W-MU approves new curriculum for Spanish, P.E.

BY KARYN SPORY

Mt. Pleasant News

WINFIELD ? Winfield-Mt. Union High School Spanish students will have an even more interactive way to learn the romance language next year as the school board approved new curriculum.

Elementary Principal Gabe Wylder said the district was due for new curriculum in Spanish and elementary physical education.

The new Spanish curriculum will be for Spanish 1A and 1B, which Wylder said is basically Spanish I and Spanish II, as well as curriculum for Spanish III and IV.

Wylder suggested purchasing 30 licenses for Spanish 1A, as the class usually pulls that many students per year.

?This particular curriculum is hosted online, so if you?re thinking about learning that is more digitized, this isn?t just a text book type of curriculum we?re looking at pursuing,? said Wylder.

All of the student activity books, discussion and collaborative forums for conversations, and speaking and listening modules would all be housed on that site. ?This is moving in a different direction than the traditional textbook approach,? he reiterated.

The licenses are for six-year periods, which would allow the district access to the site and its interactive segments. Wylder said if the district wishes to continue with its normal eight-year curriculum cycle, license extensions could be purchased for either one or three years.

The board approved the Vista Higher Learning Spanish curriculum for $8,480. The district would discuss later whether to purchase license extensions.

As for the elementary P.E. curriculum, Wylder said SPARK Sport Time would be for kindergarten through sixth-grade. ?This would be for a kit and equipment to go along with it,? he said. ?The goal here is to increase the amount of activities that students are engaged in, put resources in the classroom teacher?s hand to go through with the students.? Wylder said currently this has been absent in the P.E. curriculum. ?There hasn?t been a district curriculum that teachers have been able to go to or pull from,? he added. ?This would hopefully be a building block for the classroom teacher to implement with their students so that they have clear lesson plans for what?s expected for the day and less of activities that are, ?this is what I did in P.E.? and more of a skilled-based curriculum that students are learning foundational skills and able to apply it down the road.?

The board approved SPARK Sport Time, at a quote of $5,998, for physical education.

Also during the meeting, the board approved a band/vocal trip to New Orleans for next school year. The trip will be March 15-19, 2017, and would not correspond with spring break or Mardi Gras. The cost would be $750 per student and would include all meals except two, lodging and the bus ride. The trip would be for high school band and choir students and would allow them to take in musical performances at Tulane. The board approved the trip and fundraising efforts that could reduce the students? trip price.

During the meeting the board also approved the summer construction projects. The board approved new sinks and stools in the second and third floor bathrooms for $27,832 from Taft and Wiley. Your Dream Home will redo the flooring on the third floor in two different segments. The first segment will cost the district $3,800. Lastly, the board approved bathroom partitions for the third floor from Vips, out of Cedar Rapids, for $6,758.

Lastly, the board approved administrative salaries for Dave Edwards, secondary principal for $102,928; Wylder, $86,038; technology director Zach Hamburg, $43,640; and Carmen Benson, business manager at $55,500.

In other business, the board:

? Approved the PACE agreement with SCC.

? Approved the senior class list.

? Approved the 2016-17 student activity/ID fees of $40.

? Approved the hiring of Tiffany Loyd, associate.

? Authorized the resignations of Rebecca Hobson, teacher; Hope Rice, associate; and Matt Sullivan, custodian.

The next school board meeting will be Wednesday, June 8, 2016, at 6 p.m., in the media center.