Bobcats Making Headlines

Governor Terry Branstad will visit Franklin Elementary School on Tuesday, May 19 during a recognition ceremony for the school as part of the Governor’s Youth Action Award.

Franklin is being honored for submitting a video for the Youth Action Award from its recent Fun with Food night, which stressed the importance of healthy eating and exercise. Other awards will be presented to representatives of the Marshalltown Community School District as well during the event.

The event begins at 11 a.m. at the Franklin Field and will feature the Marshalltown High School drumline, remarks from Branstad and school officials, and exercise demonstrations with the Franklin students. It will also feature remarks from Nicole Bruce, the director of Live Healthy Iowa.

The event, at 1315 W. Main St., is open to the public and will conclude at noon. In the case of inclement weather, the event will move inside the Franklin school gym.

Marshalltown High School Activities Director Craig Huegel, left, talks during a small ceremony marking the opening of the MHS Roundhouse weight room and fitness center on May 11. At right is Terry Buzbee who donated funds for equipment in the facility.

Marshalltown High School hosted a small ceremony marking the opening of the new weight room and fitness center at the MHS Roundhouse on May 11.

It features a wide array of state-of-the-art strength training equipment as well as fitness equipment to be utilized by students at the school.

The school recognized Terry Buzbee and his family for donating funds used to purchase equipment for the new facility. Buzbee did not grow up in Marshalltown but lives here and takes pride in the town and school district.

“I have tremendous pride in the city and a lot of pride in the Marshalltown Bobcats,” Buzbee said.

Marshalltown High School students competed in the Central Iowa Tech Fair at Iowa State University on May 6. Pictured in the front row, from left, are purple ribbon winners Sumeet Panchal, Ryan McDaniel and Jack Kester. In the back row are blue ribbon winners, Joseph Anguiano, Lucas Thiessen, Jill Podhajsky, Lucas Duff, Kanin Mann and Daytona Sorlaesith.

Students in the Extended Learning Program from Marshalltown High School competed in the Central Iowa Tech Fair on May 6 at Iowa State University. Students brought their technology-related projects to share with each other and to be judged in different categories.

Earning purple ribbons (the highest honor) from MHS were Sumeet Panchal in the programming category for his game “You Sunk my Battleship,” Jack Kester in the innovative use of technology category for his electronic drums and Ryan McDaniel in the music and sound design category for his creation “Cinetronic.”

Other students awarded with blue ribbons (the second highest honor) from MHS were Lucas Duff, Lucas Thiessen, Jill Podhajsky, Kanin Mann, Daytona Sorlaesith and Joseph Anguiano.

IT-Olympics

Extended learning students also competed in the recent IT-Olympics at Iowa State.

An App development team of Jacob Ramsey-Smith, Sumeet Panchal and Jack Kester placed fifth out of 30 teams at the event and the cyber-defense team of Collin Krukow, Tim Potter, Jonathan Ortega, Stefan Jackson and Sam Turner placed 12^th out of 30 teams.

This group of students from Marshalltown High School competed in the IT-Olympics last month at Iowa State University. Pictured are, front row, from left, Stefan Jackson, Collin Krukow, Sumeet Panchal and Jonathan Ortega. Back row, Jacob Ramsey-Smith, Jack Kester, Zane Hala (mentor), Sam Turner and Tim Potter.

The Marshalltown Community College nursing program brought a mannequin to the Marshalltown High School health fair on May 6.

Marshalltown High School hosted a health fair on May 6. The fourth annual fair included 10 booths and was attended by approximately 700 students and staff.

The fair featured health information, interactive demonstrations and freebies at the booths.

This is the first year the fair had a blood typing event from LifeServe Blood Centers, where students were able to find out their blood type. The fair was sponsored by the MHS nurse’s office.

Trophy piece by Fisher students and Tilly Woodward

Students at Woodbury and Fisher elementary schools helped produce two clay pieces each known as a “Trophy of Learning.”

Working with their student-teacher, Tilly Woodward, the students created symbols of their learning to add to the trophy.

Woodward, a well-known artist who works at the Faulconer Gallery at Grinnell College, put the pieces together and created two clay works that are on display at each school.

Woodward worked with art students in the classes of teacher Maggie Parks. Parks called the trophies “quite beautiful.”

Trophy piece by Woodbury students and Tilly Woodward

Tilly Woodward unveils a “Trophy of Learning” at Woodbury Elementary School recently.

Lenihan Intermediate School held its annual spelling bee on May 5. Sixth grader Jade Tesar, right, came in first place for the second straight year. Also pictured is Rebekah Stone, a fifth grader who placed second in the contest.

Sixth grader Jade Tesar won the Lenihan Intermediate School spelling bee for the second straight year on May 5.

