lot of those partnerships and we're, you know, growing those partnerships all the time. But you know, like right now we have 97 students that that are leaving our building that are in an internship. So when you see someone walking, a high school student like this morning, said, Good morning to one that was wearing scrubs walking in, because there's going to come a point in the day to day that they're headed over to the hospital. That's really, really neat for our students, and it's something that we want to build upon all the time. I'm,
 
James Bell 
yeah, I like that, you know, and one of the things not not at all to get political here, but one of the things that came out of the student loan proposal out of President Biden's office is the well, how did we get in this mess, and we need to fix that. And you know, over the last few years, what I've seen, especially locally here is there has been an effort to not to dismiss or discount college education, but to right track those students and get them in the career fields that they want to be in and not necessarily skip college, if that's the way they want to go. But get them into a program or an internship or some sort of post secondary or post high school training that gets them where they need to be, without incurring a whole lot of debt and wasting a lot of time and things like that.
 
Shawn Henderson 
Right. And I think, but the impetus for that has to start with what's best for this kid, what's their story? Where are they headed? And how do we get them where we're going for some of those students, it's absolutely college. And they should do that. For some of our students, they have a lot of skills and a skill set that communities need. And it could be in all kinds of things. And that's why, you know, within CK tech and Fort Hays and our other other partners, we are looking at the student and their story, and how we can support them in that. And then, as the community realizes, you know, we have these partnerships, we hope to expand that so that our students have those opportunities to say, this is what I think I want to do. But when they go out and have those experiences, they're like, yes, it's really what I want, or no, it's not. And then they can be very intentional with their parents as to what training they need. And I feel like even in the new high school, and we're looking at the plans and talking, those CTE programs, those are those are going to be prevalent, they are going to be seen, and kids are going to watch what other students are doing. And CTE is for everyone. And that's really that's, that's something that that we're proud of, and that we just continue to bolster in our school.
 
James Bell 
Yeah, love that. And I would imagine, too, it probably helps in the effort to keep some of the students out here in western Kansas, whether it be haze or whatever, it down, you're listening to us. And there's that brain drain that we hear about all the time and those folks going elsewhere. And I think if we can train them to do the jobs that we need hear, we're more likely to retain them.
 
Shawn Henderson 
Yeah. And some of it is just letting them know what the jobs are. Now, we often hear well, we're training kids for jobs that are not that don't exist yet. That's 100% True. But I think some of that is being a responsive community to say, we do have young people that have all of these skills and this opportunity, how do we create it to where they feel welcome to insert themselves into what we have. And I think that's, again, a partnership between the school the community, the institutions that support us, and, and we're having those conversations, and it's fun. I mean, especially if you start to talk about it in terms of the scope of a new building, and how the new building can assist that. Then it's, you know, and I'm a creative person. So, to me, those are fun conversations.
 
James Bell 
Absolutely. Well, we've got just about a minute or so left, and we got to talk about this homecoming right around the corner, right?
 
Shawn Henderson 
Yep. It is coming up soon. It'll be October 3 through the seventh, you know, we have two new StuCo sponsors, Luke Lundmark. And Alan Neill. And they've just done a great job. I mean, I think we have literally I think we have 193 students on on the docket force StuCo. That's how many students are involved. And so I feel like that student engagement and that level of school pride is really up in the morale is up. And so I just imagined this homecoming to be really great.

As USD 489 accreditation process continues, district strengthens practical education programs

On this episode of the Post Podcast USD 489 assistant superintendent Shanna Dinkel shares updates from the district.
Transcript:
EDITORS NOTE: Transcripts are provided by an automated service and are not verified for accuracy.
 
James Bell 
As USD 49 continues in the accreditation process, they are evaluating and enhancing their career exploration and tech education programs. Assistant Superintendent of Teaching and Learning Shanna Dinkle stops by to share some of the details on this episode of the post podcast.
 
Shanna Dinkel 
Two big year for our school district in that this is our final year of a what was to be a five year cycle, but really six year with COVID apology are in there of accreditation, so we will send our information about our processes and and how we work for continuous improvement as well as the measures we have in place and the growth we've shown and that will go to the state board this year. And we hope that you know, we will be fully accredited. That's our anticipation. One of the measures, obviously state assessments is a measure in the academic measure that we focus on. But there we look at wider range, because our ultimate goal and rock as a district is a successful high school graduate. And that's so much more than just the academics, it's also admit socially emotionally, how students are and what support they need to be able to get to the academic piece. And so our families of third through 12th graders got an email or a text this week, asking them to opt in and allow us to provide a screener for their students on social, academic, and semi emotional questions. And so that came about because we had some new legislation this past year, which is requiring schools to reach out and let parents know what the tool is, which is very appropriate. And so I just wanted to kind of help explain why that text was sent this year and not in the past. But it is one of the ways in which we look at how students are doing socially, emotionally. We also look that though at attendance, attendance is so important. And then behavior course grades, but that sabres, that screening piece is just another layer in which we can just make sure that we have whatever support is needed for students to be successful. And again, as a successful high school graduate, from pre K, all the way up, everybody plays a role in that. So that was something that was sent out this week. But another big piece and, and one of the data points that really we need to celebrate as a district is the post secondary success of our students, you know, our ultimate goal at the state level is defined at 70 to 75%. Because, according to studies out there, 75% of our graduates will need some type of post secondary education, to to have a workforce, you know, here in Kansas or, or in the nation, those other 25% are also successful, they may be going to the military, they may be taking over the family business. So it's not to say that those aren't successful, but that's our target. And as a district, we're at 69.5% of students who graduate then a year, starting their second year out have been to some tech, Ed type thing or are enrolled in that second year of maybe a two year or four year university. So career tech ed is so huge, and we used to think about it in two groups of our high schoolers college prep or career tech ed. But really, we're all on a pathway to some career in after high school. So it's a large umbrella that really, it's all about career tech ed. And so we have some amazing things happening at our high school. Becky hicker, who is an assistant principal there, she and her team have worked really, really hard. We have career exploration happening. So just a few numbers is last year, we had 9060 students who were out in the community doing some career exploration this year, we have 97. And that wouldn't be possible without partners in the community, with businesses to allow our students to get out there. But it's such a necessary and important piece of students exploring what it is that is of interest to them that they might want to pursue. Post High School.
 
James Bell 
Yeah, if that makes perfect sense because I you know, I think back to my college experience, and I had a pretty major shift mid college, and I say mid I was about four years in when I decided to change majors and have a scene that in advance, I may have made different decisions when I was 18.
 
