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Anyone attending tonight's legislative forum hoping for good news left disappointed. School districts already coping with a 10 percent loss in state funding will face more cuts. “Education spending and human services make up approximately 75 to 80 percent of the state’s budget,” said Rep. Tyler Olson, D-Cedar Rapids. “Because those two areas make up such a large chunk, there’s going to have to be cuts.” The annual forum, sponsored by the Cedar Rapids City PTA, was attended by state Reps. Todd ...

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When my daughter stayed home from school last month because of flu-like symptoms, the first thing she said was "There goes my perfect attendance." This year's threat from H1N1 has caused a lot of people to re-think going anywhere sick. If you don't feel well and have a slight fever, no one wants you around. Has this caused schools to re-think their traditional year-end perfect attendance awards? If you know of a school that rewards students for perfect attendance, e-mail me at ...

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Gazette photographer Jim Slosiarek and I tagged along on Steve Tomash's bus route last month for an article about stop arm violations, published in today's paper. Tomash is a bus driver for the College Community school district. Few people know how much a bus driver thinks about when taking kids to and from school. Before the students even board, Tomash must check the bus to make sure everything it working as it should. He has to concentrate on the road while dozens of ...

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CEDAR RAPIDS -- The Washington High School student senate will present a check for $8,500 to "Especially for You" Monday morning during an all-school assembly. "Especially for You" is a local organization that supports breast caner services for anyone in need. The money was raised through the sale of about 800 "Warriors Fight Breast Cancer" pink t-shirts and the online auction of pink football jerseys. Family members of several football players have been diagnosed with breast cancer. Because of this, the 2009 Warrior football team dedicated the ...

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MARION -- Grab your crayons and paper! The 2010 Calendar Art Contest entries are due to the Cedar Rapids Linn County Solid Waste Agency Friday. The contest is open to all Linn County students attending kindergarten through twelfth grade. The 2010 calendar theme is “living.together. green” in hopes of inspiring others to reduce, reuse and recycle. Original artwork submitted should not exceed 8.5 inches tall x 11 inches wide. One school will win $500 for art supplies, drawn from the list ...

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Reporters don't always know how stories end. We meet someone, share their story with our readers and that's it. We don't know how things turn out after we thank them for their time. David Dement's story was like that. I met David a few weeks before he moved to Germany. The reason behind his move was the reason for the interview. David met Angela McGowan in 1986. He was in the military at the time, stationed in Germany. They met at a disco and ...

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MARION -- The Linn-Mar school district will break ground for their new multipurpose stadium at 11:30 a.m. Monday, weather permitting. Guests are asked to gather at the Educational Services Center, 3333 10th St., in Marion. The stadium is expected to open in the fall of 2010.

CEDAR RAPIDS -- Students of all ages are invited to levitate objects, launch pumpkins, shatter grapes, make ice cream with liquid nitrogen and much more at the seventh annual Coe Playground of Science night.  The event will be held from 6 to 9 p.m. Thursday in Peterson Hall of Science on the Coe campus.  Faculty and students from the physics, biology, chemistry, mathematics, nursing, psychology and ROTC departments will provide demonstrations and facilitate hands-on opportunities to show that science can be fun.  A record ...

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SOLON — Ann Bell knows there’s nothing more exciting than a child reading. As a reading recovery teacher with the Iowa City school district, Bell has made it her mission to help struggling readers find joy in the printed word. If she has to write her own stories to spark students’ interest, she will. She has. In 2005, Bell founded Reading With Our Future Fans (RWOFF), which motivates readers with books centered around their favorite collegiate sports teams and athletes. The program was ...

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IOWA CITY — Heather Hix paid off her home equity line of credit in September, followed by a $6,000 credit card. Up next were a pile of promissory notes. She sat at her kitchen table writing checks to those who loaned her money to help keep a roof over her head and food on her table. She was thrilled. “It was the best,” Hix, 56, said. “I had a smile on my face. I found myself saying ‘Yippee!’ a lot.” Hix was celebrating the ...

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Iowa students who took the 2009 National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP) tests in math once again scored above the national average, according to the Iowa Department of Education. Still, while Iowa continues to outpace the national average score, its static year-to-year growth on NAEP is a call to action for the implementation of the Iowa Core Curriculum.  “The blueprint that guides the NAEP assessment was reviewed in the development of the Iowa Core Curriculum, along with national research, other state standards, ...

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The Indiana University Marching Band will perform a free concert in the Linn-Mar High School gym at 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 30. Hosted by the Linn-Mar Band Department, members of the IU Marching 100 will perform a field house show in preparation for their appearance at the Iowa/Indiana football game in Iowa City on Oct. 31. Linn-Mar community members interested in housing members of this outstanding university marching band may contact Shirley Moran at 373-0456, or Steve Stickney at 447-3094 or email ...

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Cedar Rapids schools haven't reported student absences as high as those in Iowa City -- yet -- and the district is taking steps to prepare for what happens during flu season. "Prevention remains the key to protecting the health of students and staff and limiting the spread of the virus," said Sally Immerfall, the district's health services facilitator. "Staying informed is vital." While most health care providers are not testing to specifically identify H1N, it is generally assumed that if a student/staff ...

