Bobcats Making Headlines

Marisa Rivera

The Marshalltown Community School District will hold another set of parent rallies on Monday, August 10 and Tuesday, August 11.

The rallies are free and open to the public and will be from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. on both nights in the Marshalltown Public Library (conference room B), 105 W. Boone St.

The rallies are designed for school district staff to receive feedback from parents and families from Marshalltown Schools and others in the community.

These two rallies will have a special focus for families from Burma, but all are welcome.

The rallies will be moderated by Marisa Rivera, who has decades of experience as an educational consultant and in leadership development. She is president of the consulting firm Mpowerment Works

Light refreshments will be served. These rallies come on the heels of two rallies held in June, which also offered opportunity for community feedback.

The school district is partnering with EMBARC (Ethnic
Minorities of Burma Advocacy and Resource Center) for these rallies.

Woodbury Elementary School student Ethen Santana, left, and Anson Elementary School student Logan Kordik learn to program a Lego robot during the STEM Camp going on this week at Marshalltown High School. More than 100 local students are participating in the camp, which is operated by the University of Iowa engineering department and MHS staff.

A new STEM Camp is going on this week at Marshalltown High School, attracting more than 100 local students in kindergarten through sixth grade.

Led by University of Iowa engineering students with assistance from MHS staff, students are using Legos to help them discover science.

Kindergarten and first grade students are learning about simple machines and second and third grade students are taking part in Lego Learners as they are getting an introduction to computer programming.

Students in grades fourth through sixth are working on Lego robots and programming them through a computer.

“We encourage them to always come up with new, innovative ways to create the program,” said Cody Soultz, an engineering student at the University of Iowa who is helping with the camp.

The Marshalltown Community School District has been a leader in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) education in recent years and this is the first time this University of Iowa camp has been held at a school district.

MHS students Jacob Ramsey-Smith, left, and Ryan McDaniel took part in the Young Engineers and Scientists program at Iowa State University this summer. They are pictured on the ISU campus during an awards ceremony on July 23.

Marshalltown High School students Ryan McDaniel and Jacob Ramsey-Smith recently completed a six-week Young Engineers and Scientists program at Iowa State University.

An awards ceremony was held on the ISU campus on July 23 to recognize the students who participated in the program. Both students did research projects and completed posters under the mentorship of ISU faculty scientists.

McDaniel’s research project was titled “BioGlass Crystallization of Type III Polyketide Synthase” as he worked with proteins. Ramsey-Smith’s project was titled “Bridge Joint and Concrete Testing” as his focus was on civil engineering.

The students were selected for the program after an application process.
Both will be seniors this fall at MHS and said they could pursue engineering or science in college.

Marshalltown High School teacher Erin Weatherly is learning more about the healthcare field during an externship at Central Iowa Healthcare this summer.

Marshalltown High School life sciences teacher Erin Weatherly is doing some learning outside of the classroom this summer to take back to her students this fall. Weatherly is participating in the Real World Externships for Teachers of Mathematics, Science and Technology as part of the Iowa STEM Council.

In this externship, she is spending 30 days at Central Iowa Healthcare. Her days are spent working on educational materials in the dietician’s office as well as witnessing surgeries and other day-to-day operations of the hospital. Weatherly teaches health classes and career development classes at MHS.

“It’s great to bring this experience back to the students,” Weatherly said. “I’m going to be taking activities back to the classroom.”

Weatherly has been heavily involved in putting together a diabetes education program at CIH. She is also learning about the many careers in the healthcare field and will pass on the information to her students. Weatherly is an advisor in the Health Careers Club at MHS.

Weatherly is one of 40 educators across the state taking part in the summer externship program this year through the STEM Council and was selected through an application process.

Marshalltown Community School District teacher Tami Huck recently received certification as a Reading Recovery teacher leader after completing a year-long program.

Marshalltown Schools teacher Tami Huck recently completed a year-long program and achieved her Reading Recovery teacher leader certification from the Reading Recovery Program of Iowa at the University of Northern Iowa.

Huck, who has taught at Franklin Elementary School since 2000, will continue to teach and also serve to train Reading Recovery teachers throughout the Marshalltown Community School District as a teacher leader.

Reading Recovery puts special focus on those students who need extra help in learning to read in the first grade. Huck said it’s important for children to read to open up more learning for them.

“Reading pretty much drives everything,” Huck said.

Huck is now one of 21 Reading Recovery teacher leaders in the state and one of three recent graduates of the program.

