Thursday, October 28, 2010

Exeter-Milligan Getting Ready for Basketball

The Exeter-Milligan Junior High Boys and Girls started
conditioning for basketball this past Monday. The students
have worked in the weight room along with working on a
variety of speed and agility drills. Coach Krejci works with
A.J Underwood and Kirby Soukup doing Line Jumps, while
Elliot Erdkamp, Dalton Zelenka, and Derek Luzum work on
Planks.  The boys and girls season kicks of at BDS December
1st.

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Exeter-Milligan 3rd and 4th Grade Perfect Attendance First Quarter

Exeter-Milligan Public Schools 3rd and 4th Grade students
with Perfect Attendance for the First Quarter.

Third Grade-Front Row: Cayden Hartmann, Elijah Johnson, Ty
Underwood, Brooke Poppert, Anna Sluka, Caitlin Murphy

Fourth Grade - Back Row: Peytan Brandt, Mitchell Manning,
Blake Steuben, Spencer Pribyl, Katherine White

Exeter Volunteer Fire Department teaches Exeter-Milligan Fifth Graders all about Fire Safety

Exeter-Milligan Fifth graders enjoyed their time in Junior Fire Patrol and are pictured with their instructors and their marshal certificates.  The are front row from the left Travis Gilliam, Vicki Androyna, Katarina Mounce, Hannah Horne, Joey Bartu, Eric Olsen. Second row from the left Derek Axline, Tara Mueller, Hannah Beethe, Janey Erdkamp, Seth Maxson, Clarissa Mounce and Patrick Murphy. Back row of instructors from the left are Mark Beethe, Assistant Fire Chief Tim Axline, Tammy Sladek, Hope Androyna, Fire Chief John Mueller, Assistant Fire Chief Ken Strate and Junior Fire Patrol Chairman Ed Mark.  See the slideshow for more photos of the students receiving their certificates and in action with the jaws of life.

The Exeter volunteer fire department has a new recruiting class on Monday nights. Not only are they recruiting future volunteer members but they hope to “bring both fire and first aid knowledge into their future to help them, their families and society as a whole,” said Jr. Fire Patrol Chairman Ed Mark.

Students in the Exeter-Milligan fifth grade are invited to attend Junior Fire Patrol Class for four weeks in October. To become a Junior Fire Marshall they must attend all four two hour classes, turn in the required homework and pass the final exam.

Each class session involves curriculum training and quizzes while mixing in some hands on experiences. The students learn how to run a hose with live water, put out a real fire with a fire extinguisher, try on fire gear and use a jaws of life.

The program was started in 1998 when Mark compiled the curriculum from materials he used when a volunteer at the fire department in Genoa, materials from the Fire Marshall and from a department in Virginia. Most of the materials he had to create himself. This year, however, he had some extra help from department member Hope Androyna. “Hope was able to modernize the teaching material and classroom. She brought in some DVD’s and some new books for the kids.” said Mark.

Some of the weekly homework involves designing a fire escape plan individualized to students’ home, checking smoke detectors at home, and reading about fire prevention. “The kids seem to enjoy the program year after year. Since the program has started kids and their parents have expressed gratitude for what it has given our youth.” The instructors gain from it too, they get so much satisfaction from helping kids in their community,” said Mark.
The students enjoy fresh baked cookies each session provided by Greg’s Market while their graduation party includes pizza donated by Casey’s in Exeter.

This year thirteen fifth graders completed the course and became Junior Fire Marshall’s. They are Travis Gilliam, Vicki Androyna, Katarina Mounce, Hannah Horne, Joey Bartu, Eric Olsen, Derek Axline, Tara Mueller, Hannah Beethe, Janey Erdkamp, Seth Maxson, Clarissa Mounce and Patrick Murphy.

Each Monday evening session was planned by Mark who is assisted by Fire Chief John Mueller, Assistant Chief Tim Axline, Assistant Chief Ken Strate and Volunteer Fire Department members Hope Androyna, Mark Beethe, and Tammy Sladek.

Exeter American Legion Auxiliary Exeter Avenue Holiday Sampler Successful

 Shoppers enjoyed the wide variety of products available at the Exeter Avenue Holiday Sampler on Saturday in Exeter.  Shoppers here are checking out the yarn products of KW Fibers of York.

