The Putnam County Board of Education presented its September HEART awards and watched the Putnam County High School showcase at its work session Sept. 8 in the PCHS theater.
Yolanda Smith and Diane Parham were each presented with the HEART award, which stands for Honoring Exceptional and Remarkable Teamwork.
“The HEART Award celebrates classified employees who go above and beyond in their contributions to our district every single day,” Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources Scott Sauls said.
Smith has worked in school nutrition since 2004 and currently works at Putnam County Middle School. She was described as a hard worker, an individual with excellent attendance, and an individual with a deep care for students, who ensures they always receive quality meals.
Smith participates in the community service that the department completes each year and helps with the summer meals at the middle school. She was also highlighted for being one of the physical workers during COVID who worked long hours to ensure students received the meals they needed.
Parham is a paraprofessional at Putnam County High School and assists with special education students. She was described as patient, kind, and an individual who shows “unwavering commitment to make students feel seen, valued, and capable.” The individual who nominated her stated in their letter that PCHS is “blessed to have her.”
Before the showcase, Superintendent Derick Austin presented the resolution for National School Lunch Week that will take place Oct. 13-17 and will be approved at following Monday’s meeting. He also stated that the district will be undergoing a system policy manual revision by the end of this year. Over the next few months, at least 10 policies will be brought to the board at their monthly meetings to be approved for changes, deletions, or remaining the same.
Then, PCHS Principal Andrew Cooper came forward to introduce each staff and student that would be showcasing throughout the evening.
The showcase began with students from the Career, Technical, and Agricultural Education program speaking on what they have learned. One student shared her personal story of becoming CNAE certified and partnering with work-based learning to be able to start working at a local nursing home. Two other students shared their experience with learning welding and their hopes to use it as a potential career. The welding teacher stated that in Putnam County, the starting pay for welding is currently around $22-$25 per hour.
Then, several students participating in PCHS’ one-act competition presented a song from “Nunsense,” the musical the school will be performing as one of their two performances this year, and for competition on Oct. 27. Scan the QR code attached to the photo of the nuns to watch their performance.
Following the performance, students spoke about their experiential learning trips over the summer, and a staff member presented the educational excursions planned for the upcoming school year.
ExperientiaLearningng took trips to Albany State University to learn about college and civil rights, to Oxford University to learn about daily life as a college student and participate in STEAM classes, a traveling field trip around the Native American Homeland to learn more about Cherokee culture and history, and a trip to Tanzania, where they were a part of the culture, interacted with locals, and worked with young students.
The educational excursions planned this year are to St. Augustine, Florida, for the ninth graders, Washington, D.C., for the tenth graders, and to Rome, Italy, for the eleventh graders. The goal for the international trip was six students, but there are currently 30 students signed up to attend, and approximately 40 families attended the recent informational session.
Cooper closed the showcase by highlighting that the school has increased both dual enrollment and Advanced Placement classes this year and that it is continuing to develop more rigor in its academics.