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One team of IKM-Manning junior high girls and another team of high school boys will be joining 46 other Iowa STEM teams in competing at the FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) State Championship competition this weekend in Coralville. These teams had to compete against the top 24 teams in western Iowa to win a spot at the University of Iowa sponsored event. The junior girls’ team of Macie Doyel, Jessica Thomssen, Tina Thomssen, Bailey Cantrell and Sierra Ferry landed in sixth place at that competition after 30 matches. They qualified in the eighth position to advance to the state competition. The high school boys’ team of Zachary Spoelstra and Grant Behrens finished in 14th place overall in the qualifying round to advance into 15th position at state. The top 14 teams from the State Championships on Friday, Feb. 24 and Saturday, Feb. 25 will advance to the North Super Regional Competition, March 30 through April 1 at the US Cellular/DoubleTree Convention Center in Cedar Rapids. This coming Saturday’s event in Coralville will be live streamed and can be accessed by following the link included below. The IKM-Manning student’s participation in this event is made possible by funds provided through IKM-Manning GALA donations.

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Co-chairs of the third annual IKM-Manning GALA, Megan Reis and Jeanne Stadtlander, are excited to be working on the education fundraiser that has grown over the previous two years. Stadtlander said she and Rose Miller discussed an event that they hoped would mirror the success of another popular Carroll County annual fundraiser.

The March 25th GALA will feature Dueling Pianos entertainment, a dinner catered by the Irwin Locker, live and silent auctions, and new this year, a raffle. Reis says the proceeds are used to help fund 21st Century skills programs at IKM-Manning Community School.

Stadtlander said the GALA has raised $50,000 the first year and $60,000 the second, but they aren’t focusing on monetary goals as much as relationships.

Each year the committee selects an IKM-Manning district community to host the event. The first year was in Manning and the second in Manilla. This year, the GALA will be held at the Irwin Community Center. Reis says that even if people can’t come to Irwin on March 25, there are other ways they can support the GALA.
Other ways community members can show their support of the GALA’s efforts is by donating an auction item, becoming a business partner, sponsoring a STEM Festival or by become a supporter with contribution levels from $1 to $2,500 or more. GALA tickets are $25 per person, with a break for a $500 or more sponsorship level. These can be purchased from any GALA committee member, a listing of which is included below. Raffle tickets are one for $10 or three for $25 and are available at the Manning Pharmacy and the Manilla Times. More information from Reis and Stadtlander is also included below.

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Carroll Daily Times Herald, Staff

Young and more experienced voices joined earlier this month when Manning-area students and families visited elderly residents of their city to share treats and sing Christmas carols.
Students delivered goodie bags and sang Christmas carols at the Manning Plaza Nursing Home and the Char-Mac Assisted Living Center Dec. 14 after holding a soup and sandwich supper at the Manning United Methodist Church to raise money for area organizations that work to combat hunger, a joint effort between the United Methodist Church and Sacred Heart Church.
About 50 students packaged and delivered goodie bags to elderly residents at the nursing home and assisted living center and sang Christmas carols with the residents on a cold evening.
The women’s group at the United Methodist Church provided supplies for more than 120 goodie bags to be delivered, and the IKM-Manning FFA donated fruit for the goodie bags.
Also tied in to the evening was the Methodist church’s Kids Hope program, a five-year partnership that pairs church members as mentors with IKM-Manning students. The Kids Hope members held their Christmas party the evening of the soup supper, and kids involved with the program participated with the caroling and soup supper.
The third annual soup supper fed 150 and raised $500 for Wolf Pack for Hunger and Adopt a Family.
The third annual Wolf Pack for Hunger is scheduled for April 19. The project brings together area residents and students to package meals for families both locally and abroad.
Adopt a Family, another Manning program, provides meals, services, gifts and other items to area families who need them.


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Carroll Daily Times Herald, Rebecca McKinsey

