GOSHEN COUNTY – Last month, Goshen County School District No. 1 Superintendent Jean Chrostoski and nurse Cathy Vasko accepted the 2018 BRAND Community Partner of the Year at the University of Wyoming’s Fay W. Whitney School of Nursing Nightingale Ceremony.
“The Nightingale Ceremony welcomes BRAND (Bachelors Reach for Accelerated Nursing Degree) Program and Basic BSN Program junior students into the profession of nursing,” according to a UW press release. “By presenting the Community Partner awards at the ceremony, new students get a glimpse of the significant role community agencies play in their upcoming clinical education.”
Vasko presented the GCSD Board of Trustees with the award at a meeting Tuesday.
“For us to be an invited guest was a great honor,” she said, adding she had suggested Tim Williams (former Lincoln Elementary principal), current Lincoln Elementary Principal Nyana Sims and Trail Elementary Principal Tyler Floerchinger allow future healthcare providers in the schools to observe how the nursing staff handle a variety of health needs to ensure the students continue to get a quality education.
“Suffice to say, we blew their minds – we do a really good job here,” Vasko said. “I want to thank my principals, because they allowed them to come in … for me, it’s an honor to be able to provide a pediatric clinical side.”
The schools will see 22 nursing students between February and April this school year.
“It is with great appreciation and honor I present to the (GCSD No. 1) the … Community Partner of the Year award,” Vasko said.
“The work that you’re doing will have a lasting impact, so thank you,” board member Zach Miller, Chief Nursing Officer for Banner Health, said to Vasko Tuesday.
In other business:
ν During the public forum, Torrington City Council member and parent Deanna Hill expressed several concerns, one being Torrington High School’s dress code as sent out to staff members.
In particular, Hill took issue with the following line: “Clothes must be worn in such a way that genitals, buttocks, breasts and nipples are fully covered with opaque fabrics. However, cleavage shall not have coverage requirements.”
Hill said she found some of the terms used, as well as the instruction about coverage requirements, “questionable.” In addition, Hill does not agree that students should be allowed to wear pajamas at school on a regular basis – as also indicated in the dress code.
Former Lingle-Fort Laramie High School teacher Mary Harshberger also spoke during the forum, stating concerns about library services in Lingle. Harshberger said the schools no longer have the use of certified librarian, and one paraprofessional – an individual she expressly commended – is in charge of two different libraries in two separate buildings. Harshberger continued she is worried about the paraprofessional experiencing burnout, and recommends the district hire certified library staff at each attendance center.
ν Board members approved contracting with the PRACTICE After-School Program to provide after-school services, including tutoring, homework help, and social-emotional learning from Sept. 17, 2018 through Nov. 30, 2018 at the rate of $130 per month per student, not to exceed $42,250, and funded through Title IV.
“We were approached by PRACTICE program (to step in),” Curriculum Director Donna Fields said. “They had applied for grant funding and, for the first time in 17 years, it was denied … we did not want to lose that program.”
The program benefits approximately 150 students in Torrington, as well as 30 to 50 children in Lingle.
Lynette Saucedo, representing the program, described the lack of funding as a “hiccup” and said the program hopes to receive funding through the Wyoming Department of Education at the end of this year.
ν In the “Superintendent’s Report,” Chrostoski said enrollment is up two students (from 1,661 to 1,663) from the end of May 2018 to current.
“I’m excited to see that,” she said. In addition, Chrostoski reported the district recently received a renewed Certificate of Accreditation.
ν The next regular board meeting is Tuesday, Oct. 9 at 7 p.m. in the Central Administration Building.
