Area 30 board discusses school calendars, events

The Area 30 Career Center conducted its monthly meeting on Tuesday morning, discussing several ongoing issues such as school calendars.

The board began its meeting hearing from Linda Merkel of the Putnam County Youth Development Commission. Merkel came before the board to in an effort to plead with area superintendents to consider the date of National Night Out 2015 while making school calendars.

Merkel advised that the ninth annual event will take place on Aug. 4, a date that many schools have back to school night events slated.

"I know that you're working on your calendars for the 2015-16 school year," Merkel said. "I'm here because this is our one night that we reach out to parents with children in elementary to middle schools. We target these families and to talk to them and encourage them to interact with them about saying no to drugs."

The National Night Out event includes more than 40 community agencies that participate in the annual event with the goal of not only teaching children to say no to drugs, but to get them familiar with local law enforcement.

"There are so many activities for kids to be involved with," Merkel said. "From 5-8 p.m. we have the opportunity to reach out to those families and talk to them about the recourses we have available in our community. Children are also able to meet and greet with the law enforcement officers and first responders from all communities, so when they might have a problem they're not afraid to speak to those individuals and talk to them."

Merkel added that the date of the event itself cannot be changed since it is set nationally, and thus there is no leeway.

"We continue to have numbers of around 1,000-1,200 every year," Merkel explained. "The last couple of years we have seen our numbers decline only because the school calendars have changed. I understand that some of you may have your calendars set. I am just asking as a member of the Safe Schools Committee that you please take into consideration that this date is really important to us and we believe it's a great way to start off the school year."

Merkel also came before the board to discuss bullying prevention. Although, every school in Putnam County has its own bullying prevention programs in place, Merkel as a part of the Safe Schools Commission expressed interest in hosting a bullying prevention presentation for parents, teachers and coaches.

"We focus a lot with bullying prevention with students in our schools, but there is a strong need for a program that deals with parents, teachers and coaches," she said. "I believe it would be very worth while."

The idea to have such a presentation came from former North Putnam High School Principal Alan Zerkel who saw a need in the community. Keeping that idea in mind, Merkel went to work and found speaker Keith DelTano, a former military police officer, public school teacher, youth leader, private counselor and educational comedian. "I did a lot of research online and I connected with Keith DelTano," Merkel explained. "I probably read and listened to over 100 testimonials from schools all over the United States. He's very reasonable to bring to Putnam County. He could do up to four presentations a day. He also customizes his presentations."

Merkel advised the board that the Safe Schools Commission is looking to the school corporations in hopes of gauging the interest on such a presentation. The board advised it would look over the material passed out and will have a discussion during next month's board meeting.

"We wouldn't be taking teachers out of the classroom, but they'd still be getting something to jump-start their school year," Merkel added.

Area 30 Director Lora Busch also updated the board that Area 30's Culinary Arts class, Putnam County Hospital and Purdue Extension will again host Candy 101 on Wednesday, Nov. 19 in the community room.

The event, which is open to the public, will include a presentation on the history of candy as well as a demonstration on peanut butter fudge. It will run from 9 a.m.-noon and cost $5.

In other business:

* The board approved a surplus inventory list, which will be held for a sealed bid auction. Unsold items will be sold at Jeff Rich Auctions in Cloverdale. The money earned will go toward programs at Area 30.

* The board accepted the donation of two HP touch-screen computers donated by PartTec Ltd.

* Area 30 Law Enforcement students were approved to travel to the U.S. Federal Courthouse and U.S. Marshal's Office in Indianapolis on Nov. 17 for a tour.

* Area 30 Robotics Club recently competed in the VEX Robotics Tournament in Bloomington. The team competed against 42 other teams and again took first place. The career center will be hosting a robotics tournament on Saturday, Dec. 6.

*The next Area 30 Career Center Board meeting will be at 9 a.m. Thursday, Dec. 11.