Band news
Close call:
Clarke Marching Band competed at Valleyfest Marching Competition last Saturday. The band played at both the day and night shows. They received a “II – excellent rating” at the day show and no ratings were given at the night show. Courtney Clark was chosen as the outstanding marcher for Clarke.
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154 YEARS • NO. 42
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 16, 2014
OSCEOLA, IOWA 50213
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Anderson touts effective voting practices in bid for secretary of state By AMY HANSEN
OST news editor • ahansen@osceolaiowa.com
For Brad Anderson, the Democratic candidate for Iowa’s secretary of state, it’s not about getting stuck in the mud of the office’s p a r t i s a n Anderson politics. For things to get accomplished, there needs to a bipartisan effort. “It’s really about who has the best ideas for this office moving forward, and I believe my ideas are the right approach,” Anderson said during an interview with the Osceola Sentinel-Tribune. Anderson has worked in elections across the state for more than a dozen years, working directly for candidates and local ballot initiatives. In 2010, he worked on the Iowa’s Water and Land Legacy Constitutional amendment, which aimed to clean up the state’s water and protect its soil. He said it was a
bipartisan group effort of sportsman, conservationists, Republicans, Democrats and farmers, and it passed with 63 percent of the vote. During the 2012 election cycle, Anderson was President Barack Obama’s Iowa state director. Beyond the election season, Anderson and his wife Lisa own a small speech therapy business in Des Moines. “I have a unique experience in the sense that I understand the election side of the office, but I also understand the business side and some of the struggles that small business owners face with trying to their paperwork at the secretary of state’s office,” he said. Frustration It was in 2012 when Anderson grew frustrated with seeing what was happening in Iowa’s secretary of state’s office. He said this is in terms of wasting of taxpayer dollars while trying to prove there was a huge wave cheating at the polls in Iowa that didn’t exist. Please see ANDERSON, Page 4
Goals for military voting Iowa Democratic Secretary of State candidate Brad Anderson said Iowa has some of the highest rates of unreturned and rejected military ballots in the entire nation. He said work needs to be done with the Department of Defense and national guard to figure out what the problem is. Anderson said he’s proposed allowing a federal write-in absentee ballot to be used for military voters in their local elections. Currently, the federal write-in absentee ballot is used when military personnel don’t get their ballots in time if they’re serving overseas during federal elections. Anderson said he wants to apply this to local elections, as well. This is allowed in 40 other states for local elections. “I think, fundamentally, if you’re in the military overseas protecting our democracy, you should be given every opportunity to participate in that very democracy that you’re defending,” he said.
TEACHER SPOTLIGHT OST photo by AMY HANSEN
Pictured is Mel Miller in his classroom at Clarke Community High School.
Miller shares passion for teaching history By AMY HANSEN
OST news editor ahansen@osceolaiowa.com
Editor’s note: The Osceola Sentinel-Tribune is starting an ongoing series called “Teacher Spotlight” that will highlight teachers within the Clarke Community School District. You can never keep a good teacher away for too long. There was a time period during Mel Miller’s education career when he took a break from teaching. The daily interaction with students is what he missed the most. “I like ideas. I’ve always been someone who deals with ideas,” Miller said. “So, I try to think about broad lessons, the really big stuff that I want kids to learn, or what I want to expose them to or what I want them to think about, I guess. The kinds of big questions I’d like to see them ask about their life and about the world.” Currently, Miller is a social studies teacher at Clarke Community High School. He said he is relatively new for his age when it comes to teaching in a regular classroom in the school district. Starting out Miller taught social studies directly out of college at a small school in western Iowa called Irwin-Kirkman.
That school is now called Irwin-Kirkman-Manilla (IKM) Manning because of district consolidations. Then, Miller stopped teaching for a few years to get married, have a family and go into different jobs, including those in the field of disabilities. In 1993, he returned to the field of education with a job at an alternative high school in Mount Ayr. At Clarke Then, Miller taught at Clarke’s alternative school up until three years ago. When a social studies position opened up at the high school, Miller decided to get back to his roots of teaching social studies. The classes Miller teaches are world history I and II (ancient and modern world), government, global studies and contemporary world issues. “I’m a historian for the most part, so world history is probably the most up my alley,” Miller said. “I like history. Government’s pretty good, too. I’m a political science major, also.” His array of classes include students from freshman to seniors. Daily challenges When it comes to understanding the main challenges of teaching, as well as the challenges of teaching history, Miller can provide the answer to both aspects of education. “The most challenging part about
Mel Miller fun facts Mel Miller graduated from Clarke in 1977. Growing up, he attended five different schools in the Clarke district — East Elementary, Westward Elementary, North Elementary, Clarke’s junior high and Clarke’s senior high.
teaching history is the broadness of history, especially world history,” he said. “I’m talking about from the time we were hunters and gatherers to the present day. It’s a lot of stuff to cover.” This means a lot of thought has to go into picking and choosing the right curriculum to teach, Miller added. As for what’s difficult about teaching in general, Miller said it’s about knowing the students’ diversity in levels of understanding and their varied learning styles. “Trying to design your lessons so your reaching the kid who’s struggling to grasp your subject, and yet, keep the kid really gets it thinking more deeply about what they need to thinking about,” Miller said. “And, delivering it in a way that reaches all of them.”
Halloween times
Murray Beggars’ Night in Murray is scheduled 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 30. Osceola Trunk or Treat is scheduled 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 30, on the courthouse square in Osceola. The regular city trick or treat hours are planned that same evening from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Woodburn Woodburn Beggars’ Night is scheduled 6 to 8 p.m. Friday, Oct. 31.
OST photo by AMY HANSEN
Fire fair: Children disembark from a fire truck during Osceola Volunteer Fire Department’s annual fire fair Thursday, Oct. 9, at the fire station. Riding in the fire truck was one of many activities held during the fire fair. SINGLE COPY PRICE: 75¢
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Index Obituary .......................3 Editorial ........................4 Church Directory .........8 Classifieds .................11
Neighbors ....................5 Record .........................2 Sports....................... 6-7
Weather Your Local Weather Thu
10/16
69/48
Abundant sunshine.
Fri
10/17
65/43
A few clouds. Highs in
Sat
10/18
63/41
Times of sun and clouds.
Don’t Forget
The last Saturday Farmers’ Market of the season is planned 8 a.m. to noon Saturday on the courthouse lawn.
Highs in the upper 60s the mid 60s and lows in Highs in the low 60s and CHECK OUT OSCEOLAIOWA.COM FOR DAILY UPDATED DEATH and lows in the upper the lowNEWS, 40s. lows in the low 40s. NOTICES AND SPORTS.