2 The Graphic-Advocate COMMENTARY
January 8, 2014
Ross The time for career Rambles
academies has come
Letter to the Editor: To the editor; As we begin a new fiscal year on January 1, 2014 the Rockwell City Chamber & Development Board of Directors is seeking NEW interested community and business leaders to fill vacancies on the Chamber Board. By being a Board member you aid in shaping and carrying out the many activities lead by the Rockwell City Chamber & Development office. Basically, it’s a pretty easy job! We would love some new members with fresh thoughts and ideas….and a willingness to participate. This is a volunteer position with great reward in knowing you are
serving our great Rockwell City Community! The Board meets monthly for a 1 hour meeting, usually at noon, however we can entertain a different meeting time to accommodate the board as a whole. Theresa Hildreth serves as the Administrative Director and keeps the daily business aspects flowing along. She is in contact with the Board president on a regular basis and reports to the Board at the monthly meetings. Current Board Members: Steve Jones – term through 2015 Shelly Hartwig – term expires
Apology to the Iowa State Patrol By Ken Ross Graphic-Advocate Editor An error in the Dec. 25 edition of the Graphic-Advocate needs a bit more explaining than the standard correction. I apologize to the Iowa State Patrol for erroneous information in a letter to the editor from a Wisconsin man complaining about a bad experience with state law enforcement when the man received a citation for a seatbelt violation. The error originated with the letter writer but this editor should have caught the error before the letter went to print. The letter was sent by way of email after the author did a search for the
Lake City newspaper. Unfortunately, instead of locating the newspaper for Lake City, Minnesota, where he had the bad experience, the disgruntled traveler found the email address for an Iowa newspaper. Yes, there is a Lake City, Minnesota, and the newspaper there is called the Lake City Graphic. What should have been a red flag in the letter was the author saying he enjoys visiting Minnesota. Also there is a reference to surcharge fees on the ticket, including a library fee. Iowa has no such fee. The error is slightly embarrassing to the newspaper but mostly it’s just amusing.
2013 Gary Dudley – term expires 2013 Chris Sedlacek - term through 2015 Patrick Sampson - term through 2015 – He has moved out of Rockwell City, his spot needs to be filled Darin Putney - term through 2014 Misty Rastetter - term through 2014 Devin Landgraf - term through 2014 Tom Campbell - term expires 2013 Open seats on the 2014 Chamber Board of Directors include: Unexpired term of Patrick Sampson – through 2015 Expiring terms: Shelly Hartwig Gary Dudley Tom Campbell Please consider nominating yourself for a 3-year term on the Rockwell City Chamber & Development Board! Elections will be held at an event in January!!! Please contact Theresa Hildreth (712-297-8874 office phone, 712887-1028 cell phone) if you would like to volunteer to serve! Theresa Hildreth Administrative Director Rockwell City Chamber & Development
The most positive and needed development in public education is the creation of career academies. The idea has been around for about 30 years but only in the last few years has there been a major push in many states, including Iowa, to provide access to intensive vocational education to high school age youth. The model used in locations that have already established career academies in Iowa and the model likely to be used going forward involves a partnership between a community college and the school districts served by the community college. Local businesses with specific skill needs also participate in the partnership. Students spend three hours at the academy, either before lunch or after lunch, and then spend the rest of their school day in regular classes at the high school. Ideally, a career academy should be within 25 miles of all the high schools it serves. Much more than that and the bus trip from and back to the high school is impractical. Expecting students to provide their own transportation to the academy creates problems for all involved and should be discouraged, perhaps even prohibited other than for exceptional circumstances. The range of classes can include construction trades, health services, wind turbine maintenance, computer aided design, robotics, auto mechanics, pre-engineering and a multitude of others. Each career academy would need to select a half dozen or so programs to fit the needs of its communities. The career academy either needs to be built from scratch or utilize a building with plenty of large, highceilinged areas for hands-on training. Rural school districts have more challenges in establishing such programs because of the distances between schools. The state is willing to provide increased weighting in the per-pupil funding for students at career academies to help offset the added ongoing costs. Start-up costs remain a real problem. Iowa Central Community College in Fort Dodge has taken steps toward establishing a career academy in Eagle Grove but a career academy
