IMS HOOPS: Iola girls sweep past Prairie View.
See B1
THE IOLA REGISTER Locally owned since 1867
Wednesday, November 16, 2016
www.iolaregister.com
Iola schools go high-tech IHS students find benefits with laptops
County approves ambulance purchase
By RICHARD LUKEN The Iola Register
G
one are the days when Marianne Gifford had to lug a library’s worth of textbooks in her backpack. “For students like me, my backpack is my locker,” the Iola High School senior said. So the recent addition of Chromebooks into the IHS arsenal — each student is assigned with the small laptops, thus replacing many of their textbooks — has been a benefit in more ways than one. “My shoulders aren’t hurting from a heavy backpack,” Gifford said with a chuckle. “I like having the Chromebook,” she added. “I find I can do things faster.” That ancillary benefit aside, the high-schoolers have adapted quickly to the newest tool in their secondary education. The Chromebook rollout is the latest step in USD 257’s efforts to update its technology program, to give students — and especially taxpayers — the biggest bang for their buck, explained Technology Coordinator Brett Linn. The Chromebooks, and laptops in general, have revolutionized how assignments are completed, lessons explained and instructors and students communicate outside the classroom, Linn noted. For example, a geometry student studying 3D conic sections can listen to his instructor, manipulate examples in real time, watch an accompanying video and see resulting equations instantaneously. “Chromebooks allow students to do more projectbased assignments,” which
By BOB JOHNSON The Iola Register
Iola High school sophomores Sean Lewis, left, and Devin Aiello look over their Chromebooks before classes start this morning. The laptops were introduced to the high-schoolers this fall.
CHROMEBOOKS were fa-
Allen County commissioners gave a thumbs-up to purchase of a new ambulance for the countywide service Tuesday morning. Mike Burnett, ambulance director, said the new unit would cost about $200,000. The county has about $560,000 in its ambulance fund, and is responsible through its contract with Iola to make such purchases. The new unit may be ordered late this year with delivery in 2017, when payment would be made after an infusion of additional tax money for the new budget. Allen County also is responsible to provide Iola with $1 million a year, mostly from run revenue. If that source falls short, the county will tap its fund to bring the subsidy to the agreed-to amount. The new ambulance will replace one purchased in 2008 that has 350,000 miles on it. The new truck will have fourwheel drive capability. “I also want to start discussions about ambulance barns in Humboldt and Moran,” Chairman Jerry Daniels injected. Burnett noted the newer ambulances are larger and a tight fit for current facilities. Also, accommodations in the two stations are
See LAPTOPS | Page A4
See COUNTY | Page A4
REGISTER/RICHARD LUKEN
in turn sparks creative thinking, Linn said. THE implementation at the high school is the next step in a districtwide effort
to equip students with today’s instructional technology. “It really started at the middle school, where all the machines were very anti-
Brett Linn, left, is USD 257’s technology coordinator. Brett’s father, Sean, is assistant technology coordinator.
quated,” Linn said. A staff survey sent out in 2014 indicated overwhelming support for replacing the old system with a more extensive program, utilizing 1:1 technology implementation. That is, each student would be assigned with a technology device, such as a laptop or tablet. (Other options included replacing the old machines with newer models, or adding technology carts where laptops are assigned to classrooms, but not the students.) A team of instructors — one from each core subject, plus special ed — visited with Linn and other administrators as they toured other districts to see how technology had been implemented into the classroom. The committee, in turn, agreed and recommended to Board of Education members to implement a 1:1 Chromebook program for the middle school. (The tours also included staff training so teachers could be taught locally how the devices are used.)
Motive sought in OKC airport shooting By SEAN MURPHY The Associated Press
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Oklahoma City police are investigating why a man waited to gun down an airline employee outside Will Rogers World Airport in a deadly ambush that forced hundreds of travelers to take shelter and prompted authorities to shut down the state’s busiest airport for hours. Later Tuesday, police discovered the suspected shooter dead from an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound inside a pickup truck in a parking garage near where they believe he waited, watching airport employees come and go before shooting and killing Michael Winchester, 52, a Southwest Airlines employee. “We do believe this was a premeditated act against the victim,” said Oklahoma City
Police Capt. Paco Balderrama. “This was not random, and obviously the investigation is ongoing.” Normal operations resumed this morning at the airport after 25 flights were canceled Tuesday because of the shooting. Balderrama said late Tuesday that investigators hadn’t positively identified the shooter, but said the man apparently knew Winchester’s schedule and routine and that the two men likely knew one another. “It’s too early in the investigation to figure out the exact motive,” Balderrama said. The 1 p.m. shooting set off a scramble at the airport, with police immediately closing the sprawling complex and asking passengers inside to seek cover. They diverted incoming flights and refused to give already-loaded aircraft per-
Quote of the day Vol. 119, No. 16
mission to leave. There were concerns the gunman might have entered the terminal and mingled among passengers or employees. “We have a heightened level of security all the time. These people have access to aircraft so we’re very concerned about that,” airport spokeswoman Karen Carney said. Winchester — whose address is listed as Washington, Oklahoma, about 35 miles south of the airport — was a former University of Oklahoma football player whose son James is a player for the Kansas City Chiefs. The NFL team tweeted Tuesday night: “Our love and support is with James and the entire Winchester family.” Southwest Airlines canceled flights out of the city for the remainder of the day even though the rest of the terminal reopened. See SHOOTING | Page A4
Benefit soup lunch Thursday A soup and chili dinner to benefit needy families this winter has been extended from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday. The benefit dinner, sponsored by Humanity House, will be at the New Community Building at Riverside Park. Proceeds will be used to help struggling families pay
“I don’t think anybody should write their autobigraphy until after they’re dead.” — Samuel Goldwyn, film producer 75 Cents
their utility bills. “We have different kinds of soups, not just vegetable,” noted organizer Tracy Keagle. “And we’ll have all kinds of desserts, too.” Meals will cost $6 apiece. Pre-orders also will be accepted — businesses, especially, are encouraged to take part — by calling 363-2757 or 333-2477.
Hi: 75 Lo: 45 Iola, KS