WP ready for Aug. 18 start

    The countdown is on for Wauneta-Palisade students and staff.
    The first day of school will be Aug. 18.
    Six new teachers will be in the classroom this year, but not all will be new faces.
    Tori Guillen has served as a para for four years at WP and will take over the third grade this year.
    Colby Cox has also been a para for WP. She will be teaching in the middle school, specifically sixth grade math, English, social studies and reading, plus seventh grade social studies.
    Jacob Maris, a WP grad, will be a part time ag and science teacher in the high school.
    Cox and Maris are both part of University of Nebraska-Kearney and Chadron State College transitional programs.
    Geier said WP has used teachers from the programs before and it has worked out well.
    Also joining the faculty will be Tana Engel, Katie Acton and Kayla Cosgrove.
    WP will be the first full time job for Engel, who will teach primarily ag classes and also serve as FFA advisor.
    Acton worked at Hitchcock County last year with its distance learning students.
    Though this will be Acton’s first year as a K-12 music teacher, Geier said she has plenty of experience with students.
    Kayla Cosgrove will take over WP’s preschool program. Cosgrove taught at Blue Hill last year.
    New teacher orientation will be Thursday and Friday.
    Last year’s third grade teacher, Julie Burrell, will transition to SPED.
    Rod Gaston has added activities director to his teaching duties.
    Geier said he feels good about the mix of new and veteran teachers.
    Both attendance centers have mentor programs set up for new teachers, he said.
    Elementary Principal Joseph Frecks said the new elementary teachers have settled into their classrooms and are excited to get started.
Facilities ready to go
    Geier said Wauneta performed typical upgrades and maintenance, such as paint and new carpeting, over the summer. Wauneta’s music room had new insulation installed.
    Thirty new deluxe touchscreen boards will be installed in classrooms, as well. The boards were paid for by ESSER/Cares Act funds. The same funds paid for new chromebooks.
    Kitchen work, including new plumbing and flooring, has been completed at the Palisade Attendance Center.
    The preschool repairs and upgrades in Palisade will be ready for next week’s students.
    The classroom came together well, Frecks said. He added, the preschool playground will be expanded with its new fencing by next week.
    The school also purchased a new Blue Bird activities bus, part of which was paid for  with $42,000 from the Nebraska DEQ’s Diesel Emission Mitigation Program. The smaller of the school’s coach busses was taken out of commission as part of the grant.
Wait and see
    Geier said the school will wait for three to four months for some desks, but has adequate desks with which to start the school year.
    COVID also has the school in a wait-and-see attitude. With no mandates coming down from the state now, Geier said WP is hoping for no mandates, but will do what it should to keep staff and students safe.