Education

Wed
16
May

After School Clover Kids were busy as bees at May meeting ...

After School Clover Kids became busy bees in May learning about beekeeping. Makayla Manning of Waukon led the May meeting with showing her own beekeeper suit (pictured in photo above right) and bee hive smoker (pictured in bottom photo). She explained how the suit protects her from stings and the smoker makes the bees sleepy. Once the bees become defenseless, the beekeeper can safely work with the bee hives. Clover Kids made their own bees with small batteries and tooth brush heads. They then tried to navigate their bee through the gardens and orchards pollinating the flowers (pictured in center photo). Afterward, everyone did the bee waggle dance, which is the choreographed dance bees use to communicate and instruct the rest of the hive where to find a food source.

Wed
16
May

ACSD Board of Directors approves heating system analysis at East Elementary School following discovery of pipe leak

by Brianne Eilers

The Allamakee Community School District (ACSD Board of Directors held a special meeting Tuesday morning, May 8. One item was struck from the original agenda for the meeting, that being the recommendation to approve an offered but not taught exemption for the Health II course.

Under personnel matters, the board approved hiring Patrick Mahr as additional summer maintenance help at 28.75 hours per week, and approval was also given to the transfer of Josh Hager from his current night custodian position to the day custodian position at Waukon High School. The board also hired Sarah Ferguson as the PK-5 art/computer teacher and Joanne Ericson as the 7-12 business/technology teacher. Approval was also given by the board to the distribution of Teacher Salary Supplement (TSS) carry-over money to all eligible staff, based on full-time employment of staff members.

Wed
09
May

Smith is recipient of Beckwith Scholarship


Nathan Smith ... Photo by Elisha Marti.

Nathan Smith, a 2018 graduating senior of Waukon High School and the son of Rev. Duane and Cristina Smith of Waukon, has been awarded the F. William Beckwith Scholarship from the Iowa Grocers Education Foundation. The scholarship is a $2,000 award for the 2018-2019 school year and has been forwarded to Calvary University in Kansas City, MO, where Smith will be pursuing a degree in Computer Science. The scholarship is awarded to qualifying students who are employees of firms that are members of the Iowa Grocery Industry Association, with Smith being an employee of the Fareway Food Store in Waukon.

 

Wed
09
May

Receives Linked in the Library with iPads grant ...

The East Elementary School Library in Waukon was recently awarded the Linked in the Library with iPads grant in the amount of $4,955.88. The grant was written by Allamakee Community School District Teacher Librarian Lisa Snitker through the CenturyLink Clarke M. Williams Foundation’s Teachers and Technology grants program designed to help fund projects that advance student success through the innovative use of technology. Snitker is pictured at left in the above photo with CenturyLink Regional Operations Supervisor Jonathan Herbst at the grant presentation. Linked in the Library with iPads will consist of library skills lessons in grades three through five, where students will use iPads throughout the year to create and complete innovative digital projects that bring learning outside the library walls. School libraries are no longer a place where students simply come to listen to a story and check out a book.

Wed
09
May

Letter to the Editor: Celebrate Teacher Appreciation Week with a small but mighty gesture

Kindness, patience, encouragement, creative, dedicated, innovative, passionate, enthusiastic, determined and caring. These words are ones that come to mind when I think back on the teachers who have made an impact on my life.

Mrs. Pyle, Mrs. Willman, Mr. Schultz, Mr. Keith and Mrs. Dohlman. These people spent countless hours working to ensure I left high school prepared to tackle the challenges I would face and ensure I would be a positive contributor to society.

As we celebrate Teacher Appreciation Week May 7-12, I reflect on those teachers who made an impact on my life. I wonder if the teachers I have had the pleasure to learn from know just how much they have contributed to my successes in life. I spent well over 15,000 hours with these people and yet, I am not sure I ever really expressed my appreciation for all they did.

Wed
02
May

Allamakee Community School District AALP students participate in Wind Energy Challenge ...

Students in the Allamakee Community School District’s (ACSD) Allamakee Accelerated Learning Program (AALP) recently took part in a Wind Energy Challenge hosted by Keystone Area Education Agency (AEA) in Elkader Tuesday, April 17. The event gives students a chance to apply their knowledge of wind energy and engineering skills to design a wind turbine. Student teams designed and built a working wind turbine and developed a display to further explain their project, with the projects being tested for energy output.