Shanna Dinkel 
Yes, and so we hope to even grow that. And at last year's class of 2220 22. We had 120 members who were pathway concentrators, so really it has a lot to do with what courses you take and how many, a lot of times students Are we actually enrolled in more than one pathway, but as we call them a pathway concentrator, it's how many they align within a pathway. But we're trying to expand the pathways next year. It's exciting that we hope to have a military and military military health pathway for students who choose to explore that. This year, we're starting our health science pathway. We're partnering with Hays Med, and a grant out of K u. And that's been excited. We have over 70 students who are in the intro to health career courses. And we know how important that is. There's just it's so exciting. And we have students who, you know, some of the NCQA programs that our high schoolers are involved in our Certified Nurse Aide, allied health, pharmacy tech, auto mechanics, so many of those things, we have students who go and attend Fort Hays on campus during the day, or taking online through NC K or Fort Hays on campus at Hays high. So really just you know, one of our core values is selling students on the possibilities and opportunities for their future. And that's really what it's all about. And it's not just something that happens in high school, you know, one of the resources that's available to parents, as parents, we, you know, we want to talk to our kids to about what it is, is of interest to them, there is a program called Higher paths, H AI, R e paths.com. And there were some grant money, and there's some amazing videos, and just talking points for parents, upper elementary are ready to just start thinking and exploring and seeing what's of interest. So lots going on. And again, it's that partnership with parents that the school wants to work with, because that's such an important role in what their student chooses to do post secondary, but good things happening. And like I said, are the 70, nearly 70% of our kids having some success after that high school graduation, that that's awesome. And we want to see that continue to grow?
 
James Bell 
Yeah, you know, I love that I've seen this over the I don't know, I'd say maybe the last 10 years or so really an effort, and especially locally in all of the high schools from Fort Hays and CK tech, USD 49. And the Catholic schools as well to have that kind of overall focus on not pushing children into one thing, university education, but rather, what is it that you like to do? And how do we get you to a successful point there. And I've seen some of the USD 49 tech programs in action. And it is truly incredible. There's constant learning, not only with the students, but with the educators as well. And how do we better implement this? And how do we bring in new tech, and especially on the coding front? It's really just incredible to me to see.
 
Shanna Dinkel 
Yeah, and you know, really, that is the purpose of T CTE is to support and empower schools, developing those pathways to lead students to whatever is post secondary. And a lot of times, we want to train them with that content, like we've talked about, but also can they work with others? That's that social piece? How do they feel about their learning emotionally? Where are they so it's all tied in with like, we talked about social emotional learning is such an important way, and why that's also something that as schools, we want to make sure that we work with parents and help support kids, because a lot of times, it's those soft skills, too, that we want to make sure whether it's growth mindset, working through things, overcoming some difficult situations. So lots of good things happening. And it's exciting to be here. And I look forward to our accreditation that we send to the state board, because I anticipate that we will be fully accredited.
 
James Bell 
Yeah, get that check off. That's, that'll feel so good, I'm sure. Yeah. You know, I'm curious how much of this the shift in education to this kind of newer model where we were on the career track and the pathways? How much of that is the changing education structure? And how much is the changing world we live in? And I think about, you know, all the tech that, you know, I'm at the end of that age that when I was in, you know, my my kids school age, in fourth, fifth grade, we had a computer in the classroom, and it played Oregon Trail. And that was about all it did. You know, we had some typing tutors, but they're what they do on technology is so different and so much more expansive, and a wonder like, if you want to kind of help us, or help us share with us? Are we learning better how to adapt those kids to that world? Or are we learning a better rather how to educate them for that world? If that makes sense? Yeah, it's probably a
 
Shanna Dinkel 
little bit of both. And you know, I think that's why it's important to even start exploring careers because there's so many things out there, our tech will eliminate some jobs and add to others. So we don't even know some of those things that are out there. Sometimes when we think about tech and students are, you know, devices are just second nature to them. As a system, we need to unlearn some of their habits of more just casual use of technology to really get into some specific I'm things with technology. So one of the things that's exciting with the bond passing, again, thanking the community for that opportunity, as we, you know, look at design, we really want to make sure that we're taking into account what our students need for the world beyond high school so that they're ready, including technology and those types of things. So I think it's a little bit of both, it's kind of like our kindergarten readiness, you know, that's another one of our measures for accreditation, we don't want to have students have to fit our environment, we need to know the needs of our incoming kindergarteners and create that environment that meets their needs, where they're at, and then moves them forward. Same thing, when we talk about career tech, Ed, what's out there, and then making sure that we provide that for students to move them forward.
 
James Bell 
And I would imagine, too, at this point, you kind of have to teach students to be I don't know what the right word but able to adapt themselves to the business world because it changes so quickly, you know, like I think of jobs that didn't exist when I was in school that are now you know, top needed jobs and out in the workforce, that you wouldn't have the there's no way you would have the education for you have to educate yourself. Right.
 
Shanna Dinkel 
And I think that's what we're hearing from businesses and again, are Dr. Watson, the Commissioner of Ed has been on tours across Kansas. And a lot of times we hear, we'll train them on those specific skills they need for this job. It's more of those soft skills, showing up on time, making sure that you're in attendance, having a good work ethic, growth mindset, working well with others, being able to express yourself, when written or oral communication, being a good listener. All those are things that through the different, you know, content and academic tying that all together because then at some point, yeah, it's hard to prepare him for everything that's out there. But just making sure that those basic skills are there so that they can adapt and be adaptable out in their environment and what they choose to explore next. Very cool. Yeah,
 
James Bell 
sure. We've got just about a minute left. Any other last thoughts or anything else that we want to hit on? Before we go? You know,
 
Shanna Dinkel 
I really think we talked about a lot. I'm excited to be it is a great year, we started off well, like you said, Superintendent Wilson share that last week and it's just a really good start and all the activities and the whirlwind is is picking up as we get here into September and and it'll fly by but we're just glad that we're able to work with students, parents, and again, thanking the community for all those career exploration opportunities they're giving our students because it really does make a difference.

USD 489 settling into school year

On this episode of the Post Podcast, USD 489 Superintendent Ron Wilson shares updates from the Hays Public School district. 
 
Transcript:
EDITORS NOTE: Transcripts are provided by an automated service and are not verified for accuracy.
 
James Bell 
USD 489 has kicked off their school year and they're settling into a routine superintendent Ron Wilson stops by to share some of the details on this episode of the Post Podcast.
 
Ron Wilson 
If you count my days, we've just completed two weeks, of course, we started in the middle of the week. So we're just on the next day of two weeks, one day.
 
James Bell 
You know, I'm glad you mentioned that maybe that's a perfect way to start. Because I've always been curious. And this has been the way since I was in school. It always seems like it starts on Wednesday or Thursday. Is there a reason for that?
 
