Iola school children —and the rest of town — might soon be thinking peace every time they pull a penny from their pockets.
In conjunction with Iola Reads’ spring selection — “Three Cups of Tea” by Greg Mortenson — schools will feature jugs to collect “Pennies for Peace,” proceeds going to the non profit’s efforts to build schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Mortenson founded Pennies for Peace after failed attempts to convince wealthy celebrities to donate to his cause. Instead, American school children who learned of his efforts donated their spare change.
A movement was born.
Mortenson, a mountaineer, literally stumbled into Korphe, Pakistan after abandoning an attempt to climb K-2, the world’s second-highest peak, along the China-Pakistan border. The mountain is in the Karokoram range, one of the world’s most rugged and inaccessible regions.
Balti people, Muslims with cultural roots in Tibet, live in the mountains’ lower reaches and of late have become porters to high altitude thrill seekers.
Mortenson, once such a climber, was changed by his encounter with the Balti after becoming disoriented descending the peaks. Nursed back to health by Balti villagers, he vowed to repay the kindness by returning to build them a school.
HIS ORIGINAL promise has led to completion of 140 schools as of December, said Gail Dunbar, who, with other Iola school librarians, saw Mortenson speak in Kansas City in December.
Many of the schools are specifically for girls, who were not before educated in Asian Islamic communities. The most recent are being constructed in Afghanistan. There, our pennies can go further, Mortenson noted; $600 can pay one teacher’s salary for an entire year; $5,000 supports an existing school for one year.
DUNBAR SAID the collection jugs will be placed in schools beginning Feb. 12, Abraham Lincoln’s birthday. School libraries will also show videos about Pennies for Peace and Mortenson’s school-building efforts.
Other activities will vary at each school. At elementary schools, students have been listening to their teachers read them “Listen to the Wind,” a picture book version of Mortenson’s story. Middle schoolers are perusing the young adult version of “Three Cups of Tea.”
“There are many more photographs in the young adult book and that appeals to students,” Dunbar said. In addition, Mortenson’s daughter Amira, now 12, writes her own segment of that book.
Adult versions of the book are available at all Iola Reads book locations, Including Iola Pharmacy, Family Physicians, Iola Public Library,Allen County Community College library, Iola City office, Iola Vision Source and more. Book numbers are already running low, said IPL librarian Leah Oswald. “Be sure to bring them back after you read them,” she said.
Books are purchased through a grant from the Sleeper Family Trust, and a $2 donation is asked for those books that are not returned.
ACCC librarian Steve Anderson will lead an adult book discusssion at 7 p.m. Feb. 23 at the Flewharty House, Dunbar said. Young adult discussions will be held in the schools.
DIALOGUE is an important part of Mortenson’s mission.
“He had a number of slides with him of joint chiefs of staff and U.S. military leaders,” Dunbar said, noting “Three Cups of Tea” is now required reading for military personnel going to Afghanistan.
“It’s important to understand that culture when you’re going there,” Dunbar said Mortenson told them.
“Recently, he was finishing up a girl’s high school in Afghanistan,” Dunbar relayed, “and a number of heavily-armed tribal leaders came. He was uncomfortable with that, but they came because they wanted him to buld a school” for their own village.
“But before that, they wanted him to build a playground. They never had a childhood and they wanted that for their children,” she said Mortenson told them.
“They ended up putting down their weapons and all playing on the playground” at the school Mortenson was finisshing. After watching them joyful on the equipment, Mortenson agreed to buld their school, Dunbar said.
AS A CULMINATION to the 7-week-long Reads, Diana Farmer, who has worked in Afghanistan with Kansas State University, will show photographs and talk about her time there. She will also answer questions. Farmer will speak at 7 p.m. March 11 in the Iola High School lecture hall.
Farmer was in Afghanistan “advising them about their libraries” in November 2008 and June 2009, she said. She was also helping select library materials and “offering training sessions to faculty and some graduate students on how to do research on the Internet.”
“KSU has two World Bank grants to work with Kabul University,” she said, “rebuilding the engineering and English language and literature departments. Their curriculum is very outdated.”
While in Afghanistan, Farmer visited Mazar-i-Sharif in Balkh province. It is home to “the blue mosque,” she said, “the tomb of one of the religious leaders of one of the sects of Islam.” The mosque is believed to entomb Hazrat Ali, cousin and son-in-law of the Muslim prophet, Mohammad.
Culturally, Afghanistan is very conservative, at least toward women, Farmer said.
“I did have to wear a scarf and keep my head covered,” she noted. “The clothing I wore had to cover me from the wrist to the neck and also my ankles.” In addition Farmer said, “the clothing also had to be loose and not form-fitting.”
Things are only slightly more relaxed at the University, she said.
“When they would come in for a class the women would sit on one side of the room and the men would sit on the other,” she said. Outside the University, men and women who were not married couples could not be in the same room at the same time, she said.
Kabul University has no women teaching in their engineering department, Farmer noted.
Though her lectures had mixed audiences, they accepted her as a teacher, she said.
“Most of them understood the cultures are different and they were happy to get the information,” she said.
Farmer said the school’s English department is “their equivalent of our French language and literature department.” And, she said, “they teach them English as a second language.”
For those who want to major in the subject, “they do have texts and information about English literature,” Farmer said.
Farmer noticed “a lot of improvements in just that six or seven month period of time,” between her visits, as far as development of the country goes.
She will present a PowerPoint presentation of both her trips, she said.
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Need for foster homes grows
When the new fiscal year rolls around July 1, TFI Family Services will have 2,000 more children under its wing.
“TFI gained a contract — the family permanency contract — in region 3,” said Pam Richardson, Resource Family Services Supervisor for TFI offices in Chanute and Iola. TFI will take over caseloads currently managed by other agencies, Richardson said.
