Bucyrus school board told of Virtual Learning Academy success

By Andrew Walsh
awalsh@wbcowqel.com

Bucyrus City School District board members were taken to school Thursday and what they learned was that the district’s Virtual Learning Academy is a success.

Evidence of that success includes 22 unique courses offered, 49 course completions, 24.5 credit hours earned, and all while boasting a cumulative GPA of 3.18. . Those numbers reflect only the current school year.

“I’m not bashful to say that nobody else in Crawford County is offering this,” Superintendent Kevin Kimmel said.

The environment that has become the current virtual learning academy has travelled a long road. It began as, basically, a credit recovery program. It has become an incredible tool for expanding the curriculum that Bucyrus is now able to offer its students. The 22 courses offered, which were selected from a menu of 45, range from Anthropology, Art History, Economics, Veterinary Sciences, Principles of Architecture and Construction, and Gothic Literature. It is a healthy selection of courses that Bucyrus would not otherwise be able to provide.

The structure of the program offers a great deal of flexibility as well. The long distance and online learning opportunities are good for students who also have jobs or are involved in extra-curricular activities. It is also very helpful for students trying to prepare for college and are trying to fit some extra courses to that end into their schedules. Whereas in some cases this might not be an option because of conflicting with required courses, these students now have the freedom and flexibility to work these courses into their schedules on their own terms.

Nancy Fischer, who proctored the courses for Psych 1 and 2 along with World Religions was very high on the program. With many of the courses being somewhat elective in nature, the students who are signing up for them usually had a preexisting interest in the subject matter. These more motivated students generate more passionate work, and gave some of the students who would be more reserved in a typical classroom a platform on which to assert themselves more confidently.

“This is something we can really crow about in the community,” Fischer said.

Food Service Coordinator Lorie Pennington was recognized for her tireless work in serving the Bucyrus School District. Not only does she serve Bucyrus Schools, with special efforts for the underprivileged students, but she does work around the county as well. Whitney Gherman of the Children’s Hunger Alliance presented Pennington with a Gold Level Recognition for her work in providing summer nutrition to students who have difficulty finding it otherwise. Also, an extra stat, the Bucyrus Backpack program is currently providing 160 students with extra meals to last them through the weekends.

Treasurer Ryan Cook announced the district is moving away from maintaining its own network and technology equipment. The district will be entering into a contract for next school year with NBEC/NWOCA of $321,000 over five years. This will relieve the district from some responsibilities they currently bear that it really should not.

As Cook quipped, “We’re in the education business, not the network business.”

This contract will shift responsibility for providing and maintaining the technology and the network that will power the school’s educational systems. It will also be a significant cost savings to the school as, after rebate, the bill will be reduced to about $6,000 to $8,000 per year.

State testing is currently under way. Kimmel outlined the makeup plan as follows: first five days would be treated like the first five days in calamity situations of old. Days six, seven, and eight, were/would be made up on President’s Day, spring parent teacher conference day, and the Monday after Easter. Blizzard Bag Days were issued for days 9, 10, 11. Days 12 and 13 have happened subsequently and it was initially planned that they be added to the end of the year schedule. This led board member Paul Johnson to question whether more blizzard bag days should be issued to continue prep for the state tests. It was eventually agreed that this would be the case.