Good week to be a Clover

CLOVERDALE -- After an otherwise straightforward meeting, the Cloverdale School Board had much to say about recent events in the Cloverdale School Corporation.

“We thank both our ag instructors, who work hard to help the kids prepare,” Joe Mann said in regards to the FFA’s participation in the District Leadership Development Contest at Turkey Run High School. Eleven teams placed in the top three and will be competing at the state competition in June.

Cloverdale placed third in horticulture demo (Grace Leonard) and job interview (Chad Stevens); second in leadership ambassador (Kelsey Nees) and extemporaneous public speaking (Taylor Goss); and first place in traditional scrapbooking, plant and soil demo (Kedrick Coon and Jordan Opeila), animal science (Brayden Mann and Cody Morris), public speaking (Brayden Mann), ag sales (Taylor Goss), ag business and farm managment (Hannah Long and Chad Stevens) and food science demo (Ambrie Kidder and Kelsey Nees).

Also during the board’s comments, Superintendent Greg Linton spoke to the retirement of Mrs. Kirkpatrick and Mrs. Boyce. A dinner will be held in celebration of their service on the last teacher day.

“I would just like to recognize Mrs. Kirkpatrick and Mrs. Boyce for their many years of service at Cloverdale Community Schools,” Superintendent Linton said. “They’ve served the district well. We wish them well with their retirement.”

Duane Huge commented on the High School Slam Dunk and Three-Point Championships, which aired on CBS April 2 and featured a short video about Cooper Neese and Cloverdale.

“Cloverdale was very well represented,” Huge said. “I thought it was a very nice, quality piece on Cooper and Cloverdale Schools.”

“We noticed that Cooper Neese will definitely be an Indiana All-Star since he was one of the finalists for Mr. Basketball,” Vivian Whitaker added. “That’s a great accolade. And Chad Stevens was the Athlete of the Week in the Banner. So it’s been a good week to be a Clover.”

In other developments:

-- Claims: The board approved claims at a total of $861,028.45, an increase from last month of $114,812.79 and of $96,477.81 from the year’s averag. Superintendent Linton explained the increase with three payrolls.

-- Digital radios: The board approved the purchase of digital bus and mobile radios at a total cost of $122,895.95. The board also approved a lease ageement with First National Bank covering the cost at a fixed interest rate of 1.83 percent. Secretary Donna Fidler and Vice President Daniel Hofmann, employees of the bank, abstained from the vote.

-- Duke Energy grant: The board accepted a $21,819 grant from Duke Energy for the summer school programs.

-- Personnel: The board approved the following personnel report:

-- Resignation: Brad Sandy (elementary principal) and Crystal Dean (middle school instructional assistant).

-- Hire: Tom Winders (high school junior varsity baseball coach).

-- Volunteer: Adam Hull and Gina Carter (middle school assistant softball coaches) and Josh Blevins (middle school assistant baseball coach).

-- Students of the Month: The April Students of the Month were Faith Ferguson (4th grade), Kadawn Gao (5th grade) and Nolan Maners (senior).

-- Water lease: The board approved a lease ageement with Cataract Water Corporation at $100 per year.