BUCYRUS —During the public participation of Wynford’s March board of education meeting, many took the opportunity to address the board on a variety of matters.
The first to address the board was Dwight Farmer from Adena Corp. “I’d like to discuss the construction of the high school and middle school. You guys should have received a letter we sent out. We, along with several local contractors, are owed over 1.7 million dollars from the district,” Farmer began. “We completed our contractual obligations, and you guys have failed to pay us, so you are pushing us into the position to where, unfortunately, we are going to have to sue the district to get our money. You guys have held money as far back as July of ’21 of our pay applications for no real reason of ours or any local contractors’ part.”
Superintendent Fred Fox issued the statement that they are moving forward with Adena and the OFCC and that it’s a slow process. “The OFCC has gone through many changes as far as their executive director and their legal counsel, which has slowed things down. I’m sure that every person on this board wants everybody to be happy, but we have to protect the voters and the taxpayers of the Wynford School District, and that’s what we’re here for.”
Amy Safford, the social worker at the elementary school, gave the board a presentation on the program the school uses called R.O.X., which stands for Ruling Our Experiences.
The program was developed in Columbus after schools discovered that their young girls were suffering from low self-esteem and confidence issues. It was developed the twenty-week program where the girls are taught team-building, empathy, communication, coping skills, and they are taught self-defense.
R.O.X. surveyed over ten thousand girls in the U.S. and found that between fifth and ninth grade, confidence sharply declined and didn’t rise back to pre-middle school levels until they’re in their twenties. They also found that by the time girls reach their freshman year of high school, forty-six percent of girls don’t believe they’re smart enough for their dream career, one in three girls stay away from leadership positions because they don’t want to seem bossy, one in two don’t speak their mind or disagree with others because they want to be liked, and thirty percent of girls with a 4.0 GPA don’t think they’re smart enough for their dream job.
When it comes to social media, they discovered that most high school girls spend six hours on social media each day, and those who do are more likely to say they’re sad or depressed nearly every day. Girls who use social media a lot are less likely to have supportive friendships, less likely to participate in extracurricular activities, less likely to trust other girls, and are less likely to want to go to school.
This is the school’s third year in the program.
Next to address the board were students Addison Lust, Dawson Pelter, Madison Ridge, and Maggie Ridge regarding the Hope Squad.
According to its website, Hope Squad is a peer-to-peer suicide prevention program. Members are nominated by their classmates as trustworthy peers and trained by advisors.
They recently completed Q.P.R. training, which stands for question, persuade, and refer. Students are to pay attention to fellow students and watch for signs of suicide, and if they identify someone who they think may be presenting those signs, they are to ask them they are hurting themselves or are thinking of doing so or planning to commit suicide. Students can also persuade them to do the right thing and go get help when they need it. When members refer someone, they are to refer them to a trusted adult and ask the individual if they would like the Hope Squad member to go with them to help them get through whatever it is they are going through.
Hope Squad members are currently putting together a video to show their classmates at an assembly next week during Hope Week.
Some ideas students had were to make a “hope chain” where all of the students will write their names on a strip of paper, link them together, and hang them around the common areas within the school to show that everyone is together. The next idea is to have students paint one of their hands and put it on a banner with their signature under it to show that they support those who are struggling.
Students will be participating in a game week to show how staying active can help one’s mental health. For each day a student wants to participate, they are to pay one dollar, and if they win the game, they have the opportunity to participate in a tug-of-war challenge on Friday at the assembly. Monday will be a half-court shot challenge, Tuesday will be a bean bag toss, Wednesday is limbo, and Thursday is rock, paper, scissors.
There will be an inspirational quote read on the announcements every day, Hope Squad members will put a Post-It note on all lockers with a nice quote on them, and on Sunday, members will be writing uplifting signs around the school. Members will have bags of lifesavers to give out to fellow classmates to help identify themselves as a Hope Squad member.
The program is already working as there has already been a member go to the high school guidance counselor, Shelli Ashley, with an individual in need of help.
Next week is Hope Week, and on Monday, students can wear a hat, Tuesday, they are to wear all black, Wednesday is neon day, Thursday is pajama day, and Friday is flannel day.
In more uplifting news out of the district, the board has hired current physical education teacher Cyle Skidmore to be the next head football coach.
Skidmore, a 2015 Wynford High School graduate, had quite the football career between high school and college.
In high school, Skidmore was voted the Northwest District Lineman of the year, the N10 Defensive Player of the Year, was first-team all-Ohio, voted the North Central Ohio Football Coaches Association Offensive Lineman of the Year, and he earned first-team all-conference honors on offense and defense.
In college, Skidmore played for the Findlay Oilers, wherein his sophomore season, he was named honorable mention all-GLIAC (Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference). In his junior season, he was named second-team all-GLIAC.
Skidmore looks to get the program back on par for Wynford football after going 4-7 in the 21-22 season and 5-4 in the 20-21 seasons and was ranked fifth and fourth, respectively.
Since the 04-05 season, Wynford has been ranked below second in the conference only four times.
The district is looking into purchasing vape detectors in the bathrooms. Colonel Crawford, Mohawk, and Willard all use vape detectors and said that they are effective at detecting the chemicals put off by the vapes. There are grants available to apply for in order to purchase these devices.
The next board meeting is on April 26 at 5:30 p.m. in the community center in the old building.