Connect with us

GMS

Gillespie Middle School announces 1st quarter honor roll

Published

on

Gillespie Middle School

Gillespie Middle School

Eighth Grade

Sarah Alepra, Savannah Barnett, Frank Barrett, Joseph Bertetto, Kaytrin Besserman, Quentin Blevins, Mya Blevins, Simon Boedecker, Mason Boehmke, Brianna Bruemmer, Tessa Davis, Savanna Dickinson, Briget Dolliger, Lucas Eaker, Rachel Ely, Micollete Farley, Cole Farris, Meghan Fosnock, Shelby Gardiner, William Gill, Xavier Gosch, Kylee Hardt, Megan Hatlee, Bryce Higginbotham, Austin Hormann, James Jett, Collin Johnson

Anthony Kravanya, Samuel LaFata, Blane Lancaster, Johnathan Lane, Brooke Mayberry, Alexandria Messerly, Mallory Mick, MacKenzy Mix, Alex Ottersburg, Decimus Parnell, Jordan Picklesimer, Laura Polo, Devyn Prost, Chase Redmon, Chance Reiniesch, Ruby Savant, Emily Schmidt, Dylan Semplowski, Stephanie Skeldon, Devin Stroh, Aiyanna Taylor, Nicolas Thornhill, Grace Van Doren, Marissa Weissenfluh, Jordan Willis, Deyon Wolber, Blake Zenner

Seventh Grade

Damien Albers, Hannah Barrett, Mataya Beavin, Allie Bergen, Grace Bertolino, Trenton Bertolis, Sydney Bires, Alivia Bondy, Rylan Bruhn, Morgan Buckner, Michelle Byrd, Austin Carney, Jake Carter, Madison Caselton, Dray Clark, Isabelle Cloud, Kaitlynn Conner, Hannah Cooper, Kaleb Crider, Zane Cunningham, Riley Damm, Dominic DeMartini, Bruce Fenton, Cole Frensko, Madalyn Geisler, Trenton Gill, Cameron Hailstone, Ethan Hammann, Caitlynn Harbaugh, Kerstin Hardt, Mikala Hayes, Chloe Hedrick, Robert Herron, Destiny Hughes, Logan Jamieson, Blake Jarman, Samantha Jensen

Preston Kaylor, Kylie Keniley, Steven Killen, Isabella Kochinski, Carl Krieger, Megan Labby, Emily Laughlin, Damon Laughlin, Keaton Link, Shannon Loy, Ayden Madeline, Zoey Mayo, Braiden Parker, Alexis Plunkett, Chloe Pyszkowski, Ambrosia Redmon, Cara Reid, Rickey Rhodes, Anthony Ribes, Cheyenne Riley, Austin Robbins, Tess Rosentreter, Vincent Schneider, Aulona Seferi, Beau Smith, Haley Snyder, Rikelle Taylor, Shelby Taylor, Zoe Tormino, Taylor VanHuss, Tanner Whitfield, Rachel Young

Sixth Grade

Brynn Baker, Daniel Bertolino, Ashton Bethard, Kaydance Binnion, Shey Boedecker, Quinnten Boehmke, Cadence Borror, Hanna Bray, Lanie Doty, Elizabeth Eaker, Wyatt Garwood, Brenna Halteman, Riley Hardin, Levi Hatlee, Luke Hatlee, Aaleigha Helfer, Jacob Holmes, Katelyn Holmes, Tristan Hutchins, Haylee Ikerman

Savannah Kahn, Kylie Kasarda, Olivia Kidwell, Elizabeth King, Addison Kingery, Zoe Lewis, Quinton Lovins, Justin Mason, Alyssa McDaniel, Alivia Menendez, Karter Mix, Karissa Mull, Samantha Musk, Madison Niemeyer, Michael Pabon, Iris Page, Emmery Pau, Quincy Peterson, Katherine Polo, Brent Provost, Lillian Pullen, Joshua Ranger, Zachary Reiniesch, Kelsey Riley, Isaiah Roberts, Hunter Sarti, Emilee Schmit, Chloe Segarra, Alexis Shuey, Paige Smith, Jackson Stevens, Jacob Stevens, Bailey Striegel, Isabella Wallace, Rebekka Weissenfluh, Mason Weller, Brianna Wentler

– – – – – – – – – – – – – –

There are plenty of ways to keep up on BenGil news:

Sign up for our weekly email newsletter

Follow us on Twitter for the fastest breaking news updates and score updates

Like us on Facebook for a slightly different take

Share this story

Comments

comments

Community News

School board eyes budget, hires new coaching staff

Published

on

By

Members of the Community Unit School District 7 voted unanimously Monday night to place the district’s tentative 2024-25 budget on file for public inspection. The document will remain on file for a minimum of 30 days before the board officially adopts a budget during the board’s regular meeting on Monday, Sept. 23.

Board President Mark Hayes emphasized that the budget document on file is “tentative” and likely to change before the final budget is approved. The new budget will govern spending for the fiscal year that began July 1.

Supt. Shane Owsley confirmed the document “will change” over the coming month. Pending grant awards, for example, are likely to alter the tentative budget on the revenue side. During Monday night’s meeting, Owsley confirmed the district has been approved for a $10,000 Breakfast Expansion Grant which will be used to install a salad bar in the high/school middle school cafeteria. During breakfast hours, the bar will be stocked with fresh fruit. He also reported the district has been approved for a Stronger Connections grant that will be used to expand curriculum and teaching opportunities. The amount of the Stronger Connections grant is not yet known but could be as much as $174,985, which is the amount for which the district applied.

