Blue Valley North graduate wins state water prize

When people flush unused medicines down the toilet to get rid of them, they may not think about where that medicine goes.

Recent Blue Valley North graduate Erin Adams said it is important that people start thinking about it.

Over the course of the school year, Erin studied the effects of medicines on living beings as part of a science research class at her school in Overland Park.

“Pharmaceutical pollution is definitely an issue,” she said.

Erin’s project is the Kansas state winner of the 2010 U.S. Stockholm Junior Water Prize.

June 2 School Briefs

Blue Valley names new principals

The Blue Valley School District has named new principals for Indian Valley Elementary and Stanley Elementary Schools.

Stephen Heinauer will be principal at Indian Valley Elementary. Current principal Marilyn Shetlar has retired.

Heinauer has worked in Blue Valley since 2003. He most recently served as assistant principal at Oxford Middle School. He will begin his new role on Aug. 1.

JCCC faculty, board agree on contract with no salary increase

The Johnson County Community College Board of Trustees approved the 2010-11 contract for the JCCC faculty, and it will not include a salary increase.

President Terry Calaway said negotiations have been “very difficult” this year due to the economy.

“The group came together and achieved an agreement that I think is one that is fair for the board and one that is also fair for our faculty,” Calaway said. “In a very difficult time I think it would be fair to say no one is happy.”

The contract at JCCC, College Boulevard and Quivira Road, will include complete coverage for health insurance premium increases. Additional vacation days will be given to 10-month faculty. Some faculty, among those who did not get a salary increase last year following a salary study, also will get an extra $2,000, Calaway said.

All board members voted in favor of the contract on May 20. Though the faculty association gave “overwhelming approval” for the plan, it was a plan where no one wins, Calaway said.

Teacher takes water balloon hits to help Guatemalans

Second-grade teacher Gretchen Young promised Valley Park Elementary students that if they donated $5 to buy a book for children in Guatemala, they could hit her with a water balloon.

As a result, they pelted her with more than 400 balloons last week.

“It was a blast,” Young said after several hours of getting drenched.

She rewarded the students for their work on two fundraisers that were held at the Overland Park school to help children in Cantel, Guatemala.

Young visited the small village last year while on a church mission trip. There, she saw children going to school with only the clothes on their back.

“I thought, what is something that would be really meaningful for our kids?” Young said.

May 26 School Briefs

Teacher enters state hall of fame

Shawnee Mission South High School instructor Cathy Wood was honored this month with the 2010 Kansas Thespians Hall of Fame Award.

“This award honors her remarkable career not only in the classroom but as director of theatre at Shawnee Mission South,” Max Brown, Kansas Thespians chapter director said.

Wood has spent the last 29 years teaching broadcasting, forensics, debate and theatre at South and will retire this year.

Schools join hazard plan

Local school boards have adopted a plan that could make districts eligible for federal funds to build tornado shelters.

The Shawnee Mission School Board on May 10 adopted a resolution to be part of the Johnson County Multi-Hazard Mitigation plan. The Blue Valley School Board adopted the same resolution about six months ago, Dennis McCarthy, director of safety and security, said.

The countywide plan is a requirement under the Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000, said Nick Crossley, director of Johnson County Emergency Management and Homeland Security.

The plan requires every sub-jurisdiction to have a mitigation plan.

Over the past 18 months, the county has worked to involve cities, fire districts and schools in the plan. The Federal Emergency Management Agency approved Johnson County’s plan in April, Crossley said.