Bobcats Making Headlines

The Teacher Leadership and Compensation (TLC) system is beginning its fourth year in the Marshalltown Community School District. The TLC system includes three full-release curriculum professional development leaders (CPDL), 14 full-release instructional coaches (IC) and 61 teachers who also serve as model classroom teachers.

TLC also supports six teachers at Marshalltown High School who serve as Professional Learning Community leads.  All of the TLC staff have been busy this week attending pre-service learning opportunities led by the CPDLs and ICs so that they can help improve teaching and learning for all students and staff this school year.

MCSD staff involved in TLC as part of the training on August 15 are pictured below.

Curriculum and Professional Development Leaders, from left, Dee Burt, Erica Finders and Pam Brewer-Michael lead the training for the Teacher Leadership and Compensation system in Marshalltown Schools.

Anson Elementary School

Fisher Elementary School

Franklin Elementary School

Hoglan Elementary School

Lenihan Intermediate School

Marshalltown High School

Miller Middle School

Rogers Elementary School

Woodbury Elementary School

Many Marshalltown Community School District staff members participated in the four-day August Academy workshop in the district. Pictured are Lenihan staff members in a session on science standards led by Kay Schmalen (far right) from the Central Rivers AEA. Also pictured from left are Jenny Allen, Eliana Garcia, Liz Jurgensen, Vanessa Engel and Crystal Gassman.

More than 130 teachers, teacher leaders, instructional coaches and administrators in the Marshalltown Community School District attended a four-day workshop known as August Academy held in the district August 7-10.

There were 15 different sessions which were led by district staff and staff from the Area Education Agency and included a wide range of topics to help them gear up for the school year. Topics included co-teaching, classroom management, preschool literacy, science standards, Google Suite, a tour of JBS, Go Math, Lexia Core 5, writer’s workshop, oral language development and more.

“August Academy is a great week of teaching and learning for our teachers as well as our coaches and administrators,” said Dr. Lisa Stevenson, Director of Instruction with Marshalltown Schools.  “It gives everyone a chance to choose areas of interest which will increase teachers’ skills and knowledge.”

August Academy is offered through the use of Teacher Leadership and Compensation funds for professional development as well as Teacher Quality funds.

District Instructional Design Specialist Dave Stanfield leads a workshop on Google.

Staff participate in a Writer’s Workshop.

Marshallown teachers Shea Hill, left, and Pam McDonnell are participating in weeklong externships to learn more about local careers. Hill is at Mechdyne while McDonnell is at the City of Marshalltown.

For a video on this program, click here.

Miller Middle School teacher Shea Hill and Marshalltown High School teacher Pam McDonnell are participating in weeklong externships in an effort to learn more about different career skills and bring that information back to their students.

Hill is learning from staff at Mechdyne while McDonnell is learning about the work in the City of Marshalltown Public Works Department.

Miller Middle School teacher Shea Hill talks with Stefan Peng. Stefan is a 2016 Marshalltown High School graduate and a summer intern at Mechdyne. He is studying computer engineering at Iowa State University.

Mechdyne
Hill said she has had an eye-opening experience at Mechdyne, the Marshalltown-based company focused on innovation and technology.

“It’s eye-opening how dynamic the company itself is and the different skills that all of the people bring to the table,” Hill said.

She said she hopes to bring back not only skills to teach her students but will also try to replicate the culture of the work environment that she has witnessed at Mechdyne. The company has allowed her to see teamwork and commitment in action, which helps Mechdyne thrive as a global leader in technology.

Marshalltown High School teacher Pam McDonnell is pictured with City of Marshalltown Public Works Director Justin Nickel.

City of Marshalltown
McDonnell is spending the week learning from Justin Nickel, Public Works Director with the city. She said she is learning about city functions and hopes to get a “deeper understanding of career and work skills” that she can show her students.

One thing she said that is an important skill is interpersonal communication.

“You have to be able to communicate with a wide range of people to be successful,” McDonnell said.

Iowa Valley coordinates program

Hungerford

Terri Hungerford, of the Iowa Valley Community College District, coordinates these externships through the Iowa Valley Intermediary Program. She said these experiences definitely help Marshalltown students.

“This is a wonderful opportunity for our educators to learn more about area businesses by spending time with employers and employees, to bring back what they learned and share the knowledge with their students,” Hungerford said.

Miller Middle School will host informational meetings on Chromebooks for parents on Tuesday, August 8 at 9 a.m. and at 6 p.m. in the school’s auditorium (125 S. 11^th St.).

The meetings are to provide information on how Chromebooks will be going home with students this school year. Chromebooks will not be handed out to students at this time.

The meetings are expected to last 30 minutes each.

Six current or former Marshalltown High School students were honored recently as part of the AP (Advanced Placement) Scholar program as a result of test results from last May.

Recent MHS graduate Nick Summers earned the AP Scholar with Distinction, which is granted to students who receive an average score of at least 3.5 on all AP exams taken, and scores of 3 or higher on five or more of these exams.

MHS senior Gretchen Benscoter earned the status of AP Scholar with Honor, which is granted to students who receive an average score of at least 3.25 on all AP Exams taken, and scores of 3 or higher on four or more of these exams.

The following students earned the status of AP Scholar,  which is granted to students who receive scores of 3 or higher on three or more AP Exams: Aspen Chadderdon (MHS graduate), Madeline Jelken (MHS senior), Luke Pedersen (MHS senior) and Jacqueline Wahl (MHS senior).

Marshalltown High School cheerleaders are pictured performing at last year’s Homecoming pep rally.

