Students present Educators Rising and SEL results; board approves YHS choir trip to Omaha

Board meeting presentations highlighted student programs and outcomes. Nicole Valness, advisor for Educators Rising at Yankton High School, said the club — in its third year — has 17 active members, supports internships in elementary schools and offers a stipend tied to a grant; she named Eva Paulson as president and Jack Olsen as vice president. "Our goals in Educators Rising is to make a difference... getting the students to volunteer and show them how they can make an impact in our schools and our community," Valness said. Student Byron Jimenez described assisting non-English-speaking pupils as a teacher assistant and said the experience helped his career planning; he and Jack Olsen described attending expositions and internship experiences.

Miss Smith presented Lincoln Elementary's social-emotional learning (SEL) program and de-identified data the team uses to guide interventions. She described tiered supports (Tier 1 general instruction, Tier 2 small-group social-skill instruction, Tier 3 individualized plans) and the AIM tier-3 approach (Accept, Identify, Move). According to the presentation, one student’s daily incidents decreased from about 34 instances per day before a high-intensity intervention to about 5 after full implementation; another chart showed a noncompliance duration reduced from roughly 45–47 minutes to about 20 minutes after SEL implementation. Smith emphasized the data are de-identified and used for fidelity checks and staff professional development.

Separately, the board approved a Yankton High School chorus trip to Omaha, where students will see a professional musical and attend a choral clinic with a college professor; the trip was presented as a day excursion that includes a campus visit to expose students to college-level choral instruction. The motion to approve the trip passed on roll call.

Board members praised teacher buy-in for SEL and the hands-on student experiences provided by Educators Rising. No controversial budget details were raised during the presentations; the stipend amount for teacher assistants participating in the grant-funded program was stated as $500 per semester.