MORGANTOWN — A guy has his priorities, Adam Henkins told members of the Monongalia County Board of Education Tuesday evening.
He chuckled when he said it.
That’s because Henkins, an administrator with the district who helped coordinate last week’s “Summer Sizzler” learning enrichment program, was talking about a fun interaction between a student and school bus driver he witnessed on the western end of the county.
As part of that program, packaged meals and free books were delivered via those big yellow buses all across Morgantown and Mon.
To make it appeal to the (young) masses, first responders – firemen, policemen, paramedics – were enlisted to hand out the above.
Children were driven by their parents and other caregivers to designated pickup points across the county, and in this case, one student was especially eager.
“This little boy gets out of his car and I’m trying to engage him in conversation,” Henkins told the BOE.
“I was telling him about the program and how important it is,” the administrator continued – when he was politely interrupted.
“He said, ‘Before we do that, can I talk to Mr. Bill?’ ”
Henkins learned that “Mr. Bill” is his bus driver, who was making deliveries that morning. They spent the next few minutes catching up, he said.
“If you want to know who really knows the community, go on a run with a Mon County bus driver,” Henkins said.
Tuesday night, the BOE administratively continued that one-on-one work of delving into the unique properties of the Mon district.
Members renewed the contract for the “Ellevation” software program that helps teachers help English learners navigate their second language.
Morgantown and Mon County are little more diverse than most Mountain State locales, given the international reach of WVU.
In fact, more than 60 languages are represented in Mon’s school, a fact marveled at by BOE President Nancy Walker.
“I don’t think people realize we’re as diverse as we are,” the longtime board member said.
In two weeks, the district will launch its Summer Avalanche program, in a continued effort to get younger students up to academic speed.
That’s a critical group, education pundits have said, that was largely failed by distance-learning and other ramifications wrought by the pandemic.
After the avalanche comes the mobilization, Superintendent Eddie Campbell Jr. said.
The district will dig in for Aug. 24, the first day of school for 2021-2022.
Which means continued lobbying to get high-school students and middle-schoolers fully vaccinated against the coronavirus.
Campbell said last week that he’d like to lift the mask mandate altogether for the new school year – and basically repeated himself Tuesday.
“We have every intention of bringing our students back to a school year that’s as normal as possible.”
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