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IOWA CITY — The number of sick students has decreased at Iowa City High School. About 23 percent of the school’s students were out sick Friday. The school reported 397 students absent Thursday. About 400 students were out of school Wednesday with flu like symptoms, roughly 25 percent of City High’s student population. Student illnesses also dropped Grant Wood and Horace Mann elementary schools, both which had 10 percent of their students absent Friday. The percentage of sick students at Tate High School dropped ...

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It looks like Taylor Elementary School is on its way to being a year-round school once again. The Cedar Rapids school district will propose calendars for the 2010-11 school year at Monday’s school board meeting, during which Superintendent Dave Benson will share a traditional school year calendar for the majority of the district and a modified calendar for Taylor and Polk elementary schools. Both calendars include 180 days of instruction and 191 teacher contract days. Traditionally, Taylor and Polk schools operate on a ...

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The President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports recently announced the 2008-2009 President’s Challenge State Champion schools. The award is presented annually to three schools in each state with the highest number of students scoring at or above the 85th percentile on the President’s Challenge Physical Fitness Test.   The three winning Iowa schools are: -- South Tama County Schools in Tama -- Heritage Christian School in Eldridge -- Waco High School in Wayland According to the Council, the five assessments of the President’s Challenge Physical Fitness Test ...

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Indian Creek Nature Center and Metro High School will host an open house for the Sense of Wonder Outdoor Classroom from 2 to 4 p.m. Oct. 18 at Indian Creek Nature Center. The opening and dedication at 2 p.m. will be followed by guided tours through the outdoor classroom trail. The event is free and open to the public. The Sense of Wonder Trail encourages parents and children to explore the outdoors through a series of activities. It was created through a collaboration between ...

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MARION -- The Linn-Mar High School Homecoming Parade will be held at 5 p.m.  The parade will begin at Indian Creek Elementary, proceed east on 29th Avenue, turn south on 31st Street, turn west on McGowan Boulevard, turn north on 24th Street, turn west on 29th Avenue and finish at Indian Creek Elementary. Drivers in north sections of Marion are encouraged to use alternative routes.

Team DeadWeight's work toward a state ban of lead tire weights takes another step forward this week. Team members Brennan Nelson, Justin Roth and Jathan Kron, and their teacher, Hector Ibarra, will meet with Sen. Senator Grassley while they are in Washington, D.C. to meet with U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan.  The students will discuss their research project which analyzes the replacement of lead wheel weights with steel wheel weights. Wheel weights are clipped to tire rims to balance the tires ...

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The Cedar Rapids Washington High School community has a special week of activities planned to raise money and bring awareness to the fight against cancer. Washington's activities -- “Warriors Fight Cancer” -- coincide with National Breast Cancer Awareness Month.  T-shirts will be available at Washington for purchase to support the cure all week. Warrior athletic teams will be wearing pink to raise cancer awareness. On Tuesday, the volleyball team will be wearing pink jerseys vs. Linn-Mar. The game begins at 7 p.m. The women’s swimming and diving ...

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Fifteen are high schools are competing for $25,000 in cash prizes from Lindale Mall. Alburnett, Center Point-Urbana, Central City, East Buchanan, Kennedy, Marion, Metro, North Cedar, North-Linn, Olin, Solon, Springville, Cedar Rapids Washington, Vinton-Shellsburg and Xavier high schools are participants in this year's School Cents community program. Here's how it works: Participating schools compete to accumulate points through receipts turned in by mall customers. The points are tracked by store receipts, which are dropped in redemption boxes in Lindale Mall center court ...

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Iowa City High School 2009 Homecoming Court. King candidates: Andrew Wilkes; James Taylor; Alex Evans; Noah Rocklin; Seth Saeugling; Hans Hollander; and Max Caballero. Queen candidates: Susan Graves; Jaime Helm; Melanie Holman; Michele Haught; Jessica Yagla; Claire Myers; and Susanna Howard.

Queen Haley Brightwell and King Royce Bell Royce Bell and Haley Brightwell were crowned Kennedy High School's 2009 Home between games on Sept. 18 at Kingston Stadium. The other members of the court were as follows: King’s Court:Lars Lee; Ryan Dahm; Spencer Anderson; Max Martino; Nicholas Seedhorf; and Joey White.  Queen’s Court: Hannah Plagman; Paige Bailey; Brooke Skaggs; Sarah Havel; Laura Boenish; and Stephanie Lindo.

It's hard to believe Eastern Iowa schools are celebrating homecoming. Didn't the school year just begin? One of the best things about homecoming, besides a football victory, are all the activities that surround this annual event. Parades. Class competitions. The dance. Each high school celebrates homecoming in its own unique way, but it seems dress up days are just as popular now as they were when I was in high school. Still, I noticed a disturbing trend when looking through the stack of school ...

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In the third year of the Silos & Smokestacks National Heritage Area (SSNHA) Bus Grant Program, $12,000 has been awarded to 48 schools within the Heritage Area. The grants help cover the costs of field trips to 24 different SSNHA Partner Sites, giving more than 3,100 students the opportunity to learn firsthand about Iowa's agricultural heritage. The Bus Grant Program, which is part of the SSNHA Education Scholarship Fund, helps cover transportation costs of field study trips to designated SSNHA Partner Sites. Grants are ...

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