Winners of teacher, support person of year awards to be named tonight

A banquet at Rome Middle School tonight will lead to the recognition of two individuals, and the Rome Board of Education will have their regular board meeting at 5:45 p.m. at the central office.

Following this evening’s Rome Board of Education meeting, the teacher of the year and support person of the year will be named at a banquet being held at Rome Middle School, starting at 7 p.m.

There are nine teachers, one from each school in the system, who have been nominated for the award. Eleven support employees have been nominated for their respective award, one from each school, one from the maintenance department and one shared between the central office and technology department.

The board will caucus at 5 p.m. in Superintendent Lou Byars office at the central office, 508 E. Second St.

The board meeting starts at 5:45 p.m. in the boardroom at the central office.

Literacy Coordinator Cassie Parson will give a presentation on a 21st Century Community Learning Center Grant the system received.

The five-year grant helps to fund the ASPIRE after-school program at four elementary schools: West Central, North Heights, Elm Street and Anna K. Davie.

The program serves 180 economically disadvantaged students and is for kids in third grade through fifth grade.

The board will decide on what exactly the system does with the funds available for the program, Byars said, which embeds 21st century skills into lessons. The specific aim of the four-day-a-week program is to improve student achievement, along with enhancing their personal and emotional skills. A free meal is included each day and students are provided rides home.

Tutoring in core subjects is just part of what the program offers, he added, as enrichment activities, including music, robotics and gardening, and field trips are integrated into the programming. North Heights Elementary will be featured in the Focus on Student Achievement portion of the meeting. Other items on the agenda include an update on education local option sales tax collections and personnel changes.