By James Massara
CCN News Director
GALION — Community support was a focal point during the most recent Galion City Schools Board of Education meeting.
Galion City Schools Superintendent Jim Grubbs said he wished he had his voice on a tape recorder before reading the list of donations given to the district.
“I feel like I say this every month, but that’s because every month it seems like I’m thanking someone for their outstanding generosity,” Grubbs said. “We are very fortunate to have local dollars coming to the district. The money makes a lot of things happen in the district and I can’t thank the donors enough.”
The Middle School Competition Robotics Team received a $10,000 grant donation from the America’s Farmers Grow Rural Education and the Monsanto Fund, the Galion High School Show Choir Camp received a $1,400 donation from the Community Foundation for Crawford County, the Galion Intermediate and Primary schools received various school supplies donated by Eagle Crusher and the Galion Athletic Boosters donated $2,500 to the district for athletic uniforms and another $2,500 for field maintenance costs.
During the meeting, the board also thanked individuals who spent two weeks during the summer painting murals in the middle school.
“Before, when you’d look around some of the buildings, especially the middle and high schools, there weren’t many cases of school colors being seen,” Grubbs said. “A big thank you to the volunteers who painted the murals and brought more life to the halls.”
Grubbs later took a more serious tone during his superintendent’s message, as he spoke about school security.
He said the policy for school staff should be see something-say something.
“We hear all the time that when a school shooting happens, someone knew something was going on with the individual,” Grubbs said. “We need to focus on building relationships, so when something is wrong with a student they feel comfortable enough to talk to someone about it before it escalates into something terrible.”
Grubbs added he attended a conference where the featured speaker was a mother of a Sandy Hook Elementary shooting victim. Grubbs said the mother said many people admitted that they noticed things that could have been addressed to improve the school’s security but said nothing.
“We need to ensure we are doing our part to make this a safe environment for all students,” Grubbs said.
To begin the meeting, the board heard from the district’s foreign language department on future trips.
French teacher Violeta Chinni said she plans to take students to Canada in June. She said it was seen as the best time to take the trip to avoid athletics and other school activities.
The group will see Niagra Falls, the Ontario Science Centre, downtown Toronto and other locations.
Spanish teacher Jenna Bollinger shared her desire to take students to Puerto Rico in June 2020.
She said plans include seeing a cathedral, snorkeling, see botanical gardens and more. She said she confirmed that all the locations the students would be visiting have been restored since the previous hurricane struck the island.
The next board meeting is Oct. 16 at 6:30 p.m.