It's been a great start to the school year with students back in full swing for the 2024-2025 school year. As our students and staff ease into this new school year, we are excited about the wonderful memories being made, the awesome educational opportunities being shared, and the potential to continue to grow North Putnam. We encourage our community members to get involved in our school corporation through the various volunteer opportunities that exist, or by attending school events and showing your support through your active participation and involvement in our schools. Below are a handful of ways you can get involved with our schools:

If you can read, and can spare about 30 minutes/month, we want you to come be a guest reader at one of our elementary schools. Reading aloud to kids has clear cognitive benefits. The landmark study Becoming a Nation of Readers report from 1985 concluded that “the single most important activity for building knowledge for their eventual success in reading is reading aloud to children.” While our teachers read to our students each week, having a guest creates additional excitement for our students. If you would like to join our volunteer reading crew, please complete this form.

Our 21st Century Scholars Mentor program is at the high school level. The high school is always looking for mentors who can meet bimonthly with a small group of students. Mentors would receive some training from experienced mentors before being given a group of students. Mentors would develop relationships with students and assist them as they continue through their high school career. If you would be interested in mentoring a small group of high school students, please contact Mr. Scott Spencer via email at sspencer@nputnam.k12.in.us.

The athletic department would appreciate anyone willing to help at athletic events. Taking tickets, announcing, and running the clock/scoreboard are some items the athletic department needs help with to make events run smoothly. If you would be willing to help with any of these, please email Mr. Bart Jochim (bjochim@nputnam.k12.in.us) or Ricki Campbell (rcampbell@nputnam.k12.in.us) to gather more information.

Over the next several months we will be highlighting many of our new faculty and staff members found within North Putnam Community Schools!

My name is Alexa Williams and I am so excited to be joining North Putnam as a 4th grade teacher for Roachdale Elementary. I'm from Pittsboro and graduated this last spring from Ball State University. I chose North Putnam because having a community and a strong relationship with staff, students, and their families is important to me. North Putnam felt like just the place to have that! I love to go out with my parents and brothers, spend time at home with my cat, watch disney movies, or go spend time outdoors. Thank you for letting me join the North Putnam family. Cougar Proud!

Hello my name is Ginger Claycomb and I am the new JAG Specialist at North Putnam Middle School this year. Middle School JAG is a new leadership program designed to help students in grades 7-8 transition to high school. The Middle School Program will deliver a competency-based curriculum that prepares students for high school through leadership, skills development, career association, and project-based learning. I truly feel this will be a great program for the children and I am blessed to be a part of it. A little bit about myself; I am a NP Graduate- class of 2005, I have been married for 15 years, I am a mother of 2 children- Bethany a 5th grader at Roachdale Elementary and Tristan an 8th grader at North Putnam Middle School. Before taking on this position as the new JAG Specialist I was an Instructional Assistant here at North Putnam Middle School for 2 years. Prior to working at NPMS I was a director for a daycare for 7 years. . As you can tell, working with kids is my passion and I truly feel at home here at North Putnam Middle School!

Jessica is a new Instructional Assistant at Roachdale Elementary School. Jessica is married and has six children and two grandchildren. She chose to work at North Putnam because it's close to her home and five of her children attend the North Putnam School District. She currently has three students at Roachdale, one in the middle school, and one in the high school. Her favorite down time activity is relaxing!

This July, Heather Conner and Sumer Ramsey participated in an intensive week-long training with the Indiana Literacy Cadre, engaging in seminars led by leading literacy experts from across the country. They had the opportunity to learn from renowned figures such as Dr. Julia Lindsey, author of Reading Above the Fray, and Dr. Linda Cavasos, an expert in English Language Learners.

The role of a literacy coach is to implement a one-to-one coaching cycle, identifying a need based on Indiana Academic Standards and focused on student outcomes. Coaching involves collaborating with classroom teachers to set specific goals based on student data and designing plans to meet these objectives. Together, we analyze data, identify learning gaps, and develop strategies based on the Science of Reading to address them. By keeping student progress at the core, instruction is targeted at improving student learning. The Indiana Literacy Cadre provides a network of support to Heather and Sumer through frequent check-ins, continual professional development sessions, and providing literacy resources that will be available to our primary Bainbridge and Roachdale teachers.

Heather is married to Brent and has 2 children. She has taught in the corporation for 18 years in 5th grade, 6th grade, 2nd grade, and special education. She has a zest for learning new things and working with students to help them excel. She also enjoys spending time with her family and watching her children play sports.

Sumer is married to Mark and has six children. She has most recently taught second grade and developed a deep interest in learning more about the Science of Reading while working towards her master’s degree last school year and helping her students become more fluent in their reading abilities.

