Education

St. Patrick School in Waukon will be holding its annual Mardi Gras fundraising event this Saturday, January 30 at the Waukon Banquet Center. Doors will open at 5:30 p.m. and dinner will be served at 6:30 p.m. Among the events taking place will be live and silent auctions for items such as those pictured above. There will also be a raffle for an iPad bundle. Local businesses and individuals have donated items and funds to help make the event a success for St. Patrick School. For tickets and additional information, contact Jennifer Kovarik at 563-568-5318, Amy McCormick at 563-419-9336, Tami Stilwell at 319-361-6077 or St. Patrick School at 563-568-2170. Submitted photo.
 

The 2015-2016 Allamakee Scholarship Fund, Inc. (formerly Allamakee Dollars for Scholars) phone-a-thon to be held in February is the major fundraiser for the organization and is conducted by the student applicants in conjunction with the Allamakee Scholarship Fund, Inc. Board of Directors. Students use phone banks at Waukon High School and Waterville Elementary School and at Waukon State Bank and Farmers and Merchants Savings Bank in Waukon. Phone-a-thon dates this year are Tuesday, February 16, Thursday, February 18 and Tuesday, February 23.

Saturday, January 9, Waukon High School Band member Adam Gruman attended the Northeast Iowa Bandmasters Association Honor Jazz Band in Cedar Rapids as a member of the 1A/2A/3A band on trap set. Gruman is the first student from Waukon High School selected to participate in this ensemble. He spent the day rehearsing with only 18 other students from northeast Iowa. The band was directed by Steve Shanley, director of the Coe College Jazz Bands, who is pictured above (at left) with Gruman.

by Brianne Eilers

by Jason Meyer

“Learning by doing” is the foundation of the two-year 4-H Citizenship Program which connects youth to local, county and state government services in the first year, and national government and history in year two. During this two-year program 4-H’ers are immersed in culture and history throughout the program: from education with their county youth coordinator, to conversations with Iowa legislators in Des Moines at the State Capitol, to traveling together to Washington, D.C. The Allamakee County 4-H Citizenship Club met December 30 at the Extension Office in Waukon, where they learned about levels of power within local, state and national government. The club participated in activities around the process of decision making and levels of power. Pictured here are members of this year's Allamakee County 4-H Citizenship Club. Left to right - front row: Madalyn Ellingson, Diana Davison, Sean Liddiard, Denzel Decker, Nathan Liddiard, Logan Kucera.

Expanding knowledge of local and state citizenship is the focus in the first year of the two-year 4-H Citizenship Program in Allamakee County. Sunday, January 10 the Allamakee County 4-H Citizenship Club visited the new Waukon Fire Station. Waukon Fire Chief Dave Martin took the club on a tour of the new facility. Youth learned that the Waukon Fire Department consists of 35 active volunteer firemen who provide emergency response, fire prevention and safety training, and public education. For more information about the Allamakee County 4-H Program contact Morgan Bjerke, Allamakee County Youth Coordinator, at mlheim@iastate.edu or 563-568-6345. Pictured here during the fire station tour are: Left to right - Front row: Carly Palmer, Diana Davison, Madalyn Ellingson, Soraya Reyes, Ainsley Lydon. Middle row: Nathan Liddiard, Sean Liddiard, Denzel Decker, Logan Kucera.

Sixth grade students at St. Patrick School in Waukon have been playing a brand new game in their Physical Education classes under the direction of Mr. David Miller. Pictured above, the game is called Omnikin Ball, more commonly referred to as "Kinball," and uses a ball approximately four feet in diameter that floats through the air like a balloon. Invented in Quebec in 1987, "Kinball" is played with three teams of four players and can be played either indoors or outdoors. One team "serves" the ball into play while all team members are in contact with the ball, calling on one of the other teams to catch the ball before it hits the ground. The goal of the game is to catch and control the ball before it touches the ground. Points are given when a team commits a fault, such as allowing the ball to touch the ground.

Northeast Iowa Community College (NICC) Business and Community Solutions offers courses that meet the state of Iowa requirements for coaching authorization certification. To coach K-12 school-sponsored athletics in Iowa, an individual must be certified.
There are four courses in the 55-hour certificate series that must be taken in order to apply for a coaching authorization: Human Growth and Development for Coaching, Coaching Theory and Ethics, Body Structure and Function, and Basic Prevention and Care of Athletic Injuries.
A series of coaching authorization classes start January 19. The first three classes will be held at the NICC Waukon Center, located at 1220 Third Avenue NW, and the fourth and final class will be held at Team Rehab, located at 516 Montgomery Street in Decorah.

May 30, 1965 was an historic day for 44 young men and women of the St. Patrick High School-Waukon community. That was the day that these young adults graduated from high school.
Fast forward 50 years to September 12, 2015 when 31 of those classmates plus their guests gathered at Waukon Country Club, including any individual who attended one or more years of high school with the Class of ‘65. An evening of joyous laughter, reconnecting and reminiscing got off to a good start as classmates picked up their name tags featuring his/her respective 1965 graduation picture.
Denny Waldron, emcee, introduced the honored guest, Monsignor Joseph Slepicka, who had been associate pastor and religious instructor during the years Class of ‘65 attended high school. Waldron also regaled attendees with trivia questions pertaining to fellow classmates and high school events. The Country Club was decorated in an Irish theme.