Ron Wilson 
Well, there's not particularly reason that we we try to start on a Wednesday or Thursday, sometimes there is make some sense, you know, you have to consider that people have been off for a couple of months, sometimes, kind of just easing back into it is always a good thing for kids, especially younger kids, as they kind of transition from the summer, summer lifestyle to school lifestyle. And so when you get in that Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, it makes for a nice, three day increment that then you get a two day break and kind of didn't get back after it. So it's not always intentional, but it does make a lot of sense.
 
James Bell 
Okay, very cool. So how has things been going the first couple
 
Ron Wilson 
of weeks? Boy, it's really been awesome. I mean, things are starting to fill fairly normal, I always say the key to starting the school year is just finding our groove. And I feel like you know, I don't know if that's all we found our groove, as you know. And I say that because schools are probably one of the unique organizations, businesses, whatever you want to classify us as, because we shut down for for two months, two and a half months, and then we have to restart, which is very exciting in a lot of ways, because it's new, it's fresh, all those things that come with it, but also there's some other sides to it, when you shut something down for two and a half months and have to restart it brings on some other elements that sometimes creates a lot of work. But now things are good. And like I said, we're just trying to find the groove. And I think we're almost there and things activities are starting of course, and that makes it feel very normal. You know, of course, high school football kicks off Friday night, a lot of our other activities with cross country volleyball. Those have already started. Middle School has some activities tonight. So very, very normal things going on in our world. So
 
James Bell 
very cool. You know, and you mentioned easing back into it. I think about two you've had some not a whole lot. But some staff changes, and especially in the school level administration, I think that probably those folks are taking the reins and kind of making that their own.
 
Ron Wilson 
You bet. I think a couple, a couple of people, especially on our administrative side, we have Chris Romic, our new principal at Roosevelt Elementary, Chris was a school psychologist at Roosevelt. So she just moved down the hallway to a different office. But I think Chris will be a great addition that Roosevelt in a leadership capacity she's done has has a lot of experience and a lot of great ideas. And we're very excited about Chris being the building principal at Roosevelt Elementary. Also at our West Side school, we've had some changes this this summer, with the district taking on the role as the as the lead in that in that school. Previously, for the last many, many years. The district partnered with high plains mental health over the summer, we we decided that we would, you know, split and go a different direction with that. And Lindy McDaniel, who is Assistant Director for our special ed cooperative here in the district is taking on that role in addition to her assistant directors for the for the cooperative as well. And we're very excited because Lindy has a lot of background and working with kids and structures and things that we feel are important to adding to Westside school. So I think Lindy will be a great addition there as well.
 
James Bell 
Very cool. Any other differences as we're going into the year that you think people should know about?
 
Ron Wilson 
Well, you know, I don't know if there's, I don't know if I'll be able to pull all of them off there. All of them are fairly small or minor. One of the things that we did, but changes are what was always known as the Learning Center of Ellis County is now referred to as the Hayes virtual school. It was a small change, and it really doesn't change anything in terms of how we're operating. But we just really wanted to get the message out to people that that we do offer a virtual school sometimes when you say the Learning Center, people didn't really know what that meant and what kind of what actually went on there. And sometimes we were missing families that maybe wanted a virtual option. So making that small little change and calling ourselves Hayes virtual school identifies the people immediately of what we do and what we offer. So that's a minor change, but that's one thing that come was to the top of my head and thinking of some of the things that are different.
 
James Bell 
You know, have you seen? No, no, we're, you know, but a full year out of COVID at this point or the worst of it anyway, and the lockdowns and all that, etc. Do you find that you still have a lot of students taking that virtual option? Or are you kind of back to normal or enrollment wise? Well,
 
Ron Wilson 
I would say we were we have seen a return to to the majority of our students, of course, we still have students who do choose the virtual option. And that's definitely if that's what they feel is best for their family and their their students. Yeah, I think that's we want to be able to offer that. And so for the most part, I think we've we have most of our students back that we had pre COVID. And, you know, as far as enrollment numbers, our enrollment numbers are good. Of course, nothing is official until September 20. And there's so much that goes into an enrollment count. It's not as simple as UA on September 1, counting how many heads are in school? I
 
James Bell 
think it'd be an easy process, but absolutely not.
 
Ron Wilson 
It's, it's really fairly intricate. And lots of things go in to that in terms of weightings, what we call weightings in terms of what we offer to students and the additional costs that come with some of those things, in terms of some transportations and special education. Some those have received some help with meals at during lunches and those kinds of things. So there's lots of different things that go into figuring out your enrollment. But we'll be doing that over the next couple of weeks and September 20 is when we send everything into the state and then we kind of know what direction we're going for the school year.
 
James Bell 
Yeah. And that really, that's just a function of funding, right? They have to know exactly how many students so you know how much money you're getting in. And that's a multi year complicated process that just kind of snowballs as it's going along.
 
Ron Wilson 
Yes, it is. But right now, I would say that just headcount we're, we look really good. And we've we're, that's we're very optimistic about that. Now, I would tell you looking around the state, a lot of districts have have seen some decline in numbers. And a lot of that is just because as, as the state of Kansas has decreased in population in terms of, you know, burst live births coming into the, into the, into the state of Kansas. So we're, we're, we're, we're feeling fortunate that right now, our enrollment seems to be holding steady.
 
James Bell 
Okay. You know, before we run out of time, I'm gonna hit on this. I think, as we're wrapping up the school year, last year, we were talking about the bond issue, and now we're past the summer, I wonder if you want to update us with any activity going on there with the as that process kind of moves forward?
 
Ron Wilson 
Oh, absolutely. We're always loved to talk about the bond and the future of high schools and just the future for the Hayes community in the things that we're going to be able to see and experience together as this all comes together. Of course, this summer has been a lot of design work, we have spent a lot of work and basically focusing on the new high school at this point, with with the architect group, and have had lots of meetings with high school staff, including administration and teachers. We've did some work in terms of going around and seeing other schools that have have recently built new high schools that by our architect company, DLR. And so that was an exciting part of the summer. We've though like I said, we've had some design meetings where we, we've started the process of trying to put together what it's going to look like and what what's important to us, and what do we feel like our direction in terms of educating kids and Hayes and so some really great conversations this summer. And we're we're very excited, I think, as far as our community being able to see anything specifically that would say, oh, yeah, it started, I think we're looking at possibly as a target date of November that you'll start seeing some dirt moved out there east of the current high school. Of course, that will be the first piece and it's very important piece, because you got to get that foundation laid out exactly right. For the for to put a building that's going to be there for hopefully, 100 years or so that will take several months of of moving dirt and making everything the way it should be. And then we're hoping that we would see some actual construction starting in the spring. And then of course, it's gonna be a couple of years before that building is completely ready to move into but that was what we indicated during the bond. And I think everyone understands that, but it'll be an exciting piece coming coming down the road as everyone starts to see the future.
 
