By Stephanie Morton
The Vidette
Elma High School baseball and fastpitch games will be free to attend this year. Montesano School District looks to resurface the tennis courts and learning to be good citizens is a fun occasion for students at Elma Elementary.
Montesano Junior/Senior High School
The tennis courts at MHS have some faults. A large fissure — running across all three courts — has made the uneven surface a potential safety hazard. Grass and weeds are growing in the crack as well. The aging courts, built in 1994, are due for a resurface. The Montesano School Board approved the repair of the courts at their last meeting, Sept. 22. The cost to fix the courts is expected to be about $46,000. Work on the project began last week.
EHS
Fans of Eagles baseball and fastpitch have one more reason to attend home games in Elma. After last week’s school district meeting, Elma High School will no longer charge admission for home games.
Athletic director Paul Gaskins said in a letter to the board members that Elma was the only member of the Evergreen and Trico leagues that charged at home games — a fact that sometimes caused heartburn with fans of both the Eagles and opposing teams.
“It’s a good-faith effort to the community,” Gaskins said at the board meeting. He added that the ASB is on board with the change.
Revenue for baseball last year was about $1,305 with $1,580 going toward paying officials and $380 to gate workers, the athletic budget covered the $655 loss.
Revenue for fastpitch was about $1,621 with $1,659 paid to officials and $360 for gate workers, the athletic budget covered the $398 loss. The total cost to the athletic budget — for baseball and softball — was $1,053.
Gaskins said officiating costs are estimated at $3,200 and will be paid out of the athletic budget.
Having home football games at Davis Field in Elma will help to absorb some of the costs, Gaskins said, as there is no longer an added expense for travel to different fields.
Elma Elementary
Bouncy pop music filled the auditorium as Elma Elementary prepared for the Make Your Day assembly. Boys and girls wiggled and bopped along as teachers shepherded the students up the bleachers and into their seats. About 70 students would be recognized in the program for exemplifying the words of the month for September: positive attitude.
Make Your Day is the citizenship program at the school and according to the letter sent to parents at the beginning of the year it ensures the school is a safe and happy place to learn.
“It gives us a common language and a mutual understanding of expectations,” school counselor Heather Moore said. “We also make it fun. It’s a celebration of these students.”
Three children from each class, from first to fifth, are selected as the students of the month. Principal Mark Keating said two kids are chosen as examples of the monthly positive characteristic and a third child may be chosen at the teacher’s discretion for another reason such as academic achievement. Some students at the assembly, held Sept. 26, were given recognition for their skills in math and science.
The selected students sit in reserved seating on the floor of the auditorium and parents and guardians are invited to attend.
Keating told a story of a little girl who dropped a yummy-looking muffin on the floor at lunch that day. Instead of crying over spilt muffins, she looked at Keating and smiled — a shining example of someone with a positive attitude, he said.
“At one time or another, we’ll recognize every student for a strength they have,” Keating said later.
The September students were called up individually and each received a handshake from both Keating and Assistant Principal Greg Scroggins. The children then scampered off to receive a certificate and a photograph for the school’s bulletin board. After all the students returned to their seats, a round of applause was given.
The assembly then watched a video on October’s word: respect. Part of the video starred local students and Moore said that when the craziness of the beginning of school died down, more students would participate in the video production.
“They are the best teachers — kids teaching other kids,” Moore said.
Teachers and staff also model the behavior and add the word of the month to the curriculum with a writing assignment or some other lesson.
