North Tama in the News

North Tama is producing some great results, within and beyond our classrooms! The accomplishments of several Redhawk alumni, faculty, and family members have been featured in the news media recently. In today's blog post, I'll share links to the recent media coverage showing off the talents and accomplishments of several members of the North Tama educational family.

NT alumnus Nikki (Wagner) Hynek

North Tama alumnus Nikki (Wagner) Hynek was recently featured in this article in The Gazette focusing on her entrepreneurial spirit and the cosmetics company she recently founded: Dollup Beauty Looking Good

Alumnus Jeff Morrison with Bruce Morrison

  
The Gazette also featured an article focusing on Bruce Morrison (husband of teacher Judy Morrison) and his retirement from farming, as well as a look at the changes in the farming industry Bruce has witnessed over the years. The article was written by North Tama alum Jeff Morrison: Dramatic change on the family farm in a single generation


   
North Tama's High School Agricultural Education Teacher and FFA Advisor, Mr. Matt Cibula, is also a successful purebred Gelbvieh cattle producer along with his wife Tina. They were recently featured in this article in the Iowa Farmer Today magazine: Producer preps by adding windbreaks, watching feed.  It's great to have a leader in the cattle industry serving as the leader of our North Tama Agricultural Education program!

You may have heard that North Tama was recently selected by the Governor's STEM Advisory Council as a recipient of the Iowa STEM Redesigned Learning Environment (RLE) grant, which will allow our elementary to redesign one of our classrooms into a learning space that is custom-tailored for integrated STEM and Literacy instruction. As a classroom that will focus on early childhood STEM and Literacy Integration, this will be a first-of-its-kind classroom in the state of Iowa. We've received media coverage in a number of places as a recipient of this grant, and more media attention is sure to follow.  Check out the links below:

L to R: Jeff Beneke, NE Iowa Regional STEM Hub Manager, Lisa Chizek, 
NT 5th & 6th Grade Teacher & STEM Coordinator, Dr. Beth Van Meeteren, 
UNI Regents Center for Early Ed, Vonna Watson, NT 1st Grade Teacher,
David Hill, NT Superintendent, and Josh Youel, NT Elementary Principal.

• The Governor's STEM Advisory Council Website named North Tama as a grant recipient in this article: 12 business-education partnerships set to innovate

• While this story from KCRG-TV9 features the proposed grant project in the Charles City district, the North Tama project is mentioned: Four-district partnership, 11 others awarded state STEM grants. KCRG has expressed an interest in coming to North Tama this spring to do a feature story on our new STEM classroom. 

• This article, currently posted on the North Tama Website and soon to be featured in other area publications, tells the full story of our plans: Grant Will Result in Exciting Changes for North Tama Elementary Students

The effort to apply for this grant was led by Lisa Chizek and Vonna Watson. Congrats to Lisa, Vonna, and all of the North Tama Elementary staff!

We're proud of the staff, students, and alumni at North Tama. Watch the news in the weeks, months, and years to come...we're bound to see more great results coming from our classrooms, our programs, our graduates, and our faculty!