Basin School Board gets update on Rising Rebel program

The monthly assembly of Big Horn School District No. 4’s board of trustees was held Tuesday, Sept. 8. 

To kick-off the meeting, students of the month were presented. Riverside Middle High School Principal Matt Jensen acknowledged the achievements of sixth-grader Makayla Christopherson and junior Jaxon Womack. 

“Makayla arrives each day fully prepared, completes all assignments punctually, and actively contributes to class discussions and activities. Furthermore, she consistently supports her peers and demonstrates excellent self-advocacy skills regarding her learning needs,” said Jensen. 

The principal noted that nominations are given by not only staff but students too. “One thing that’s interesting about Jaxon and his recognition that he’s going to be getting tonight came from classmates and from fellow teammates in football. And not only did they make comments in regard to seeing some additional leadership this year that he’s shown on the football team, but how they were really proud of him because of how he started the school year out as he’s starting to now navigate classes through Northwest College and taking those dual credits.”

Staff of the Rising Rebel program then gave the board an update. “It’s a lot of work,” said staffer Nikki Hopkin. 

The program provides daily time for students to complete missing work, assessments, and essential assignments. With the new four-day school week, administrators integrated a 30-minute timeslot in the school day, dedicated it as Rising Rebel time, every morning between second and third period. The program supports the district’s strategic-plan competency of effective work habits.

“Explaining to them (the students) it’s not a punishment. This is just to help you get better grades. So, we don’t see you on Friday,” said Hopkin. 

Dusty Ellis, also helping with the program, reported early improvement. Questions from the board remained about tracking total missing assignments and the need for providing enrichment for students who finish their work and don’t need help during Rising Rebel time.

Student council member Xander Dannar presented his report outlining homecoming activities and the upcoming leadership summit in Riverton.  

Business manager Trevor Whitaker presented his report and noted that, “We have our audit coming up at the end of this month.” 

Special education director and LIE principal Katie Seeley gave her reports, “I am pleased to report a smooth and productive start. This has been a period of significant transition as our students and staff have adjusted to a four-day school week with longer instructional days, implemented our new reading curriculum, and begun laying the groundwork for the strategic plan. Navigating so much change all at once is no small feat, yet our staff has met every challenge with professionalism, adaptability, and genuine care for our students. I want to publicly express my deep pride in their efforts and my appreciation for the resilience they have shown through these early weeks. I am excited to see how the rest of the year unfolds, and I remain confident that the foundation we are building now will yield meaningful results for our students all year long.”

One of Seeley’s goals for the schoolyear is to come up with a motto or mantra for the school. “We have a couple of them kind of coming forward. I had an assembly, and one of them they call are callbacks, so one person says something, and then the kids say something back. So, I said, ‘Little Rebels,’ and they said ‘Unite.’ This rallying cry has quickly become a unifying theme throughout our building.”

She also started out the year giving stickers to the staff, “One said, I can do hard things, you can do hard things, and we can do hard things. Just showing students that it’s not just them doing the hard work, but teachers are also doing the hard work of learning the new curriculum.”

Seeley introduced the Cowboy Ethics program, a new initiative part of Laura Irwin Elementary’s strategic plan to promote its Profile of a Graduate and elevate school culture. It’s grounded in the 10 principles of the Code of the West that provides a structured framework for teaching core values such as integrity, accountability, and courage. 

“To embed these principles into our daily environment, the school focuses on one specific value each month, reinforced through weekly ‘Rebel Roundup’ sessions in which teachers guide small student groups through targeted reflective activities and discussions. This month, our school community is focused on the values of respect and community, which we officially launched during our kickoff assembly last Wednesday. At that assembly, every student was paired with a dedicated adult staff member as their ‘trail leader,’ and our student groups held their very first meetings,” said Seeley. 

“By ensuring that each child is connected to a caring adult within a small group setting where they are seen, known, and supported, we are cultivating a united, respectful community where everyone experiences a deep sense of belonging. Looking ahead, our staff has already begun brainstorming opportunities for broader family and community involvement with this program throughout the year,” she added. 

Seeley also set an objective of creating a wooden plaque to put in the entryway of the school. Dovetailing off the Cowboy ethics, ‘Ride for the Brand,’ she wants to work with local ranchers to see if they would come and brand the plaque and involve the community. 

Jensen then presented his report for RMHS, “Having taken on the athletic director role, to give you a little bit of an update on how things are going, and it’s busy. When you send out contracts, the one thing that has been the most difficult is verifying officials. I want to thank the business office as they’ve been really helpful and flexible.”

He gave an update about canceled and rescheduled games, homecoming, and noted that RMHS is hosting the 1A Western Wyoming Volleyball Tournament on Sept. 18 and 19. “I just wanted to say thank you to Nikki (Hopkin) because she’s helped me out in regard to how we want the format of that to look… just to be honest with you, it’s going to be chaos around here. But we’ve worked with the rec department, and we have the rec gym scheduled to host games during the football game.”

Jensen explained the scheduling was made to reduce parking strain during the games. 

“So as far as things going on here at the school, I think our staff has done a pretty good job of adjusting to the new schedule,” said Jensen.

On the topic of the new grading scale he added, “Everything that we are doing is going to be based on what the student knows about the subject, not necessarily compliance.”

The principal is continuing to work on student success plans noting the goal of offering more things that students want to do, “Making it more student-centered,” he added. 

The school is also revisiting its strategic goal regarding test scores. “Those were all based on the old tests and with the new testing company coming in, our WYTOP scores are going to be comparing apples to oranges from last year to this year. I don’t know how those will come back. If we’ll be better or worse, but I think that’ll be one thing that we’ll need to do is probably readjust those because I don’t think it’s going to be accurate,” said Jensen. 

Superintendent Keith Campbell gave his report. He noted that the board has scheduled a retreat for trustees on Oct. 12, Brian Farmer with the Wyoming School Board Association will facilitate. 

“Thank you for those who attended the regional board meeting, we were well represented. It was informative and beneficial to share common concerns,” said Campbell. The regional meeting, held in Worland, was one of the strongest attended regional meetings in the state of Wyoming he added. 

Campbell informed the board they will be touring all three of Basin’s schools on Wednesday, Oct. 28. He also noted that next year is the district’s state accreditation visit, “It’s pretty intensive, we’re going to start unpacking that so we’re not doing it at the last minute.”

The board approved the agenda, minutes, expenditures, home school applications, and approved the financial officer report. 

NEW HIRES

After its executive session, the board returned to announce a handful of new hires. Dusty Ellis, ESS Paraprofessional, Monica VanderPloeg as the third coach for middle school volleyball, and Dana Romreill as the drama coach. 

POLICY

The board reviewed several policy revisions, including free speech, political campaigns, health/safety protocols, staff duties and salary schedules.

All changes to board policies, and final versions of handbooks, can be viewed on the district’s website: www.bgh4.org

TEACHER HOUSING

At the end of the meeting, the board discussed the district’s ‘teacherages.’ Homes the district owns that they rent to teachers. A robust debate followed as the group navigated how they want to manage housing, the cost of rent, and the impact of recruitment.

Campbell described the housing as a transitional tool where new teachers can live in the homes while looking to buy, build, or find a long-term rental in the area. 

The district owns three homes in Basin. They agreed to table the discussion and resume at the upcoming retreat.