A proposed daycare and career education project came a step closer to reality Monday as the USD 257 board of education approved moving forward with a $500,000 grant application through the Patterson Family Foundation.
Superintendent Stacey Fager said the grant would help transform the district’s current maintenance building to the north of the high school into a daycare facility.
The proposal was developed by district staff members Jenna Higginbotham and Dana Daugharthy to combine childcare needs with hands-on learning opportunities for students interested in education and childcare careers.
“There’s nothing like actually doing the real thing,” Fager said during the discussion, comparing the experience to classroom simulations often used in career tech programs.
Fager noted the maintenance building would require remodeling and licensing work before it could open as a daycare. He added that the district may need to contribute additional funds for renovations and code requirements, including fire safety and accessibility improvements.
Under the proposal, the first year of staffing costs could be covered by grant funds, with tuition revenue helping support the program in future years. Fager said the district hopes the daycare could eventually become mostly self-sustaining.
Board members discussed how similar programs in other districts have benefited both families and schools by helping attract and retain employees with young children.
The board unanimously approved allowing the district to submit the grant application ahead of the deadline.
IN OTHER NEWS, students from the growing drama program at Iola Middle School gave board members a look at their work by performing dramatic readings.
IMS theater teacher John Higginbotham introduced the performances, explaining that the district added a new Drama 2 class this spring for students wanting to continue beyond beginning drama.
The class began working on prose interpretation pieces based on books students selected themselves. Higginbotham said the performances were designed to help students build stage presence and prepare for future opportunities in high school theater and forensics.
Seventh-grader Jim Olson presented a dramatic selection from “Riddles in the Dark” from The Hobbit.
Olson portrayed the tense meeting between Bilbo Baggins and Gollum, delivering the famous riddle scene with dramatic voices and expressions.
Finley Nelson followed with a humorous reading of “Enemy Pie” by Doug Nelson, telling the story of a girl who thinks her father has created a pie to get rid of enemies, only to learn the recipe is really about friendship.
Higginbotham said the performances showed how much students can grow when they stay involved in theater over multiple years.
“We have a really great forensics and theater program at the high school,” he said. “This has allowed us to grow into those programs, starting in middle school.”
