Also important to our schools is making time to improve our community through service. Throughout this edition of the Baugo Schoolhouse, you will see evidence of our schools working to make our community a better place. We believe that we share responsibility for helping students become contributors to their community and embed experiences in our calendar for these opportunities to occur. Also included in this edition of the Baugo Schoolhouse is a new segment we call Why I teach. Teachers from across our district were asked the same question and we included several of their responses for your enjoyment.

Finally, Baugo Community Schools is committed to helping students access college. Saving for college does not have to be complicated and every 529 dollar deposited is tax credit earning. Sign up now for a 529 college savings account through the Baugo Promise. Families with questions about college savings plans can contact our district office. Tell them that I encouraged you to call.

- Byron Sanders, Superintendent, Baugo Community Schools

JIS has partnered with Elkhart County Landfill in their Green School Initiative. This fall is the first of a six semester experience. JIS can earn up to $2000 for their efforts. The team meets to empty recycling bins around the school, create posters to help promote different types of recycling, and to discuss upcoming activities that include cleaning up trash on campus, taking a field trip to Elkhart County’s Environmental Center, and presenting to community leaders. Spring activities include partnering with Crayola to implement a marker recycling program for dried out markers of any kind to help keep them out of our landfills. We are also working to keep our school community informed using a bulletin board information campaign.

Students at Jimtown High School gave back to their community on November 20th. Every Jimmie was involved in a service project that day, including working at a nursing home, working at a preschool, working with Habitat for Humanity, working with Faith Mission, working with Elkhart Co Parks Dept, working with the Northern IN Food Bank and many, many more. Here are some highlights:

Jimtown High School held the Fall Sports Awards program on Wednesday, November 13th. The awards program is a chance to not only honor those standout athletes on the court, field, or track but also to recognize those student-athletes who exemplify the BEST of scholar-athletes during that season.

Pictured are:

Front Row: (L-R): Abbi Snider, MVP Girls Soccer, Cali Campbell, MVP Cheerleading, Grace Crocker, MVP Cheerleading, Mary Behrens, MVP Girls Golf, Abbigail Griffen, MVP Girls Cross Country

2nd Row: (L-R): Clay Campbell, Defensive MVP Football, Blake Garrettson, MVP Offense Football, Bill Pawlak, MVP Boys Tennis, Jonathan Wiggins, MVP Boys Cross-Country

Back Row: (L-R): Isaac Daniels, MVP Boys Soccer, Dustin Whitman, Special Teams MVP Football, Tony Pletcher, Special Teams MVP Football, Ethan Devol, Offensive MVP Football

Bill Firstenberger is an Elkhart native, 1985 graduate of Jimtown High School. He earned his Bachelor of Arts from the University of Notre Dame in 1989, and his Masters of Liberal Studies from Indiana University in 2000.

Bill has worked in museums for almost 30 years, including the History Museum in South Bend, the Billy Sunday Historic Site in Winona Lake, and his current position as Executive Director at Ruthmere Museums Campus in Elkhart. Bill is the past President of the Elkhart County Museums Association.

In 2000, he founded the consulting firm Museumcroft, a consortium of museum professionals who provide an array of specialized museum consulting services to small and mid-sized museums. To date, Museumcroft has completed over 30 museum projects across the country.

Bill has chaired many conference sessions on issues pertaining to museum operations and the use of technology in museum settings. He is the author of numerous articles on both regional history of the Midwest and material culture studies, most notably his 2005 book published through the University of Iowa Press, In Rare Form: A Pictorial History of Baseball Evangelist Billy Sunday.

Bill lives in Elkhart, Indiana, with his wife of 29 years, Lori. Their 20-year-old son Eric is a sophomore at Purdue University studying actuarial science. Bill’s pastimes of the recent and long past include hiking and fishing in the wilds of Ontario, playing tennis, vintage baseball utility fielder, and most recently, Fortnite!