Lunchtime with Rayle

On Tuesday, the Clay County Indiana Chamber of Commerce held a lunch with Superintendent Dr. Tim Rayle of the Clay Community Schools.

With a quick wit and charm, Rayle was excited to share the great news at Clay Community School Corporation.

“First of all, those of you who came to see Jeff Fritz, he has retired to enjoying his grandbaby. So if you need to get up and go,” said Rayle while introducing himself and Assistant Superintendent Brady Scott. “We’re here to thank you for our partnership with the chamber and its members for years. We couldn’t accomplish this without the things we do together with the community’s support.”

Rayle said it was a great collaborative effort among the 1,021 staff members and the 4,074 students, making CCS a great place with people who care about students. A photo showing the employees on the first day of school was presented to the crowd.

“One of my favorites in this whole thing is right here,” said Rayle. “That’s Journey our therapy dog at Van Buren Elementary. Journey joined us that day, and she has been a hit with everyone since day one.”

Rayle also praised the School Board of Trustees for their dedication.

“In case you haven’t paid attention to any media whatsoever and have been living in bliss. We currently are in one of the craziest times ever politically. There are school systems that cannot get people to run for school board or be appointed board,” said Rayle. “We have seven very good board members that stepped up and look out for our kids, employees, and the community.”

While a national trend shows that student enrollment is declining, Rayle said that is not true in Clay County. Enrollment this year was up 203 students, and Rayle hopes it continues to climb.

In early August, Rayle was excited to announce that families will not have to pay for textbooks, breakfast, or lunches for all students during the upcoming school year.

“We are ensuring every student has the resources they need to thrive,” Rayle echoed again at Tuesday’s meeting. “With free breakfast and lunch, every child can start their day, ensuring they have the energy and focus they need to make the most out of their education, and their families are better off financially.”

The most exciting, said Rayle, is the addition of three “Snow Days” for teachers to participate in professional development.

“The first one was this Monday. It wasn’t snowing, but a fun day off for students. Even though it’s hot out, hopefully, students could stay home and enjoy the day being a kid,” said Rayle. “I got to be a kid when I went through school, and I want our kids to have that same experience where everything doesn’t have to be serious.”

Rayle said that Clay Community Schools is a huge part of this community’s identity, “Whether it’s a basketball or volleyball game, you see the entire community coming out.”

According to the Indiana Department of Education, Clay Community School students are at or above the state learning standards.

“If you didn’t know, we have great teachers,” said Rayle. “They really care about their students’ success.”

Extracurricular activities are important for physical and social well-being but also for the emotional well-being of students.

“I can’t say enough about whether it’s band, choir, sports, you name it, and I’ll tell you I have a dream,” said Rayle. “I would love to get eSports in our schools, for those who don’t know what eSports are. Some of our kids and some teachers are gamers. Our new police chief, Josh Clark, is a gamer, too. It would be great if we could get our police chief to be the sponsor for eSports. I think that’d be pretty cool. Students earn college scholarships, and there are college teams.”

Rayle said the CCS has multiple success stories of student graduates.

“I tell you this: every single kid that graduates and becomes a contributing member of this or any community is a success story. If they are a contributing member contributing to whatever community they are living in, that is a success story, and we have 1,000s of those.”