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SALEM -- The Salem school board Monday heard about several ongoing programs at Southeast Elementary including the sixth-grade Career Awareness, fifth grade Fun Friday and Positive Pals programs.
The sixth grade Career Awareness program sees students hear from professionals about what their careers are like including what they do in an average day, discussing the education, experience and qualifications required to enter their career, exposing students to the work that goes into achieving their career. Students have already heard from over a dozen professionals in diverse careers this year including Major League Baseball player Matt DeSalvo, veterinarian Dr. Linda Gibson, Attorney Geoff Goll, Columbiana County Common Pleas Court Judge Scott Washam and Internal Medicine Doctor Austin Frederickson.
Positive Pals sees six Southeast Elementary students work to spread positivity at school. This year they have sold candygrams in the winter that had positive notes attached, planned monthly positive carts for teachers, surprised teachers with a Grinch themed hallway for Christmas, and Monday the positive pals challenged all of Southeast's classes to a Valentines Day door decorating contest, with the Positive Pals decorating the library door.
The fifth grade Fun Friday program hosts educational games on Friday's from 2:30 to 3 p.m. While more STEM focused activities will begin to be added as the year continues, thus far the activities have primarily focused on introductory and team-building games, with service related, and holiday games added as the first semester continued. Some of these games have included each student anonymously writing one of their major achievements on a notecard with the class then attempting to guess which of their fellow students made that achievement, and groups of students writing things that all members had in common on an index card, and seeing which group could make the tallest tower of index cards after the allotted time period, and assisting the art teacher with making placemats for the retired teacher luncheon.
Southeast also received two grants to promote student wellness, one which will be funding a "Men's Club," which promotes positive values championed by the Pro Football Hall of Fame -- commitment, integrity, courage, respect, and excellence -- while the other will fund a "wellness rock river," which will see all students receive two to three rocks to paint with something positive, which will then be compiled into a dug-in "river" near the school entrance.
"I have been blessed to walk into a gold mine here in Salem with the staff and students at Southeast," said Southeast Elementary Principal Jenny Pancake.
Superintendent Sean Kirkland said that Southeast had a culture of positivity, which is apparent not only in its programming, but as soon as a person walks into the building.
"There's definitely a culture created within Southeast's walls that's been there a long time and continues to improve. As soon as you walk in the building you notice how happy people there are, I enjoy every time I visit the building," said Kirkland.
The board also approved a correction to the 2024-2025 school year calendar which previously had the incorrect week listed for Thanksgiving break, the first day of classes for grades 1-12 will be Aug. 22 while the first day for kindergarten students will be Aug. 26, while graduation will be held May 25, 2025, and the final day of classes will be May 29, 2025.
The board of education will meet next at 7 p.m. Feb. 26.