Twin Rivers School District is taking steps to encourage the emotional health and safety of students by introducing the Green Bear Program, S.A.F.E Growing Up/Healthy Relationships and S.O.S Signs of Suicide to students this year.
During the regularly scheduled monthly meeting Tuesday, the board discussed the introduction of the projects which are intended to promote and educate on matters of child safety and abuse, as well as healthy relationships and signs of suicide.
According to the Green Bear Project website, “The Green Bear Project was founded in 2001 with a mission to educate the community about child abuse. Over the past 20 years, Green Bear has educated thousands of adults and kids about the dangers, warning signs and prevention of child abuse through our various programs. We offer classes in Bollinger, Cape Girardeau, Dunklin, Mississippi, New Madrid, Pemiscot, Perry, Scott and Stoddard counties.”
According to Fisk Principal Christina Miller, “The high school will also have S.O.S presentations with the school counselors and Green Bear will present S.A.F.E Guide to Dating & Surviving the Dating Game for grades 9-12.”
Other topics that were discussed, but not yet brought to a final vote, were possible internet upgrades for the school, as well as camera and surveillance equipment for each campus.
The four-day schedule, according to the discussion, has been working well for students and faculty as they adapt to the change.
“The best thing I have seen is that both ends of the campuses want to work together,” stated one teacher in attendance.
“Are you seeing any more behavior issues with the little ones with the longer day?” asked board member Jenny Hester.
“The first two weeks we saw the most with elementary, but they kind of settled into their routine now,” stated Miller.
The discussion continued with everyone in agreement that students and staff were successfully becoming acclimated with the new schedule.
The school reported a positive balance on Chartwells food service of $1,757 for the year.
The board voted unanimously, pending ESSER approval, to make improvements to sound equipment at both the Qulin and Fisk campuses, as well as to add screens to the front entrance, end and back doors of the Fisk Middle School, stating it would create needed coverage and also improve the schools’ appearance.
“The Qulin gym, we just need to move some speakers and rewire the soundboard. The one at Fisk, the speakers are shot, the tweeters are blown in all four speakers. They are in pretty bad shape and high school is just dismal. It’s going to be starting from scratch, so that is a huge chunk of money, but if we could tie those into ESSER it would be a great opportunity to upgrade,” said Superintendent Rob Brown.
Board members have also helped make improvements to the driveway at Fisk.
“Our new driveway is phenomenal, thank you Bruce and Lee for getting that done,” said Miller. “It has made such a difference to our traffic in the morning.”
The next board meeting is set for 6 p.m. Oct. 20. For more information on the upcoming programs at the school you can check out www.sossignsofsuicide.org/parent/signs-suicide-program and www.greenbearmo.org/.