Iroquois, SD

Our electronic sign is finally in and running!! What a fantastic addition to our town. If anyone is coming our way from out of town, slow down a little and check it out. Some landscaping needs to be done yet but we have some gals trained on using it and following our annual Sports Day we’ll get the necessary downloads and it will be ready for community posting. Right now we’re using it to advertise the schedule for the Sports Day weekend, July 11, 12 and 13th. This sign is a direct result of our Horizons Study Circles and the assessment of community needs that resulted from that. Thanks to all participants in those Study Circles. Great things DO happen when people get together and discuss things.

As I am writing this, we are in the process of painting a house for a gentleman who is disabled. Volunteers are scraping the house, getting it ready to paint. One of our Community club members has a paint sprayer and has volunteered to paint it.
A beautiful cool evening last night allowed us to get a good start.
As part of our strategic plan, we want to beautify our little town, one house at a time.
Flowers have also been planted around town to help spruce up the town.
We want to have everything done in time for our sports day events that will be held in July.

There will be a Memorial Day Program on the 26th of May at 10:00 A.M. in the South Gymnasium.

Gunner Baatrap, former State Legion Commander, will be the featured speaker.

After the program the procession will go to the Maplewood Cemetery, where flowers will be placed on the Servicemen’s Memorial. While the names of deceased Veterans will be read. Followed by a Gun Salute.

The Legion will serve a meal at the Legion Hall following the service.

Brandi Blue, Hillary Bohlander, Brittney DeJong, April Leichtenberg, Kendall Leichtenberg, Shelby Matthews, Casey Miller, Lindsey Miller, Eric Schoenfelder, Melissa Schortzmann, Jordan Vaudrin, and April Nuese were Confirmed by Bishop Swain at St Paul, Iroquois on Wednesday, April 2, 2008.

Those receiving their First Communion on April 27th were: Kenzie Blue, Raysia Culver, Makayla DeDeyne, and Josh Keating.

And the Graduating students were honored at a Graduation Mass at St. Pauls on Sunday May 4, at !!:00 A.M.
Those graduating were: Megan Keating, Emily Lynch, Christopher Schortzmann, and Michael Whirledge.

We went on our field to trip DeSmet to visit the Laura Ingalls Wilder sites.  We didn’t let the wet weather dampen our spirits.  At the LIW Society, we toured the Surveyor’s Shanty, Brewster’s School, and the house that Pa built.  We ate our sack lunches at the homestead site before continuing our tour.  We got to make butter, grind wheat into flour, shell corn off the cob, make rope and corncob dolls, and twist hay.  But…the most fun of all was riding in a covered wagon to the country school.  Each one of us had a turn to drive the team, even Mrs. Wienbar!  The horses’ names were Skip and Barnum, just like Almanzo’s.  We’ll remember this day for a long time to come!

We posed for this picture without smiling, just like pioneers!

ON Sunday, May 5th, our Horizons group decided to sponsor an open house to showcase our beautiful school. It was a beautiful day. Several local people showed up to take the tour and to look at the exhibits that were on display at each classroom.
We had several new families come and take a look around and possibly enroll their students.
Our group served refreshments during the tour. We also provided free bussing to the open house for those families that live in Huron.
We think it was a success, and we plan to have another open house again this August when we are ready for school.
New carpet is being installed this summer in the elementary end, and some painting and cleaning will be done by then.

The elementary students, along with their teachers and P.T.O. created literacy baskets to raffle off to raise money for the summer reading/writing programs as well as many other literacy activities throughout the year.  Each basket or container contained a book or books, along with items that go along with a theme.  Winners for the baskets were announced during the elementary awards program.  Preschoolers created a baking basket using “If You Give a Moose a Muffin.” Kindergarten selected a rainy day theme with “The Napping House” and activities and games to do on a rainy day.  First grade selected Junie B. Jones and a Hawaiian theme.  Second grade put together a western basket.  Third grade filled a wash tub with Laura Ingalls Wilder books and pioneer items.  Fourth grade used a bait bucket and filled it with fishing supplies.  Fifth grade created a tricksters basket filled with games and puzzles.  And P.T.O. filled their basket with chocolate! 

This fundraiser brought in over $250 for literacy projects.  Thank you, to all who donated items for the baskets and those who purchased chances on them. 

    Monday afternoon, the elementary students participated in the Summer Reading and Writing program kick-off. Student and teachers dressed as cowboys and cowgirls to go with the theme of the program. Barb Madison read to the entire group before the children were divided into teams. Each team rotated to five different stations including: singing songs around the campfire, branding and decorating their journal covers, making saddle bags, lassoing, eating s’mores, and running barrel races and playing horse shoes. Each child has a summer reading and writing goal to work toward. Children achieving their goal will earn prizes and the special opportunity to participate in fun activities at the beginning of the next school year. The elementary teachers plan a summer reading and writing program each year to help the children practice these important skills throughout the summer months.

  An elementary spelling bee, for grades 1 through 5, was held in Iroquois on Monday, May 12. Students were given written tests to determine the top three spellers from each grade. The top spellers in the lower grades and upper grades advanced to the oral spelling competition. Students placing in the upper grade competition were Britney Moeller, first place, Allison Bich, second, and Cauy Hofer, third. Placing in the lower elementary were Gracie Fast, first place, Cassie Hofer, second, and Makayla DeDeyne, third.

The first graders, along with the preschool, kindergarten, and second grade classes of Iroquois Elementary went on their field trip. They went to Brookings for a day to enjoy the fine arts. The day started by touring the Harvey Dunn Art Museum. The kids were able to go on a scavenger hunt to find items that were hidden in the paintings. After the museum, we loaded up and headed to Burger King for lunch. We then raced back to the campus to watch the play Aladdin. The play was filled with singing, crowd participation, and a flying carpet! When the play was over, we went to the park. The first graders had a great time on their trip. We would like to thank the school, Donny DeJong, the Iroquois PTO, and our parent volunteers for helping make this a fun day for our students.