Over 40 youth involved in ECFE program

By Chad Koenen

Publisher

Some of Henning’s youngest students and families are turning out in droves for a few of the school district’s programs.

During its regularly scheduled meeting last week, the Henning School Board heard that the ECFE program continues to grow, at the same time that the preschool is seeing a large number of students at both the three-year-old and four-year-old levels.

Henning School Principal Thomas Williams said that 32 families recently participated in an outing at the Trowbridge Zoo near Vergas. Williams said the turnout was especially high since the activity was a bit further from Henning than typically occurs for ECFE events. He went on to say there are approximately 22 children involved in the morning session of ECFE, while another 20 children are involved in the evening session of ECFE.

The preschool program has also had a busy year with 23 children involved in the three-year-old preschool and 19 children involved in the four-year-old preschool. 

Students will also have the opportunity to enjoy additional learning opportunities within the school district this year. The Otter Cove on the Go will bring a museum to the Henning School District throughout the school year. There were 27 students who attended the first drop in event that featured a lesson on water energy. The students used plastic tubes to build an apparatus that first prevented water from escaping and then directed water to specific points. The experiment created enough flow to spin water wheels.

There are three more Otter Cove on the Go, which is being funded through a grant front he Minnesota Department of Education, including November 5 for an event entitled What is Produced at a Solar Farm. On January 7 the event will focus on How Can you Catch the Wind at a wind farm. The final event will be held on February 4 for a hands on story time about how home looks and feels different for everyone.

Each of the Otter Cove on the Go events will be held right after school in the library.

In other news

• Approved the hiring of Karen Loock as the school cook, Eric Semler as a morning bus driver and John Saari for 10 hours per week to complete the food service production records, inventory, ordering, state reporting and meal planning. 

• Approved the principal contract with Henning School Principal Thomas Williams from July 1, 2024 through June 30, 2026. The salary increase is set for a 3.5 percent increase in each year of the contract. 

• Discussed establishing a committee comprised of school staff, school board members and individuals involved in the current booster clubs at Henning School to develop guidelines for booster clubs in the school district. Sparks said the idea of having guidelines for a booster club came about after the volleyball program inquired about starting a booster club for volleyball. 

• Acknowledged donations totaling $6,470, a lion-share of which came from the Adopt-A-Classroom program. 

• Heard the Henning School District will be having several early dismissals due to staff training on October 25, November 8, November 22 and November 27. The early outs for staff training are being planned for Friday’s, with the exception of the Wednesday before Thanksgiving break. 

• Heard that student enrollment currently stands at 360 students in grades K-12. The largest grade is the junior class at 36 students, while the eighth grade has 34 students. There are just 19 seniors currently enrolled at Henning School. 

• Heard the school district will install a new door access system over the MEA break, which Henning School Superintendent Melissa Sparks said will improve security and safety at the school.

• Heard the November school board meeting will be moved to November 12 at 6:30 p.m. to allow the school board to hold its regularly scheduled meeting and canvas the election results.