Tesar topped the field after eight oral rounds of competition. A total of 25 finalists competed at the event after being selected as top spellers at Lenihan after a written test.

Rebekah Stone placed second in the contest and Jillian Lang took third place. Tesar and Stone received trophies for their achievement and all of the competitors received medals.

Jillian Lang placed third in the Lenihan spelling bee on May 5.

Desy Sung, a third grader at Rogers Elementary School, wrote a fairy tale about a princess who undergoes heart surgery which drove her physical education teacher to tears.

Desy Sung had a story to tell and her words brought her physical education teacher to tears and also moved others. Sung, a third grader at Rogers Elementary School, wrote a fairy tale about a princess named Rosseta who needed heart surgery. The princess received the surgery, got better and participated in the Jump Rope for Heart to help others by raising money for the American Heart Association.

“She has a good heart and she’s very creative in her writing,” said Donna Appel, her physical education teacher at Rogers.

When the 8-year-old wrote the story, the school was in the middle of raising $1,161 for the American Heart Association as part of the Jump Rope for Heart.

“It’s important,” Sung said of the fundraising effort.

Sung said she received a lot of recognition from the school staff for her story.

“My parents were proud of me too,” Sung said.

The letter also went statewide as it was sent along by a representative of the American Heart Association Midwest Affiliate as part of a statewide wrap up on the 2015 Jump Rope for Heart.

The Marshalltown High School Fine Arts Department will present the annual Jazz Coffee Concert at 7 p.m. on Monday, May 11, 2015 in Dejardin Hall on the Marshalltown Community College campus.

Tickets are available at the door and are $5 for adults and $3 for sixth grade and younger with MHS activity cards honored.

The concert will feature MHS Jazz 1 under the direction of Bret Lee, MHS Jazz 2 under the direction of Brett Umthun, Miller Jazz Band under the direction of Michael Albarracin and the Lenihan Intermediate School Jazz Band under the direction of Paul Sibbel. Dessert, coffee and ice tea will be provided.

Hoglan Elementary School fourth grader Hannah Seltman reads to her mother Melissa Seltman during Cafe Hoglan on April 28. The event invites parents and other family members to come and read with students while enjoying breakfast.

Hoglan Elementary School held its fourth Café Hoglan of the school year on April 28. The event invites parents to arrive several minutes before school starts and read with their children while they all enjoy breakfast.

Each student who had a parent, grandparent or other relative attend got to take a book home with them.

On average, 90 parents showed up for each of the four Café Hoglan events this school year.

“We hope to make this an event that happens every year,” said Hoglan teacher Katlyn Brekke.

The event is funded via a grant from the AEA, with matching $750 funds from Team Hoglan, the school’s parent-teacher organization.

Marshalltown High School leaders continue to prepare for commencement, which is planned outdoors at Leonard Cole Field at MHS for May 24, as the Roundhouse will not be available due to construction.

Outdoor ceremony plans

The ceremony will begin at the MHS football complex at 2:30 p.m. with gates at the field opening at 1 p.m. and graduates need to report by 1:30 p.m. to the MHS cafeteria.

Visitors will sit in the home bleachers on the south side of the stadium. Graduates are asked to wear comfortable shoes (no high heels) as they will walk from the MHS cafeteria to the field (before the ceremony) and back to the cafeteria (after the ceremony).

The MHS campus and the parking lots will open at 1 p.m. and the area should only be accessed by those visiting for graduation. Bobcat Boulevard will not be open to through traffic from noon to 5 p.m. on graduation day. 

Plans for indoor ceremony if needed

In the case of inclement weather, the ceremony will be moved to the Student Activity Center on the campus of Marshalltown Community College. In this case, due to space, students will be allowed three total tickets each for family members and other visitors inside the Student Activity Center and others without tickets can watch the ceremony via closed circuit television in the nearby Babe Harder Gymnasium. Graduates are expected to report to the MCC student union by 1:30 p.m. if the ceremony is held at MCC.

Students will receive their tickets at graduation rehearsal on Friday, May 22 and the tickets should be brought by visitors no matter which location is chosen (just in the rare case the venue has to be moved indoors during the ceremony).

Notification of change in location if needed

Weather forecasts will be monitored the days leading up to graduation by MHS personnel. Should a location change occur, notification will be posted on the district website, Facebook and Twitter pages, and local media will be notified. If it is warranted, emails and phone calls could also be made to families.

A preliminary decision on moving the location of graduation to MCC will be made by noon on Thursday, May 21. If changing weather dictates, a decision could be made to move from Leonard Cole Field to MCC by 8 a.m. May 24 (the day of graduation).

School personnel would like to thank the public for their understanding of this unique situation.