When a group of students in Julie Trickett’s third grade class read “Catch the Wind”, she asked them to build model wind turbines. The rest of her Fisher Elementary students soon wanted to join in, and before long her classroom was filled with wind turbines of all shapes and sizes.
Read more about this class project in the Marshalltown Times Republican: http://www.timesrepublican.com/page/content.detail/id/546976/Catching-on-to-wind-catchers.html?nav=5005
Marshalltown Community School District Kindergarten Registration will be Friday, March 9, 2012, from 9am to 3pm at all district elementary schools.
To enroll in kindergarten for the 2012-2013 school year, children must be 5 years old by Sept. 15, 2012. Parents should bring the child’s birth certificate to registration.
Families should go to their neighborhood school for registration. Families living in the Central Zone or rural areas may register at any building, though that does not guarantee attendance at that building. Final assignment will be based on available space, sibling enrollment or enrollment in the Dual Language Program (Woodbury Elementary).
A map of school attendance zones is available on the district website (www.marshalltown.k12.ia.us) under the “Parent Resources” tab.
For more information please contact your neighborhood elementary school or Central Office at 641-754-1000. Open houses for incoming kindergarteners will be held in late April.
Angie Pietig (left) and Kate Troskey, MEA building representatives, preparing the collection cans for their building.
The Marshalltown Education Association (MEA) is spearheading the Reach Out and Read campaign which collects money for books that doctors hand out to preschool children and their families at their milestone check-up appointments.
“We know how important it is to get books into the hands of kids and their families”, said Meg Sponseller, MEA president. “With our cash donations, the local Reach Out and Read organization makes sure that these books get into the hands of Marshall county kids.”
Each school building and support department is involved in the fund drive with collection cans and envelopes in each location. The fund drive goes until Feb. 21, 2012.
“We encourage each employee to give toward this effort”, said Dr. Marvin Wade, MCSD superintendent. We know that kids with books have greater success when they come through our doors. This is a chance for us to help our future students”.
If you have any questions concerning the Reach Out and Read fund campaign, call or email Sue Cahill, 754-1080, scahill@marshalltown.k12.ia.us.
Artwork by a number of Marshalltown students will be displayed at the State Historical Society of Iowa as part of a display for Youth Art Month.
Ten students were accepted into the Art Educators of Iowa statewide art show, which runs during Youth Art Month in March.
Students selected are:
From Miller Middle School (Art teacher Carol Webb): Sabra Fiser, Katie Gassman, Ellyn Boland, and Olyvia Mathews
From Lenihan Intermediate (Art teacher Pam Muench): Emri Flathers, Lucas Thiessen
From Franklin Elementary (Art teacher Laurie Mullen): Olivia Whaley, Victor Livengood, Adrian Juarez, and Julian Gonzalez
A reception will be held for these students on Sunday, March 11, 2012 at the Historical Building in Des Moines. Youth Art Month celebrates the value of the arts in education, which promotes creativity, higher order thinking skills, and creative problem solving.
Marshalltown hosted the Special Olympics Central Area Basketball Skills Competition Feb. 2 at Miller Middle School, with several Bobcat Special Olympics athletes qualifying for the state contest.
More than 50 athletes from all over Central Iowa attended.
“It was exciting to see the athletes perform and especially to see the growth they have made since the beginning of our season to now,” said basketball sponsor Court Koch. “We look forward to seeing even more progress being made and look forward to seeing what happens at the state competition.”
Students with a first place finish at the competition advance to the state contest in Iowa City March 9-10, 2012.
Results:
| Leticia Flores | 1st |
| Bea Leon | 1st |
| Michael Manley | 1st |
| Miguel Salas | 1st |
| Daniel Wieland | 1st |
| Cody Freese | 2nd |
| Ashley Gaunt | 2nd |
| Steven Clayton | Participation Ribbon |
Four Marshalltown Large-Group ensembles competed at Iowa High School Speech Contest held at Washington High School in Cedar Rapids on Feb. 4, with two groups earning Division I ratings.
Those groups were Radio News Broadcasting, Week end Update, which included Cody Johnson, Jared Mills, Marissa Chase, Shellie Robinson and Megan Rachuy. The other group, ensemble acting Eleemosynary, featured Emilie Nyssen, Emily Nordstrum, and Natalie Heddens.
