School News

by Mary Coblentz
Two of Mid-Prairie’s three head cooks reported on the district’s nutrition program at Monday’s school board meeting.
Washington Township head cook Martha Benedict told the board that the cooks are pursuing a “farm to school” program in which local produce is purchased and used in school lunch programs. The cooks have met with Matt Petersheim who said it is possible for him and other local producers to grow some fruits and vegetables for the schools, some of which could be frozen.
Benedict stated that the district can freeze produce for future use, but it cannot can it. The farm to school movement is becoming more prevalent in many states, Benedict said. The quality and nutrition value of fresh produce is greater than what the district can get elsewhere.
Already, the district has purchased watermelon and tomatoes at the Frytown produce auction, and it gets eggs from Farmers Hen House at a very good price.
Middle school head cook Amber Kempf explained how the cooks plan menus on a monthly basis. The cooks get together to plan the menus and they try at least one new menu item each month.
Gayle Cole, the head cook at the high school, was not able to attend the board meeting, but Kempf read some notes from Cole. Cole does most of the commodity ordering, and the dry goods and frozen foods are stored at the high school and obtained by other buildings when needed.
Recently, the district has tried whole wheat tortillas, which students seem to like. Also, it was noted that the high school offers vegetarian options for the eight or so vegetarians who attend.
Superintendent Mark Schneider read from the nutrition report, then congratulated the cooks for a “really good year” last school year.

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Nearly 40 students, under the direction of Mary Forney and Karenza Yoder, performed to nearly sold-out crowds over the weekend, as the IMS theater and music department combined forces to present The Wizard of Oz.

In this classic tale by L. Frank Baum, the show was performed on Friday and Saturday evenings, and also during a Sunday matinee. The performances took place on the stage of Celebration Hall.

In addition to the cast of characters from the IMS student body, 37 area children were cast as munchkins, under the direction of Rhonda Miller. Yet another 24 students provided assistance in the following areas: lights, sound, props, backstage, set design, painting, make-up, program artwork, hair stylists, photography, set construction, choreography, special effects, costumes, and as pit musicians.

The school wishes to thank the community for supporting the efforts of the cast and crew.

by Mary Coblentz
The Mid-Prairie School Board Monday learned how the district will meet the 10 percent across-the-board cuts mandated by the state of Iowa.
The total amount to be cut from the M-P budget is approximately $573,000. Mid-Prairie Superintendent Mark Schneider outlined the district’s planned cuts of $417,000. The rest will come from the district’s cash reserves.
Building budgets will be cut a total of $95,000 amoung the five buildings. This will include instructional material and field trips. Activities, Technology, and Transportation will each have $10,000 trimmed from their budgets. The Home School Assistance Program will have $23,000 cut, the STP program $6,000, and Central Office $5,000.
“These are targets,” Schneider stressed.
Other areas being cut are overtime/ over contracted hours for a savings of $30,000 and utilities for a savings of $5,000. Thermostats will be set at 69 degrees in classrooms with the gyms being cooler. Set backs will be used for nights and weekends to further save on heating costs.

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Incumbents Jim Hussey of Kalona and Jack Dillon of Wellman will seek re-election to the Mid-Prairie Board of Education. Angela Wasson of Wellman, who was a candidate in the last election, also had obtained nomination papers.
There are three seats on the board, the third is held by Fred Lampe chose not to run. Elections are September 8.

by Mary Coblentz
The Mid-Prairie School Board Monday accepted the adequate yearly progress report which was presented by Wellman Elementary and Washington Township principal Evan Parrott.
The report, which is required annually as part of the No Child Left Behind act, showed that Mid-Prairie met the goals set by the Iowa Department of Education in all but a few cases.
Parrott said that areas in which Mid-Prairie was especially strong include elementary math, high school graduation rates, and middle school and elementary attendance rates.
Areas that were not strong included reading for elementary students for low socio-economic status students, reading and math scores for special education students at the middle school, and reading for low socio-economic students at the middle school.
Parrott and middle school principal Nancy Hurd outlined steps being taken to address the lower scores.
In other business, the board:

• approved the hiring of Richard Oldfield as bus driver, replacing Carol Ewalt;
• approved the hiring of Olivia Stutzman as teaching assistant at Kalona Elementary, replacing Wendy Grimm;
• approved the hiring of Jordan TeBockhorst as second shift custodian at Kalona Elementary, replacing Hank Verploegen; and
• approved the transfer of $56,000 in SILO funds to debt service. The money will be used for property tax relief and is part of the M-P budget.

Board president Jim Hussey introduced school board candidate Stacia Bontrager to the board.

By Mary Zielinski
Summer work project in the Mid-Prairie School District total $731,089 with more than half of that for a new roof at the middle school ($302,500) and a new $260,700 elevator at the high school. The remainder involves a number of remodeling projects, including sidewalks and $40,206 in ongoing repair costs.
The projects were part of the annual Maintenance Report and Infrastructure Plan presented to the Mid-Prairie Board of Education Monday by Team Custodian, the designation the custodial staff gave themselves more than 10 years ago.
“We are serious about upgrading buildings,” explained lead custodian Mike TeBockhorst, “and we have been working on it for the last ten years.” The team approach has saved the district money in outsourcing since the Team believes in learning how to do much of the work themselves. That includes, as mu7ch as possible, “going green,” but TeBockhorst said it is not possible to do everything because the “green” is more expensive.
However, each year they have manag3d to add to “more environmentally friendly” products, as well as keeping business as local as possible.
The report detailed building footage, number of class rooms and age, as well as cost reviews for the last ten years for each building that showed only a .9 percent average cost in increase for supplies the last five years. Plant operation costs (utilities), though has a 32.37 jump, much of reflecting rate increases for electricity and natural gas.

