Education News

The following students have been named to the Dean’s List for the Fall 2018 semester at Buena Vista University: Erin Gerke, of Newell Colby Snyder, of Storm Lake Isabel Haas, of Storm Lake Sophia Roland, of Storm Lake Emily Kenny, of Schaller Ashton Peterson, of Alta...

What better way to give back to your alma mater than to share your time? Storm Lake St. Mary’s invited 10 graduates recently from 1965-2006 to share their experiences with current St. Mary’s students as part of an Alumni Career Day. They came from a variety of disciplines and backgrounds from around the Midwest speaking in three separate sessions to students from grades 6 - 12 share their post-high school educational experiences, their work history, what their typical work day is like, and advice for success as they plan for their own future when they matriculate from St. ...

Six BVU computer science majors joined two professors and a recent alumnus in traveling the Pacific Northwest during J-term, focused on developing a software application that may be deployed soon on campus and in Storm Lake. Dr. Nathan Backman, associate professor of computer science, and Dr. ...

Okoboji Summer Theatre announced its 2019 production lineup among the hustle, bustle and chilling temperatures at the end of January. The continued talent among student-actors signing up for OST productions has prompted the staff to slate four musicals for the second year in a row...

The Iowa Rock ‘n’ Roll Music Association jumped in feet first this month to engage with a younger demographic. Students from Okoboji and Spirit Lake High Schools learned from Iowa Rock ‘n’ Roll staff, and the staff learned from the students while working together on a couple projects during J-Term 2019...

STORM LAKE - On Monday, Feb. 11, BVU will celebrate the official opening of the new Center for Diversity and Inclusion (CDI) on campus with a 12-5 p.m. open house in the Harold Walter Siebens School of Business/Siebens Forum. At noon, President Joshua D. ...

The Council of Independent Colleges (CIC) has named Buena Vista University to its 2019 Diversity, Civility, and the Liberal Arts Institute which will be held in Atlanta, Georgia in June. About 25 independent colleges and universities from across the country were selected to attend. ...

SIOUX CITY – Morningside College student Coltin Schachtner Kramer, son of Clay Kramer and Heather Schachtner of Fonda, Iowa, recently attended the 91st Annual National FFA Convention in Indianapolis with the Morningside College Ag Club. Schachtner Kramer is a 2017 graduate of Newell Fonda High School. He and three other Morningside students participated in a Quiz Bowl competition at the convention and placed seventh...

Storm Lake Elementary kindergarteners sang at the Senior Center Monday, bringing warmth to seniors on a bitterly cold day.

With Storm Lake schools considered “targeted” for certain groups of students’ academic performance under the Every Student Succeeds Act, discussion is underway to address the situation. The targeted areas include: • Storm Lake Elementary - English Language Learners, low socio-economic students, and Hispanic students...

Buena Vista Regional Medical Center’s Emergency Services recently visited the various buildings in the Storm Lake Community School District. Annually the Ambulance Crew visits the schools to discuss and review the school’s emergency protocols. When an emergency happens, it’s important to keep children as calm as possible and not interrupt their daily activities. ...

The Buena Vista University Science Center is home to scores of wild beasts, or at least, what’s left of them. Mounted specimens, skins and skeletons populate the atrium and the upper floor, giving the building a nature appeal. At left, a North Chinese Leopard sprawled on a tree branch in an upper hallway. At right, an African elephant skeleton greets visitors beside the center entry...

A variety of workshops were held at the Sac County Extension and Outreach Office during winter break! The workshops included a Maker’s Day which allows the youth to make things such as felting, bath bombs, learning about electricity and using copper tape, a battery and an LED light to make a light up card and using the 3-D pens! A sewing workshop was held with Denise Opsal teaching the youth to make a pillowcase. ...

Volunteer Iowa is seeking applicants for federal funding in the form of AmeriCorps State program grants.  AmeriCorps is a National Service program that helps meet community needs through the efforts of AmeriCorps members. The AmeriCorps State program offers different types of grant funding to host agencies to help them advance their work and mission through the service efforts of AmeriCorps members. Organizations that operate local AmeriCorps programs identify proven solutions to a community need and then design service activities for a team of members serving full- or part-time for one year or during a season. . ...