James Bell 
Absolutely. So is that the that's the first piece the big focus, but I'm wondering, are you Is there going to be any work going on the smaller kind of side projects at the schools or is that just going to be it for now and then it all rolls behind it?
 
Ron Wilson 
Now what you'll also see coming next summer, so just a year, just a little year, about a year from now is that you will will see some things being done and some of the other schools, the idea is that we'll do little pieces and all of our schools during the summers over the next two to three summers. And then of course, there might be some some different layouts as we, you know, as the as the new high school is completed, we move students out of the current high school, there will be a period where that building will be empty, and they will go in full force and do some things there. But of course, we'll be working on smaller projects that don't disrupt the the next school year and we that can be done during the summer. So yeah, there'll be lots of work going on for the next two to three summers.
 
James Bell 
Okay. Yeah, I'm there's so many moving pieces. I just imagine that's a crazy, complicated process. It
 
Ron Wilson 
is that there's some really smart people, it's not myself, that put this all together and figure things out. And I think it's, it's, it's really it's fun to watch. It's fun to be a part of, I think it's, it's, it's just something that it's just hard to imagine, you know, we can visualize it, but we don't really can't, but I think and going back to what I talked about with the tours, that's the thing that I realized, you know, and I had seen pictures and I've envisioned what it might look like but when I started walking in those high schools that had been built recently, kind of gave me goosebumps, to fit to know that our community will see something, something that's going to be looked very similar even maybe even a little better. And it's just it's unbelievable once cycles, souls

Hays Board of Education recap August 23, 2022

On this episode of the Post Podcast Hays Post reporter Cristina Janney recaps this week USD 489 Board of Education meeting with superintendent Ron Wilson.

USD 489 program helps ensure children have access to food over summer months

On this episode of the Post Podcast, USD 489 Nutrition Services director Jessica Younker shares information about the upcoming USD 489 summer lunch program.

As USD 489 wraps year, Hays High prepares for graduation

On this episode of the Post Podcast Hays High principal, Shawn Henderson shares information about the end of the school year at Hays High.
 
Transcript:
EDITORS NOTE: Transcripts are provided by an automated service and are not verified for accuracy.
 
James Bell 
Hays High is getting ready for graduation weekend. Principal Shawn Henderson stops by to share some of the details on this episode of the Post Podcast.
 
Shawn Henderson 
On the night, we had our big athletic and academic awards night. And what a great time to come together and really see all the great things that our students are doing. It's really fun to see.
 
James Bell 
Yeah, you know, as we're wrapping up the year, I wonder if there's any particularly notable things that come to mind that you want to discuss with us before we move on and talk a little bit about the graduation ceremonies coming up this weekend?
 
Shawn Henderson 
Well, you know, I have an interesting perspective, because I'm the new guy, I always say I have the new guy card, it's just part of part of being the new principal. And so my new guide card is going to wear off soon. And that's great. What it means is, is I've got some perspective, I got to see what, what our school is all about. And what it's about is some really great people and great students, great teachers. And, you know, it's just there's a lot to be proud of. And again, going back to Monday night, that's when you can smile and say look at the scholarships. Look what these students have done. Look what the accomplishments have been. And it's really humbling to see just the amazing thing our students are doing. That's awesome.
 
James Bell 
And some of those students so seniors, they're wrapping it up today, right?
 
Shawn Henderson 
Yeah, really wrapping it up. They did a great job this morning. I have to brag on him in a world where you could Google senior pranks that would be not wonderful. Our students were in the parking lot. They were playing cornhole. Spikeball, I think is that the one that hits off the little trampoline? They're smiling. And, you know, I just, I think that's real. And then they cleaned up after themselves and went right to class. I mean, again, just, we're just proud of them. And I have to say, too, I am the new principal. And I'm also a dad. So I have a senior that's graduating as well. So this will be my first graduation with Hayes high, but it's also I get to be the dad too. So that's exciting. Wow. Yeah,
 
James Bell 
that's a that's got to be just an emotional jumble.
 
Shawn Henderson 
There's a lot of truth to that already got some pictures. So she wanted to take a picture this morning. So anytime the kid asks that you, you roll, so
 
James Bell 
absolutely, absolutely. So yeah. So let's talk a little bit about graduation coming up. I believe that is this Sunday. Right? It is
 
Shawn Henderson 
Sunday. And it is. So we've got Sunday at 130. And it's going to be right there at Fort Hays, our great partner who allows to us gross Coliseum. So yes, Sunday, May 15 2020 to 130 will be our graduation. Very cool. What
 
James Bell 
do people well, you know, what do attendees expect in that event? Is it is it going to be similar to years past? I know. And again, as you mentioned, COVID kind of threw everything into a cocked hat for a couple years. But back to normal this year. Right? It is
 
Shawn Henderson 
yeah. And we're excited to have everybody, everybody back. There are no restrictions in terms of seating or anything like that. We'll, we'll be there and we'll be ready to go. We are trying something new. I think that's kind of neat is the band is going to play basically, in the program that I'm looking at. Right, right in front of me, it says various selections, Prelude concert. So kind of neat. So for 20 minutes prior to graduation, we'll have our fantastic band plan music to kind of set that tone, which I think is really neat. Namely, because I used to be a band director before I was a principal. The more band music, the better. But yeah, so I think that I think that will already add kind of a neat feel to the event.
 
James Bell 
Absolutely. And then again, is it just the standard kind of graduation you got? You're forgetting the name of it like the the class leader, the valedictorian, valedictorian speeches, and, sorry, go ahead. Oh, we
 
Shawn Henderson 
don't have a lot of speeches like that from students that traditional Hays high is that the students select a speaker and this, this hurts Miss Diane Mason, which is actually really cool, because Diane is retiring at the end of the year. And so the fact that the kids picked her I think is really neat. So to kind of bookend her her career here, she's going to be our, our speaker, and her addresses called what the rabbit knows. So I'm excited to see, see and hear what she has to say. But yeah, it's kind of fun.
 
James Bell 
Yeah, that's interesting. And I love that. So, you know, I don't know her. But most assuming she has been a longtime teacher at Hays high. Yes. That's really cool. I know, like a lot, a lot of schools that a lot of the kids, they all they like to shoot for the moon and think about the famous people, the celebrities and to come and talk but to select somebody from inside the district that that's going to be like it personally rewarding. Yeah, I
 
Shawn Henderson 
think it is. And, and I know she's excited about that. And I think like I said, I think it'll, I think it'll be good for our kids to, to hear her and to, to go out that way. Which I which I think is great. Very cool.
 
