News

Bottineau is ready for school

By Heather Milbrath

08/14/2012

The staff at Bottineau Public Schools (BPS) has had a busy summer gearing up for the upcoming school year. Classes at BPS begin on Wednesday, August 29, with the addition of many improvements from last year.

Two of the biggest changes at BPS was the hiring of two new principals, Brain Palmer and Joe Bickford. Palmer has been hired as the new Elementary Principal. Prior to being hired at BPS, Palmer was the Superintendent at Rolla. Bickford is the new Secondary Principal and was previously employed as the Secondary Principal at LaMoure.
BPS also hired many new teachers, including: Jaque Marum, Michael Vandal, Jamie Andel and Linda Kornkven.

Marum will be the five through 12 vocal music teacher this year. Vandal will be the 10 through 12 Learning Disability Teacher. Hired as the seven through 12 Title I teacher is Jamie Andel, and Linda Kornkven will be driving bus route for BPS.
Jason Kersten, Superintendent for BPS, says the district still has an English position open, a seven through nine Learning Disability position, and some paraprofessional openings.

Along with the new staff at BPS, new technology has been added to the district. The business department added 20 new computers. Some iPads were also purchased for the district. This year the district also added a 20-computer mobile lab to add to the mobile lab purchased last year.

“These mobile labs have been very useful.” Kersten said. “The computer lab stays very busy during the school year. The school now has wireless internet so that these mobile labs can be taken into the classroom. This gives students and teachers the opportunity to have access to the internet in the classroom to research for their homework.”

All of the new technology for BPS is purchased through the Pearson Grant.

Other improvements BPS has made to help better the students’ environment is the adoption of an anti-bullying policy. This policy follows the requirements set by the last legislative session of North Dakota. The School Board Association is in the process of doing a final reading of these policies. Once the reading is done, parents and patrons will be able to access the policies through the BPS website.

Action has also been taken to help combat bullying within the high school, through the initiation of a Stand for the Silent (SFTS) chapter.

“This [SFTS] is a student led organization to help other students, and to bring awareness of the affects bullying has on students.” Kersten said.
“The mission of this organization is to make students comfortable in coming forward with any concerns or issues they may be having. The organization has officers and will be meeting biweekly to discuss any changes or activities our students can do to help prevent bullying. We will do our best to create a safe and welcomed school environment.”

Another recent adjustment within the high school is the addition of AP classes. Last year, BHS added AP English, which could count as a college credit for the students. Kersten feels this class was well received by the students, teachers and parents, and therefore BHS is offering another period of AP English this fall. BHS is also hoping to add other AP courses in the future.

Another way for BHS students to gain college credits is by taking dual-credit courses through Dakota College at Bottineau (DCB). Kersten estimates that BHS usually has 10 to 15 students taking at least one dual-credit course from DCB.
Kersten sees many advantages of both AP and dual-credit classes.

“A student taking AP courses could possibly clip some freshman courses; if they have scored high enough on the AP test taken in the spring of the year.” Kersten said. “Dual-credit courses give the students the opportunity to get college credits before actually starting college. This enables a student to possibly shave off a semester or two, depending on how many dual-credit courses they take. Also, both AP and dual-credit courses are needed to qualify for the ND Scholarship.”

Bottineau High School is also expanding its business department with Accounting III and IV being offered. The high school will also be offering some computer courses, including web design.
Kersten is excited for the many new changes at BPS schools, especially the new courses, and the SFTS chapter.

“I would like to thank the parents and patrons of our community for their support and look forward to starting school with the students on Wednesday, August 29.” Kersten said.