CCS recognizes board members
Published 9:18 pm Monday, January 27, 2025
- Cullman City Primary School teacher Amanda Stidham, left, joins one of her ‘painted pony’ students, Bailey Bates, in gifting members of the Cullman City School Board pop-art portraits created by students in recognition of School Board Appreciation Month during the board’s meeting Thursday, Jan. 23. Patrick Camp | The Cullman Times
Cullman City School Board members each received a special gift of appreciation Thursday, Jan. 23, in honor of School Board Appreciation Month.
The system’s five schools presented each board member with an individual gift during the board’s monthly meeting last week. However, Cullman City Primary School art teacher Amanda Stidham presented the board with a group gift on behalf of her “painted ponies” classes.
Stidham explained her students had been studying the children’s book The Day the Crayons Quit by Drew Daywalt and that she had applied those lessons into the creation of the board’s gift.
Students input a photo of each board member — taken from the district’s website — into a coloring page generator on crayola.com and completed the portraits using any medium other than crayons.
“I provided the materials which included paint, highlighters, markers, rulers, paintbrushes, colored pencils and oil pastels,” Stidham said.
Each board member was given a binder with one of their portraits on the cover featuring the students’ artworks as well as a framed copy of one of the individual portraits.
Stidham said her students were also preparing an upcoming musical themed around The Day the Crayons Quit which would also highlight much of the recent work her students had been focusing on.
Strategic Plan
Superintendent Kyle Kallhoff also acknowledged the board’s accomplishments in implementing the district’s six-part strategic plan over the last several years.
Kallhoff noted the district has received two “A” grades on their Alabama Department of Education issued report cards in recent years all while shifting its focus to place more emphasis of career technical education and Science, Technology, Engineering and Math studies.
Several new safety upgrades have been implemented across the district’s campuses, including security cameras and door access controls which allow principals to remotely lock entrances in the event of an emergency.
Facility upgrades have been among the board’s top priorities with investments at each of the district’s campuses. These include expansions at CCPS and Cullman Middle School as well as a new STEM facility at Cullman High School and the construction of a new intermediate school at the West Elementary campus.
In other business the board:
— Approved the retirement of Cullman High School instructional assistant William Hannah.
— Accepted the following resignations:
- Vanessa Bagwell – Special Education instructional assistant at CCPS.
- Tiffany Hagan – Speech-Language pathologist at CCPS.
— Approved the following transfers:
- Alyssa Lindsey – Instructional assistant at CCPS to instructional assistant at CHS.
- Joseph McPhillips – Physical Education teacher at East and West Elementary to Physical Education teacher at West Elementary.
- Daniel Stiff – Physical Education teacher at CHS to Physical Education teacher at East Elementary.
— Approved the conditional employment of Charity White as a district-wide, permanent substitute.
— Approved the following long-term substitutes:
- Tyler Calvert at CHS.
- Amy Cates at East Elementary.
— Approved a CMS assistant softball coaching supplement for Madison Heatherly.
— Approved an ARI tutoring contract with Jenny Helton.
— Approved an administrative assistant/bookkeeping contract with Dorinda Steele.
— Approved a transportation technician contract with Ryan Waters.
Patrick Camp may be reached by email at patrick.camp@cullmantimes.com or by phone at 256-734-2131 ext. 238.