Council Bluffs Nonpareil
Editorial by Deb Frazee
Southwest Regional STEM Manager of the Iowa Governor’s STEM Advisory Council

STEM — short for science, technology, engineering and math — education is not a new concept for Iowa.
Hearing the acronym is a reminder of our state’s goal to connect economic development and education so that students can be prepared to become members of the future Iowa workforce.
Outstanding educational activities, including business partnerships, are taking place in every corner of Iowa and now the focus is in keeping this mindset sustainable for coming generations.
One of the main reasons that the emphasis on STEM education has grown is the efforts of the Iowa Governor’s STEM Advisory Council and the six regional hubs. The Council helps build and support the creation of hands-on opportunities in STEM fields, while leveraging business and community partnerships.
My role as the Southwest Regional STEM Manager involves staying connected to educators in all types of settings, while also being aware of economic development support in our region’s communities through business partnerships with educational programing. In the Southwest STEM Region there is increasing STEM awareness and participation, with a target of sustainability in the programs being developed and implemented. An ever-increasing part of the manager position is to ensure that businesses and educators are equipped with the proper tools to yield positive outcomes from the connections.
One forward-thinking community that comes to mind when I think of STEM sustainability in our region is the IKM-Manning Community School District. They were just recently awarded as a STEM BEST (Businesses Engaging Students and Teachers) school for their work in developing a new middle school STEM program and repurposing a classroom as a makerspace environment.
This is the second BEST Award for the district and offers additional opportunities to broaden the types of activities which educators can use in their arsenal of educational offerings. The IKM-Manning Foundation Gala brings in investment partners each year in the community, having raised over $200,000 in the last three years. These funds support a wide range of requests from the district to sustain and grow opportunity for educators and students.
When schools in the Southwest STEM region receive funding or grants for STEM enhancements in their programs, the track record has been great. The Scale-Up program awards reflect a strong need and a successful implementation. Awarded programs partake in these Scale-Up programs that range from building robots and coding activities to conducting agricultural filed experiences.
One way that the Southwest region has efficiently used these Scale-Up programs is applying and advocating for early childhood programs in our preschools and kindergarten classrooms.

Introducing the importance of STEM learning at an early age is yet another way to sustain interest and engagement throughout formal education and make connection to careers and the world of work.
Looking at the future of Southwest STEM, I am eager for the role that pre-apprenticeship programs will take in our high schools and business partners. These opportunities allow students to dive into a specific trade, provide local businesses with eager workers, increase economic development, and encourage our great minds to work and live in Iowa post-education.
Next year will be an exciting one for our region, and I encourage you to stay connected with us and our events by signing up for our newsletter at swcciowa.edu/stem. Remember, I’m always here to serve.
— Deb Frazee is the Southwest Regional STEM Manager of the Iowa Governor’s STEM Advisory Council and is based at Southwestern Community College in Creston. She can be reached at 712-623-2541 or frazee@swcciowa.edu.

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Carroll Area Broadcasting
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Manning Regional Healthcare Center and St. Anthony Regional Hospital have become partners in serving the needs of area men and women who are planning their families. They will be hosting a special OB event this coming Thursday, Nov. 30, titled “Mommy & Me, and the 3 Ps: Planning, Pregnancy & Parenthood.” The evening will begin at 6 p.m. with a social hour at BrickHaus Brews on Main Street in Manning with the program from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. Attendees will meet their trusted experts from Manning Regional Healthcare Center who will care for their patients from conception to delivery and beyond, with the delivery process and post-delivery care at St. Anthony Regional Hospital’s Birth Place. The providers will talk about ways to remain healthy throughout the pregnancy and about caring for the newborn. The first 18 attendees will also receive a swag bag. Space is limited for this free event, so anyone interested is asked to reserve their seat by calling 712-655-2072.

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Carroll Broadcasting Company

Several members of the Manning Regional Healthcare Center’s (MRHC) team were able to attend master training for the optimization of patient outcomes. On Wednesday, Sept. 27, the team participated in the Team STEPPS 2.0 program, which aids with improving communication and teamwork skills, with a goal of producing highly-effective medical teams by utilizing the tools available to them for positive clinical outcomes. “Patient safety is an important priority for MRHC,” says Chief Nursing Officer, Linn Block. “We utilize the Master Training Curriculum to engage all staff in the key principles of Team STEPPS: team structure; communication; leadership; situation monitoring; and mutual support.” The program was developed in 2016 by the Department of Defense Patient Safety Program in collaboration with the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)

