Mid-Prairie Alumni Awards Achievement Award Cindy Malichky

Class of 1978

Cindy Malichky ‘78 remembers Principal Gilbert Christianson’s message to students on the first day of each school year, “This is your job!” Little did she know that Mid-Prairie would soon become her career. Board Secretary John McDowell hired her as his secretary. She started her first day as an employee on May 22, 1978, at 8:00 a.m. When she got off work that day at 4:00 p.m., she went to softball practice. Graduation was at 8:00 p.m. that night. Since that first day, she has never left Mid-Prairie. Malichky is this year’s alumni achievement award recipient.

When she was a senior, head girls track coach Phil Conaway asked her if she would type the results at the track meet. Soon that led to the same request from head boys track coach Dave Johnston. Malichky held this volunteer position from 1978-2019. There were no meets in 2020, and since 2021, Mid-Prairie has hired a timing service.

Malichky values knowing the skills she used to do her job before technology came along. Typing the results at the track meets began with an IBM Selectric II typewriter, purple masters and a razor blade for corrections. It progressed to a laptop using word processing, then a spreadsheet, and finally a track software program.

Payroll checks were handwritten when Malichky first started her employment at Mid-Prairie. That was one of her tasks, and she still has the stub of her very first check. Quarterly vendor reports were published in the newspaper. She regularly sorted check copies alphabetically on the large table in the very small board room next to the office.

Malichky’s office moved around. She first started at the high school, moved to Washington Town- ship Elementary, and then back to Wellman to a chiropractor’s office situated on the south side of Highway 22, across the road from the high school. The plan was to remodel that building while employees had moved into a construction trailer, but plans changed due to mold issues. Offices were in the construction trailer for five and a half years until the current Central Office building next to the high school was built. She greatly enjoys her current office building and could not ask for better.

When thinking back to her time at Mid-Prairie, Malichky remembers a wonderful education.

Administrators, teachers, secretaries, associates, coaches, custodians, cooks and bus drivers all helped make Mid-Prairie special. She has not forgotten them and appreciated all of their support during those years. Taking all of the business classes, taught by Phil Conaway and Jane Miller, and math classes, taught by Bob Hall and Chuck Gustafson, offered in high school helped to prepare Malichky for her job today. Social studies teacher Ken Petrone was also her softball coach. She saw even more examples of how secretary Doris Fuhr helped students and staff when she became an employee. Junior high home economics teacher Lugenia Healey provided valuable guidance to Malichky with sewing. She still uses those skills today.

When Malichky started high school, she wanted to see how well she could do if she tried as hard as she could. She has continued with that mindset into her current career. She loves her job and enjoys helping the staff. She believes all staff have an impact on students and wants to help them be the best they can be. Her niece, Hayley Sieren Hershberger ‘11, and nephew, Riley Sieren ‘14, both graduated from Mid-Prairie. Malichky attended many of their athletic events, and now has a great-nephew and great-niece here at MP. Their little brother will join them as a Mid-Prairie student in the future.

Volunteering to help others is a virtue that has been modeled to Malichky all her life, and she now strives to continue modeling the importance of volunteer work to those around her. Growing up on a farm, Malichky saw how hard her parents worked. She was an eight-year 4-H member and appreciated the efforts and help her leaders gave her. Her participation in 4-H activities included community service projects. She observed members of her church volunteering as she was growing up, and she now also volunteers at the church. She is a member of the Friends of the Kalona Public Library, and she enjoys helping with the book sales. Working at the Mid-Prairie track meets was a way for her to give back to the school community that supported her through her studies. It is clear to see in the community that giving back is something Malichky values and models for others.

Over the years, a fellow staff member gave Malichky a plaque as a gift. It sits on her desk today and says, “Work Hard & Be Kind.” She believes that the words of that phrase, along with giving back, are things to strive for.