The Duneland School Corporation was commended Monday for its policy of making its school grounds totally tobacco free.

Representatives from the Tobacco Education & Prevention Coalition for Porter County presented the Duneland School Board with the Gary Sandifur Tobacco Free School Campus Award, a statewide honor given to schools with comprehensive anti-smoking policies.

Susan Gleason, executive director of the coalition, said Gary Sandifur was a lifelong smoker who started speaking out against the health dangers of smoking. “Sadly, Gary died before he could finish the work he started,” she said.

Accompanying Gleason at Monday’s school board meeting were representatives from the Boys & Girls Clubs of Porter County, as well as Duneland student Paige Vlietstra, representing Voice, a youth-led movement in Indiana against the tobacco industry’s marketing tactics aimed at getting young people to smoke.

“We are involved in Voice to educate our peers on the tobacco companies’ deceptive marketing practices and help our peers to fight back,” Vlietstra said.

Gleason shared the statistic that in Indiana, one in four kids aged 12 and older use tobacco, with half of them using before the age of 14.

School Board President Nick Jurasevich accepted the award on behalf of the school board, and said that by honoring Sandifur’s anti-smoking efforts, his legacy continues.

In another presentation Monday, Westchester Intermediate Principal Shawn Longacre presented a video created by teachers Cheryl Muller and Nicole Wilson entitled “Why I like WIS.” In the video, various WIS students explain what they like about their school. The video also features of the talents of the WIS intramural choir, the student council, and volleyball players.

Even though the state no longer counts parent-teacher conferences as instructional days, Duneland continued the conferences in the fall. As in past years, attendance at the conferences was high.

In grades kindergarten through six, a total of 2,988 conferences were held, representing 95 percent of the total. In grades 7 and 8, a total of 395 and 489 conferences, respectively, were held. Duneland Assistant Superintendent Monte Moffett commended Duneland teachers and parents for their efforts in attending the conferences.

Duneland Superintendent Dirk Baer said a number of Indiana schools have canceled their parent-teacher conferences due to the state’s new policy, but that Duneland has felt that the conferences are of “utmost importance” in communicating with parents.

Also Monday, the school board approved a 2010-11 school calendar, which once again includes the parent-teacher conferences. The calendar calls for the first day of school for students on August 25, and Christmas break from Dec. 17 to Jan. 3.

In personnel matters, the school board approved the resignation of Chesterton High School media specialist Laura Pope and granted a child care leave to Chesterton Middle School art teacher Brooke Sutter.

Posted 12/15/2009