Through the wind and snow of the blizzard of 2010, all nine of the Freedom Area School District Board of Directors met on Feb. 11 after four cancelled days of school. I arrived at the middle school surprised to find that the entire board, as well as a few faculty members, were arranged in the dark library after the electricity went out. The board meets regularly in both private and public meetings to discuss all issues in the district; however, do students, or even faculty, know what really happens during a school board meeting? The first orders of business were financial issues: the mundane tasks of approving bills, salaries, and the treasurer’s report. The entire schedule for the use of school facilities was then covered, to my surprise, quite thoroughly. Dr. Sofo, the district’s superintendent, then gave a report. Although the entire district was in focus, the high school appeared to be the major spotlight of the education portion of the agenda. A key concern of the evening was senior year graduation requirements and students leaving school early, due to block scheduling and dual enrollment at Penn State Beaver and CCBC. Dr. Staub suggested that additional required courses may be in place in the near future. Some of these courses may include another PE credit, sexual education, and a senior seminar in which students would work on senior projects and prepare for college. “We are looking at courses such as AP English, as well as other college in high school classes," said Dr. Staub. Although these new requirements may not make some underclassmen happy, some students may be pleased to know that Mrs. Mako was approved as a high school volunteer math coach. A student teacher, Ann Gollapudi, was also approved to be placed with Mr. Rosa and Mr. Shephard this spring. The last items on the agenda for the evening were operations and extra-curricular activities. Funding for many projects were approved, including exterior lighting, new locker room stalls, the completion of practice fields, track resurfacing, a new pool cover and the most important of all: the renovation of the girl’s restrooms on the first floor. To the track and field members’ relief, Mr. Shephard was approved for three more one-year contracts as head coach beginning in the 2010 season. A proposal was also made for the golf team to use Shadow Lakes Golf Course at the same cost in order to keep Mr. Dirk Hartman as a coach. Also, Mark Lyons resigned as Varsity Head Football Coach, and interviews were held to fill his position. It was recently announced that our own Mr. Hernandez was chosen to lead our football team in the 2010 season. In addition, Scott Schweiger was approved as the assistant coach for Varsity Wrestling. Interviews were held, and the meeting was called to an end on the late night, but members were still excited to be part of the Freedom School District. I have found after attending just one meeting that behind students’ playful games in the hallways and fun projects in class, is a professional and well-run school district.