The search for a new director for the Bowlus Fine Arts Center will continue into January.
A committee tasked with hiring a director plans to reach out to other applicants after the person they selected was unable to take the job for medical reasons.
The committee plans to reach out to some of those who applied for the job in October, when previous director Daniel Kays resigned to take a position in Topeka, said Jennifer Taylor, USD 257 board president and leader of the search committee. At that time, the committee identified five top candidates but invited only the top two for in-person interviews. They selected Andrew Giza, who was expected to start Dec. 2 but faced sudden and unexpected health challenges that prevented him from taking the job.
The committee will schedule a new round of in-person interviews in late January, Taylor said.
The board officially accepted Giza’s resignation at Monday’s meeting.
Meanwhile, the Bowlus continues a full slate of entertainment and activities. In addition to recent school concerts and a play, staff continue with performances during the 60th season.
A Christmas show, “Who Brought the Humbug?” is at 7 p.m. Saturday. The high-energy, interactive show takes place at an ugly sweater party, where singers, tap dancers and musicians offer a slew of holiday mash-ups. Santa raps to Rudolph over horn-band funk, Frosty tap dances to a groove, and the reindeer bust out hip-hop choreography, according to a press release about the show. Two singers-turned-investigators beatbox to “The Grinch.”
Guests are encouraged to wear an ugly Christmas sweater. Tickets are available online at bowluscenter.org or at the door.
We can build a snowman
Four Iola Elementary School kindergarteners attended Monday’s meeting to show off their holiday project, snowmen painted on boards that are roughly their same height.
Don Settlemeyer, building trades teacher at the Regional Rural Technology Center at LaHarpe, cut boards the same height as each student. Students then decorated them, painting a face and buttons, with festive holiday socks used as a stocking cap and ribbons for a scarf. Each snowman includes a poem that says: “Lean the snowman against a wall to remind you when I was this small. Fingerprints make the mouth and eyes. This snowman is just my size. So take them out each Christmas and see I’m not as little as I used to be. Merry Christmas. “
IN OTHER news, Curriculum Director Jenna Higginbotham offered an update on the Kansas Education System Accreditation (KESA) plan. The current focus is on quality instruction. Higginbotham outlined how the district uses professional collaboration to create a culture of high expectations.
The school board won’t meet again until Jan. 13 because of the holidays. Superintendent Stacey Fager said he expects representatives from BNIM will give a report about their application for state tax credits. BNIM is the development firm working with the district with hopes to convert three former elementary schools into housing. The group has been unsuccessful in obtaining the tax credits considered essential for the project’s success. This will be their third yearly attempt.
