ROARING SPRING — Spring Cove School District administrators made arts and curriculum requests for their respective schools and ESL program during the board’s meeting Monday evening.

For the Central High School, Principal Stephanie Thompson began her presentation by requesting 24 touchscreen laptops with pens and storage carts for art classes, costing about $48,475. She said the laptops would increase the opportunity for art students to become proficient in programs like Photoshop and to potentially test for industry-recognized credentials.

She also requested a classroom set of 40 health textbooks and digital license for every ninth-grader for a seven-year cycle, costing about $12,354 for 2022 editions. Other requests include a walking mat, fatal vision goggles and alcohol replica kit to help students understand the dangers of alcohol consumption impairment, $1,741; 10 flat-to-incline benches for the weight room, $8,349; concert band risers, $6,465; additional music books and microphones, $894; and band elective resources, $19,681.

For Spring Cove Middle School, Principal Amy Miller said they “are ordering two pottery wheels for the students to expand their knowledge of ceramics.”

“We do have a lot of glazes,” Miller said. “Glazes last a really long time, so we have a lot of those left over from years past, and then we are ordering some newer ones as well.”

These requests total about $2,491.

To make the pottery easier to transfer and work with, Miller requested 31 banding wheels for a class set at $929.

Miller said they were also ordering an additional five lightboards for $529 to go with the already existing three in their art room. Lightboards allow for easier visibility for tracing and transferring, Miller said.

Other requests Miller made include new music risers, $8,594; 10 stationary music stands, 10 collapsible music stands and two carts, $2,157; a portable speaker and charger, $200; various anatomy models, $3,495; 104 method books for band students, $1,216; and a 7-year subscription to a teen health textbook, $10,471.

Miller’s “biggest purchase in music” would be her request for “a baby grand piano” for $13,500.

Adam Macak, principal of Spring Cove Elementary, said the supplies for his and Martinsburg Elementary Principal Cheyenne Calderon programs were “minor” and “would be covered within the building budgets.” Music teacher Daniel Drumm then talked about music curriculum.

Drumm requested the continued use of the program MusicplayOnline, as it “has a huge song library, it’s easy to use, it’s fun and interactive for the kids.” He said it is “extremely cost effective” at about $1,400.

“It’s organized by grade level with lessons and assessments to help students grow in music year after year,” Drumm said. “It’s something as simple as when the kids sing the song, the notes will actually light up on the screen.”

He said there are also games for the students to learn how to read music, how notes “move,” and learn rhythm and pitch.

“Teachers get yearly plans, monthly outlines and lessons that match state and national standards, but can adjust them to fit their own style,” Drumm said.

The elementary schools could also use five guitars and music stands, costing $1,102.

Sandra Fogel, who teaches English as a Second Language at Spring Cove, told the board that, every year, the district’s English learners are required to take the ACCESS Test, which is designed to measure their progress in acquiring academic English in listening, speaking, reading and writing.

“What we’re finding is they’re doing remarkably well with their reading and their listening,” Fogel said. “But their speaking and their writing words, they’re not doing as well.”

Fogel said the district needed these students to “increase in all areas” so they are no longer considered “English learners” but are in the classroom and no longer require services.

Fogel’s fellow ESL teacher Louise Wilson said they were at a recent conference when they came across the Flashlight360 program.

Wilson said her students at the high school are “all at different levels” and she’s trying to find programs that would help them individually.

“It helps to individualize what they actually need to be able to see and helps them wherever they are, whether they’re a very low age proficiency level or nearly ready to ACCESS from the program,” Wilson said.

The lessons have immediate feedback so students “can see how well they have done very quickly,” Wilson said.

Wilson said the program also has “up to” 30 languages included, which means “if we want to send a report home every week … the computer automatically translates it” for the student’s parents.

The district has about 20 ESL students, Wilson said, so a license for each of them would cost about $1,700.

Superintendent Betsy Baker said the board would tentatively vote on approving or denying the requests during its board meetings in May.

Mirror Staff Writer Rachel Foor is at 814-946-7458.