Evangeline Parish School Board discusses cross curricula and Parent Empowerment and Community Engagement Day As reported by Mallory Moser Evangeline Parish School Board Meeting September 18, 2019 The Evangeline Parish School Board Wednesday heard from Lisa Jack on how the new curriculum allows for cross-curricula in ELA (English-Language Arts) and Social Studies. This presentation came at the request of Board President, Wayne Dardeau. Ms. Jack explained that with this curriculum, textbooks have been replaced with text sources such as articles, graphs, videos, maps, etc. This curriculum requires a lot of preparation by the teachers, but Ms. Jack says that she loves it- it's applicable to real life for the students and she and the other teachers are able to come together to plan as a team to lessen the amount of work on the individual. Ms. Jack's thoughts on the matter were echoed by Curriculum and Operational Facilitator in Science and Social Studies, Anita West, and Basile High School science teacher, Kenneth Kidder during their requested presentation on why textbooks do not drive the curriculum Ms. West led the presentation by informing the Board on the changes the State of Louisiana has made to the curriculum standards for Science and stated that there is no textbook out there to meet these new standards. Much like what Ms. Jack stated in her presentation, Mr. Kidder and Ms. West spoke about how first and secondary sources, articles, and videos are being used in lessons and any textbook that is in the classroom is used as a supplement. Simply stated, the textbooks are not being used. Mr. Dardeau expressed some concern about how much work this seems to be for the teachers and how the concern is about teacher burnout. Ms. West and Mr. Kidder both stated that Ms. West's role as Facilitator has greatly helped to take the burden off of the teachers. Superintendent Darwan Lazard further stated that with curriculums that are not constantly changing, the focus is on preparing the students to perform at a high level and that they remain committed to supporting the teachers to ensure that they have the help and resources they need to keep everyone performing at their best. Special Education Director, Kelli Lafleur gave a presentation on the creation of a Special Education Advisory Panel. The Evangeline Parish Special Education Advisory Panel (Evangeline SEAP) will consist of eight (8) panel members, four parents of exceptional children, two Evangeline Parish district employees, and two community stakeholders appointed for a one-year term. The panel will meet three times a year. Applications will be accepted until Friday, October 25, 2019. Accepted applicants will be notified of their selection. In the closing statements of the meeting, Superintendent Lazard spoke about the upcoming EPSB Title I Parent Empowerment and Community Engagement Day which will be held at the Ville Platte North Side Civic Center on September 27th, 2019 at 9:00 a.m. There will be games, educational programs, and over $13,000 in cash prizes to give away. He also congratulated Ville Platte High School on their victory against Sacred Heart High School in the Tee Cotton Bowl. The next Evangeline Parish School Boar