Howard speaks at Chamber Luncheon

Mon, 08/31/2015 - 1:18pm — Diane Dyer

The Morgantown Butler County Chamber of Commerce held its monthly luncheon at the Butler County Extension Office. The meal was sponsored by the Butler County Board of Education and Superintendent Scott Howard was the guest speaker.
Howard started off by giving an update on the 2015-16 school year.
“Our total number of students is 2,145; that is down a little from the past,” said Howard. “We operate on a 15-million dollar budget, employ between 300-350 people, and have 30 new employees this year.”
The new CEP Program (free breakfast and lunch) is doing well, according to Howard, with more students eating breakfast than ever before. The district is also preparing to start renovation projects. New safe-entry ways will be put in place at Morgantown Elementary, Butler County Middle School and Butler County High School.
“The high school will get all new bathrooms, paint, new parking lot and lights, new seating in the gym and auditorium,” said Howard.
Howard shared information about Leader In Me, a new program at Morgantown Elementary. The program promotes responsibility and leadership skills.
“We are very excited about the program, which will be added at North Butler next year and then the middle school,” said Howard. "We want to do everything we can to help students prepare for the workforce.”
Howard shared thoughts and goals from author Aric Bostick’s book Fired Up! Success.
“Anybody who knows me knows I am about loving kids. Give me a teacher that loves kids and I can do the rest. A teacher that doesn’t love kids doesn’t need to be in our district,” added Howard.
Howard spoke about:
•    What Fuels Your Passion!
•    Inventories Your Strengths and what has to Improve!
•    Reframe any “Isn’t it Awful” to “Isn’t it AWESOME!
•    Energize Your Mind, Body and Spirit through diet, exercise and a balanced LIFE!
•    Understand how to treat others how they want to be treated!
•    Present Your FIRED UP Best!
“My favorite quote from all of this is, The tough situation you live in doesn’t have to live in you,” said Howard.
He also spoke about reading an article from the Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital stating that more babies are being born drug addicted than ever before and dealing with this in the school setting.