A year in review: Education

In 2023, Union County saw new educators take the helm, existing educators be awarded for their hard work and administration work to continue innovation for students and staff.

Awards

In January, Creston Middle School band teacher Audrey Linke was awarded the Young Band Director Award by the Southwest Iowa Bandmasters Association for “her positive impact on students, continued development as a teacher, and excellence in the field of music education.”

According to her husband and fellow band director Ryan Linke, Audrey has been passionate about music since a young age, starting playing the flute in sixth grade.

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In February, CHS teacher Maggie Arnold was awarded the STEM Teacher Award, earning the title of Southwest Iowa STEM Teacher of the Year and $3,000, half for personal use and half for her classroom.

Arnold has been working as the CAST (Communication and Service Technology) instructor at the high school for six years, through which students are connected with local businesses in solution-minded think tanks.

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In December, Murray schools English teacher Heather Pate was awarded the Golden Apple Award by WHO 13 and IMT Insurance. Pate, who has been working for Murray schools for six years, was nominated by five students due to the personal connections she makes.

“This is hands down the best award I’ve ever gotten,” Pate said. “It means a lot because it’s the kids who nominate you and that’s what means the most.”

Leadership Personnel

In June, Jerry Smith retired from the SWCC board of trustees after 26 years.

Smith represented the Osceola district, serving as SWCC’s representative on the state Iowa Association of Community College Trustees board his whole board career. Smith thinks the biggest difference he’s made to SWCC’s future was bringing about the Allied Health and Science Center.

In retirement, Smith hopes to spend more time with his grandchildren and travel more.

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On June 15, Brandi Shay of Tingley was named SWCC’s chief financial officer, beginning her duties July 5.

Shay has been a part of SWCC since 2001, serving as a business instructor from August 2001 to December 2011. She also worked at SWCC as the Small Business Development Center regional director from June 2015 to July 2018.

Shay’s education background includes an MBA from Iowa State University, a Bachelor of Science degree in accounting from Iowa State University and an Associate of Arts degree from SWCC.

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In July, Sue Stearns was appointed as SWCC’s District Three board member, filling the vacancy Jerry Smith left upon his retirement in June.

Originally from Albia, Stearns worked for 34 years as a juvenile court officer in the Creston area. She then served for two years as an adjunct professor, teaching introduction to criminal justice and juvenile delinquency, later transitioning to be Osceola’s center coordinator.

While Stearns didn’t go to SWCC, she did go to a community college for her associates degree, attending Ottumwa Heights College. She later got her bachelor’s from Northeast Missouri State University, now called Truman State University. Stearns also earned her masters in criminal justice from Simpson.

While only appointed to the position to fill Smith’s vacancy, Stearns was voted into the position in November.

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In early November, the SWCC board of trustees approved Lindsay Stoaks as the college’s sixth president. Stoaks was previously serving as SWCC’s interim president following Dr. Marjorie McGuire-Welch’s resignation in April.

Prior to this appointment, she served as SWCC’s vice president of instruction. As vice president of instruction, Stoaks directed all matters related to academic instruction, programs, services and operations.

Stoaks has been employed at Southwestern since May 2010 when she was hired as the coordinator of secondary programs. She became the college’s assistant vice president of instruction, under the direction of longtime Southwestern Vice President of Instruction Bill Taylor, in July 2013.

Stoaks has a masters of science degree in agricultural education and studies, as well as a bachelor of arts degree in journalism and mass communication from Iowa State University.

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In November, Galen Zumbach was nominated and approved as Creston School Board President for the following year, nominated by Brad James.

Following his swearing in, Amanda Mohr was elected as vice president, nominated by Sharon Snodgrass.

Zumbach replaces former president Don Gee, while Mohr continues serving as vice president.

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In November, East Union alumnus Kanyon Huntington was named a National FFA Officer at the Future Farmers of America National Convention in Indianapolis, Indiana.

A 2021 East Union graduate, Huntington got his start in FFA in the local chapter. At first, he joined FFA because his sister had done it before him and he wanted to show sheep in the county and state fair. But by the end of his freshman year, FFA would begin to change his life.

FFA provides students with a variety of leadership opportunities as chapters have a president, vice president, secretary, treasurer, reporter and sentinel.

Since starting FFA, Kanyon has served as East Union chapter treasurer and president. Then he became the Iowa FFA state reporter. Now he’s serving in a national capacity.

Of the six national officers, four positions represent regions, while one serves as secretary and one serves as national president.

Huntington’s region is the central region, where 10 of the 35 candidates came from. Of the six national officers, four positions represent regions, while one serves as secretary and one serves as national president.

With the nature and duties of the national officer role, Huntington will take a gap year from Iowa State, but plans to return in spring of 2025 to finish his degree.

Innovation

After struggling to hire enough teachers, the Creston Community School District created a number of new programs to bring in more staff.

The Pathway to Being a Panther program helps student teachers pay a portion of their tuition while teaching at CCSD. According to the agreement, “CCSD will pay the tuition expense, not to exceed $10,000.” In addition, the district would provide a monthly living stipend of $700, not to exceed four months. Teachers would then be expected to continue working in the district.

Just because someone is student teaching in the district doesn’t mean they will be entering this agreement. As this program is entirely created by the CCSD, some kinks are still being worked out. However, they hope it will eventually help boost their staff.

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In February, the Creston ECC and East Union Elementary School both received STEM BEST grants from the Iowa STEM Advisory Council.

According to a press release by the STEM BEST Program, “The STEM BEST (Businesses Engaging Students and Teachers) + HD (High Demand) Program encourages teachers and industry professionals to work side-by-side to develop a work-based learning model that incorporates STEM subjects with experiential learning opportunities to emphasize high-demand skills for the workplace.”

At the ECC, students utilize the ECC Explore program to immerse themselves in career exploration while making curricular connections. Students have learned to code through age-appropriate games and can go on virtual field trips.

At East Union, elementary science teacher Mark Patten applied for the grant in order to bring high-quality STEM equipment, such as 3D printers, robotics supplies and coding equipment, for his classroom. He hopes to connect the STEM curriculum of the elementary school, middle school and high school.

Statewide

In January, Governor Kim Reynolds signed the controversial House File 68 into law. Also called the Students First Act, the law makes state education funding available for K-12 students who choose to attend private schools.

According to the governor’s office, “With the passage of the Students First Act, parents who enroll their eligible children in an accredited private school will receive an amount equal to the per pupil funds allocated by the state to all public school districts each year. The funds are estimated at $7,598 per pupil for the 2023-2024 school year and will be deposited into an education savings account (ESA) to be used for tuition, fees, and other qualified education expenses.”

The law will take three years to fully go into effect.

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Both the Iowa House of Representatives and the Senate passed a number of controversial laws earlier this year in regards to LGBTQ students and book material.

For example, Senate File 496 bans schools library books with graphic sex acts, prohibits instruction on gender identity or sexual orientation through sixth grade, notifies parents if their child asks to use different pronouns in school and adds parent to the state’s education licensing board.

CCSD school board approved adding these rules into the district policy in August.