Education

The Waukon High School Music Department has selected "State Fair" as this year's musical production under the direction of Sarah J. Palmer and assistant director Louise Wild. Three performances are being planned for Thursday, November 2 at 7 p.m., Saturday, November 4 at 7 p.m., and a matinee Sunday, November 5 at 1 p.m. The performances will be held at the Waukon High School auditorium.

Imagine that it is the late Summer of 1946 on an Iowa family farm - the Frake family farm in Brunswick, Iowa to be exact. The Frakes are preparing to leave for the Iowa State Fair. Father, Abel (played by Nathan Smith), is confident his prize boar, Blue Boy, will win a blue ribbon, but neighbor, Dave Miller (played by Michael Benson), isn't so sure. He makes a $5 bet that something is bound to go wrong for at least one member of the family. Abel accepts the bet.

The Allamakee Community School District (ACSD) will once again be sponsoring a number of retreats for its students in November. Youth Frontiers, an organization from Minneapolis, MN, will host the retreats. Youth Frontiers is a nonprofit organization in existence since 1987. The group delivered over 861 retreats last year to over 130,000 students from 775 schools.

Youth Frontiers’ retreats act as a catalyst for students.  By taking an entire grade offsite (to Village Creek for ACSD students), Youth Frontiers challenges them to bring respect back to the hallways of the school. These retreats will focus on Kindness, Courage and Respect. Ultimately, students become engaged in making the school a place where students and teachers are respected and both are challenged to learn to maximize their full potential.

Northeast Iowa Community College (NICC) Business and Community Solutions is offering the class “Using Social Media to Ramp Up Holiday Sales” Thursday, November 2 from 6-8 p.m. at the NICC Waukon Center, located at 1220 Third Avenue.

To register for the class (#59536) or for more information, visit www.nicc.edu/solutions or call NICC Business and Community Solutions at 800-728-2256, ext. 399 (Calmar campus) or 563-568-3060 (NICC Waukon Center).
 

Allamakee County will offer the Commercial Ag Weed, Insect and Plant Disease Management Continuing Instruction Course (CIC) for commercial pesticide applicators Wednesday, November 15. The program will be shown at locations across Iowa through the Iowa State University Extension and Outreach Pesticide Safety Education Program (PSEP).

The local attendance site is the Allamakee County Extension Office located at 218 Seventh Avenue SE, Suite #102. Registration begins at 8:30 a.m., and the course runs from 9-11:30 a.m. To register or to obtain additional information about the CIC, contact the ISU Extension and Outreach office in Allamakee County by phoning 563-568-6345.

The course will provide continuing instruction credit for commercial pesticide applicators certified in categories 1A, 1B, 1C and 10. Topics covered will include information on safe handling and storage of pesticides, laws and regulations, personal protective equipment, and pests and pest management.

by Susan Cantine-Maxson

The regular meeting of the Board of Directors of the Eastern Allamakee Community School District was held at Kee High School in Lansing Monday, October 16. The meeting was called to order by Heather Schulte, Board President. The following board members were present: Bobbie Goetzinger, Kelli Mudderman, Bruce Palmborg and Heather Schulte. Board member Melanie Mauss was absent.

Also present at the meeting were Dr. Dale Crozier, Superintendent; Chad Steckel, New Albin Elementary School Principal; and Janet Heiderscheit, Board Secretary. Visitors to the board meeting  included Ray Rankin, Charles Stendell, Owen Henkes, William Mitchell, Kristina Dibert and Brooke Stanley.
After the adoption of the agenda, the usual and customary authorizations were approved: Bills for October, Secretary’s Financial Report for September, Student Activity and Food Service Reports.

Northeast Iowa Community College (NICC) has received two separate invitations to apply for national competitive honors. This combination of honors is only extended to three percent of all U.S. community colleges.

October 11, both the 2019 Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence and the 2019 Siemens Technical Scholars Program each invited NICC to apply for the honors. Only three percent of the approximately 1,100 community colleges in the Unites States, or 33 colleges, are invited to apply for both honors.

The Waukon High School Music Department has selected "State Fair" as this year's musical production under the direction of Sarah J. Palmer and assistant director Louise Wild. Three performances are being planned for Thursday, November 3 at 7 p.m., Saturday, November 5 at 7 p.m., and a matinee Sunday, November 6 at 1 p.m. The performances will be held at the Waukon High School auditorium.

Imagine that it is the late Summer of 1946 on an Iowa family farm - the Frake family farm in Brunswick, Iowa to be exact. The Frakes are preparing to leave for the Iowa State Fair. Father, Abel (played by Nathan Smith), is confident his prize boar, Blue Boy, will win a blue ribbon, but neighbor, Dave Miller (played by Michael Benson), isn't so sure. He makes a $5 bet that something is bound to go wrong for at least one member of the family. Abel accepts the bet.

by Brianne Eilers

The Allamakee Community School District (ACSD) Board of Directors met Monday evening, October 16 for its regular monthly meeting. Board member Patty Nordheim was absent.

During his report, ACSD Superintendent Dave Herold informed the board how things are progressing regarding an insurance claim for the roof over the auditorium and stage area. He noted that all the repairs have been made and they are just waiting on new curtains. He noted that they had received a letter from Shive Hattery on the matter, and they are acting as a go-between for the school and insurance company. He also noted that they have been discussing the matter with the district's attorney.

Sweeney's Village Farm and Home in Waukon has greatly aided in the success of the Little Switzerland FFA Chapter for many years in a variety of different ways. Again this year, they partnered with Red Brand Fencing and the National FFA Organization to donate $1,176  to the local chapter. Red Brand Fencing has been a proud supporter of FFA for 70 years and supports programs through its Home Grown Program. Through the Home Grown Program, for every roll of wire purchased at Village Farm and Home, $1 is donated back to the local FFA chapter. Annually, over 900 chapters from across the nation will receive a donation from the partnership that Red Brand Fencing has to offer. The donated funds will be used toward contest materials, National FFA Convention and other FFA necessities. From 2012 to 2016, Village Farm and Home, with the help of their customers, has provided $5,625 to the Waukon FFA Chapter.

This school year, there are two new fixtures on the playground at Waterville Elementary School - Buddy Benches. The idea behind the Buddy Benches, which are found at school playgrounds all over the world, is when a child has no one to play with or just needs a friend to talk to, they can sit on the bench and other students will know that they need a friend and can go join them. It is a place for friendships to bloom, as states the quote engraved on the benches. The Buddy Benches were constructed by the Waukon High School Industrial Technology class under the guidance of Jed Hemann, with woodworking by Roger Bollman of Volney, and painting by Sharon, Cody, Riley and Hayden Palmer. The benches were made possible by a generous grant from the Waterville Community Foundation to the Waterville Elementary Parents for Progress group, at the request of the school. Submitted photos.