By Amanda Foust
Carmel Clay School’s Jan. 26 school board meeting led with a program called the “Spotlight on Excellence” featuring Carmel High School swimmer, Amy Bilquist. Bilquist moved to Carmel from Arizona last year and brought with her talent and dedication that made an already great swim team even greater, according to Supt. Dr. Nicholas Wahl.
She recently represented the U.S. in Doha, Qatar winning two silvers and a gold medal for team U.S.A. She also is now an American world record holder.
“She is passionate and works hard and does a great job in school,” said girls swim team coach, Chris Plum. “We look to her to lead the way as the girls try to win their 29th school championship next week.”
Wahl added another “Spotlight of Excellence” award when he spoke about a public education event featuring the “Rise Above the Mark” documentary. The schools hosted a public viewing of the film last month.
Wahl said: “It was a night that shined the light on public education. It was a joint effort to show what we can do and how we can be effective displaying public schools to our community.”
He said there were were 300 to 500 people in attendance at the showing. He presented a call to action message to legislators saying the following: “We want to be apart of the solution for taking care of public schools long-term…We can make a difference not only at CCS but statewide.”
Following “Spotlight on Excellence,” written policies were reviewed and presented from the board as well as an open floor for discussion concerning the policy changes being made at CCS.
To end the meeting, Wahl gave a strategic planning update for CCS. He conducted goal setting meetings last year, created a mission statement, and has been taking steps forward to creating a strategic plan along with a third party consultant. He noted that managing the ever-changing needs of the student demographic is an important aspect of this planning. A guest from the third-party consultant group spoke on redistricting and supported the need with data and extensive analyzing.
Wahl asked for the public to present general questions to him concerning the strategic planning before action is taken at next month’s school board meeting, which will be at 7 p.m. Feb. 23.