Consuelo Castillo Kickbusch

Marshalltown Schools are hosting two nights of parent rallies featuring a world famous advocate for parents having a voice in how their children are educated.

Consuelo Castillo Kickbusch will moderate the rallies on June 23 and 24 in both English and Spanish. Both will be held from 5:30 – 8 p.m. in the Marshalltown High School Media Center. Light refreshments will be served both nights and the rallies are free and open to the public, with childcare available.

The first night is titled “Speaking up for the Sake of our Children,” while the second night is titled “Working Together for the Sake of the Children.”

The goal of these programs is for families and school leaders to learn how to better work together to increase the likelihood of student success in the Marshalltown Community School District. Input from all parents is very important to Marshalltown Schools.

Throughout her career, Consuelo has shared her personal knowledge on becoming an effective leader in today’s global marketplace with hundreds of schools, colleges, universities, corporations, and government institutions both in the U.S. and abroad.

Born and raised along the border in a small barrio in Laredo, Texas, Consuelo is all too familiar with the challenges of poverty, discrimination and illiteracy. Although she grew up without material wealth, Consuelo was taught by her immigrant parents to be rich in culture, tradition, values and faith.

For an English language flyer on this program, click here.

For a Spanish language flyer on this program, click here.

Marshalltown Schools is hosting registration for students entering kindergarten through 12^th grade on June 9 and 10.

Kindergarten through 8^th grade will register at Miller Middle School, 125 S. 11^th St. Students entering high school and Marshalltown Learning Academy will register at Marshalltown High School, 1602 S. 2^nd Ave. Registration times are 11 a.m. – 7 p.m. on Tuesday, June 9 and from 8 a.m. – 3 p.m. on Wednesday, June 10.

Textbook rental fees are $40 for kindergarten through sixth grade and $50 for seventh through 12^th grades.

Students new to the school district should bring their birth certificate and updated immunization records. For more information on registration, call the Marshalltown Community School District Central Office at 641-754-1000.

Marshalltown High School students Cody Songkhamdet, left, and Kyle Johnson give a presentation on the video game they created in their English class.

Two Marshalltown High School students ended their freshman year with a special presentation at the school on May 28. Cody Songkhamdet and Kyle Johnson presented to the class their work on creating a video game based on the classic play “Romeo and Juliet.”

Students in the English class taught by Jocelyn Frohwein had an assignment to create a project based on the Shakespeare piece and these two students decided to create a video game where the user can be Romeo searching for Juliet.

They utilized the website Flowlab.io to produce the game and went through plenty of ups and downs before getting the game to look the way they wanted. Johnson said one main thing he learned was “don’t give up.”

Marshalltown High School counselor Lydia Arevalo has been nominated for an Iowa School Counselor of the Year award.

Marshalltown High School counselor Lydia Arevalo has been nominated for an Iowa School Counselor of the Year award by one of her peers.

Arevalo has been at MHS for three years and has seven total years of experience as a school counselor. Arevalo said she has several main initiatives she is excited about at MHS including mental health counseling services, Project Lead The Way, summer school, and the goal to attain 100 percent graduation rate.

“I have a sincere passion for working with and advocating for minority and struggling at-risk students,” Arevalo said. “I work with a wonderful team of counselors, administrators, teachers and support staff at MHS. Every day I can honestly say I love my job. I love blessing the lives of our students and their families and I will continue to do whatever it takes to help all of my students reach their full potential and succeed at MHS.”

The Iowa School Counselor of the Year award will be announced at the Iowa School Counselor Association Conference in November.  Arevalo was nominated for the award by Miller Middle School counselor Angie Radcliffe.

Miller Middle School special education teacher Deb Johnson, right, said paraeducator Mehlon Maxwell, left, is a valuable member of the special education staff at Miller.

Mehlon Maxwell said she loves making connections with students in her work as a paraeducator at Miller Middle School.

Maxwell’s peers have also taken note of her talents as a special education staff member. Miller special education teacher Deb Johnson said Maxwell has great people skills.

“She has a knack for working with people of all ages, both students and staff,” Johnson said. “Mehlon not only does what is expected, but when that is done, she seeks out and finds other ways that she can help students learn.”

Johnson felt so strongly about the good work Maxwell does that she nominated her for an AEA 267 paraprofessional award. Though Maxwell did not receive the award, which was given to someone from another district in the AEA 267 area, Johnson believes she is worthy of recognition.

“I nominated Mehlon for the paraeducator award because she goes way above and beyond what she is required to do as a paraeducator,” Johnson said.