“TFI (also) retained our current contract for region 1,” she said. Essentially, the agency will serve all of Kansas from Concordia to Salina and Topeka as well as southeast Kansas. TFI is “the largest foster care reintegration contractor in the state,” Richardson said.
The not-for-profit agency works under the guidance of the Kansas Department of Health and Environment to care for children removed from their homes after the state’s office of Social and Rehabilitation Services determines leaving the children there is unsafe or unhealthy for them, Richardson said. The new and continued contracts, which cover the next four years, mean TFI has even more need for good foster families with which to house displaced children.
TFI tries first to find a relative to take the children. “If no relative is available, then we try to find a foster family,” Richardson said.
“We do a better than average job of placing kids with their relatives, but (for those for whom relatives cannot be found) we would like to place them in their home communities,” Richardson said.
Unless the children can be placed locally, many end up away from their friends, their schools and the only community they may have known, said Richardson.
“Not only is it traumatic for them to be removed from their home, it’s traumatic for them to be removed from their community,” Richardson said.
“Kids deserve the opportunity and the chance to be raised in their home communities,” said Nicole Desmarteau, Resource Family Service Worker. “We really need more homes for these kids in Allen County.”
“As of today, I supervise 59 foster homes in the Chanute and Iola offices, but only 18 are in Allen County,” Richardson said.
There are 89 children, from birth through age 18, in need in Allen and Neosho counties, Richardson said. Of those, 60 percent are teenagers.
“With teenagers, it’s hard to place them because people assume they are bad kids,” Desmarteau said.
“A majority of the time the children are removed due to abuse or neglect,” Richardson said, not something the child has done.
Richardson said 37 of the children they currently serve are from Iola, yet only 15 are placed here.
“It’s traumatic enough to be removed from your parents at a monument’s notice,” she said, “but to also be removed from your pets, your bedroom, your school, your friends is even more traumatic.”
Richardson hopes to reintegrate the children into as normal a life as possible. Creating a sense of family is imperative.
If foster homes aren’t secured for the youth, they are sent to group homes in Lawrence or Parsons. “And that’s not family-like,” she said.
ROSALIND Leapheart knows family-like.
The Iola woman has been a foster mom for 23 years. Over that time, she has fostered 34 children, mainly teenagers, she said.
She began fostering while married, after her former sister-in-law — a social worker in Kansas City — urged her and her husband to help place a child. After becoming single again, “I kept on doing it,” she said.
“I don’t have a big turnover,” she said of the children she has housed.
“Most of (them) were teenagers,” Leapheart said. She never saw them as outsiders.
Leapheart said she takes the kids to all her family functions, from picnics to reunions.
“It’s not an imposition to my family: They know there will be kids,” she said. “They’re foster kids from the state, but they’re also my kids. If we’re going on vacation, they go, too.”
Leapheart is such a good foster mom that Desmarteau quips, “If we could clone her 100 million times, we would.
“It shows to her character and dedication that in over 23 years she has only had 34 kids,” Desmarteau explained.
Most of the children Leapheart has fostered reach legal maturity before they leave her home.
“Some go to job corps,” she said, “Some go to trade school. I had one who finished high school after his 18th birthday, then he stayed another year because he was going into the military,” she said. He now sends her pictures form his active duty placement.
Leapheart tries to instill in the foster teens the same skills she did in her own children.
“I teach them cooking, cleaning, filling out job applications, budgeting for life, including paying rent, cable, cell phones bills.”
She tells the teens that luxuries such as deluxe cable and fancy electronics are frills they don’t need if they’re not going to be in their apartments much because of work, she said.
“I tell my kids to put 80 percent of their earnings into the bank,” while living with her, she said. “I tell them, ‘You need to be saving your money, because whatever you need — clothes, food, shelter —I’m going to provide it.’”
WHAT DOES it take to be a foster parent?
“We’re really not looking for anybody’s life situation,” Richardson said.
“What I find successful is someone who is flexible, because you’re working with a number of agencies and a child and parent who have been through a traumatic experience,” said Richardson. “When I speak about flexibility, I’m talking more about personality.”
The state does have stringent health and safety guidelines, Richardson said, but “We don’t license the person, we license the home,” said Desmarteau.
State requirements address room sizes and window dimensions, for instance, Desmarteau said.
Once a child is placed a in a foster home, a resource worker assists both the foster care provider and the child.
“We evaluate any needs the child may have,” Desmarteau said, “be they mental health, educational or health needs.”
Even after the child is placed in a foster home, the resource worker “will never stop looking for a less restrictive environment,” Richardson said, including reintegration with their original family when suitable, permanent placement with a family member or permanent placement through adoption.
“That is the ultimate goal,” Richardson said.
Consummate foster mom Leapheart agreed: “We just want to find good homes for the kids.”
Those interested in learning more about fostering children in Allen County should call TFI at 406-365-3428, e-mail Pam Richardson at PamR@the-farm.org, or log on to www.the-farm.org.
“TFI gained a contract — the family permanency contract — in region 3,” said Pam Richardson, Resource Family Services Supervisor for TFI offices in Chanute and Iola. TFI will take over caseloads currently managed by other agencies, Richardson said.
“TFI (also) retained our current contract for region 1,” she said. Essentially, the agency will serve all of Kansas from Concordia to Salina and Topeka as well as southeast Kansas. TFI is “the largest foster care reintegration contractor in the state,” Richardson said.
The not-for-profit agency works under the guidance of the Kansas Department of Health and Environment to care for children removed from their homes after the state’s office of Social and Rehabilitation Services determines leaving the children there is unsafe or unhealthy for them, Richardson said. The new and continued contracts, which cover the next four years, mean TFI has even more need for good foster families with which to house displaced children.
TFI tries first to find a relative to take the children. “If no relative is available, then we try to find a foster family,” Richardson said.
