Grinnell College is now accepting applications for the spring cycle of community mini-grants. Grant applications are due by Friday, April 5, 2024, and the awards will be announced on Friday, May 17, 2024. A volunteer committee of faculty, staff, Grinnell College students, and community members will review the applications. Preference is given to proposals that leverage collaborative partnerships within the community. Grants typically range from $1,000 to $7,500. For more information or to download an application, visit Mini-Grants or contact the Office of Community Partnerships, Planning, and Research at 641-269-3900. If interested in serving on the review committee, please contact Donnette Ellis at 641-269-3900.
Area legislators and Iowa Association of School Boards (IASB) staff present at the school board in-service meeting held on Thursday, Jan. 25 are show, from left: D.T. Magee, director of the IASB, Sen. Annette Sweeney, Senate District 27; Sen. Dawn Driscoll, Senate District 46; Rep. Helena Hayes, House District 88; Rep. Thomas Gerhold, House District 84 and Michelle Johnson, government relations director with the IASB. By J.O. Parker
The BGM and HLV School districts hosted a board in-service session at the Michael J. Manatt Community Center in Brooklyn on Thursday, Jan. 25. This is an annual event where area school superintendents and their board members are invited to take part in an open discussion with legislators representing each district. The event drew about 30 attendees included superintendents and board members from BGM, Belle Plaine, English Valleys, Grinnell-Newburg, HLV, Iowa Valley, Montezuma, North Mahaska, Tri-County and Williamsburg. Invited but not in attendance was Benton, Clear Creek-Amana, Keota and Lynnville-Sully representatives. The evening began with a pork loin dinner served by the Brooklyn Iowa Ruritan Club. Following dinner, there was a legislative forum. The legislators present were Sen. Annette Sweeney from Senate District 27, Sen. Dawn Driscoll from Senate District 46, Rep. Thomas Gerhold from House District 84 and Rep. Helena Hayes from House District 88. During this portion of the evening, superintendent and board members asked questions regarding proposed bills and their impact on schools. Some of the items discussed were state supplemental aid (which Gov. Reynolds has tentatively suggested setting at 2.5 percent), preschool programming (funding preschoolers fully, as well as providing flexibility to the 20:1 student to teacher ratio), open enrollment (revert back to setting deadlines and have a month waiting period to prevent students from going back and forth between districts). “We need to keep every kid we can get,” said Curt Rheingans, superintendent of Iowa Valley and English Valleys school districts. “We just need something to help us out.” Concerns over finding adequate staffing was discussed. Sen. Driscoll noted that education is not the only industry having trouble recruiting employees. “It is every single field,” she said. Also discussed was allowing the school start date to be the first Tuesday following the Iowa State Fair, rather than no sooner than Aug. 23, as well as the governor’s bill (HSB 542 and SSB 3073), which restructures AEAs and raises minimum starting teacher salaries to $50,000 (up from $33,500). It is early in the session, so many new bills are being proposed, as well as amendments to the governor’s education study bills. The superintendents shared their concerns about losing AEA supports that assist not only students with disabilities, but also provide services for all students, teachers and districts. Appreciation was shown for efforts to increase starting teacher salaries to be competitive with other industries during this time of teacher shortage. The question from board members and superintendents, however, was whether districts will be able to afford it long term. “Concerns have run high since the Governor released her AEA's proposal,” noted Rep. Hayes. “My colleagues and I in the Iowa House have worked hard since then to discuss the bill details with our local district superintendents, school staff and board members along with parents who have received special education services. Personally, I have noticed three things that everyone in my district has agreed on: there is identifiable room for improvement in the AEA's, there are practical solutions to address specific problems and that the process needs to slow down. We all appreciate the large amount of input we are receiving; it clear that AEA's have a special place in Iowa's history.” “AEAs are vital to our school districts,” noted BGM and HLV superintendent Brad Hohensee. The state is required to submit a revised Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) Plan to the federal government. ESSA was signed into law in 2015, replacing No Child Left Behind. As part of this, the state created accountability measures and reports them out annually in the Iowa School Performance Profile. The state is considering changing the data points used in the report. One of the changes being proposed is using chronic absenteeism as a piece of data to rate schools. Superintendents at the meeting shared that this data would not be something that districts would be able to control. Processes