Month: September 2022

Luther College student receives grant to launch women’s health initiative in Liberia

Luther College student Junita Sangare ‘25 received a $10,000 Davis Projects for Peace grant for her proposal titled “Girls Let’s Talk.” Her primary goal is to empower young women in Liberia through sexual reproductive health education–something that is desperately lacking in the country. 

“Empowering young women with education gives them the ability to make sound decisions about their health and bodies. Overall, this leads to a greater sense of awareness, strong self-esteem, purpose orientation and high achievements,” said Sangare. “With impact projects like ours, we believe we can achieve this reality for every young woman in Liberia, across Africa, and in the larger world.”

In Liberia, sex and sexual reproductive health are taboo topics. According to Sangare, 67% of adolescent girls with no education are either pregnant or have at least one child to care for, which is a life-altering struggle in a developing country like Liberia.

Being a member of this community, I have seen firsthand the detrimental realities that these challenges pose to young women, including my very own sisters and relatives. From being a high school dropout to street vendors and then diving deeper and deeper into poverty that is oftentimes extremely difficult to recover from.

Junita Sangare ’25

“Being a member of this community, I have seen firsthand the detrimental realities that these challenges pose to young women, including my very own sisters and relatives. From being a high school dropout to street vendors and then diving deeper and deeper into poverty that is oftentimes extremely difficult to recover from,” said Sangare.

Her project was essentially a seven-day intensive workshop for 75 women between the ages of 15 to 20 in two Liberia locations. Working with a team of eight youth leaders, Sangare succeeded in developing a life planning curriculum based on the educational resources provided by the World Health Organization on adolescent health and development. The project covered topics like sex education, teenage pregnancy prevention, gender roles and equality. Sangare empowered young women with education about their sexual reproductive health and life planning skills while creating a safe space that enhanced their growth and development. 

“It brings me nothing but great joy to do this work. This is the space where I feel fulfilled and purposeful,” said Sangare. “This project has left me with a strong sense of hope—hope that there are still plenty of chances to create a better world. I am proud to say that our successes have extended to starting a non-profit called Educate Women Liberia under which we hope to continue this work.”

Davis Projects for Peace was established by Kathryn W. Davis on her 100th birthday to fund selected students with $10,000 to create and build peace anywhere in the world. Funding for this specific project was used mainly for equipment and supplies in addition to marketing and event promotional support. 

Since the creation of the grant in 2007, Luther students have established 22 projects in 21 countries. In total, 36 Luther students have been awarded this prestigious grant to spread sustainable peace around the world.

 

About Luther College

Luther College is home to about 1,800 undergraduates who explore big questions and take action to benefit people, communities and society. Our academic programs, experiential approach to learning and welcoming community inspire students to learn actively, live purposefully and lead courageously for a lifetime of impact. Learn more at luther.edu. 

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DHS Senior Jenna Hartz named to ISTEP Executive Council

The Iowa Students for Tobacco Education and Prevention (ISTEP) Executive Council is excited to welcome Jenna Hartz from Decorah High School as its newest member. ISTEP is a statewide movement of young people in grades 7-12 who are stepping up to take action against tobacco and nicotine. 

Led by youth, with the support of adults, ISTEP provides an opportunity for students to develop their skills as leaders to make a difference in their communities and throughout the state.

Executive Council members plan the ISTEP Summit and interactive events for ISTEP chapters statewide to facilitate at the local level. The ISTEP Summit is an annual event that brings ISTEP chapters together from across the state to learn about tobacco and nicotine prevention, meet other ISTEP members and have fun. 

Hartz’s new position will be an asset to Decorah High School’s organization TAATU (Teens Against Alcohol and Tobacco Use). “Our organization includes a number of outstanding senior leaders, and I’m thrilled Jenna took it upon herself to apply for membership on the executive council. Her leadership at the state level will be so helpful in reaching our goals,” remarked Liz Fox, TAATU advisor.

ISTEP is funded by the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Tobacco Use Prevention and Control. To learn more about ISTEP, visit IowaSTEP.org.

Jenna Hartz

Rhymes With Decorah Podcast: RWD20 Birgitta Meade – Jean Young and The Decorah Impact Crater

On this episode of “Rhymes with Decorah”, we tell the incredible story of geologist Jean Young and the discovery of the Decorah Impact Crater. Long time educator and NE Iowa native Birgitta Meade joins us to tell the story of Jean, who she also called a friend, right up to her passing in 2010. We dedicate this episode to all those who are willing to follow a hunch in life, and take action in their beliefs, no matter what others may say. 

