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Students eat lunch at tables set up specifically for Power Hour. Students have a 50-minute break to eat lunch and meet with teachers. Photo by |
Powering through the changes Words by | s the lunch bell r ings, freshman Blake Har r ison walk s past the lunch line and makes his way to a classroom. There, he completes his schoolwork while waiting for the lunch line to die down. Har r ison has changed his lunch routine to adapt to a new, recently implemented lunch system. On Apr il 16, the administration changed the lunch schedule. Instead of having a study hall hour in the mor ning and three different lunch per iods, study hall and lunch was combined to pilot a 50 minute academic lunchtime called Pur ple Power Hour (PPH). “It helps students out with their homework. It gives you a lit tle brain break so that you’re not completely stressed with ever y thing,� Har r ison said. “You don’t feel too over whelmed. You can go get help from teachers if you need help.� Har r ison hopes to see more food options next year as well as faster lunch lines. Allowing students to practice independent time management and have easier access to the help they might need were the main objectives in mind when implementing this schedule, according to pr incipal Phil Bressler. “We want to provide oppor tunities for k ids to star t lear ning how to manage their own time within the school day,� Bressler said. “We wanted to give teachers the oppor tunit y to work with students who are most in need and not be distracted by 12 or 13 other k ids who have to be in [the classroom] because we assigned
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them.� W hile implementing PPH, the administration anticipated and faced some obstacles such as space management and the lunch lines being longer than they were previously. “Some of the [bigger] obstacles, though [included], food ser vice. The concer n there about if too many students br ing their lunch and our numbers drop, that [food ser vice] would have to take a loss and we can’t afford that,� Bressler said. “Custodial, how clean are we going to be able to keep the building? How tidy are students going to be tak ing care of their own lunch mess? Both of those have been pret t y positive.� Bressler explains that the results of this year’s PPH pilot will deter mine whether the school will continue with this schedule in the fall. “There are going to be changes. There are going to be k ink s. W hen we open the new cafeter ia in the middle of next year, things are going to change as well. Hopefully that’s going to be a positive change,� Bressler said. “We’re think ing about how [we can] make life bet ter for a student. W hat are some things that we can do to make it easier for k ids?� Since all 900 students now have the same lunch hour, food ser vice manager Ter r i Feagan and her team have been exper imenting to see what work s best to ser ve the students and staff. “We’ve tr ied and figured out we need a lot of stuff ready to go. I think it went a lot quicker. We’re figur ing it out now how to get the k ids through faster,� Feagan said.
Hiring Hanson: Words by | After ser ving six years as the super intendent of the Monet t School Distr ict, 1981 PHS graduate Brad Hanson will become assistant super intendent for USD 250. “Having grown up in Pit tsburg and having family living in the area, I have continued to keep up with Pit tsburg Schools,� Hanson said. “I owe a lot to Pit tsburg Schools for my formative education, and I am looking for ward to giving back to the
Students take advantage of Purple Power Hour to work on assignments in Angela PallarÊs’ classroom. Photo by |
Though the ser ving times have changed, the routine in the k itchen remains similar to the way it was before PPH. “It hasn’t made a whole lot of changes for us. We wor r ied about it a lot more than we should’ve,� Feagan said. “One thing that we’ve wor r ied about is not being able to cook. We cook in bet ween lines so the food is fresh. We’re still doing that so all of our wor r ies k ind of went away.� However, Feagan repor ts that there are some issues. “We don’t k now how much to fix because we never k now when the line is going to end. Our count has gone down some because k ids are br inging their food from home and so it’s just k ind of hard to deter mine that,� Feagan said. “Our biggest problem is get ting in there and wiping counters down because it k ind of bothers us. People are spilling food all over. The milk cooler, we have to stop the k ids from get ting in there and trading out the milk.� Feagan believes the ser ving
process will become much smoother next year when the renovations to the cafeter ia are made. “The k itchen is going to be a lot more open. We should have more [food] choices. We’ll have three checkouts and they can go down both lines so we’ll have six lines instead of just the t wo we have now,� Feagan said. “Plus we’ll have the new cafeter ia where the k ids can sit too and that should seat at least 300 or more k ids instead of all being out in the hallways.� Alongside the food ser vice, social studies teacher Jason Susnik has acclimated to the new lunch schedule. “I’d say I have more f lexibilit y. As a teacher, I like having the abilit y to have my k ids in here for 50 minutes. Thus far I like seeing the teachers in the hallway seeing the k ids walk ing around,� Susnik said. “It’s a nice lit tle break from the nor mal routine. It’ll only get bet ter next year with the new cafeter ia and hopefully k ids can get food quicker.�
school and communit y.� The hire will not be officially approved until May 14, when the Board of Education meets to approve the hire and contract. Upon approval, Hanson’s contract will begin July 1, 2018. Rich Proffit t, the District’s incoming superintendent is optimistic about Hanson joining the team, according to a press release about Hanson. “We are ver y for tunate to have someone of Dr. Hanson’s caliber to help the district continue to move
for ward in a positive direction,� Proffit t said. “The skill set he brings will be ver y beneficial, and I look for ward to working with him.� Hanson ref lects on why he may have been thought of for the job. “I hope that the Board and Mr. Proffit t saw me as a school leader who places students first and is passionate about working with administrators and teachers to discover new and improved means of impacting student lear ning,� Hanson said.
As he jour neys back to Pit tsburg, Hanson is excited to create new oppor tunities. “I look for ward to building positive relationships with the administrative team and teachers throughout the distr ict,� Hanson said. “I am also eager to get reacquainted with the communit y.� As he takes on this new exper ience, Hanson hopes to meet his goal. “My philosophy has always been to lear n and improve each and ever y day,� Hanson said. “This