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345 SE 5th, Madras, OR 97741 | 541.475.2275
Dana St. John was appointed to the 509-J Board of Directors Monday night, filling the vacancy left by the resignation of Lyle Rehwinkel.
Board members interviewed both candidates, Dr. Bud Beamer and St. John, at a special meeting last Friday, and all said both were very qualified.
"It was a very tough decision ... I felt they both would do very well," said board member Tom Norton Jr.
Board member Laurie Danzuka agreed. "I was impressed by both candidates. I had to think about it a long time. There are different strengths from both that would be beneficial," she said.
St. John was sworn-in as a board member immediately after the 3 to 1 vote.
The meeting, held at Madras Elementary, gave the board a chance to hear about what's going on at the kindergarten through second grade school from Principal Kathy Bishop and instructional coaches Billie White and Deborah Hunt.
White and Hunt explained how teachers in each grade level work in "data teams" to track the progress of each student on reaching state benchmarks.
The teams meet every two weeks and brainstorm teaching strategies to try to help struggling students.
Speaking of math lessons, Hunt said, "We don't move on until kids master the concept. We have five teachers at each grade level, so there are five heads all working on problems, instead of trying to find the answer by yourself."
Superintendent Rick Molitor reported that there have been many changes to the federal No Child Left Behind Act and Adequate Yearly Progress guidelines, which are hard to keep up with.
Madras High School is one of 15 in Oregon ranked as a tier-two school, in need of improvement, and federal grants will be available to help students improve academically.
Under personnel, the early retirement request of 30-year 509-J teacher Susan Anderson was accepted. She will continue teaching math at Jefferson County Middle School until the end of the school year.
