AMBOY – Amboy Community Unit School District #272 is similar to most education districts where they’d like to see students and staff blossom with opportunities.

The Thursday, April 18 Amboy School Board Meeting showcased some of those new directions.

Seniors Maeve Larson and Madison O’Malley presented to the board for a requirement in their Pathways nursing program.

“They talked about their experience. They’re trying to get their Pathways endorsement on their transcript,” said Amboy Superintendent Josh Nichols. “They have to do a presentation and they did theirs on vaping.

“They were originally going to give the presentation on Pink Night, but I canceled Pink Night because of bad weather. They did a great job. They’re working with Lutheran Social Services to bring their Hidden in Plain Sight Program to Amboy.”

Also in open forum, Sauk Valley Community College’s Lori Martinez spoke about Sauk’s Impact Program and the amount of participation from Amboy High School students.

“These are great opportunities. These are things that you want to do,” Nichols said. “You want to have students that are well prepared and can leave high school and be good, productive citizens. Anything we can do to help make it happen, the better.”

It was noted a year ago the school district was taking demolition bids for the old junior high building.

The board was shocked it had already been a year as the building was demolished in the summer and the property was sold to the City of Amboy, which plan to install a splash pad.

Nichols addressed three water heaters in the high school needing to be replaced soon. They were installed in 2006 and have run their course.

The 2024-25 tentative school calendar was discussed. Next school year looks very similar to this one except a sick day in January is being moved to May. Nichols said in his six years as superintendent he’s had to move the January sick day twice. The move is to use the sick day in a more productive manner.

Opportunities are not just happening for Amboy students as Amboy staff are taking some of their own whether they’re being hired by the district or leaving the district for other paths.

The board accepted the resignations of Sharon Hall (paraprofessional) effective at the conclusion of the 2023-24 school year, custodian Kain Ketchum (custodian) effective Feb. 23, 2024, Patty Kuper (paraprofessional) effective Feb. 27, 2-24, Haylie Barrera (Young Author’s Coordinator at Central School) effective at the end of the 2023-24 school year, and Noah Hansen (ELA teacher at Amboy Junior High) effective at the conclusion of the 2023-24 school year.

“Everybody who is leaving is going off for good opportunities for them,” Nichols said. “We had a young man, Kain Ketchum, as a night custodian and he’s learning how to wield. He wants to be a wielder, so he’s taking his opportunities. Teachers are moving to different cities to advance their careers.

“Everyone is moving to the next level or doing their next thing. That’s what you want people to do. We’d love to keep them around, but if there is a better opportunity for them, they need to run with it.”

The resignations were followed by the hirings of Mark Montavon as a 240-day custodian at Amboy High School, Jennifer Yocum as Central School’s lunchroom supervisor, Michael Kolton as a Amboy Junior High assistant track coach, Cara Milewski as Yount Auther’s Coordinator at Central School, Noah DeLong as a AJH social studies teacher, Cade Sharp as a AHS physical education teacher, and Elizabeth McCullough as a 240-day custodian at Central.