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Wednesday, February 1, 2017
Energizing academic success Marquis Energy launches a generous academic incentive program at PCHS By Dave Cook
news@putnamcountyrecord.com
GRANVILLE — Thanks to the generosity and sense of community at Marquis Energy, students at Putnam County High School (PCHS) now have a valuable incentive program to help encourage them to reach their academic goals — the Panther Progress Program or P³. Marquis Energy met with
previous academic and behavioral data.” Accepted students then continue to work with their mentors on a weekly basis throughout the semester in order to accomplish their chosen goals. “We truly believe this program has opened worlds of opportunity for our students and led to unpredictable growth and achievement. Our student participants on-track for gradua-
Superintendent Carl Carlson last year and shared a desire to provide more for the community. Together they defined an academic goal-setting program where students work with assigned mentors to submit an application detailing two goals they would like to work on throughout the semester. According to PCHS Principal Clayton Theisinger, the goals “must be rigorous and based on
tion spiked to 95 percent just one semester into the program’s implementation,” Theisinger said The fall 2016 semester served as the pilot and was offered only to seniors. This spring, PCHS will be doubling the size to the program to offer it to both freshmen and seniors in the hope that early development of these mentor relationships will provide four years of academic achievement.
Theisinger said with continued success, they’d like to be able to expand the program to include more grades over time. “Research shows a positive and focused relationship with a teacher directly correlates with academic and behavioral success, and the program essentially provides explicit opportunity for this relationship to develop,” he said.
Energizing Page 4
Overdue success Granville Library is off to a great start in its new home By Dave Cook
news@putnamcountyrecord.com
programs to third-grade students. The current series is now hosting approximately 25 fourth- and fifth-grade students. Led by IVCC program director and continuing education instructor Jennifer Sowers and PCES educator Mary Henderson, students are presented a previously-completed project, told how it was made, given a range of ideas to spark their creativity and are then allowed to be led by their own imagination.
GRANVILLE — After decades of sharing a small space with the office of Granville Township, residents are proving that giving the Granville Library its own home was a good decision. Since moving into its new location on McCoy Street, the library has become an increasingly popular stop for residents. According to library statistics, in the nine months before opening the new location, the Granville branch accounted for 45 percent of the county’s library circulation. In the nine months since, circulation has increased to 52 percent. Library Director Jay Kalman said, “The use of the branch has increased dramatically and is the busiest branch in the county. We’re continuing to evolve the collections and are trying new program ideas as patrons are constantly discovering the library, many for the first time.” According to library clerk Linda Garcia, the new location has more than doubled the available space, and the library’s collection has been increased to include more fiction and non-fiction books, large print items of all kinds, DVDs and audio books. Garcia said, “Our children’s area is much larger and includes many new items for children from birth through high school. Because of our larger space, we were able to increase our children’s programming, and we now have a preschool story time on Tuesdays at 12:30. We enjoy crafts, cookies, and of course, a story. We’ve also hosted a puppet show and regular visits from Gigi, the therapy dog.” The new location also offers a separate meeting room, public computers, and fax and copy services. The expanded space has also allowed for an increase in adult programming.
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Putnam County Picassos After-school program helps bring art to PCES By Dave Cook
news@putnamcountyrecord.com
HENNEPIN — Funding for the Arts is often an early target of the budget cuts forced upon school districts struggling because of the absence of funding from the state. However, a new after-school
program has been successful in returning opportunities for the artistic creativity of third-, fourth- and fifth-graders at Putnam County Elementary School (PCES). Sponsored by the Putnam County Educational Foundation (PCEF) and in cooperation with IVCC, the first series of six classes was held last autumn. After 60 students showed interest in a program designed for 25, organizers realized a second series was needed. They decided to limit the original set of
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Putnam County fourth-grader Bailey Herr enjoys the artistic freedom that’s an essential part of the PC Picassos after-school program. Funded by the Putnam County Educational Foundation (PCEF) and in conjunction with IVCC, the program’s first session last fall had so many students sign up that coordinators had to schedule a second series of classes to accommodate them all.