Thursday, May 3, 2012
N/Warren Town and County News
Page Eleven ....
LAKEWOOD ELEMENTARY ]
By Jill Anderson, Principal
Dave Oleson, Dean of Students
Research clearly indicates that the single biggest ef-
fect on student achievement is the teacher in the class-
room. One of the things that I'm most proud of is the
conviction that our teachers have toward the students
in their classroom. Remember that May 7-11 is National
Teacher Appreciation Week. I want to encourage you to
communicate with your child's teacher during the week.
Many times, they are the ones that only hear the bad! I
know that I appreciate both their subject knowledge and
their compassion. In Norwalk, we are blessed with great
teachers at every level. Take the opportunity to thank
them for the important jobs they do every day.
May 7-11 is also School Board Recognition Week. The
Norwalk School Board is next to none! The school board
members spend many hours each month attending
meetings, fielding calls and supporting our schools all
on a volunteer basis. Two Mondays out of the month
are taken away from their personal time to discuss edu-
cational issues for the good of the children. I want to
encourage you to take the time to thank them as well
for the job they are doing. We are fortunate to have dedi-
cated individuals with a focus on serving and meeting
the needs of the students of Norwalk Community
Schools. Our Board has gone above and beyond over
the years to ensure our students are receiving a quality
education and our facilities are in place to meet the learn-
ing needs of students.
There are only a few more weeks of school left. As
we get further into spring, and youth evening activities
increase, it is natural for our students to get antsy about
school and lose some academic focus. Encourage your
children to continue to excel through the remainder of
the school year and emphasize the importance of life-
long reading and education.
Lastly, I wanted to let you know that Dave Oleson
has resigned and will be headed back to the warmer
climate of Texas. I told him that he couldn't handle the
fact that Iowa State is getting better than Iowa, but he
assured me that it wasn't the reason. It has been my pro-
fessional and personal pleasure to learn from him. He
has been a tremendous addition to the staff at Lakewood
and it has been fun to come to work each day and work
witha great friend. I'm sure the School Tubes will never
be the same! If you get a chance, let him know how much
he, has meant to Lakewood.
JAlso, we are planning our first PE4Life Family Fun
Night May 10 from 5-7 p.m. This will be at the new sta-
dium and there will be free food for the first 200 people.
Our goal is to get as many people as possible out that
evening to walk the track, play games from the Norwalk
Parks and Rec department, learn about our PE4Life pro-
gram and have fun! We're excited about the opportuni-
ties our kids have in regards to physical activity and we
hope to see the community of Norwalk come out and
learn what it's all about. To learn more about the PE4Life
program, check us out on Facebook at http://
www.facebook.com/pages/Lakewood-PE/
245066125527756.
Upcoming events '
May 9
May 10
May 14-18
May 16
May 16
May 18
May 23
May 25
May 28
May 29
May 30
Middle School SADD Presentations at
Lakewood for 5th Graders
PE4Life Night from 5-7 p.m. at
Football Stadium
DIBELS Testing Week
12:00 Early Out
DARE Graduation at
Lakewood- 5th Graders
Last Day of May Term
Historical Building/Capitol
Field Trip- 5th Graders
Hershey Track Meet at Norwalk
Football Field-4th-5th Graders
morning, 3rd Graders afternoon
No School-Memorial Day
Fun Day/Talent Show at Lakewood
Last Day of School
In-Roor ~ Geothermal Heating
"Insured & Certified"
(515) 989-0106
SALES - SERVICE ~ REPLACEMENT
BATHROOM REMODEL
Great Iowa Treasure Hunt
is Coming to Warren County
State Treasurer Michael L. Fitzgerald is bringing the
Great Iowa Treasure Hunt to Warren County in hopes
of returning lost money to its rightful owner. "We are
holding over $909,747.32 for Warren County citizens in
the Great Iowa Treasure Hunt," Fitzgerald said.
"In previous years, we've had tremendous success
returning unclaimed property to Warren County,"
Fitzgerald stated. "We have returned $1,007,873.14 for
people in Warren County, but we are always looking
for more individuals. The spring publication signifies a
kick off to new names reported to the office and we hope
to reunite a s many people with their lost treasures as
possible."
The Great Iowa Treasure Hunt program has returned
over $143 million in unclaimed property to more than
359,000 individuals since Fitzgerald started it in 1983.
