IOWA-GRANT PANTHER PRESS

As I welcomed staff back to a new school year, I shared stories of my education, including a poignant one in which my second-grade teacher presented a world view that contradicted my lived experience. She unintentionally taught me a lesson of critical thinking that day. I knew what I had seen with my own two eyes. Lived experience can trump direct instruction any day and the questions of, what we know, how we know it, what to know, and who decides it, were seeded within me, ready to explode like a supernova as I felt the need to evaluate what is believable.

In 1054 a star exploded into a supernova. Its light could be seen by day for twenty-three days, and by night for nearly two years. One civilization recorded it a guest star, another is believed to have carved a record of it into the sandstone of what is now New Mexico, still another may have been stimulated to build grand mounds of Cahokia, and finally, one authority is believed to have repressed any mention of the event in its record because to do so, would be in conflict with their hold on power and an Aristotelian world-view that the universe is constant and never changing.

Questions of who decides which information is available to us, its veracity, and its value are before us again as books become passe, the scientific method is devalued, and lived experience is challenged by the ascent of digital data sets, social media, and internet posts, all easily manipulated by nefarious actors or greedy profiteers.

This past week I observed many of our Iowa-Grant students at the county fair. Being moved by the lessons of responsibility, the community show of support, the exhibitors’ poise and pride, and just plain old rural, small-town values, I wondered how universal this experience might be? I checked digital sources and read that only 2% of Americans live in towns and villages under 1000 in population. My regular refrain that Iowa-Grant is special was bolstered by this finding. Most of the people in this country don’t live in small towns. I think they may be missing out something, and that something includes small town connectedness and rural, down to earth values.

And now to the point. I am charged with getting the word out about everything Iowa-Grant has to offer and all that we are doing well. We need to tell our good story. I will need help with this and to that end, I am forming a taskforce of any interested parties to share a message of Iowa-Grant as a destination district and value of Panther Pride. Please feel free to contact me if you are interested in fostering our homespun narrative and helping us to get the word out about Panther Pride and all that is Iowa-Grant. More to come…

Michael Shimshak

Help welcome out new staff
Front Row: Madison Grunwald (4th Grade Teacher), Andrea Van Gilder (High School Science Teacher), Choral Halverson (Food Service)
Back Row: Chelsie Walter (IGEMS Clerical Assistant), Nate Flesch (7th/8th Grade Social Studies Teacher), Carrie Neff (8th Grade English Teacher), Melissa Dietz (Student Teacher), Becky Meissner (5th Grade Science and Social Studies Teacher)
Missing from photo: Miranda Olson (Student Teacher), Heather Bowles, and Nora Sargent (teachers assistants)

9/01 First Day of School

9/07 NO SCHOOL - Labor Day

9/14 6:30 PM Board Meeting

9/14 7:00 PM Booster Club Meeting - IGHS Cafeteria

9/21 4:30 PM Music Parents Meeting

The IGHS Varsity Football team was honored to host Military Appreciation Night.

A special THANK YOU to Ritchie-Bowers-Kohout VFW Post 9298 of Montfort, American Legion Post 493 of Linden, and all of our veterans, active-duty service members, Reservists, National Guard members, and military families for joining us and making the evening so special.

Your courage, sacrifice, and dedication mean more than words can express.

And, of course, a huge shoutout to our Iowa-Grant Panthers for helping make it an incredible night of football, community, and appreciation! 🐾🏈

Welcome Back! It will be great to see the students back in the building.

This fall, we will welcome new staff into our IGEMS family.

We will be adding:

• Chelsie Walter in the Office

• Maddie Grunwald to 4th grade English and Language Arts

• Becky Meissner to 5th Grade Science and Social Studies

• Nate Flesch to 7th/8th Grade Social Studies

• Carrie Neff to 8th-grade English and Language Arts

• Heather Bowles - Van Wyk and Nora Sargent will also join our lineup as special education assistants.

• We also have 3 student teachers: Delaney King with Heather Mayne, Miranda Olson with Molly Leibfried, and Melissa Dietz with Jake Reuter

We have a few folks moving into different roles, with Jennifer Rogstad in Intervention, Samantha Schoenberg in 2nd grade, and Christi Kennicker in 4K. We also have a fantastic addition in our kitchen to our great kitchen staff with Choral Halverson and Lisa Henkel moving to Food Services Director. We are lucky to have such great people. We appreciate the staff's talents and flexibility!

Ms. Hasburgh, Ms. Walter, and Ms. Kennicker have worked very hard to help get things ready for the start of the year in the main office, and I appreciate all that they have done this summer, from summer school to fall preparation for our students.

This is such a special place with small communities that come together to accomplish great things for students. If you need anything, please reach out to me. I will try my best to understand the need and help. Have a great start to your school year! #PantherPride!