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The
Official Newspaper of Manchester and Delaware County, Iowa
Tuesday,
November 21, 2006 | |
Sill family donates $100,000 for WD |
A gift of $100,000 has been given to the auditorium fund by the family of John and Dorothy Sill.
John and his family came from a farming background. He received the Outstanding Young Farmer of Iowa award, moved to his grandparents’ farm and then to western Iowa.
In 1965 he and his family returned to Manchester where he was in the insurance business. The Sills were active and respected community leaders.
Shortly after John’s death in 1989, his family set up a vehicle for helping four different entities in the Manchester community and the surrounding areas. These included the Methodist Church, the University of Iowa wrestling program, the West Delaware School system and Camp Courageous.
Three of these have been completed. An upgraded sound system was installed in the Methodist Church. The original system had been given as a memorial to John’s mother, Hazel Sill. A wrestling scholarship was established at the University of Iowa. |
The John and Dorothy Sill family recently donated $100,000 for the West Delaware High School auditorium. Fundraising is still going on and more information can be found by
visiting www.wdfinearts.org. |
The West Delaware softball field was also made possible by the generosity of the Sill family and is named in their honor. The bard project at Camp Courageous was completed. John and Dorothy’s son Duane spent two years working on its construction, and it is a wonderful addition to the camp facilities.
All of these projects were important in different ways. Prior to her death in 1999, Dorothy was very specific about further plans. Duane Sill spoke of the desire of his parents to provide funding for a project that would involve the whole community. Duane and his family are making sure that this happens.
John and Dorothy would have loved the auditorium project and they would have enjoyed seeing their talented grandchildren perform in a beautiful new state-of-the-art building. It would have been wonderful for them to have been able to see the results of their generosity.
Fundraising efforts are nearing the $1 million goal. There has been a wonderful response from community members, businesses and organizations as well as from Manchester High School and West Delaware alumni. Interior colors have been chosen and auditorium seats remain available for $500 each.
Please check the website, www.wdfinearts.org, for updates in fundraising efforts.
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Council holds hearing for CDBG application
by Latisha Sand |
The Manchester City Council held a public hearing, at their last meeting, to discuss applying for a Iowa Department of Economic Development (IDED) Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) to help pay for nitrate removal for well seven.
According to Mark Schneider, the director of community development and public services for the East Central Intergovernmental Association (ECIA), the city will be requesting $219,857 from the grant and pledging $220,000 from local revenues to help pay for the project.
Ryan Wicks, an engineer from TeKippe Engineering, P.C. in Manchester, said the well’s nitrate levels have been measuring nine or 10, with 10 being a ‘red flag.’ However, in 2003 the levels measured 11.
“About 40 percent of the capacity is down,” said City Manager Tim Vick. The city is now doing more manual controls to keep the water and the tower from freezing during the winter months and by having the nitrate levels removed, the Honey Creek Drive tower would be allowed to re-open.
“The improvement would help the city.”
The grant will not be awarded until March 1, 2007.
The council also approved to re-designate TeKippe Engineering as the engineering firm for the well project. However, the vote was four to one, with Council Member Jeff Ogden accusing the council of doing “administration rubber stamping” with forms. He also would like to see if the grant was approved before taking any action.
The council also approved to hold a third mortgage on the Kathleen Cook residence, which is part of the Manchester Housing Rehabilitation Program Forgivable Loan Agreement.
“She is not seeking a reduction and she still has three and a half years left on the loan,” said Vick. “She would like to consolidate some medical bills.”
The resolution was passed four to one with Council member Jeff Ogden saying he would like to see the loan stay in the second position.
Oakland Cemetery asked the council for additional funding for their rehabilitation project. The old Casey’s General Store building was donated to the cemetery after the store moved to their new location.
“I would really like to help them clean it up,” said Council Member Darrell Hanson, “because it’s on a major entry into town.”
But since the funds would be coming through the general fund and because there was no estimated cost of how much they would need, Hanson and the rest of the council decided not to help them at this time.
