CNA-04-24-2015

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ROTARY WINNERS

Twelve students recently received scholarships from the Creston Rotary to attend Southwestern Community College. See group photo on page 2A.

HOOD’S RECORD

Creston sophomore Hannah Hood breaks own school record in shot put as Panther girls win Tiger-Knight Relays Thursday evening. More in SPORTS, page 1S. >>

creston

News Advertiser WEEKEND EDITION

SHAW MEDIA GROUP SERVING SW IOWA SINCE 1879 BREAKING NEWS COVERAGE AT WWW.CRESTONNEWS.COM

FRIDAY, APRIL 24, 2015

EU superintendent Pam Vogel to resign By IAN RICHARDSON

CNA staff reporter irichardson@crestonnews.com

AFTON — East Union Superintendent Pam Vogel has announced she will resign this June to take an assistant superintendent position at Regional School District No. 1 in northwestern Connecticut. Vogel, who has been EU’s superintendent since the fall of 2008, notified the East Union School Board of Directors of her intentions at the end of its April 13 budget meeting. She will hand in her written resignation when the board meets Monday.

Vogel has been East Union’s superintendent since the fall of 2008. Her final day at the school will be June 30. Vogel is taking a superintendent position in northwestern Connecticut. ■

During Vogel’s seven years as superintendent, East Union built a new elementary school, began the one-to-one laptop initia- Vogel tive, launched competency-based education and,

MEALS

FROM THE

this year, was one of the first Iowa schools to adopt the Teacher Advancement Program. “My number-one goal when I came here was to improve facilities, and also our students’ programs, both academic and extracurricular,” she said. “I look around and I see the changes that have happened, and I’m very proud of what we’ve done togeth-

er.” Vogel said she has been thinking about moving to a larger school district for awhile, and she said this will likely be her final career move before retirement. Her final day at East Union will be June 30. On July 1, she will move into her new position.

What’s next for EU After receiving Vogel’s official written resignation, the board will need to vote to accept it. In addition to its regularly scheduled meeting on Monday, the board will hold a special meeting Wednesday to discuss the super-

HEARTLAND

Southwestern Community College hosted Meals from the Heartland Thursday for Pay it Forward Week. The event was the largest on record for SWCC, packaging 65,232 meals that will help those in need locally, as well as around the world. ■

intendent search and view presentations from a pair of search firms recommended by Vogel. However, Brett Weis, District 1 representative and board president, said East Union’s plans for how to fill the position are far from certain at this point. “We’ve got a lot of discussion to do,” he said. The board had briefly discussed sharing a superintendent with another school, but Weis said area schools were either not available or not interested. Please see VOGEL, Page 2A

Technology initiative launched at Creston Schools By BAILEY POOLMAN

CNA staff reporter bpoolman@crestonnews.com

PHOTOS by JAKE WADDINGHAM

Above left, Creston fifth-grade student Damian Gibbons pours his portion of a meal into a funnel during the Meals from the Heartland event Thursday. Above right, SWCC student Jordan Williamson grabs a completed package from a member of her team for Meals from the Heartland Thursday.

Technology is advancing. Creston Community School District Superintendent Steve McDermott gave a presentation of a new district-wide technology initiative during the regularly scheduled board meeting earlier this week. “We’ve studied this for a few years now, and visited other schools and saw some real successes with the expansion of learning,” McDermott said. “We really wanted that for our students here.” The initiative is to improve technology within the district by purchasing 600 new Chromebook computers. The computers will come with a case, software and Go Guardian, a protective software, McDermott and plans are to pay less than $400 per unit. The goal is to allow high school students to use the devices throughout their four years of high school, and be allowed to take them home for school work. “The idea is not to throw out everything that we do and start fresh. The idea is to build on the foundation that we already have,” McDermott said. “We just felt like this is just the natural next step.”

Currently

PHOTOS by JAKE WADDINGHAM

Left, Mike Burke works the sealer for his Meals from the Heartland team at SWCC Thursday. Above, Daniel Kroese and Weldon Sander load a new box full of packaged meals Thursday. Bottom left, Elizabeth Sadler adds another ingredient to a new package at Meals from the Heartland Thursday at SWCC.

GO ONLINE See video and all photos taken at Meals from the Heartland online at www.crestonnews.com

Currently, Creston High School teachers are mostly using Google Classroom, a paperless education system used so that students can do homework online and submit it in one place, and teachers can prepare classes, discuss things with other teachers and grade homework. “Some areas of instruction will change somewhat,” McDermott said. “The goal is to strike a balance between new approaches, new methods and strategies, but also to balance that with proven strategies and methods that are already successful.” Hard-copy textbooks will still be utilized, as well as other forms of resources in hard-copy format. The social studies department at the high school, however, currently has gone to an electronic-based classroom style. “It’s worked very well, actually,” McDermott Please see CRESTON SCHOOLS, Page 2A

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