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Beyond Textbooks will continue to be the curriculum standard at the Snowflake Unified School District after the Governing Board approved the intergovernmental agreement for the upcoming year at the June 13 meeting.
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In his brief synopsis, Superintendent Hollis Merrell shared that Kevin Carney, executive director of Beyond Textbooks, said that Snowflake is by far one of the most important partners in Northern Arizona.
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Started a little over a decade ago, Beyond Textbooks was first implemented by the Vail School District in Arizona as a systemic approach that transcends textbooks. Snowflake joined Beyond Textbooks, 10 years ago, and as Merrell noted, “We have not adopted a textbook in the 10 years I have been here.
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“There is such a large opportunity to find resources elsewhere,” continued Merrell. “Rather than open a textbook and teach to that textbook, we now teach to the state standards and find resources for those standards. Previously, the textbook manufacturers were dictating the curriculum. Now we have more control over the process.”
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As a regional training site for Beyond Textbooks in northern Arizona, Snowflake offers teacher training to schools throughout the area and throughout the school year.
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Merrell said, “It is interesting to me that those who attend the training are the schools that perform the highest in our area. Just like any other program, you can’t just throw it out to your staff and say, ‘here you go.’ You have to be committed to make it work and continue the training.”
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Merrell also gave kudos to Jason Owen, the district’s federal programs and curriculum director, saying, “Jason has been incredible in his position in looking at the data and working with the principals to make plans to make it better. We had some pretty incredible scores this last year and we have areas where we need to improve.”
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The board, which consisted of Vice President Cory Johnson and members Carol Palmer and Wendy McVickers, all voted in favor of the agreement. Absent was President Carole Owens and board member Shea Flake.
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Jack Babb, volunteer advisor with the Snowflake FFA chapter, announced, “Last week the State FFA held their second convention and our past FFA Chapter President Cody Rowell was selected out of several candidates to be one of four state vice presidents-at-large.”
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Babb noted that Rowell will be attending classes at Northland Pioneer College this year in addition to the state duties required by the position. “I think it is a feather in the cap of Snowflake FFA that Cody got this position and he will be a good representative for us.”
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Merrell gave a big thanks to Todd Peterson and Copperstate Farms for donating money to provide a meal not only for the teachers but also the school staff during Teacher Appreciation Week.
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In other business, the board:
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* Approved the hiring of Johanna Lundberg, Snowflake Intermediate sixth grade teacher; Valon Standerfer, Snowflake Intermediate sixth grade teacher; Josh Johnson, Snowflake High School boys’ head soccer coach; Brittany Franco, Snowflake High School Career and Technical Education broadcasting teacher; and Ricky Franco, SHS Spanish teacher.
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* Accepted the resignations of Nicole Woley, Snowflake Intermediate sixth grade teacher; Beverly VanWinkle, Snowflake Intermediate sixth grade teacher; Reggie Petersen, SHS physical education teacher; and Saretta Gardner, Snowflake Intermediate paraprofessional.
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* Approved SHS fundraisers including a lift-a-thon for the weights class; banners, bunt-a-thon and cornhole tournament for the baseball team; golf tournament and two dinner fundraisers for the golf team; Lobos cards and wrestling tournament for the wrestling; free throw-a-thon and banners for girls basketball; Krispy Kreme and T-shirt sales for track and field; and youth cheer camp for the cheer squad.
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* Approved the Technology to Advance Learning Outcomes at Northland program memorandum of agreement with Northland Pioneer College for the upcoming school year, 2019-2020.
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* Approved for first reading the Arizona School Board Poly Advisory 646-650.
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