Trimble's Kainer advances to state Rotary speech contest

The Trimble County Board of Education recently recognized high school student Rebecca Kainer for her win in the 2023-24 Rotary District 6710 Speech Contest held April 9, in Buckner, Kentucky.

Kainer, a senior at TCHS, placed first out of five district contestants in the Eastern Regional hosted by the La Grange Rotary Club at the Arvin Educational Center in Buckner.

The Eastern Regional includes 54 Rotary club districts including five clubs who were represented in the Buckner competition. There are three regions throughout the state. The speech competition is now in its 30th year.

Kainer’s speech won over runner-up Marae Mallard of the Frankfort club and third place finisher Ryan Stocker of the South Oldham club. She advanced to the East Regional Contest, also held in Buckner on April 19, and won that competition to now advance to the state level of the contest on May 10-11 in Louisville where the winners of the state’s three regions will compete.

In other business:

• Chief Academic Officer Molly McComas reported on testing results and that results of recent testing properly do not adequately represent what the students know.

“There seems to be a culture of apathy regarding testing,” she said. “Students do not take ownership of their learning and show the ability to demonstrate that. This is a situation which will require some training to get the students to recognize that demonstrating what they know affects more than just them, but the whole school environment.”

McComas noted that each of Trimble’s schools had “growth” in testing, but that growth was mostly a greater percentage within a category and not reflected in the number of students advancing into the proficient/distinguished categories.

• School Nurse Gina Liter reported on changes coming concerning the medications schools keep on hand in the event of emergencies, including epi pens, bronchodilators and NARCAN.

She said questions regarding who is eligible to receive those medications in an emergency need to be decided and posted throughout the district’s schools.

Superintendent Todd Neace noted that “less parents complying with physicals and immunizations during the time of regular physicals may mean some of the issues requiring the accessibility of these meds are missed.”

He said a policy on the use of these medication is currently being developed.

The next Board of Education meeting is at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, May 15.