High School Sports

Spaghetti supper, service and quilt auction benefit LCS music students (03/17/10)
Le Mars Community School Music Boosters will hold its annual Spaghetti Supper and Auction Friday, March 19. The spaghetti supper will be served from 5-7 p.m. in the Le Mars Community High School cafeteria. On the menu is spaghetti with choice of sauce: red with meat or without, and alfredo, along with lettuce salad, garlic bread, ice cream and beverages...

Principals work on transitions for Kissinger students, staff (03/16/10)
Le Mars Community Schools elementary principals are preparing for Kindergarten Round-Up and the transition from Kissinger Elementary in Merrill to attendance centers in Le Mars. Dave Horken and Scott Parry gave an update to the school board of education members at last week's board meeting...

Optimist Club impacts 25 years worth of children (03/12/10)
Twenty-five years ago this week, a group of locals came together to make a difference for youth. Since then, thousands of young people in Le Mars have been reached by the Le Mars Optimist Club. "We've made an impact," said Jerry Haack, founding president of the club. "Over the past 20-some years, we've touched every kid in this town in a positive way."...

AKC dog show comes to fairgrounds in July (03/12/10)
Dogs of all breeds will take the stage this summer as the American Kennel Club Dog Show comes to Le Mars July 3 and 4. The show, arranged by Sioux Valley Kennel Club, will be held at the Plymouth County Fairgrounds. Organizers expect between 750 and 1,000 dogs to participate in the show, according to Jennifer and Sue Holtgrew, who are local kennel club members and show participants...

LCMS students bring musical 'Honk! Jr.' to Le Mars stage (03/10/10)
The Le Mars Community Middle School Vocal Department will present "Honk" Junior," at 7:30 p.m. Thursday and Friday in the Middle School Auditorium under the direction of Nancy Ewing. "Honk! Junior" is a contemporary, comic adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen's "The Ugly Duckling."...

Plymouth County schools find ways to make cuts (03/10/10)
Editor's note: This is the second of two stories looking at budget cuts for Plymouth County schools. Plymouth County school districts are trying to figure out ways to reduce already lean budgets. Because Legislators haven't decided whether or not to cut the 2 percent allowable growth, each school district does not know yet if it will receive state funding...

LCS board will budget on anticipated allowable growth money (03/09/10)
Le Mars Community School Board of Education members gave their approval to a budget timeline that will culminate in a certified 2010-11 budget to be filed with the state by April 15, 2010. The board directed Superintendent Dr. Todd Wendt to develop the 2010-11 budget working under the assumption of a 2 percent allowable growth in state funding and a Cash Reserve Levy of $750,000...

Museum to preview all-school reunion (03/09/10)
"Decades of Excellence," a preview of the Le Mars Community High School All-School Reunion, will be 2 p.m. Sunday, March 14 at the Plymouth County Historical Museum. Carolyn Vance, director of the Le Mars Community School District's Alumni Association, will share details of the coming reunion. Some reminiscing by alumni is also planned...

Gehlen student removed from school after e-threat (03/04/10)
An 18-year-old Gehlen Catholic Schools student who allegedly authored a message threatening other Gehlen students was removed from the school immediately Thursday. The student, an 18-year-old female, sent the alleged message via an electronic communication, according to the Le Mars Police...

Cyclists hope bike safety bill pedals through Legislature (03/04/10)
Last year a Plymouth County woman was hurt after being struck by a beer can while riding her bicycle along a country road. Erin Schroeder still gets butterflies in her stomach when she climbs on her bike. She hopes a proposed bicycle safety bill in the Iowa House of Representatives moves forward to help protect cyclists on the roadways...

Local students excel at IE speech contest Saturday (03/02/10)
Le Mars Community High School and Gehlen High School students have advanced to the state level following competition in the Individual Event District Speech Contest Saturday. The district contest was held at Akron-Westfield High School in Akron, one of 16 sites in Iowa...

LCS Winter concert set for Tuesday (03/01/10)
The High School Vocal Music Department will present its annual Winter Concert in the Middle School Auditorium Tuesday. It will begin at 7:30 p.m. Admission is $4 for adults and $3 for students and will be collected at the door. In addition, passes will be honored...

