Saturday, September 19, 2020
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Iola cross country teams compete
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Kansas to quadruple COVID-19 testing By SHERMAN SMITH Kansas Reflector
TOPEKA — Gov. Laura Kelly and legislative leaders approved Thursday a plan to boost COVID-19 testing in Kansas by 8,000 tests per day with up to $105 million in federal aid. The final distribution from $1 billion in CARES Act funding also includes $30 million to stabilize operations at the Kansas Department of Labor, $35 million for housing needs, and $40 million for child care. Kelly, six Republicans and two Democrats who form the State Finance Council unanimously approved recommendations made a day earlier by the See STATE | Page A5
A combine harvests corn west of Iola near the Allen-Woodson line. REGISTER/TREVOR HOAG
Farmers harvest kernals of hope By TREVOR HOAG The Iola Register
How’s the corn harvest going so far this year? Turns out, the answer is more complicated than it seems, with farmers and employees at the Piqua CO-OP giving a range of answers. Some, like farmer Zack McIntyre, haven’t seen anything out of the ordinary. “Average,” he said, when asked for his appraisal of the season while parked at the weighing station. “About average.” “It hasn’t been real exciting yet,” he laughed.
OTHERS, like Piqua COOP general manager Kevin Day, weren’t yet ready to make a judgment, and preferred to wait for more data to come in. “We’re only in the beginning of it, … 10-15% into this crop ... so we really can’t tell yet,” said Day, and he noted that answers might also vary depending on where a farmer’s given fields are located. Hailstorms and rainfall — or lack thereof — have disproportionately affected some operations more harshly than others. “Some of the corn is bigSee CORN | Page A3
Teaching creative freedom By VICKIE MOSS The Iola Register
Rachel Boyd expects her elementary art students will change a lot over the school year, physically, mentally and emotionally. By next spring, their technical skills will have improved. More importantly, they won’t NEW view themselves the TEACHERS same as they did when school began in August. To prove her theory, she’s asking students to draw self portraits. One in August. One in May. “I want to be able to show parents how their students feel they have changed,” she said. “These are unprecedented times. They will feel different — very much so — from the beginning of the school year to the end.” Boyd is the new art teacher for third and fourth grade students at Lincoln Elementary School, and fifth-graders at Iola Middle School. She also teaches photography to sixth-graders at IMS. Boyd’s goal is to teach students how to express themVol. 122, No. 227 Iola, KS 75 Cents
James Jacobs shows off a double handful of recently dumped corn.
US on verge of milestone: 200,000 virus deaths By EMMA COURT Bloomberg News
The U.S. will top 200,000 deaths from the novel coronavirus in coming days, a devastating milestone that comes eight months after the pathogen was first confirmed on American soil. The U.S., with 4% of the world’s population, accounts for about 21% of
global coronavirus deaths. The disparity underscores America’s failure to contain a virus that blazed through populous states like Texas, Florida and California this summer despite predictions that warmer weather could bring a respite. With a population of 330 million, the U.S. reached See DEATHS | Page A4
Rachel Boyd is the new elementary art teacher at Lincoln Elementary School and Iola Middle School. REGISTER/VICKIE MOSS selves in art, in whatever form that may take. She wants them to learn creative freedom. To give themselves permission to explore. To think differently. “To me, art that is very structured will still produce an amazing finished product, but they will look exactly the same,” she said. “I want students to move away from that structured thinking. Give them enough structure so they know what they are creating, but give them enough freedom so it can be unique to them.”
That’s more challenging than you might think. Some students didn’t know where to start and asked for permission to draw or create certain things. “As long as it’s school appropriate, you can draw what you want,” Boyd told them. When given the freedom to create, one of Boyd’s students used tissue paper to design a stained glass window. Another used tissue paper to build a paper airplane, and practiced flying it. Her photography class
RETURNING
See ART | Page A4
Hope rocks The Senior Life Solutions team from Allen County Regional Hospital filled the courthouse fountain with blue and purple rocks adorned with messages of hope as part of Suicide Awareness Month. Residents are encouraged to leave a rock for others, or take a rock to remind them that they are not alone. REGISTER/TREVOR HOAG
Teach your family everyday good health habits! • Cover your coughs • Wash your hands • Stand apart from others • Tell a grown up when you aren’t feeling well
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