James Bell 
You'll probably be sharing a few thoughts too, right?
 
Shawn Henderson 
Oh, yeah. Not too many. But there'll be there'll be a couple. Yeah, a couple of thoughts there. My way I have to smile too is I'm looking at this program. The class model motto is I don't know about you, but I'm feeling 22 So Taylor Swift ah, matter of fact, I think when the graduations over or that's what they'll hear is Taylor Swift. It's just kind of fitting for the class of 2022. Yeah, absolutely.
 
James Bell 
All right. Well, what else? Do you folks need to know about the graduation? Or really just about the year in general?
 
Shawn Henderson 
Oh, you know, I, you know, first of all, we're excited that there's gonna be a new haze high school built, so won't dive into that other than to, you know, say thanks, and an appreciation for the community. And I think that's really going to be fun. And even honestly, watching our seniors take part in that and be a part of that civic operation to go vote was was really neat to know, I think it's been a really good year. And I think we've had, you know, going back to these students, you know, we have 26 students, you know, again, on the danger, Hansen, over $330,000 in scholarships, just from that one, one operation alone. We've got students that are going into collegiate athletics and activities, we have folks that are going to be moving on to the armed forces. And like I say, you know, the word I always say is humbling. It's humbling to see what a whole community supporting in and working and helping our students, and then it's this time of year where you you take a step back and say, Wow, look at look at what they've done. So
 
James Bell 
yeah, yeah. Love this time of year. Yeah. Although it's busy, right. It's busy, busy, busy. There
 
Shawn Henderson 
is no doubt it's busy. Yes.
 
James Bell 
All righty. Well, sir, yeah. Any other anything else you want to talk about before we go?
 
Shawn Henderson 
No, I just think it's been a great year. I want to say thanks to the community for again, I will be putting away my new guy card soon. But I just appreciate the opportunity to be the leader of this this great school. Just so proud of the work of our amazing educators, staff and students and community that rallies behind them every day.

After USD 489 bond election administration looks ahead

On this episode of the Post Podcast, USD 489 superintendent Ron Wilson and public relations director Chrisy Crough. Public Relations speaks with Hays Post reporter Cristina Janney about the next steps follow the passage of a district bond issue.
 
Transcript:
EDITORS NOTE: Transcripts are provided by an automated service and are not verified for accuracy.
 
James Bell 
The USD 489 bond issue has passed. Now the district's work begins. Superintendent Ron Wilson speaks with Hays Post reporter Christina Janney about that along with public relations specialist Chrisy Crough, on this episode of the Post Podcast.
 
Cristina Janney 
We're here to talk a little bit about the USD 49 bond that passed on Tuesday night, the $143.5 million bond passed with 53% of voters voting for the bond. In addition, almost 60% of voters approved a half cent suit, hey, city of hate sales tax that will help pay for the bond. Good morning, Ron and Christie, how are you?
 
Ron Wilson 
Great. We're feeling good.
 
Cristina Janney 
So what do you think the passage of the bond means for the future students and staff in the high school districts?
 
Ron Wilson 
Well, I think what what it means I think, as we've looked at this whole process is that it's people have said, we want to invest in our kids want to invest in our educational staff, and we want to invest in our community. And I think that's really what this means is that they said, This is important, and this is what needs to happen in the community. Hey, so from looking at all aspects of it, we're, we just feel that it's going to be a great thing for Hayes for a long, long time, and really gonna pay it forward.
 
Cristina Janney 
So the voter turnout on Tuesday was 38%, which is pretty high for a special election. Were you pleased with the voter turnout?
 
Ron Wilson 
Yeah, extremely pleased that we said from the beginning, that, you know, we always felt like we had more support than opposition, as long as we could get those who supported the bond to go out and vote, we felt like we could get this accomplished. And I think 38% is a, if you look at the history of bond votes, it's pretty high number. So I think that's exactly what we set out to do. We got accomplished.
 
Cristina Janney 
So what are the next steps in the bond process?
 
Chrisy Crough
Yeah, so the next steps will be to meet with the staff on each of the schools, teachers, administrators, kitchen staff, coaches, all that sort of stuff to go over exactly what needs to be done in those buildings, they know better than anybody else, because they're in the building. So they will have the input on that. They'll work with the architects directly. And then they'll go back and forth with the drawings and see what happens, the high school will be the first, the first building that is that's done that's focused on, and then we'll move through the other buildings after that.
 
Cristina Janney 
Just to remind people, so the main tenant of this bond is that we're build a new high school, and then the high school will be renovated into a middle school, and then the current Middle School will be renovated into an elementary school. Roosevelt, and often schools will also have some renovations and additions. And then Wilson will close as an elementary school but still be repurposed for district needs. And Rockwell will be closed completely, and west side will be moved. So do we know when we're going to be able to break ground on that first building on the on the high school?
 
Ron Wilson 
Yeah, well, that's That's the million dollar question, though. You know, like Chris, you mentioned, it's right now, it's just a lot of conversations. We've got approximately a year of visiting with people getting what we feel is the best design, will the architects will draw design will get estimated cost then and always be going back and forth. I would hope. I mean, I don't hold me to this. But I would, I would hope we would be breaking ground a year from now. Or maybe sooner. But I think tentatively we're probably looking at an April May, breaking ground for from the new high school.
 
Chrisy Crough
And I spoke with Sorry to interrupt anybody here, but I spoke with Dr. Last night, we were talking about it. And they were saying that the civil engineers will be out there looking at the ground where the new high school will be built out looking how it slopes, looking where the electrical could go looking at all of the different logistics of it all to make, you know, just before they start really building and designing everything.
 
Cristina Janney 
And for people who may not know the high school, the new high school will be built to the east of the current High School on ground that is already owned by the school district.
 
Ron Wilson 
Yeah, that's that's been a blessing to have already had district owned property throughout this process. And the district purchasing that that additional property, probably way back in the 70s was was just a great foresight for our community.
 
