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The
Official Newspaper of Anamosa, located in Jones County, Iowa
Anamosa News
Since 1855
 Thursday,
January 19, 2006 |
Conference Change Continues to Cause Controversy
by Susan Yario |
ANAMOSA-Coaches and community members once again addressed the school board with their opinions of the possible conference change from TriRivers to WaMaC.
The overall consensus is that Anamosa's West Middle school sports are left behind. 10 coaches signed a letter highlighting their vote to move to WaMac only if two changes are made:
1. The middle school is not to be “contracted”, allowing freedom to schedule games and schools.
2. The conference to have coaches' meetings giving Anamosa a voice in the by-laws, especially the scheduling formats for each sport.
Ending the letter with the following, “At this time, we believe that WaMaC is not the best move for our student athletes. Ideally, we believe all options should be explored, including the option of forming and/or modifying conference or joining the Eastern Iowa Hawkeye Conference.”
Signed by Anamosa High School varsity coaches: Wes Wilson, Trent Jeffrey, Jack Leighty Kevin Barnes, Ron Timp, Angela Reiniets, Byron Schlotterback, Jeff Kean, Gary Stamp and Phil Kauder.
On the continuing discussion of conference change, community member, Aaron Zumbach felt that a WaMaC move would be beneficial to the schools and community to participate in an AAA conference. Also on the same note, Mike Dearborn mentioned that both ends of the middle school sports spectrum is now affected, (A groups and B,C groups) as there are not enough players and not enough games scheduled for all levels of teams (A,B,C). Scott Schwaggler shared a similar view of middle school sports as being void of full game schedules.
Twenty year veteran high school football coach, Bob Algoe spoke to the board about attitude & expectations and has seen the level of the standard bar of expectation lowered over the years. He stressed that “defeat does not hurt you” and that “making it easier doesn't make it better”. Algoe urged the board to be a leader in this decision.
The school switched from the Big Bend conference to Tri-Rivers at the start of the 2003-2004 school year.
At that time Cascade and Monticello also left for the Tri-Rivers conference, causing the Big Bend conference to become defunct. It took approximately two years for the move to take effect.
Principal Steve Goodall, shared with the board a new opportunity called Super Senior Program. This program is for seniors with disabilities to transition their way into the working world with job skills training. The current VITAL program is a Kirkwood Community College option that addresses college prep. The new suggested Super Senior plan would be an adaptation between high school, employment or college. John Netupski is to address the board on this matter at the next regular meeting.
Middle school teachers, Patty Delagardelle, Linda Mazunik and Sherri Neofotist updated the board on Guided Study Program, AKA GSP. The three stage academic intervention plan was adapted from a 2004 book titled Whatever It Takes-How Professionals Learning Communities Respond When Kids Don't Learn authored by Richard Dufour, Rebecca Dufour, Robert Eaker and Gayla Karhanek. A consistent plan that every middle school teacher adheres to, team work and a message that kids need to be responsible and accountable for their own schoolwork is what makes this program successful at West Middle.
Good News from district schools revealed on Monday night is as follows:
• Strawberry Hill Elementary has begun implementation of Little Raiders Learning Connection for parents of 1-4 year olds. The agenda for this program includes a four-week program with 2 sessions and is funded by the Jones County Empowerment Board.
•West Middle School reports positive results from the January 5, 2005, parent meeting on underage drinking, also receiving numerous requests from other schools regarding the Guided Study Program.
• Anamosa High Show Choir competition begins this Saturday, January 21st in Johnston, Iowa. Wrestling Raider Duels start this week. An AP Biology class will be added to the school's curriculum next year with the possibility of an AP Social Studies class in the future.
Following the good news announcements, approval was granted for the purchase of a 78-passenger Bluebird bus from School Bus Sales in Waterloo for $79,043.00, less $200.00 when picked up in Waterloo ($78,843.00).
Early retirements and/or resignations were also approved for: Jean Liss, Strawberry Hill Elementary; John Davids, Anamosa High School; Patty Delegardelle, West Middle School; Dale Johnson, West Middle School.
Superintendent Lensing informed the board that Anamosa Community Schools will be quoted & pictured in the January issue of Education Week magazine.
