Bobcats Making Headlines

Marshalltown High School students who competed at the IT-Olympics held at Iowa State University recently are pictured. From left is Ronaldo Ordaz, Sam Estrada, Jon Ortega, Tim Potter, Collin Krukow, Jacob Ramsey-Smith, Patrick Schafer, Stefan Peng, Jack Kester, Andy Bitker and Quinten Woolery.

Marshalltown High School’s IT/Hyperstream team competed at Iowa State University’s IT-Olympics held at Hilton Coliseum on April 28 and 29.

MHS brought 11 students who competed in three venues – Sumo Lego Robotics (Quinten Woolery, Sam Estrada, Andy Bitker and Ronaldo Ordaz), APP Development (Jack Kester, Jacob Ramsey-Smith and Patrick Schafer) and Cyber-Defense (Collin Krukow, Jon Ortega, Stefan Peng and Tim Potter).

“The APP development team won two of the Real Time Challenges, our robot won 50 percent of the rounds it battled and our Cyber-Defense group finished approximately 13th of 26 teams entered,” said MHS Extended Learning Program teacher Susan Fritzell.

Jack Kester won a $500 scholarship to the Iowa State University College of Engineering via a raffle.

The Marshalltown Community School District Board of Education has selected five candidates to interview for the position of superintendent. The board is planning to interview finalists for the position of superintendent May 5, 6, 9, 10 and 11.

During the interview days of each candidate, the public is invited to meet the candidates from 4:30 to 5 p.m. during a community forum in the district board room at the district administration office at 1002 S. 3rd Ave.

Below is list of finalists and their interview/open forum days.

Thursday, May 5 – Mr. James Wagner, Superintendent, Kimball Area Public Schools, Kimball, Minnesota

Friday, May 6 – Mr. Tim Kuehl, Superintendent, Clear Creek Amana Community School District, Oxford, Iowa.

Monday, May 9 – Mr. Steve Hanson, Superintendent, West Liberty Community School District, West Liberty, Iowa

Tuesday, May 10 – Dr. Theron Schutte, Superintendent, Bettendorf Community School District, Bettendorf, Iowa

Wednesday, May 11 – Mr. Jacy Large, Principal, Miller Middle School, Marshalltown Community School District, Marshalltown, Iowa – NOTE: Mr Large has withdrawn from consideration, there will be no forum or interviews on this day.

The candidates will also meet with interview groups representing Marshalltown High School students, building administrators, central office administrators, business leaders, teachers and support staff, community members and parents. These groups will provide feedback to the board prior to its selection.

The board expects to name the next superintendent of MCSD during the May 16 board meeting. The search firm McPherson & Jacobson of Omaha, Nebraska is assisting the board with the search.

Miller Middle School Jazz Band

Jazz Coffee Concert is May 9

The Annual Jazz Coffee Concert will be presented on Monday, May 9 at 7 p.m. in Dejardin Hall on the Marshalltown Community College campus.

The concert will feature MHS Jazz 1 under the direction of Bret Lee, MHS Jazz 2 under the direction of Brett Umthun, the Miller Jazz Band under the direction of Michael Albarracin and the Lenihan Jazz Band under the direction of Paul Sibbel.

Dessert, coffee and ice tea will be provided. Plan to enjoy an evening of jazz with the fine arts departments from the three schools.

Admission is $5 for adults and $3 for 6th grade and younger students with MHS activity cards honored.

Art silent auction is May 5

A silent auction of art will be held from 5 to 7:30 p.m. Thursday, May 5 at Ron Fisher Furniture. It will benefit a great art program at MHS which brings professional artists into the classroom.

For the flyer and news release on this event with additional information, click here.

Marshalltown Learning Academy students Kyler Welsh, right, and Marquis Haynes are pictured experiencing a construction simulator at Iowa Works on April 28.

Four students from Marshalltown Learning Academy were able to experience the heavy equipment simulator hosted by Iowa Works and Iowa Valley on April 28.

The simulator is similar to playing a video game, but it allows individuals to experience operating the controls in a safe and fun environment and spark interest for a future career choice. Simulator options included a bulldozer, road grader, excavator, loader and welding.

After going through the simulator, MLA students met with staff from Iowa Valley Community College District to talk about options for training in related career fields.

“The simulator gave students the opportunity to experience a career path that they would otherwise not be able to try,” said Nicole Critchfield, career development and IT teacher at MLA. “It was great to be able to see the students get excited about how they did on the equipment and then have them talk with school representatives to find out how they can become employable in this career path.”

Several Miller Middle School staff members wore special shirts on Fridays in April to recognize Autism Awareness Month. The awareness effort was organized by Linda Russell, a special education teacher at Miller.

Anson Elementary School staff members are pictured with banners received from the state for positive behavior work in the school. Pictured, from left, are Kate Troskey, Katie Towns, Ashley Chyma, Heidi Borton and Ginna Randall.