Kids take the gold in Kissinger Olympics (02/24/10)
More than 1,350 miles away from the Vancouver Winter Olympics, another Olympic flame is "burning." The students at Kissinger Elementary School in Merrill are competing in their own Olympic games, complete with a torch made out of a lamp and construction paper...

LCHS dance exhibition Friday (02/24/10)
Dozens of dancers will light up the floor in the Le Mars Community Schools Dance Exhibition Friday. The exhibition will be held at the Le Mars Community High School Gymnasium. The show will include performances of the LCS dance team's dances from this year, a co-ed dance with boys from the high school, solos performed at the state solo contest, and dances from four other teams...

LCS board votes to close Kissinger, cut $1 million (02/23/10)
Kissinger Elementary School in Merrill will close its doors to students at the end of the 2009-10 school year, after school board members voted Monday night to close the school. The decision was part of a $1 million budget reduction for the 2010-11 school year...

Basketball on the big screen: Local students play in new movie (02/23/10)
On Thursday, Skyler Higgins suited up for a Remsen St. Mary's district basketball game. On Friday, the RSM senior was shooting hoops on the big screen. "Winning Favor," a movie that captures the story of two Orange City teams and includes a cast of local ball players like Higgins, opened Friday for a two-week run at the Orange City movie theater...

Few comment at LCS public meeting on budget cuts (02/19/10)
Only a handful of the 40 people attending the public meeting on proposed budget cuts for Le Mars Community Schools spoke to the Board of Education members Thursday night. Board president Patrick Murphy opened the meeting by explaining the areas where cuts have been proposed to meet the board's goal of cutting $1 million from the 2010-11 school year budget...

Teaming at LCS: What it is and what it will mean to lose it (02/16/10)
A concept that teams middle school teachers at Le Mars Community Schools may be in its last year, due to budget cuts. In 2002, the LCS middle school teachers switched to "teaming." That means the students are divided into teams and each team has its own set of teachers: one each for math, one each for science, etc...

Museum plans 'Spring Preview of Authors (02/16/10)
"Spring Preview of Authors" will put the spotlight on Kingsley during the Plymouth County Historical Museum's first 2010 program Sunday, Feb. 21. The book signing and program will begin at 2 p.m. in the museum's Music Room on the main floor. Doors to the museum will be open from 1-5 p.m...

LCS board plans public comment meeting Thursday (02/15/10)
The Le Mars Community School Board of Education will hold a special public meeting at 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 18, at the Education Service Center, 940 Lincoln St. S.W. The meeting is a time for the board to receive public input/comment on expenditure reductions recommended for 2010-11 budget...

Public employee bargaining: The reasons behind the raises (02/12/10)
(Editor's note: This story is the second of two stories taking a closer look at public employees' bargaining.) Le Mars City Employees Bargaining Unit: Pay freeze for six months, 3 percent raise starting in January 2011. Plymouth County Secondary Roads Bargaining Unit: 3 percent raise for each year of a three-year contract...

Local jazz bands qualify for Iowa Jazz Championships (02/12/10)
Jazz bands at Le Mars Community High School and Gehlen Catholic High School qualified for the Iowa Jazz Championships April 13 in Des Moines. Both placed second in their respective classes at the NW Iowa District Jazz Competition in Sioux City Feb. 3. LCS will compete in Class 3A and Gehlen Catholic in Class 1A...

Fourteen and on the job: Le Mars schools implement career planning at eighth grade level (02/10/10)
I have a plan, a career plan. That's the goal for each eighth grader in Le Mars due to the State of Iowa mandate that all schools must have a career plan in place. To fulfill this mandate, the state requires Le Mars Community Middle School (LCMS) to implement a web-based program called IHaveaPlanIowa.gov to aid eighth grade students in their career planning for high school and beyond...

Snow days adding up for Le Mars Community and Gehlen Schools (02/08/10)

Rewind time at 1960s bash (02/05/10)
Ready to turn back time to the day of hippies, the Beatles and psychedelic grooviness? It's time to bust out your bellbottoms and love beads, the 1960s are making a comeback in Le Mars. The Le Mars Area Chamber of Commerce is inviting you to spend an evening in the '60s at 6 p.m. Saturday, March 27 at the Willow Creek Golf Course banquet hall...