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Jean Young was indeed, a “character” – a well educated geologist, regarded local artist, and fan of dragons. Jean was also a founding member of the Oneota Coop, served as a board member of Ryumonji Zen Center, and lived a simple, but fascinating life surrounded by rocks!  While many locals likely found Jean’s eccentricities and lifestyle a bit out of place in NE Iowa, Jean had many friends and her scientific hunches were something of absolute genius. Jean’s work in discovering the Decorah Crater could very easily have never happened – and we are all the benefactors of it.

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Flowers And Falling Hearts, by Jean Young

In 2004-2005 a team including Jean Young, Robert McKay and H Paul Liu from the Iowa Geological Survey helped discover the Decorah Impact Crater – and particularly the ancient layer of shale (The Winneshiek Shale) that would provide some incredible geologic discoveries.

470 million years ago, the eastern edge of what is now Decorah was hit by a 650-foot meteorite. At that time, much of North America, including what is now Iowa, was covered in ancient oceans, and it was sediment from those oceans that filled in the crater basin creating layers of shale.

It was these layers of shale that led to the discovery of the meteor crater by citizen geologist and artist Jean Young. One of Jean’s jobs over the years was studying well-drillings for the state of Iowa to help present information on the most efficient (water) well locations. It was within these samples from around the Decorah area that she started noticing unusual patterns – including shale – which should not have geographically been there in comparison to the surrounding area. After contacting friends and acquaintances at the Iowa Geological Survey Jean’s hunch proved correct – that the shale layer represented an impact crater below the surface of Decorah.

Eventually the Iowa Geological Survey mapped the samples, outlining the crater’s basin. Scientists tested the layer of material underneath the crater for shocked quartz (shattered crystals) and conducted rock density and electromagnetic aerial surveys, confirming the impact structure.  

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Not only did the shale layer confirm the impact crater, but to everyone’s great surprise, the layer also held incredible fossils – many of which had never been seen before and entirely different from the surrounding geography. The most incredible of these discoveries (so far) is Pentecopterus Decorahensis, a six-foot-long sea scorpion that pre-dated the oldest known sea scorpion by 10,000 years.

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Pentecopterus rendering by Patrick Lynch, Yale University

To get at the fossils, inconveniently located underneath the Upper Iowa River, scientists temporarily diverted the river from the excavation site, recovering more than 5,000 specimens, including plants, shrimp-like animals, and the oldest known fossils of jawless fish. These discoveries have led to new insights into what life was like during the Ordovician period, and all because of Jean Young’s hunch.

Birgitta and others are in the early stages of documenting Jean’s work in the discovery of the impact crater, and are already working to share this story and the science behind it with children and adults across the region through presentations and information. The group hopes to have a full website in the future with information, additional discoveries, and more. 

You can visit this page for more information on the basics of the Decorah Impact Crater or a more in depth 2015 article from the Iowa Science Interface. We would like to offer a sincere thank you to Birgitta Meade for helping tell the story of Jean Young and this incredible discovery in our region. 

Luther College recognized as one of the best colleges for sustainability

Luther College’s Gateway Prairie and wind turbine

The 2022 Sustainable Campus Index is out and this year, the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) named Luther College the fourth best baccalaureate institution in the nation for its efforts in sustainability. 

The Sustainable Campus Index is a comprehensive and independent assessment that includes hundreds of schools. For Luther to rank fourth in the nation is a great honor and a recognition of all the people who help to make sustainability an essential part of Luther College.

Jon Jensen, director of the Center for Sustainable Communities at Luther

This honor recognizes the breadth and depth of the college’s sustainability efforts. 

“From sustainability scholarships to sheep grazing in our solar fields, Luther incorporates sustainability into all aspects of college life,” said Jensen. 

Luther scored especially well in the Curriculum category and is ranked number nine of all colleges and universities in the nation. This category recognizes colleges with courses, programs or learning outcomes in sustainability. At Luther, 37% of all courses include a sustainability component and 100% of departments have sustainability course offerings. 

The college was also featured in the publication for offering the Sustainability Scholarship. Each year, five incoming students who have demonstrated leadership in sustainability and are committed to working for a more just, equitable, and environmentally sustainable world are awarded the $5,000 scholarship.  

“The Center for Sustainable Communities compiles the data but this ranking reflects work from all across campus and once again shows that Luther is a leader in helping to prepare students for lives of service while ‘walking the talk’ when it comes to how we run our campus,” said Jensen. 