Crop Advantage meetings slated Registration is now open for the 2014 Crop Advantage Series meeting. Sponsored by Iowa State University Extension and Outreach, the meetings will be held at 13 locations across Iowa in January. Each location focuses on local crop production issues, delivering Iowa
State University research to farmers across Iowa. “The Crop Advantage Series is targeted to providing the latest information to producers and helping them make profitable decisions for the upcoming growing season,” says Joel DeJong, Extension Field
The Graphic-Advocate Produced weekly and distributed Wednesdays by The Graphic-Advocate A Division of Mid-America Publishing Corporation — Hampton, Iowa Postal Information: USPS ISSN 302-820 Weekly Periodical Postage Paid at the Lake City Post Office, Lake City, Iowa 51449 Send address changes to The Graphic-Advocate, P.O. Box 121, Lake City, Iowa 51449 Contacts at The Graphic-Advocate Tim Craig General Manager Toni Venteicher: Advertising Sales Mandy Reis: Secretary Ken Ross: Editor Beth Cole/Jennifer Roberts: Composition How to Contact The Graphic-Advocate: Office locations: 121 N. Center St. 505 Fourth Street Lake City, Ia 51449 Rockwell City, Ia 50579 Phone: 712-464-3188 Phone: 712-297-7544 Fax: 712-464-3380 Fax: 712-297-7544 Office Hours: 8-5 M-F Office Hours: 8:30-5 M-F Submit news by e-mail: gaeditor@iowatelecom.net Submit advertising by email: lcgraphic@iowatelecom.net Apply for employment: Pick up an application at the office during regular business hours Letters to the Editor: Letters to the Editor are welcome and encouraged. However, all letters must be signed by the author or authors with a valid address and phone number. The address and phone number will not be published, but are used in validating submitted letters. Deadlines: Legals and Submitted Religion Page Items and Opinions: 5 p.m. Thursday for the next week. Submitted General News Items and Locals: noon on Friday for the next week. Display Advertising: noon on Friday for the next week. Line Classified Advertising: 5 p.m. on Friday for the next week. Obituaries and Funeral Notices: 9 a.m. Monday for that week. Photographer/Reporter requests: Please give 24 hours notice for planned event. Engagement/Anniversary/Wedding/Birth/Family Reunion: Written Announcement (Free): The written announcement of all engagement, anniversary, birthday, wedding, birth, and family reunion items is free. Photo: Black and white photos are $10 each. Color photos are $25 each. (1 column width) Payment: Expected at time of placement, or with good credit card. Obituaries: There are two levels of obituaries: Notice of Death (Free): Name, age, and address of the individual; when and where the individual died, the cause of death, if provided; information regarding the funeral service and burial; and visition if it occurs Wednesday or after in the week the notice is published. Full obituary ($50): All information from the death notice, plus all information provided by the funeral home. Note that if it becomes inordinately long, extra charges may apply. Items that may involve potential libel or untruth will not be published. Photos: No charge. All photos will be in standard thumbnail size. Internet: All obituaries receive a free death notice on the newspaper’s website. Billing: Done through your selected funeral home, and all obituary admissions should be made through and/or with the help of your personal funeral director. Those not going through funeral homes will be billing directly. How to contact Mid-America Publishing: Home office: 9 2nd Street NW, Hampton, Ia 50441 Office Hours: 8-5 M-F By mail: P.O. Box 29, Hampton, Ia 50441 Deliveries: 9 2nd St. NW, Hampton, Ia By phone: 1-800-558-1244 By Fax: 641-456-2587
Agronomist in northwest Iowa and chair of the planning committee. “Each location has a variety of topics, including crops, pests, soil fertility, and farm management.” Extension weed specialists Mike Owen and Bob Hartzler will discuss management options when dealing with herbicide resistance as the keynote topic for the 2014 series. In addition, each location features a full agenda of workshops that attendees can choose from, developing a personalized meeting agenda. Program topics that focus on local needs and production issues are selected by the ISU Extension and Outreach field agronomists for each meeting. “Each year attendees tell me they wish there were more breakout sessions during the day. They are interested in so many of the topics and can’t be at every workshop. The topics are in demand. It’s a great problem to have” says Mark Johnson, ISU Extension and Outreach field agronomist in North Central Iowa. “The Crop Advantage Series provides a statewide message on important issues yet retains local input on topics for that specific area. Crop and pest management issues are different for each area of the state and these meetings are tailored to fit the needs of producers in that area,” says Brent Pringnitz, program coordinator with ISU Agriculture and Natural Resources Extension. Launched in 2002, the meeting series has impressive attendance numbers. “We’ve seen tremendous growth in attendance for the Series. Response from producers has been very positive. In addition to receiving the latest research information from the University, the meetings have been a valuable way for producers to provide input back to ISU researchers and specialists on what their needs are. It works both ways,” states DeJong. Each of the meetings is approved for Certified Crop Adviser continuing education credits. Each location also offers the opportunity for private pesticide applicators to receive continuing education credits. “Producers have appreciated the