were shared as to how schools currently deal with students who do not attend at an appropriate rate, but oftentimes, even with efforts from schools, law enforcement and sometimes the county attorneys, the chronically absent still remain absent, drop out or transition to other schools or home schooling. Legislators were encouraged to advocate for that not being a factor included within the accountability for this profile. At the end of the evening, the Director of the Iowa Association of School Boards (IASB), D.T. Magee spoke about his organization’s goals and ongoing support of school boards and districts in Iowa. Along with him was the government relations director, Michelle Johnson, who spends most of her time at the Iowa Capitol advocating for school districts and their needs. The meeting adjourned with legislators, administrators and board members looking forward to future opportunities to have our representatives and senators engaged in visiting schools to see teaching and learning in action. Working together, everyone present knows that they could help make a positive difference for the students of Iowa. “I really enjoyed getting feedback and having a good discussion,” said Sen. Driscoll in wrapping up the evening. “We are still waiting to see what the bill and amendments may look like, and then like every bill proposed here, it will start going through the legislative process so we can continue getting comments from Iowans. The goal of this legislation, like any education policy we look at, is to increase student achievement. I do appreciate the time everyone took to attend the meeting on Thursday so we could talk about these important issues.” “The dialog was very helpful hearing from people with boots on the ground,” added Sen. Sweeney. “This is the only way we can make good legislation is through conversations and questions. The openness of the administrators to visit their respective schools was greatly appreciated. Also, the board members that attended the meeting were very open to conversation even after the formal round table. My thanks goes out to everyone that attended.” Editor’s note: Montezuma Superintendent Rich Schulte assisted with this article. Members of the GHS Group Mime include, from left: River Haenfler, Kapria Derby, Mallorie Arlint, Lucy Skouson, Lucy Lindberg and Penelope Fennell. The Group Mime received a Division 1 rating at Districts and advanced to State on Saturday, Feb. 3. Grinnell High School registered 61 students across 23 entries for its first District Large Group speech contest held at Pella High School on Saturday, Jan. 20. This was the first level of competition as part of the Iowa High School Speech Association’s collection of contests held across the state. Grinnell fielded a varsity team of 13 entries, all of which received a Division I rating advancing them to the State Large Group contest at Pleasant Valley High School in Bettendorf on Saturday, Feb, 3. The 9th grade team sent nine entries, seven of which received a Division I rating, advancing them to State. Assisting head coach Kevin Hosbond is fellow English teacher Jennie Flinspach. Also assisting is volunteer coach Michael Gookin who helps with music direction. The 9th grade team entered one Radio Broadcast this year. The entry by Brennen Rasmussen and Jacob Raney received a Division II rating, as did the Group Improv team of Jonathan Solomon and Ty McIntyre. Two other improv teams starring Mallorie Arlint, Frances Pedersen, and Penelope Fennell, Slane McCue, and Lucy Skouson both received Division I ratings. Flinspach advises the improv teams. In the category of Musical Theatre, “A Year with Frog and Toad”, directed by Flinspach, received a Division I rating and featured Aaron Blanchard, Kapria Derby, William Kelley-Chown, Lucy Lindberg, and Frances Pedersen. Also receiving a Division I was the Group Mime “Cirque du Slay” featuring Mallorie Arlint, Kapria Derby, Penelope Fennell, River Haenfler, Lucy Lindberg, and Lucy Skouson. Hosbond oversees the mime teams at GHS. The 9th grade team also entered three Short Films as part of the new stop-motion animation course taught at GHS by Ms. Alicia Carradus. “The Air Raid” by Gabe Bahrenfuse, “Something Sketchy” by Liam Han, and “The Broken Sword” by Dash Norris all received Division I ratings. The varsity team presented one Short Film at the contest. “Caedes”, featuring Kaia Chang Roper, Moby Ostby, and Ava Valencic, received a Division I rating. In the digital category of Radio Broadcasting, Billy Lopatto and Myles Manley received a Division I rating for their entry “KGFR.” Three Group Improvisation teams were also entered this year. The three teams consisting of Cameron Corey, Ian Hammond, and Ketsia Kiphanzu; Will Dahlby Albright, Roman Mackenzie, and Jeslyn Voogd; and Owen Shepardson and Nathan Vander Leest received Division I ratings. One Ensemble Acting scene was entered this season. “Angels in America”, featuring Natalie Nieuwsma and Cameron Thompson, earned a Division I rating. GHS entered a Readers Theatre titled “Ray and Milo” and directed by Flinspach, which earned a Division I rating. It features Tobias Crandall, Roman Mackenzie, Reece Madren, Charlie Nicklas, Moby Ostby, Anna Schubert, Peyton Stensrud, and Jeslyn Voogd. GHS also entered a Choral Reading