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.

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.

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.

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 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

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. 

I don’t ever recall having an opportunity to photograph a rainbow in March, but on March 19th I captured this photo at Iroquois Lake. There is still ice on the lake, so I wasn’t blessed with a reflection on the water.

I think by merging our community club/Horizons group as one we can have a stronger community leadership system.
we learned a lot from our study circle sessions that we can use in the future.
we also plan to have biannual meetings with every organization in town to update each other on what is happening within their group and how we can help each other.
I really do believe that these have all made us a stronger, closer community.