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Carroll Broadcasting Company
Some IKM-Manning Community School District staff members are ready and willing to get slimed to support a student fundraising event. The middle school student council was sponsoring their annual Cans-giving food drive in the first two weeks of November with a goal of 500 items. If students reached that goal, they would get the opportunity to slime Principal, Sharon Whitson. Superintendent, Trevor Miller, made another challenge to the middle schoolers, saying they could slime him if they reached 1,000 items donated. Those kids came through with a vengeance, collecting 1,638 non-perishables, 700 alone in the last day of the drive. And that means Mr. Miller will be paying the price along with Whitson. Fifth-graders in Mrs. Amy Rohe’s class gathered 397 cans and will receive a pizza party for their effort. This year’s drive outdid past years, which averaged around 400 to 500 items collected. That chance to slime the administration seems to have really paid off. These items will be donated to the Manning Food Pantry, which serves individuals and families in all of the communities of the IKM-Manning School District. More information about the Manning Food Pantry can be found below.
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Food Pantry information contacts:
          New Opportunities  712-792-9266
          Mindi Boyle 712-201-2926
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Carroll Daily Times Herald
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It’s beginning to feel a lot like Christmas.
In the downtown business community, merchants have been gearing up for some time.
We’re urging residents to support Carroll-area businesses -— and by this we mean Carroll and surrounding rural communities — rather than shopping in the urban malls of Des Moines or Omaha or Ames, or keystroking around the internet to fill their holiday lists.
The money you spend in Carroll or Manning or Coon Rapids or Audubon or Lake City or Lake View or Sac City or other communities in west-central Iowa now comes back to you in so many ways.
There are the obvious economic factors, like keeping more disposable income here in town and boosting local government through sales and property taxes.
The multiplier effect holds that every dollar spent here rolls over seven times — and that’s before you even factor all the benefits at City Hall.
But there’s more to it than just Economics 101.
Unless you work in the commercial district, you probably have no idea how many charities and school groups and service organizations reach out to local businesses for their causes every year.
We just covered the wonderful Family Resource Center Fall Affair in Carroll. The Graphic Edge hosted the event, and Hy-Vee led the charitable way with food and beverage donations. Many businesses were pleased to be involved.
It’s the price of doing business. It’s nice to participate.
And it makes for a better community, this giving a dollar here and a dollar there.
When kids want new band uniforms at one of our schools, it’s not going to be Amazon.com that shells out for the fundraiser.
When a local kid is sick, and the medical bills are insurmountable, or tragedy strikes and funerals must be funded for families, it’s often the local businesses, not Target or Best Buy or the shamefully overpriced boutique brand-name stores at Jordan Creek Mall or the new outlet mall in Altoona, that donate to the cause.
Now, we’re not saying people should buy absolutely everything from Carroll-area stores.
And neither are the chamber people.
At the very least, though, give Carroll your first look, give our merchants the initial shot at your dollar, and nobody is going to scarlet-letter you with the traitor stamp should you be spotted, bags in hand, at a West Des Moines mall.
There are a lot of great gifts in interesting stores right here in Carroll.
And if they don’t have the right gift, local merchants can get it for you.
Here’s another angle: use the internet for local purchases.
Search the web for products you’re interested in and then find local merchants who carry the items — or get them to order the merchandise for you. Call it reverse showrooming.
Consumers can save time and money this way.
Now, more than ever, is a time to make a Carroll-area statement with your consumer dollars.
Moreover, by shopping in Carroll and its surrounding communities you will be supporting local businesspeople, people you know — not those often rude, dismissive temporary clerks, dripping wet with judgment and urban irony, in the malls of the bigger Iowa cities, or the stockholders of e-commerce companies.
This year, we are making a particularly strong plea to walk the walk with shopping and swear off online shopping venues.
E-commerce is chipping away at our brick-and-mortar base, and as e-commerce cuts into more traditional shopping and the jobs it provides, the new economy is not backfilling employment positions in rural America.
According to The New York Times, small metro areas and rural counties account for about 23 percent of overall retail employment but just 13 percent of jobs attributed to electronic shopping firms.
“At the same time, the new jobs are concentrated in a handful of large cities and tech hubs,” The Times reports.
In a very real sense, the money you spend online does nothing for Carroll or Lake City or Lake View or Audubon.
Where you shop increasingly will say a lot about where you live, how we grow, or don’t.
Living in modern narcissism pods, with Facebook “friends” and Twitter “followers” and personalized Netlflix show lists, reduces too many people to an atomized existence that doesn’t bear much resemblance to the rural Iowa way of life generations worked tirelessly to build.
You can help change that this Christmas season as you fill your Santa sleighs.
Dam the Amazon-level flow of money out of rural Iowa this Christmas.
Live local, think local and, for heaven’s sake, shop local.

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Carroll Broadcasting Company

​The Manning annual kick-off to the Christmas season, Weihnachtsfest, will get underway this Friday evening, beginning with food and activities in the German Village Mall at 4:30 p.m. The busiest man in the world this time of year, Santa, will be making a special appearance and will arrive in style at approximately 5:15 p.m. when his helicopter will land in the former Manning Regional Healthcare Center parking lot at the intersection of Highway 141 and Main Street. Kids and adults alike will have a great time listening to Manning’s Brass Band play holiday selections on the front porch of the Manning Plaza right before the 6 p.m. parade down Main. Afterwards kids will be able to visit with Santa at the Market Place, the family can see a live nativity, take a hay ride or participate in the book and cookie walks or cookie decorating activities.