WAVERLY - Wartburg College has recognized 478 students who were named to the 2018 Fall Term Dean’s List. Those honored include: Kevin Duque of Storm Lake. Alisha Ungs of Storm Lake. The list honors students who earned a cumulative GPA of 3.5 or above in at least four course credits during the term. Three of the four course credits have to be graded with a traditional letter grade...

January 13, 16, 20, 23, 27, 30: Public Planetarium Show - To Eat the Sun: Eclipses: People have been fascinated with eclipses for thousands of years. Learn about the Mayan eclipse beliefs and then fly out into space to better understand how solar and lunar eclipses happen. 4 p.m...

There are a couple of Tom Hancock Chapmans in the Iowa Golf Hall of Fame, now. Father and son, they are the only such pairing in the Hall. Both were perhaps best known, however, as standout basketball players at the University of Iowa. The senior Chapman, inducted for 2018, is one of the finest athletes to come out of Storm Lake...

Not only does Storm Lake High School prominently display an annual banner with signatures of its seniors stating their commitment to graduate, it has added a display of the class members’ college acceptance letters in the lobby, which should serve as an example for the underclass students. The district has a goal of all sophomores taking part in at least one college visit as they beginning planning toward their future...

Storm Lake High School students performed at the Northwest Iowa Bandmasters Association Honor Band festival Saturday at Morningside College in Sioux City. Selected performers included (from left) Joey Chanthavisouk, Beauna Thammathai, Jessica Slight, Sandra Ramos, Skylar Cole, Santiago Moval and Sami Lalone. Auditions were held in November in Storm Lake, or by videotape...

The Shirley Sorbe Memorial Scholarship is open to any high school senior residing in Buena Vista county planning to attend a vocational school, college or university. Deadline for applying for the Shirley Sorbe Memorial Scholarship is March 15, 2019. Scholarship applications have been sent to guidance counselors at all area high schools. They can also be obtained by contacting Nelda Nelson at 712-732-5545 or by emailing neldanelson@mchsi.com and an application form will be returned via email...

The public is invited to join the grand opening celebration on Wednesday, Jan. 16 at 5 p.m. in CRU5H Dining in the Harold Walter Siebens School of Business/Siebens Forum.  Sample hors d’oeuvres, milkshakes, smoothies, and other treats and beverages from BVU’s new restaurant, CRU5H, which will be open to the public. ...

We are continuing work on implementing more technology in the classrooms. Teachers are finding innovative ways to engage students in lessons with technology to target specific skill building and to improve reading and math abilities within our students. ...

Iowa Central Community College will “Jam the Gym” in a college visit on January 26. High school juniors and seniors are invited to attend the basketball games, will receive a free t-shirt and have the chance to win many prizes. Seniors will have a chance to win a full tuition scholarship. Register at www.iowacentral.edu now...

Buena Vista Universities semester wrapped up with several faculty members’ achievements in a variety of disciplines. No matter their field, faculty spend much of their free time pursuing research and professional development opportunities around the world and bringing their expertise back to the classrooms...

Tera Brown led Heidi Larsen’s third grade class in the National Hour of Code at St. Mary’s last week for a fun exercise in computer coding. Fortunately through the efforts of generous donors and a technology drive at the 2018 St. Mary’s Ball and Auction, there are new laptops for the students to use throughout the school...

Storm Lake School District will continue to opt against requesting the maximum amount of allowable growth for dropout funding. Superintendent Stacey Cole told the board of education this week that the programs and people the district has in place are working well, and reminded the board of the need to keep property taxes which partially fund the program lower...

In a report on math curriculum, Storm Lake Elementary Principal Barb Lang told the school board this week that while results have not yet been what the school wanted to see, the mindset is headed in the right direction. She said the administration wants teachers at the school to be “risk-takers,” because that’s what they want the children to be...

Storm Lake Elementary students recently created colorful masks with a wide array of creative designs. The artwork has been displayed in the showcases in the cafeteria area.

DES MOINES – Gov. Kim Reynolds and Lt. Gov. Adam Gregg on Wednesday announced that fewer Iowa high school graduates are taking remedial coursework during their first year at Iowa’s community colleges and state universities, a signal that more students are on track to earn a degree or other postsecondary credential...

