Well, at least according to the calendar, spring has arrived.  As this is being written, the forecast is predicting four to eight inches of dry fluffy snow, some wind, and the coldest temperatures of the season.  While snow in March is hardly unusual, the temperatures are.  Unfortunately, weather forecasters are predicting below to well-below normal temperatures (as in twenty plus degrees colder than normal) and above normal precipitation.  Many farmers and ranchers are hoping they are wrong.  Now onto today’s topic.

There is a low unemployment rate in our area, across Kansas, and the nation.  However, digging deeper into the statistics, dealing with industry advisory boards here at Barton Community College, certain concerns become apparent.  And if you are reading this in the Great Bend Area and paid attention to the “Better Than Great” visioning process, these trends and needs are involved in the ten points the group developed for a better future.

For employers concerns include the following:

• Lack of individuals applying for skilled jobs across a variety of fields.
• Lack of individuals qualified to be trained applying for skilled positions.
• Lack of individuals with good “soft” skills or as Barton Community College terms them, “Essential Skills.”
• Lack of individuals credentialed or able to obtain credentials necessary for employment such as a CDL, Commercial Applicators License.
• Developing a stable workforce and decreasing turnover rates.
• Having the necessary training for employees to upgrade their skills.

For employees and unemployed:

• Obviously needing a job if you are unemployed. Some have had long-term jobs, possess good work records, and find themselves looking for employment.
• Many are underemployed based on their abilities and lack the ability to pay for further education. Many are working in low-paying jobs which are often unstable.
• Many are unaware of the possible career paths available in various areas and that career training for them can be completed in as little as one semester.
• Many are unaware that assistance is available for many if you fit into the above categories.
• Many simply don’t understand for example that many good career paths are available in agriculture and you don’t need an agricultural background to be hired and excel.

Barton Community College, specifically Workforce Training and Economic Development, is offering an opportunity for employers and employers to help address these concerns.  The date is Wednesday, March 20 from 1 until 7 pm in the Case New Holland Shop.  Employers in the areas of Agriculture, CDL, Scales, Welding, Natural Gas, and Automotive are invited to come, at no charge, and set up a booth.  For more information or to reserve a booth, contact Maggie Tracy at 620-792-9120.  As of today, there are twenty booths.  For those interested in careers, career educational opportunities, or just curious, please show up on March 20 from 1 until 7 pm.  This isn’t a case of showing up with a resume, you can certainly bring one, but of providing individuals with an opportunity to see what positions are available as well as what educational opportunities exist.  The target audience is what are referred to as nontraditional students, although anyone is welcome to attend.

Story by Dave Barnes & Brandon Steinert

The Shafer Art Gallery’s latest exhibit is “Biodiversity in the Art of Carel Pieter Brest van Kempen,” produced by David J. Wagner, L.L.C. It is the latest installment of The CUNA Mutual Retirement Solutions Art and Science Encounter Series. The exhibit is scheduled for March 1 through April 18, with a public reception to kick off the exhibit at 6:30 p.m. Friday, March 8.

Carel Pieter Brest van Kempen is a painter of Dutch descent, who explores the rich diversity of the natural world from a unique perspective. His artistic mission is to deepen awareness of the natural world and how it functions. His work has been exhibited in museums on five continents, including the Smithsonian, the American Museum of Natural History, the British Museum and the National Museum of History in Taiwan, and his solo exhibition has been touring museums across the U.S. since 2003. He has been awarded the coveted Society of Animal Artists’ Award of Excellence eight times and he has illustrated over a dozen books and authored the book Rigor Vitae: Life Unyielding.

Shafer Gallery Director Dave Barnes said the CUNA Mutual Art and Science Encounter Series is all about making connections.

“As the name of this year’s program states, we live in a connected world,” he said. “We have been lucky the past few years to find exceptional artists to present work that dramatically illustrates the relationship between creative expression and the creative process of investigating our natural world. The exhibiting artist this year fulfills this mission in a world class way.”

“As a visual artist, I’m concerned with form, but as a naturalist it’s function that fascinates me, and my work explores the relationship between the two,” van Kempen wrote In a statement about the work. “When I select a subject, I typically try to find a way to display as articulately as I can the qualities that make that species unique, and how those qualities function in an ecological setting. Every technical aspect of the painting – composition, palette, scale, etc., hopefully serve to emphasize this point. As human impact on the natural world increases, our routine awareness of that world and our active participation in its processes diminish. But whether it’s visible to us or not, our lives are irrevocably dovetailed into the vibrating matrix of nature.”