 Chris Haussler of Pixybug Designs spent much of the day demonstrating glass blowing while customers watched.  Chris' wife, Stephanie turns the beads into jewelry and buttons.  They are from Lawrence.

Annette Gloystein sold her fabric items and hand crocheted items at the Exeter Avenue Holiday Sampler.

Exeter-Milligan K- 2 Perfect Attendance

Perfect Attendance for the First Quarter of the school year.

Kindergarten (Row 1): Alexis Kirkpatrick, Marcus Krupicka,
Allison Kirkpatrick, Cecelia Murphy, Aaron Ostrand, Cade
Kresak

First Grade (Row 2): Rebecca Krupicka, Peyton Pribyl, Olivia
Poppert, Braden Capek, Alec Schlueter

Second Grade (Row 3): Nickalous Wiederspan, Jaiden Papik,
Johnathen Ostrand, Olivia Murphy

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Exeter-Milligan Teams Successful

The Exeter-Milligan Volleyball team recently won the Crossroads Conference Tournament defeating Bruning-Davenport-Shickley in four sets.

Exeter-Milligan senior Heather Pribyl was chosen as the CRC All Tournament  Honorary Captain.  Also chosen for the team were Junior Claire White and Senior Kelsey Moore.  Congratulations to both the team for their back to back CRC Tournament win and also to the ladies chosen for the All Tournament Team.


Also Congratulations to the Exeter-Milligan Football Team as they were named District Champions.  The 4 - 4 Timberwolves will travel to Howells (8-0) on Thursday for a 6 p.m. game.

Exeter-Milligan Superintendent Sheffield Presents Levy Override Session

On Monday evening Exeter-Milligan Superintendent Paul Sheffield presented a power point overview of the district levy override measure that will be presented to voters on November 2nd.

Despite the debated topic a small crowd came to hear Sheffield's presentation and ask questions during the open session.

Sheffield noted that there have been two successful passages of override bills in the past, it was last renewed in 2005 and will expire with the end of the 2011-2012 school year.

Sheffield explained the importance of the override to the district, noting the fluctuations in state aid with the district receiving just $32,948 from the state toward their $4.3 million budget.

Although he cited the fact that the levy override has decreased to $1.05 he recognized that that in part is a result of valuations in the district climbing from $210 million in '06-'07 to 292 million in '10-'11.

With charts and graphs, Sheffield explained how the levy funds go into two separate accounts, a general fund and a building fund.  The last few years the building fund has been given a greater percentage, going from .02 to .07. Recently the district has tackled several projects including replacing flooring in the Exeter site high school, as well as the phone system and painting the Exeter site gymnasium and replacing the gym lights, school surveillance and sound system.  The sofit and fascia has been replaced at the Milligan school.

Out of the general fund, the district has made great advances in technology for the students. Many of the classrooms boast smart boards and Sheffield also cited the laptops that all of the 7 - 12 students are using.

Sheffield discussed at length the opportunities that Exeter-Milligan students have in regards to coursework.  He explained that the minimum the state requires is 400 course offerings and currently Exeter-Milligan has students enrolled in 547 different courses. This total does not include distance learning.


"I'm asking for another five years starting with the 2012 school year.  There is a possibility that we won't need to use the override if the valuations continue to rise.  If the pipeline (Keystone XL Pipeline) is approved it will also add to the valuations," said Sheffield.

At the conclusion of his presentation Sheffield opened the floor up for questions and several were presented on the efficiency of the Milligan campus.  Sheffield had prepared a chart showing the physical plant costs of the campus including transportation which totalled $42,300.  He estimates closing the building would "save about $30,000 because we would still have the same amount in transportation costs because we would have to run two buses from Milligan."

In addition, Sheffield noted that "we are at 99% capacity at the Exeter site according to the recent facilities study we had done."  He spoke of the space needed for the extra reading groups with the new Reading Mastery program and the possibility of the TYKE program returning to Exeter.  "If we were to close Milligan we would have to do some building here."

However, when pushed on the issue of consolidating to one site, Sheffield would not give a black and white answer.  When questioned on whether attendance would make the decision he would not give a definitive answer either.