Two remaining groups received Division II ratings. One group was readers theatre, At the Sound of the Tone, with Chika Onyeka, Emily Nordstrom, Jasmine Vore, Jordan Cline, Marissa Chase, Megan Rachuy, Sydney Davis, and Brennan Goodman, while the final group was Welcome to a Nightmare with all freshmen members: Chandler Fisher, Cassidy Fisher, Allyson Biggs, Dahlia Fifo, Alex Herink, Kierra Carbajal, Sumeet Panchal, and Marisa Anderson. Senior Gwen Morrison directed the freshman group.
Grace Amemiya was a 21-year-old nursing student in California when she, her mother and her siblings were shipped off to an Internment Camp at the start of World War II. On Monday, the 91-year-old Amemiya told her story to history students at Marshalltown High School.
Amemiya, who was born in the U.S. to Japanese immigrants, was among thousands of Japanese Americans who were relocated and detained after Japan bombed Pear Harbor Dec. 7, 1941. She now resides in Ames.
Read more about her visit in today’s Marshalltown Times-Republican.
Middle school families are invited to “Night of the Young Adolescent”, Thursday, Feb. 16, from 7 to 8:30pm at Miller Middle School.
The evening will open with a presentation called “Stuck in the Middle” at 7pm in the Miller Media Center. The remainder of the evening (7:30-8:30) will consist of break-out sessions on a wide range of topics important to middle school-aged youth:
All attendees may enter to win a new Acer Aspire One D257 Netbook courtesy of Farmers Savings Bank and Great Western Bank. Drawing for the door prize will occur at 8:30pm.
Throughout the evening there will be open gym and computer lab access for students. Child care and refreshments will also be provided.
“Night of the Young Adolescent” is sponsored by Miller’s chapter of Iowa’s Statewide Parent Information Resource (iSPIN)
Guidance Counselor Sue Cleveringa (left) and School Nurse Paula Rutherford (right) present Kaitlyn and her family wtih gift certificates.
When Fisher Elementary second-grader Kaitlyn Hughes and her family lost all their belongings in a house fire Dec. 26, her teachers and classmates jumped into action.
The school organized a fundraising effort called “We Care for Kaitlyn’s Family”, raising $952.22 to help replace lost possessions.
Kaitlyn and her family were traveling the day after Christmas when a fire gutted their home. While the house remains standing, all the contents were lost.
“One of our themes for counseling is empathy – thinking about how other people feel – and compassion – putting empathy in action,” said Sue Cleveringa, guidance counselor at Fisher Elementary. “That is exactly what our school did.”
In one short week the school raised nearly $1,000 to put toward gift certificates to help the family get back on their feet. Someone also donated a gift certificate for a photography session to replace lost family photos.
(L to R) Mary Giese, executive director, Marshall County Arts & Culture Alliance; Julie Bousum; Phyllis Lane; Kirk Niehouse.
Marshalltown High School art educators Kirk Niehouse and Julie Bousum were two of three recipients of the 2012 Friends of the Arts award given by the Marshall County Arts & Culture Alliance.
Niehouse, Bousum and Phyllis Lane were honored at the Alliance annual meeting Jan. 26, held in the community building at Riverview Park. Mary Giese, executive director for the Alliance, presented the awards.
A Marshalltown native, Niehouse attended Marshalltown Community College, where he studied under Ray Frederick. He graduated from the University of Northern Iowa and student taught under Don Lovell. He owns Marshalltown Pottery Company and has been a regular award winner at the Iowa State Fair since 2009.
Bousum is a native of Benton County who attended Iowa State University. She originally came to Marshalltown to teach English, speech, drama and language arts. For the past 20 years she has taught summer classes for children through Marshalltown Parks & Recreation. She also teaches pottery through Iowa Valley Continuing Education and the Amana Art Guild. She has work displayed at Wolfe Clinic and in Dysart, Iowa.
Both Niehouse and Bousum also support the annual Art & Compassion Soup Lunch, donating handmade ceramic soup bowls created by themselves and students in the MHS Art Department.
“We want to honor the many ways you have motivated, inspired and supported students of all ages in developing their love of art, and their skill in creating art,” Giese said.
Lane began singing in her choir at First United Methodist Church when she was 16 years old. She played flute in high school and later the municipal band. She helped create the community symphonic band and studied piano under Ellie Chandler. She was the first co-president of the Community Concert Association, a member of the Early American Glass Club and serves on the board for Binford House.
Her sons are also both musical. Nick is a professional trombonist, arranger and composer in Los Angeles and Lex is an organist in his church in Illinois.
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