Hoosac Valley Camping Profitable for Girls Team
 Principal Vince Regan outlined a multi-step plan to improve the high school student achievement. |
CHESHIRE, Mass. — The Hoosac Valley girls basketball team raised more than $8,000 by renting out campsites on the school grounds this week.
The team rented out 89 campsites — 'Canes Camping — for attendees of Solid Sound, the weekend music festival put on by Wilco and Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art. Some 7,500 to 8,000 people attended the three-day festival.
According to School Committee Chairwoman Darlene Rodowicz, the school administration put "their necks on the line" by approving the fundraiser but in the end, the campsites worked out well.
"It was wonderful all around," Rodowicz said.
The athletes and parents rented golf carts to bring the campers around, sold concessions and provided information on the area. Those who attended could pay an additional $5 for hot showers in the school. Rodowicz said the campers were gone by noon each morning, returning at about 11 p.m. And they were well behaved and polite.
The girl's team is looking to do the fundraiser again next year and are considering possibly expanding it. If more plots are sold, Mass MOCA will pay for a shuttle bus to and from the event, Rodowicz said.
In other business, David Hinkell, business manager, said the building inspector has withheld the certificate of occupancy needed for the next school year after an annual inspection found a few violations. Since that inspection, Hinkell said the majority of the items were taken care of and what remains will be done in the next couple of week.
The concerns ranged from items stored in hallways that could impede egress to a hole in the wall in the boiler room following the replacement and rerouting of some pipes. The stored items have been removed and the hole in the wall is expected to fixed in the next few weeks, Hinkell said.
However, the district might end up having to pay a few thousand dollars for emergency exit lighting. Currently, only two of school's exit signs are lit and the building inspector has cited that as a hazard. Hinkell said the school's contractor is meeting with the inspector later this week to find out if each exit needs the lighted signs.
"They weren't major items with the exception of the emergency lights," Hinkell said.
 This exit sign is one of two that are lighted showing the way out when power goes down. However, five or so other exits do not have these, which is keeping the school from receiving a new certificate of occupancy. |
The committee also approved a School Improvement Plan for Hoosac Valley Middle and High School. Principal Vince Regan presented the plan that outlines five goals — goal the committee thought were ambitious.
The goals include improving teacher evaluation, which began this year but hadn't been implemented; setting a "baseline standard" for core classes by implementing a tiered structure of additional support — a new system being negotiated with the teacher's union now; and improve student learning by implementing additional measurement tests throughout the year.
However, the plan won't go forward without curriculum mapping, which faculty and staff are embarking on now. The goal is to align and revamp curriculum to be more uniform among the teachers in a discipline.
That mapping is required before the systems can be implemented, Regan said.
Also in other business, the board approved new job descriptions for the custodial staff. School Committee member Stephen Vigna said the descriptions are not different from what they do now but the process formalized the positions.
Vigna also reported that bids to replace carpeting at C.T. Plunkett were low enough that two additional rooms will receiving tiling as well.
Tags: building inspector, camping, fundraiser, Solid Sound,