Anson Elementary School was honored by the Iowa Department of Education on April 26 for its work implementing a process that promotes good behavior, which creates a more vibrant learning environment.

Anson was one of 53 schools honored for the implementation of Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) during the Learning Supports Conference at the Iowa Events Center in Des Moines. PBIS involves a series of processes that promote a school-wide culture of positive behavior. This is done through educating teachers on how to teach expected behaviors to their students.

PBIS also consistently acknowledges good behavior as well as applies consequences for violations.

“Receiving this award is a great honor,” said Anson Counselor Ashley Chyma. “Our PBIS team and the whole Anson staff work hard to provide a positive environment for our kids. Our staff works hard to teach our students what it means to be respectful, be responsible and be an active learner at Anson.”

PBIS is implemented throughout the Marshalltown Community School District.

Miller Middle School students created their own utopia as part of a recent social studies project. 

Students in seventh grade social studies classes at Miller Middle School thought they were creating their own worlds, but the project turned out much bigger than they had imagined.

Several weeks ago, students were given a platform in the shape of a letter and were instructed by teachers Brett Comegys, Joe Stonner and Chad Spear to create their own utopia on it. Many students built mountains, waterfalls and ways to provide income for their worlds, with one even creating a gold mine.

On April 27, the teachers put the platform letters together as the students realized their worlds came together to make a phrase on the old gym floor at Miller.

The phrase read: “Yes, we have Bobcat pride and yes, Miller Middle School rocks but, man we are ready for summer.”

Comegys was happy with the end result of the project.
“We were able to put it all together and make one collaborative piece,” Comegys said.

Comegys said students learned a wide range of subjects while taking part in this project, including geography, world economics and more. Students were also able to tap into their creativity in designing their worlds.

When it came together, Comegys said students were also able to see the “bigger picture of education.”

Marshalltown High School history teacher Alex Abbe has received the James Madison Memorial Fellowship to assist in his professional learning. He is the only teacher in the state to be named a James Madison fellow this year.

Marshalltown High School history teacher Alex Abbe has been selected for the 2016 James Madison Memorial Fellowship. He is the only teacher in the state of Iowa to receive the fellowship this year.

As part of his selection as a fellow, Abbe will receive $24,000 to pay for his master’s degree  studies and participate in a four-week summer institute in 2017 at Georgetown University in Washington DC.

“It’s exciting,” Abbe said of the fellowship. “It’s going to help my teaching a lot.”

A selection committee from the fellowship foundation approved Abbe’s application, which included his educational and professional organization background, essays and letters of recommendation. He is pursuing a master’s degree in American History and Government from Ashland University in Ohio.

He looks forward to the summer institute next year to deepen his content knowledge in history.

“I’m looking forward to learning and working with people who are passionate about history,” Abbe said.

MHS Associate Principal Deb Holsapple said Abbe has a passion for history and government and shares that with his students.

“He is dedicated to education and pursues opportunities to stay current on laws, policies and current events,” Holsapple said. “He leads through example for his students by bringing in his new knowledge and linking it to their lives and their futures.”

Abbe is a native of Schleswig, Iowa and received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Northern Iowa.

The James Madison Memorial Fellowship was created by Congress in 1986 for the purpose of improving teaching about the Constitution. One applicant is selected from each state every year.

Marshalltown High School students Victoria Johnson, left, and Jacqueline Wahl placed third in their category at the Iowa National History Day state championship held at Iowa Events Center on April 25. Their project was titled “The Telegraph: An Exploration of a New Information Exchange.”

Two Marshalltown High School students competed at the Iowa National History Day state championship held on April 25 at the Iowa Events Center in Des Moines.  Victoria Johnson and Jacqueline Wahl placed third (alternates for attending the national competition) in the Senior Group Exhibit category with their project “The Telegraph: An Exploration of a New Information Exchange.”

More than 600 students in grades 7-12 attended the event. Students first had to attend one of ten regional contests in which the top two in each category qualified for the state contest. Victoria and Jacqueline are students in the Extended Learning Program at Marshalltown High School led by Susan Fritzell.

Franklin Principal Tim Holmgren was turned into a human sundae on April 26 as a way to celebrate students reaching Iowa Assessments testing goals.

As a way to celebrate reaching Iowa Assessments testing goals, Franklin Elementary School students turned Principal Tim Holmgren into a human sundae on April 26.

Goals were set for the tests to have perfect attendance and have a certain percentage of students reach one year’s growth and proficient levels.

Those goals were met and led to a shower of ice cream, chocolate syrup, sprinkles and other toppings for the principal during an assembly.

Mr. Holmgren is no stranger to offer up his own embarrassment to use as a motivator for Franklin students. In 2014, Holmgren was duct taped to his office chair after students raised money for the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life.