Bobcats Making Headlines

Marshalltown High School counselor Lydia Arevalo received the Iowa High School Counselor of the Year award from the Iowa School Counselor Association on Nov. 2

Marshalltown High School counselor Lydia Arevalo has received the 2015 Iowa High School Counselor of the Year award from the Iowa School Counselor Association.

Arevalo received the award at the ISCA conference in Altoona on Nov. 2.

“I feel very humbled to receive this recognition,” Arevalo said. “I truly love my job and will continue to work hard to provide the students at Marshalltown High School the best support they need to be successful.”

Arevalo was nominated for the award by Miller Middle School Counselor Angie Radcliffe. Arevalo has been at MHS since 2012.

Through collaboration with her counseling team and school administration, Arevalo spearheaded a summer school credit recovery program that helped reduce the credit deficiency status of more than 150 students at MHS. Additionally, she was instrumental in obtaining funding that provided students access to mental health counseling.

“Lydia is an energetic person that thrives from assisting students in becoming successful,” said Dr. Kenneth Hayes, Associate Principal at MHS. “She never gives up on students, difficult academic planning, or collaborating with parents. She excels in setting goals and reaching them with quantifiable results.”

Maria Gerads, left, and Luke Pedersen rehearse a scene for the Marshalltown High School fall play “Almost, Maine.” The romantic comedy will be performed at both 7 p.m. on Friday and Saturday at the MHS/Community Auditorium.

The Marshalltown High School drama department will present the romantic comedy “Almost, Maine” as its fall play this weekend.

The play will be performed at 7 p.m. on both Friday, Nov. 6 and Saturday, Nov. 7 at the MHS/Community Auditorium and is directed by MHS teacher Rebecca Erickson.

Tickets are available at the door the night of the show and are $3 for kindergarten through eighth grade students and $5 for adults. Activity tickets will be honored.

Written by John Cariani, the play is set in Almost, a fictional, small town in central Maine.  It takes place one evening in the winter when the Northern Lights are visible.  The play peeks in on five different couples and what happens to them on this magical night.

The MHS cast on stage for “Almost, Maine” includes Luke Pedersen as Pete and Jimmy, Mackenzie Moyer as Ginette, Alex Perez as East and Dave, Isabella Pedersen as Glory and Waitress, Maria Gerads as Sandrine, Ashley Macbeth as Gayle, Unmesh Datar as Lendall, Hannah Shirar as Hope, Benny Heckner as Man and Kassie Wilkins as Rhonda.

The student technical crew includes Anna Marie Carlson on light board, Jaimen Rivera on the LED board, Madeline Jelken and Valerie Ramirez controlling sound, and Julie Cano as stage manager.

Unmesh Datar, left, and Ashley Macbeth

Kassie Wilkins and Luke Pedersen

These Marshalltown High School Color Guard soloists performed at the Iowa State Dance Team Association competition in Newton on Oct. 30. Pictured, front row, from left, are Erin Duffy, Amber Bullock and Monica Gomez. Back row, Whitney Canaday, Angel Cuellar, Maggie Grimm, Juan Andrade and Haley Bell. All received Division 1 ratings at the contest.

Marshalltown High School Color Guard soloists performed at the Iowa State Dance Team Association competition in Newton on Oct. 30. All of the eight MHS soloists earned a Division 1 rating for their dance performances.

The soloists who performed from MHS were Erin Duffy, Amber Bullock, Monica Gomez, Whitney Canaday, Angel Cuellar, Maggie Grimm, Juan Andrade and Haley Bell.

The group is coached by Megan Umthun and for this solo contest the students choreographed their own routines.

The MHS Color Guard members will next compete at the State Drill Team competition in Des Moines on Dec. 4.

Students from Lenihan Intermediate School delivered treats to veterans at the Iowa Veterans Home on Oct. 28.

Lenihan Intermediate School students donned Halloween costumes and delivered treats to residents at the Iowa Veterans Home after school on Oct. 28.

It was what they called “reverse trick-or-treating” and 42 students from the student leadership group Ricochet participated in the event.

Students not only delivered treats but also were able to interact with the veterans, as smiles were apparent from both sides.

Lenihan teacher Diane Simpson, who helps lead Ricochet, said it’s important for the students to connect with other generations, especially the veterans at Iowa Veterans Home.

“We are trying to branch out,” Simpson said.

These Marshalltown High School students have been selected to be part of the All-State Music Ensemble. Pictured are, front row, from left, Collin Krukow (trombone) and Stefan Peng (alternate on violin). Back row are vocalists Frank Iole, Alexis Jones and Trey Quick.

Four students from Marshalltown High School have attained the highest individual honor available to Iowa high school musicians by being selected as members of the 2015 All-State Music ensembles, with one student selected as an alternate.

Three vocalists will represent MHS in this year’s All-State Chorus. Seniors Alexis Jones (soprano) and Trey Quick (tenor) will be joined by junior Frank Iole (tenor) as members of the chorus. Iole returns for his third consecutive year as an All-State Chorus member.

“It’s great to be surrounded by the best singers in the state,” Iole said of his previous experience at All-State.

Qualifying for the All-State Band from MHS for the second year in a row is senior Collin Krukow (trombone). MHS orchestra student Stefan Peng was also honored by being selected as a first alternate on violin.