Last year’s budget totaled $20 million. At the time last year’s budget was adopted, Owsley indicated the 2025 budget would likely be “less rosy.” Last year’s budget included $2.6 million in Elementary and Secondary School Recovery (ESSR) funds. Those funds will not be available this year, reducing the amount of federal money the district receives by about one-third. Owsley noted last year that the district may have to dip into surplus funds that accumulated as a result of COVID-19 emergency funding in order to balance the 2025 budget.

Approval of the budget will be preceded by a public hearing on Sept., 23 during which Owsley typically provides a PowerPoint presentation illustrating budget details.

PERSONNEL

Following a one-hour executive session, the board hired Tim Wargo as the head middle school baseball coach, and accepted Wargo’s resignation as an assistant middle school baseball coach. Additionally, the board hired Trae Wargo as an assistant middle school baseball coach, filling the vacancy created by Tim Wargo’s resignation.

J.O. Kelly was hired as an assistant football coach, pending verification of certification and a background check.

Board members voted unanimously hire Brandy Ernst as a district paraprofessional, pending verification of certification and a background check.

On a motion by Weye Schmidt, the board hired Terri Rhodes as a special education bus aide, pending a background check. In a separate action, the board voted unanimously to post a vacancy for a special education bus aid.

In other personnel action, the board accepted the resignation of Mike Smith as a full-route bus driver, and reassigned him to a half-route position. In separate actions, the board hired Quinten Heine as a substitute bus driver, pending a background check, and posted a vacancy for a full-route bus driver.

ONGOING PROJECTS

Owsley reported to the board on the status of several life safety projects. He told the board that shatterproof film has been applied to windows and a new intercom system has been installed at the middle school. The intercom system makes it possible for all three schools to communicate with each other in the event of an emergency.

A key card entry system has been installed at the middle school/high school, and workers are in the process of installing secondary locks on classroom doors. The secondary locks provide a means by which teachers can block entry buy an intruder from inside the classroom.

OTHER ACTION

In other action, the board:

  • Voted to enter into an intergovernmental transportation with the Jerseyville School District to provide bus transport for a CUSD 7 student who attends the Illinois School for the Deaf in Jacksonville.
  • Approved a salary and benefits report for teachers and administrators to be filed with the Illinois State Board of Education. The document also will be available for public review on the CUSD 7 website.

Share this story

Comments

comments

Continue Reading

GMS

Link wins All-Star Classic dunk contest, Four athletes represent Gillespie

Published

on

Kam Link (photo/Carlinville Rotary Club)

The top 59 boys’ and girls’ basketball seniors from South Central Illinois played in the 19th Annual Carlinville Rotary Club All-Star Basketball Classic on Sunday, March 26 in Carlinville which was presented by Prairie Farms Diary and CNB Bank & Trust.

Representing Gillespie High School among the athletes on the West teams included Emily Schoen, Jenna Clark, Kam Link, and Bryan Jubelt. Clark posted 2 points in the girls’ contest while Link posted 15 and Jubelt helped with 5 points in the boys’ game. Link also put on a show in the dunk contest scoring 48 out of the possible 50 points to win first place.

The Girls East beat the West 68-51 behind 14 points from MVP Layne Rupert of Hillsboro. The 3-point shootout was won by Paige Henson of Carrollton in a corner shootoff with Natalie Engelman of Nokomis. Staunton coach Corrie Allan was selected as the Rotary Club’s Girls’ Coach of the Year.

Devon Peebles of Pana took MVP honors in the boys’ Carlinville Rotary Club All-Star Basketball Classic. Peebles scored 25 points to lead the East to a 108-97 win over the West. Elijah Aumann of Nokomis won the 3-point contest hitting 10 treys and edging out Ryan Eisenbarth of Nokomis, Peebles and Jubelt of Gillespie who all had 9. In the Slam Dunk contest, Link scored 48 out of the possible 50 points for his routine with Peebles finishing second with a score of 41. Nokomis coach Dan DeWerff was named the Rotary Club’s Boys’ Coach of the Year.

With the East winning both the girls and boys match-ups this year, the all-time series record for boys moves to 12-7 with the West holding the lead and the girls record extends to 13-5 with the East holding strong.

The All-Star Classic serves as a fundraiser for the Carlinville Rotary Club who help with community projects throughout the year.

Share this story

Comments

comments

Continue Reading

CUSD 7 News

Kelly recognized by Illinois Principals Association

Published

on

The Kaskaskia Region of the Illinois Principals Association hosted its 27th annual Student Recognition Breakfast on Friday, March 17 at Greenville University.

Honored at the event included Olivia Kelly of Gillespie Middle School. Kelly is an eighth-grade student of GMS and is the daughter of J.O. and Jill Kelly of Gillespie. She attended the event with GMS Principal Patrick McGinthy.

The annual Student Recognition Breakfast event recognizes a student from each school in the Kaskaskia region for outstanding achievements in and out of the classroom. Over 50 students were honored at the event.

Students were individually recognized in front of the audience and enjoyed a buffet-style breakfast followed by a motivational speech by Dr. Lori Franke-Hopkins.

The Kaskaskia Region includes schools in the Bond, Clinton, Fayette, Macoupin, Marion and Montgomery Counties. The Illinois Principals Association is a professional organization of building and district level school administrators.

Share this story

Comments

comments

Continue Reading

Trending

×

We need your support. If you value having timely, accurate news about your community, please become one of our subscribers. Subscribe