Resource center pays off for schools

Thursday, October 12, 2006

It has only been open since Sept. 8, but the Knoy Resource Center is paying off for the Cloverdale Community School Corp..

On Monday, Toni Tomlinson informed the CCSC school board that the center is being used frequently by both students and adults.

"We have had a steady stream of students in since our opening," Tomlinson said.

Tomlinson shared with the six board members at Monday's monthly meeting the goals she has for the center.

She said the corporation intends to increase its number of 21st Century Scholars by using the center. She said the corporation had 12 students enrolled in program in 2003, but that number has increased to 68 this year, an increase of 149 percent. Tomlinson added that the program has added three students since August.

She said by using the center, she hoped to see an increase of involvement among parents.

She said it only took four days to fill a recent Microsoft Windows XP class offered by corporation technology coordinator John Davis and added there was a desire to add another course in the future.

Tomlinson also told the board that 18 of 20 available spaces had been filled for another scheduled class.

As of Monday, Tomlinson said the center's conference room had been used for interview sessions, student club gatherings and career majors focus group sessions and that the center also received another $250 donation last week from a Knoy/Lyons family member.

Tomlinson also told the board Monday of several upcoming events.

She said she planned to take several students to a College Preview Day at DePauw University on Nov. 4 and that students interested in prepping for upcoming SAT tests could utilize the center on Oct. 30 and Nov. 2. She said the SAT prep sessions were going to be available to all students in the corporation and 21st Century Scholars at the remaining three Putnam County schools.

She added DePauw's Community Technology Enhancement Program (CTEP) will provide computers to 17 Cloverdale High School seniors at no charge provided the students attend five consecutive Saturday workshops hosted by CTEP. Tomlinson said the students that would receive the computers currently do not have one. She said the computer give-a-way would take place on Dec. 9.

"We're seeing some pretty exciting things," CCSC Supt. Carrie Milner said.

The center came together with the help of several area agencies, including the Cinergy Foundation, DePauw, First National Bank, Indiana Association of United Ways, the Lyon Family Foundation, the Putnam County Community Foundation, Vectren Foundation, Verizon Foundation and Wal-Mart Foundation.

It was named after the Knoy family, a family with rich tradition in Cloverdale.

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