New boundaries for north and south elementary schools were approved Thursday night by the Cache County school board. The boundaries — labeled “Option 1” on the CCSD website — will go into effect starting this fall for the 2010-2011 school year.

“We did go out and meet with parents,” said Superintendent Steve Norton. “We think there were some general concerns when we first went out, but I think we were able to adjust the boundaries so that we listened to those concerns.”

Norton said they wanted a balanced social/economic population at all schools and also to leave room to grow. They also have land in Hyrum and in Hyde Park to construct new schools should the need arise.

For more information about the new school boundaries please see the included diagrams or visit the Boundaries page on the CCSD website. Click the North or South boundary options to visit a dynamic map of the new boundaries versus the old boundaries.

Teachers of the year

Seven elementary school teachers were recognized as Teacher of the Year for their respective schools. Each teacher was presented with a plaque by the district and were praised individually by their principal.

School Teacher of the Year

• Canyon Elementary — Jennifer Martinez, 1st grade; award presented by Principal Kelly Rindlisbacher
• Lincoln Elementary — Mandi Green, special education; award presented by Principal Lynette Riggs
• Millville Elementary — Julie Allgood, kindergarten; award imaginatively presented by Principal Maria Nelson and kindergarten teacher Jennifer Jones
• Nibley Elementary — Kim Panter, 4th grade; award presented by Principal Sharyle Shaffer
• Mountainside Elementary — Amy Bassett, teacher; award presented by Principal Greg Larsen
• Providence Elementary — Rebecca Olson, 2nd grade; award presented by Principal Curt Jenkins
• Wellsville Elementary — Patti Bateman, 1st grade; award presented by Principal Cody Dobson

Gold Medal School Award

“We received a nice certificate from the Health Department acknowledging that Mountainside elementary is gold medal school for the month of January for the State of Utah,” said Principal Greg Larsen. “The first Cache Valley school in a while.”

Larsen especially thanked Carolee Barrett, physical education teacher, for her work in improving the health plans at Mountainside.

“One of the hard things was have to do is get 90 minutes of structured physical activity,” continued Larsen. “It’s pretty easy to get physical activity if you just send them out to recess but you have to have something structured for them to do out there in addition to the 40 minutes of P.E. they do during school.”

He said they have a staff wellness program and policies to reduce junk food in the class rooms. “We’re not perfect, we just trying to be healthier,” he added.

Nucor Steel donation

Charlie Zurcher and Steve Roland of Nucor Steel presented dozens of teachers with grants totaling $12,000. As Zurcher read each name of the teacher, they would come up and get a certificate from Roland. Each award ranged from around $200 to $500.

After they finished to a round of applause from the audience, Norton asked everyone to stay up front for a moment.

“What these two fine gentlemen didn’t tell you was that they’ve got people on their payroll who are not getting a full paycheck because of the industry that they are in the economy right now,” said Norton. Zucher had previously said that Nucor Steel’s business is down to a level not seen since the depression.

“I just want them to know how much we appreciate the fact that they would continue to do this kind of program even when they are having difficulty keeping all their people employed,” continued Norton. “I just want you to think for a minute what a country this would be if every company that was as big as Nucor gave the support to education that this company does. We would truly have one of the best funded education systems in the world so I just want you to give one big round of applause.”