Meet real scientists and try your hand with activities demonstrating physics, chemistry, biology, and more on Sunday, February 17, 2019 from 1 p.m. – 4 p.m. at Sanford Museum & Planetarium, 117 E Willow St, Cherokee, Iowa 51012. Learn more about their careers and different applications of different science. This event is free and open to all ages...

Ryan Drey, Storm Lake, is among nearly 1,250 candidates for degrees at the University of Kansas, where degrees are officially confirmed in January, and recipients are invited to participate in commencement in May. Drey has earned a Masters of Science degree in Education...

IOWA CITY — The University of Iowa has banned four fraternity chapters after a two-month investigation spurred by a number of alcohol-related incidents. School officials announced Thursday that Delta Chi, Sigma Nu, Sigma Alpha Epsilon and the UI chapter of Kappa Sigma International Fraternity can no longer operate as student organizations at the university...

Local classic rock cover band The Senders, still going strong after more than half a century, has been tapped to take part in the 2019 Cherokee Jazz & Blues Festival. They will perform Saturday, Jan. 19 at the Western Iowa Tech Conference Center, 6-9 p.m...

Kids got the chance to do some holiday shopping for their family at an affordable price of $1-5. Volunteers Thursday night helped the kids check their list twice and wrap the gifts while their parents waited in the other room. Santa’s Secret Workshop will be open again on Saturday, December 15 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at 1515 Lakeshore Drive...

AMES – Amy Powell started working to help 4-H’ers throughout Iowa understand the basics of animal care when she came to Iowa State University in 2014. To find out how those youth acquire information about animal care Powell set up focus groups with extension professionals, volunteers and parents in five Iowa counties. She found that there were no guidelines in place for acquiring and disseminating information about animal care...

DES MOINES - State Treasurer Michael L. Fitzgerald recently awarded nine College Savings Iowa accounts, over $22,000 in total prizes, to finish College Savings Iowa’s 20-Year Celebration. Iowans across the state with children and grandchildren under the age of 18, were encouraged to sign up for the celebration giveaway. ...

5th Grade 4.00 Eli Franken Zach Kolpin 6th Grade 4.00 Brookelynn Cudaback Emma Mentzer Nora Pickhinke Addison Voge 7th Grade 4.00 Abby Else Jayley Endrulat Jesus Mendoza Noah Shepherd Leanna Vincent Jaycie Vohs Kenna Wiese Morgan Wright 8th Grade 4.00...

Fourth graders from Storm Lake Elementary toured the inner workings of United Bank of Iowa. Here, the kids stand in awe of the money counter and dispenser, getting the chance to hold thousands of dollars in a stack.

The St. Mary’s dance team entertained the fans during halftime of the boys basketball game on Monday night.

Storm Lake St. Mary’s Middle School Mock Trial Team earned several outstanding performances in the regional competition this month under the direction of attorney coach John Murray and Ms. Laura Anderson. Bethany Parisea and Avery Fetrow were awarded honorable mention for outstanding attorney and Avery Smith and Melanie Rosales were awarded honorable mention for their portrayals on the stands...

Fifty-one Storm Lake High School students traveled to Fisher Theater on the Iowa State campus to view a student production of It’s a Wonderful Life: a Live Radio Play, on Friday, November 30. Students also attended a pre-show talk about the production and a post-show talk by the student actors in which they explained the benefits of being involved in activities during college and talked about their various majors and how theater and performance contribute to preparation for a wide variety of careers. ...

Buena Vista University art students recently tried their hand at capturing their own campus in charcoal drawings. Here are two of the resulting pieces, which represented everything from realist to surreal styles.

Last month, Buena Vista University students Andrew Bandstra and Tyler Brunner traveled to Louisville, Ky. alongside Dr. Andrea Frantz, professor of digital media, where they attended back-to-back media conferences and took home several top awards on behalf of the BVU digital media department...

The 2019 Buena Vista County Farm Bureau and Iowa Farm Bureau (IFBF) scholarship applications are now available to interested high school seniors of Iowa Farm Bureau members. The application is available on the Iowa Farm Bureau Federation website in a working PDF format. ...

13. Launderville, Jocelyn 9 21. Schumacher, Lorelei 9 25. Valdovinos, Marlene 9 33. Gustafson, Elizabeth 10 64. Damewood, Chandler 12 53. Sherkenbach, Samuel 12...