We are proud to partner with Hendricks Regional Health who provides our Athletic Trainer at North Putnam High/Middle School and our nurses throughout the corporation. We would like to thank our partners for recently supporting first year teacher, Mrs. Toshia Watson at Bainbridge Elementary School. Mrs. Watson was excited to receive her new items to share with her students. Thanks HRH for your continued support of North Putnam Community Schools.

Many of you may know Rick Johnston as the Bearded Painter. A member of the Class of 1987, Rick is a proud NPHS Alumni and community supporter. If you don't know Rick's story, check out the Emmy Award winning story from WTHR news journalist Scott Swan below. Since this story in 2015, Rick has continued to impact the community through the offering of painting classes and the opportunity to hear his story and testimony. Rick is married to his wife Cammie (Alcorn) Johnston (1968 Graduate) and together they have a daughter Lauren (2016 Graduate). Lauren and her husband Joel are the proud parents of two. Rick is extremely active in his Facebook Group, The Bearded Painter, or you can catch him at his studio at 15 West Franklin Street in Greencastle. We would like to thank Rick for his enthusiastic support of North Putnam, and for making a difference in the lives of so many.

North Putnam High School Art teacher, Mrs. Sarah Sims was recently recognized by the Friends of the Park in Putnam County for refreshing a mural that she had painted six years ago. Mrs. Sims placed one of the first pieces of public art in the community with the People Pathways trailhead maker in Limedale. In this design, Mrs. Sims used the logo of the Penn Railroad as her primary design element. In the time since she installed this initial mural, Putnam County has exploded with opportunities to see public art on display.

On September 7th, the Putnam County Mural Project will have its second Mural Festival where locally a mural will be installed on the East wall of a downtown Bainbridge landmark. This piece of artwork will be completed just in time for the Bainbridge Bicentennial Celebration. A mural will also be installed at the Russellville Community Center. To learn more about Putnam Parks and subscribe to their newsletter visit their website located here.

The North Putnam Touchdown Club held their annual cookout on Friday, August 9. This year they added a Touch-a-Truck event that involved more community members and drew a larger crowd. The event was well attended and kids were involved in a multitude of activities from football to face painting, from monster trucks to Kona Ice. DJ BK was spinning tunes all evening long and helped close out the evening with fireworks from Mortonville Fireworks. Thank you goes to the many volunteers and community members who helped make this a success. We especially need to thank Mrs. Rambis for all the time and dedication she puts into the Touchdown Club and for all the efforts to make Friday's event as community focused as possible. Thanks to all who participated and supported our NP programs!

Recently a panel discussion was held at the Kan-Kan Cinema in Indianapolis that allowed state leaders to discuss the various topics in the Joel Fendelman directed, Beth Benedix produced film, "North Putnam". During this conversation state Senator Andrea Hunley, State Representative Beau Baird and other state leaders discussed the importance of rural education and how schools are funded. These substantive conversations represent the purpose of the film. The hope was the film would create a backdrop to illustrate how one community perseveres with the challenges that exist and they hoped to illicit a conversation for change. Recently the film was reviewed by the website AEON, check out the link below. The film has also been selected for the Sidewalk Film Festival to be held next week, and the 2024-2025 Southern Circuit Tour (links below). We hope the conversations that the film illicit leads to positive change in the area of rural education and services for rural communities.

Again this year, all 2024-2025 NPCSC Students get free admission into all HOME contests. Senior citizens in our community can pick up a Senior All-Sports Pass for free admission at North Putnam High School.

For $75 adults in our community may purchase an All-Sports pass to get into all HOME athletic events. Sports passes and free entries are not allowed for North Putnam hosted tournaments and invitationals. For more information contact the athletic office at North Putnam High School.

If you, a business you work for/with, or a business you know would like to sponsor NP Athletics see our info. Please share!

Our sponsorship money is used for purchasing and the upkeep of equipment, uniforms, awards for our student-athletes, and continued free admission to all home athletic events for North Putnam students.

Our swim/dive programs at the high school and middle school have kicked off their annual Fall Mum Fundraiser. If you are interested in purchasing fall mums, follow this link. Mums will be delivered this fall and a pick up time will be communicated as we get closer to the delivery date.

Has Bainbridge been good to your family or profession? Do you want to see our small town thrive for another 200 years?

BIS invites you to participate in the upcoming Bainbridge Bicentennial Celebration through a Family and Legacy Business Sponsorship. For just $50, you can add your family name or former business to a list of those who believe in service, fellowship, and maintaining the Bainbridge Community Building as a key gathering place in northern Putnam County.

How to Donate:

>Mail a check to BIS at 201 N Grant Ave

—or—

>Visit the Putnam County Community Foundation website

>Click Donate in the upper right corner

>Search Bainbridge Improvement Society Endowment

>Type your family name (ex., The Joe Smith Family) or former business (ex., Joe's Garage) in the Additional Information or Tribute Information box