Education

Laura Liechty has joined ISU Extension and Outreach as the Regional Youth and Nutrition Coordinator. She is based in Decorah and will be serving the six northeast Iowa counties of Allamakee, Chickasaw, Clayton, Fayette, Howard and Winneshiek.
Liechty will be coordinating outreach activities for school-based 4-H Food and Fitness teams and youth-led FEEST events, and outreach to families about healthy eating and active living.
Liechty grew up in Madison County and is an Iowa State University alum with Bachelor of Science degrees in Dietetics and Global Resource Systems. She is moving back to Iowa from Duluth, MN, where she worked for the Duluth Public Schools, Head Start and the WIC program as a Registered Dietitian.

The Northeast Iowa Food and Fitness Initiative, or FFI, in partnership with Luther College in Decorah are accepting applications for the anticipated 2014-15 AmeriCorps positions.
The AmeriCorps service members will join a team of enthusiastic people working in more than 16 schools throughout northeast Iowa to promote healthier school environments. Members will serve one or two districts within northeast Iowa as they integrate healthy living into school culture through modeling and education.
Members will develop youth leadership programs and deepen community investment in local healthy food access and opportunities for physical activity. As part of their service, members will support school gardens, encourage Safe Routes to School and integrate Farm to School activities across their assigned district.

by Carmen Wille,
FFA Chapter Reporter

by Brianne Eilers

A pair of area students have been chosen as scholarship recipients from the Iowa Division of Midwest Dairy Association. Scholarship applicants are evaluated on their participation in leadership and academic activities, reference letters, personal essays and involvement in the dairy industry.
Sabrina Duvel of Postville and Bobbi Jo Wild of Lansing are among the 23 students to be awarded a $1,000 scholarship from the organization’s 2014 Education Awards program, an annual initiative to financially assist college students from a dairy background. The association awarded $23,000 in scholarship money for Iowa students enrolled in the upcoming 2014-15 school year.

Allamakee Community School District teachers purchased a tree in memory of Gretchen Stangeland, who was a school nurse in the district for 19 years prior to her retirement in 2003 and who passed away in November of 2012. That tree was planted on the last day of classes in the district for the 2013-2014 school year, Monday, June 2, in front of West Elementary School in Waukon. Pictured above at the tree planting is the second grade class from Mrs. Jenette Schulte's classroom along with Bryce Koenig and Tom O'Neill of Skyline Landscaping. Submitted photo.

The East Elementary Academic Award is given each year to those sixth grade students who have been on the "A" Honor Roll for all eight semesters they have attended East Elementary School in Waukon. This year those sixth grade students, pictured left to right with East Elementary School Principal Ann Hart, include: Abbie Brainard, Owen Halverson, Brady Beyer, Tyler Block and Logan Van Ruler. Absent when photo was taken: Brock Hatlan. Submitted photo.

The Allamakee Community School District (ACSD) is participating in the Free Summer Food Service Program again this year. Menus, such as those accompanying this article, will also be posted online and at the meal sites. Breakfast and lunch will be provided to all children ages one through graduating seniors for free and are the same for all children regardless of race, color, national origin, sex, age or disability, and there will be no discrimination in the course of the meal service.
Meals will be provided at the sites and times as follows:
• Waukon Junior High School Cafeteria: Mondays-Fridays, June 3-27 and July 28-August 8. Breakfast will be served from 8-9 a.m. and lunch will be served from 11:15 a.m. - 12:45 p.m.
• Harpers Ferry Community Center: Mondays-Fridays, June 3-27 and July 28-August 8. Breakfast will be served from 8-9 a.m. and lunch will be served from 11 a.m-noon.

by Brianne Eilers

Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) recently announced that his aide, Suellen Flynn, will visit Allamakee County Tuesday, June 10 as part of a summer tour highlighting Harkin’s partnership with Iowa communities through the years. The “In the Footsteps of History” tour will include all Iowa counties and feature local projects aimed at keeping Iowa communities healthy and safe, keeping communities thriving through targeted education, research, and economic development projects and promoting local agriculture and conservation, while mitigating disasters.
Flynn will meet with administrators at the Allamakee Community School District at approximately 10:30 a.m., followed by a tour of Waukon High School to see firsthand how schools in the district have benefited from the Iowa Demonstration Construction Grant Program, better known as “Harkin Grants.”