District staff signing up for COVID-19 vaccinations
A Bellefontaine High School marketing teacher and DECA instructor was honored at the Bellefontaine City Schools Board of Education meeting Monday evening for her efforts, alongside her husband, to co-chair the United Way of Logan County’s 2020 campaign that exceeded its $1 million goal despite the challenges of the pandemic year.
Katie Rychener and her husband, Darrin Haubert, agreed to be co-chairs for the campaign in January 2020, just prior to COVID-19’s effects were felt on daily life. Superintendent Brad Hall said it was through Rychener’s natural talents and knowledge of marketing, social media and promoting a “text to give” campaign that helped the fundraising activities be successful at a time when usual United Way corporate presentations to various companies could not take place in-person.
In fact, the campaign generated the highest-ever residential giving by private individuals, and also came in just under the wire to meet the campaign goal by Dec. 31, as previously detailed in an Examiner article.
“Katie and the United Way board challenged their old business model of meeting with business employees and encouraging payroll reduction,” the superintendent said. “Instead they instituted online giving, had less than a handful of corporate meetings and brought awareness to other areas outside of workplace giving.”
In addition, under Rychener and Haubert’s leadership, each of the school districts in Logan County also had record-high giving in 2020. Bellefontaine City Schools came in at number 10 out of the list of Top 10 Givers in the county, with district employees donating $23,431 to the campaign.
The marketing instructor said as transplants to the area, the attitudes of the community reaffirms her family’s decision to reside in Logan County.
“The campaign really speaks to the generosity of the community – that’s why we choose to live here,” she said, noting that that Logan County continued to be the smallest county population wise to raise $1 million in Ohio for the United Way.
Also during the meeting, Hall provided updates regarding the COVID-19 vaccinations for BCS staff members. For those who opt to receive the vaccine, they will be able to receive their first dose the last week of this month.
Mary Rutan Hospital will administer the vaccine for staff members. Continuing this week and next week, school personnel can still sign up for vaccination appointments by contacting the district nurse, Hall related.
In addition, technologist Marc Stakey gave an overview of the district’s upcoming one-to-one student-to-device program that will begin next school year for grades one through 12. BCS has ordered approximately 2,800 Chromebooks that it is waiting to receive to make the switchover, which will take place this summer with help of the entire technology department, Stakey said.
The Chromebook purchase was paid through a variety of grant funding, including Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act and Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund, Hall said.
With the start of the program, the Chromebooks will be available on a classroom basis for grades one through six. Beginning in seventh-grade, students will receive Chromebooks to use on a take-home basis. The devices then will be theirs to keep once they graduate high school, Stakey explained.
“Google says that we can get an eight to 10 year life out of the Chromebooks since we’ve invested in the more rugged style devices,” he said. “So after a student graduates, they should still have a few good years of use with their Chromebooks.”
“With this big change, we’ll be in a good place for any upcoming online learning and remote learning situations, with all students having devices available to them,” Hall said.
The next meeting is 6:30 p.m. Monday, March 15, at the BHS Distance Learning Center.