Cristina Janney 
Through this whole bond process. We've talked a lot about How having those two buildings the new high school and what will be the renovated middle school being in close proximity how that'll benefit students? Do you want to talk a little bit about that,
 
Ron Wilson 
I think it just opens so many doors that we currently don't have open because of just the location of the high school, middle school, I mean, naturally, the big thing is, we're going to have an auditorium for our high school, as well as our middle school, the high auditorium will be actually housed at the new high school, but it will have easy access for our middle school students who will be utilizing that for performances, to just walk across their campus, to the to the auditorium and, and whether it's a band concert that evening, they'll be able to practice and then utilize that for the evening performance. So Well, I think it's just those are the things that are that seem logical, but then there's just so many avenues where, you know, what, even high school kids coming, and we're gonna have some things working with maybe some middle school kids and things like that, that just opened doors that we've never even considered. And I think that's what's exciting about this whole proposal, athletic services, of course, that's really something we're gonna have athletic surfaces out there on the on our campus, which will be available for middle school and high school student athletes. And I think that that is something we're really excited about.
 
Chrisy Crough
And to add to that, the middle school, which will be moving into the current high school will have the career and technology classes that they don't have right now at the current Middle School, solely because of space. So they will get those the woods and the metal shop and the the electric car, you know, all of that sort of stuff will be in there that's already in the high school, but now the middle school students will be able to access that.
 
Cristina Janney 
So is there an estimated completion time for the high school building?
 
Ron Wilson 
Yeah, I mean, the estimated timeline is that we're we're hoping to move our high school students into a new building in August at the start of school in August of 2024. That's, that's our target date. We'll also target to have all of our other schools renovated by August of 2025. Now all that information can be found on our USD 49. website, under timeline, under the bond information. So yeah, if you have any questions about timeline, be sure to check that out.
 
Cristina Janney 
I don't we're several years off from the consolidation, and the closing of Lincoln school. But do you want to talk a little bit about how the redistribution of students will work when that happens here and a few years out?
 
Ron Wilson 
Sure, I will be adding sections to each elementary to one section to each elementary, that'll that'll be the increase, that won't, you won't see a huge increase in each building, but I think that's it, we'll, we'll evenly distributed among the three elementaries that will remain in our district and, and give us some, you know, functionality in terms of, of spacing and space available. And when people were still district of choice, meaning they parents get to choose where their kids go to school. So, having that additional space just gives us that functionality to make sure we can we can definitely meet those requests, as best we can.
 
Cristina Janney 
I know through this bond process, some people have expressed some concerns about the increased traffic on 13th Street when the new high school is constructed, what steps will the school district and the city be taking to address that issue?
 
 
So, once Well, obviously, prior to we kept saying once this passes, we will do that, but now it has passed so we can actually speak of it in present tense, but we will meet with the city we will do traffic studies and see exactly what needs to be done how the flow of traffic will work. We have looked into some grants that there that are out there that can help with the with the cost of it because we do know that there will be additional traffic we do understand, you know, we will have to stagger start and dismissal times to help with the flow of traffic but it will be addressed as far as what it is at this point. We don't know once we really look into it, but it will be addressed and and make it function out there.
 
Cristina Janney 
So Christy and Ron, are there anything else that you would like to add or let the our listeners know about the bond now that it has passed?
 
Ron Wilson 
Well, I think the thing is that I want to make sure everyone understand is we're we're really proud of what we do and USD 49. But with the passing of this bond, I think it's it's about how proud we can become on what we can become with with the passing of this bond. It's just gonna Oh Put some things that we have. We've dealt with for a lots and lots of years. And it was it was, it was a tough process. I mean, it's it was been a lot of work and a lot of dedicated, committed people in our community who came together and really rallied together to make this happen. And I'm I'm just appreciative and feel very blessed to be have been a part of that. You know, special shout out to Chrissy Crowe for what she's done for, for getting the right information out, helping educate our community, on really what was was done and what was what is needed. And so we're we're just, it's been a, it's been a really a tough process, but also kind of uplifting in a lot of ways, because we've all learned how together, you know, when people come together, how we can get things accomplished.
 
Cristina Janney 
I know, there's been a lot of discussion about the high cost of maintaining some of these older buildings, which Lincoln by the time this project is completed will be 100 years old. So is there hopes that some of the capital improvement, many that's been having to be spent on maintenance and fixing older buildings will be able to be directed towards other projects?
 
Ron Wilson 
Yeah, that's, that's the thing we're really excited about, because we haven't had a lot of flexibility in our capital improvement spending. I mean, it's basically we've been spending dollars base to keep keep the boat on the water and not have it sink. And so when by passing of this bond, we're going to we're going to take care of a lot of those needs. And that's going to free up a lot of capital outlay funds that we can now look at some of those special projects that the board wants to prioritize and, and really do some really great things for our schools.
 
Anything else?
 
Ron Wilson 
I I'm just just, hi. I'm extremely excited. Bill really blessed that we got this done. And it's been, it's been a long haul but it's gonna be well worth it and it's gonna pay forward for lots and lots of years.

Enrollment for next year ongoing at Early Childhood Connections

On this episode of the Post Podcast, Early Childhood Connections director Donna Hudson-Hamilton shares information about enrollment.
 
Transcript:
EDITORS NOTE: Transcripts are provided by an automated service and are not verified for accuracy.
 
James Bell 
Enrollment for next year for the Early Childhood connections is underway. Director Donna Hudson-Hamilton stops by to tell us a little bit about that. And more on this episode of the Post Podcast.
 
 
Early Childhood connections we are located out across from Hayes Hi 2501 easterton Street. And we serve families prenatal to age five, we have a variety of programs in our prenatal to three age range, we have parents as teachers, which is a home visitation program that is open to anybody that would like those services. And then we also have an early headstart program. And within that program, we have a home visitation, we partner with some family childcare partners to provide services children to children. And then we also have a center based program there where children come every day. And then in our three to five program, we have our preschool out there, we offer full day sessions out there. So we're serving children, um, you know, at 330. And then we also have a home based option. We also do provide services in outlying counties. So not only do we serve Ellis County, we serve rush, Russell and rooks county as well. Very cool,
 
James Bell 
very cool. So you know, if you're a parent out there, and you're kind of like, again, like me, and you're thinking, Oh, my goodness, what am I gonna do with my kiddos next year? What's the process to start that either enrollment or getting more information from you guys? Well, we
 
 
have just launched a new online enrollment process. So if you are interested, you can go to the USD 49 website, and then click on the schools and click on early childhood connections. And right there, you're going to see a green button that says enrollment information. And you can start your enrollment right from that, right there online, we've really tried to make it a lot easier for families to get enrolled. So we've moved to this online process. Another piece that has really changed for us is that especially in our three to five suit, children that are aged three to five, is now we're going to be able to serve more children age three. And so if you're looking at enroll, enrolling in that program, the guidelines have now changed so that we can serve children. Three and four year olds that have are either eligible through a single parent, a teen when the child was born, if either parent is lacking a high school diploma, if the family is eligible for free lunches, if the child does not speak English, or if they're migrant status, so that has opened up for us this year. So I really encourage families to they're not sure if they would be eligible to give us a call, and we can kind of walk them through that.
 
