Education

Waukon Head Start classrooms, located at West Elementary School at 953 Third Avenue NW in Waukon, will be holding Registration and an Open House Wednesday, February 19 from 4-6 p.m.  Head Start, operated by Northeast Iowa Community Action, is a full day program that offers a safe and nurturing environment while providing active learning.

Qualified teachers partner with families to provide the best possible preschool experience for children who are three and four years old. Head Start services are funded by federal and state grants and are free for families who qualify. Transportation is available in some areas.  Nutritious meals and snacks are provided by the CACFP program. This institution is an equal opportunity provider. Parents are encouraged to bring proof of income and proof of their child’s date of birth.

Monday, January 27 Waukon High School hosted the National Guard band Scrap Metal. They performed  a high energy show for all middle school and high school students. Scrap Metal is one of many ensembles that comprise the Iowa National Guard’s 34th Army Band, and is a modern New Orleans style Brass Band that plays a large variety of music, from current pop tunes, to ‘80s and ‘90s rock, blues, funk, Ska and riot jazz. Submitted photo.
 

The Kee High School Speech program experienced a very successful day at the Northeast District Large Group Speech Contest hosted by Decorah High School Saturday, January 25. The Kee program had 38 students competing in a total of 12 different acts, with some students competing in multiple acts. A total of 11 of those acts, involving all 38 of those students, received Division I ratings to earn advancement to the Iowa High School Speech Association State Large Group Contest this weekend.

The State Large Group Contest for Northeast Iowa is being hosted by Dubuque Senior High School in Dubuque this Saturday, February 8. Participating acts will be vying for possible nomination to perform at this year’s All-State Large Group Speech Festival to be held at the Iowa State Center in Ames.

The Alice Hermeier Foundation, a fund held by the Allamakee County Community Foundation, has partnered with County Social Services (CSS) to support the mental health needs of students by bringing the THRIVE Resilience Model to Waukon schools.

Mollie (Weighner) Marti, a 1984 graduate of Waukon High School, has returned to her hometown to help implement the project. Marti founded and directs the National Resilience Institute (NRI), a nonprofit organization that grew out of a community resiliency project she started in Mount Vernon after the tragic loss of young lives to suicide.

When he’s not touring or recording music as the lead singer and songwriter for the rock band Remedy Drive, David Zach follows another passion with equal fervor - abolishing human trafficking throughout the world.

Zach has made nine international deployments to Southeast Asia and Latin America as an undercover operative with the abolitionist group, The Exodus Road. While undercover, Zach identifies instances of minors being sold and captures actionable evidence of illegal trafficking activities in brothels and red-light districts. The information and evidence The Exodus Road gathers leads to raids on establishments that result in the arrests of traffickers.

Zach tours college campuses and visits communities in the United States to share his experiences. He believes that ordinary human beings can make a tremendous impact on freedom and justice in the world.

by Susan Cantine-Maxson

The monthly meeting of the Board of Directors of the Eastern Allamakee Community School District (EACSD) was held at Kee High School in Lansing Monday, January 20. The meeting was called to order by Heather Schulte, Board President.

After the agenda was adopted, the board asked for audience comments but there were none. The board next approved the authorizations for the January consent items, minutes of the December meetings, bills for January, Secretary’s Financial Report for December, and the Student Activity and Food Service December Reports.

Waukon Middle School students in grades six, seven and eight had the opportunity to Skype with author Marsha Skrypuch from Brantford, Ontario in Canada the second week of January. The author visit was made possible through the McElroy Excellence in Education Grant. Allamakee Community School District teacher librarian Lisa Snitker wrote and submitted a proposal to the McElroy Foundation to purchase multiple copies of three of Skrypuch’s novels to create a cross-curricular WWII unit, where students would learn the history and stories surrounding that era. Skrypuch’s novel Making Bombs for Hitler is the State of Iowa Teen Award Winner 2019. The book is extremely popular with young adult readers and the factor that sparked the idea for Snitker to write the grant.

FreedomBank of Waukon continues its charitable giving with a recent $3,000 donation to the Allamakee County Community Foundation to benefit future graduates of Waukon High School. Allamakee Scholarship Fund, Inc. is the benefactor for Waukon High School. In addition to the Waukon donation, FreedomBank also made donations of $3,000 to the high school scholarship programs of Postville, Elkader and MFL/MarMac through the Foundation. FreedomBank has locations in all these communities.

by Brianne Eilers

The Allamakee Community School District (ACSD) Board of Directors met Monday evening, January 20 for its regular monthly meeting. Board President Al Rissman was absent.

Items approved under the consent agenda were as follows: staff for after-school programming was approved, as was a request for Sunday practice for the varsity boys basketball team due to postseason play and an out-of-state trip for middle school after-school programming. One open enrollment out was also approved.

Northeast Iowa Community College (NICC) Business and Community Solutions is offering “Mini STEAM Camp K-5” Wednesday, February 12 from 8 a.m. - 4 p.m. at the NICC Waukon Center, located at 1220 Third Avenue NW.

It’s full steam ahead on a day off from school with this mini-camp. The STEAM mini-camp is perfect for students in Kindergarten through fifth grades and keeps their creative minds engaged. Experienced instructors will lead students in hands-on activities that explore science, technology, engineering, art and math (STEAM) in a fun, creative way. Snacks and supplies are provided. Participants are invited to bring a sack lunch.

To register online for “Mini STEAM Camp K-5” (#75570) or for more information, visit www.nicc.edu/solutions/75570, or call NICC Waukon Center at 844-642-2338, ext. 6700. Registration deadline with applicable registration fee paid is January 31.