SYRACUSE — During the regular monthly meeting of the Wawasee school board Tuesday evening, April 19, in Syracuse, Jon Everingham was hired as the new varsity boys basketball head coach for Wawasee High School.

He was one of 30 applicants for the position and previously coached basketball at Goshen, Argos and DeKalb high schools. He is a graduate of Tri-State University and will also teach business classes at the high school.

In other business, Joy Goshert, director of instruction and curriculum, said kindergarten roundup held April 14 at each elementary school was about normal. Syracuse had close to 60 students, North Webster 51 and Milford 37. Schools will continue to look for additional students whose parents may not have been able to attend the roundup.

Goshert also noted North Webster and Milford received an Indiana Literacy Early Intervention Grant from the Indiana Department of Education. Each school will receive $14,184 and it will be used for professional development for first and second grade teachers and a back to school night for parents and students to highlight the media center in each school.

Other agenda items included:

• The board approved a donation from Jessica Hites to the Good Beginnings program at North Webster Elementary of a stander and seat for a special needs student with a total value of $3,500. Alara Williams, a daughter of Hites, passed away and Hites decided to donate the items back to the preschool program.

• A grant of $1,350 from NFL Play 60 to Milford School was approved. It will pay for the cost of the adventure races for grades five through eight at Camp Mack the last day of school to include canoeing, kayaking, archery and more.

• Mariah Roberts, agriculture teacher and FFA advisor at Wawasee High School, will receive a $1,500 scholarship from the CHS Foundation Curriculum for Agricultural Science Education (CASE) Institute.

• Milford School Kehoe Kids, a fourth-grade project, raised a grand total of $13,450. Presentations will be made Friday, April 22, at Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis.

• The Jump Rope for Heart and Hoops fundraiser at Milford School brought in $4,126, well exceeding the goal of $1,500.

• WHS radio and TV students participated in the Indiana Association of School Broadcasters state competition for the first time. No awards were won, but students were able to learn from professionals in broadcasting.

• WHS swimmers Logan Brugh, Paige Miller and Brady Robinson were recognized and received certificates for qualifying for the state finals.

• Jared Knipper, a kindergarten teacher at Syracuse Elementary, was selected as a Lead Digital Innovator for the 2016 PBS Learning program. He was one of 52 selected and will attend a conference June 25-27 in Denver.

• Several overnight trips were approved by the board including the WHS Art Club to Chicago, WHS small engines to Greenwood, Ind., WHS Robotics Club to Louisville, WHS German exchange students to Chicago and then on to Germany, WHS FFA to Lafayette and eighth grade language arts to Chicago.

• Among the personnel recommendations approved by the board were the retirements of Trish Miller, Kristi Harris and Stephanie Szynal, all of whom teach at the high school.