Unclaimed property refers to money and other assets
held by financial institutions or companies that have lost
contact with the property's owner for a specific period
of time. State law requires these institutions and com-
panies to annually report and deliver unclaimed prop-
erty to the State Treasurer's Office, where it is held until
the owner or heir of the property is found. Common
• forms of unclaimed property include savings or check-
ing account s, stocks, uncashed checks, life insurance
policies, utility security deposits and safe deposit box
contents.
Make sure to keep watch for the upcoming publica-
tion. Treasure seekers are encouraged to visit
www.greatiowatreasurehunt.com and check to see if
they have unclaimed assets waiting for them. Individu-
als may also send an email to foundit@iowa.gov. For
those who prefer corresponding by mail, write to State
Treasurer Michael L. Fitzgerald, Great Iowa Treasure
Hunt, Lucas State Office Building, Des Moines, IA 50319.
Make sure to provide current name, previous names and
addresses.
If you want to recapture your youth, just cut off his
allowance.
-A1 Bernstein
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Legislative News
By State Representative Julian B. Garrett
julian.garrett@legis.state.ia.us
Budget Negotiations
Continue
I reported last week that
the House, Senate and
Governor had agreed on
the total spending figure
for the upcoming fiscal
year. It turns out that we
were not as close to an
agreement as it seemed.
While there was agree-
ment on general fund
spending of $6.24 billion,
the Senate Democrats
want to spend additional
"one time" moneyto fund
additional spending of $40
million or so. One of the
first principles that those
of us on the Appropria-
tions Committee agreed to
last year was that we
would end the practice of
spending one time money
for ongoing expenses. An
example of using one time
money to fund ongoing
expenses was the use of
several hundred million
dollars of federal stimulus
money to pay for ongoing
expenses in the fiscal year
beginning July 1, 2010. We
received no federal stimu-
lus money in 2011 and it
was a major challenge to
reduce spending to the
level of ongoing revenue.
Another technique that
was used in the past was
purposely underfunding
things like Medicaid and
Indigent Defense to free
up money for other areas:
Indigent Defense is the
fund used to pay private
attorneys for defending
indigents accused of a
crime. This was done
knowing that additional
money would have to be
appropriated the next ses-
sion, because the State
must fund Medicaid and
i " ,
Childcare Center
Serving Children from K - S *" grade
6 am to 6 pm Monday thin Friday
Educational Activities
Free Meals - Fieicltrips - indoor/outdoor play spaces
"First 25 Students"
Nn gistnation fee
glrl[I per'week, ntire summer,
(reg. $i512 per*week)
Christ Our Savior Lutheran Church
5"15 Sunset Dr., Nccwlk, Iow 5 5-981-0226
www.chdstoursaviorlcms.org
Indigent Defense. I sup-
port the Speaker in insist-
ing that we spend less than
we receive in revenue. I be-
lieve the best way to en-
courage economic growth
and protect future funding
for areas such as public
safety and education, is
responsible fiscal manage-
ment on the part of the
state. It does not serve any-
one well to make promises
that arenot kept.
Though a breakthrough
could come at any mo-
ment, itremains to be seen
how long it will take this
year for the Senate leaders
to accept the fact that we
will continue to operate
with a balanced budget. I
was never one of those
predicting that the session
would end by April 17, but
I am hopeful that we will
not see a session lasting
until June 30 as we did last
year.
Mental Health Bill
Passed
I have reported from
time to time on the
progress of the mental
health reform bill that we
have worked on for more
than a year. We passed the
bill last week with several
amendments to the Senate
passed bill. I understand
that the Senate will accept
our amendments. I served
on one of the work groups
that worked on the bill last
summer and fall.
Iowa Unemployment
Rate Down
Iowa Workforce Devel-
opment has announced
that Iowa's unemployment
rate dropped to 5.2% in the
month of March, down
0.1% from the previous
month. Iowa has the fourth
lowest unemployment
rate in the nation. Iowa has
gained 13,000 jobs com-
pared to last year. The na-
tional average is 8.2%.
Norwalk Chamber
Membership Breakfast
I was pleased to be in-
vited to attend the
Norwalk Chamber of
Commerce Membership
Breakfast last week. There
were ribbon cuttings for
several new businesses.
The chamber has over one
hundred members. Nor-
walk has a growing busi-
ness community and the
population has grown
markedly in recent years.
As always, feel free to
contact me with your ideas
or concerns at julian.
garrett@legis.state.ia.us or
515-281-3221.
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