Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
school board president Bob Berg presents Kim Saari with a certificate of appreciation for her many long years and dedication to the the students and school at Bessemer. Saari left the floor to great applause.
By IAN MINIELLY
Bessemer - The Bessemer School Board voted unanimously to accept Ironwood joingin the co-op football program in an anti-climactic vote of solidarity Monday evening. Jim Partanen and Tim France provided a brief overview before the vote, two members of the public expressed their support and the board said, "Aye." The Gogebic Miners are part of the West Pac Conference, using Ironwood's already present schedule for 2017 and only have one game to find, the scheduled game with itself between Ironwood and Gogebic.
All three schools athletic directors are meeting Tuesday to discuss the way forward.
Jacobi Hill addressed the board with Kiah Hollenbeck, another student from Bessemer on the Gogebic Range Robotics team. The third member of the team from Bessemer, Hubert Molina, was unable to make the meeting. The robotics team won the 2017 Northern Lights Regional in Duluth, through great displays of teamwork and assistance from other schools present, according to William Van Hill. The team won the highest Rookie Seed, Rookie Inspiration Award and the Unity Award.
Tracy and Dave Rowe provided feedback to the board regarding the junior and senior high U.P Science Olympiad, where both teams placed second. Dave Rowe provided some insight regarding his thoughts when the team was initially established with only six students and they traveled to the meet in his old van. Rowe said, I never expected to win an Olympiad and we have won. I never expected to qualify for state and we have qualified eight years in row, and I never expected to win at state and we have won at state." The Rowes requested next year the school place attending the Science Olympiad on the calendar, expecting the qualification.
In a bit of sad news for AD Johnston, Kim Saari and Janet Hellman were given certificates of appreciation for their many years of service as they prepare to head into retirement.
Senior Blaine Pellinen presented blue bags to the school board with blue light bulbs. Pellinen, a student with peer-to-peer asked the board to replace their outdoor light bulbs with the provided blue bulb in recognition of autism awareness.
The Citizens Committee, represented by Deanna Janczak informed the board they have been busy in the last month since the last meeting. The committee is trying to reach out to all the members of the Bessemer community as there are still quite a few that have not registered to vote for the upcoming election in May. The committee's next meeting is Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. The committee is sponsoring two town halls in April. The first on April 11 in the multi-purpose room at ADJ and the second is in the Bessemer Township Hall on April 25.
Beth Steiger, chair of the personnel committee, informed the board the committee has been working on teacher recognition to formally recognize the outstanding staff/teachers with a perpetual trophy/plaque.
Diana Hansen informed the board the Washington School parent-teacher conferences are today, by invitation. The school decided to change how they conduct parent-teacher conferences to provide the teachers and parents with greater time together so solutions could be achieved to maximize the potential of the students and secure good attendance for all.
Tim France announced the Athletic Banquet is scheduled for April 23 at the VFW in Bessemer, and there are currently 20 ladies on the Gogebic softball team and 13 gentlemen on the baseball team. The softball games are scheduled for the park in Wakefield while the first two hardball games are scheduled for Marenisco and the rest for Bessemer.