These rankings are based on AASHE’s Sustainability Tracking, Assessment and Rating System or STARS. It is a comprehensive and transparent framework for colleges to measure their sustainability performance. Luther, once again, received the STARS Gold Award, improving its score from 72 in 2019 to 75 in 2022. Chris Frantsvog, Luther College sustainability coordinator, gathered and analyzed data for the report, which is submitted every three years. This year, he and his team were recognized as a top institution for Data Accuracy. It’s a big job, but for Frantsvog, it’s worth the effort to spread the word about the great efforts happening at Luther. 

“Many people have seen Luther’s huge solar fields, but they may have never seen the sheep we have grazing here. Many people know of Luther’s academic success but wouldn’t know that Luther’s research students recently discovered seven bee species never identified before in Iowa. Our sustainability success takes a lot of wild and wonderful shapes,” said Frantsvog. 

Other noteworthy college sustainability achievements include: 

  • Luther College has reduced its carbon footprint by 63.5% for the fiscal year 2020-21, on the way to a goal of carbon neutrality by 2030.
  • Since 2014, 80,000 pounds of leftover food from the Cafeteria has been packaged and donated to local food pantries through Luther’s Caf to Community program. 
  • 13.8 tons of materials were diverted from the landfill during Move Out 2022. 
  • 53% of Luther’s electricity comes from renewable power sources (wind and solar) generated on campus.

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Jon Jensen and students visit sheep grazing at the solar field.

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Sheep grazing at the solar field.

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A student works in the Luther gardens.

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From the farm to the Caf. Students enjoy farm fresh vegetables.

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Each year Luther hosts a plant giveaway.

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13.8 tons of materials were diverted from the landfill during Move Out 2022.

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“Daryll”–Luther’s wind turbine named by students.

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Touch A Truck – Sat, Oct 15

Touch A Truck – Sat, Oct 15

Posted: September 15, 2022 at 9:31 AM in News Recreation

Little boy wearing fireman coat and hatJoin us for this fun, free open house event for the whole family Saturday, October 15 , 10am-12pm in the parking lot behind City Hall!

Come explore your favorite vehicles including police, fire and emergency vehicles, construction equipment, farm equipment, tow trucks, and city maintenance equipment. A free hot dog lunch will be provided by the Decorah Fire Department. This event is co-hosted with the Decorah Fire Department in conjunction with Fire Prevention Week and volunteers are provided by the Decorah Rotary Club. No registration required, just show up!

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Two DHS seniors named National Merit Scholarship Semifinalists

Today officials of National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC) announced the names of over 16.000 Semifinalists in the 68th annual National Merit Scholarship Program, and two Decorah High School students, Justin Berlage and Diep Doan, are among those honored.  These academically talented high school seniors have an opportunity to continue in the competition for some 7,250 National Merit Scholarships worth nearly $28 million that will be offered next spring.  

High school students entered the 2023 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT), which serves as an initial screen of the program entrants. The nationwide pool of Semifinalists, representing less than one percent of U.S. high school seniors, includes the highest-scoring entrants in each state. The number of Semifinalists in a state is proportional to the state’s percentage of the national total of graduating seniors.

To be considered for a Merit Scholarship award, Semifinalists must fulfill several requirements to advance to the Finalist level of the competition. About 95 percent of the Semifinalists are expected to attain Finalist standing, and approximately half of the Finalists will win a National Merit Scholarship, earning the Merit Scholar title.

A Semifinalist must have an outstanding academic record throughout high school, be endorsed and recommended by a high school official, write an essay, and earn SAT or ACT scores that confirm the student’s earlier performance on the qualifying test. 

Today officials of National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC) announced the names of over 16.000 Semifinalists in the 68th annual National Merit Scholarship Program, and two Decorah High School students, Justin Berlage and Diep Doan, are among those honored.  These academically talented high school seniors have an opportunity to continue in the competition for some 7,250 National Merit Scholarships worth nearly $28 million that will be offered next spring.  

High school students entered the 2023 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT), which serves as an initial screen of the program entrants. The nationwide pool of Semifinalists, representing less than one percent of U.S. high school seniors, includes the highest-scoring entrants in each state. The number of Semifinalists in a state is proportional to the state’s percentage of the national total of graduating seniors.

To be considered for a Merit Scholarship award, Semifinalists must fulfill several requirements to advance to the Finalist level of the competition. About 95 percent of the Semifinalists are expected to attain Finalist standing, and approximately half of the Finalists will win a National Merit Scholarship, earning the Merit Scholar title.

