Education

by Brianne Eilers

The Allamakee Community School District (ACSD) Board of Directors met for its regular monthly meeting Monday night, June 18 short one member as board member Tom Baxter had resigned at the end of the board’s previous meeting in May. Later in the meeting, the board formally accepted Baxter’s resignation and appointed Erik Helgerson to finish out Baxter’s term.

The board heard a brief presentation from Allamakee County Emergency Management Coordinator Corey Snitker regarding the County Hazard Mitigation Plan. Snitker explained that he hoped the district would adopt the Hazard Mitigation Plan with a resolution. The plan is a five-year plan and has been approved by FEMA. The board did approve the resolution later in the meeting.

The Allamakee Community School District hosted its annual Employee Recognition event Tuesday, May 29 at the Waukon Middle School gymnasium for all employees of the school district. The event featured the honoring of school district employees who have achieved milestone tenures of 15, 20, 25, 35, 40 and 45 years of service to the school district, as well as 12 staff members who are retiring from the school district, including Allamakee Community School District Superintendent Dave Herold. Some of those employees are pictured in the surrounding photos. Additional photos are available in the print

Additional photos from this event are available in the June 13 edition of The Standard. Pick up this week's print edition or subscribe to our e-edition by clicking here.
 

Waukon High School 2018 graduates Laurel Keenan and Nathan Smith have been awarded the F. William Beckwith Scholarship through the Iowa Grocers Education Foundation for the 2018-2019 academic year. The two were each chosen for the $2,000 scholarship from an applicant pool of more than 360 students.

IGEF scholarships are awarded based on academic merit to young adults who work for an Iowa Grocery Industry Association member company (either full-time or part-time)  or to sons and daughters of full-time employees whose firms are members of the Iowa Grocery Industry Association, a state trade association that represents the food industry, including chain and independent supermarkets, convenience stores, suppliers, wholesalers, brokers, manufacturers and distributors.

Katelyn Leiran (center), Waukon High School graduating senior and daughter of Steve and Nancy Leiran of Waterville, was recognized by Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds (right) and Lieutenant Governor Adam Gregg (left) for outstanding academic achievement at the 16th Annual Governor’s Scholar Recognition Ceremony held April 29 at Hy-Vee Hall in Des Moines. The statewide program, sponsored by the Iowa Governor’s Office, Iowa High School Athletic Association (IHSAA) and its title sponsor, the Iowa Farm Bureau Federation (IFBF), honored 430 high school seniors from throughout Iowa at this year's ceremony. “Iowa Farm Bureau members know that by investing in our youth and communities, we’re investing in the future of Iowa,” said IFBF President Craig Hill. “We have been honored to be a title sponsor of the Annual Governor's Scholar Recognition Ceremony for the past 16 years to celebrate Iowa's exceptional high school students.

A high school counselor or a teacher may have mentioned it to their students and advisees. High school students might have learned of the opportunity to earn college credit from their peers, family members and parents. Whatever the reason, thousands of high school students are enrolling in concurrent enrollment courses each year through Northeast Iowa Community College (NICC).

These students’ motivation is undeniable. The opportunity to earn college credit while enrolled in high school saves money on tuition for themselves and their families, and these students gain a headstart on their futures.

May 13, Waukon native Maria Rose Magner received a Masters of Business Administration (MBA) Degree with a focus in Marketing Management from the University of Missouri in Columbia, MO. In addition to completing her degree, Magner was selected for her academic and leadership contributions from more than 600 students to be the Masters Student Marshal at Graduate Studies Commencement.

During the graduation ceremony, University of Missouri Associate Vice Chancellor for Graduate Studies and Associate Vice Provost for Advanced Studies Dr. Jeni Hart stated, “While excelling in the classroom, Maria was also a leader for the Nicaragua Service and Consulting Project, serving on various committees, and representing the Crosby MBA program in a variety of forms.”

Danielle Stock, a member of the Little Switzerland FFA Chapter in Waukon, is the recipient of America’s Farmers Grow Ag Leaders Scholarship. America’s Farmers Grow Ag Leaders, sponsored by the Monsanto Fund, encourages rural youth to become the next generation of ag leaders by awarding $1,500 scholarships to support their pursuit of higher education in ag-related fields of study. The scholarships are administered by the National FFA Organization. With nearly 60,000 job openings in the industry and not enough qualified college graduates to fill them, the program works to create awareness and interest about the thousands of career opportunities within agriculture - including business, computer science, bio-chemistry, education, engineering, mathematics, communications and more.

The Allamakee Community School District (ACSD) is participating in the Free Summer Food Service Program again this year from now until late June and then again in the early half of August. Menus for the initial session of the program through its June dates accompany this article (printed below). Breakfast and lunch will be provided to all children ages one through this year’s graduating seniors at no charge 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 on a first-come, first-served basis at the sites and times as follows:

• Waukon Middle School Cafeteria: Mondays-Fridays, May 29-June 25 and August 1-14. Breakfast will be served from 8-9 a.m. and lunch will be served from 11:15 a.m. - 12:45 p.m.

The 21st Century Grant sites (Kids Club and 10th Hour) in the Allamakee Community School District (ACSD) came together to host a Community/Family Night recently. Hardee’s furnished hot dogs and buns and the ACSD cooks served BBQs as part of the festivities. Many other people collaborated with program leaders and participants to make for a fun and an educational evening, including Robey Memorial Library, Waterville Public Library, Keystone AEA1, Kathy Hay, Green Iowa Americorps, Ross Geerdes of Allamakee County Conservation, Northeast Iowa Food & Fitness Initiative,The Magic and Balloons of Tristan Hauser and Kid Again Inflatables (pictured in surrounding submitted photos). The assistance of ACSD teachers Eileen Franks, Ciara Snitker, Sara Retallick and Traci Byrnes made the evening possible, along with the efforts of custodian Arnie Onsager and the Kids Club staff and student helpers.
 

Saturday, May 5, area students from Soaring Eagle Tae Kwon Do Academy participated in the Pan American Tae Kwon Do Tournament held in Rochester, MN. Pictured above, left to right, are the following participants listed with their awards won at the tournament: Front row - Sawyer Gramlich earned a bronze medal for board breaking, Brendan Croft earned a bronze medal for Board Breaking and a silver medal for Poomse (forms), Marley Gramlich earned a gold medal for Poomse, Mara Branum earned a bronze medal for board breaking, Caden Branum earned a gold medal for board breaking and a silver medal for  Poomse, Karter Einck earned a gold medal for board breaking and a silver medal for  Poomse, and Gareth Sweet earned a bronze medal for both board breaking and Poomse. Back row:  Nadia Johnson earned a bronze medal for board breaking and Master Elizabeth Fish of Soaring Eagle Tae Kwon Do Academy, who holds classes in both Decorah and Lansing. Submitted photo.