Education

Kristine Tidgren
Staff Attorney
Center for Agriculture Law and Taxation
Iowa State University

REMEMBER WHO OWNS THE CORN STALKS IN IOWA
The Iowa Court of Appeals had the opportunity to interpret Iowa Code §562.5A, which, in the absence of a writing to the contrary, grants tenants the right to harvest corn stalks until the lease terminates.

Little has been written about this law, which was enacted in 2010 in response to the growing value of corn stalks. Agricultural attorneys must be aware of this law and its impact on their clients. The recent case provides a good overview of its significant implications and sets forth key parameters for its application.

by Brianne Eilers

The Allamakee Community School District (ACSD Board of Directors met for its regular monthly meeting Monday, November 21. Board Secretary Jaime Curtin noted that the audit for the district has been rescheduled to the first part of December.

During his Superintendent’s report, Dave Herold informed the Board that the district had received preliminary costs for replacing the middle school gym heating and cooling system. He noted that the current system is not very energy efficient. The Board will make a decision at a special meeting scheduled for December 5.

Herold also said he met with Kristi Hager, who was elected to the Iowa House of Representatives earlier this month. A few of the issues he spoke with her about included school funding being approved on time, transportation and the CTE and NICC partnership, among other things.

Equity Cooperative Livestock Sales Association out of Baraboo, WI is offering ten $1,000 scholarships for the 2017 academic year to college students pursuing careers, as well as two $750 scholarships specifically for students earning degrees from technical colleges.

To be eligible, applicants must be a member or the son or daughter of an Equity Cooperative Livestock producer pursuing higher education from an accredited college, university or technical school. Scholarship winners are selected based on their scholastic achievements, extracurricular activities, application essay response and dedication to a career.

Applications are available from the home page of the cooperative’s website at www.equitycoop.com, or by calling 1-800-362-3989, ext. 152. Applicants are asked to provide a current college transcript and three letters of reference in addition to their completed online application form by November 28.
 

The Iowa State University (ISU) Extension and Outreach Allamakee County office in Waukon will host a Pest Control Operators Continuing Instruction Course (CIC) for commercial pesticide applicators Wednesday, December 7. The program is offered at office locations across Iowa through the ISU Extension and Outreach Pesticide Safety Education Program (PSEP).
The local attendance site for the December 7 CIC is the Allamakee County Extension Office located at 218 Seventh Avenue SE, Suite #102, in Waukon. Registration begins at 8:30 a.m. followed by sessions from 9 to 11:30 a.m. The registration fee increases after November 30. To register or to obtain additional information about the CIC, contact the ISU Extension and Outreach Allamakee County office at 563-568-6345.

Iowa State University Extension and Outreach (ISUEO) joined the Kindergarten class at St. Patrick School in Waukon recently to offer hands-on learning as the students participated in learning about Fizz, Bubble, Goo! The kindergarteners learned what makes Alka Seltzer fizz and what gas blew up their balloon when they mixed baking soda and vinegar. They made bubbles and bubble blowers, and made their own cola with ingredients right out of the cupboard. Lastly, they learned which recipe of “gloop” held together the best and had the most bounce. The final experiment was making elephant toothpaste and watching the reaction between hydrogen peroxide, yeast and soap. For more information about joining 4-H, contact Becky Rea, Allamakee County K-12 Program Coordinator, at the Iowa State Extension and Outreach Allamakee County Office in Waukon by calling 563-568-6345. Submitted photos.

Keystone Area Education Agency (AEA) is partnering with Northeast Iowa Behavioral Health to offer Lifelines suicide prevention curriculum to all 23 school districts in the Keystone area. This mental health professional development opportunity for school counselors and educators is centered around The Complete Lifelines Trilogy of Prevention, Intervention, and Postvention programs.

Lifelines is a whole-school program that educates administrators, faculty and staff, parents and students on the facts about suicide and their roles in suicide prevention, intervention and postvention. The goals of Lifelines are to increase the likelihood that members of the school community can more readily identify potentially suicidal adolescents, know how to initially respond to them, know how to rapidly obtain help for them, and to make troubled adolescents aware of and have immediate access to helping resources and seek such help as an alternative to suicidal actions.

Upper Iowa University and Northeast Iowa Community College (NICC) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to create a new Nursing Concurrent Enrollment Program (CEP) for students, the first agreement of its kind in the state of Iowa.

The Nursing CEP agreement allows students at Northeast Iowa Community College to complete a four-year degree in nursing from Upper Iowa University. While completing a two-year associate degree in nursing at the Northeast Iowa Community College Calmar or Peosta campus, students in the CEP cohort are concurrently enrolled in Upper Iowa University courses toward their bachelor of science in nursing (BSN) degree. Concurrent enrollment means that students in this program who graduate with their associate degree from Northeast Iowa Community College need only attend Upper Iowa University for six to eight additional months to complete their BSN degree.

Benefits of the Nursing CEP agreement include:

Retired Waukon teacher Barbara O’Kones (pictured above) presented her program “St. Augustine by Bicycle to San Diego” to the Northeast Iowa Regional Iowa Retired School Personnel Association (IRSPA) at the annual meeting October 20. She showed her PowerPoint pictures and gave insight to the 94 days and over 3,000 miles she traveled with her brother. The West Union IRSPA unit hosted Decorah and Oelwein unit members and guests for the meeting and program. Thirty-five people enjoyed the morning brunch that was provided by Fayette County Historical Society members in their building meeting room prior to the program.

Dr. Dale Crozier, shared superintendent of the MFL/MarMac and Eastern Allamakee Community School Districts, was a nominee for the 2016-2017 Iowa Superintendent of the Year award sponsored by the School Administrators of Iowa (SAI). “SAI is pleased to recognize leaders who are dedicated to promoting student achievement and committed to education,” said Roark Horn, the association’s executive director.

Both districts have recently implemented successful teacher leadership and personalized professional development programs that empower the teaching staff. The districts have also worked to maintain and improve facilities. Dr. Crozier credits positive local school boards in both districts, plus building-level leadership for achieving these tasks. He indicates that both districts, although faced with declining enrollment, are doing their best at all times to put children first in all decisions.

Allamakee County will offer the Ornamental and Turfgrass Applicators Continuing Instruction Course (CIC) for commercial pesticide applicators Wednesday, November 9. The program can be seen at locations across Iowa through the Iowa State University Extension and Outreach Pesticide Safety Education Program (PSEP) team.

The local attendance site is Allamakee County Extension, located at 218 Seventh Avenue SE, Suite #102 in Waukon. Registration begins at 8:30 a.m., and the course runs from 9-11:30 a.m. The registration fee increases after November 2. 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.