Salem Buckeye Elementary second graders from left, Henry Fredrickson, Eleanor Fredrickson, Gordon Clutter and Owen Paxson and their teacher Allie Winner present their food truck projects during the Salem school board meeting Monday night. (Photo by Mary Ann Greier)

SALEM — Salem second graders in Allie Winner’s class at Buckeye Elementary showed off their food truck creations to school board members Monday, sharing how they graduated from idea to food truck, to sell tacos and ice cream.

Winner said the projects were done over three months, with the students creating their own menu and logos, researching ingredients, learning about budgeting and customer service and creating marketing plans, jingles, commercials, postcards to promote their opening and then a model of their food truck.

The four students who gave a presentation to the school board included Henry Fredrickson, Eleanor Fredrickson, Gordon Clutter and Owen Paxson. The group was accompanied by Winner and introduced by their new Buckeye School Principal David Guy.

Winner said the students created logos and high school art students worked on them.

“They brought our logos to life,” she said.

Henry sang a jingle which was shown on video, then Eleanor and Gordon did a news interview shown on video and Owen shared a postcard that he sent to Superintendent Sean Kirkland to invite him to his food truck opening.

Board members thanked the students for being there and Salem City Schools Treasurer Michael Douglas presented them each with a certificate to commemorate their first presentation to the school board.

During public requests, two parents of a third grader approached the board with a complaint about the curriculum for third grade students, saying that all the grammar tests only have four questions. Their son is an A student and he missed two of the four questions on a recent grammar test and came home distraught. His mother questioned if that could happen to an A student, what about the children who don’t understand?

She asked the board members to look into the curriculum and get a better one or build a better one.

“We need to do better for our kids,” she said.

Board President Brittany Maniscalco thanked them and said the board does take their concerns into consideration.

She said the board does review curriculum and the district has some requirements put on it by the state to purchase from certain vendors and Salem isn’t the only district using this curriculum.

Board member Carol Hrvatin, a former teacher with the district, commented that four questions is not enough and she didn’t like the idea of just four questions on a test.

The father pointed out “the teacher is great, it’s just the curriculum.”

Also making a public request was Rob Moore, who suggested using a recent gift of $5,000 from last month’s meeting to have students at the Columbiana County Career and Technical Center design and build an outdoor learning center at the new school, which could get some public attention and possibly get even more donations, if the district brings attention to other pressing needs.

“Salem is very blessed — we have so many philanthropic people,” Maniscalco said.

“We do have a lot of space out there,” Douglas said, said they already have plans for an outdoor learning center.

In other comments, Austin Fredrickson offered congratulations to the district’s school resource officer from the Salem Police Department, Rich Miller, for being named community hero of the year, with Maniscalco commenting that he seems to know every student and is wonderful. Board member Gregg Warner welcomed back board member Ted Bricker, who had been ill, and offered season’s greetings. Maniscalco also talked about the success of the recent Gingerbread Day, which attracted 700 kids.

In personnel matters, the board approved: a move in pay scale from BA to MA for Ashley O’Brien and from MA plus 15 to MA plus 30 for H. Michael Powell; Brianne Frank as a chaperone for the Salem High School band trip to Walt Disney World in January; volunteer workers Kenneth Peters and Mary Elizabeth Fredrickson at Buckeye Elementary; the reappointment of Mary Kay Washam as trustee of the Salem Library Board from Jan. 1, 2026 through Dec. 31, 2029; a list of certified substitutes; Gina Powell for crisis prevention institute de-escalation and restrain training; and a one-day paid leave of absence for high school teacher Matthew Mowery in April.

The board hired the following classified staff: Carol Beeson as full-time transportation secretary: Lisa McCoy as full-time secretary; Kevin Santangelo as full-time custodian; and Tomi M. Jason and Edward Arsena as bus drivers.

Staff members approved to be paid for the Reilly Elementary Yoga Club included Tiffany Kaiser, Ashley O’Brien, Amanda Fowler, Kendell Austin, Delaney Willoughby and Amber Sierra.

Athletic supplementals approved included: head wrestling coach Drew Hart; assistant wrestling coach Tylor Almy; junior high head wrestling coach Patrick Simpson, junior high assistant wrestling coach Cyle Burt; junior high wrestling coach Mike Risbeck; volunteer girls basketball coach Kami Rohm; head softball coach Mike Thorpe; assistant softball coach Eric Markovich; and jv softball coach Kyle Gainor. The board also approved winter game workers, with Maniscalco abstaining due to her father, Frank Zamarelli, being on the list.

The board set the annual organizational/January regular meeting at 6:45 p.m. Jan. 12 in the high school library.