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Schools: ‘It’s a whole new world’ Districts provide learning options By VICKIE MOSS The Iola Register
As parents enroll their children in area schools next week, they’ll have a big decision to make: allow their children to attend in-person classes, or keep them home for remote learning. Administrators say they’re working on plans to keep students safe when they return to classes in August. They are investing hundreds of thousands of dollars on safety and cleaning measures, and developing procedures for things like temperature checks, hand washing and sanitizing. Districts have developed plans that allow for both in-person and remote learning, but are waiting to finalize and adapt those plans until they see how many students will be in the buildings versus how many will learn from home. For the most part, though,
Parents across the county will begin enrolling their children soon, with face masks and hand sanitizer now considered essential school supplies. REGISTER/RICHARD LUKEN the districts have put safety measures in place with the expectation that students will return to school buildings starting in mid-August. For those students who will stay home, expectations will be much more stringent
than in the spring, when schools were suddenly closed at spring break. The theme at the time was “less is more,” with a goal to finish the school year with a minimum of anxiety during an uncertain time.
But, as Humboldt’s Superintendent Kay Lewis said, “It’s a whole new world.” USD 257 — Iola, Gas and LaHarpe — will require six hours of documented learning each day. How that works will be developed on an in-
dividual basis, adapting to the needs of the child and family, the district announced We d n e s d ay a f t e r n o o n . Stacey Fager Teachers will lead videos and lessons, and students will practice on their own at home. It will require direct daily contact with Kay Lewis the teacher and parents will sign off on a learning log. Superintendent Stacey Fager said administrators and teachers Kim Ensminger will communicate with parents as soon as the plans develop further. The district is looking into a special online program for See SCHOOLS | Page A3
Bowlus grant will spotlight SEK history By TREVOR HOAG The Iola Register
Humanities Kansas recently awarded $10,000 to the Bowlus Fine Arts Center to support “Taking Southeast Kansas History Online.” The project involves building a digital map of southeast Kansas historical sites, specifically in Allen and Woodson counties, with clickable links that reveal indepth stories, photographs and interviews connected to each location. Tim Stauffer of the Iola Register will serve as project director, and Trevor Hoag of the Iola Register and Donna Houser of the Allen County Historical Society will serve as project scholars.
Other key parties include Kurtis Russell, director of the Allen County Historical Society and Jonathan Wells, Allen Community College instructor and mayor of Iola. The impetus for the project grew out of positive feed-
back gleaned in response to Hoag’s column “Just Prairie,” which until recently focused on places of interest in Woodson County. As the column’s scope grows to include sites in Allen County, the project director and scholars will work to share those stories as they simultaneously develop an online resource to promote tourism and education regarding the area. Access to the website will be provided for free by the Iola Register, and will include additional content shared for free by local historical societies. One of the primary goals of the project is to reach new audiences for historical information, including young-
er people as well as those who increasingly get their information online. An additional goal is to encourage members of the Allen and Woodson County communities to share their stories with researchers so that they are preserved, as the project entails maintaining elements of both the distant and not-so-distant past. ONCE the website’s content is in place, collaboration with local school districts will occur so that young people can learn more about the history of the area. Jenna Higginbotham, curriculum director for USD 257, has agreed to work with See GRANT | Page A6
Iola will try to extend pool season The Iola Municipal Pool, which opened a month later than expected this summer because of the COVID-19 pandemic, is scheduled to close for the year Aug. 9. That is, unless city officials can cobble enough lifeguards and other staffers to keep the pool open a few extra days. Interim City Administrator Corey Schinstock told City Council members this
COVID collapse: Economy shrank 33% in spring By MARTIN CRUTSINGER The Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. economy shrank at a dizzying 32.9% annual rate in the April-June quarter — by far the worst quarterly plunge ever — when the viral outbreak shut down businesses, throwing tens of millions out of work and sending unemployment surging to 14.7%, the government said today. The Commerce Department’s estimate of the second-quarter decline in the gross domestic product, the total output of goods and services, marked the sharpest
such drop on records dating to 1947. The previous worst quarterly contraction, a 10% drop, occurred in 1958 during the Eisenhower administration. Last quarter’s drop followed a 5% fall in the January-March quarter, during which the economy officially entered a recession triggered
by the virus, ending an 11year economic expansion, the longest on record in the United States. The contraction in the spring was driven by a deep pullback in consumer spending, which accounts for about 70% of economic activity. Spending by consumers collapsed at a 34.6% annual rate as travel all but froze and shutdown orders forced many restaurants, bars, entertainment venues and other retail establishments to close. The plunge in GDP “underscores the unprecedented hit to the economy from the pandemic,” said Andrew Hunter,
See POOL | Page A6
senior U.S. economist at Capital Economics. “We expect it will take years for that damage to be fully recovered.” So dizzying was the economic fall last quarter that most analysts expect the economy to produce a sharp bounce-back in the current July-September period, perhaps of as much as 17% or higher on an annual basis. Yet with the rate of confirmed coronavirus cases having surged in a majority of states, more businesses being forced to pull back on re-openings and the Republican Senate proposing to scale See COLLAPSE | Page A3
Mustangs ready for some football
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New Mars rover ready for liftoff
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