Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Bessemer Area Schools Superintendent Richard Matrella and district business manager Kassi Huotari listen during a school board meeting Thursday at A.D. Johnston High School.
By MEGAN HUGHES
Bessemer - The Bessemer Area School District held its monthly board meeting Thursday. The board approved the formation of a school golf team, and welcomed Max France to the board as the K-6 dean of students.
France was voted unanimously into his position at the meeting, and is already settling into the new role at the Washington Elementary School after a month.
Superintendent Richard Matrella commended the work of the new team at Washington elementary school in his report.
"The new team working at Washington Elementary School has really helped me out immensely. I have much I still have to learn about the superintendent's job, and I am finding out how much I was doing as Washington Elementary School principal versus superintendent. We have been getting the job done," he said, adding they've been busy applying for grants. "With the grant opportunities that are out there, I know that we can't apply for every grant that is out there, but there have been some good ones coming down the way."
The idea of a golf team was brought up at the previous board meeting, where the board voted to allow students to sign up for a team, to gauge interest.
"We've got five boys, which is exactly enough for a team, that have already signed up," said athletic director Nick Heikkila. "I've had a few girls talk to me about it, and they have somewhat lost interest when I informed them that they would have been in two sports."
There was some discussion about the possibility of having a co-op, which Bessemer has been a part of in the past and could be again in the future.
The formation of the golf team was approved unanimously by the board.
The board also discussed the replacement of flooring in several locations across the district, including replacing carpeting in several offices in the junior high, as well as replacing carpeting in classrooms at Washington Elementary. A portion of this project will be funded using grant funds that were set aside for this project, and the remainder will be taken from the school's general fund.
The board also:
-Discussed the possibility of bringing back the kindergarten roundup. The roundup was last held pre-COVID, and acted as a way to meet with parents, do some screenings for student readiness, and get students signed up for school.
-Approved the resignation of bus driver and custodian Jordy Chiapuzio as of March 8.
