EDWARDSBURG — The Edwardsburg School Board approved the hiring of two new teachers at their latest meeting on Monday.

The district hired a new Elementary Music teacher, Jennifer Tabor, and sixth grade English and Social Studies teacher Elizabeth Colvin. Tabor brings previous experience in music education, including starting an after school program for kids. Colvin has years of experience in Edwardsburg schools serving as a long-term substitute teacher on multiple occasions.

Primary School Custodial staff member Brant Byerly was recognized as the January recipient and Support Staff Team Member of the Month during the meeting. Byerly was chosen for the monthly award after multiple nominations, some of which were read during the meeting, noting his positive impact on students beyond his custodial duties.

“He’s working with kids with all sorts of different social skills,” said Superintendent Dr. Courtney Szucs. “He takes them under his wing. He just is a true part of the whole Primary community.”

Eagle Lake School Principal Jared Melander reported on a new “Word Collectors” initiative at the school. The schoolwide program is targeting student weaknesses in vocabulary, identified during analysis of Michigan Student Test of Educational Progress (M-STEP) results. The School Improvement Team, along with a specific vocabulary team, created Word Collectors as a part of a long term goal of improving future scores and increasing word skills among students. 

“We knew we had to create something for the kids to get excited about,” said Melander.

Students were started on the program with a reading of the book The Word Collector by Peter H. Reynolds. Two words are chosen each week, one by the Vocabulary Committee and the other by students. Each week’s words are focused on in the classroom with daily reviews, activities, and deeper learning, while also being emphasized schoolwide through posters and announcements made by students sharing the words and using them in sentences. Two students from Eagle Lake presented one of their announcements as an example to the school board and the audience.

The Edwardsburg School Board approved the required annual opt-in for participation in Michigan Schools of Choice. They also approved a new minimum wage adjustment in order to remain in compliance with the new legal standard.

The board voted to opt out of receiving a portion of funds based on Title III, Part A. After opting out of Title III funds last year, the board set out to create a plan to be able to accept the funds going forward. The district was able to make changes and accept $4000 from Section 41 Bilingual Education funding. The district was required to opt out of a smaller portion amounting to a little more than $200 relating to Part A Immigrant Funds, as the creation of a consortium was required to receive them. Though Edwardsburg did reach out to other local districts, they were unable to create a consortium.

Szucs updated the board on the status of snow days in the district, noting that all forgiven days had been used up, as well as two additional days. The State of Michigan does allow for a waiver for an extra three days, which Edwardsburg intends to apply to receive.