“We do a better than average job of placing kids with their relatives, but (for those for whom relatives cannot be found) we would like to place them in their home communities,” Richardson said.
Unless the children can be placed locally, many end up away from their friends, their schools and the only community they may have known, said Richardson.
“Not only is it traumatic for them to be removed from their home, it’s traumatic for them to be removed from their community,” Richardson said.
“Kids deserve the opportunity and the chance to be raised in their home communities,” said Nicole Desmarteau, Resource Family Service Worker. “We really need more homes for these kids in Allen County.”
“As of today, I supervise 59 foster homes in the Chanute and Iola offices, but only 18 are in Allen County,” Richardson said.
There are 89 children, from birth through age 18, in need in Allen and Neosho counties, Richardson said. Of those, 60 percent are teenagers.
“With teenagers, it’s hard to place them because people assume they are bad kids,” Desmarteau said.
“A majority of the time the children are removed due to abuse or neglect,” Richardson said, not something the child has done.
Richardson said 37 of the children they currently serve are from Iola, yet only 15 are placed here.
“It’s traumatic enough to be removed from your parents at a monument’s notice,” she said, “but to also be removed from your pets, your bedroom, your school, your friends is even more traumatic.”
Richardson hopes to reintegrate the children into as normal a life as possible. Creating a sense of family is imperative.
If foster homes aren’t secured for the youth, they are sent to group homes in Lawrence or Parsons. “And that’s not family-like,” she said.
ROSALIND Leapheart knows family-like.
The Iola woman has been a foster mom for 23 years. Over that time, she has fostered 34 children, mainly teenagers, she said.
She began fostering while married, after her former sister-in-law — a social worker in Kansas City — urged her and her husband to help place a child. After becoming single again, “I kept on doing it,” she said.
“I don’t have a big turnover,” she said of the children she has housed.
“Most of (them) were teenagers,” Leapheart said. She never saw them as outsiders.
Leapheart said she takes the kids to all her family functions, from picnics to reunions.
“It’s not an imposition to my family: They know there will be kids,” she said. “They’re foster kids from the state, but they’re also my kids. If we’re going on vacation, they go, too.”
Leapheart is such a good foster mom that Desmarteau quips, “If we could clone her 100 million times, we would.
“It shows to her character and dedication that in over 23 years she has only had 34 kids,” Desmarteau explained.
Most of the children Leapheart has fostered reach legal maturity before they leave her home.
“Some go to job corps,” she said, “Some go to trade school. I had one who finished high school after his 18th birthday, then he stayed another year because he was going into the military,” she said. He now sends her pictures form his active duty placement.
Leapheart tries to instill in the foster teens the same skills she did in her own children.
“I teach them cooking, cleaning, filling out job applications, budgeting for life, including paying rent, cable, cell phones bills.”
She tells the teens that luxuries such as deluxe cable and fancy electronics are frills they don’t need if they’re not going to be in their apartments much because of work, she said.
“I tell my kids to put 80 percent of their earnings into the bank,” while living with her, she said. “I tell them, ‘You need to be saving your money, because whatever you need — clothes, food, shelter —I’m going to provide it.’”
WHAT DOES it take to be a foster parent?
“We’re really not looking for anybody’s life situation,” Richardson said.
“What I find successful is someone who is flexible, because you’re working with a number of agencies and a child and parent who have been through a traumatic experience,” said Richardson. “When I speak about flexibility, I’m talking more about personality.”
The state does have stringent health and safety guidelines, Richardson said, but “We don’t license the person, we license the home,” said Desmarteau.
State requirements address room sizes and window dimensions, for instance, Desmarteau said.
Once a child is placed a in a foster home, a resource worker assists both the foster care provider and the child.
“We evaluate any needs the child may have,” Desmarteau said, “be they mental health, educational or health needs.”
Even after the child is placed in a foster home, the resource worker “will never stop looking for a less restrictive environment,” Richardson said, including reintegration with their original family when suitable, permanent placement with a family member or permanent placement through adoption.
“That is the ultimate goal,” Richardson said.
Consummate foster mom Leapheart agreed: “We just want to find good homes for the kids.”
Those interested in learning more about fostering children in Allen County should call TFI at 406-365-3428, e-mail Pam Richardson at PamR@the-farm.org, or log on to www.the-farm.org.
Lutherans melted the most
The Allen County Meltdown ended Saturday with a finale in Riverside Park. Scores of walkers braved the heat to stroll five miles along the Prairie Spirit Trail. Afterward, final weigh-ins were calculated and prizes awarded at the Recreation Community Building.
A dozen and a half Melters received door prizes ranging from water bottles and Foreman grills to a tennis racket and month-long memberships at Curves gym.
Speakers who’d participated in the quest to help Allen County become a ton lighter told the crowd what motivated them and how they attained their goals.
Most used the time-tested coupling of exercise and dieting.
Sherry Herder, captain of Humboldt’s winning “Lumbering Lutherans Plus One” said her team lost a combined 122 pounds.
Half the 10-member team was already participating in a “biggest loser” challenge when the Meltdown started, she said. For the Meltdown, however, the team — composed of nine Lutherans “plus one Methodist” — made a concerted effort to meet twice weekly for exercise sessions led by Herder.
The meetings quickly became more than just a work out routine for the team.
“It has brought us together,” Herder said of the bi-weekly sessions. “We pray together, about weight loss and other things,” she said, “Because we believe with God we can get through this.”
The women, whose ages range form 19 to 71, plan to continue to meet.
Herder advised others to find a good support system in their quest to change their lives. “Find someone who is enthusiastic about it because that helps,” she said.
Bob Johnson spoke about a heart-attack scare 20 years ago that made him start to pay attention to his diet. He and his wife Beverly attacked the Meltdown mainly through portion control and walking, he said.
“If you cut back on 500 calories a day, you lose a pound a week,” he advised.