On March 10th the CUNA Mutual Retirement Solutions Arts and Sciences Encounters Series in partnership with the Wetlands Educational Center will host a bio-diversity talk by popular speaker Bob Gress. The talk, titled “The Birds of Columbia”, will be held at 2 p.m. at the Wetlands Center.

The Shafer Gallery will be the location of the Arts and Science Encounter Family Day on April 6. The event will run from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and will include crafts, science activities and refreshments.

by Mary Lou Peter

A major road construction project is underway in North Africa. An industrial sweeper is being used to prepare the road surface for the application of asphalt. Where do you suppose that sweeper was built? Would you believe, halfway around the globe in Kansas? Today we’ll learn about a remarkable ruralpreneur and his company who is building these sweeper machines for markets across the nation and beyond.

Alan Vance is CEO of Broce Broom, the company which produces these industrial sweepers. Mark Chalfant is chief operating officer.

The history of this company goes back to Alan’s grandfather, Ray Broce, who was born in 1902 in the rural community of Attica, population 626 people. Now, that’s rural.

Mr. Broce worked for the Kansas Highway Department and then went into business for himself in Dodge City. “He mortgaged his home and bought his first piece of construction equipment in 1937,” Alan Vance said.

Ray Broce grew the Broce Construction Company into one of the leading road construction businesses of its era. Broce became the largest road construction company in Kansas and Oklahoma. “Someone estimated that half the roads in Oklahoma were built by Broce Construction,” Alan said.

From 1973 to 1975, the National Asphalt Paving Association presented its highest award for construction projects to Broce Construction – the only company in history to win the award three years in a row. Gee, they should retire the trophy…

In the road construction process, a roadbed base is built and then swept clean immediately before adhesive and asphalt is applied. It’s important that the road surface be just right.

Of course, the process of building roads and applying asphalt is typically done in the summertime. Winter is downtime. During the winter of 1961, Ray Broce and his mechanics had time in the shop to think about how to improve their road construction process. At that time, a road sweeper was usually towed behind a truck or tractor. That made it difficult to simultaneously steer and adjust the equipment.

The question arose: “Wouldn’t the broom work better if we put it in the middle of the machine where the operator could see it and make adjustments?” The guys went to a salvage yard, got an automobile frame and engine, and mounted the industrial sweeper broom in the center of the machine.

That was the beginning of the self-propelled mid-mount sweeper which would revolutionize that part of the industry. Broce Construction crews used it that summer. It worked so well that other contractors saw it and wanted one also. In 1963, Ray Broce formed a new company, Broce Manufacturing, to build and sell “Broce Brooms.”  Eventually the family closed the construction business to focus on manufacturing.

Ray Broce’s daughter went to K-State and later met and married Bud Vance. Bud was an Air Force pilot. When he eventually retired from the Air Force, he joined his father-in-law’s company. They had a son named Alan who served as an overseas missionary before taking the position as company CEO.

Broce Broom now manufactures a heavy duty model for road construction and a lighter weight model for rental companies, while continuing to innovate with its partners.  “People are now using our sweepers in the artificial turf industry as the final step in leveling the crumb rubber which has been poured on the artificial turf,” Alan said.

In 2018, the company partnered with another business to offer a new dust control additive to go in the sweeper water tank. “We want our operators to have the safest experience possible,” Alan said.

Broce Broom in Dodge City now has 60 employees. “We have shipped our products coast to coast and exported to 40 different countries,” Alan said. “We continue to sell more sweepers than all our competitors combined.”

For more information, see www.brocebroom.com.

It’s time to leave North Africa, where a sweeper from a company in rural Kansas is being used to prepare the roadbed. We commend Alan Vance, Mark Chalfant, and all those involved with Broce Broom for making a difference with engineering innovation. When a Kansas company can have global impact, that is a clean sweep.

BOARD OF EDUCATION MEETING — March 4, 2019 5:00 p.m.

1. CALL TO ORDER …………………………………………………………………. Mr. Umphres
1.1 Roll Call
1.2 Adoption of Agenda
1.3 Recognition of Visitors
1.4 Request to Speak Reminder
 Persons may present ideas or concerns regarding USD 428. The Board will take no action at this meeting. Such items will be referred to the appropriate administrator(s) for future information and researched and reported back to the Board at a later meeting. Personalities and behavior of employees are not to be presented during this period but are to be reported to the employee’s immediate supervisor. The president shall determine the amount of time to be spent for citizen participation.
1.5 Citizen’s Open Forum

2. RECOGNITIONS / ACHIEVEMENTS / PRESENTATIONS ………. Mr. Umphres
None

3. STAFF / STUDENT PRESENTATIONS …………………………………… Mr. Umphres
None

4. COMMUNICATIONS ……………………………………………………………… Mr. Umphres
 Board Members’ Comments
 USD 428 Education Foundation
 Written Communications / Correspondence

5. UNFINISHED BUSINESS

A. GBHS Schedule …………………………………………………………….. Mr. Umphres
In February, the board was presented with information regarding an eight-period day over the current seven-period schedule that has been in effect since 2012. By providing more scheduling opportunities, students would have flexibility to take elective classes and have more opportunities to gain graduate credits. This is a second reading of the proposal.

