Education

by Brianne Eilers

Board members of the Allamakee Community School District (ACSD) met for a special board meeting Thursday, May 4. The board approved a pay increase of $1.50 per hour for cooks for the summer feeding program. The board also approved the following hirings: Brice Wood as the seventh and eighth grade wrestling coach; Jani Lippert as fifth grade teacher and assistant varsity volleyball coach; and Jeremy Strub as the ninth grade volleyball coach. The recommendation to hire a fourth grade teacher was deleted from the agenda. Also under personnel matters, the board approved an equal distribution of TSS carry-over money to all staff that are eligible, depending on full-time equivalence.

The Northeast Iowa Community College (NICC) Waukon Center’s third annual Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Mathematics (STEAM)-themed summer camp, “Makerspace Camp,” will be held June 5-7 from 8 a.m.-4 p.m.

Students entering fifth through seventh grades this fall are welcome to attend this free and fun-filled camp where they will be learning to collaborate, create, invent, tinker, explore and discover. Participants in this STEAM camp will experiment with 3D printing, video creation, interactive virtual reality, Oculus Rift, coding, robots and engineering. Together, they will innovate and share ideas, equipment and knowledge while applying discoveries to make their community better. The experience ends with the presentation of a video portfolio that summarizes the students’ makerspace journey.

The Northeast Iowa Choral Directors Association Fifth and Sixth Grade Honor Choir was held Tuesday, April 25 at the Williams Performing Arts Center in Oelwein. The concert took place at 7 p.m. and was open to the public. Mr. Aaron Hansen and Mrs. Luanne Rogers were the guest directors for the two choirs. Thirty-six area schools and churches participated, involving a total of 251 students. Mrs. Sarah Schacherer, PreK-6 general music teacher for the Allamakee Community School District, was honored to take the following singers, pictured above, to the event: Left to right - Fifth graders Keira Miller, Olivia Bossom and Natalie Byrnes, sixth graders Paige Hansmeier and Grace Solberg, and fifth graders Justin Murphy, Caleb Perkins and Rowen Althof. Submitted photo.
 

Community came together once again at East Elementary Kids Club in Waukon, this time to put on a Bike Rodeo for students. Ashley Christensen of Upper Explorerland Regional Planning Commission, Andrew Blair of Northeast Iowa Food & Fitness Initiative, Karen Cooper, Traci Byrnes and Barb Shull from the local RAGBRAI® Ride Right Committee, and Tami Gebel, Stef Perkins and Nicki Smedsrud from the Parent Group PSST (Parents Supporting Students and Teachers) all participated in making it an enjoyable and educational event. Hardees in Waukon donated cookie coupons to participants, and students from Waukon Middle School also joined the Kids Club group for the day. Students learned the proper way to approach another bicyclist, pass and ride an obstacle course. They were also able to make smoothies with the Bicycle Blender.

Waukon High School Prom and Post Prom were held Saturday, April 29. This year's theme for the Prom dance held in the Waukon Middle School gym was "A Night Under the Stars" with Parker Lane providing the music. The Post Prom committee provided a photo booth and prizes every 15 minutes during the dance, with prizes including gift certificates to local restaurants, theaters and baseball organizations and a $100 cash drawing at 11 p.m. for students that were present through the entire dance, won by Waukon High School junior Landon Berns (pictured at right). Students also enjoyed an ice cream bar, a dance cam and board games in the cafeteria.

St. Patrick School in Waukon recently hosted a Jump Rope for Heart event to raise money for the American Heart Association. Students collected pledges and performed their Jump Rope for Heart activities April 4 and April 6 in their Physical Education (PE) classes under the direction of David Miller. New additions to the Jump Rope for Heart event this year included trampolines and pogo sticks (pictured above and at right). All Junior Kindergarten through sixth grade students at St. Patrick School participated in the event and helped raise over $1,300 for the American Heart Association. Submitted photos.

Thea Meyer, a 2015 graduate of Waukon High School and the daughter of Don and Mary Meyer of Waukon, was awarded the Emma Meiners-Emerson/Alice Emerson-Hart Scholarship for Excellence in Teaching Elementary Education at the Upper Iowa University 2017 Honors and Awards Recognition Banquet held April 8 in Fayette. This scholarship is awarded to a student with a grade point average (GPA) of 3.75 or higher and majoring in Elementary Education who is also a native of northeast Iowa. Meyer is pictured in the center of the above photo at the banquet with scholarship presenters Dean and Alice Hart (left and right, respectively). Submitted photo.

Ten future business leaders from Upper Iowa University (UIU) attended the recent State Leadership Conference in Ames. The Phi Beta Lambda (PBL) Chapter members showcased their skills and knowledge, and for their efforts the UIU students earned first place for the largest percentage increase in chapter membership (43 percent) and second-place honors for their local chapter annual business report.

Lynn Isvik, UIU PBL Chapter adviser, noted that for the first time a student from a UIU Center competed as a member of the virtual chapter team. Rick Johnson, a student at UIU-Des Moines Center, placed first in Justice Administration and Sports Management & Marketing, and third in Organizational Behavior.

Saturday, April 8, several fifth and sixth grade band students from the Allamakee Community School District (ACSD) traveled to Cedar Rapids to perform in the Coe College Honor Band. They had the opportunity to play under the direction of Robert W. Smith, who is recognized worldwide as a composer of music for bands. The students rehearsed all day and then performed a concert in the evening for a full house. Pictured above, left to right, are participating sixth grade ACSD students Kianna Krueger, Kylie Keilsmeier, Bailey Sherman and Cody Huinker. Pictured below are participating fifth grade ACSD students: Left to right - Front row: Ethan Lewey, Owen Luster. Back row: Kyrie Snitker, Brooklyn Ottaway, Hayden Holzwarth. Submitted photos.

Lukas Larson grew up watching his grandfather and father use a welder to make repairs on farm machinery and semi-trucks and always enjoyed using his hands to build and fix things. As a student at Waukon High School, Larson decided to get a head start and put those skills to the test.

He completed a career pathway certificate from Northeast Iowa Community College’s (NICC) Welding program, and is now qualified for employment in advanced manufacturing. He accomplished all of this during his junior year.
In 2016, Larson enrolled in the Northeast Iowa Career Learning Link program, which assists high school juniors and seniors in northeast Iowa in the development of career goals.

“Northeast Iowa Community College is so close to my high school that I took advantage of the opportunity right away,” said Larson, who also took several concurrent enrollment courses to earn college credit.