“Losing weight is a mind thing,” Helen Ambler said. “Maintaining is just as difficult as losing.”
Ambler informed the crowd that studies show stress and lack of a good night’s sleep contribute to weight gain. “We all know what to do,” she said.
“I’m hoping through the Meltdown we’ve all turned the switch on and next year when we come in here we’ll say, ‘Oh, my, these people are all so thin,’” she concluded.
David Toland, Thrive executive director, said he hoped the teams would continue losing through the coming year.
“This is a lifestyle change,” he said. To encourage that he said, “The scales at the Thrive office will still be available. The Web site will stay up. What you’ve started, keep doing.”
As of Monday morning, the Meltdown Web site tallied 1,800 pounds lost. Meltdown coordinator Sunny Shreeve said final numbers will be available later this week.
The top Meltdown “losing team” was the Lumbering Lutherans Plus One, who lost 6.3 percent of their start weight. The greatest individual loser was Dawn Montgomery of Chunky Dunkers 2, who lost 18.9 percent of her starting weight.
The Lutherans received $750 for their efforts, while Montgomery was awarded $250 for hers.
A dozen and a half Melters received door prizes ranging from water bottles and Foreman grills to a tennis racket and month-long memberships at Curves gym.
Speakers who’d participated in the quest to help Allen County become a ton lighter told the crowd what motivated them and how they attained their goals.
Most used the time-tested coupling of exercise and dieting.
Sherry Herder, captain of Humboldt’s winning “Lumbering Lutherans Plus One” said her team lost a combined 122 pounds.
Half the 10-member team was already participating in a “biggest loser” challenge when the Meltdown started, she said. For the Meltdown, however, the team — composed of nine Lutherans “plus one Methodist” — made a concerted effort to meet twice weekly for exercise sessions led by Herder.
The meetings quickly became more than just a work out routine for the team.
“It has brought us together,” Herder said of the bi-weekly sessions. “We pray together, about weight loss and other things,” she said, “Because we believe with God we can get through this.”
The women, whose ages range form 19 to 71, plan to continue to meet.
Herder advised others to find a good support system in their quest to change their lives. “Find someone who is enthusiastic about it because that helps,” she said.
Bob Johnson spoke about a heart-attack scare 20 years ago that made him start to pay attention to his diet. He and his wife Beverly attacked the Meltdown mainly through portion control and walking, he said.
“If you cut back on 500 calories a day, you lose a pound a week,” he advised.
“Losing weight is a mind thing,” Helen Ambler said. “Maintaining is just as difficult as losing.”
Ambler informed the crowd that studies show stress and lack of a good night’s sleep contribute to weight gain. “We all know what to do,” she said.
“I’m hoping through the Meltdown we’ve all turned the switch on and next year when we come in here we’ll say, ‘Oh, my, these people are all so thin,’” she concluded.
David Toland, Thrive executive director, said he hoped the teams would continue losing through the coming year.
“This is a lifestyle change,” he said. To encourage that he said, “The scales at the Thrive office will still be available. The Web site will stay up. What you’ve started, keep doing.”
As of Monday morning, the Meltdown Web site tallied 1,800 pounds lost. Meltdown coordinator Sunny Shreeve said final numbers will be available later this week.
The top Meltdown “losing team” was the Lumbering Lutherans Plus One, who lost 6.3 percent of their start weight. The greatest individual loser was Dawn Montgomery of Chunky Dunkers 2, who lost 18.9 percent of her starting weight.
The Lutherans received $750 for their efforts, while Montgomery was awarded $250 for hers.
Smoke clears for Town and Country
It’s pretty much business as usual again at Town and Country clothing store on the Iola square, said owner Glenn Coffield.
The store, at 17 E. Madison, was shuttered due to smoke damage for three weeks after a fire gutted an upstairs apartment at 9 E. Madison on Sept. 25.
The store, which sells Western and casual wear, remained closed while Superior Restoration Services of Wichita dealt with the aftereffects of the fire. The company cleaned the store’s walls, counters, carpets and ceiling, Coffield said.
“We didn’t get any water or fire damage, all we got was smoke,” Coffield said. “By the time they got through cleaning and air scrubbing and everything else they did, you can’t smell it.”
Even though damage in the store was just from smoke, Town and Country was closed much longer than its neighbors.
“That’s because we have hanging products,” Coffield said. Smoke flowed freely among the garments, boots and hats that fill the retail space. Two neighboring businesses are salons which have more impermeable surfaces, allowing for a speedier turnaround after the fire.
The reclamation company did such a good job that most people, Coffield’s wife included, cannot smell any smoke on the merchandise, he said. And, “the boots in boxes and the hats in boxes they said were not damaged,” he said of his insurance company’s evaluation.
Nonetheless, everything in the store at the time of the fire now has to be sold off at a discount, Coffield said.
“I have to get rid of all the merchandise that was here, according to my insurance company,” he said. The smoke exposure was enough to declare the products “damaged” according to insurance standards, he said.
As result, jeans shirts, boots and hats that were on shelves or hangers at the time of the fire are all reduced in price. Newly added merchandise is on sale, too, Coffield said.
Coffield reopened the store Oct. 17, for Farm-City Days. Before that, “I had a lot of customers talking to me before I reopened telling me I better hurry up,” Coffield said. Such customers have been coming in “to buy their favorite boots whether those boots are on sale or not,” he said.
In his 30 years on Madison Avenue, Coffield said he’s never had an experience like this one.
Town and Country is open Mondays through Fridays from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Thursdays feature extended hours, until 8 p.m. Saturdays hours are from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The store, at 17 E. Madison, was shuttered due to smoke damage for three weeks after a fire gutted an upstairs apartment at 9 E. Madison on Sept. 25.
