Parochial Schools

Saggau shares stories of inspiration to motivate students (09/26/08)
"Make good choices" was the message Bernie Saggau shared with Le Mars students in grades four through 12 Thursday. "The freedom of choice is to be what you want to be," Saggau said. "The more education you have, the more choices you have." Saggau, past executive director of the Iowa High School Athletic Association (IHSSA), was invited by Le Mars Community Schools (LCS) to talk about his life experiences to inspire LCS and Gehlen Catholic School students...

Young to be comissioned for ministry in ELCA (09/26/08)
When Marcia Young graduated from high school, she wanted to attend seminary to become a pastor. There was only one roadblock: the Lutheran church was not yet ordaining women as pastors at that time. Instead, she went to college, majoring in business and theology, married and became a mother, and always remained active in her church...

Gehlen Catholic opens homecoming week with special mass (09/26/08)
Students, staff, parents and alumni at Gehlen Catholic Schools will start their 2008 homecoming activities with a special Homecoming Mass at 8:45 a.m. Monday, Sept. 29, at St. Joseph Church in Le Mars. Presiding at the mass will be two priests, both 1953 graduates of the last class from St. Joseph School, Father Gene Sitzmann and and Rick Sitzmann...

Iowa native earned students' trust teaching on reservation (09/25/08)
Maria Valen remembers her former Crow and Cheyenne students fondly, especially this week -- Native American Heritage Week. Valen, a new high school English teacher at Gehlen Catholic School, spent two years prior to coming to Le Mars educating American Indian students in Montana...

Group seeks people to 'Think outside the car' (09/19/08)
More than half the students at Le Mars schools drive or ride in a car to school every day, according to a recent survey. But a group of locals are looking into other options, and they want your help. Locals are invited to a Safe Routes to School meeting 5 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 23 at the Le Mars Convention Center to talk about the possibility of starting a Safe Routes to School program in Le Mars...

'Pride Night' promotes school activities Monday (08/22/08)
"Pride Night" will be shining with school colors Monday as students, parents, and fans from Le Mars Community and Gehlen Catholic Schools celebrate their schools and extra-curricular activities students participate in. "Pride Night will kick off the new school year and promote school unity. Pride Night is a great way for Le Mars area residents to show their support for Gehlen Catholic and Le Mars Community students," KLEM Radio operations director Dave Ruden said. There is no admission charge...

New teachers prepare for first day at Gehlen Catholic School (08/14/08)
Gehlen Catholic Schools are welcoming three new faces to their faculty for the 200-2009 school year. A new Spanish teacher, a math teacher and an English teacher are preparing their classrooms for students' first day next week. Elizabeth Rogers Elizabeth Rogers of Blair, Neb. will start her teaching career at Gehlen Catholic High School this fall. A recent graduate of Northwestern College in Orange City, Rogers will teach high school Spanish levels 1-4...

Registration open at Gehlen until Aug. 13 (08/04/08)
Registration is underway at Gehlen Catholic Schools for the 2008-09 school year and will continue through Aug. 13. Families may stop at the school during regular office hours of Monday through Thursday, between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m., to purchase lunch tickets, bus passes, activities tickets and pay tuition...

Merrill's before- and after-school program on hold (07/31/08)
What began as a great opportunity for the Merrill may not be ready in time when classes resume this fall. Throughout the past year, the town has been working to develop a before- and after-school program to provide activities and supervision for students whose parents work longer than school hours...

School's out forever (07/10/08)
A Le Mars landmark for more than a century was demolished Wednesday. St. Joseph School, completed in 1905, was torn down to make way for a new Catholic church. A handful of the more than 2,000 students that studied in the building's classrooms gathered Wednesday to take pictures and watch the school be reduced to a pile of rubble...

Meals packed in Le Mars reach Honduras (07/08/08)
Two containers full of dry meals, many packed at the Kids Against Hunger event at Gehlen Catholic School in May, are reaching their destinations in Honduras. The first container of 285,000 meals was delivered at the end of June to Montana de la Flor, a remote region populated by a group of native Hondurans...

American Legion Auxiliary announce winners of Poppy Poster Contest (05/21/08)
Sixth grade students at Gehlen Catholic School showed their support of veterans of all wars by participating in the American Legion Auxiliary's annual Poppy Poster contest. Poppy Week is usually observed as the week that ends on the Saturday before Memorial Day. However, Gehlen Catholic sixth graders learned about it earlier as part of a unit on good poster design in art class in preparation for the American Legion Auxiliary Poppy Poster Contest, under the direction of Beth Schlichte...

Volunteers needed for food-packing event (04/25/08)
Two hours of your life can translate into hundreds of meals for malnourished people around the world. Gehlen Catholic School is seeking volunteers and sponsors for this year's Kids Against Hunger food-packaging project, planned for Friday, May 9. Volunteers will work alongside students and staff to pack, weigh and seal bags of dried rice and protein meals which will be shipped overseas, mainly to Honduras...