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THE IOLA REGISTER Tuesday, May 20, 2014
Long time healing
Housing stock concerns LaHarpe
Humboldt girl still recovering from accident By BOB JOHNSON The Iola Register
HUMBOLDT — “She’s our miracle girl,” Lacy Dillow said Monday afternoon of her and husband Brian’s daughter Gracie. A year ago this afternoon Gracie, now 7, and sister Morgan, 5, along with their mother, were on their way to dance class in Chanute. They had started to cross the street in front of Memorial Auditorium when a pickup truck, driven by Jarek Maring, 27, Pittsburg, struck Gracie and dragged her several feet. Maring told officers the truck’s windshield was fogged over and he didn’t see the Dillows crossing the street on the drizzly day. Both of Gracie’s arms and a hip were broken; a knee badly bruised; cuts and abrasions across her body as well as severe lacerations to her scalp. A godsend was she suffered no brain damage. Gracie remembers little about the incident, but for
By RICHARD LUKEN The Iola Register
Gracie Dillow, left, with sister Morgan, suffered severe injuries when she was struck by a pickup truck in Chanute a year ago today. Recovery still isn’t complete. REGISTER/BOB JOHNSON mother and sister the day is still a nightmare. Lacy said she avoids even looking at the street. “I start to cry when I see it,” she said. The accident “was horrifying. Morgan
gets upset when we go by there.” Gracie spent five days in Children’s Mercy Hospital in Kansas City immediately after the accident. See DILLOW | Page A6
LAHARPE — A house is much like a person, Harry Lee Jr. noted Monday. “They both start out young and vibrant, but as they get older, they both eventually are in need of repair,” he said. And with too many old houses in LaHarpe falling into various stages of disrepair, the need for new homes is growing more urgent by the day. In the last six months, Lee counted at least five homes that have been demolished — four by design; a fifth due to fire — with nothing to replace them. The housing needs became a focal point of Monday’s Community Conversation, hosted by Thrive Allen County. Thrive representatives Dr. Brian Wolfe and Damaris Kunkler and Barbara Chalker Anderson, representing the Kansas Department of Commerce, spoke
on a variety of issues regarding LaHarpe. Housing is at the top of the list. While LaHarpe has taken steps to improve its infrastructure — electric, sewer and water systems are in good shape, but roads remain an issue — housing needs threaten to stymie potential growth. The story is not unique to LaHarpe, Anderson said. “I’ve heard this countless times in other communities,” she said. Anderson spoke about potential funding venues for new housing construction available from Community Development Block Grants. MONDAY’S conversation also touched on the LaHarpe PRIDE Committee’s ongoing efforts to improve LaHarpe City Park. Lee spoke about the city’s need for a master plan regarding its park amenities, which also are dwindling. See THRIVE | Page A6
Local teacher reflects on 31 years By KAREN INGRAM The Iola Register
Lorena Gonzalez gives the student address at the Allen Community College GED graduation Monday night. REGISTER/KAYLA BANZET
Adult ed students obtain GED diplomas By KAYLA BANZET The Iola Register
Tears of joy and celebratory fist pumps dotted the scene during the Allen Community College GED graduation ceremony Monday night. Sixteen graduates received their GED diplomas. Lorena Gonzalez had the honor of giving the student address. Like many of the graduates, Gonzalez came from a difficult background before arriving at ACC. English is Gonzalez’s second language. She grew up not knowing her father and had little support from her family. “At the age of 15, I became pregnant and I dropped out of high school at 16,” she said. Despite having to deal with homelessness, mental and physical abuse,
Gonzalez said she didn’t let those things get in her way. Gonzalez will begin her sophomore year at Washburn University next fall. Each instructor of the adult education program briefly spoke to the graduates. “It’s amazing to watch the change in someone when they are able to see what their capabilities are,” Julia Martin, adult education director, said. Instructor Tamara Wallace said she is impressed with how well the class had done this year. “These are the highest test scores I’ve seen since I’ve been here,” Wallace said. “I want to thank you for teaching me.” ACC President John Masterson awarded scholarships to students who achieved academic excellence.
Quote of the day Vol. 116, No. 144
Julie Strickler has a youthful face and energetic voice that would never suggest she is about to retire after 31 years of teaching. On Monday, she sat in her empty 5th grade classroom at Jefferson Elementary School, sorting through the treasure trove of books collected over the years. She estimated she had already given away about 350 books to students and still hadn’t made a dent in the collection. “I’m going to leave a lot for the next teacher,” she said. Strickler will not be going far; she’s been hired as a library paraprofessional at Jefferson, allowing her to continue to work with students, but without lesson plans, papers to grade and parent conferences. “There’s so much a teacher has to think about. They have so much on their plate,” Strickler said. Strickler knows firsthand how much of a difference a good teacher can make in a child’s life. Her father took his own life when she was 13, leaving her mother to raise Strickler and her two sisters alone. Money was tight and she did not think college was in her future. Good teachers, however, gave her a deep appreciation of the arts, namely drama and writing. Strickler won a writing contest that allowed her to attend Southwestern College, Winfield, on scholarship. “If it had not been for some of those teachers, I don’t think I would have
Julie Strickler looks through books in her classroom at Jefferson Elementary School. Strickler is retiring after 31 years of service. REGISTER/KAREN INGRAM gone beyond JUCO. I think that’s a lot of why I went into teaching,” she said. Many of Strickler’s former students are now adults. In some cases, she’s taught a family’s second generation. Ryan Sell, fire chief for the Iola Fire Department, and one of Strickler’s first students back in 1986, has many fond memories of her as a teacher. “She was the first teacher I could relate to,” he said. “She had a way with us that made us want to learn.” Sell recalled a fateful day. It was Jan. 28, 1986, and Strickler had herded her students into the school library to watch the launch of the Space Shuttle Challenger on TV. Sell said it was an exciting time for
“What a man can be, he must be. This need we call selfactualization.” — Abraham Maslow, psychological 75 Cents
teachers because one of the seven crew members, Christa McAuliffe, was a school teacher. Sell said he remembered clearly how Strickler reacted when the shuttle exploded on live TV, killing the crew inside. “She just ever so smoothly walked up and shut the TV off,” he said. “I don’t remember exactly what she said, but she downplayed it so well.” Sell said he didn’t even realize how bad it was until much later. “I hate to see her leave the classroom, but I’m happy to hear she’s not leaving the school system,” Sell said. Brad Crusinbery, principal of Jefferson, said he was also grateful to have StrickSee STRICKLER | Page A3
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