Education

The Northeast Iowa Community College (NICC) Waukon Center will be hosting an open house this Friday, October 2, from 2:30-4 p.m., following the Waukon High School Homecoming parade. At the open house, community members may tour the Waukon Center, see the new Project Lead the Way (PLTW) lab and learn more about credit courses and programs available through NICC. Root beer floats will be served at the event for attendees. The center is located at 1220 Third Avenue NW in Waukon.

by Christa Heffern, FFA Reporter

The Little Switzerland FFA Chapter at Waukon High School will be hosting its own Waukon FFA Plot Day 2015 Thursday, October 15 at the FFA test plot located west of the high school football field. Events will take place from 1-3 p.m. and refreshments will be served.
Attendees will be able to visit with agronomists, view the hybrids and varieties planted by Chapter members, learn about the challenges that were faced throughout the year, and learn about treatments applied to the field plot. Everyone is welcome to attend and can come and go as they please throughout the event.
 

by Brianne Eilers

by Susan Cantine-Maxson

Keystone Area Education Agency (AEA) will be offering the required training course for the Iowa Substitute Authorization. This authorization allows an individual to substitute in a Pre-Kindergarten-12th grade classroom. Anyone who is a Certified Paraeducator, the assigned special education classroom may be at the elementary, middle school, junior high school or high school level.
The Substitute Authorization course is 20-clock hour training. The course dates are September 25-27 at Keystone AEA, located at 2310 Chaney Road in Dubuque. The course number is 31531-Substitute Authorization (Dubuque). The class will meet from 5-9 p.m. September 25 and from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. September 26 and 27.

by Christa Heffern,
Chapter Reporter

by Brianne Eilers
 
The Allamakee Community School District (ACSD)Board of Directors met for a special meeting Tuesday, September 1 to discuss several personnel matters, as well as Sunday usage of the football field at Waukon High School.
Board members approved the hiring of Cindy Egan as a five hour per day cook, Denise Ward as a 5.75 hour per day associate at West Elementary, Carolyn Campbell as a 5.75 hour per day associate at Waukon High School, Earl Zezulka as a custodian at the Waukon Middle School, and staff for the 21st Century program. The Board also accepted two resignations: Lawrence Benda, due to retirement, from his position as a mechanic at the district bus barn, effective October 30, 2015; and Joey Lapel from his positions of 10th grade boys' basketball coach and assistant varsity baseball coach.

The Iowa Council of Foundations, the Iowa Campaign for Grade Level Reading and the State of Iowa has announced efforts to recognize September as Attendance Awareness Month and has joined a nationwide effort to celebrate Attendance Awareness Month in September. The groups pledged to raise awareness about the value of regular school attendance and focus on reducing chronic absenteeism in the new school year.
Friday, September 4, Iowa Governor Terry Branstad signed a proclamation in the formal office at the State Capitol in Des Moines declaring September as Attendance Awareness Month in the state of Iowa.

Fall semester at Northeast Iowa Community College (NICC) began August 20, and at the school's board of trustees meeting August 17, administrators updated the members on a FY16-18 strategic plan that will ensure continued success for NICC students, and community, education and business partners.
In a presentation to the trustees, Kristin Dietzel, NICC executive director of institutional effectiveness, outlined the five major areas of the strategic plan. “The new strategic plan represents the college's commitment to its communities and to serve its students and partners, invest resources wisely, make data-informed decisions and focus on measurable student success outcomes,” Dietzel explained.
These areas include the following:

The Iowa Department of Education, Bureau of Nutrition and Health Services has announced its policy for free and reduced-price meals for children unable to pay the full price of meals served under the National School Lunch Program, School Breakfast Program and the Afterschool Care Snack Program. State and Local school officials have adopted the family size and income criteria shown in the chart (at right) accompanying this article for determining student eligibility for meals.
Households may apply for free or reduced-price meal benefits one of four ways as listed below.
• Households whose income is at or below the levels shown are eligible for reduced-price meals or for free meals. Households may complete one application listing all children and return it to their child's school.