BY QUINTON R. ARTHUR
LANSING, Ill. (January 24, 2022) – District 171’s January school board meeting was held on January 23, 2022. The meeting focused on school reports from Heritage and Nathan Hale middle schools, and included academic achievements, basketball success, and a successful food drive.
Heritage Middle School
Heritage Middle School Principal Chantelle Cambric presented updates on student activities during her report.
Heritage hosted and competed in the Newberry Bowl, an academic competition with other local schools in the region. For the second year in a row, Heritage won the overall competition.
“We are super proud of the work that our students were doing in getting prepared for this academic bowl,” said Cambric.
In athletics, the seventh grade boys basketball team won their first round of regional competition.
Cambric also gave an overview of a girls empowerment conference that took place at TF South on January 21.
Themed “Girls with Dreams become Women with Vision,” the conference was open to students at District 215 and local feed schools. The conference featured three break-out sessions, motivational speakers, and other activities to empower the girls to be the best version of themselves.
Nathan Hale Elementary School
During the Nathan Hale Elementary School update, Principal Joseph Kent shared an updated on a service project the student council completed.
The student council held a cereal box drive to help support local food pantries and 890 boxes were collected in total. 200 boxes were given to Nathan Hale and Heritage for students in need; 400 were sent to the Lansing Community Food Pantry; 150 went to the food pantry located at Living Grace Church in Lynwood; and 150 went to Girl in Lansing, an organization run by Lansing resident Korey Ziemkowski that operates micro pantries throughout Lansing.
“It is such a pleasure to have such a strong, service-minded student council because they get involved in things bigger than themselves,” said Kent.
Further in his report, Kent mentioned clubs that students can participate in, including the Illinois Math and Science Association, the Art Club, the STEM Club, the Drama Club, and the Sewing Club.
Other agenda items
- Approval of the employment of two new staff members.
- Approval of the Suburban School Cooperative Insurance Property and Liability 2023 premiums in the amounts of $58,016 (Property and Liability) and $16,525 (Cyber Insurance).
- Approval of the renewal agreement with PowerSchool for the District SIS and Enrollment system at a cost of $22,282.61.
The meeting was adjourned at 6:41 p.m. The next board meeting is scheduled for February 27.
