Four Hagerstown seventh graders were the Superintendent Spotlight at Nettle Creek’s board meeting on April 8. Chloe Morris, Briella Lamar, Anistyn Stapleton and Karlee Koontz qualified for the Civics Bee, which was held Friday, April 10, at Indiana University East. The school had seven finalists compete.
Guided by English teacher Mary Randall, students wrote a 500-word essay on solving a societal issue. The students received certificates for this accomplishment.
Elementary teacher and Act One director Lisa Bane provided feedback on the theater club’s first production, “Willy Wonka Jr.” Despite a rescheduling mishap, the show had 570 attendees and raised $5,000 through ticket sales and candy-grams. Bane plans to have a new musical next spring. Board president Shaun Liberman and member Marcie Houghton commended students’ professionalism.
In district news, Superintendent Emily Schaeffer gave a financial outlook under Senate Enrolled Act 1. Property and income tax deductions will adversely impact the school’s budget, cutting $180,000. Schaeffer acknowledged tough decisions may come. But, she remained optimistic about the great things happening at Nettle Creek.
Those great things include Paige Johnson’s kindergarten class writing a picture book, a new community food pantry, senior Katee Cowan being selected for Keystone Cooperative’s SEED program, and senior Isaac Schmitz’s Wayne County Area Chamber of Commerce internship.
Director of Learning Maria Tinkle said that juniors’ SAT scores were above the state’s total average, with reading and writing scores above average. They scored the state average for mathematics. Elementary principal Belinda Locke added that ILEARN testing found all grades above state average for ELA. All but one grade were above in math; one fifth grader achieved a perfect math score.
Junior and senior high school principal Jordan McCaslin was praised for hosting the ISTAR Banquet and acknowledged gold victories for the indoor percussion ensemble and color guard.
Several donations were approved, including one in memory of Hagerstown resident Chris Beeson. The board is underway updating the employee handbook and job descriptions.
The next meeting is May 13 at 6:30 p.m. in Hagerstown Elementary’s LGI Room. The public may attend.
A version of this article appeared in the April 15 2026 print edition of the Western Wayne News.