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Board meeting highlights: student news, primary science fair recognitions and teacher lifetime award
Summary
Student representatives from Riverside, Westland and Wilsonville updated the board on theater, competitions, athletics and prom; primary school students presented science projects and the board recognized teacher Jim Hartman with an ecology education award.
Board members heard updates from student representatives at Riverside, Westland and Wilsonville high schools on recent arts, athletics and extracurricular activities. Riverside reported theatrical performances, SkillsUSA results (two students qualified for nationals), science fair awards and the school's first off‑campus prom; Westland and Wilsonville described festivals, state competition placements in music and theater, robotics accomplishments and spring sports results.
The board also recognized primary and middle school students who participated in the district science fair and selected primary students who presented their projects at the meeting. Danielle Schroeder, district science fair director, described the science fair as a progression from primary classroom investigations to mentored high‑school research and said the district supports roughly 200–300 students through the program annually. Three students—Mae Figliata (Sunset Primary), Elena Diaz (Trillium Creek Primary) and Sneha Kumar (Inza Arwood Middle School)—briefly described their projects for the board.
Separately, Westland High School teacher Jim Hartman received a lifetime recognition from the DIACC ecology education program, introduced by Dr. Jennifer Spencer Iams and Principal Trevor Mena. Colleagues and board members praised Hartman's decades of environmental education work, student mentorship and the impact of Westland's ecology program on CTE pathways. Hartman accepted thanks and acknowledged family members present.
Why it matters: student reports and recognitions highlight extracurricular achievements and the district's investment in STEM, arts and career/technical education programs; the science fair pipeline was cited as evidence of sustained K–12 STEM engagement.
Ending: the board thanked the students, science fair director and Jim Hartman for their contributions and invited them to leave project boards on display during the meeting break for board and public viewing.
