Nome Public School’s Board of Education announced new projects at their October meeting.
Superintendent of Schools, Jamie Burgess reported the Nome Public School District is starting a cross country skiing team.
“There will be a little work to kind of get it off the ground, especially financially. We will have to hire a coach. Once we have that, the team, they’ll be working to do some sort of fundraising as well as reaching out to some of our community partners and some other possibilities for grants to give them the equipment that they need to get started,” Burgess said.
Burgess welcomed this as an opportunity to get more students involved in sports.
“We are excited, we’ve really started to try and expand and reach and give students more opportunities to participate in extracurricular activities. We added esports a while ago, and we are really excited we believe that with the addition of cross country skiing we will really open up opportunities for students who don’t participate in some of our other sports. We’d like to cast the net as wide as possible,” Burgess said.
In addition to providing a new sport, Nome-Beltz Middle High School is constructing a new concession stand to provide food at future Nanook games.
In her student report, student Lupe Callahan mentioned that Nome-Beltz High School students are considering another project: a mentoring session where Nome high school students guide middle school students on good attitude choices that could shape their high school career.
Since this week’s Nome School Board meeting was the first one held since the October 5th elections, the school board swore in newly re-elected members and reorganized the board. Three members of the school board, Sandy Martinson, Bob Metcalf, and Nancy Mendenhall were re-elected to their seats. They were re-sworn into office at the October 12th meeting, promising to adhere to the Nome School Board mission statement to “inspire and empower students to be culturally grounded, responsible citizens who are deeply connected to our community and world.” After swearing in, the board of education re-elected their officers and assigned committee work.
In the spirit of empowering students, the Nome School board awards “student of the month awards” at their monthly meetings. Teachers praised the three students, Stanley Cohen Booth from Anvil Science Academy, middle schooler Emily Walluk, and high schooler Melody Olanna, both from Nome-Beltz Middle High School. These three students were selected for their good attitudes and leadership within the classroom and awarded with certificates and gift cards.
In other business, the Nome School Board reviewed its two action items. The first was to accept a grant from the Department of Health and Social Services to start the process towards hiring a school nurse. The second item was to transfer money to the General Fund to accomplish maintenance projects during the snow season. The Nome School Board unanimously approved both items.
Image at top: Superintendent, Jamie Burgess swore in Sandy Martinson, Nancy Mendenhall (via phone) and Bob Metcalf to serve a 3 year term on the Nome Board of Education until October 2024. Photo Courtesy of Nome Public School’s Board of Education. Used with permission.