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Carroll Daily Times Herald
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A group of Manning residents who gathered in a room Wednesday evening didn’t see the four walls around them — they were too busy envisioning an ice-skating rink and expanded trails system.
More than 50 people attended an “Imagine My Manning” community meeting Wednesday evening, where they were asked what project or organization they would choose to benefit from a donation of $500 — or $5,000, or $50,000, or $500,000.
Ron Reischl, chairman of the Main Street Manning’s Business Improvement Committee and a leading economic-development advocate, facilitated the meeting.
During the “Imagine My Manning” meeting, new ideas came to the fore, including an ice-skating rink, alternative-energy investments, connecting city trails to the regional trail system, enlarging the Konferenz Centre and building an education/innovation center.
“If the past is any indication, this community will find a way to make a significant number of them a reality,” Reischl said in a news release.
Manning’s newest social and charitable organization, Manning Chicks with Checks, was introduced during the meeting, and various donations to Manning projects totaling about $640,000 were announced.
They included an anonymous donation from a person who designated Manning as the beneficiary on a $400,000 IRA at the time of the donor’s death. The donor included guidelines for the use of the funds, and the Main Street Manning Board will serve as the trustee.
A $75,000 donation from the Meryl and Imelda Kerkhoff family will benefit the Trestle Park shelterhouse, which will be named for the family.
Other naming opportunities at the park will be available to “significant donors,” according to the release. Those interested can contact City Administrator Dawn Meyer at City Hall by calling 712-655-2176.
The city also received a $75,000 challenge grant from Main Street Iowa, which will be used for upper-story housing above the Sextro law office in Manning.
The Refresh Manning Trust Fund also recently received anonymous donations of $10,000 in stock and $50,000 in cash. The fund now has more than $90,000 and plans to issue more than $4,000 of grants to Manning projects in December, according to the release.
After observing the popularity of the Iowa sculpture in Trestle Park as a spot for visitors to take photos, Reischl donated $10,000 for additional Iowa-themed artwork. He committed another $10,000 in 2018 as matching funds if the City of Manning receives another Great Places grant.
The Manning Masonic Lodge donated $5,000 for lit artwork for the city’s downtown streetscape, and an additional $5,000 for Trestle Park.
Bill and Phyllis Opperman donated $5,000 to be used for benches and matching trash receptacles for the downtown streetscape.
“Manning has always been blessed with community members who generously donate their time and monies to their favorite causes and organizations,” Reischl said.
And those causes continue to grow.
“The ideas generated were enlightening, and action plans will be developed,” Reischl said. “The announced donations reflect our residents’ willingness to invest in their community. End of year is approaching, and in the spirit of year-end giving, I encourage others to keep the Manning community in mind and make a difference for our and their future.”

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The community of Manning came together for a conversation on Wednesday night, with a focus on brainstorming project ideas. Moderator of the event, Ron Reischl, asked everyone to write down what projects they would like to see completed if they were trustees of $500, $5,000, $50,000 and $500,000 in donations. It soon became clear that there was a motive for these questions as the community recently received some very sizable donations and grants. Bill and Phyllis Opperman have donated $5,000 for benches and trash receptacles downtown. The Masonic Lodge donated $5,000 for pillar lights in downtown that will be created by Puck Custom Enterprises and feature each iconic image from Manning’s branding. The Trestle Park project is one that has drawn in a lot of interest and money, and a very well-known local family has decided to support the new attraction. Keith Kerkhoff, co-founder of Templeton Rye, spoke on behalf of the whole family as they presented the city with $75,000 for the Meryl and Imelda Kerkhoff Family Shelter House. Kerkhoff said it is all about giving back to the community.

He adds, this was when he thought about leaving a legacy for their children and grandchildren. President of the Main Street Manning Board of Directors, Jeff Blum, was also there to talk about another $75,000 coming into the community.

They weren’t done yet with the announcements, Reischl had another surprise for attendees.

Reischl has been at the forefront of fundraising for several years in Manning, and has also brought forth a generous offer. He made a $10,000 donation for artwork at Trestle Park, and is willing to up the ante if the community receives a grant. City Administrator, Dawn Meyer, has applied for another Great Places $30,000 matching grant. And if they get the award and the dollars already donated don’t meet the requirements, Reischl said he will add another $10,000. So in total, the community has received about $570,000 in gifts and grants, and not a dime of it came from taxation on the residents.

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​The Manning Chamber of Commerce is kicking off of their holiday promotion with the introduction of Christmas cash checks. There is an area on the back of each check that must be stamped by six different Manning Chamber of Commerce members. The shopper then writes their name and phone number on the back of the check and turns them in at any of the locations included here. Then, beginning on Saturday, Nov. 25, they will draw out five names and those lucky individuals will each receive $50 in Chamber Bucks. Drawings will be held each weekend until Christmas. Checks became available Monday for pick up at any of the businesses listed below.
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Pick up or return checks: Templeton Savings Bank, First National Bank, the Market Place, Manning Pharmacy, Kristina’s Flowers, Rix BP and West Street Market

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