The Panther Valley School Board welcomed and applauded state wrestling champ Brenda Banks to their meeting Wednesday night.

Board President Daniel Matika also read a certificate of recognition from state Sen. David Argall on her achievement bringing home the gold in the 2023 MyHouse PA Girls State Wrestling Championships on Sunday.

The board, along with district staff, also presented the freshman wrestler with a gift, and jokingly reminded her she had three more years to bring back titles.

Panther Valley wrestling coach Kris Nalesnik said that while Banks tends to be shy in front of people, she is a different person as soon as she’s on a wrestling mat.

“As you can see the past two weeks with these tournaments, there is no one that can stand in her way when she wants to achieve a goal,” he said. “It’s just unbelievable how well she performed, how she kept her composure through adversity and has made this district proud with all her accomplishments.”

In other business, the board approved the following:

Resignations of Maria Szczecina, elementary school teacher, effective the end of 2022-23 school year, and Scott Weiss, effective Aug. 4, both for retirement; and Canniel Yuhas, junior-senior high school Spanish teacher, effective March 31.

• Conferences totaling $1,341 for Roxanne Person, state Music Educators Conference, and Robert Palazzo, PAFPC Conference, both are in April.

• Courses for Dennis DeCarlo, three credits at Carbon-Lehigh Intermediate Unit No. 21, fall session, Classroom Management for the 21st Century, $90/credit; Jennifer Jones, three credit courses at Wilkes University, Functions of Literacy and Literacy and Literature, $516/credit; Robert Palazzo, three credits, King’s College, District Leadership Field Experience, $448/credit.

• Spring athletic coaches for 2022-23 school year: Ryan DeLong, $1,800, and volunteers Thomas Goida, Donna Malaska and Syndey Clouser, softball; and Casey Hedash, volunteer, baseball.

Booster clubs for baseball and softball.

• New football uniforms for $15,000 for the 2023-24 school year.

• A full-page advertisement in the 2023 Carbon County Sports Hall of Fame Program.

• The sale of property by the Carbon County Tax Claim Bureau that is in the “repository for unsold properties,” Parcel No. 122A1-25-C22-Vacant Land in Lansford and the reputed owner is Russell A. Heffelfinger. The bidder is Lansford Alive, Inc., for $1,000.

• Chaperones/volunteers for the 2022-23 school year, effective immediately: Jessica Boemer, Darlene Maier, Corrine Richter, Beverly Schiano, Timothy Smith, all clearances on file.

• Social Emotional Professional Development Workshop run by CLIU No. 21, for teachers in June. Teachers and paraprofessionals will receive their contracted hourly stipend.

• Staff for the Pre-kindergarten Summer Program at the elementary school from July 24 to Aug. 4 at the contracted rates. Teachers include Tina Frets, Jill Horn, Melissa Gilbert and Stefanie Palina, and paraprofessionals, Deb Nevenglosky, Deb Schaller, Rebecca Chuma and Sarah Cullen.

• Memorandum of understanding with Lehigh Valley Children’s Center Inc.

• Teachers for the Keystone Boot Camp After School Tutoring Program April 3 to May 12 for one/two days a week for an hour each day at the contracted rate of $40 an hour. They include: Ryan DeLong, biology; Jen Maynard, algebra, Kim Laird, literature.

First reading and revisions/adoptions of policies: No. 137 to 137.3, Home Education Programs, Extracurricular Participation by Home Education Students, Participation in Career and Technical Education Programs by Home Education Students; No. 146.1, Trauma-informed Approach, and No. 709.1, Use of Metal Detectors.

• Full-time permanent status to Dennis DiCarlo, elementary physical education teacher, effective immediately.

• Intergovernmental agreement for special education services with CLIU No. 21 for 2023-24 school year.