The store, which sells Western and casual wear, remained closed while Superior Restoration Services of Wichita dealt with the aftereffects of the fire. The company cleaned the store’s walls, counters, carpets and ceiling, Coffield said.
“We didn’t get any water or fire damage, all we got was smoke,” Coffield said. “By the time they got through cleaning and air scrubbing and everything else they did, you can’t smell it.”
Even though damage in the store was just from smoke, Town and Country was closed much longer than its neighbors.
“That’s because we have hanging products,” Coffield said. Smoke flowed freely among the garments, boots and hats that fill the retail space. Two neighboring businesses are salons which have more impermeable surfaces, allowing for a speedier turnaround after the fire.
The reclamation company did such a good job that most people, Coffield’s wife included, cannot smell any smoke on the merchandise, he said. And, “the boots in boxes and the hats in boxes they said were not damaged,” he said of his insurance company’s evaluation.
Nonetheless, everything in the store at the time of the fire now has to be sold off at a discount, Coffield said.
“I have to get rid of all the merchandise that was here, according to my insurance company,” he said. The smoke exposure was enough to declare the products “damaged” according to insurance standards, he said.
As result, jeans shirts, boots and hats that were on shelves or hangers at the time of the fire are all reduced in price. Newly added merchandise is on sale, too, Coffield said.
Coffield reopened the store Oct. 17, for Farm-City Days. Before that, “I had a lot of customers talking to me before I reopened telling me I better hurry up,” Coffield said. Such customers have been coming in “to buy their favorite boots whether those boots are on sale or not,” he said.
In his 30 years on Madison Avenue, Coffield said he’s never had an experience like this one.
Town and Country is open Mondays through Fridays from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Thursdays feature extended hours, until 8 p.m. Saturdays hours are from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Thursday, February 4, 2010
They're off! Turtles scuttle at Allen County Fair
Like any athlete looking to a big event, participants in Allen County Fair’s fabled dryland turtle race begin preparing months in advance.
However, you won’t find them running treadmills or climbing stairs. Instead these exuberant racers are off to the fields — in search of dryland turtles.
The predominant species in the race was Kansas’ own state reptile, the ornate box turtle. One wood turtle, more properly called a three toed box turtle, was also an entrant.
Becky Robb, supervisor of the baby barn, said her family starts gathering all the turtles they find “about April, and we keep them for this because a lot of kids can’t find turtles and this way they get to take part in the fun.”
And fun it was. Adults and youngsters alike smiled and cheered as the ready racers scuttled from their starting pen onto blazing hot asphalt.
The heat was a concern to fair board member Johnny Womack, who got down on the surface to see just how hot it was.
“Then I realized turtles live on hot sand and rocks, so I figured it was okay,” he said.
Indeed, the impetus to move for these local reptiles may have been the similarity in surface to all those roads that turtles cross. Roadways, it turns out, were the most common spot for turtle hunters to find their prey. The other spot was neighborhood fields.
Five-year-old Brett Willis said “I found one on the road and one on the farm on the rocks.” He brought one turtle with him to the race, “but the other one crawled on the grass fast.”
His dad, Dan, said they had to do some online research to learn what to feed the turtles.
They learned they like vegetation and insects. “We’ve been feeding him strawberries,” Brett said.
The Willises also learned how to sex the turtles: males have red eyes, while females eyes are dark.
Brennen Nuessen’s turtle likes peppers and bananas, he said. He also got a Poptart before the race. But “we didn’t train him or anything like that,” Brennen said.
Brennen’s family has been participating in turtle races “since we were kids,” his uncle, Michael Clark, said.
Brennen’s mom, Brandi Grisier, was more specific. “We started when I was four. I’m 24 now,” she said.
When Clark outgrew racing, he began volunteering at the fair.
Katie Robb is also a turtle race volunteer. She said people have their own superstitions about which turtles move fastest.
“Some people like smaller turtles because they think they go faster,” she said. “We’ve had them enter a baby that was the size of a quarter.”
The race, sponsored by Mid-west Fertilizer, gave cash awards for the top three placers in three age classes, and a medal to the overall champion box turtle.
Dillon Slaven won first in the one- to six-year-old category, Colton Eck in the seven- to 10 year-old category and Kolbyn Allen took first amongst 11 to 14 year-olds.
Colton Eck’s turtle took grand champion.
However, you won’t find them running treadmills or climbing stairs. Instead these exuberant racers are off to the fields — in search of dryland turtles.
The predominant species in the race was Kansas’ own state reptile, the ornate box turtle. One wood turtle, more properly called a three toed box turtle, was also an entrant.
Becky Robb, supervisor of the baby barn, said her family starts gathering all the turtles they find “about April, and we keep them for this because a lot of kids can’t find turtles and this way they get to take part in the fun.”
And fun it was. Adults and youngsters alike smiled and cheered as the ready racers scuttled from their starting pen onto blazing hot asphalt.
The heat was a concern to fair board member Johnny Womack, who got down on the surface to see just how hot it was.
“Then I realized turtles live on hot sand and rocks, so I figured it was okay,” he said.
Indeed, the impetus to move for these local reptiles may have been the similarity in surface to all those roads that turtles cross. Roadways, it turns out, were the most common spot for turtle hunters to find their prey. The other spot was neighborhood fields.
Five-year-old Brett Willis said “I found one on the road and one on the farm on the rocks.” He brought one turtle with him to the race, “but the other one crawled on the grass fast.”
His dad, Dan, said they had to do some online research to learn what to feed the turtles.
They learned they like vegetation and insects. “We’ve been feeding him strawberries,” Brett said.
The Willises also learned how to sex the turtles: males have red eyes, while females eyes are dark.
Brennen Nuessen’s turtle likes peppers and bananas, he said. He also got a Poptart before the race. But “we didn’t train him or anything like that,” Brennen said.