James Bell 
Sure. Oh, no. Is that the only or I can't think of the word qualifications maybe for the kiddos or is there others as well? Well,
 
 
that is that is the requirements for eligibility. Now also housed in that building is the USD 49 for PE preschool, and that is open to anyone. And so that is an option that's also available out there. The other option is at no charge to families.
 
James Bell 
Very cool. And you know, and I do believe, correct me if I'm wrong, but there are some spots open in the paid version of the preschool because we I was on the phone with him the other day, like it? Yes, but not very many. There's only a handful
 
 
of spots. I sometimes think oh, I'll wait to August to get my children enrolled in I just wanted to put it out there. Now is the time now's the time to be thinking about getting getting everything set for August now.
 
James Bell 
Absolutely. You know, and I am curious, we've heard a lot in the recent months about the lack of daycare here. Yeah. I mean, does that extend to early childhood connections as well?
 
 
Well, where where it impacts us is is that we do especially for our program for prenatal to age three. We'd like to partner with some family childcare partners. And that has been difficult for us just because of the decrease in the number of family childcare partners. I'm on the childcare task force that we're trying to encourage more individually It was to look at that as a profession and help support them. Because we have had a significant decrease in child care in our area.
 
James Bell 
Absolutely. And you know, it is great that I love to hear that you're on that committee as well. It's it's been one of those things that I've seen kind of grow and expand and, and really being being tackled head on by some of the interested parties here in the community.
 
 
Yes, it is a need for this area. And and we are working hard at trying to find resources, not only to start a childcare, but also workforce to make sure that we have the people to work in that and that they can make a livable wage and doing that. Absolutely.
 
James Bell 
Now, before we run out of time, Donna, we got to talk about this too. What about those kiddos that are starting to age out of your services or similar services here in the areas?
 
 
Well, I just I know that children or parents get a little nervous as their children start to enter kindergarten. So I just wanted to let them know that on our website, we do have a section for families for children that are transitioning to kindergarten, and on that you're going to find say you're going to Lincoln our Roosevelt Elementary you will find a little notebook on there that has the pictures of of the staff there the playground, the lunch room, anything you might want to look over with your child. We also have activities on there how to help your child prepare for kindergarten, we have books on there that you can audiobooks that you can read to your child so we just have a lot of resources as your child moves into kindergarten if if I just want people don't know just check it out. There's there's things there for them.

Hays High education impacted by lack of space

On this episode of the Post Podcast Hays High principal, Shawn Henderson shares the latest from USD 489.
Transcript:
EDITORS NOTE: Transcripts are provided by an automated service and are not verified for accuracy.
 
James Bell 
Hays High continues to struggle with this space and aging facilities. Principal Shawn Henderson stops by to talk to us a little bit about that and more on this episode of the post podcast. As we've heard from some of the other principals here on the go morning show, there's a pretty big problem with space in the district. Right?
 
Shawn Henderson 
Exactly. And I think that would hold true for sure it hits high. And that's kind of the thing that we've really been talking to everybody about is space and beyond space, even just how space works in terms of how modern learners learn, and really what industry is asking us. And that's about having students that know how to collaborate, they know how to innovate and work as a team. And to do that you've got to have a place for them to, to take care of those needs, and to engage in that kind of learning, which is really important. Yeah, you know, I
 
James Bell 
think I saw a picture pretty recently from Hays high. And it was it was students working in the hallway, because there's no place else for him to work.
 
Shawn Henderson 
Yes, and that. And really, that's a very common sight for us. When you look at how schools are handling those spaces, now, there are different types of classrooms, different kinds of spaces allocated for the kind of learning that's taking place for our teachers to replicate that now. They're, they're sending them to the hallway. So it is very true. When I talk to people, there are always students lining the halls, and it's not the old school model of you're in trouble, go to the hall. Otherwise, I'd have a whole lot of people in trouble. That's not what this is. This is this is a place to give kids an opportunity to collaborate, which again, comes from industry, and that's the skills they want those kids to have.
 
James Bell 
Yeah, you know, we hear about that quite a bit too. The the desire 20 years ago was to send everybody to college or big goes to college gets a four year standard degree. But now we've we've learned that those those those hands on skills, electricians, the plumbers, the tech jobs, are what's in real high demand. And so yeah, so what you're saying is you guys are responding to what is needed out there in the world world. Right. And,
 
Shawn Henderson 
Yeah, and it is, again, it's listening to industry, and it is understanding, and I appreciate that you said that, because it's true. There's not just one path for students, you know, we talked about things at the high school level called individual plan of study, and what we're talking about is your path, you the student and what what your skills, what's your interest, we gauge those interests, we, we, you know, have curriculum for that we get them out in the community. And that's something that we are continuing to expand, we want our students to get the skills that they need, but then to go and put them to use in our community and to learn those skills partner with business. Because really, that's what's going to set them apart when they go out. And they try to join the workforce. Yeah,
 
James Bell 
no, you know, we hear quite a bit the the quality of the education isn't necessarily determined by the facilities, I wonder if you want to talk a little bit about this in specifics, how they actually do get impacted in specific ways. Like I think of my high school experience science labs, I went to an older school, I went to a school built in the 20s. And at the time, our science lab was virtually non existent. And I don't know the status of your facility. So it's just an example. But I wonder about, like, the ability to teach those skills that are needed in a facility now that is pushing, you know, 40 years old in haste highest case,
 
Shawn Henderson 
right? And you look at our teachers, and you think about the term, they're doing these things in spite of the limitations that they have. And then you look at our dynamic staff, you look at the kind of people that teach our young people in this community and you think, wow, what if they were able to have the kind of space that they need, so that those barriers are not in their way, and that you know, as someone that is the leader of that environment, it's really excited to think about making sure that they have that space and they have the tools that they need, because then they are going to be able to maximize that environment for those students and try to remove some of those barriers for them. And that's exciting I think for the educators it's exciting for the students it's exciting as a parent you know, I have students in school myself that you know, what does that look like for for them to have exactly what they need so that they can they can grow
 
James Bell 
you know, I wonder if you want to talk about a little bit maybe this how this compares Hayes high to some other districts in our league?
 
