Dear SWSC Community,

It has been a great start to the 2022-23 school year!! It is really hard to believe that the end of the first nine weeks is upon us. As a reminder the first nine weeks ends on Friday, October 7, 2022.

We made several improvements to our facilities over the summer. We had our SES & SMS cafeterias expanded to provide more room and effective serving methods. These improvements were made possible through our ESSER funds received from the federal government. The SES hallways have all new tile. The front steps and landing at SHS were replaced, and it looks really great! We are in the process of replacing the sound systems at the Carlisle & SES gyms.

You may have noticed that we made a change in the SWSC websites. This change also includes a new app. We have already had over 700 individuals download it. I would encourage you to download it if you haven't yet.

The SWSC is home to our first National Beta President, Boe Monroe, from Carlisle Middle School. What an outstanding accomplishment for Boe. We know he will represent his school and our corporation well.

Reminder, Fall Break is October 10th through October 14th. Hoping each of you have a chance to enjoy some time with your family.

Thank you to all teachers, staff, parents, students, and community members for your extraordinary support of our schools.

Remember…We are the best, we are Southwest!

Happy fall! 🌰 🍂

Stitz

On Sept. 29, the IDOE announced that the SWSC was awarded a 2022 $50,000 Digital Learning Grant. This competitive grant opportunity continues the workaround of high-quality blended and online teaching practices by focusing on three strands concerning best practices for blended and online learning, training, and the purchase and training on assistive technologies. SWSC will be using grant funds specifically for the purchase of and training on assistive technologies.

In honor of the 343 FDNY firefighters who lost lost their lives while saving others, Sullivan Elementary School 3rd-5th grade students carried firehouses 3.43 laps around the playground during their specials. We appreciate the efforts of our teachers to make learning moments like this happen.

Congratulations to everyone at Sullivan High School for being identified as an Indiana Performance Qualified High School for the third year in a row! This is quite a feat to accomplish, especially while going through the COVID pandemic.

According to Indiana Code, Performance qualified high schools are established to provide flexibility in administration and instruction to high schools that meet certain established performance criteria so that the high schools may provide curriculum, instruction, programs, and educational innovations designed to engage students in achievement greater than the achievement required for the high schools to be placed in the highest performance category or designation by the department under IC 20-31-8.

We are pleased with the results of our Sullivan Elementary School and Sullivan Middle School cafeteria updates. Both cafeterias and their shared kitchen were expanded by bumping out the outside wall. These expansions give more room for tables and additional seating spaces as well as adds a third serving line for SES. This third line has reduced the amount of time students wait in serving lines which, in turn, increases the amount of time that they have to eat.

This project was funded through our American Rescue Plan ESSER III grant.

We are proud to share that SWSC was awarded a $100,000 matching Secured Schools Safety (SSSG) grant in September. SWSC will use these funds to help pay for School Resource Officer (SRO) salaries and benefits.

Slowly but surely we have implemented SROs in our schools. Our first SRO implementation was strictly through the use of contracted Lawman, Inc. While this provided us some comfort of an SRO presence, it did not allow for consistency and growth of our SRO program following the NASRO model. In just six years, we have progressed to where we are today: four full-time SROs and the SWSC Police Department.

Our SROs are becoming integral parts to meeting the needs of the "whole child" in a safe and secure learning environment. They work hand-in-hand with school administration and counselors to assist our teachers, staff, students, and families, serving as informal counselors/mentors and educators on all matters of personal, school and community safety as well as law enforcement officers when the need dictates. SROs do not dole out school discipline. That is up to our principals. The consistency of full-time SROs has allowed students and staff to get to know our SROs at school and extra-curricular events. We are starting to hear from parents expressing gratitude for our SROs in being there for their children and helping keep them safe.

While each SRO is assigned to a home campus, they do fill in when and wherever needed, including at extracurricular events. If you see one of these men, don't hesitate to stop and say hello.