Brennen’s family has been participating in turtle races “since we were kids,” his uncle, Michael Clark, said.
Brennen’s mom, Brandi Grisier, was more specific. “We started when I was four. I’m 24 now,” she said.
When Clark outgrew racing, he began volunteering at the fair.
Katie Robb is also a turtle race volunteer. She said people have their own superstitions about which turtles move fastest.
“Some people like smaller turtles because they think they go faster,” she said. “We’ve had them enter a baby that was the size of a quarter.”
The race, sponsored by Mid-west Fertilizer, gave cash awards for the top three placers in three age classes, and a medal to the overall champion box turtle.
Dillon Slaven won first in the one- to six-year-old category, Colton Eck in the seven- to 10 year-old category and Kolbyn Allen took first amongst 11 to 14 year-olds.
Colton Eck’s turtle took grand champion.
Humboldt battles budget woes
HUMBOLDT — Humboldt’s City Council moved to save a Public Works position slated for the chopping block during a preliminary hearing on its fiscal year 2010 budget Monday night. Councilman Sean McReynolds can be credited with keeping the position intact.
At issue was whether or not the budget could support the job, and whether or not there was work enough warranting the position.
City Administrator Larry Tucker argued that “We have 10 people in public works and we can get by with nine. We’re not keeping them as busy as we should.”
McReynolds cited streets that need patching and substandard sidewalks around the city square as projects to be tackled. Plus, he offered a suggestion for funding materials to get the work done.
“There’s a sizable amount (of money) in the gas surplus fund,” he stated, noting close to $200,000 of unencumbered funds in that line item.
“I don’t know what kind of emergency we’re expecting that will cost $200,000,” he said. McReynolds suggested tapping the fund to keep the position in place and crews on the street.
“Let’s go through another year from now and look at it. If we can’t fund it then, we cut it,” he said of the proposed staff decrease.
The council agreed, and the budget will be published with the position intact.
Additional discussion centered on a 2 percent annual pay raise promised to staff, and whether the city should continue to pay 100 percent of full-time employees’ health insurance. Tucker said those benefits were a valuable recruiting tool, as well as “a good faith effort on the part of the city” to show it values its workers. The city has 28 full time employees and five part-time or seasonal staff.
“I believe it has helped (retain current staff) because employees know that they have a pay/salary plan,” that increases each year, Tucker said.
“I’m not in favor of this 2 percent increase if we pay 100 percent of their health insurance,” Mayor Bob Sharp said.
But Councilman Dan Julich voiced the majority viewpoint, saying, “I can’t see we’re in such dire straits that we can’t give 2 percent and insurance.” The perks stayed.
Nonetheless, all departments are facing slight reductions in their budgets.
Holding as close as possible to zero growth was the budgets’ goal, and Tucker said the sewer fee is the only utility being increased.
That department is under a “five-year transition to raise rates until it becomes self-sufficient,” Tucker said. The last two years saw 25 percent increases, while the 2010 increase will be 10 percent, he said. “That’s what it’s going to take for that fund,” Tucker said.
“The swimming pool will continue to get budget transfers until we can make that fund self-sufficient,” as well, Tucker said.
City water sales have been down 10 to 15 percent the past two years, Tucker noted. “I can’t really explain why,” he said.
“Like everything else,” Tucker said, “utility funds have to be operated like a business. We’ll need to reduce expenses in water and sewer to balance our budget for next year.”
A request by the library for a budget increase to raise salaries met with an impasse.
Tucker delineated city debt and lease options, including a street sweeper and police car, both scheduled for five year leases.
A large debt obligation came from the city’s contract to purchase the Emprise Bank building on the square for conversion to a new city hall. Purchase price, which the city is obligated to, is $351,000. Another $200,000 is requested for remodeling costs.
AT THE HEART of the budget cuts is the fact that the city is facing a 1.52 percent “reduction in valuation of property,” Tucker said. Due to that decrease, “the total amount of tax being requested is less this year” than in fiscal 2009, he noted.
Next year’s valuations are even less certain. “We don’ know what we’ll have for the future. We may have 20 families move out,” Julich said.
“We hope we can grow in housing in Humboldt,” Tucker said, “but that will take many years. Instead, he said, “we need to have a tool in place to promote business growth.”
“The future right now is to get businesses in town and get sales tax in town. As long as we have the same legislature that we have, we won’t get any damn money” from the state, Sharp opined.
“The legislature is tinkering with our ability to increase our levy,” Tucker explained. “Every time a business buys a new $100,000 piece of equipment, we can’t collect any more taxes, but we are expected to provide them with increased services” like police and fire protection, he said.
“You know what you need to do?” Sharp said to the council. “Stop putting those same people in office.”
At issue was whether or not the budget could support the job, and whether or not there was work enough warranting the position.
City Administrator Larry Tucker argued that “We have 10 people in public works and we can get by with nine. We’re not keeping them as busy as we should.”
McReynolds cited streets that need patching and substandard sidewalks around the city square as projects to be tackled. Plus, he offered a suggestion for funding materials to get the work done.
“There’s a sizable amount (of money) in the gas surplus fund,” he stated, noting close to $200,000 of unencumbered funds in that line item.
“I don’t know what kind of emergency we’re expecting that will cost $200,000,” he said. McReynolds suggested tapping the fund to keep the position in place and crews on the street.
“Let’s go through another year from now and look at it. If we can’t fund it then, we cut it,” he said of the proposed staff decrease.
The council agreed, and the budget will be published with the position intact.
Additional discussion centered on a 2 percent annual pay raise promised to staff, and whether the city should continue to pay 100 percent of full-time employees’ health insurance. Tucker said those benefits were a valuable recruiting tool, as well as “a good faith effort on the part of the city” to show it values its workers. The city has 28 full time employees and five part-time or seasonal staff.
