School news round up

Madison County school districts remain in a transition phase, welcoming new administrative leaders and addressing infrastructure needs. 

SHERIDAN

Sheridan School Board Chair Kendra Horn was pleased to announce the hiring of a new superintendent and a new middle-high school principal. 

Superintendent Rodney Stout is a local hire, making the move up to superintendent while remaining principal of Sheridan Elementary School. 

In his online bio, Stout describes himself like this: “I am beginning my 21st year as an educator. After graduating from Western Montana College in 1996 with a BS in Secondary Education with a major in Social Studies Broadfield and a minor in English, I began my teaching career in Whitehall. I then moved to Gooding, Idaho, where I taught for eight years. After my wife and I had our first child, we decided it was time to move back to Montana. I was fortunate to get a teaching position in Sheridan where I am beginning my 9th year.”

Also, Stout earned a M.Ed. in Educational Administration from Montana State University.

“On a more personal note,” continues Stout’s online bio, “I am married to Tana and have two children—Tristan who is 10 and Addison who is 7. I cherish spending quality time with my family in our ‘down’ time from school and work. I also love the outdoors, especially hunting, fishing and camping with my family.”

Horn said Stout, “Is familiar with the school and the students and the operation. So it'll be an easy transition going into the next school year.”

The incoming middle-high school Principal Nicole Volschenk emphasized her newly blended family when discussing her recent re-location to Sheridan. 

In a phone interview on July 26, while Volschenk headed into the Museum of the Rockies with her kids, she described her engagement to Ryan Smail of Alder as “a fun situation because he has four kids and I have three kids and there's a lot of dogs involved but it'll be good. The more the merrier.”

Others in the Smail-Volschenk crew include three cats, a spotted leopard gecko and 44 chickens. 

“We also have a little egg side gig,” said Volschenk, a graduate of Texas A&M University and most recently an educator in Katy, Texas. 

“I've been teaching  3rd, 4th, 5th grade, bilingual, everything. Then special education for the last 18 years,” explained Volschenk, who is now stepping into the role of principal for the first time. 

“One priority of mine is definitely building relationships within the community, with the students,” said Volschenk. “I think that when you have a good relationship with your students and the community and the staff, that's kind of the key to everything. To growth for the students to earning the trust of the parents of those kids. I'm very excited because it is a smaller community than where I come from. My elementary school had 1,700 kids in it. So going from that to this, I feel like it's going to be a lot more meaningful to be a part of the growth of these kids.”

As her eight-year-old Luca, who Volschenk described as a “dinosaur junkie,” grew audibly excited outside the museum, Volschenk enthusiastically continued to lay out her initial vision for the work ahead.

“I'm just extremely excited to start this position,” she said. “I believe in school spirit. I love it when parents are involved with the school. I really would love to see a lot of that happening. Just basically growing what's already there because they have a great foundation. I just like to see those kids celebrated and hopefully give them a bit of encouragement to be their own person and be celebrated for who they are and for them to have goals for themselves.”

In her introductory letter to the Sheridan School District, Volschenk described growing up in a bilingual home all over the world as the daughter of a U.S. Navy pilot.  

Now with her family relocating to Montana, “I have three incredible kids, Ryan,14, Caroline,12 and Luca, 8. They make my whole world go ‘round. I love long distance running, reading, two-stepping, hiking and all things outdoors.”

Volschenk goes on, “My philosophy of education and leadership is one of mutual respect and well-rounded growth. This community is one that has a solid foundation that I can only hope to build on. I aspire to create an educational environment where all students feel welcome, successful, challenged to push their limits, and proud to be part of the historic Panther Nation. I also stand alongside my staff and their invaluable commitment to the students and community.”

Other details of note about Volschenk: She values southern hospitality, attending athletic and academic events and giving hugs. 

“It’s how I was raised and can’t quite shake it,” wrote Volschenk in her introductory letter, giving a nod to her roots in a warmer climate. “If you see me in August, in flannel and a beanie, please don’t judge. The weather here is going to be my biggest adjustment.”

ENNIS

Lots of changes to announce for Mustang Nation. Ennis School Board Chair Marilyn Jenkins dove in during a recent phone interview, announcing the hiring of new Superintendent Jared Moretti, who just moved to town from Cody, Wyo. 

“And the interesting part is, Wyoming has a lot more money than we do in our school system,” said Jenkins, alluding to a stark contrast in funding mechanisms between the two states. In Wyoming, school funding largely flows from coal and gas taxes, while in Montana, property taxes and voter levies provide the funding. 

“He (Moretti) seems to be acclimating quite well and doing everything he needs to do to speed up the transition. And so, I feel the board is feeling very comfortable with him,” said Jenkins. 

