Bobcats Making Headlines

Woodbury Elementary School second graders, Jocelyn Ortiz Hernandez, left, and Joana Chavez take part in a poetry reading next to teacher Becky Jacobson during the Woodbury Hot Chocolate Poetry Hour on Jan. 22.

Second graders and their parents packed into the Woodbury Elementary School gym for the second annual Hot Chocolate Poetry Hour on Jan. 22.

Students recited poems in front of the audience to practice their reading and public speaking skills.

“The kids did an amazing job,” said Woodbury Principal Anel Garza. “They worked hard on their reading.”

Hot chocolate was served to students and guests following the poetry readings. Dozens of parents attended the event.

Fisher Elementary School Teacher Librarian Alicia Patten reads to children during the first Fisher Elementary Read Aloud Program on Jan. 20. It is designed to provide information on preschool and kindergarten in the Marshalltown Community School District. At left is Fisher Principal Vicki Vopava.

Fisher Elementary School invited 3 and 4 year olds and their parents to its first Preschool Story Read Aloud event on Jan. 20. The event featured a story read by Teacher Librarian Alicia Patten and activities the children could do with their parents and grandparents.

“The Preschool Read Aloud Program was developed by the Fisher Parent Engagement Team as a response to the many questions parents had been inquiring about the preschool and kindergarten programs in the Marshalltown Community School District,” Patten said. “Our Fisher Parent Engagement Team worked on developing the monthly program to provide a platform for parents and/or guardians to ask questions and get a sense of what these programs are about. All participants are encouraged to come monthly.”

Future Read Aloud events will be from 1:50 to 2:20 p.m. on Feb. 10, March 16, April 13 and May 11 in the Fisher School Library.

All 3 and 4 year olds in the area are welcome to attend. For more information contact Fisher Elementary School at 641-754-1030.

Dr. Marvin Wade has announced he will resign as Superintendent of the Marshalltown Community School District, effective June 30, 2016.

Wade has served as Superintendent since 2008 in the district. Wade has accepted the same role at a different district starting in the 2016-17 school year.

“I am proud of our outstanding school district and consider myself fortunate to have had the chance to serve the community, support the students, and grow professionally with the administrators, teachers, and staff in Marshalltown Schools,” Wade said.

Dr. Wade is proud of the movement the district has made in the past eight years, thanks to the hard work of staff and students.

“I will always have a special place in my heart for MCSD and Marshalltown,” Wade said.

His resignation is on the agenda for approval at a special meeting of the school board at 1 p.m. Jan. 20 in the district office board room.

Joe Barlow, left, won the Miller Middle School spelling bee on Jan. 15. Jack Gruening, right, placed second.

Eighth grader Joe Barlow won first place in the annual Miller Middle School spelling bee held on Jan. 15.

Jack Gruening was the runner-up in the contest, which featured a total of 15 finalists.

Other finalists included Alonzo Ceren, Coltin Grimm, Jade Rodriguez, Christian Wells, Sean Nyuon, Abbileni Rodriguez, Emily Manis, Molly Sickles, Austin Shomo, Ashly Wiegand, Olivia Adams Zmolek, Tyler Downey and Yoryina Myers.

Barlow was a finalist in the contest last year as a seventh grader. He spelled “evaporation” correctly in the final round to take the title this year and advance to the state bee in March.

Host of the contest was teacher Lucas Johnson while the judges were fellow Miller teachers Sarah Benscoter, Christine Gilbertson and Cathy Lang.

Joe Barlow

Tyler Downey

Jade Rodriguez

Emily Manis

Austin Shomo, left, and Yoryina Myers, right

Alonzo Ceren

Leona McDonough of Heavenly Breads speaks to Lenihan Intermediate School students about the restaurant business on Jan. 8 at the school.

Lenihan Intermediate School Extended Learning Program students learned first-hand how restaurants work from Leona McDonough on Jan. 8.

McDonough, owner and operator of Heavenly Breads, talked to a group at Lenihan about running a restaurant business. Students learned about several aspects of a restaurant business including financial, food safety, and marketing.

“Giving back to the community is one of the most important things,” McDonough told the students.

ELP students are working on creating their own mock pop-up restaurants, under the direction of teacher Vanessa Engel. Engel said conversations like the one with McDonough are character-building activities for her students.

Franklin Elementary School Principal Tim Holmgren, second from left, points out an activity going on in a classroom to visitors on Jan. 7. Visitors pictured from left include Rep. Mark Smith, Marshalltown Regional Partnership CEO David Barajas, Rep. Dean Fisher and Associate Superintendent Dr. Susan Pecinovsky.

A pair of state legislators and a leader in local economic development toured several classrooms in the Marshalltown Community School District on Jan. 7.

State Rep. Dean Fisher of Garwin and Rep. Mark Smith of Marshalltown, as well as Marshalltown Regional Partnership CEO David Barajas and Associate Superintendent Dr. Susan Pecinovsky toured classrooms and interacted with staff and students at Franklin Elementary School, Miller Middle School and Marshalltown High School.

One of the focus points of the visit was to show how technology enhances instruction in classrooms, especially with the interaction involved with Chromebooks throughout the district. Another focus was the use of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), where MCSD has been a state leader.

