WEST TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WTWO/WAWV)– Nearly six months after its first listening session, the Terre Haute 10 is planning a series of forums in the community.
The group made waves in 2023, speaking out about changes they wanted to see in the Vigo County School Corporation. At Monday’s board meeting, Dr. Mary Howard-Hamilton said the first session will be this Thursday, Feb. 29th at the Booker T. Washington Community Center.
“We’re really excited,” she said. “If you live anywhere in the Terre Haute community, we really want people to come out and have a conversation.”
The forum is in collaboration with the Terre Haute Human Relations Commission. Howard-Hamilton said, while education will be one of the topics on Thursday, the group is planning to branch out and discuss broader community issues.
“We know that one thing impacts the other. Everything is interrelated. You can’t deal with issues in regards to education, unless you deal with issues of housing insecurity and food insecurity and money and safety,” she said.
Much of the discussion during the meeting focused on the corporation’s diversity efforts, mainly programming during Black History month. It included a presentation from Matthew McClendon, the corporation’s chief officer for diversity, equity and inclusion– as well as planned activities from a group of students.
Superintendent Chris Himsel said he was satisfied to see the progress– but there’s still strides that can be made.
“Our goal as a public school is to make sure that each and every one of kids feels welcomed, that they belong and that they’re included in activities so that we can create great learning environments,” he said. “We know we have work to do, and we continue to do that, and I think that some of the work that we did this past month demonstrates the fact we are serious about making sure we are creating welcoming environments for each and every one of our students.”
Howard-Hamilton said she’s happy administrators are listening to their input, but she still sees a need for more representation amongst staff members, and diversity training to be implemented for all staff.
“Baby steps,” she said. “We’re very thankful that the superintendent is listening to us, we’re very thankful that the school board is listening to us and being attentive to some of our concerns.”
In other business, the board passed a resolution in regards to state funding that allows for K-3 teachers to receive a stipend as part of efforts to increase reading levels in hoosiers.
Himsel said he believes this impacts around 350 teachers in the corporation. The stipend is around $500, according to Himsel, and he said he’s happy to see these staff members receive some recognition.
“I’m assuming that what they’re trying to do is trying to reward teachers who work really hard at that reading, and these teachers do work really hard. The concept of teaching kindergarteners or first, second, and third graders is the standpoint that most kids come without the recognition of letters and without the recognition of sounds, and get them to the point where they can read by the end of third grade.”