Adjournment followed Lensing's comments regarding the rescheduling of hiring interviews for the superintendent position versus the upcoming regular board meetings on February 6 and February 20, 2006. |
Video Store Olin's Newest Business
by Elsa Hirl |
Inside Fast Forward, Olin's new video store. (Journal-Eureka Photo by Elsa Hirl) |
Since November 2, Olin has had a new face on main street by the name of Fast Forward Video owned by Jay and Kendra Dixon. The couple moved to Olin from Fort Collins, Colorado with their two children, Devin and Kelsey. The family moved to Olin because Kendra is from the area and the cost of living and way of life is so much different from Colorado.
“People here tend not to step on toes to get ahead. People work on the honest shake of a hand. Out there, it's all lawyers and BMWs,” Jay commented.
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Prior to moving to Olin, Jay ran his own body shop/auto parts business. When they decided to move, they sold the business and discussed the type of business they would like to own here. They decided on the video store and it seems to be a good fit for both the Dixons as well as the town.
Fast Forward Video is open seven days a week from noon until 8:00 p.m. The rental prices vary depending on how new the movie is. New releases are $2.49; standard releases are $1.99; and movies for kids are just $.99. All new releases come out the same day they are released on DVD and stay on the shelf for only six weeks and then they are put in the regular library where the rental price is then reduced. All movies are rented for three days.
Video game rentals are also available for Play Station 2, X Box and Game Cube, and the rental fee is $5.00 for five days. Fast Forward Video also has a “try before you buy” program as well.
All of the games are for sale, and if a customer wants a particular game, they can buy it directly off the shelf. If they are unsure if they want to buy it, they can rent it. Upon returning the game, should they decide to buy it, they will get the rental fee knocked off the price of the game.
“We buy and trade video games from the public. We also buy and trade DVDs. If someone has a big collection of DVDs that they want to get rid of, we'll buy those. If they want to trade some X Box games for other games, we'll do that,” said Dixon. “We sell Game Boy Advanced games, Game Boy games, we have Nintendo 64 games, we have Super Nintendo games,” added Jay. Jay also said that he repairs Play Station 2, X Box and Game Cubes as well. They have controllers and cords for game units and also sell game systems and DVD players.
The Dixons hope to expand to the back of the building by the end of February.
“We're hoping by mid-March we'll have over 2000 titles,” Jay stated. Everything in the store is owned by the Dixons, which means it takes a little bit longer to expand than if they received their movies from another company. The store has expanded twice since opening in November.
The store deals in more than movies and games. They also sell fresh frozen 12” Pasquale's pizzas for just $3.65. They also have popcorn, candy and beverages that make a night in at the movies perfect.
A web site for Fast Forward Video will be up and running soon. When a customer logs onto the web site, they will be able to see exactly what is in stock up to the minute. If a movie is rented, the computer system will remove it from the list. On the same token, when a movie is returned, the system will update the list as well.
Fast Forward is also your connection for any Olin Sports apparel. All money collected goes directly to the Olin Sports Boosters. |
Gable to Speak at Annual Chamber Meeting
by Michelle Phillips |
ANAMOSA-The Annual Anamosa Chamber of Commerce Meeting will be held on January 26 at City Limits. The keynote speaker at this year's event will be University of Iowa Wrestling Coach, Dan Gable.
Anamosa Chamber Director, KC Kiner said Gable was favored to be the guest speaker by committee members who plan the event.
“We threw out a list of names and he was at the top,” said Kiner.
Gable will speak to the crowd on the topic of competition as it pertains to business.. He will then answer questions from the audience.
The annual meeting will include an awards ceremony in which the Anamosa Chamber of Commerce Business of the year and President's awards will be given out.
Tickets for the meeting are $30 and includes dinner. A buffet of chicken and beef, vegetables and cheesecake will be served.
The event is open to the public, and begins with social hour at 6 pm.
For more information, contact the Anamosa Chamber of Commerce office at 319-462-4879. |
151 Corridor Group to Hold Public Meeting at Camp Courageous
by
Michelle Phillips |
EASTERN IOWA-After meeting for the past six months the 151 Corridor Executive Committee will be having a third public meeting at Camp Courageous in Monticello at 9 am, January 21.
The group would like those who previously attended as well as anyone else in any of the corridor cities (Marion, Springville, Anamosa, Monticello, Cascade and Dubuque) to attend and offer input.
The committee plans to give recommendations and ask for feedback.
The agenda includes a greeting from Monticello Mayor Gerald Wilbricht, presentations, discussion, feedback and questions.
The meeting is expected to last approximately two hours. Refreshments will be served.
The executive committee consists of two representatives from each city as well one from each county along the corridor. The committee formed after the last group meeting in spring of 2005.
The function of the committee is to provide direction and leadership for the project. |
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