B. Second Reading HS and MS English Language Arts ………….. Mr. Umphres At the February board meeting, teachers from the Elementary Science committees presented their recommendation for English Language English Curriculum Committee supports the adoption of Pearson’s myPerspectives as the English curriculum resource for the middle school and high school. This is the Second Reading.

C. Approval of Flooring Bid………………………………………………… Mr. Umphres
Bids for multiple sections of flooring at Jefferson and Lincoln sites were opened on 3/1/19. Details will be provided at this meeting and the administration will make a recommendation for approval. The project will occur during the 2019 summer.

6. NEW BUSINESS

A. Approval to Purchase New and Sell Used Computers….. Mr. Umphres
The district has a five-year rotation cycle for computer purchases and three years for Chromebooks in order to maintain up-to-date technology for staff and students. At this time, the administration requests BOE approval for the following purchases. Purchases for iPads and Chromebooks was approved at the February BOE meeting.

As in the past, the district administration requests that the Board of Education allow school personnel to purchase the old computers. The recommended cost for personnel will be $100.00 for a laptop, $75.00 for a desktop, $35 for an iPad, and $30 for a Chromebook.
Item Quantity Cost Total Expenditure Desktop 125 $825 $ 103,125.00 Laptop 90 $1,128 $ 101,520.00 Total Expenditure $ 204,645.00

B. Adopt New Assessment system ……………………………………….. Mr. Umphres
(Refer to Mr. Popp) (Attachment 6,B) The district has used the Aimsweb 1.0 assessment system for the last 5 years to document MTSS data. The Aimsweb system will not be supported after this year. After reviewing several different assessment systems, a committee of principals and technology coaches recommend FastBridge Learning for assessment progress monitoring at a cost of $7.50 per year per student. The Administration recommends approval of this system.
Past Assessment Grade Level Cost per student Total Cost
NWEA MAP High School $12.00 $9,450.00
Aims Web 1.0 Kdg-8th grade $6.50 $13,000.00
Proposed Assessment Grade Level Cost per student Cost (Approx.)
FastBridge Kdg-12th grade $7.50 $18,500.00

C. Perfect Attendance Bicycle Giveaway Program …………………. Mr. Umphres
Local patrons supporting a Perfect Attendance Bicycle Giveaway program wish to donate four bicycles to each elementary school to use for student perfect attendance incentives. This marks the seventh year for this donation. Eligible students are those having perfect attendance throughout the year. Karen Shaner, representing all donors, requests permission to continue the bike give-away program. The administration recommends approval.

7. ASSISTANT SUPERINTENDENT REPORT……………… Mr. Umphres / Mr. Popp

A. KESA Information/Update:
The Kansas Education Systems Accreditation (KESA) Outside Validation Team visit (OVT) is scheduled for March 26th. The OVT will review the progress of the district over the last 5 years. The team will study district data, listen to focus groups and give feedback on current status and future steps for improvement.

B. State Assessments in USD 428:
State Assessments begin March 18. All students 3rd – 8th grade will be taking math and English assessments. State Assessments in Kansas are a rigorous assessment of what students have learned and are used to predict college readiness. The assessments are comparative to the ACT test.

C. District Site Council report:
The district site council met on February 20. At this meeting, members were given an overview of district data and received an update on the architect process. The District Site Council will meet again on March 26 to meet with the Outside Visitation Team (OVT).

D. Personnel Updates:
Recruitment continues and positions are slowly being filled. There have been few applicants but administration has had many conversations with people interested in career changes to become teachers.