written and directed by Hosbond titled “Look.” It features Chloe Alger, Eli Boyd, Cameron Corey, Joel Dressler, Kiran Elfenbein, Mary Jacobson, Maggie Kaup, Ketsia Kiphanzu, Judith Perez-Valentin, Anna Schubert, Catherine Schubert, Smith Skouson, and Peyton Stevenson, and also received a Division I rating. Two Musical Theatre groups were entered this season. All received Division I ratings. The team of “Sunday in the Park with George” features Joel Dressler and Maggie Kaup. “Urinetown” features Will Dahlby Albright, Ian Durr, Elisabeth Kelley-Chown, Billy Lopatto, Brody Petig, Catherine Schubert, Thea Sherman, and Peyton Stensrud. Both teams were directed by Hosbond with musical direction by GHS Choir teacher Michael Gookin. GHS also entered a One-Act Play this season, presenting “Reflex Action,” which was directed by Flinspach. The cast and crew includes Forrest Behrens, Diane Boyd, Eli Boyd, Tobias Crandall, Elisabeth Kelley-Chown, Mackenzie Kohl, Reece Madren, Myles Manley, Ellie Mintle, Charlie Nicklas, Natalie Nieuwsma, Owen Shepardson, Cameron Thompson, and Lucy Turley. The performance earned an overall Division I rating. And finally, in the area of mime, the team entered one Group Mime performance and one Solo Mime; all received Division I ratings. “The Spider-Woman” features Chloe Alger, Sarah Ashing, Forrest Behrens, Kiran Elfenbein, Cora Miller, and Peyton Stevenson. Alger, Elfenbein, and Miller are returning from last year’s Critic’s Choice Award mime “The Heist.” In the area of Solo Mime, Cora Miller presented “The Bunny”, a story inspired by her own pet. All pieces were written and directed by Hosbond with the ensemble. Division I-rated performances will perform again on Saturday, Feb. 3, at the Large Group Speech State Contest at Pleasant Valley High School in Benttendorf. The Speech Showcase will feature all performances at the GHS Auditorium on Saturday, Feb. 10, at 7 p.m. The GHS Musical Theatre duo is Joel Dressler and Maggie Kaup. Kiran Elfenbein poses with Kevin Hosbond. Kiran is serving on the RISE program--a student ambassador leadership group that functions to improve awareness, communication, and service with the IHSSA.
The Grinnell-Newburg Community School District Board of Education has announced three finalists in its search for the district’s next superintendent. The district has been working with Grundmeyer Leader Services throughout the search. On Jan. 10, the board reviewed materials on all 20 applicants for the position and narrowed to seven semifinalists. Ultimately one semifinalist withdrew for personal reasons prior to semifinalist interviews on Jan. 17 by the board. Following semifinalist interviews, three finalists were selected: Scott Bridges, Joseph (Joe) Erickson and Tara Paul.
Bridges currently serves as shared superintendent of the Melcher-Dallas and Twin Cedars CSDs, where he has implemented a professional learning community process, as well as led a successful general obligation bond campaign. He holds a master’s degree in education administration, along with an advance studies certificate in superintendency from the University of Northern Iowa. Previously, Bridges served as high school principal in the Prairie City Monroe CSD. As superintendent of the North Iowa CSD, Erickson has overseen the allocation of the district’s $6 million general fund budget and $900,000 facilities funds annually, in addition to implementing advanced leadership structures to improve student achievement. Erickson holds an education specialist degree from Drake University and a master’s degree in educational leadership from Iowa State University. Prior to his current role, Erickson served as elementary principal in the Eagle Grove CSD. Paul is the current superintendent of the Estherville Lincoln Central CSD. In this position, she has instituted a curriculum review cycle and implementation process to align with Iowa Core and national standards, strengthened the culture of the school, as well as improved the district’s solvency ratio from a negative ratio to more than 20 percent. Paul holds an education specialist degree from the University of Northern Iowa. She previously served as curriculum director, ESL coordinator, and equity coordinator in the Columbus CSD. Finalist interviews were held on Wednesday, Jan. 31 and included the board and two mixed interview teams consisting of students, administrators, teachers, support staff, parents, and community members. Also included in the process was a tour of school facilities and district communities. Following finalist interviews, the board received digital feedback from every member of the mixed interview teams and deliberated candidates during a closed session board meeting the evening of Jan. 31. The name of the successful candidate will be released publicly once he/she has accepted the position, passed their background check, notified his/her current district, and signed the new contract; it is anticipated the name of the new superintendent will be released publicly by Monday, Feb. 5, and sooner if possible. The next superintendent will begin leading the Grinnell-Newburg Community School District on July 1, 2024, but will visit the district and be as involved as possible before July 1. |
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