Dr. Cathy Walker, superintendent of Newcastle Public Schools, was the guest speaker for the State of the Schools Luncheon held by the Newcastle Chamber of Commerce Thursday at the Community Room.
Before Walker provided her address, Mid-America Technology Center’s Director of Student Services, Dallas Krout, gave an update on MATC and its activities.
As well, Newcastle High School teacher Jeffrey Duncan provided information on fundraisers which will benefit several Career Tech Education programs at NHS including entrepreneurship, cybersecurity, Business Professionals of America, and yearbook.
Duncan focused on how the BPA students would be working with the Skills for Success classroom, and upcoming fundraisers planned to benefit all the tech ed programs.
Dr. Walker said Newcastle Public Schools has had an increase of 80 students from October 1 this year to October 1 in 2022. She said the school now has 362 staff members, and will be needing to add additional staff as the district grows.
She said Newcastle is on its way to being a Class 5A school, and the $77,025,000 school bond passed by school patrons, as well as the $2,225,000 bond issue for transportation which was passed, will aid the district as it moves into Class 5A.
Walker asked those attending if they had seen the new school buses transporting students throughout the city streets. She said they are marked with a Newcastle “N” logo. They also just purchased two smaller activity buses.
She said the new road to Newcastle Elementary School has been completed, and is in use, providing relief from vehicles which had previously backed up the main roads including Main Street during drop off and pick up times.
To applause, she said Newcastle’s football stadium now has a new sound system.
Walker said there is a lot that will begin happening with bond projects at all of the school sites. This includes construction at the high school at the end of this school year. Also included is the purchase of additional technology and textbooks.
Walker said she wanted to congratulate Coach Mike Crosby on his 1,100 career wins in softball. She added that the Newcastle Racers were 23-1 on the year, and were hosting the Regional Tournament. She said the Racer football team is undefeated, and the FFA students were busy competing at the Tulsa State Fair for the week.
Walker said the school’s new aviation program has been a success and ties into the mentorship program. It teaches students how to fly, and how to use drones. She said plans are for this program to be expanded in future years.
She said the internship program, headed by Nikki Gaylor, has been a success in getting students into the community and area working at jobs they are interested in. She said this helps them make decisions now instead of three years into college about what they either want to do or do not want to do.
Walker said the Tri-City Learning Academy is another offering by NPS, and it offers both online and blended formats.
In conclusion, Walker said the school district has been very welcoming and supportive. She said Newcastle has awesome teachers, supportive parents, and a supportive community overall.
Krout said MATC has a great relationship with NPS. He said they’ve just added plumbing to their curriculum, and a broadband technician program, as well as expanding their Health Careers Explorer program.
Krout said MATC has construction going on currently, but will have a modernized look to the front of the building when complete. They’ll also have added meeting rooms, and an above-ground tornado shelter. They continue to look at plans for a north campus which would be closer to Newcastle. He announced that the board had recently authorized staff to make an offer on a piece of land.
“Down the road we hope to have a north Newcastle campus,” Krout said.
Duncan said the NPS tech ed program is planning a Swing for Success Golf Tournament October 21 at Earlywine Golf Course. They also have a student store at Newcastle High School, which offers hands-on learning for students and raises money for the program.
They also plan a Newcastle Community Cookbook. They’ll be asking Newcastle residents to submit their favorite recipes.
Editor’s Note: More on the NPS tech ed programs in this issue.