TLC program invites teachers to lead, collaborate

Teachers are like silos. Historically, they often have stood alone in their work — they are in a room alone; they teach alone; then they send their students on.
Iowa schools are looking to change that trend, and this year, the IKM-Manning Community School district is joining in.
The Iowa Department of Education’s Teacher Leadership and Compensation Program, or TLC, has been implemented in schools around the state; IKM-Manning is now in its first year of the program, said Tiffany Hoogestraat, IKM-Manning’s TLC coordinator.
“The overall goal is to create a culture of collaboration where the teachers are learning from each other, reflecting together and using the expertise of their colleagues to increase student learning,” Hoogestraat said. “They’re all our kids; we’re all working together for them.”
The program, funded by a state grant for its first year in each school system, is tailored to fit individual school districts. At IKM-Manning, that includes a TLC coordinator, Hoogestraat, and an instructional coach, Corey Sebetka, both former IKM-Manning teachers who now concentrate on the TLC program full time. They plan professional development and events and co-teach, coach and plan with teachers as needed.
The program’s goal is to increase collaboration between teachers. At IKM-Manning, that also means teacher-mentors who work with new teachers, a district leadership team that helps plan professional development and other initiatives and model teachers who invite their peers into their classrooms to learn specific skills and techniques.
“Teaching is a challenging job, and it’s made even more so by the isolated nature of the profession,” IKM-Manning high school principal Brian Wall said in a news release. “The TLC system is breaking down the culture of isolation and replacing it with one of collaboration.”
The program plays out in various ways — coaches work with teachers to reach specific goals, whether that’s better classroom management or having 90 percent of students become proficient in reading based on certain standards. Six-week coaching cycles focus on student data and reaching specific goals.
“Through the TLC system, our teachers have been able to support one another and learn from one another like never before,” said Sharon Whitson, principal of the district’s elementary and middle schools, in the release.
Early implementation of the program also has included working with a technology consultant to learn digital technology techniques, such as the use of QR codes, that teachers could then use to develop individualized technology-based lesson plans.
Working with teachers through the program, Hoogestraat said, she already has received good feedback about new technology skills, the alignment with special and general education curricula and behavior management.
“It is evident through these shared leadership roles that instruction and learning will improve for all students,” IKM-Manning superintendent Tom Ward said in the release.
The grant includes a stipend and additional training days for the teachers who have taken on leadership roles through the program while continuing to teach. Training has been provided through area education agencies.
“I think it’s really been a positive thing for our school to get that culture of, we’re all in this together,” Hoogestraat said. “Historically in schools — not just at IKM-Manning — that’s just not been the case.”

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MEDIA RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Wednesday, Nov. 2, 2016
STEM Council awards new STEM BEST Partners in Iowa
Ten school-business partnerships equipped to bridge the world of work to the classroom
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa – The Iowa Governor’s STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) Advisory Council has awarded 10 new STEM BEST® (Businesses Engaging Students and Teachers) Partners across Iowa.
STEM BEST Partners transform typical K-12 classroom environments and methods to unite the workplace with the classroom and develop clear pathways from STEM education to STEM careers in the state. Since 2014, the STEM Council has established eight STEM BEST Partners that currently serve as examples of these school-business partnerships.
“Iowa companies must be able to hire enough skilled workers so they can grow and innovate, and more Iowans deserve to have the skills needed for rewarding careers,” said Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds, co-chair of the STEM Council. “Through STEM BEST, educators and business leaders work together with students to strengthen Iowa’s talent pipeline and close the skills gap. STEM BEST is one of many programs that promise to help reach our Future Ready Iowa goal of 70 percent of Iowa’s workforce having education or training beyond high school by 2025.”
The STEM Council’s executive committee voted unanimously on Monday to award and support 10 of 14 proposed partnerships that bring to the table a total cost-share commitment of $566,234 and more than 60 business and community partners. Nearly $250,000 in STEM Council investment is made possible through a combination of state and private funds and is divided equally among these 10 awardees to purchase equipment and provide teacher training:
• Assumption High School, Davenport — Southeast STEM Region
• Boone High School — North Central STEM Region
• Fort Madison Community High School — Southeast STEM Region
• IKM-Manning Community School District — Southwest STEM Region
• Muscatine Community School District — Southeast STEM Region
• North Cedar Elementary School, Cedar Falls — Northeast STEM Region
• Spencer High School — Northwest STEM Region
• Story County Consortium (Ames, Ballard, Collins-Maxwell, Colo-NESCO, Gilbert, Nevada, and Roland-Story School Districts) — North Central STEM Region
• Waukee APEX — South Central STEM Region
• West Delaware County Community School District — Northeast STEM Region
“STEM BEST fosters an environment where communities match the needs of the local workforce to the skills students learn and gain in the classroom,” said Kemin Industries President and CEO Dr. Chris Nelson, co-chair of the STEM Council. “Creating these school-business partnerships is a key priority of the STEM Council with the belief that they will meet the STEM career demand in their communities and shape the future of Iowa’s economy.”
Each selected program submitted an in-depth proposal, considering factors like education driven by industry need, rigorous, relevant and dynamic STEM curriculum and authentic partnerships. These models bring various strengths in community partnerships, district demographics and program focus and will serve as models for others around the state.
To learn more about the model and the current eight STEM BEST partners, visit www.IowaSTEM.gov/STEMBEST.

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During a break in the action at last Friday night’s IKM-Manning home football game in Manning, Rich Wig of Monsanto presented the district with a $25,000 America’s Farmers Grow Rural Education Grant. School districts are considered for the grants from the nominations made by farmers to the Monsanto Fund. Schools are eligible to receive $10,000 or $25,000 to fund math and science projects that broaden the curriculum and add additional learning opportunities for students. In 2016, the fund will award an estimated $2.3 million through distribution of the America’s Farmers Grow Rural Education Grants across the country. Present to receive the award on behalf of the district were: IKM-Manning Ag Instructor, Ben Booth; members of the IKM-Manning FFA; Superintendent, Dr. Tom Ward; IKM-Manning School Board members; and representatives from the group of 41 farmers who nominated the school district for the award.

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