R-U fourth graders go back in time to the Middle Ages (02/04/10)
Sometimes to understand why we do the things we do today, we have to learn about the past. That's exactly what the fourth grade Talented and Gifted (TAG) students at Remsen-Union Community School have been doing. TAG instructor Vickie Hemmingson feels it is important to immerse students in a subject as much as possible in hands-on activities...

LCS hosts State Large Group Speech Contest Saturday (02/03/10)
Le Mars Community Schools will host the 2010 State Large Group Speech Contest this Saturday. Nearly 450 groups from 82 schools will be competing, according to Sherri Permeswaran, LCS language arts teacher and speech coach who also serves as contest manager for event...

Are we sending bald eagles back to endangered list? (02/01/10)
Bald eagles are being attacked by an emerging predator. It's in the food they eat. Eagle protection agencies have been seeing eagles that are oddly sick, explained Plymouth County Naturalist Victoria De Vos. "They started testing the blood and they are finding out that they had very high levels of lead -- a neurotoxin," De Vos said. "It was basically paralyzing them in different ways."...

RAGBRAI to start in Sioux City (02/01/10)
It was close but no banana seat bike for Le Mars for the northwest Iowa overnight stop of RAGBRAI. Announced Saturday, the route of this year's Register's Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa will kick off from Sioux City and run 442 miles with overnights in Storm Lake, Algona, Clear Lake, Charles City, Waterloo, Manchester and the final overnight in Dubuque...

Together we can beat the winter blues (01/28/10)
Around 5:30 on Tuesday evening, I was speed walking up the sidewalk to Gehlen, my face staring at the sidewalk in an attempt to keep the cold wind at bay, and all of the sudden I realized - it's still light out! The days are getting longer, the sun is shining (as of Wednesday afternoon) and February is just around the corner...

Gehlen speech groups advance to state (01/27/10)
Four groups from Gehlen Catholic School are advancing to the State Large Group Speech competition. They earned a spot at state after competing in Saturday's Large Group Speech District Competition at East High School in Sioux City. "It went real well, even though we missed a lot of practice for snow days," Coach Elizabeth Rogers said...

LCS sends 19 groups to State Speech contest (01/26/10)
Nineteen of 27 Large Group Speech entries from Le Mars Community High School advanced on to state competition in Saturday's Large Group Speech District Competition at East High School in Sioux City. "We had a very good day Saturday," said coach Erin Ohrlund...

Kissinger parents, teachers bring concerns to LCS board (01/22/10)
More than 80 people, including Kissinger Elementary parents, teachers and community members attended a public meeting on elementary class reduction Thursday at the school in Merrill. They addressed the Le Mars Community Schools Board of Education with comments, concerns and questions as they stressed the importance of keeping Kissinger Elementary open in their town...

Practice, practice, practice for LCS large group speech students (01/21/10)
The winter weather has not been kind to Le Mars Community High School's large group speech students. "Given the number of times we've had to cancel for weather, I feel the kids have come through wonderfully, stepping up and practicing outside of our time together," large group speech coach Erin Ohrlund explained...

Cross country skiers head to Le Mars' parks (01/20/10)
Temperatures in the teens, no sun and 24 inches of snow on the ground isn't the ideal setting for most. But for Curt Strathman and Barb Becker, both of Le Mars, those conditions add up to the perfect setting for cross country skiing. Cross country skiing is a winter sport in which participants propel themselves across snow-covered terrain using skis and poles...

Public questions board about changes for elementary schools (01/19/10)
Approximately 60 people listened as Le Mars Community Schools administrators laid out information on the plan to cut a section of kindergarten, first and second grades for the 2010-11 school year. Currently, there are eight sections of those three grades. In the past two years, a section of third, fourth and fifth grades have been cut at Clark Elementary, with those students now attending Franklin and Kluckhohn Elementary Schools...

Pratt wins Ice Cream Days logo contest (01/19/10)
This year's Ice Cream Days logo winner is Gehlen Catholic freshman, Catherine Pratt. Catherine, the oldest daughter of Kevin and Ruth Pratt, of Le Mars, wanted to create a design for this year's logo of ice cream products other than cones or cups. She chose ice cream novelties...