“I believe it has helped (retain current staff) because employees know that they have a pay/salary plan,” that increases each year, Tucker said.
“I’m not in favor of this 2 percent increase if we pay 100 percent of their health insurance,” Mayor Bob Sharp said.
But Councilman Dan Julich voiced the majority viewpoint, saying, “I can’t see we’re in such dire straits that we can’t give 2 percent and insurance.” The perks stayed.
Nonetheless, all departments are facing slight reductions in their budgets.
Holding as close as possible to zero growth was the budgets’ goal, and Tucker said the sewer fee is the only utility being increased.
That department is under a “five-year transition to raise rates until it becomes self-sufficient,” Tucker said. The last two years saw 25 percent increases, while the 2010 increase will be 10 percent, he said. “That’s what it’s going to take for that fund,” Tucker said.
“The swimming pool will continue to get budget transfers until we can make that fund self-sufficient,” as well, Tucker said.
City water sales have been down 10 to 15 percent the past two years, Tucker noted. “I can’t really explain why,” he said.
“Like everything else,” Tucker said, “utility funds have to be operated like a business. We’ll need to reduce expenses in water and sewer to balance our budget for next year.”
A request by the library for a budget increase to raise salaries met with an impasse.
Tucker delineated city debt and lease options, including a street sweeper and police car, both scheduled for five year leases.
A large debt obligation came from the city’s contract to purchase the Emprise Bank building on the square for conversion to a new city hall. Purchase price, which the city is obligated to, is $351,000. Another $200,000 is requested for remodeling costs.
AT THE HEART of the budget cuts is the fact that the city is facing a 1.52 percent “reduction in valuation of property,” Tucker said. Due to that decrease, “the total amount of tax being requested is less this year” than in fiscal 2009, he noted.
Next year’s valuations are even less certain. “We don’ know what we’ll have for the future. We may have 20 families move out,” Julich said.
“We hope we can grow in housing in Humboldt,” Tucker said, “but that will take many years. Instead, he said, “we need to have a tool in place to promote business growth.”
“The future right now is to get businesses in town and get sales tax in town. As long as we have the same legislature that we have, we won’t get any damn money” from the state, Sharp opined.
“The legislature is tinkering with our ability to increase our levy,” Tucker explained. “Every time a business buys a new $100,000 piece of equipment, we can’t collect any more taxes, but we are expected to provide them with increased services” like police and fire protection, he said.
“You know what you need to do?” Sharp said to the council. “Stop putting those same people in office.”
Humboldt exceeds state AYP standards
New high school counselor Staci Wiatrak dazzled the USD 258 board with her non-stop energy, reeling off in five minutes a long list of tasks she has already accomplished in a mere month on the job.
“I went through and designed a curriculum track so (students) know what they need — exactly — to graduate,” Wiatrak said. The guide has regular and honor roll curriculum choices, she said. She “visited all grade levels” explaining the goals, including speaking with “freshman on keeping their slates clean,” she said.
Wiatrak also designed a “a multi-tiered system of support” for struggling students that “identifies the cant’s from the wont’s.” Once noted, “we try to make an intervention to try to improve” student performance, she said.
Wiatrak will also distribute scholarship information — “I have two drawers worth” — through the school’s Web site, in local papers and directly to students.
Humboldt once again surpassed annual yearly progress state targets for grades 3-5, middle and high school. The target goal was 79.7 percent of students achieving “meets standard” or better in math, reading and science.
USD 258 third through fifth graders achieved a building-wide score of 91.9 percent in math, 89.3 percent in reading and 97.1 percent in science. Middle schoolers achieved ranks of 95.5, 92.6 and 88.9 percent in the three respective categories while high schoolers scored 81.1 percent in math, 94.7 percent in reading and 100 percent in science.
“Those are phenomenal scores for high schoolers,” said middle and high school Principal K.B. Criss.
Nationally, Heigele said, “you have high schools struggling to make 40 percent.”
“They’re outstanding scores, and that’s why we get recognized” for national awards, Criss noted.
Superintendent Bob Heigele noted that by 2014, through No Child Left Behind, all schools are expected to achieve 100 percent at all testing levels. Asked by the board if he thought that was possible, Criss said simply, “no.”
Board members concurred. “You’ve got to remember, you throw all the kids into that mix,” Heigele said.
Heigele also noted that while 80 percent of Kansas schools are meeting annual yearly progress goals, “the number of schools not achieving (that goal) are growing.”
Statewide, 87.6 percent of Kansas schools achieved annual yearly progress targets; 88.5 percent of state school districts also achieved AYP. Those districts that did not include Iola, Parsons, Pittsburg and Chanute.
WENDY SHELLY’S contract as a half time IT-tech was approved.
ANW-Coop para-professionals were granted a 15 cent-per-hour increase in pay, along with a 25 cent step increase. Personnel were given a 1 percent pay raise plus full cost of a single medical policy, said ANW board rep Don Hauser. Administrative salaries were frozen.
Teachers have not yet voted on a tentative contract, Hauser said. All open positions, especially paras, are being looked at for consolidation, Hauser said. “We’re trying to watch every dime we spend,” he noted.
USD 258’s Power School program is up and running for teachers and will be accessible to parents in approximately two weeks. Grades and assignment lists will be accessible through the Web, as well as click and contact means of communicating with teachers, said Criss.
Enrollment numbers will not be available until after the Sept. 20 count date, but more out-of-district students are enrolled in the high school than last year, Criss said.
Additional dual credit classes are begin offered at the high school wherein students receive both high school and college credits through Allen County Community College. Up to 24 dual credits are transferable upon graduation.
Cox cable is changing their pricing schedule for the school, Heigele noted. Currently, all classrooms are equipped with a free cable access line. As of Oct. 1, only libraries and a single classroom in each building will receive free service. Other lines will most likely require a fee for connection, although Cox has not yet determined what that will be, Heigele said.
