Marshalltown students are pictured participating in a robotics demonstration during last year’s Family Coding Night. This year’s coding night will be held from 5 to 6 p.m. on Wednesday, December 5 at the Miller Middle School gym (125 S. 11th St.).

The Marshalltown Community School District will host the third annual Family Coding Night from 5 to 6 p.m. on Wednesday, December 5 at the Miller Middle School gym.

This event is open to students of all grade levels as well as families and the public. It will feature hands-on activities in STEM and computer coding activities.

Students and staff will showcase their work with different types of robots and computer equipment.  All will have the chance to try out robotic coding, coding with BrainPop, virtual reality applications and much more.  Families can see the work of the Lego League teams and creative coding that is used in the schools.

“Students as young as preschool and kindergarten are being exposed to coding and computer literacy in the classroom,” said Sue Cahill, coordinator of the MCSD Family Coding Night.  “This event is our chance to showcase student work and introduce families to the many coding activities we offer to our students at all grades. We will have a variety of robotics to program, virtual reality experiences, even a Dance Party you can code yourself to your favorite song.  It is a great opportunity for students and families to participate in hands-on computer activities and experiences.”

View a video of last year’s Family Coding night here.

Marshalltown School Board members and Superintendent Dr. Theron Schutte were recognized for participating in learning opportunities throughout the year from the Iowa Association of School Boards. The board as a whole received a Better Boardsmanship Team Achievement Award. Pictured from left are Dr. Schutte and school board members Karina Hernandez, Janelle Carter and Bea Niblock.

The Marshalltown Community School District Board of Education was honored for its continued professional learning at the Iowa Association of School Boards convention on November 15.

The board as a whole received the Better Boardsmanship Team Achievement Award for having a majority of its board members receive Individual Achievement Awards through IASB by participating in learning opportunities.

Marshalltown School Board members who received Individual Achievement Awards for earning a minimum of 125 credits in IASB board development in one year included Bea Niblock, Janelle Carter, Ross Harris and Sean Heitmann.

Marshalltown Superintendent Dr. Theron Schutte received the Award of Honor for earning a minimum of 125 credits through IASB.

A food drive at Miller Middle School collected a total of 1,433 food items for those in need recently. Led by the Miller student council, the drive was a competition between different homebase teams at the school, which was won by 7C with 976 items.  The food was then donated to the Emergency Food Box.
Pictured collecting the food, from left are Miller students Jayda Matteson, Joanna Parra Landeros, Sarah Cretin, Makia Donald, Kaiden McWilliams, Ethen Santana and Desy Sung.

Miller students load up a truck with Miller Media Specialist Bob Gilbertson.

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MHS iJAG program food drive donates to House of Compassion

The Marshalltown High School iJAG (Iowa Jobs for America’s Graduates) program also led a food drive at MHS recently. The drive collected more than 150 food items which were donated to the House of Compassion. Pictured from left are Damaris Garcia, Fatima Juarez, Brice Cruz Powers, Madison Fiser, Katie Allison (iJAG coordinator) and Lupita Bedolla.

Professional caricature artist Henry Kaufmann visited the art club at Marshalltown High School and worked on this self portrait as he explained his work.

Professional caricature artist Henry Kaufmann visited the art club at Marshalltown High School on November 15. Kaufmann works special events as a caricature artist and is a full-time tattoo artist in Des Moines.
“I’ve been drawing my whole life,” Kaufmann said.

He formerly had a full-time job as a caricature artist at the Houston Downtown Aquarium and now produces caricature art on a part-time basis at weddings, proms and other special events.

The artist has a connection to MHS as his mother is MHS art teacher Rebecca Erickson.

“I wanted to get the students in the club involved in something we don’t teach at the high school,” Erickson said.

The art club meets monthly after school at MHS. Kaufmann’s advice for the student artists was clear – never stop drawing.

“Pick up a pencil and never put it down,” Kaufmann said.

University of Iowa President Bruce Harreld speaks to students at Marshalltown High School on November 13.

University of Iowa President Bruce Harreld talked about his business background and gave tips to be successful to a group of Marshalltown High School students during a visit to MHS on November 13.

Harreld has served as president of the University of Iowa since 2015. He talked to the students about pursuing their passion, college affordability, presented career advice and talked about the offerings at the University of Iowa.

He told students it’s important that they find the college right for them, not just one that their parents think they should attend.

“It’s your choice, it’s an important choice,” Harreld said.

When looking into potential employers, he said it’s important to work with great people who will help make you better.

“Work for great people, don’t even think about the company,” Harreld said.

Harreld was invited to MHS by Iowa Board of Regents member Larry McKibben of Marshalltown.

University of Iowa President Bruce Harreld answers a question from MHS junior Triton Buffington.

Pictured is the Miller Middle School team which qualified for the state Lego League contest at the FIRST Lego League regional contest held at Marshalltown High School on November 11. Pictured from left, are  Elazia Davison, Ellie Seberger, Yessenia Alvarez Zamora, Roan Jelken, Braden Stewart, Jay Helton,  Katelyn Schwartz and Coach Ann Jackson.

Two Lego League teams made up of students from Marshalltown Schools have qualified for the state tournament after performing at the regional competition on November 11 at Marshalltown High School.

