The Big Sandy Mountaineer -

There was good attendance at this month's school board meeting. All the trustees were there, along with representatives from the student council and booster club.

The student council has been working hard to improve and help the students wherever they can. They said spirit week had a fantastic turnout. It is always nice to see our school come together to celebrate traditions and each other. Their Halloween plans consist of dinner and a movie on October 29th, 2019. Since volleyball districts were the same week, they thought a dance might be too much, so dinner will be served at 7 pm, and the movie will start soon after at the elementary school.

Senior sneak trip planning has been underway. The seniors are planning on flying down to Phoenix, Arizona, and renting a house down by a lake. There is a possibility of going to six flags and stopping by the zoos and museums when they get there. The lake will have watercraft rentals, and I think they're going to have a blast with Mrs. Clyne and Mr. Taylor as the chauffeurs.

New heaters were put in place to keep the school building warm in this cooler weather. And though it was a process, the trustworthy team got it taken care of as soon as they possibly could.

A pioneer school app has been approved and will be live shortly. It is going to be connected through Facebook, the pioneer website, and Google Calendar. Our technology team has been working hard on this project and is excited to see it bring the community even closer. The advancement in technology in and around schools in Montana is just incredible. Technology makes educating easier and now better than ever before.

Two new substitute teachers were approved and hired during the meeting. Congratulations to Hailey Sargent and Geraldine Alex on joining the amazing staff that keeps the schools going. Without substitute teachers, the educators would be struggling. Substitutes are incredibly important when it comes to maintaining good mental health for both the teachers and the students.

Our district clerk, Mayetta Engle, attended a conference for all the district clerks in Montana. She said that she enjoyed going. These training events are important because it gives school board leaders time to get to know others that might be in the same positions they are.

The booster club represented the idea of taking down the old basketball court and replacing the damaged, torn up concrete. This project has been a possibility for a long time coming as over the years, and the cement has been incredibly depleted. It's going to be a long process and may not begin until the spring of 2020. The current square footage of the court is 40x40. However, to make it safer and better for the community, the booster club would like to expand it to 80x40. The project will run about fourteen thousand dollars. Our P.E. department will most likely put a grant into the Education Foundation to get a head start on raising funds. Our student council has committed a thousand dollars to the project already as they, along with the board, feel it would be good for the community.

Our school board is thinking of switching to a new sports video system called Pixellot due to a large increase in viewership this year. It is a fully automated sports viewing system that is set up to record games and such so that those who can't make a high school game can easily watch it from their phones, tablets, or even computers. The cost of receiving this software is five thousand dollars; however, our viewing revenues will make up for it in as little as a year. The student council has also donated a thousand dollars to this project. This project is important to our community as the athletes have family and friends who may not be able to make their games but would still like to watch. Viewing Pixellot will make it easier and better for those viewing at home.