Rogers Elementary students donate 320+ items to Emergency Food Box

Posted on December 19, 2011 by marshalltownschools

Loren and Diane Upah from the Emergency Food Box accept donations from Rogers Elementary students.

Rogers Elementary collected more than 320 non-perishable food items for the Emergency Food Box this month.

Students brought donations to school starting at the end of November and going up until Friday, Dec. 16. The school had a goal of 300 items, which Rogers students met and surpassed with ease.

During an assembly Friday the food was given to Loren and Diane Upah from the Emergency Food Box. Diane Upah told the students to give themselves a hug and remember that feeling, for the donations they provided were going to give comfort to those in need during the holiday season.

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Anson collects pop tabs, food for holiday caring project

Posted on December 16, 2011 by marshalltownschools

Anson Elementary collected 350 food items for the Salvation Army and 32 1/2 lbs. of pop tabs for the Ronald McDonald House during their holiday caring project.

Students brought donated food items Nov. 23-Dec. 15 and collected pop tabs Dec. 1-15. Learning Supports Specialist Ashley Wiegand said one student brought nearly 16 lbs of the pop tabs himself. She also noted the students were extremely excited about the project.

Each student who brought a food item was able to put their name on a paper ornament that was hung on a tree near the Anson Media Center.

The donations were picked up by the Salvation Army Dec. 15.

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Lenihan FIRST LEGO League team wins regionals

Posted on December 13, 2011 by marshalltownschools

Front (L to R): Martin Runquist, Maggie Grimm, Joseph Anguiano. Back: Jill Podhajsky, Joshua Arment, Lucas Duff

Lenihan’s FIRST LEGO League team took the overall championship at the regional contest held Saturday, Dec. 10, at Marshalltown Community College. The win advances the team to the state competition Jan. 14, 2012, at Iowa State University.

Lenihan’s Extended Learning Program team won the overall Championship, in a field of 32 Central Iowa teams, by earning the highest combined scores in all four competition categories:  Robot Challenge, Technical Interview, Research Presentation, and FLL Core Values.  Members of Team Mu are sixth graders: Joseph Anguiano, Joshua Arment, Lucas Duff, Maggie Grimm, Jill Podhajsky, and Martin Runquist.

The 2011-2012 FLL theme is “Food Factor”. Throughout the fall semester, the team has researched milk production and possible bacterial contamination points.  Based on this research, the students wrote a project presentation, designed an innovative solution to the contamination problem, and compiled an annotated bibliography of their research sources.

Work on the robot challenge included completing advanced programming tutorials, constructing three robot prototypes and their final robot design, and programming multiple missions using LEGO MINDSTORM software. The students incorporated a light sensor and ultrasonic sensor to input data for an autonomous program as well as utilized a third motor to operate their forklift, fishing net, catch basin, and bumper attachments.

The team will face 72 qualifying teams Jan. 14 at the ISU College of Engineering. More than 200 teams competed at regional competitions across the state.

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Miller LEGO League team advancing to state

Posted on December 13, 2011 by marshalltownschools

Front (L to R): Mary Drummer, Nick Summers. Back: Whitney Canaday, Juliana Osgood, Tim Potter, Jacob Ramsey Smith, James Drummer, and Ethan Thill.

Two Miller Middle School teams competed at the FIRST LEGO League regional competition Saturday, Dec. 10, at Marshalltown Community College, with one team advancing to state.

The “Space Unicorns” won a trophy in Project Presentation, where teams explore an actual problem that scientists are trying to solve, develop an innovative solution, and share their findings.

This year’s theme is “Food Factor”, and the Space Unicorns’ project focused on the use of lasers in chicken processing as a means of reducing microbial contamination. The team includes Mary Drummer, Nick Summers, Whitney Canaday, Juliana Osgood, Tim Potter, Jacob Ramsey Smith, James Drummer, and Ethan Thill.  Joel Thill assists as a tech coach.

The team will compete at the state FIRST LEGO League contest Jan. 14, 2012, at the Iowa State University College of Engineering. Out of 200 teams competing at regionals, only 72 qualified for state.

The “Mango-pacas” were sponsored by the Girl Scouts and won a certificate in Programming for their efficient use of code.  This team includes Emma Alman, Olivia Arneson (Lenihan), Haley Hodges, Victoria Johnson (Lenihan), Hannah Lindgren, Andrea Lothe, Olyvia Mathews, and Sydnie Wohlert.  Their coaches are Janine McCormick and Nate McCormick.

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Miller students, staff kick off Friday by kicking up their heels

Posted on December 9, 2011 by marshalltownschools

There are many ways to mark the beginning a Friday. At Miller Middle School, this morning was all about dancing.

At 8:10am, while students were waiting in the auditorium for the morning bell, a group of teachers flocked in front of the stage and as music turned on they began to dance. It started small with just a handful of staff, but before long teachers and students were joining in until a large group was sharing in the holiday spirit.

