By Stephen Faleski

Special to the News-Herald

The Isle of Wight County School Board elected Hardy District representative Alvin Wilson as this year’s chairman and Newport District representative Vicky Hulick as vice chair on Thursday.

Hulick will also serve on this year’s discipline committee, along with Smithfield District representative Kristin Cook, Windsor District representative Julia Perkins, and Wilson serving as an alternate.

Cook will also serve on this year’s Pruden Center Joint Committee for Control until June, at which time Isle of Wight County Schools will finalize its plans to withdraw from its partnership with the Pruden Center in Suffolk.

Zach Lightfoot, an eighth-grader at Georgie Tyler Middle School, was honored as an Isle of Wight Achiever for his Go-kart and Bandos racing skills.

Lightfoot is a six-time track champion and two-time rookie of the year in Go-karts and Bandos, as well as the 2015 Virginia State Champion in Bandos. He is the only driver in the 65-year history of Langley Speedway to race in two different race cars in the same season and win the track championship in both, which he has done two years in a row.

He has won 47 out of 91 races, which has earned him appearances on the front page of a local newspaper and guest appearances on area TV.

Lightfoot recently appeared on the front and back covers of Let’s Race Magazine, and he was a featured story in the magazine. He joined the Dillion Spain Motorsports race team full-time and will be racing with them in 2017. His next competition will be the Winter Nationals this February in Florida.

The senior of the month for Windsor High School in January is Kate Zabinski, who was recognized for creating a social justice club last year, finding a sponsor and planning the club’s first meetings.

Her English teacher, Luann Scott, had the following to say of Zabinski’s efforts: “Kate is a delight to teach. Her enthusiasm and natural intellectual curiosity make working with her an adventure.”

IWCS’ Human Resources Department is looking into offering an early retirement incentive program and will include a poll on the matter the next time it seeks letters of intent from faculty to see who will return for the next school year.

The board also received a presentation by students from Georgie Tyler Middle School on their American Indian project, during which students were split into groups to create replica artifacts, replica houses, host a powwow and design a brochure for the school’s expo night.