Indianola Visit on Tuesday Afternoon

On Tuesday October 3rd after a full morning in the Interstate 35 School District, UniServ Director Jim Crotty and I headed to Indianola.

Our first stop in Indianola was at the Senior High. Here we met up with IEA member Janie Putney. Janie is a teacher and a nurse associate at the Senior High. We joined her for lunch in the staff lounge and learned more about the many "hats" she wears. Janie shared with us that in addition to her duties as a nurse associate when she "wears" her instructor credentials, she teaches classes in Health Care Exploration; Health Care Occupations; Medical Terminology; and Emergency Care. Thanks Janie for taking a few moments to spend with us!

Our next school visit took us to the Indianola Middle School. Here we connected with Mickie Larche (seated at right) 8th grade Language Arts teacher and Beth Elsen (seated at left) 8th grade Band teacher. Some of the concerns that they shared with us were regarding at-risk behaviors. In particular they said that fighting and truancy all interfere with a student's ability to learn. We brainstormed approaches including continuing to work as a team with parents, administration and school board members.


Following our visit to the Senior High and Middle School, we stopped at each of the three elementary buildings in Indianola. At Emerson Elementary we had a chance to visit with Marie Moffitt (at left), TAG Teacher for 3-4-5 graders at both Emerson and Whittier Elementary Schools.

At Whittier Elementary we met up with 5th grade teacher Juanita Ott. Juanita (standing at far left with her class) has been a long-time association activist. She currently serves on ISEA-PAC Central Committee from South Central UniServ Unit and is the Indianola membership chair. Thanks Juanita for all you continue to do!

Our school day ended back at Indianola Senior High in the Art class of Bob Kling. Bob had a class full of students ranging in grades 10-12th graders. He had a dozen or so students using "found" objects as musical instruments from the classroom and assigned each a particular rhythm. When all of the volunteers had their rhythm assignment set, he then added one "instrument" at a time until the musical movement was complete. He then explained to the students that the work they do in Art is the same--adding one element at a time, each with its one distinct quality-adds to the depth of each piece of art. Awesome lesson, Bob Kling!

After school hours were over, the Indianola EA invited in ISEA recommended candidates to meet with association members. Pictured (at left) is state Representative Mark Davitt of Indianola with Indianola EA president Linda Alloway. Mark represents House District 74 and running for re-election.


Pictured (at right) is state Senate candidate Staci Appel. Staci is a mother of four and wants her children to live in a safe community, receive a great public school education and have the best opportunities. Staci has been working hard for the past year and a half to get elected to this state Senate seat. How fortunate we are to have two such quality candidates!

It was a nice gathering of nearly a couple dozen EA members to meet Team ISEA's recommended candidates. Thanks Indianola EA members for all you do every day to provide quality programs and great opportunities for Iowa students!