opportunity to get their pesticide applicator recertification done at the same time as the Crop Advantage meeting. It makes an efficient learning experience,” states DeJong. Fee information, additional program details, registration forms and online registration are available at www.cropadvantage.org or from ISU Extension and Outreach Calhoun County office at 712-2978611. 2014 Schedule • January 6 - Sheldon • January 8 - Okoboji • January 9 - Mason City • January 10 - Burlington • January 14 - Ames • January 15 - Storm Lake • January 16 - Honey Creek • January 21 - Atlantic • January 22 - Fort Dodge • January 23 - Waterloo • January 28 - LeMars • January 29 - Iowa City • January 30 - Carroll
By Ken Ross, Graphic-Advocate Editor
serving schools in Calhoun County is only a theoretical possibility. Dr. Dan Kinney, president of Iowa Central Community College, is committed to making this possibility a reality. “Unfortunately, I don’t have the 7 to 8 million dollars in my pocket to get that built,” Kinney said at a recent economic development forum in Fort Dodge. The need for expanded vocational education opportunities has long been understood by local school administrators and by members of local school boards (Southern Cal, Rockwell City/Lytton and now South Central Calhoun). At a recent school board meeting, some board members expressed frustration at the lack of progress toward a career academy in Calhoun County and indicated that the district should consider using the Carroll campus of Des Moines Area Community College to provide vocational education opportunities. This might be the quickest solution and the quicker the better for those in high school or soon to enter high school. It is already too late to benefit current juniors and seniors. However, this might not be the best solution long-term, either for the students or the future of economic development in Calhoun County. A career academy built from scratch near the Hwy 20 and Hwy 4 interchange might be the best location to serve high schools in the SCC, Manson NW, Pocahontas, East Sac and Prairie Valley districts. This would likely require a bond issue in the ICCC district. This kind of economic development cannot use Tax Increment Financing (TIF) incentives the way that the truck stop now being built does. There is no property tax revenue from a school campus to divert to a TIF. Since school property is tax
exempt, some people might question whether a career academy is actually economic development. It certainly is. Often potential employers thinking of starting or expanding a business that provides high-paying jobs are discouraged by the lack of skilled workers. Community Colleges have long been the powerhouses of vocational education designed to meet employers’ needs. With the development of career academies, community colleges have expanded that capability. Americans have for a long time been fed statistical information designed to make us regard our educational system as inferior. Standardized tests given to students in foreign countries, presumably to those students in university preparatory schools, do better in most subjects tested than indicated by the more broadly given standardized tests in America. In reaction to these results, we have actually moved even further away from the type of system we seem to envy. Most foreign systems tracks students into career paths as young as 10 years old. I believe we should continue to give all students in the public school system a fairly broad education. Almost any career requires proficiency in reading, writing and speaking. Many vocational programs require strong math skills and everyone can enrich their lives through an appreciation of the humanities. However, we now mandate that every high school student pursue and education recommended for students planning on attending a four-year university. That was a wrong decision. Doing whatever we must do to provide expanded vocational education opportunities would be the right decision.
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Pancake Breakfast Fundraiser
January 12, 2014 8:00-12:00
Storm Date: January 19, 2014
Lake City Community Building Serving: Pancakes, Sausage, Eggs, Coffee, Juice & Milk FREE WILL DONATION
Friendship Haven
Open House
We invite you to see how we are dedicated to serving with vitality for the future. Enjoy a guided tour and celebrate the opening of our beautifully redesigned and redefined We invite you to see how we are dedicated to serving with vitality for the retirement living campus.
future. Enjoy a guided tour and celebrate the opening of our beautifully redesigned and redefined retirement living campus.
420 Kenyon Road Fort Dodge, Iowa 50501 www.friendshiphaven.org (515) 573-6000
Friendship Haven