ROCHELLE — At its monthly meeting Monday, the Rochelle Township High School Board of Education unanimously approved a $102,229.74 bid from DeMoulin for 150 new marching band uniforms. 

RTHS Marching Band Director Keaton Shumard received two bids for new uniforms. DeMoulin was the low bid. RTHS will pay half of the cost this fiscal year and the remainder next fiscal year upon delivery. The new uniforms will be for the 2025-2026 marching band season. 

Expo

During Principal Chris Lewis' monthly presentation at the meeting, he updated the board on a job fair that was held March 13 at RTHS that was available to junior and senior students as well as the public. The job fair was a partnership between RTHS, Kishwaukee College and the City of Rochelle. 

The job fair saw over 40 vendors attend and meet with students. Lewis said 53 jobseekers attended from the public. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, RTHS held its own career fairs before merging it with a hiring expo with the city due to the job market and number of employment opportunities available in the community.

Junior and senior students at RTHS attended a soft skills/job interview assembly during the school day before their dismissal to the job fair. Seniors assembled during seventh and eighth-hour periods, while juniors assembled during the ninth-hour period. 

"It was a great experience for our juniors and seniors," Lewis said. "They worked on soft skills and talked to the different careers and looked for potential summer jobs and careers. It's been a nice collaboration and we really like how it's been going."

Graduation

The board unanimously approved an RTHS graduation date of Saturday, May 24 at 10 a.m. Tuesday, May 27 is the last day of final exams. Summer school will begin on Monday, June 2 and conclude on Thursday, July 10. 

Employment

The board unanimously approved personnel matters including the resignation of Meagan Stoops (English teacher, end of 24-25 school year) and the employment of Krynn Hayward (district substitute bus driver/substitute aide) and Jake Major (volunteer assistant baseball coach). 

The board also unanimously approved the yearly re-employment of teachers, including first year teachers Cody Denneau (Spanish), Abby Jamison (English), Christian Marigomen (choir), David Molgas Zepeda (bilingual math) and Sumayya Staab (student growth coach). Retained second year teachers included Jonathon Gehm (social science), Kevin Hunt (social science), Sarai Orozco (special education), Colfay Pointer (student counselor), Scott Stevens (special education), and Edna Vazquez (foreign language). Retained third year teachers included Anna Adolph (English), Max Basler (special education), Anna Birsa (Spanish), Anna Criswell (science), Justin Otte (science), Rachel Plock (math) and Keaton Shumard (music). Fourth year teachers retained to become tenured included Andrea DeKing (art), Holly Karner (social science) and Tony Wyatt (Focus House special education). 

ACT

Lewis said RTHS students will be taking the ACT and Pre-ACT tests on April 8. Juniors will take the SAT and freshmen and sophomores will take the Pre-ACT. Students are now taking the ACT after years of taking the SAT. Students took a practice exam in September. 

"We've been working hard on this," Lewis said. "We'll be taking that test for state accountability and college placement."