School Board celebrates homecoming success

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HURON — After an exciting week of homecoming events, the Huron School Board of education Monday discussed the success and offered thanks to all involved in making the festivities possible.
“Homecoming events were taking place all last week. On Friday we spent the day doing pep things, starting with a pep-rally at the school, then we went to the arena to have a battle of the classes,” High School Prinicpal Mike Radke said. “Thank you to everyone in the community, the fire department and police department for helping put the parade on. We had approximately 80 floats this year, so thank you to everyone for supporting that.”
Board President David Wheeler offered congratulations to the homecoming royalty team. King and Queen Tanner Evers and Jemma Keleher were commended, as well as those in the court for putting in their hard work.
The Huron Dance teams were also mentioned for their excellent performance at the Cheer and Dance Huron Invitational which was held on Tuesday, Sept. 18.
The board heard a report given by Radke on the Dual Credit program, in which students take part in achieving additional credits through classes in preparation for college.
“We have 45 students, juniors and seniors, taking part in the Dual Credit program this school year. Those 45 students are taking 64 classes, so obviously a handful are taking two or three,” Radke explained.

A variety of eight colleges are accommodating the students who are utilizing classes as part of the additional credits program, which is a common trend each year.
“The numbers are down a little bit for the students who are taking these classes. We think part of the reason is those students who are taking dual credits have another study hall in their schedule,” Radke said. “We are still in the process of allowing them to choose which periods they are going to stay on campus to work on their dual credit. I’m hoping that, for the most part, they have solid ground in their current grades, so when I go to meet with them, they can continue to go off-campus as long as they maintain that A grade.”
It was also mentioned that some of the other districts that offer the Dual Credit program have no issues with students leaving campus. However, there are ups and downs to this, which causes some classroom friction.
“One school we talked to has a seven-period day, of which students have to take five classes. If a student is taking three dual credits, they are only in the building two periods a day, which is a struggle we have had,” Radke explained. “My best and my brightest aren’t there for the younger kids, to show them this is what you need to do as a student to be successful.”
In preparation for college, it was mentioned that students are encouraged to take the beginner course first before moving on to the college level class, which is optional for the students.
“So far, the grades I’ve seen are good this year. The breakdown of classes they are taking is pretty traditional. In a lot of cases they are just trying to get the generals out of the way before going away to college. We are not the only ones dealing with the growing pains of additional credit, but I like that we have 45 students. That is a pretty good chunk of our kids that are taking advantage of the program,” Radke added.
Saturday ended the homecoming fun with the class reunions of 68’ and 78’ taking place over the weekend, followed by the Huron High School Hall of Fame Banquet, where many stories and memories were shared and enjoyed by all who attended.
“The Hall of Fame Banquet is a good reminder of the pride of those who graduated from HHS 50-years-ago. They still come back for the reunion, where one of the things I talk about is that the school looks very different from what it did years ago, but the pride that our kids have in being a Huron Tiger is the same pride that they had all those years ago,” Radke said.
Also brought to the boards attention was that there will be an Our Home graduation taking place at 1 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 5.
“We try to get a couple every year as the staff out there works hard to help those youths to get their diplomas,” Radke explained. “Whether you get your diploma at the end of the year or during the school year at Our Home, we make it special for that student.”
The board also approved three new hires, one contract and six resignations at the district, and ended with going into executive session. No further action was taken.
The next School Board meeting will be held at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 9, as there is no school on Monday that week due to the Native America Day holiday.