Education

Kee High School will host its Fine Arts Awards Night Monday, May 15 at 6:30 p.m. at the Kee High School gymnasium to celebrate the students’ successes and present awards. Families of students are welcome to attend. Cake and punch will be served following the celebration.

Pictured above are some of those Kee High School Fine Arts students who made up the cast of Kee’s spring production of “Be My Ghost” that took the stage at Kee High School April 1-2. Pictured above are: Left to right - standing, sitting or kneeling on the stage: Director Tammy Manning, Zoey Timmerman, Riley Troendle, Isaiah Wagner, Summer Walleser, Brayden Waters, Brooklyn Bakewell, Andrew Kolsrud, Brendan Jones, Ashlyn Henkes, Sean Lopez Vega, Cadan Evanson, Austin St. Mary, Jack Schweitzer, Sawyer Gramlich, Holden Welsh; and from top of stairs on down: Alyssa Hilleshiem, Brendan Croft and Lily Howe, Neva Peterson, and Phoenix Crass and Rhianna Jones. Submitted photo.
 

The winner of the 2022 entrepreneurial scholarship offered by the Lansing Area Women in Business organization for the first time last year, Kee High School graduated senior Abby Wood, is pictured in the center of the above photo with Lansing Area Women in Business members (left to right) Wendi Eiden, Maryann Baldwin, Amy Stracener, Diana Wilson-Thompson and Sammi Scholtes. The Lansing Area Women in Business organization is again offering its entrepreneurial scholarship this year, with applications due by April 14. Submitted photo.

Meenah Keenan has been selected as a Certified Student Practitioner at the Harvard Legal Aid Bureau (HLAB), an in-house clinic of Harvard Law School in Cambridge, MA. Each year, HLAB selects 15 to 20 law students from across the country to participate in its summer program. Student practitioners provide legal services to low-income residents in the Boston, MA area while being supervised by HLAB’s clinical instructors.

Keenan is a second-year law student at Suffolk University Law School in Boston, MA where she is a teaching assistant and Co-President of the Child and Family Law Association. For the 2023-2024 academic year she will serve as Vice-President of the Moot Court Honor Board, Journal of Trial and Appellate Advocacy. She will also be a Certified Student Practitioner for the Juvenile Defender’s Clinic at Suffolk University.

Allamakee Scholarship Fund, Inc. will hold a Recognition Breakfast Thursday, April 6 at 7:30 a.m. in the Waukon High School cafeteria. Applicants and their parents will be special guests. The breakfast is being held to express appreciation to individual and group donors and to recognize student applicants.

Pledges from the recent scholarship fundraising mailing can be turned in at that time or mailed to Allamakee Scholarship Fund, Inc., P.O. Box 144, Waukon, IA 52172. Organizations and other scholarship donors need to have awards to Allamakee Scholarship Fund Treasurer Amy McCormick at Waukon State Bank by that date also, and Awards Program information can be verified with Guidance Counselor Amy Wasson at Waukon High School. Individuals, families and organizations awarding scholarships this May are encouraged to attend.
 

by Susan Cantine-Maxson

The Eastern Allamakee Community School District (EACSD) Board of Directors met at Kee High School in Lansing Monday, March 20 for its regular monthly session. The meeting was called to order by Board President Bobbie Goetzinger, with fellow board members Tony Becker, Melanie Mauss, Kelli Mudderman and Arla Wagner also present, along with EACSD Superintendent Dr. Dale Crozier and Kee High and Middle School Principal Dr. Sarah Murray.

The board held a public hearing on the 2023-2024 school calendar, with no public comments being made or received and the board approving the school calendar as presented. The public hearing for the 2023-2024 budget was scheduled by the board to take place at its April 17 meeting. The board also approved and filed the Fiscal Year 2022 audit report.

As this year’s spring play production, the Kee High School Drama Department will be presenting “Be My Ghost” by Tim Kelly through Pioneer Drama Service on the stage in the Kee High School gymnasium. Show times will be Saturday, April 1 at 7 p.m. and Sunday, April 2 at 2 p.m. with admission payable at the door.

by Christine Hensley
Iowa Student Loan Liquidity Corporation Board member

As a new school year begins, you and your middle or high school student might be thinking about what happens after high school. Before embarking on one of the most expensive journeys of a lifetime, your student should understand the complete cost to obtain the education needed for a specific career.

Read Across Iowa launched March 1 and began a month-long celebration to bring the joys of reading to kids of all ages. Agriculturally-themed Read Across Iowa events were held in Allamakee County and across the state and featured books and materials about agriculture that appealed to readers of all age levels.

Iowa State University Extension and Outreach Allamakee County hosted readings at New Albin Elementary School of the Eastern Allamakee Community School District. Students either read “How Did That Get into My Lunchbox?” or “My Family’s Corn Farm”, participated in a MyPlate (such as pictured above) or corn-themed activity and tried a local snack.

“When you read with children, you are making an investment,” said Becky Rea, K-12 Program Coordinator. “Early reading and talking with children gives them a strong start and a life-long return.”

by Brianne Grimstad

Allamakee Community School District (ACSD) Board of Education Negotiations Committee members Allan Rissman and Erik Helgerson, along with ACSD Superintendent Jay Mathis, met Wednesday, March 1 with members of the Allamakee Community Education Association (ACEA) Negotiations Team of Jed Hemann, Lisa Snitker and Kelly Liddiard. Hemann gave the presentation for the  ACEA for the 2023-2024 contract year. The negotiations began with the request of an increase of $1,250 in salary base to $33,685. The Association also suggested a one-year agreement on the salary schedule.

Three area high school students have been selected as individual performers at the Iowa High School Speech Association (IHSSA) All-State Speech Festival being held Monday, March 27 on the University of Northern Iowa campus in Cedar Falls. The trio of students were selected based on their performances at the Northeast State Individual Speech Contest held Saturday, March 11 at Starmont High School.