By JEFFREY SMITH
Leader staff writer
The Cabot School Board approved administrative changes for the 2013-14 school year at a meeting Tuesday.
Dawn Peeples will be principal at Middle School North. Assistant principals and instructional facilitators are Andy Sullivan at Ward Central Elementary, Michelle Atherton at Westside Elementary, Teri Duncan at Middle School North, Adam Koehler at Junior High North, Ahna Davis at Junior High South, Mandee Carmical and Meredith Jones, both at Middle School South.
Dean of students will be Kelly Riggs at Magness Creek Elementary and Kelly Spencer at Central Elementary.
In other business:
The school district recently received the National Athletic Trainers’ Association Safe Sports School Award. Cabot is the first school in the state and 14th in the nation to be awarded the distinction. The award recognizes the care, injury prevention and treatment of student athletes.
Athletic trainer Jason Cates said the sports medicine department saved parents and taxpayers $200,000 for medical services in the past year. The program is able to track reported injuries and work on ways to prevent them and research why they are happening.
The board recognized the high school’s electric vehicle team. Cabot placed first overall in the Arkansas Electric Vehicle Rally held in May at the State Fairgrounds.
The Electric Cooperative of Arkansas sponsors the rally each year. Pre-engineering program teacher Linda Powell said First Electric Cooperative contacted the school district six years ago and offered a $3,000 grant toward the purchase of a $7,000 go-kart kit.
Cabot beat out the 12 other high schools by an accumulation of points during the rally and by placing second in the quiz bowl and in troubleshooting.
The nine-member team included seniors Ty Stoll, Jonathan Nigus and Morgan Gurke; juniors Amanda Oliver and Justin Mullins and sophomores Daniel Brathwaite, Gene Barbery and Delton Farinelli.
Powell said, “The kids have to learn how to speak, communicating with other adults and team members. It is an application of their physics and math classes, principals of engineering and troubleshooting. The academic part sold me.”
He added, “The kids did it all. I just got the bus and the permission slips.”
Tammy Tucker, assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction, spoke about a new summer reading program for elementary school students.
Books were mailed to children who needed additional help with their reading skills during the school year.
“They get to go the mailbox. It is addressed to them. Two books are sent every two weeks. The books are theirs to keep. It is an additional attempt to keep books in the hands of students during the summer,” Tucker said.
She said research shows if a student reads four books during the summer their reading skills will not fall off.