Flat Rock-Hawcreek students ready for the school year

HOPE – Due largely to a successful Tuesday evening open house, the students at Hope Elementary School had few problems and questions Wednesday as a new school year got underway, Principal Kyle Wheeler said.

The grade school’s new head administrator, who succeeds nine-year principal Jessica Poe after she was chosen to oversee the corporation’s special education programs, said the morning went remarkably smoothly.

“I think some of the bigger problems were kids who were so excited to see (teachers, staff and friends) that they were forgetting to say goodbye to Mom and Dad,” Wheeler said.

But in the front office at Hauser Jr.-Sr. High School, administrator Dawn Wilson and office assistant Brandy Konrabi were answering a large number of questions from 7:15 a.m. Wednesday until the start of first period at 7:55 a.m.

The most common inquiry dealt with lockers. Wilson and Konrabi spent a good deal of time reassuring students they would receive their locker assignments and combinations during their first period.

For Hauser students, lockers became top-of-mind after the school adopted a new policy that backpacks must be kept in lockers while classes are in session, Wilson explained.

Another reason for concern came from teenagers who believed they were overlooked when class schedules were sent to their homes. However, only their first period assignment was provided to them prior to Wednesday, Konrabi said.

“They get so nervous that we won’t have that piece of paper for them,” the office assistant said. “But class schedules are also being handed out in first period.”

David Wintin, who served as Hauser’s principal from Aug. 2017 through June, 2021, returns to the classroom this year to teach eighth-grade science and college-level biology. Wintin, 69, says he feels as if his career has come full circle.

“I spent 26 years in the classroom before I started in administration,” said Wintin, who taught one class last year while also heading special education programs.

While some believe educators enjoyed the same type of summer break their students get, most teachers have been working on-and-off for the past several weeks preparing for the new semester, Hauser principal Kris Fortune said.

Many were working from home trying to make adjustments that better serve the needs of their students, but others took professional development classes in June and July, Fortune said.

Those classes are necessary as Hauser rolls out its new pathway classes, Fortune said. He’s referring to the new Indiana Graduation Pathways program that allows students to individualize their graduation requirements.

Fortune adds his school must also take on the iLearn checkpoints that the state is rolling out, which calls for adjustments to be made for educators who teach math and English at the junior high level.

As a way to retain qualified staff, the Flat Rock-Hawcreek school district is offering daycare services to employees for a second consecutive year.

Seventh and eighth-grade counselor Kasey Waltz, who brings sons Elliott, 4, and Owen, 3, to work with her every day, says the daycare program is extremely important to her.

“We come here from Greensburg, and I would never leave (Hauser) cause my babies are allowed here and it’s awesome,” Waltz said with a smile.

While happy young faces were in abundance in the elementary school, those in secondary level classes appeared to be more serious.

For example, senior Aiden Gonsior said he may be overburdening himself by taking classes at both Hauser and Ivy Tech Community College.

“I have so much work to do,” the 12th grader said. “But I’m probably going to get through it.”

For Chance Bush, much of the summer break was spent hanging out with friends and playing video games, he said. The Hauser junior says his favorite subject is mathematics, but his career goal is professional baseball.

Another Hauser junior, Gracie Talkington, spent many days in June and July babysitting for her uncle’s children, as well as hanging out with friends in a park. Among the classes Talkington says she’s looking forward to taking this year is Spanish.

This year marks a transition for Peyton Norris, who has advanced from junior high to her freshman year in high school. For Norris, high school will mean a more advanced biology class, as well as having the opportunity to join the student council. She also expressed interest in getting involved with the Sunshine Society, which assists community members with special needs.

Senior high school means more extracurricular opportunities and challenging classes, ninth grader Rebeka Bruner said. While she was involved with theatre last year, the freshman hopes directors will finally find her old enough to be cast in larger roles.