Shawn Henderson 
Yeah, I mean, I think the thing is, is that you know, the if you start to go around the the Western you know, are the wack right and so you start to look at what the other schools the Dodge City, liberal garden, great Ben, you look at it, it is it, you know, facilities, you look at the the kind of practice spaces they have the kind of learning environment they have. And, you know, the truth is, is our parents, our families, they're on the road, they're on the road a lot. And it's not even just so much about the schools in our conference, you know, families that have competitive sports and competitive even all the things that that families are doing now. They they traveled to a lot of places, they see a lot of schools and they understand the condition of the facilities, not even so much the condition but just the Um, what those opportunities are that they can see with their eyes just visiting those towns in the schools. And, and that's something that I that I think that Hayes can really consider and think about in terms of what we have here. And I think that's a question worth asking for sure.
 
James Bell 
Absolutely. You know, we've also heard a lot about missed opportunities, conferences or sports. I don't know, things. Everybody knows, I'm not much of a sports guy. But I think about, you know, all those opportunities that as a school we could have if we had the space to do so to bring people into haze. You want to speak a little bit about that, right?
 
Shawn Henderson 
Yeah, certainly. So you're talking about regional level events, you're talking about events where the the Keisha, they call and they say, Would you be willing to host that? Well, it's always an honor to host for Keisha events because it brings great, well, to be honest, it brings people to the community. And that benefits everyone. But when we don't have the facilities that can hold those events, because there are stipulations from the state, of course. And then when we're not able to do that we lose out on revenue for the community, we lose out of people coming to see what Hayes is about. And it's unfortunate. And you know, another example for us, that's the easiest to show is we just we truly do not have an auditorium, not to not to the type that that students utilize now. And it would be something that would go across, it would be all students K through 12. The community that tends to be that place in the community that so many things happen, whether it's an assembly, or it's a concert, that's a talked about spaces we simply don't have that is one that is off. For us. We just don't have that. And we lose out on a lot of things from a curriculum standpoint. And then just from an opportunity standpoint,
 
James Bell 
absolutely. You know, I was I was right before going on air I was telling you last night, as a matter of fact, I was at a or Tuesday, I guess I should say Roosevelt had their program at 12 St. auditorium. And I think there's no better visual for some of the facility concerns in the district, that Wall Street auditorium that building, it doesn't look good. And if you're, as a parent, and especially somebody coming outside of the district, if you're in that building, I think it just screams to something needs done.
 
Shawn Henderson 
Yeah. And for us, it's it's a part of the curriculum to we have students that are that are incredible performers. But it goes beyond that. It's the stagecraft, it's the people that want to be involved in quite frankly, what you do, right? I mean, those are the kinds of things that we want to provide those opportunities, that that really, we have so many kids a cross section of kids that could use that space. And, you know, whether it's a stage craft class, that's a drama class, we would not, we do not have a place for that right now, there. You know, it's not even in our building. And again, yeah, I think that's a, that's a true example of that. Yeah. And
 
James Bell 
going back, again, to kind of what we were talking about, at the onset of this, you know, those tech jobs, those jobs that we don't even that don't exist today, we don't know what they're gonna be. And that's what the students that are coming into the highest high now are going to be doing jobs that we can't even imagine. And it's going to require development and infrastructure to make the make those career potential opportunities happen.
 
Shawn Henderson 
Correct. And we want to be responsive, we do not want to provide any barriers or roadblocks for our students, because quite frankly, when they there, it's a competitive world. And they're going up against students that have, you know, similar experiences, or, and we want to make sure that we have the tools in place for them, so that they can be competitive.
 
James Bell 
And again, no knocks against any of the educators, I think that almost everybody I speak to, I think would agree that USD 49 has some of the best educators in the state of Kansas, if not beyond.
 
Shawn Henderson 
Oh, absolutely. And again, I go back to what I said at the beginning. It's, it's, it's what they're doing in spite of what's in front of them, you know, they're just some barriers for them. And then if you start to remove those barriers, and give them the kind of space allocation that they need, I really like to think about what what they can do, then then they can flourish. And I think that that's important as well.
 
James Bell 
You know, I think the other important piece of talking about facilities and maintenance in the district is the upkeep, then that's something that is heard pretty frequently. You know, why? Why didn't the district take better care of Hays high when we built it 40 years ago? You know, I don't know if you want to talk a little bit about that, you know, from a financial standpoint, the challenges that come with trying to upkeep a building that is now 40 years old.
 
Shawn Henderson 
Right, and I think it's a fair question, you know, is, Are we maintaining the buildings and, and I've heard a lot of great analogies and people that know me, you know, I use them all the time. But at my age, I'm simply not the same person I was when I was 16. Just not as not as fast and not, you know, not as quick on my feet and, and the truth is, is that It doesn't matter how hard that we upkeep something there, age is real, it's going to come into play. We have people that work tirelessly and decades of, of people that have worked really hard to provide an infrastructure and they do a great job. But the infrastructure grows in age. And when it does, it creates issues that have to be solved. And that includes dollars and cents. And I think something that that we want to make sure that we realize is, is it's not so much that the facilities haven't been taken care of. It's that time is a real factor. And, you know, that's why this conversation of when when is it time to upgrade? When is it time to build new? When is it time to change that infrastructure so that we are preparing for 50 years from now? I think that's that's the question that's in front of voters. And it's the right question to ask, and we hope people do. And we hope that if they have questions that they can ask, because, you know, that's the thing, I recently helped my daughter registered to vote, and it was the same conversation I had with her that I would have with anyone is that, you know, it's an incredible civic responsibility to be able to do this. And that's the conversation I had with my new 18 year old. And, and just like I would tell her, you know, you've got to decide you've got to be educated on this. You've got to know what what you know what your decision means. And then you you've got to vote. And that's, that's what I would tell her. And really, that's what I would tell anyone. That's my hope is that, that people know what we're talking about, ask those questions and get out and vote. Absolutely.
 
James Bell 
Yeah. And I think one of the great things that I've seen with this, with the district and the committees that are working on this bond issue is the amount of information that has been put out there is truly comprehensive, I think it's really a pretty good job. And there's a town hall, they've had some of these meetings already, but a town hall coming up to that, where you can go in if you're curious about this and learn more about the issues and ask questions directly some of the people that are in the know
 
Shawn Henderson 
Exactly. And that's going to be on April 20, Hayes Middle School in Hays High School are going to come together at six o'clock. And yeah, again, we would welcome anyone to come in and ask those questions. And because again, as we have an opportunity to share, and to take time to answer those questions, I think that's when people feel comfortable with the decision that they're making. And I think that's appropriate.
 
James Bell 
Absolutely. Well, anything else that you want to hit on or any other last thoughts before we go?
 
Shawn Henderson 
No, I mean, hey, this is a great time of year. We're hoping spring comes around. It's taken a real slow time to get to spring, but there's always some nice high activities out there. We've got the music students going to call me today for state, large group got all kinds of activities going on in the spring would love to see people out. It's good to support our students.

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