Education

submitted through the
cooperative efforts of
Waukon Economic
Development Corporation and the Allamakee
Community School District

Driving west on old Highway 9 one cannot help but notice the housing development taking place on Twelfth Street NW just south of the Wellness Center. As one looks closer, it appears that high school students are the carpenters building a new house.
That observation would be correct as the students are part of the Allamakee Community School District (ACSD) Career and Technical Education program. The students are completing high school course work and at the same time are earning transferable credits from Northeast Iowa Community College (NICC) in their construction trades classes.

Thanks to the help of parents and teachers, the recent P.S.S.T. Ball Fundraiser was a success. With funds from the equipment sales event and P.S.S.T. funds, 29 new, high quality balls were able to be purchased and then donated to East (pictured below) and West (pictured above) Elementary schools in Waukon for use by students during recess and in the schools’ Physical Education classes.

P.S.S.T., Parents Supporting Students and Teachers, is the parent organization that helps support the elementary schools in the Allamakee Community School District. The P.S.S.T. volunteers put on several family events each year and work to support the excellence of the schools’ students and staff. Submitted photos.
 

Over the past nine weeks, Waukon Middle School students in Ms. Milewsky’s eighth grade Language Arts class have been participating in a global blogging challenge organized by Edublogs. Each week students are given a challenge to complete and share with challenge participants and commentators to receive feedback. The challenges (some of which are pictured in the photos above) have included discussing digital citizenship with proper commenting guidelines, writing stories using emojis, A-Z science poems, surveying others’ interests and creating “all about me” pages, all while being engaged in writing for an authentic audience.

This year, three students from the Waukon High School Vocal Music Department under the direction of Sarah J. Bieber Palmer were selected to participate in the Iowa All-State Music Festival, the highest individual honor attainable to Iowa high school vocal musicians. Thousands of students from across the state of Iowa auditioned for All-State Chorus Saturday, October 20. Selected for the 600-member All-State Chorus were (left to right in above photo) junior Oonagh Ahouse (Alto 1), daughter of Ed and Marlene Ahouse of Waukon; sophomore Aidan Jones (Bass 2), son of Gregg and Maura Jones of Waukon; and senior Micah Treptau (Tenor 2), son of Tom and Cami Treptau of Waukon. The 2018 All-State Music Festival was held Saturday, November 17 at Iowa State University’s Hilton Coliseum in Ames.

Monday, November 19, 26 students from the Waukon High School Music Department participated in the Northeast Iowa Conference (NEIC) Music Festival. The All-Conference musicians rehearsed throughout the day and performed a concert that evening to a packed audience in the Decorah High School Auditorium. The conductors for this year’s festival were Zachary Durlam - choir, Leyla Sanyer - orchestra, and Steven Stickney - band. The students are under the direction of choir director Sarah Palmer and band director Jo Ann Sherman. Those students participating are pictured in the surrounding photos and include the following:

Photo above at right: All-Conference Choir - Left to right - Front row: Maddie Ellingson, Emily Kolsrud, Ainsley Lydon. Middle row: Sean Liddiard, Ryan Vander Velden, Brigid Berns, Leslie Halverson. Back row: Denzel Decker, Rob Drew, Aiden Jones, James Rubendall.

by Susan Cantine-Maxson

The regular monthly meeting of the Board of Directors of the Eastern Allamakee Community School District (EACSD) was held at Kee High School in Lansing Monday, November 19. The meeting was called to order by Heather Schulte, Board President, with several staff members and student visitors in attendance.

After the adoption of the agenda, several FFA students from the high school chapter and their advisor, Ray Rankin, gave a presentation on their participation at the National FFA Convention in Indianapolis, IN. For the first time in school history, four FFA students also participated in the national level Milk Quality and Products competition and ended with a final ranking of 33rd in the national competition.

Five Allamakee County 4-H’ers traveled to the FFA Enrichment Center in Ankeny Thursday, November 15 for the Grow by FarmHer conference. Pictured above, left to right, are Soraya Reyes, Shelby Wyninger, Allie Bieber, Diana Davison and Maya Bossom. Grow is a series of events that will inspire and empower young women in agriculture to take an active role in the agriculture industry. A total of 350 young women ages 16-22 with an interest in agriculture had the opportunity to participate in inspirational and informational experiences as a group as well as meaningful one-on-one connections with women ag leaders. At Grow by FarmHer, young women received a real-life look at what they need to do to be successful ag leaders, while gaining the encouragement and making the connections that are pivotal to helping them GROW in agriculture. For more information about the Allamakee County 4-H Program, contact the Allamakee County Extension Office at 563-568-6345. Submitted photo.
 

The Waukon High School Music Department is seeking donations for new high school marching band and concert band uniforms through an “Adopt a Uniform” campaign. The current marching band uniforms were purchased in 1997 and are in need of replacement following years of usage and alterations.

The Allamakee Community School District and the Allamakee Music Boosters will each be providing one-third of the funding for the uniform replacement project, leaving a final third of the total cost to be raised through the “Adopt-a-Uniform” donation drive. Donation levels for specific pieces of the uniforms being sought are listed below in the accompanying donation form, but any donation amount would be welcome.

Robey Memorial Library in Waukon offers Brown Bag ‘n’ Books: a story time for adults the first Wednesday of each month from 12-1 p.m. Patrons are encouraged to bring a lunch and enjoy listening to selected passages from several titles.

Readings begin at 12:15 p.m. in the lower level Community Room of the library. Selections read from include fictional and non-fictional titles. Contact Robey Memorial Library for additional information at 563-568-4424 or visit the library website at robeymemorial@waukon.lib.ia.us.
 

by Brianne Eilers

The Allamakee Community School District (ACSD) Board of Directors held its regular monthly meeting Monday night, November 19. Under personnel matters, the board approved staff for the after school programs, Melissa Ward as the head varsity softball coach, John Papp as a volunteer boys basketball coach, and Katrina McCabe and Wyllena (Billie) Ross as West Elementary paraprofessionals. The board also accepted the resignation of Jani Promnitz from her assistant varsity volleyball coaching position.

In other matters, the board approved Sunday gym usage requests for girls basketball open gyms. The board also approved two open enrollments and the Wellness Policy.