At Franklin, the group visited the second grade classroom taught by Laura Stansberry and the third grade classroom taught by Kathy Ferguson.

At Miller, the group visited the seventh grade science class taught by Troy Long and an eighth grade literature class taught by Lindsay Roberts. Both classes showed how students and the teacher use technology to interact and learn.

At MHS, the focus was on Project Lead The Way and STEM classes including a biomedical science class taught by Erica Malloy and a principles of engineering class taught by Mike Lazere.

Troy Long teaches in a science class at Miller Middle School

MHS Principal Jacque Wyant talks to guests

Laura Stansberry talks to her second grade class at Franklin.

Franklin teacher Kathy Ferguson talks to Marshalltown Regional Partnership CEO David Barajas.

MHS teacher Erica Malloy talks with Rep. Dean Fisher.

MHS teacher Mike Lazere, left, talks with visitors to his engineering class.

Engineering students show off their solar water heater project

Legislators look at use of Chromebooks at Miller.

Miller Principal Jacy Large, right, talks to visitors.

Miller teacher Lindsay Roberts, right, talks to guests.

Miller teacher Lindsay Roberts shows how the Mimio technology works in instruction in her literature class.

MHS Marching Band at Sedona as part of their recent trip to Arizona and the Fiesta Bowl. The band performed at the Fiesta Bowl parade on Jan. 2.

The Marshalltown High School Bobcat Marching Band traveled to Phoenix, Arizona for the 45th Annual Fiesta Bowl Parade during the holiday break. This marked the band’s eighth trip to Phoenix through the years. The band departed on Dec. 28 amid some difficult weather. Flight Group 1 with MHS Director of Instrumental Music Bret Lee made it to the Denver airport, but had the flight to Phoenix cancelled. After some work by United Airlines, the band finished their trip later that afternoon.

Flight 2 group with MHS Associate Band Director Brett Umthun saw both the flight to Chicago and the flight from Chicago to Phoenix cancelled. They were able to leave that afternoon by motor coach for a 32-hour marathon ride to Phoenix, arriving on the evening of Dec. 29.

After reaching their destination, the band enjoyed the Musical Instrument Museum, pizza and music at Organ Stop Pizza, pool time at the Kiwanis Wave Pool-Arizona’s largest indoor wave pool, horseback riding at Ponderosa Stables, Jeep tours around Sedona as well as numerous other events and meals.

At the Fiesta Bowl parade on Jan. 2, the band marched before more than 100,000 spectators, entertaining the crowd along the 2-mile parade route with music from “The Lion King.”

The band also assisted with the flag presentation for the Fiesta Bowl game and then watched Ohio State defeat Notre Dame on Jan. 1. The band arrived home the morning of Jan. 4 very tired after another great trip.

“The students represented our school and community, receiving many compliments from all the venues they attended,” Lee said. “The instrumental music staff is very proud of all the students and their behavior on the trip despite the bumps in the road they encountered.”

To view a video of band during the parade, click here and look for the band at the 14:08 time into the clip.

Three Marshalltown High School students were selected among the 100 finalists in the state in the Know Your Constitution contest this year.

MHS seniors David Blom and Beau Ragland and sophomore Anna Carlson were selected. Their selection is based on their performance on a quiz.

The three students have been invited to be honored at a luncheon on Jan. 8, 2016 in West Des Moines.

From the 100 state finalists, five students and their teachers will be chosen by a random drawing to attend the all-expense-paid education work session in Washington, D.C., in February 2016.

This program is sponsored by the Iowa State Bar Association, with additional funding from the Iowa State Bar Foundation and many of the county bar associations across Iowa. The Know Your Constitution Project is designed to enrich students’ understanding and appreciation of the Constitution.

This program is led at MHS by the Extended Learning Program and teacher Susan Fritzell.

Marshalltown High School swimmers Devin Carlon, left, and Ian Buchwald sort change as part of the team’s “Change for Charity” effort. The team collected $278, which will be donated to the Emergency Food Box.

Collecting change for a local charity is becoming a holiday tradition for the Marshalltown High School boys swim team every December. This year, that effort led to $278 being raised, which will be donated to the Emergency Food Box, the local food bank.

The team has orchestrated this “Change for Charity” service project during the holidays for several years and holds competitions each week to see which group can collect the most money.

“It’s an opportunity for them to give back to the community,” said Coach Mike Loupee.

Kathy O’Connor, child life specialist at Blank Children’s Hospital, spoke to students about leukemia at Woodbury Elementary School on Dec. 18.

Students at Woodbury Elementary School received a visit from Kathy O’Connor of Blank Children’s Hospital on Dec. 18.

O’Connor was asked to visit a preschool class and second grade class to talk about leukemia, which has stricken a preschool student at Woodbury. O’Connor, a child life specialist, was invited by Elly Mack, Woodbury nurse.

O’Connor told the students that leukemia and other types of cancer are nobody’s fault and that they can’t catch cancer from somebody else.
She also said that the student with cancer would like to be treated just like everyone else.

O’Connor answered dozens of other questions about cancer from the students.