program with Norton’s Health where we do virtual medical appointments and clinic appointments,” explains McKay. “Our school nurses were trained in that, and they know how to use the equipment and do the assessment in conjunction with the medical professional that’s on virtual.”This program proves particularly valuable for families facing transportation challenges, as McKay points out: “It allows our students who normally wouldn’t be able to find transportation to get to a doctor to be seen right there within our school building.” ARTS AND INNOVATION: WHERE CREATIVITY MEETS EDUCATION The Madison Fine Arts Academy highlights the district’s innovative spirit, offering students diverse creative pathways. “Our students love it. We participate in theatre, instrumental vocal, and we have a civic arts pathway,” says Slygh. “The state of Indiana requires students to complete a pathway to graduate, so we’ve adopted a civic arts pathway that students can work through our fine arts program to receive their high school diploma.” The theatre department’s excellence earned them a rare distinction – they were selected as the only school in Indiana to perform Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. The district’s artistic vision reaches beyond traditional performances through a unique partnership with renowned sculptor Dale Rogers. “Dale Rogers visited, gave a presentation to our high school students, and spent time in classrooms answering questions,” explains Ashley Schutte, the Communications Coordinator. This collaboration led to an innovative community project featuring the “Birdman” sculpture at a new shopping center. The project bridges multiple disciplines, as Schutte describes: “Eric Phagan will work with junior high students to create mini sculptures. They were able to tour downtown and, through learning about our community, picked something special, drew it, and then our high school welding students and engineering students are taking that from their 2D design to the engineering department.” The project showcases the district’s skill at integrating various educational disciplines. “Our high school students will create mini sculptures to match the type of work that Dale Rogers does that will be placed throughout our community as kind of a virtual scavenger hunt,” says Schutte.These artistic initiatives thrive thanks to aggressive grant pursuit. “A lot of these things are possible because we have been getting grants,” Dr. Brown explains.“We’ve been really pursuing any kind of grant funding to help us make all of these innovative ideas happen because clearly you don’t want money to be the obstacle. We’ve gotten more than $2 million in grants over the last 18 months that have allowed us to fund a number of these things.” 4 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 06, ISSUE 03
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