Miller science teacher Tammie Sotyn said the idea of the spontaneous dance party came after a similar performance at the Holiday Stroll. A few staff members practiced earlier in the week to get down the basic moves.

She said they hoped to use the activity to have some fun together and enjoy the holiday spirit.

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MHS Policy Debaters place second, third at Okoboji Invite

Posted on December 9, 2011 by marshalltownschools

Front (L to R): Keyana Vasquez, Becky Schwartzenburg, Natalie Kueny, Maria Vasquez, Kade Vopava. Back (L to R): Kierra Carbajal, Aaron Livingston and Tim Counts, Coach Brian Bown.

The Marshalltown High School Policy Debate Team had its most successful tournament to date recently, with two Bobcat teams taking second and third place at the Okoboji Invitational.

The debaters competed in Spirit Lake Dec. 2-3. Juniors Tim Counts and Aaron Livingston advanced to the championship against Des Moines Roosevelt and came away with a second place trophy. The freshman team of Kade Vopava and Keyana Vasques took third.

This weekend the debaters travel to Des Moines for the Dowling Catholic Paradigm Debate Tournament.

“They are going from the frying pan into the fire this weekend,” Coach Brian Bown said. “Dowling is one of the tournaments on the national debate circuit. If we want to go where we want to go in the future we need to get used to tournaments like Dowling. Okoboji was fun. Now it’s time to get serious.”

Marshalltown will finish December with a tournament at Des Moines Lincoln Dec. 17 before the state tournament in January. The National Forensic League District 31 tournament in February qualifies teams for the NFL National Tournament to be held in Indianapolis this summer.

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MHS senior is candidate for National Merit Program special scholarship

Posted on December 8, 2011 by marshalltownschools

The National Merit Scholarship Corporation has named Marshalltown High School senior Taylor Vaske as a candidate for one of its special scholarship programs.

Every year some 1,300 National Merit® Program participants, who are outstanding but not Finalists, are awarded Special Scholarships provided by corporations and business organizations. To be considered for a Special Scholarship, students must meet the sponsor’s criteria and entry requirements of the National Merit Scholarship Program.

Vaske is a candidate for a scholarship sponsored by Lennox International Inc., which awards 18 scholarships through the National Merit Program. Qualification for National Merit programs is determined by student performance on the PSAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test.

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Bobcat Special Olympics compete at State Bowling Tournament

Posted on December 1, 2011 by marshalltownschools

Bobcat Special Olympics athletes at State Bowling.

Several Bobcat athletes competed at the State Special Olympics Bowling meet Nov. 19 at the AMF Bowling Alley in Des Moines.

“We had a great group of students, both athletes and peer helpers, that participated in Special Olympics bowling this year,” said Wendy Olinger, head bowling sponsor. “The kids had a great time and improved on their bowling skills throughout the season.”

Fourteen of the 48 students participating in bowling advanced to the state tournament, which marked the end of the fall sports season for Bobcat Special Olympics.

One of the highlights of an overall rewarding season was seeing students from Marshalltown High School take time to come cheer one the Special Olympics athletes.

“The neatest thing that happened this season, which brought a smile to my face, was seeing a group of high school students that would come over to the bowling alley after school to cheer on the athletes during practice,” Olinger said. “This was great for our athletes to perform in front of a crowd during practice.”

State Bowling Results:

Singles

Dillon Black-4th Place
Oscar Gutierrez-4th Place
Andres Leiva-4th Place
Richard Olmstead-1st Place
Page Shattuck-1st place
Bea Leon-1st place

Doubles

Frank Iole/Abbie McDonald-1st Place
Daniell Sanchez/Zach Peterson-1st Place

Team

Third Place

Isaac Youngblood
Joey Fisher
Cody Freese
Skylar Smith

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MHS begins new academic recognition programs

Posted on November 28, 2011 by marshalltownschools

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At an assembly recognizing student activities last week Marshalltown High School announced the creation of three new academic award programs.

MHS students will now be able to earn an Academic Letter. Similar to a letter earned for athletics, this award will be given to students achieving a 3.5 grade point average in two consecutive semesters. After earning a letter, students can earn additional bars for each two consecutive semesters with 3.5 GPA.

The Bobcat Student Award will be given to 10 students in each grade level with a 3.0-3.5 quarter GPA and no attendance or behavior issues.

A Bobcat Success Award will be given to 10 students per grade level showing improvement in grades, attendance and/or behavior.

The Student and Success awards will be announced three times a year (at the end of the first, second and third quarter). Honorees will receive a certificate and a pizza lunch.

During the assembly Nov. 22 MHS also recognized the conclusion of fall activities and the kickoff of winter activities. Representatives from winter activities participated in a relay race and the assembly concluded with several representatives from MHS staff and administration receiving cream pies in the face as part of a canned food drive.

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Lenihan P.E. holds Thanksgiving food drive

Posted on November 21, 2011 by marshalltownschools

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