The council also approved:
• a resolution to accept the work done on the Bailey/Brewer walkway and a resolution adopting the final assessment schedule for the walkway,
• the resolution accepting the fire department funds and designating the funds to the Fire Capital Improvement Fund,
• to pay for 100 feet of sewer line from the intersection of Hansel Street and North 6th Street for a new home to be built by Jeff and Molly Juergens,
• to purchase a 2007 Chevrolet Silverado work truck for the Solid Waste Water Plant in the amount of $19,090.80. They will be trading in a 1996 Ford truck.
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Keystone AEA helps special education at West Delaware
by Jamie Smith |
The West Delaware School Board heard from Keystone Area Education Agency (AEA) Sector III Coordinator Art Miller at their Nov. 13 meeting.
Miller brought the board up to speed regarding the process AEA uses to determine if students are eligible for special education services.
Miller emphasized that current research indicates that all students, including those with disabilities, benefit from inclusion in a general education classroom.
“If a student with disabilities is not in a general education classroom, they don’t do as well on standardized tests. We want to keep ‘this child’ as close to the general education classroom as possible,” Miller explained.
In order to keep as many students as possible in the general education classroom, AEA uses a four-stage process. This process establishes if there is a way to help students with special needs in the general education classroom or if there is a need to pull them out of the classroom for special education services.
Miller continued, “When we’re talking about general education students who may not be learning as well as their peers are, or who have behavioral problems, there is a process in place to determine if there’s a disability or not.”
Within the stages of the process, different methods of meeting each students needs are practiced and assessed to determine what may or may not be working. If techniques in the general education classroom are not helping the student, he or she will be pulled for special education assistance.
“The process is slow,” Miller noted. “Every chance is given to keep the student in the general education classroom.”
The process Miller discussed is used in all 25 school districts with the Keystone AEA.
Some strategies used at Lambert Elementary to help students with needs in the general education classroom include: co-teaching, flexible grouping of students, Title I reading teachers, reading and math strategists and special education teaching assisting in the classroom.
At the higher level, methods used to assist students who need help include: a goals and study skills teacher at the middle school, a reading specialist, an at-risk teacher, as well as the alternative high school teacher and program.
West Delaware Middle School principal Randy Stanek commented, “The sooner we can get to these students [with needs], the better they’re going to be.”
Currently West Delaware has 14 certified teaching staff in the special education department. |
| Every school wins with chamber holiday promotion |
Shop Manchester and give your school a Christmas gift – that is the theme for the Manchester Area Chamber of Commerce promotion that will run from Friday, Nov. 24 to Sunday, Dec. 31.
“The merchants of Manchester have found a way to allow shoppers to support their schools (West Delaware, St. Mary’s, Ed-Co, Starmont, East Buchanan, Maquoketa Valley and North Linn) while doing their Christmas shopping, without having it cost them anything, while encouraging them to ‘shop locally,’” said Chamber Director Jack Klaus.
When shoppers buy at a participating merchant they will be allowed to designate the points they have earned (one point per dollar) towards the school of their choice. And the points can be divided up between multiple schools.
The retailer will round down how much the customer has spent, for example if a customer spent $28.54 there would be 28 points. The receipt will then be marked in some way letting the customer and the retailer know that those points have been counted.
The points will be tabulated weekly and the news media will report the standings every week.
In the end, the points that each school earns will be turned into a percentage of the total and each school will be rewarded with a check reflecting that portion of the $2,500 prize. For example, if West Delaware ends up with 30 percent of the points, they will receive 30 percent of the prize.
“How the schools spend their winnings is up to them,” said Klaus.
Each participating merchant will be identified in newspaper ads and with a colorful door sign.
If residents have any questions, comments or suggestions they are to call the chamber office at 563-927-4141. |
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E. Delaware - P.O. Box 245 - Manchester, Iowa 52057
563-927-2020 / FAX 563-927-4945
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