A Semifinalist must have an outstanding academic record throughout high school, be endorsed and recommended by a high school official, write an essay, and earn SAT or ACT scores that confirm the student’s earlier performance on the qualifying test. 

NMSC, a not-for-profit organization, was established in 1955 specifically to conduct the annual National Merit Scholarship Program.

Diep Doan and Justin Berlage
DHS National Merit Scholarship Semifinalists (l-r): Diep Doan and Justin Berlage

Red Oak Outdoor School Announces Fall Programs

The Red Oak Outdoor School is excited to announce their fall program series for youth and families. Programs include weekly exploratory days with children 4 and under (with a parent/guardian), monthly workshops for youth aged 5-12, and a weekly homeschool enrichment program for ages 5-12. 

“My daughter grew immensely from her time in Willowers (a Red Oak program), deepening her sense of confidence and a willingness to try new things,” says Somer, parent of a program participant. 

This fall’s programs will be run by Ida Rotto, joined by guest mentors from the Decorah area. All programs will take place within a 15 mile radius of Decorah Iowa. Specific locations will be sent upon registration. 

Red Oak is informed by the 8 Shields Coyote mentoring model, the Rx Outside Nature-Led Mentoring model, the Reggio Amelia approach, and the landscapes and seasons that we inhabit. 

For more information view this pdf

https://drive.google.com/file/d/189nRmQnvGAErAfgalpvIUautf4hwqWYg/view

and to register, contact Ida Rotto at 707.919.5802 or ida.rotto@gmail.com

 

Red Oak Fall Programs

 

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The Red Oak Outdoor School is committed to supporting youth to know themselves in the context of the communities that they are a part of, seeing and thinking for themselves with an understanding of our interconnectedness in a world that asks us evermore to do so. In the day-to-day, this means supporting children to build relationships with the natural world, each other, and themselves, through meaningful play and exploration. Through time outside, we believe that youth are aided in their development in ways for which the human body has been wired for millennia, integrally supporting them in their ability to predict and orient, and grow in their confidence and resilience. By building familiarity with neighbors of all kinds, we hope to help youth to discover a sense of unquestionable belonging.

DCSD receives grant for therapeutic classroom and resources

The Decorah Community School District was recently one of ten school districts in the state of Iowa to receive a Therapeutic Classroom Incentive Grant from the Iowa Department of Education.  John Cline and Carrie Lee Elementary Schools received $266,000 in grant funding for a therapeutic classroom and supports. The Therapeutic Classroom Grant is part of a statewide effort to increase mental health supports for children, youth, and families.

Therapeutic classrooms and resources are designed to provide support for any student whose emotional, social, or behavioral needs interfere with their ability to be successful in the current educational environment. 

Grant writer Shanna Putnam Dibble shared that the funds will be utilized for a variety of social, emotional, and behavioral health supports, including classroom and curriculum materials, professional development for staff, and family and community learning opportunities and engagement.

Putnam Dibble states, “Now, more than ever, our students and families need social, emotional, and mental health supports, and the earlier that we provide these supports and resources, the better for all involved.  This funding will enhance our efforts across our elementary schools to support the social and emotional needs of our students and families, ensuring all students have the skills and resources they need to be successful in school and throughout life.”

The Decorah Community School District was recently one of ten school districts in the state of Iowa to receive a Therapeutic Classroom Incentive Grant from the Iowa Department of Education.  John Cline and Carrie Lee Elementary Schools received $266,000 in grant funding for a therapeutic classroom and supports. The Therapeutic Classroom Grant is part of a statewide effort to increase mental health supports for children, youth, and families.

Therapeutic classrooms and resources are designed to provide support for any student whose emotional, social, or behavioral needs interfere with their ability to be successful in the current educational environment. 

Grant writer Shanna Putnam Dibble shared that the funds will be utilized for a variety of social, emotional, and behavioral health supports, including classroom and curriculum materials, professional development for staff, and family and community learning opportunities and engagement.

Putnam Dibble states, “Now, more than ever, our students and families need social, emotional, and mental health supports, and the earlier that we provide these supports and resources, the better for all involved.  This funding will enhance our efforts across our elementary schools to support the social and emotional needs of our students and families, ensuring all students have the skills and resources they need to be successful in school and throughout life.”

“All students need support and resources that meet their individual needs,” said Iowa Department of Education Director Ann Lebo. “The therapeutic classroom grants help schools build upon their great work to promote the overall well-being of students. I commend this year’s awardees and their community partners for their plans to grow and strengthen a continuum of therapeutic supports so that every student has the support they need to succeed.”

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