Education

The Allamakee and Eastern Allamakee Community School Districts are working with Grundmeyer Leader Services to identify a shared superintendent for the 2027–2028 school year, following announcement of the retirement of current shared superintendent Jay Mathis at the end of this current school year. The search will begin immediately and conclude with the successful hire of a new leader.

Feedback from district residents, staff and other stakeholders regarding desired qualifications in a new superintendent are being sought to ensure the new hire is a good fit for the school district and community. District stakeholders are encouraged to complete a quick survey to share narrative insights and rank personal and professional priorities they feel would be beneficial in a new superintendent.

Northeast Iowa Community College (NICC) has announced the high placement of its dairy judging team at the 36th International Post-Secondary Dairy Cattle Judging Contest, held during the World Dairy Expo in Madison, WI in late September. Facing strong competition from top collegiate teams across California, New York, Ohio, Minnesota and Wisconsin, NICC earned a fifth-place finish overall.

In addition to its overall success, the team excelled across multiple individual breed classes and judging categories, placing fifth in oral reasons, second in Ayrshires, and third in Red and Whites. NICC team member Kalli Tveten tied for the highest individual score in the Ayrshire division of the competition.

by Susan Cantine-Maxson

The Eastern Allamakee Community School District (EACSD) Board of Directors met in regular session Monday, October 12 at Kee High School in Lansing. Board President Arla Wagner called the meeting to order, with fellow board members Joe Manning, Tommy Martin and Glen Delaney also present. Board member Heather Lutz was absent.

School personnel in attendance included Superintendent Jay Mathis, Board Secretary/Financial Administrative Assistant Michele Martin, Grades PK-5 Principal/EACSD Curriculum Director Donna Thomas, Grades 6-12 Principal/Special Education Director Liz Hill, and School Business Official Kris Smith.

The agenda and all consent items, including minutes, bills, financial reports, student activity reports, and food service reports, were all approved. No public comments were offered.

by Marcus Gebel, Little Switzerland FFA Chapter Reporter

The September FFA Member of the Month for the Little Switzerland FFA Chapter at Waukon High School is Tegan Dahlstrom. She is the daughter of Nick and Lana Dahlstrom, and her involvement in the Little Switzerland FFA chapter includes competing in various contests and volunteering many hours to the chapter.

The contests she has competed in include Conduct of Meetings, Horse Evaluation, Ag Biotechnology, Team Ag Sales, and Agronomy, where she and her teammates qualified for the National Agronomy competition at the National FFA Convention being held this October. Dahlstrom has demonstrated her passion for helping others by volunteering in ditch clean-ups, plant sales, pancake breakfast, and Kubota Orange Days.

by Brianne Grimstad

The Allamakee Community School District (ACSD) Board of Directors met for a special meeting Friday, October 2. The board approved the hiring of Jared Estebo as a custodian for West Elementary School. The board also approved the resignations of West Elementary custodian Jason Dahlstrom and Waukon High School night custodian Luke Zezulka. The board also gave its approval to a proposal from Grundmeyer Leader Search in the amount of $16,460.20 for Superintendent search services, following the announcement last month by ACSD Superintendent Jay Mathis that he will be retiring at the end of this school year.

The Midwest STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) Alliance has recruited 18 outstanding elementary science teachers across three states to participate in the Multi-State Midwest STEM Alliance Initiative, six each from Iowa, Kansas and Minnesota. Backed by a $5 million grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF), this new project is led by Principal Investigator Dana Atwood-Blaine, PhD at the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls, and is aimed at celebrating, resourcing, and strengthening the work of rural elementary science educators who are making a lasting impact on their students and communities.

Lauren Drew, a second grade teacher at West Elementary School in Waukon, was selected to join this prestigious group as a Corps member.

Bridget (Pfiffner) Adam, a 1998 graduate of Waukon High School and the daughter of Jim and Jan Pfiffner of Harpers Ferry, will receive the Upper Iowa University Service to Community Award as part of the 2026 Homecoming celebration this week at Upper Iowa University in Fayette, from where she graduated in 2002. Adam is currently a teacher of Computer Science and a Building Technology Integration Leader at Holmes Junior High in Cedar Falls.

Adam has three children, including her son Chance, who also became a graduate of Upper Iowa University this past spring. Her other son, Chase, is a 2025 graduate of Western Technical College in La Crosse, WI, and her daughter Caylie is in her second year at Waldorf University in Forest City.

by Susan Cantine-Maxson

The Eastern Allamakee Community School District (EACSD) Board of Directors met Monday, September 14 at Kee High School in Lansing. Board President Arla Wagner called the meeting to order with board members present including Heather Lutz, Vice-President and District 2 representative; Joe Manning, at-large member; and Glen Delaney, District #3 member. Tommy Martin, District 1 member, was absent.

Also in attendance were Superintendent Jay Mathis, Board Secretary/Financial Administrative Assistant Michele Martin, PK-5 Principal/PK-12 Curriculum Director Donna Thomas, and Grades 6-12 Principal/PK-12 Special Education Director Liz Hill. The board approved the meeting agenda. Since there were no visitors and no public comment, the board moved on to approving the consent items of the previous month’s minutes, bills, and financial and activity reports.

by Brianne Grimstad

The Allamakee Community School District (ACSD) Board of Directors met for its regular monthly meeting Monday, September 21.

Under the Consent Agenda, the board approved the following personnel (pending satisfactory background check): Kloe Hemmersbach, Middle School Girls Wrestling Coach; Isaac Ericson, Middle School Boys Wrestling Coach; Dave Dougherty, Substitute Route Driver; Joseph Swizdor, Route Driver; Hayden Comstock, Assistant Musical Director; Hayden Comstock, Full-Time Elementary Paraprofessional; Brenna McCarthy, Full-Time Elementary Paraprofessional; John Papp, Volunteer Basketball Coach; Tim Bulman, Jack Regan, Dani Bucknell and Kadence Pape, Volunteer Wrestling Coaches; Dallas Howe, Full-Time Elementary Paraprofessional; Cassidy Wiseman, Part-Time Elementary Paraprofessional; Thomas Benda, Substitute Bus Driver; and Ava Sons, Full-Time Middle School Paraprofessional.

When Northeast Iowa Community College (NICC) celebrates a milestone like its 60th anniversary, the true measure of its impact isn’t found in the brick-and-mortar buildings on campus. It’s found in the lives of the people who walked through its doors, redefined their futures and stayed to reinvest in the region.

Corey Tieskoetter is a testament to that legacy. Today, Tieskoetter is a successful business development officer in the crop insurance division at Farm Credit Services of America, where he manages a six-county territory in northeast Iowa. But over a decade ago, he was a nontraditional student stepping far outside his comfort zone.

By 2012, Tieskoetter had spent more than a decade in the workforce. He had good jobs and worked with great people, but he reached a point where he realized he wanted to do something different. Living in Ossian, NICC was the logical place to look.