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In a special meeting of the West Elk USD 282 Board of Education Monday night, a superintendent’s contract was offered to Corey Reese.

Reese currently is principal at West Elk High School.

The offer has not been officially accepted and the issue will be considered at the next regular meeting of the
board.

The present superintendent, Bert Moore, submitted his resignation two months ago which will be effective June 30.

Once a new superintendent is hired, his/her duties will begin July 1, 2009.

Elk County Farm Bureau Association will host a visit by Senator Sam Brownback on Thursday, Dec. 11, at Poplar Pizza in Howard.

The senator, who is winding down his 105-county tour, will meet with the public from 4-5 p.m., in the restaurant’s back dining room. After a brief talk, he will be available to answer questions from the audience. For more information, call 374-2321.

A complete story will follow in the next edition of the Prairie Star.

Marilyn and Larry Galvan have enjoyed “The Nutcracker” by the Wichita Ballet many times with their children and grandchildren. So they proposed an exciting project for the Elk County Community and Education Foundation to sponsor an elementary school trip to “The Nutcracker “by Ballet Wichita.

There was limited time to get this done for this year and purchase tickets and arrange transportation. Everyone pulled together and grades 1-4 from Moline, Severy and Longton elementary schools will attend on Friday, Dec. 12, at the morning performance. There will be 140 students with appropriate supervision of teachers and assistants.

Also as the year comes to an end, several people have already asked about donating to support this event and future projects. Tax deductible donations for the tickets in any amount would be appreciated. $7 will send one student; $35 will send 5 students or $105 will send 15 students to this wonderful event. Donations can be given to ECCEF members or mailed to ECCEF P.O. Box 956, Howard, KS 67349.

A Community Conversation concerning “Our Communities and Our Schools” will be held from 7 p.m to 9 p.m., Monday, Dec. 1, in the commons area of the West Elk High School.

The meeting is being organized by the Elk Konnected Steering Committee and will be moderated by Terry Woodberry, president of the Kansas Communities LLC.

The purpose of the conversation is to engage all interested citizens of the community in a unified group effort to plan the most effective educational future for area young people. As every citizen of the community will be impacted by the decisions to be made in the near future, Elk Konnected Steering Committee members are encouraging interested citizens, parents, grandparents, business owners, school administrators, staff and youth to attend and present their positive ideas and to relay the questions that will need answered before decisions are made.