In a 2015 Cody Enterprise story about Moretti, the new Ennis superintendent quoted the old adage, “If you want to be the best, then you have to surround yourself with the best.” 

That ethos apparently led Moretti to Ennis after nine years in Cody working largely in special education.

When Moretti spotted the job opening for superintendent in Ennis, he said, “I just saw it as some place that will help me to continue to grow.”

Looking at the challenges ahead, he said the Ennis School District is, “Facing increasing enrollment, which is going to push the capacity. We have a fair amount of students who are coming in from out of district. We’re probably looking at being over 440 students, which is a little higher than we’ve had in the past.”

Moretti continued, “I think there's a lot of potential here. I think I can really help the district grow and move in the direction that it needs to go. So I just think balancing the growth of the community and balancing the growth of the school while still maintaining that small town culture, the cool characteristics, kind of keep true to the roots and keep true to what the community wants within the school.”

“He’s got lots of experience and lots of good qualifications. And so we're very pleased with him,” added School Board Chair Jenkins. “In fact, he even came to one of our meetings to let us know what the priorities were going to be because the high school building is getting to the point where one thing after another needs to be fixed. And so we do have a locker room drain leak and the roof is leaking and that's a priority. Those would be, you know, the big ones that we're looking at right now.”

One familiar face that’s departing the classroom is Jenkins’ daughter, Jamie Lovett, who for the last seven years taught Spanish.

Lovett owns the Ennis Trading Post, and taught only in the morning so she could spend the rest of the day minding the store and her other business, Madison Square Athletic Club. 

“They (the Ennis School District) were in a pickle one year in August and they knew I had the background so they reached out and that's how I ended up there. I was only ever supposed to be temporary, you know what I mean?” chuckled Lovett when reached by phone at the Trading Post. “I'm sad because I like being involved with the kids because I coach softball in the spring. I like, I don't want to say being in the know, but if something happens at school as a coach I'm able to kind of get out in front of it.” 

But dropping one of her three jobs does feel good, said Lovett. 

“There definitely is relief in that. I've got a daughter in college. My son will be a senior in high school and, you know, just having the freedom to be able to just chase my kids without having to worry about lesson plans in school and being tied to that.”

TWIN BRIDGES

School Board trustee Steve Janzen recently discussed the appointment of two key figures: part-time Superintendent Jim Baldwin and new grades 7-12 Principal John Stromberg.

"Jim, he'll be in Twin Bridges five to 10 days a month and then work remotely the rest of the time, and his focus will be on, more of the policy, business, high level administrative.”

Baldwin is Missoula-based and a veteran of Montana public education, serving more than 40 years in positions across the state. 

“He has a well-reputed, storied career as a superintendent,” said Janzen. 

Most recently, Baldwin was in Gardiner, where he dealt with problems unique to a school perched on the doorstep of Yellowstone National Park. 

Back in April, the Livingston Enterprise reported that Baldwin posted a photo of an elk carcass on social media. The elk was apparently devoured by wolves on the Gardiner High School football field. 

According to the Enterprise, the 8-Mile Pack was credited with the nighttime kill, leaving the site just before dawn. It is the largest pack in the park, featuring six adults and 15 yearlings.

Incoming grades 7-12 Principal John Stromberg will be full-time on-site in Twin Bridges, said Janzen. 

“John has roots in the area actually. He has family in the area and then also has ties to Montana Western,” said Janzen. “So this was a really good fit for him. I think his parents live in Dillon. Then he has cousins that live here in Twin. So Twin has kind of always been on his radar.”

Another recent school board agenda item was the Twin Bridges Football team. While a sprinkler watered the playing field outside on July 15, the school board discussed potentially low player numbers. 

“We just transitioned back to 8-man from 6-man,” said Janzen. “And we're just hoping that we're going to have enough players. I think we're sitting around 16 or 17, somewhere in there, which sounds like a lot. I mean, sounds like that's a lot more than eight. But you can't effectively practice without being able to have a defense and an offense, you kind of need like 16 at a minimum. And then when you think about it even further, you think about how many of those are freshmen versus seniors and how do they stack, you know, who do you put on the defense versus the offense? And how do they stack up against each other? There has to be some equity there.”

The switch to 8-man Class C play helped with travel distances, said Janzen, but given the current headcount, there are challenges ahead. 

There are challenges ahead for the main gym at Twin Bridges as well, said Janzen. 

“We do have a project underway, a design and assessment of the gym. Not a construction project, just a design and condition assessment of the gym,” explained Jazen, with the goal of getting “a really good cost estimate” for improving the gym. 

“The electrical and the mechanical systems are definitely out-of-date,” said Janzen, noting some issues with the boiler and some cracks in the foundation. Two structural assessments confirmed the gym is safe, said Janzen, and a geotech drill rig recently did some boring to examine the foundation.