Iroquois, SD

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.

How can your community sustain the changes it has already made in its leadership? By continuing to encourage active involvement from the whole community. The more people involved the better off our community will be. Those in leadership will hopefully sustain if they know they have the help and support of others. And the community will thrive if we get everyone involved.

What structural changes have been made in how the community does its work / makes decisions? The community has discovered the value of getting everyone involved in the decision making process. When you get more involved in making decisions, it is easier to get those people involved in doing the work. If they have a part in the choices, they want a part in getting a favorable outcome. When you can get an idea that people are excited about, it is easier to get volunteers for the project.

What structural changes have been made so that your community leadership sustains partnerships with others? All the community organizations began meeting jointly to share ideas and resources with each other. Then, each group knows what each other are doing and can help each other out.

In the spring of 2009 high school students from Iroquois will have the opportunity to travel to Washington DC. Fundraising is currently taking place to help students raise funds to attend this trip. It is a wonderful opportunity for the students and a great learning experience. They will be allowed to do lots of sight seeing, learn about our national government and meet with leaders in Washington DC.

Iroquois middle school students heard opportunity knock and answered the door. The Junior Class put on A Treasured Night last Friday complete with a pirate’s theme flaunting a pirate’s ship, a treasure chest, treasure and rocky waters under a full moon.  The Treasured Night was not exclusively enjoyed by just the high school students attending Prom nor did it last just one night. Middle School students held a middle school dance, with chaperones, taking advantage of all the prom decorations and enjoyed karaoke into the night as well as group dancing. Refreshments were enjoyed and student’s carriages arrived at 11:00 to take them home.

This year’s Sports Day will be held July 12 and 13 in Iroquois. We are once again going to have a Town and Country Showcase in the Fire Hall. If anyone is interested in setting up a booth, please contact Marlys Peskey at 546-2359 or 546-2426. We would love to have you be a part of this year’s summer event.
In addition to the T & C showcase, there will be lots of exciting things happening in Iroquois that weekend. A parade will kick off the day on Saturday starting at 10 am with the theme, ” Small town, big dream”. there will be mud drag races, bed races, kid’s games, just to name a few.
Last year’s event was very successful.

Students at Iroquois School participated in this year’s South Dakota Reading Council contests and were chosen as Pony Hills Regional winners.  Their entries will advance to the state level.         

In the Young Authors contest, each grade was given a writer’s prompt.  Young Authors selected from the elementary were 2^ndgraders Makayla DeDeyne, Avery Shumaker, and Gracelyn Fast, in 3^rd grade, A.J. Royal, and Nikka Lamont, and in 4^th grade, Lacey Bich, Allison Bich, Emily Hanson, and Michael Hofhenke.  Young Authors selected from Iroquois High School were, 9^th graders, Brent Matter, Carrie Bornitz, Stephanie McNutt, Tanya Sutton, and Jacob Langland.  Tenth Grade winners were Brandi Blue, Dakota Tschetter, and Kendall Leichtenberg.  In Eleventh Grade Hillary Bohlander, Brittney DeJong, and Melissa Schortzmann were chosen.  And in Twelfth GradeShane Geyer, Chase DeJong, and Emily Lynch were winners.  As Young Illustrators, the students were asked to draw a scene from their favorite book.  Any art medium could be used.  Winners in this contest were from 2^nd grade, Kenzie Blue, Avery Shumaker, and Gracelyn Fast, in 3^rd grade, Hannah Wehlander and Tiffany Miller, from 4^th grade, Justin Maas, Allison Bich, and Michael Hofhenke, and from 5^th grade, Dana Wipf, Marshall Wallum, and Kelsey Blue.       

The Reading Challenge began last September.  Students kept track of the number of pages they read through March.  Pony Hills Reading Challenge winners were in 1^st grade, Colton Schweigert, Cassie Hofer, and Adam Keating, in 2^nd grade, Makayla DeDeyne, in 3^rd grade, Cauy Hofer, and Hannah Wehlander, in 4^th grade, Allison Bich, and from 5^th grade, Britney Moeller. 

        These Pony Hills Reading Council winners will be honored in Huron at the next meeting.  They will also be honored at the South Dakota Reading Council convention at Pierre in August.

The Seniors at Iroquois school are anxiously awaiting their graduation day. that day will soon become a reality. On Sunday, May 11th at 2:00 pm in the school’s south gym, 16 Seniors will receive their diplomas. 13 Eighth graders will also receive their grade school diploma’s.
The commencement speech will be given this year by Stuart Rounds and Christopher Schortzmann, two honor students.
We hope everyone can join us in congratulating the graduating class of 2008.
Good luck Seniors in your future years. Don’t forget us!!!

(the following was an editorial in the local Huron paper)
The Iroquois School Board is committed to creating a strong future for our school and for our students. In the past few years, we have added several new courses to the curriculum such as ag classes, health education, technical and career education classes, and a wide variety of online classes. Along with the additional courses, the district has also added cross country and oral interpretation, and next year, competitive cheer will create even more opportunities for our students.
Our middle school students recently competed in a regional music contest and did very well and, at the end of the month, they will compete in an instrumental contest. We have worked to fulfill the needs of the students and incorporate activities that they are interested in.
Many of our students have graduated and gone on to do very well in college and in the professions they have chosen. We are proud of our students accomplishments and will continue to help them achieve their goals.
We encourage you to come and visit during the open house on Sun., May 4th from 2-6 pm or come to the all-school music concert on Mon., May 5th at 7 pm to listen to our students and tour the school extravagtanza.
At both of these events we will be showcasing the classes, students and teachers who are all helping create the strong future we envision for our school. We want to thank the students, teachers, parents and community members who continue to support our school and work toward a bright future. We all need to come together and be part of the action at the Iroquois school.
Greg Blue, Board President
Jerrod Fast, Terry Schoenfelder, Greg Bich, Greg Schortzmann

How will your community make decisions about seeking further resources to support its plans?
Organization leadership will be encouraged to seek financial assistance for community projects through the use of available grants. Also by attending regional conferences sponsored by Horizons, leaders can learn about additional resources thay may not now know are available. Also thorough discussion by ALL leaders of ALL organizations will make it easier for the whole town to be on “the same page” concerning community projects and steps being taken to complete these projects.

Is a system in place to seek, receive, monitor and report on new resources to support community work?
One system being enacted currently is that all organizations, including Community Club/Horizons, Fire Department, Iroquois Housing, City of Iroquois, school system and anyone else interested, will hold twice a year joint meetings. This joint meeting will enable all to seek, receive, monitor and report to all other organizations where they have found help and all organizations will know the progress of others. This blog site is an excellent resource in itself. On it other towns report on their successes and where they found resources. An example of giving help to other towns is the success of Iroquois Housing. This group has been fielding questions from across the state asking how it is that a tiny town like ours can build and occupy 15 new homes in the past few years. Leaders have also participated in discussion groups and conferences relaying how we’ve done it. Also a close working relationship with the county commission is an excellent way to keep avenues of discussion open.

Clean the closets!  Empty the attic!  Shovel out the garage!  It’s time for the city wide rummage sale, May 31.  Hold your sale at your home or at the south gym.  Contact Mary or Marlys at 546-2359 to register.  A small fee will be collected to cover advertising.  A map will be created to guide shoppers to all the rummage sales.