10-17-12 —     Guest speakers brought literacy characters to life during the monthly Wayne County Board of Education meeting, which was held on Thursday, October 11 at the Wayne County Middle School.

    Board members learned more about the 21st Century CARE Center's Lights on After School Spotlight on Literacy. They toured the literacy showcase on the first floor of the Wayne County Middle School, which included student work and decorations highlighting the virtues of literacy.

    Posters of local residents with their favorite reading material were displayed and students dressed in costume portraying their favorite book characters ranging from Mary Poppins to Scarlett O'Hara to Anne of Green Gables.

    Wayne County High School senior Zach Abbott portrayed Voltaire, a French nobleman from the 1700s, while classmate Nicholas Kidd offered a scene from "The Cask of Amontillado" by Edgar Allen Poe.

    Since the  middle school served as the host for the meeting, the board received an instructional program update about the transition at the school to become a sixth through eighth grade building.

    The board also took care of several business matters during the meeting. They agreed to refinance two existing bond issues at a lower rate, which will realize a savings of $300,000 over the life of the bonds.

    The two bond issues that were refinanced were the bonds of 2003 for the energy conservation project and the bonds of 2005 for the middle school project.

    In other action, the board:

    • Approved an out-of-state trip for the Wayne County Band to Orlando, Fla. April 2-6.

    • Selected two students names to submit as nominees for the KSBA First Degree college scholarships.