Wed
02
May

Waukon High School and Allamakee Scholarship Fund to present 2018 Senior Awards Program May 8

Tuesday, May 8 at 7 p.m., the Senior Awards Program for the Waukon High School Class of 2018 will be held in the Waukon High School Auditorium. All students, parents and families, and community members are invited to attend.

Allamakee Scholarship Fund, Inc. and many community groups will present awards that evening. In addition, honors and achievements by Waukon High School Class of 2018 members will be recognized. Any organization presenting an award needs to contact Amy Wasson at Waukon High School to confirm program information and inclusion in the program by Tuesday, May 1.
 

Wed
02
May

NICC demonstrates importance of STEM education at April 12 festival for families


Youth and families experience STEM ... Area youth and their families were introduced to the world of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) in hands-on fashion during the April 12 Family STEM Festival hosted at Northeast Iowa Community College (NICC) in Calmar. Nearly 450 youth and family members (some of whom are pictured above and below) attended the event, which emphasized the importance of STEM education and offered insight and hands-on working demonstrations regarding careers in STEM. Submitted photos.

If enthusiasm for science and technology is any indication, educators should not be too concerned about young students’ interest in STEM activities and career fields. Nearly 450 children and family members from across northeast Iowa attended the April 12 Northeast Iowa Family STEM Festival held at the Northeast Iowa Community College (NICC) Calmar campus.

Twenty-five community organizations, colleges and businesses served as exhibitors and offered children hands-on, working demonstration STEM exhibits to introduce the next generation of thinkers to STEM and high-demand career fields. The NICC Calmar campus hosted the event through a partnership with the Northeast Region of the Iowa Governor’s STEM Advisory Council.

Wed
25
Apr

Kee graduate Colin Brennan part of ISU engineering team that creates innovative disaster relief container for 3M challenge


Brennan part of ISU engineering team that competes in 3M challenge ... Members of the Iowa State University engineering team that competed in the inaugural 3M Disruptive Design Challenge in Minneapolis, MN April 13 stand with their completed container right before the team went outside to watch it drop from the crane during the testing phase of the Challenge. Kee High School 2014 graduate Colin Brennan, a senior chemical engineering student at Iowa State, was a member of the eight-student team and is pictured third from the left in the above photo. Photo by Rick Allen of rickallenphoto.com.

Technically speaking ... Colin Brennan, a 2014 graduate of Kee High School currently in his senior year as a chemical engineering major at Iowa State University, delivers a technical presentation for the judges and audience at the inaugural 3M Disruptive Design Challenge in Minneapolis, MN April 13. Brennan was a member of the Iowa State University engineering team that competed in the Challenge. Photo by Rick Allen of rickallenphoto.com.

Iowa State University (ISU) engineering students have developed a new, practical and cost-effective way to drop medical supplies into a disaster area. Among the eight members of that ISU team was Colin Brennan, 2014 Kee High School graduate and son of Marty and Karen Brennan of Lansing.

The team of ISU engineering students competed in the inaugural 3M Disruptive Design Challenge Friday, April 13 at 3M headquarters in St. Paul, MN. Iowa State’s team, which consists of members of the ISU chapter of Engineers for a Sustainable World, went up against students from North Dakota State University, the University of Minnesota and University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Their mission was to create a disaster relief container that could withstand a 150-foot fall (that’s nearly the width of a football field, and 40 feet higher than Iowa State’s Campanile).

Wed
25
Apr

Supporters can donate to Allamakee Scholarship Fund, Inc. during May 10 Great Give Day observance

Allamakee Scholarship Fund, Inc. will be taking part in the observance of Great Give Day Thursday, May 10 in an effort to give supporters an opportunity to donate to its mission of encouraging students of the Allamakee Community School District to reach for and achieve their educational goals. Reorganized from its original Allamakee Dollars for Scholars in 2014, Allamakee Scholarship Fund, Inc. has awarded more than $938,355 in scholarships to 1,531 students in an effort to carry out its mission.

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