The
IOLA REGISTER
BASEBALL Royals collapse yet again See B1
Thursday, May 30, 2013
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SAFE BASE is heading West
IN BLOOM
By STEVEN SCHWARTZ steven@iolaregister.com
“Most people thought we were crazy,” Angela Henry said with a look that expressed sincerity. “The other people we were talking to said they were going to use the grant for computers.”
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Flower photos by Steven Schwartz/Robin photo by Phyllis Luedke
— Angela Henry, SAFE BASE Director
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Left, an iris blooms in a yard on Third Street; above, fledgling robins nest under an old iron dinner bell in Colony. This is the second year fledgling robins have found a comfy home under the bell. Below, orange roses are in full form along the front yard of a home on North Kentucky Street.
It’s about the experience, so they can connect with things not in our area. I can’t wait to see the expressions on their faces when they see the mountains for the first time.
Henry, the SAFE BASE director, said her after-school program was approved for a grant from the Kansas State Department of Education in mid-March. They had already received $1.1 million in funding from KSDE, but the most recent grant was an additional $100,000. It was at that point she knew she could make the trip happen, one she had been “wanting to happen for the past six or eight years” — a week-long summer trip to Colorado. “This is pretty off the charts, it’s a big deal,” Henry said in her office, the day after she held an informational meeting with the parents of the children who will be attending the trip. There are 75 students, third through eighth grade, who will ride charter buses to Rocky Mountain National Park and stay in the area
from June 22 to 29. There are four weeks total for this year’s summer program, culminating in the Colorado trip for the last week. THE FIRST stop for the kids, for kindergarten through eight grade, will be at the Sedgwick County Zoo in Wichita. The students have been granted special permission to camp overnight inside the zoo. They will have the opportunity to take a flashlight tour of the zoo and have some closeencounters with its animal residents. For the second week, the kids go on an overnight trip to Hannibal, Mo., along the Mississippi River. They will experience Mark Twain’s “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” firsthand, by visiting the gravesite of Injun Joe, seeing the cave where Jesse James supposedly hid and visiting some “haunted” mansions along the river. The third break will be a bit of a vacation from the vacation. All grades, K-8th, will go to Derby Waterpark for a day of fun in the sun. Then it’s the main event — off to Colorado. FOR A PROGRAM that is so unique, the preparations have not been easy either. After garnering permission from the USD 257 Board of Education, with a Kansas Association of School Boards attorney in-tow, Henry was off to work for a two-week turnaround of the program. “We’ve bought 27 tents and 106 sleeping bags for the See SAFE BASE | Page A4
USD 257 ramps up Neil Westervelt: A life well lived behavior training By BOB JOHNSON bob@iolaregister.com
By KAYLA BANZET kayla@iolaregister.com
Iola teachers and administrators began a three-day training session Wednesday to learn how to encourage better behavior in students. The training enhances the district’s current module geared to promote a culture of positive reinforcement to good behavior. “Schools need to teach behavior instead of punish behavior,” said Matt Enyart, assistant director of the Kansas Institute of Positive Behavior Support based out of the Uni-
versity of Kansas in Lawrence. “Part of the process is changing the culture,” Enyart said. Enyart provided an example of a behavioral situation in the classroom. If a child throws a book down when he is frustrated with a math problem, he might be sent to the principal’s office. Doing this might teach the child that if he acts out he can avoid doing an assignment, so he continues to misbehave. “If we don’t change the enSee BEHAVIOR | Page A4
Register/Richard Luken
A Classique performance Classique Dance Studio members rehearse for Saturday’s annual showcase at the Bowlus Fine Arts Center. Doing a gymnastics number are, front from left, Travelle Means and Jeremy Carlson; and back from left, Brylee Maley, Shelby Yoho, Brie-Anna Winner, Emily Weide, Taelyn Maley and Mia Aronson. “Remembering When: 2013” begins at 7 p.m. Saturday at the Bowlus. Tickets are $10 apiece and are available at the door. Vol. 115, No.152
Hanging from a mantle in the Neil and Joy Westervelt home is a sign, a school calligraphy project of one of their sons. Simple and to the point, it says: “Life is too short to waste.” That tells as much as anything about the way Neil Westervelt, who died Tuesday evening at Olathe Medical Center, went about spending his 66 years on Earth. “Neil loved his family and ran his company in a way that he always thought would be pleasing to God,” said Joy, his wife of more than 41 years, Wednesday afternoon as family and friends gathered at the Westervelt home on the south side of Lake Bassola. “Tuesday afternoon at about 1:30 I was going out to the lobby to visit with friends who had just arrived” at the medical center, Joy said. “Neil raised his arms, took my hand and (son-inlaw) Casey’s in his hands and gathered all of the family around his bed. He then bowed his head and led us all in a prayer of thanksgiving
Register file photo
Neil Westervelt and his 1972 Dodge Dart Swinger. for our blessings and God’s strength and for God to watch over all of his family in his absence.” Minutes later his morphine drip was increased and Westervelt slipped from consciousness for the last time. He died at 9 o’clock that night. Westervelt had many interests, including machine work he first learned in Joplin. He owned and operated M&W Manufacturing from 1979 on. He was retired from active management. The company continues today under
Westervelt ownership. He has been a well-respected and involved member of several local organizations throughout his years in Iola, including Iola Rotary Club, of which he was president this year. He had been a deacon and served on several committees at First Baptist Church, where he and Joy became members in 1976. More recently he served on the board of Fellowship Regional Church. He also was a member of the Iola Area Chamber of Commerce and Iola IndusSee WESTERVELT| Page A2
Legislature hopes to resume talks TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas legislators hope to make progress toward resolving their differences on tax and budget issues. Republican leaders expected House and Senate tax negotiators to resume talks today. GOP leaders have been unable to agree on adjusting
the sales tax to head off budget shortfalls while the state cuts income taxes further. The 6.3 percent sales tax is set by law to drop to 5.7 percent in July. An adjustment in the sales tax would be tied to cuts in personal income taxes that would follow up on massive reduc75 Cents
tions approved last year. Today was the 97th day of the Legislature’s session, seven days over that specified in the state constitution. The tax impasse has held up consideration of a proposed $14.5 billion state budget for each of the next two fiscal years, beginning in July. Iola, KS