Grade school students discover culture through music (01/15/10)
Thursday, Le Mars Community Schools elementary students listened to Lauren Pelon, of Red Wing, Minn., as she played a variety of musical sounds from many countries and cultures. Pelon's collection ranges from the ancient bone flute, gemshorn and lyre to a modern electric wind instrument and vocal processor...

YMCA's swim team makes a splash with local youth (01/14/10)
Eight-year-old Abigail Johnson has been swimming since she was 4. That's why she's happy to be a member of the YMCA's Le Mars Stingrays Swim Team. "I like to swim laps -- it makes you very tired," Abigail said after practice Tuesday at the Le Mars YMCA...

Sitzman joins Gehlen Catholic staff (01/14/10)
There's a new face in the halls of Gehlen Catholic Elementary School. Lisa Sitzman began her work as elementary guidance counselor in early December. Sitzman has been meeting with teachers and Elementary Principal Lorie Nussbaum to learn the specific needs of the elementary classes and individual students...

LCS board sets public meetings on elementary class, budget cuts (01/13/10)
Three public meetings have been set by the Le Mars Community Schools Board of Education to present information and hear comments on the proposed elementary section reduction and the 2010-11 budget cuts. Meetings on the elementary section reduction will be held at 7 p.m. Monday, Jan. 18, at Clark Elementary in Le Mars and Thursday, Jan. 21, at Kissinger Elementary in Merrill...

Spring construction set for Gehlen Wellness Center (01/12/10)
What started as a free-standing structure to house a wellness center at Gehlen Catholic Schools will now be an addition to the school's back gym. Construction on the addition is expected to start in the spring, according to Tony Gunter, the school's high school athletic director, teacher and coach...

Live Healthy Le Mars offers team approach to good health (01/11/10)
Get ready to get in shape in 2010 by participating Live Healthy Le Mars. The 100-day challenge promotes a team approach to weight loss and physical activity. Local sponsors for Live Healthy Le Mars are the Le Mars YMCA, Floyd Valley Hospital and ISU Plymouth County Extension...

LCS board OKs eight resignations (12/31/09)
The resignations of seven Le Mars Community School District teachers and one administrator, were approved by the Le Mars Community School Board of Education at their Monday meeting. They will leave the district with a total of 207 years of service to education...

Rewind 2009: The good, the bad and the blizzard (12/30/09)
Editor's note: This is the first of two stories recapping 2009's top stories in the Daily Sentinel. Mother Nature put a wet (or white) blanket on Plymouth County's Christmastime plans, nailing northwest Iowa with more than a foot of snow and winds that lowered visibility and drifted roads shut. ...

Kissinger may close with LCS class reduction plan (12/30/09)
The reduction of a section of kindergarten, first and second grades in the Le Mars Community School District may result in closing Kissinger Elementary in Merrill. LCS Superintendent Dr. Todd Wendt presented information to the board of education Monday on enrollment and potential changes for the elementary buildings...

Gehlen band takes first at bowl competition (12/30/09)
The Gehlen Catholic School Marching Band swept the Class 1A field show competition at the 2009 Champs Sports Bowl this week. Even though the band barely arrived in Orlando, Fla. on time due to poor traveling weather, the Gehlen students took the field and claimed not only the overall title for the high school band competition but also all five category awards...

LCS board proposes no teacher salary increase for 2010-11 (12/22/09)
No increase in base salary. No step movement on the salary schedule. No changes in contract language other than date changes. That's the opening proposal put forth by the Le Mars Community Schools board of education negotiating team in response to contract talks with the Le Mars Community Education Association (LCED) for the 2010-11 teachers' contract...

Le Mars man injured hunting deer in Taylor County (12/22/09)
A Le Mars man was injured while hunting deer in Taylor County Sunday when a shot missed its target. A piece of slug ricocheted, striking him in the upper chest area. Mathew Fedders, 41, was taken to Clarinda Regional Health Center, then transferred to the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha, where doctors were removing the slug fragment...

Related subjects