Education

Three individuals from the Kee High School Speech team were selected for the All-State Speech Festival to be held April 4 at the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls after competing with students from nearly 100 other Iowa high schools at the State Individual Speech Contest in Dubuque March 12. Left to right in the top photos, MaKayla Manning was chosen for her Literary Program, Tom Martin was selected for improvisational acting, and Ethan Walleser was also chosen for improvisational acting. "These students will be showcased at the festival as the best Iowa student speakers in their event," Kee High School Speech Coach Tammy Manning said. "We are so excited, it has been a few years since we had individual members selected."

Cassandra Berger, a 2012 graduate of Waukon High School and current senior at the University of Dubuque (UD), was one of 13 UD students who replaced ceiling tiles and insulation, painted walls, and removed dilapidated items from a local homeless shelter for men Wednesday, March 9.
The UD students partnered with eight John Deere Financial sales executives from Des Moines, Iowa and Canada to volunteer at Almost Home, a homeless shelter for men that strives to help men find jobs and permanent housing. Some of the volunteers sorted clothes at Open Closet, a program of Almost Home that gives away clothing to people in need.

The Waukon Walking School Bus will start its spring walking season in April. Walking School Bus dates include the following Thursday mornings: April 7, April 14, April 21, April 28, May 5, May 12 and May 19. The Walking School Bus provides a safe, fun and active way for students to get to school. The Walking School Bus will start in downtown Waukon. Interested families should drop students off by 7:40 a.m. at the Area Development and Visitor Center on the corner of First Street and Main Street. Routes lead to East Elementary, West Elementary and St. Patrick schools. Students will be walking 10 to 20 minutes and arrive to school by 8:10 a.m. or earlier. Parents are reminded to dress their students for the weather, as spring mornings can be pretty chilly. The Walking School Bus will not walk if it is below 40°F or if it is raining/storming/snowing.

Waukon Middle School is presenting its annual springtime production this Friday, March 18, bringing "Screenagers" and "Ten Actors in Search of a Cell Phone" to the stage of the Waukon High School Auditorium. The production begins at 7 p.m. and is written by Jim and Jane Jeffries.
In "Ten Actors in Search of a Cell Phone," the school play is brought to a halt when a cell phone comes up missing and one of the actors refuses to go on stage until she finds it. Through the attempted recreation of every move prior to the cell phone missing, more than just the phone's location is discovered, offering a humorous look at how gossip gets started and what it can lead to, and hopefully teaching some lessons along the way.

The Allamakee Community School District Board of Directors met in special session Tuesday, March 8 to begin negotiations on the Master Contract for the 2016-2017 school year with representatives of the Allamakee Community Education Association. Spokesperson Jed Hemann presented the Association’s proposal, which called for an $895 increase in the base salary and normal step movement that results in a total package increase of 4.21%.
ACSD Superintendent Dave Herold presented the District’s package proposal, which included a $495 base increase and normal step movement for a total package increase of 2.94%. Following those proposals, the Board then went into closed session with other members of the ACSD Negotiation Team to continue discussion over the negotiation process.
 

Finding a rewarding, well-paying and family-sustaining career in life starts with a plan.
This was the motivation that inspired a recent Career Workshop event at Waukon High School February 12, which was developed in partnership between Northeast Iowa Community College (NICC), Allamakee County Economic Development (ACED) and Waukon High School.
Approximately 200 Waukon High School juniors and seniors spent the morning learning about high-demand employment opportunities, the education and training each job requires, and the salary and benefits employees can expect to earn. Local economic development leaders, such as Val Reinke, Executive Director of Allamakee County Economic Development & Tourism, believe that the event served as an important forum for students to learn from the successes of small business owners.

Members of the Little Switzerland FFA Chapter at Waukon High School recently received a donation from Waukon State Bank in the amount of $250 through the bank's Scoreboard program. Erik Helgerson of Waukon State Bank visited the school January 15 to present a check to the local chapter officer team. The Scoreboard program has helped many school organizations by donating money to improve student success. The money that was donated will be used by the FFA chapter for contest materials, national and state convention and various other needs the chapter may have. Pictured at the donation presentation are, left to right, Waukon FFA Officer Team members Carmen Wille, Megan Leiran, Bethany Stock and Chase Pladsen, Erik Helgerson of Waukon State Bank, and Waukon FFA Officer Team members Nolan Hagen, Christa Heffern and Erika Johnson. Submitted photo.
 

The Allamakee County Cattlemen’s Association recently awarded two Northeast Iowa Community College students from Allamakee County $250 each in recognition of their recent achievement at the Iowa Postsecondary Agricultural Students (PAS) Conference and advancement to the National PAS Conference. Devin Ryan and Zach Bieber, both Waukon High School graduates, were part of a team that claimed runner-up honors in the Beef Specialist competition at that Iowa PAS Conference in early February and will now be participating in that same competition at the National PAS Conference being held in Kansas City, MO March 16-19. The $250 awards presented to Ryan and Bieber will help pay for their travel expenses to be incurred as part of their trip to the National Conference.

by Susan Cantine-Maxson

Students at Northeast Iowa Community College (NICC) displayed a strong competitive showing at the Iowa Postsecondary Agriculture Students (PAS) Conference hosted Thursday, February 11 by Indian Hills Community College in Moravia. In the Dairy Specialist competition, NICC brought five teams and claimed the top five spots in the contest, defeating three teams from Dordt College.
In the Beef Specialist competition, NICC brought three student teams and they placed second, fourth and 10th out of 19 teams from across the state. The team of NICC student competitors placing second in the Beef Specialist competition included a trio of Waukon High School graduates, Zach Bieber, Devin Ryan and Garth Cooper, all of Waukon.