Another topic of discussion was the Timberwolf home football field.  Sheffield explained that the city of Milligan owns the property but the district maintains the property unless repairs are over $200.


Sheffield will also make the presentation in Milligan at the Exeter-Milligan Gymnasium on Wednesday evening at 7:30 p.m. After the brief power point Sheffield and Exeter-Milligan Board members will be available to answer audience questions.

Monday, October 25, 2010

Got Questions about the Exeter-Milligan School Levy Override?

If you have questions about the Exeter-Milligan School Levy Override on the ballot there will be two sessions of Question and Answer.  The first meeting will be in Exeter at the Exeter-Milligan school Gymnasium on Monday at 7:30 p.m.  The second meeting will be in Milligan at the Exeter-Milligan school on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. in the gymansium.

Here is the article posted previously about the vote:

The Exeter-Milligan school district is once again looking at a levy override on the November ballot.
The last levy override was on the February 2005 ballot and covered the years through 2011-12. The new ballot issue will start the same .30 per $100 override in the fiscal 2012-2013 year and will be for five years, in effect through the 2016-2017 school year.

Exeter-Milligan Superintendent Paul Sheffield states, “Our goal in renewing it (the levy override) is to maintain the quality of education and opportunities for our students.”

Although the district has the ability to go up to $1.35 currently they are using a levy of $1.22. Sheffield expects that number to go down next year as it has every year.

The district heavily depends on the override passing because they get very little in state aid. According to Sheffield, “State aid for the 2010-2011 school year is $32,948.34 and that will go down next year because of the state budget crunch. Last year it was 47,000.00 so it dropped 15,000 this year.”

In looking at the dependence on the levy override, Sheffield noted that they would have to “cut $400,000 - $500,000 from our budget and the only way you can do that is people. Roughly we would have to cut a minimum of seven to eight teachers.”

For a small district like Exeter-Milligan that is a large percentage of their total budget of $4.3 million.
The last time the override measure was on the ballot it passed by a vote of 288 for and 129 against. In 2002, the vote was 357 for and 140 against. To Sheffield and the Board of Education the override is essential, “We are trying to control costs, but with anything the costs of providing a service goes up,” he stated.

As for the future of the district he hopes “to look at it as an investment in the future. We are investing money in our students for the future. As our mission statement iterates, in partnership with parents and the community, our mission is to provide excellent educational programs, which empower our students to be knowledgeable, responsible, patriotic citizens. Ultimately we would like them return to the Exeter-Milligan area to work and raise a family.” 

Recently, the district had a facilities study done to access where they are as far as codes and efficiency. With the results of the study in hand the maintenance staff spent a great deal of time painting inside the facility this summer and also all of the lights in the Exeter gymnasium were replaced with more efficient fluorescent lighting.

For Sheffield, “Our first priority is the levy override, make sure that passes. Next step is a facility study which is done, and then we will have some community-wide discussions with the results of the facility study."
Voters in the Fillmore Central district will have the opportunity to vote on this levy override at the polls in November.

Exeter-Milligan Graduate named Outstanding Woman Athlete

Kelly Sladek, of Cordova, was presented the Outstanding Woman Athlete Award at the 2010 Athletic Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony at Midland University, in Fremont, Neb.  Kelly , a 2010 graduate of Midland and a 2006 Exeter-Milligan graduate, was a four year starter for Midland in softball.  As a pitcher, Kelly currently holds career school records for innings pitched (616.0) and for strikeouts (705).  She also holds the season school record for ERA at 1.23 in 2009.  In 2010, Kelly led Midland to their second ever berth in the NAIA National Tournament.  She recorded a career-high 196 strikeouts in 164 2/3 innings in 2010, an average of 8.33 strikeouts per 7 innings.  For her career, Kelly averaged 8.01 strikeouts per 7 innings.  Kelly earned First-Team All-Conference honors in 2007, 2009 and 2010.  She received Second Team All-Conference honors in 2008.  In 2009, Kelly was also selected Conference Pitcher of the Year and she received NAIA Honorable Mention All-American Honors.  Kelly is the daughter of Bill and Tammy Sladek of Cordova, and she is presently teaching in the Fremont Public Schools.