Marshalltown High School will host cheerleading practices and a tryout for the football season cheerleaders, open to boys and girls at the school.

The following is the schedule:
Practice – Monday, Aug. 7 – 4:30 – 6:30 p.m. (Roundhouse Balcony)
Practice – Tuesday, Aug. 8 – 5 -6:30 p.m. (Roundhouse Balcony)
Tryout – Wednesday, Aug. 9 – 5 p.m. (MHS Cafeteria)

For more information contact coach Carissa Lewis at clewis1@marshalltown.k12.ia.us or coach Joseph Child at jchild@marshalltown.k12.ia.us.

Sara McCue

Lenihan Intermediate School vocal music teacher Sara McCue attended a workshop with the Rock and Roll Forever Foundation at New York University.

The workshop was held July 17-20 and featured teachers from all over the country who came together to talk about school curriculum the foundation has provided, offer input on an upcoming “Soundtracks” show for CNN and hear from various speakers including teachers and those representing the music industry.

“I plan to incorporate even more lessons from TeachRock (curriculum) into my classroom, and I am hopeful to pursue the creation of a Sonic Highways video, which is something that will be a student led look into the history of music and musicians in Marshalltown,” McCue said. “I also would love to see more Marshalltown teachers taking a look into this curriculum.”

McCue also took part in a walking tour of Greenwich Village led by actress Maureen Van Zandt and also talked with Maureen’s husband, Steven Van Zandt, the founder of the Rock and Roll Forever Foundation. He is a member of the Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band and was an actor on “The Sopranos.”

“He expressed his passion for education and using rock and roll to engage students and keep them in school,” McCue said. “I was able to talk with him about ways to get artists into classrooms to teach students directly.”

Lenihan teacher Sara McCue is pictured in the center of this group of teachers who took part in the Rock and Roll Forever Foundation workshop. The workshop was held in New York City from July 17-20.

Linda Mills paints a classroom at Rogers Elementary School on July 20. Rogers received a donation of 40 gallons of paint from the True Value Foundation’s Paint a Brighter Future program.

Classrooms throughout much of Rogers Elementary School in Marshalltown are getting a fresh coat of paint thanks to a donation through the True Value Foundation’s Painting a Brighter Future program.

Forty gallons of paint have been donated by the True Value Foundation and distributed locally through the Thompson True Value store. The new paint will help spruce up the classrooms in the building in advance of students coming back in the fall.

Dave Thompson, owner of Thompson True Value, said they help out local schools annually with this project and he is pleased to be able to offer the paint. He encourages other area schools to apply for the donations in the future.

“It’s always wonderful to be a beneficial part of the community,” Thompson said.

Rogers Elementary Principal Dr. Mick Jurgensen said he was grateful to Thompson True Value for providing the paint and working with the school. Dr. Jurgensen also appreciated the help of Rogers custodian Adam Rundall and the summer cleaning crew at the school as they worked the painting into their schedule.

Marshalltown High School students Nayeli Barajas, left, and Isabel Paredes participated in a weeklong program at the University of Iowa Tippie College of Business in June. 

Two Marshalltown High School students participated in a weeklong program to learn more about opportunities in higher education in business, hosted by the University of Iowa.

Nayeli Barajas and Isabel Paredes took part in the program and both will be seniors this fall at MHS.

The Gateway Program at the Tippie College of Business provided students with information on majoring in business and helped them experience life on the University of Iowa campus from June 25 to 30.

“I thought it was a good way to learn more business skills and a lot of other information,” Paredes said.

Barajas said the program increased her interest in studying business.

“It opened my eyes and expanded my horizons,” Barajas said.

Both students received recognition from the Marshalltown school board at the July 17 meeting. Paredes said she hopes her experience will inspire other students to chase their dreams.

These three teachers have been hired as STEM specialists to work in the elementary schools in the Marshalltown Community School District, implementing more science, technology engineering and math. Pictured at STEM instruction training at Iowa State University on July 11 are, from left, Francie Woerner, Amanda Miller and Alexandria Jahnke.

The Marshalltown Community School District is expanding its STEM programming to its younger students as part of the implementation of three STEM ELL specialists in the six elementary schools.

These specialists will teach science, technology, engineering and math as part of the Project Lead the Way Launch elementary curriculum.

“Students will benefit from these teachers as they will have regular, high quality STEM learning by highly trained teachers using engaging lessons and materials,” said Dr. Lisa Stevenson, director of instruction with Marshalltown Schools. “In addition, all of these teachers are or will be certified in ESL (English as a Second Language) which will benefit those students who are English learners.”

Each specialist will work in two elementary schools including Francie Woerner at Rogers and Woodbury, Alexandria Jahnke at Anson and Hoglan and Amanda Miller at Franklin and Fisher.

The three have been participating in STEM instruction training at Iowa State University this week from Project Lead the Way.

“MCSD has a rich history of science, technology, engineering and math coursework and support with PLTW and the community for students in grades 7-12 and in preschool,” Stevenson said. “The goal was to expand STEM to K-4 by having science instruction delivered by STEM specialists instead of the classroom teacher.”

After this elementary level STEM is implemented, the next course of action will be to bring Lenihan Intermediate School more on board to make it a “seamless exposure” to STEM for preschool through 12th grade, Stevenson said.
The district received a $36,000 grant this past spring from the Governor’s STEM Council to fund the training for the specialists as well as training for additional MCSD staff members. It will also help fund the cost of lesson materials for the STEM programming in the elementary schools.