Miller team state bound
The Miller Middle School Lego League team, Team VRoom, earned an award for robot design and was also named as the tournament’s Iowa Global Innovation Candidate for their project on the “VRoom Experience,” which maximizes virtual reality technologies to alleviate boredom and increase sensory stimulation for long-duration space travelers.  The team now will go on to compete to be Iowa’s Global Innovation Champion at the State Lego League tournament on January 19 at Iowa State University.

Lenihan students advance
The Wizard Engineers earned first place in the robot challenges to become eligible for the state competition. The team is made up of Lenihan Intermediate School fifth grade students.
The team project (innovative solution) was about growing food in space. The team developed “plant pillows” and “zoom gel” for astronauts to grow fresh food in while on the International Space Station.  The team also used a hydroponics garden to grow wheat grass, which then was included in a “Space Shake” recipe.

MHS robotics served as hosts
The MHS robotics team worked hard to host this event (setting up the competition venue, timing, announcing, etc.) as this was a community outreach project for the team.

This team of Lenihan Intermediate School fifth grade students qualified for state Lego League. Pictured is front row, from left, Emerson Eastman, Leah Kurian, Anessa Morrison and Sam Hatcher. Second row, Porter Niedermann, Harper Wilson, Millie Heitmann, Lucas Hagen, Max Reed and Josian Kurian. Back row are coaches Kate Niedermann, Matt Morrison, Reji Kurian and Laura Fricke.

Pictured are the group of veterans who visited Lenihan Intermediate School as part of a Veterans Day assembly on November 12. Pictured from left, are Lenihan teacher Matt Tullis, Steven Hyde, Marian Hyde, Clifford Pelke, George Ewers, Lenihan custodian Roger Johnson, Tom Pilkington, Larry Ozborn and Denny Shannahan.

Lenihan Intermediate School held its fourth annual Veterans Day assembly where the school honored veterans and also were able to hear some of their stories.

Organized by Lenihan custodian and Army veteran Roger Johnson, the event was a way for the fifth grade students to learn first hand military experience from a collection of veterans.

“We have a great country and freedom isn’t free, it takes responsibility from its citizens,” said Marian Hyde, who was one of veterans to speak.

Johnson also honored Lenihan PE teachers Matt Butler and Casey Moberly with a cake for their continued support of the assembly.

Veteran Marian Hyde speaks to the students.

Lenihan PE teachers Matt Butler, left, and Casey Moberly, second from right, were presented with a cake by Lenihan staff members and veterans Roger Johnson, right, and Matt Tullis, second from left.

The cast sings during the end of “The Addams Family” musical at Marshalltown High School on November 9. The show was well received on both November 9 and 10.

The tradition of top-notch musicals produced by the Marshalltown High School drama department continued with “The Addams Family” on November 9 and 10.

The musical comedy included singing, music, dancing and acting from a group of talented MHS students. Two full crowds attended the shows at the MHS/Community Auditorium.

The musical was directed by Grant Gale and Amy Ose.

“When you have terrific students to work with it really makes any task all that much easier,” Gale said “From the actors, musicians, techs and crew I could not have asked for better bunch of students. I would be remiss if I didn’t give thank you to Amy Ose, Stacie Sorenson and Brett Umthun. All our hard work paid off more than I could have expected. I was blown away by the size of the crowd both nights and all the amazing nice things I’ve heard. We have some great kids here at MCSD and supporting, developing and showcasing their amazing talent is what it’s all about.”

Hoglan Elementary School second grader Lily Basnet waves to a robotic version of teacher librarian Anne Sellers. The robot was on display as part of Hoglan’s STEAM night on November 8.

More than 400 people attended the first-ever Hoglan Elementary School STEAM Night held on November 8. The school was a flurry of activity as part of the Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics event.

The hands-on activities included robotics, computers, other technology and the arts.

The gym was the central location of the robotics displays, while the classrooms focused on the arts and other technology.

“The first STEAM Night at Hoglan was a huge success,” said Hoglan Principal Amy Williams. “Hoglan families had fun engaging in a variety of hands-on learning which involved beginning coding, creatively building, getting messy with art and using technology to make robots move.”

The Marshalltown High School robotics team is pictured at a recent competition. The team, known as the Botcats, has been awarded a $1,500 grant from the Monsanto Fund.

The Marshalltown High School robotics team, known as the Botcats, has been awarded a $1,500 grant to support FIRST robotics activities by the Monsanto Fund.

The Botcats will use support from the Monsanto Fund grant to participate in FIRST Robotics and its educational programs and competitions. FIRST enables teams of students to compete with others in building, designing and programming their own robots to perform preassigned tasks – giving young students a chance to get involved with real-world engineering.

The Botcats are coached by MHS teachers Dori Pinkerton and Susan Fritzell and volunteer coach Mike Lazere and mentored by Emerson engineers Jesse Serano and Yan Qiu and Alliant Energy engineer Bill Peden.

The team will have a robot on display at the the district-wide Family Coding Night at Miller Middle School at 5 p.m. on December 5.

The Botcats will also host a home robotics meet at 10 a.m. on Saturday, December 8 at the MHS Roundhouse.

Roundhouse to host FIRST Lego League state qualifier
The MHS Roundhouse will be the host site for the FIRST Lego League state qualifier for the middle school level on Sunday, November 11. Opening ceremonies start at 12:15 p.m.