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By Mary Zielinski
Mid-Prairie’s first and to date only technology director navigates the computer world like someone from writer William Gibson’s cybertech universe. In practical terms, Sean Flockhart sets up computer programs, troubleshoots them, provides a lot of support for staff and students and even repairs their laptops. Oh yes, there is also maintaining the 18 servers used in the district, all with different programs.
“There’s quite a variety every day,” he says of his work, “and it’s always different.”
For the district a major difference is having Flockhart aboard for two years, something best covered by Superintendent Mark Schneider who said, “He has more than paid or himself.”
Schenider was referring to having the director avialable full-time rather than contracting for services.
“It means not only do we get service, but he provides instruciton for staff and students.”
However, the contractor, Information Services USA of Hiawatha was Flockhart’s previous employer which meant, “I already knew quite a lot about Mid-Prairie,” he said. It was knowledge that ensured he would not hestiate to get the job here, despite having several private sector options.
Among recent tasks has been installing programs for the languages Mid-Priarie offers, including Chinese and Arabic, at the elementary schools.
The elementary schools all use MACs and the seondary PCs.
“It would be easier if they were all the samne,” he said, but the different computers run different (in some cases mroe varied) programs. And, there are a lot of programs for eveything from reading to naviating the web.
The Internet use has meant blocking access to certain sites, something Flockhart acknowledges “is a constant battle.”

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By Mary Zielinski
For the fourth consecutive year, Mid-Prairie students have shown that the more students are involve din extracurricular activities, the higher their GPA.

Activities and academics go hand-in-hand, the most involved do the best.

Mid-Prairie Activities Director Don Showalter, who started tracking the correlation between activities and academics fourth years ago, told the M-P Board Monday he Òwas not surpriseÓ that the positive correlation has held.
“Activities and academics go hand-in-hand,” he said, adding, “the most involved do the best.”
Part of the higher performance may be linked to the fact that students involved in activities have a much better attendance record. He found that 81 percent of all M-P students are involved in at least one activity during the year and 60 percent participate in more than one. Of the 92 students taking Advanced Placement classes, 84 (or 91 percent) were involved in at least one activity, he said.
The activities include spots, Fine Arts (band, chorus, speech, drama), FFA, FCCLA and service organizations. The success in activities, said Showalter, are linked to three things: coaching, parent, Boosters, administration and school board support, and student dedication to the activities.
“It also is very important that there is tremendous community support.”
Even more, though, he stressed that “We strive to have students fit in somewhere,” that efforts are made to guide each student toward an activity. But, he added, “Academics are the highest priority at Mid-Prairie.”
Prior to the start of the meeting, the Mid-Prairie Education Association had a brief reception to honor the board, and during the public forum faculty member Eric Thornton praised the board for being very “pro-education” and having a district where “there is a very upbeat morale.” He said part of that is because the board “thinks outside the box.”

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For more than 20 years Phyllis Casper, Mid-Prairie Elementary Media Specialist, has brought pioneer days to students in the Mid-Prairie District through the Laura Ingalls Wilder series.
The last 15 years Sandy Gingerich at Washington Township and her third grade class have prepared and eaten a prairie lunch of minestrone soup, homemade baked porridge, fruit salad, home churned butter, homemade bread, applesauce, Laura’s gingerbread and cornbread.
Friday, April 17, along with the help of 18 parent volunteers, the third graders at Washington Township gained some knowledge about what it might have been like to live in the late 1800s.
Students dressed in period clothing and constructed log cabins, made church babies, did a weaving project and tin punch activity.
The class also viewed a PowerPoint presentation showing the places where the Charles Ingalls family lived from Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota, North and South Dakota, Kansas and Missouri.
Casper said she has been interested in Laura Ingalls Wilder for many years and has enjoyed bringing these activites to the students in Mid-Prairie.
In the last few years, she has helped to start Laura Ingalls Wilder Days at Kalona Elementary and Wellman Elementary schools.
The classes read many books about Wilder including Little House in the Big Wood, Little House on the Prairie, Farmer Boy, and On the Banks of Plum Creek.

by Mary Zielinski
The Traveling teddies from Kerri Bell’s second grade class at Kalona Elementary School are back and will share their adventures with the students during an Open House at the school Monday, April 27, from 8:45 a.m. to 2:40 p.m. Parents and friends may attend from 5 to 6:30 p.m.
This marks the 9th consecutive year that the fuzzy ambassadors have journeyed far and wide to personalize geography, current history, social studies and cultural exploration for their young owners. The teddies get sent in early September to one location with details about the 2nd grade project and are due back in early April.
Where they go and what they “see, hear and experience” depends on where their “hosts” take them. In the case of Buddy, the bear owned by Lubov Kazakoo that included seeing Barack Obama become the 44th President of the United States, a trip to New York City and a vacation in Mexico.

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By Mary Zielinski
Bids for refinancing district debt and for a new middle school were lower than expectation and will save the Mid-Prairie School District $381,148.
“They are great bids,” said Superintendent Mark Schneider.
Low bidder for refinancing $2,675,00 in General Obligation School Refunding  bonds was D. A. Davidson & Company, Denver, Colorado, with 2.3333273 percent for the period from December 1, 2009 to June 1, 2016.  The move, which is the second time the district has done refinancing, will save Mid-Prairie $173,648 in interest costs. Other bids ranged from 2.3993690 to 3.118880.
When it came to the new roof for the MIddle School, the board accepted the low bid from Advance Builders Corporation, Cedar Rapids, of $302,500 which is $207,500 below the estimated cost of $510,000.  The bid covers both Base Bid A and Alternate Bid B.   Engineer Mitchell Kelchen with Shive-Hattery recommended accepting the bid.

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