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Kelly Walsh students honored for app challenge; foundation and BOCES report to board

Natrona County School District #1 Board of Trustees · January 27, 2026

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Summary

The board recognized two Kelly Walsh students who placed in the state Congressional App Challenge and heard updates from the Casper Area Education Foundation (including a $1,500 grant for Seal of Biliteracy cords) and a BOCES report on dual/concurrent enrollment and completion rates.

The Natrona County School District #1 Board of Trustees opened the meeting by recognizing two Kelly Walsh High School students who placed in the state Congressional App Challenge and by noting the Kelly Walsh dance team’s state trophies.

Senior Ben Hutchinson described his app "Grapher," a graphing engine that plots mathematical formulas and allows users to adjust scale and resolution; Ben said building the app confirmed his interest in pursuing software engineering as a career. "I actually learned that I really want to be a software engineer," he said. Sophomore Arjit Balsar presented a web‑based "teen mental health" resource aimed at Wyoming adolescents, built with HTML, CSS and JavaScript to help teens find tools to improve mental well‑being.

The board also received a report from the Casper Area Education Foundation: the foundation received a donation to the Reynaldo Martinez Teacher Inspiration Fund to support language‑proficiency recognition and is providing $1,500 to the Wyoming Association of Language Teachers to buy graduation cords for students who earn the Wyoming Seal of Biliteracy or Seal of Biliteracy with Advanced Distinction. Foundation scholarships (Trustee Scholarship and Academic Perseverance Scholarship) are accepting applications through March 15; application information is available on the NCSD website or from high‑school counselors.

A BOCES representative presented 2024–25 BOCES data: about 1,215 students enrolled in BOCES courses (down from 1,244 the prior year), with concurrent‑course completion rates near 98% and dual‑course completion rates near 93%. The presentation covered course location distributions across high schools and discussed pathways for students to earn college credit or certificates alongside high‑school diplomas.

Trustees thanked students, staff and volunteers and noted continued attention to staffing and legislative developments affecting school funding.