Fontana School Board approves two hirings; Gifts acknowledged, earmarked for new marching band equipment
Torrez
Filling two staffing vacancies at Grades PreK-8 Fontana Elementary School, the Fontana Board of Education on Feb. 13 approved the hiring of Walworth County residents Tiffaney Caitlin and Scott Gump.
Caitlin fills a vacancy for a part-time night and daycare custodian.
Hired as a full-time substitute teacher, Gump fills a vacancy created when permanent full-time district substitute Austin Hoey was transitioned by the board to fill a newly-created Grades 4/5 teaching position, which was implemented by the district following winter break.
A Jan. 12 Geneva Lake West Rotary Club Service Above Self Award honoree, Hoey was feted in his nomination letter from the Fontana Joint 8 School District as a “key teacher” at Fontana Elementary who “thinks about the greater good before himself” and comes to work daily with a “positive attitude” and “the mindset that he is doing whatever it takes to see our students succeed.”
In his second year teaching at Fontana Elementary, Hoey is a Class of 2014 Big Foot High School alumni and a 2018 physical education graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater.
“We were thankful to be able to fill in those positions,” said District Administrator Steve Torrez. “The custodial position is one that we’ve really been trying to lock down for awhile — we have a full custodial staff now. And Scott’s a veteran teacher that we were lucky to get on a mid-year hire.”
Torrez said Hoey was tapped for the newly created Grades 4/5 teaching position because he already had “established relationships with the kids, the parents and the community,” adding that Hoey possessed a long-term professional goal to “move into a permanent teaching role.”
Donations
School board members recognized and expressed their appreciation for $300 donations received from both Scott Kunes and Fontana Family Chiropractic, with the donations earmarked for new marching band equipment.
E-sports presentation
In other news at the Feb. 13 meeting, members of the Big Foot High School e-sports team appeared before the Fontana Board of Education to give an informational presentation on the team’s activities and the envisioned benefits of starting a middle school e-sports team at Fontana Elementary School.
“We’re considering starting one next school year,” Torrez said, noting the Big Foot e-sports team has been to state competitions several times. “If we start one here, maybe kids can have a leg up when they get to high school. I think the idea of having an e-sports team is a great idea, to not only link to the high school and get kids engaged that way, but also to just catch more kids in different extra-curricular activities that they may not otherwise participate in, like some of the sports teams or after-school clubs that we have already. I think it’s always good to engage more kids in extra-curricular activities that they’re interested in and get them connected to their school and community.”
Next meeting
It was announced that the next meeting of the Fontana Board of Education will be held Monday, March 27, beginning at 5:30 p.m. in the school library at Fontana Elementary, 450 S. Main St. in Fontana.