In addition, Cox will be changing its bandwidth after July 1, 2010, and Internet service the school currently receives for $20 per month will more than likely face an increase.
IN THE LUNCH room, “more and more kids are on free and reduced lunches and they’re cleaning their plates,” Heigele noted. “They seem to be coming to school hungry.”
In response Heigele implemented a program he instituted in Missouri, where a peanut butter and honey blend sandwich is offered to students who are still hungry after finishing their lunch.
“That’s been well-received,” Heigele said. “There’s several taking advantage of it at the high school level, and we’re going to start doing it at the elementary level.”
Heigele noted, “we’re also going to see about getting involved with the summer nutrition program because there seems to be a growing problem with some kids getting enough to eat.”
USD 258 has taken precautions against “many unconfirmed reports of H1N1 in southeast Kansas,” Heigele said, by posting sanitary hand wash stations in the schools and having nurses instruct youth on the importance of washing their hands.
“We’re being proactive but not panicking about this” he said.
Leaking roofs will again be looked at. Some recent leaks were probably a result of clogged gutters and excessive precipitation, Heigele said, although persistent leaks in the field house roof will be inspected by a Weigel Construction representative within two weeks as it is still under warranty.
“I used the A-word —attorney — so they’re stepping and fetching right now,” Heigele said.
“I went through and designed a curriculum track so (students) know what they need — exactly — to graduate,” Wiatrak said. The guide has regular and honor roll curriculum choices, she said. She “visited all grade levels” explaining the goals, including speaking with “freshman on keeping their slates clean,” she said.
Wiatrak also designed a “a multi-tiered system of support” for struggling students that “identifies the cant’s from the wont’s.” Once noted, “we try to make an intervention to try to improve” student performance, she said.
Wiatrak will also distribute scholarship information — “I have two drawers worth” — through the school’s Web site, in local papers and directly to students.
Humboldt once again surpassed annual yearly progress state targets for grades 3-5, middle and high school. The target goal was 79.7 percent of students achieving “meets standard” or better in math, reading and science.
USD 258 third through fifth graders achieved a building-wide score of 91.9 percent in math, 89.3 percent in reading and 97.1 percent in science. Middle schoolers achieved ranks of 95.5, 92.6 and 88.9 percent in the three respective categories while high schoolers scored 81.1 percent in math, 94.7 percent in reading and 100 percent in science.
“Those are phenomenal scores for high schoolers,” said middle and high school Principal K.B. Criss.
Nationally, Heigele said, “you have high schools struggling to make 40 percent.”
“They’re outstanding scores, and that’s why we get recognized” for national awards, Criss noted.
Superintendent Bob Heigele noted that by 2014, through No Child Left Behind, all schools are expected to achieve 100 percent at all testing levels. Asked by the board if he thought that was possible, Criss said simply, “no.”
Board members concurred. “You’ve got to remember, you throw all the kids into that mix,” Heigele said.
Heigele also noted that while 80 percent of Kansas schools are meeting annual yearly progress goals, “the number of schools not achieving (that goal) are growing.”
Statewide, 87.6 percent of Kansas schools achieved annual yearly progress targets; 88.5 percent of state school districts also achieved AYP. Those districts that did not include Iola, Parsons, Pittsburg and Chanute.
WENDY SHELLY’S contract as a half time IT-tech was approved.
ANW-Coop para-professionals were granted a 15 cent-per-hour increase in pay, along with a 25 cent step increase. Personnel were given a 1 percent pay raise plus full cost of a single medical policy, said ANW board rep Don Hauser. Administrative salaries were frozen.
Teachers have not yet voted on a tentative contract, Hauser said. All open positions, especially paras, are being looked at for consolidation, Hauser said. “We’re trying to watch every dime we spend,” he noted.
USD 258’s Power School program is up and running for teachers and will be accessible to parents in approximately two weeks. Grades and assignment lists will be accessible through the Web, as well as click and contact means of communicating with teachers, said Criss.
Enrollment numbers will not be available until after the Sept. 20 count date, but more out-of-district students are enrolled in the high school than last year, Criss said.
Additional dual credit classes are begin offered at the high school wherein students receive both high school and college credits through Allen County Community College. Up to 24 dual credits are transferable upon graduation.
Cox cable is changing their pricing schedule for the school, Heigele noted. Currently, all classrooms are equipped with a free cable access line. As of Oct. 1, only libraries and a single classroom in each building will receive free service. Other lines will most likely require a fee for connection, although Cox has not yet determined what that will be, Heigele said.
In addition, Cox will be changing its bandwidth after July 1, 2010, and Internet service the school currently receives for $20 per month will more than likely face an increase.
IN THE LUNCH room, “more and more kids are on free and reduced lunches and they’re cleaning their plates,” Heigele noted. “They seem to be coming to school hungry.”
In response Heigele implemented a program he instituted in Missouri, where a peanut butter and honey blend sandwich is offered to students who are still hungry after finishing their lunch.
“That’s been well-received,” Heigele said. “There’s several taking advantage of it at the high school level, and we’re going to start doing it at the elementary level.”
Heigele noted, “we’re also going to see about getting involved with the summer nutrition program because there seems to be a growing problem with some kids getting enough to eat.”
USD 258 has taken precautions against “many unconfirmed reports of H1N1 in southeast Kansas,” Heigele said, by posting sanitary hand wash stations in the schools and having nurses instruct youth on the importance of washing their hands.
“We’re being proactive but not panicking about this” he said.
Leaking roofs will again be looked at. Some recent leaks were probably a result of clogged gutters and excessive precipitation, Heigele said, although persistent leaks in the field house roof will be inspected by a Weigel Construction representative within two weeks as it is still under warranty.
“I used the A-word —attorney — so they’re stepping and fetching right now,” Heigele said.
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