Jim Dotson - Carlisle Elementary & Middle School

Carl Melchert - Sullivan Elementary School

David Story - Sullivan High School

Jim Gadberry - Sullivan Middle School

At our Sept. board meeting, Alison Lane, Angie Wilson, and Mike Drake presented the SWSC with a check for $4660.32 on behalf of Casey's Kicks, which honors Casey Drake who loved his kicks (shoes). This money is divided up for each school's use to provide new kicks for any child that needs them. We are very appreciative of this yearly donation from Casey's family in his memory.

Congratulations to the SHS FFA Chapter! They were awarded a $5,000 grant from the America's Farmers Grow Communities, sponsored by the Bayer Fund on behalf of Sullivan County farmer, Brad Page and family. They were also awarded a $5,000 grant from the National FFA/Tractor Supply "Grants for Growing" Grant.

Both grant awards are going toward the purchase of a new tractor to use at the Ag Center that will enhance their curriculum and community service. The cost of the tractor will be around $25,000-$35,000, depending upon available funding and specific tractor selection. Good luck to the SHS FFA as they continue to seek out additional funding opportunities!

SHS students had the opportunity to learn more about some of the many options available to them after graduation at the 2022 College Fair. It was very informative for students and staff. There are so many different areas of study and careers that just keep being developed and/or created. Who knew that we have one of the eight accredited schools in the nation in our backyard that provides a one-year or two-year certification in gunsmithing or that you can become a certified broadband lineman? Thank you to JAG leader, Diana Lighthizer, our JAG students, and Kristina Wright, our College Connections/Career Coach, for organizing and hosting this event!

It was a beautiful weather for Carlisle's 4th grade Nature's Classroom experience! For 3 days and 2 nights, learning is moved from the school classroom to nature's classroom at the Merom Conference Center. Academic learning is packed into the daytime, meal times, and evenings as well as soft skills like critical thinking and cooperation. Thank you to all that help provide this experience for our students.

The weather looks great as well for Sullivan Elementary 4th grade students as they started their Nature's Classroom experience this morning.

The Carlisle Jr. Beta Club is now the proud home club of the both the Indiana Jr. Beta President and the National Jr. Beta President, Boe Monroe. This is quite a feat, especially considering Carlisle's Jr. Beta Club represents one of the smallest Beta middle school clubs in the state and nation. Our sincerest congratulations to Boe and the entire Carlisle Jr. Beta team! One of Boe's next stops is Hot Springs, Arkansas, for a leadership summit. Carlisle Betas are also working on a service project: Carlisle Beta Cares. Under the umbrella of this project, the Betas will be working throughout the year within the community to help those who need and show appreciation to those who are also helping out.

Six Betas from the SHS Beta Club recently traveled to Bowling Green, Ky for a regional leadership summit. They qualified for the June national convention in two events: Proposal (a service-themed project) and Collaboration Connection. The SHS Beta attendees were: Wyatt Springer, Gwen Anderson, Caylee Shorter, Jaxson Carie, Logan Ketterer, Sarah Francis, and their leader, Alice Trimble. In addition, Sarah was elected as the Regional Leadership Representative and will compete for National Leadership Representative in June at the National Beta Convention.

Present at the SES Beta induction were High School State Vice President, Wyatt Springer, Junior High National and State president, Boe Monroe, and Junior High State Vice President Belle Gentry. They assisted Elementary President , Madi Wible, with the induction.

All Beta clubs are gearing up for the state Beta convention and the competitions, which takes place in November in Evansville. While at the state convention, Betas will also be assembling goodie bags and delivering them to the Evansville Veterans' Hospital.

Hopefully by now you have noticed design changes in the SWSC websites and heard or read about our new app. At last count, our new app has had over 700 downloads already, which is fantastic. It is pretty slick and makes it so much easier to share school happenings. We are still in the process of training staff and getting all of the features up and running so bear with us for a little bit. If you haven't downloaded our new app yet, you can search the Apple or Android app store for: Southwest School Corp, IN. Within the app, you can select to receive push notifications for the corporation and any of the schools.