During a short board of education meeting on Monday evening, Miami Trace Local Schools Assistant Superintendent Kim Pittser provided academic updates to the board.

Pittser began by explaining that Miami Trace High School staff have been hard at work helping to establish alternative pathways to graduation for seniors and making sure each has an individualized plan to reach graduation. This includes the ACT WorkKeys Assessment, which was implemented last year and had positive results, according to Pittser.

“The ACT WorkKeys Assessment, which includes three parts (Applied Math, Graphic Literacy, and Workplace Documents), is part of the alternative graduation pathway for the Class of 2020,” Pittser said. “We implemented this assessment last year starting in January for the Class of 2019 and had positive results. So far, continuing the assessment this fall with this administration for the Class of 2020, we can tell you that it has been most productive.”

According to Miami Trace High School Principal Rob Enochs, the ACT WorkKeys Exam is one of eight possibilities seniors can complete on their alternative pathway to graduation, and seniors must choose two of the eight to complete.

“The WorkKeys exam focuses on measuring workforce readiness,” Enochs said. “Miami Trace High School has administered the assessment to our students and our students have been successful in meeting the required scores.”

Pittser also talked about progress made in the Miami Trace Learning Center. According to the assistant superintendent, a contract with Eastway allows the district to have a full-time mental health therapist — currently Tara Walker — on hand. Walker has spent the first quarter of the year evaluating her caseload and getting schedules made for her individual students. This progress has opened up a new option for the center: group therapy sessions.

“We are excited to share that Ms. Walker is beginning weekly group therapy sessions for our students at the start of second quarter,” Pittser said. “We greatly appreciate the continued efforts from our entire staff at the Miami Trace Learning Center. Their time is spent combining social emotional curriculum with core academic curriculum so that our students’ individual needs are truly met. Group therapy sessions were once a wish for our students, but now we can share with you all that they are becoming a reality in serving them.”

Also during the meeting, Miami Trace Business Manager Bill Franke gave an update on the various projects and work still needing to be finished around the campus. The board discussed several of the projects, including the possibility of an air conditioning unit in the concession booth at the football stadium, extending fencing in areas, placing more skirting around the bleachers, finishing up the high school construction project with a walk-through, fixing various issues following construction of the school and more.

The information in this article was provided by the Miami Trace Local Schools. Stay with the Record-Herald for more from the Miami Trace Local School Board of Education meetings.

Reach Martin Graham at (740) 313-0351 or on Twitter @MartiTheNewsGuy