The 2015 Festival will celebrate the 69th anniversary of this prestigious event. District auditions for the 281-piece All-State Band, 201-piece All-State Orchestra and 601-member All-State Chorus were held on Oct. 24 at six locations in Iowa. Marshalltown students traveled to Hampton-Dumont High School for their auditions. Approximately 17 percent of the students who audition are selected for membership in the All-State ensembles.

“Playing with more than 200 people in a band is an amazing experience,” Krukow said of All-State.

The festival concert will be presented to the public at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 21 in Hilton Coliseum, Iowa State University, Ames.

Iowa Public Television will record the concert for rebroadcast. This program is under the auspices of the Iowa High School Music Association and the Iowa Music Educators Association.

Tickets for the All-State Festival Concert can be purchased through the ISU Athletics Ticket Office or Ticketmaster. All seats are reserved.

A large group of students and staff gathered for a group photo on Oct. 27 at Lenihan Intermediate School. The group wore red as part of Red Ribbon Week and then “turned their backs” on drugs by turning away from the camera.

“Anytime we can get the kids to rally around a common cause, that’s a positive thing,” said Lenihan Principal Kyle Young.

Red Ribbon Week is a national campaign for people to take a stand against drugs. The week is sponsored by the National Family Partnership.

The Lenihan effort was led by the student leadership group known as Ricochet.

Marshalltown Community School District Transportation Director Don Meyer said the issue of motorists driving around school bus stop arms continues to be a concern.

The stop arms are meant to keep cars a safe distance away when buses are picking up and dropping off children.

Meyer said district bus drivers witness several stop arm violations and other illegal passes of buses from motorists in Marshalltown each week. This is also an issue nationally as a one-day survey of 97,000 school bus drivers nationwide saw 75,996 vehicles illegally passing stopped school buses.

“Any driver who passes a stopped school bus illegally is endangering children and possibly even his or her own future,” said Leon Langley, president of the National Association of State Directors of Pupil Transportation Services. “Trying to save a few seconds by passing a school bus and hitting a child can be devastating not only for the victims and their families, but also for the motorist who will have to live with the sad consequences.”

Possible fines for these violations can range from $250 to $670 with possible 30 days in jail and a 30-day license suspension, Meyer said.

Marshalltown High School students Dayana Carrera, left, and Unmesh Datar participated in the World Food Prize Global Youth Institute Oct. 15-17 in Des Moines.

Marshalltown High School senior Dayana Carrera and junior exchange student Unmesh Datar participated in the World Food Prize Global Youth Institute held in Des Moines Oct. 15 through 17.

Dayana and Unmesh joined 200 other students from across the country as well as the world as they learned about food security issues and possible solutions to these issues.

As part of the institute, each student presented a research paper that they wrote about a food insecurity issue in a specific country. Both MHS students chose to focus their research on water scarcity. Dayana’s work focused on the issue in Mexico and Unmesh focused on his home country of India.

The Bobcat Marching Band is pictured performing at the Homecoming parade on Oct. 1. The band received a Division I rating at the State Marching Band Festival in Fort Dodge on Oct. 10.

The Marshalltown High School Bobcat Marching Band performed at the Iowa High School Music Association State Marching Band Festival in Fort Dodge at Dodger Stadium on October 10.

The band, under the direction of Bret Lee and Brett Umthun, earned its 15th consecutive Division I rating with a score of 83.00.  The title of the show “Africa” included music from “The Lion King” and the concert band selection “Africa: Ceremony, Song and Ritual” by Robert W. Smith. It was arranged by Miller Middle School Director Michael Albarracin. The guard choreography was designed by Megan Umthun and the marching drill by Brett Umthun.

Band Extravaganza, October 19
The Annual Band Extravaganza featuring the MHS Jazz Bands and Marching Band will be October 19 at 7 p.m. in the MHS/ Community Auditorium.  Admission is $5 for adults and students in grades 7^th-12^th and $3 for students in kindergarten through sixth grade with activity cards honored.

Band Pasta Dinner, October 27
The annual Bobcat Band pasta dinner will be October 27 from 5 to 7:30 p.m. in the MHS cafeteria.  Tickets are $5 and can be purchased from a band student or at the door.  Proceeds will be used to fund the Bobcat Marching Band trip to Phoenix, Arizona to march in the Fiesta Bowl Parade on January 2, 2016.  Come support the band as they prepare to represent the community and school in Arizona.

Marshalltown High School teacher James Christensen talks to his Spanish for the World of Medicine class on Oct. 8. The class took on a project to translate diabetes education documents from English to Spanish for Central Iowa Healthcare.

Students in the Spanish for the World of Medicine class taught by James Christensen at Marshalltown High School are building connections with the community and learning more about the Spanish language at the same time as part of a special project.

Students took on a project to translate nine documents on diabetes education for Central Iowa Healthcare to disperse to the community.

It is a collaborative effort for the students as they each were assigned a section to translate from English to Spanish.

“It was a good way for us to give back,” Christensen said.

Students were able to use their Chromebooks to collaborate on the translation. Autumn Kelly of CIH presented to the class recently which led to Christensen asking her if the class could help her with any project.