E. Curriculum Meeting Minutes:
 Curriculum Steering Committee: –
 Professional Development Council (PDC) minutes: –

8. SUPERINTENDENT’S REPORT ………………………… Mr. Umphres / Mr. Thexton

A. Legislative Update:

B. Commissioner of Education (Dr. Randy Watson) visit.
 April 1, 2019 2:00-4:00 p.m.

C. Crossing Guards

D. Approval of Contributions:

9. FINANCIAL PRESENTATION …………………………… Mr. Umphres / Mr. Thexton
A. Bills and Financial Reports

10. CONSENT AGENDA …………………………………………………………….. Mr. Umphres
A. Approval of BOE Meeting Minutes (February 11, and February 28, 2019)
B. Acceptance of Bills and Financial Reports
C. Personnel Report

11. UPCOMING MEETING DATES …………………………………………….. Mr. Umphres
•No School: March 11-15, 2019 – SPRING BREAK
•BOE Luncheon Meeting: Noon on Thursday March 28, 2019, at GB High School
•BOE Study Session: March 18, 2019, at the District Education Center
•IBB Negotiation Meeting: 8:00 a.m., on Wednesday, March 20, 2019, at the District Education Center

12. ADJOURNMENT ……………………………………………………………………. Mr. Umphres

One local support group is going beyond its members and its mission to help area cancer patients.  Last fall the Breast Friends Breast Cancer Support Group decided to hold a fundraiser and sold tickets for themed baskets.  The proceeds raised from this fundraiser will be used to continue to help other cancer patients in need.

Recently the group presented a generous donation to the Golden Belt Community Foundation to benefit the Heartland Cancer Patient Care and Support Fund.  “Our gift specifically will be used to provide additional financial assistance to persons in Barton, Pawnee, Rush, and Stafford counties who are experiencing a financial hardship,” stated Debbie Finn, founding member of the group.

The Heartland Cancer Patient Care and Support Endowment Fund, a part of the Golden Belt Community Foundation, provides small grants to persons in Barton, Pawnee, Rush and Stafford County that are experiencing an unexpected financial hardship caused by cancer.  In 2018, the fund assisted over 50 people with shelter, caregiving, nutrition, medical supplies and transportation needs.

“There continues to be a great need to assist individuals dealing with a current cancer diagnosis, and the associated financial hardship that often comes with treatment, such as increased travel, medications, and supplies,” said Christy Tustin, Executive Director.  “Often times it becomes difficult to continue to pay for even basic necessities, such as housing and food for example, due to these extra costs.”

Anyone living in Barton, Pawnee, Rush, or Stafford county who has a current cancer diagnosis and who is experiencing a financial need may apply for assistance.  For information on how to apply for a grant, please call the Golden Belt Community Foundation at (620) 792-3000.

Golden Belt Community Foundation

At over $22 million in total assets and more than 180 funds under management, the Golden Belt Community Foundation has been connecting people who care to causes that matter since 1996. Golden Belt Community Foundation exists to provide non-profit organizations in central Kansas with a permanent source of support and to serve as a vehicle for charitable giving for donors. GBCF serves the counties of Barton, Pawnee, Rush, and Stafford.  For more information about Golden Belt Community Foundation, call (620) 792-3000 or visit their website at www.goldenbeltcf.org.

JACKSON COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities have arrested a fugitive wanted in multiple Kansas counties.

According to Jackson County Sheriff Tim Morse, registered sex offender, Eric Paul Shoemaker, 43, Great Bend, was arrested at a Denison residence after the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office received information that he was in the  area.

Deputies approached a residence where Shoemaker was seen. He refused to come to the door. Deputies who communicated with Shoemaker at length were able to convince him to surrender peacefully.

Shoemaker had outstanding warrants in Barton, Pawnee, and Ford counties for failing to register as a sex offender, probation violations, and failing to appear on a domestic battery charge.

He is being held in the Jackson County Jail without bond.

He has a conviction for aggravated indecent liberties with a 15-year-old victim, according to the Kansas Public Offender Registry.

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) and Jon Tester (D-Mont.) this week introduced the Improving Rural Access to Power Act. This legislation would increase access to capital for rural electric cooperatives, allowing them to lower energy costs and improve rural electric infrastructure.

“Rural electric cooperatives reach underserved areas far and wide providing dependable electricity to rural Kansans to power their homes, farms and small businesses,” said Sen. Moran. “This legislation would increase access to capital for rural electric providers so they can continue to serve these areas and update their infrastructure in the process, all while keeping the cost to consumers as low as possible. I urge my colleagues to support this sensible measure.”

Rural electric cooperatives have lending associations that help facilitate loans to each individual cooperative to make upgrades and expansions to their local power grids. The bill will specifically increase rural electric cooperatives’ access to capital by allowing the Federal Home Loan Banks to voluntarily purchase securities issued by qualified cooperative lending associations. This additional line of capital will inject more funding into electric cooperatives, allowing them to make necessary investment upgrades.