Month: April 2023

Justin Berlage of Decorah High School has been named a semifinalist for the 2023 U.S. Presidential Scholars program, one of the highest honors bestowed upon graduating high school seniors in the country.  He is the son of Jodi Enos-Berlage and John Berlage of Ridgeway.

Out of nearly 3.7 million graduating high school seniors from across the country, over 5,000 students were identified as candidates for the program, which originated in 1964 by executive order of the president. Application to the program is by invitation only. This April, 628 semifinalists were selected, including eight students from Iowa. Scholars are selected on the basis of superior academic and artistic achievements, leadership qualities, strong character, and involvement in community and school activities.

Berlage plans to attend MIT in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in the fall to study mechanical engineering, with special interests in computer science and robotics. 

Berlage is a National Merit Finalist and has played a key role in leading the Decorah Robotics team and a Decorah Envirothon team to regionals and back-to-back competitive appearances at state competitions. He attended summer programs at NYU-Tandon School of Engineering and Carleton College Summer Program in Computer Science/Robotics. He has also been involved in High School Mathematical Competition in Modeling (HiMCM), soccer, National Honor Society, and chorus. He is a graduate of St. Benedict’s K-8 Catholic School in Decorah. He is also a member of the Madison 4Hers 4H club.

For his application to the U.S. Presidential Scholars program, Berlage was required to submit a photograph of something of great significance. He chose a picture of a K’Nex roller coaster that he designed and built when he was eight years old. In his related essay, he explained how the many hours and years he spent building various items using K’Nex materials instilled creativity, testing of ideas, risk-taking, confidence, and joy—attributes that he later applied to robotics, engineering, and computer science. Other major influences described by Berlage included growing up in a household and community where education was highly valued, reading hundreds of books a year from the Decorah Public Library–further supplemented by Dragonfly Books–and growing up on a farm, which developed problem-solving skills, a strong work ethic, and an appreciation for the fragility of the natural world.

In his response to the essay prompt “If you could improve one thing in the world, what would it be, and how would you change it?”, Berlage focused on elevating environmental education at the K-12 level, intentionally integrating it as a required core subject in elementary, middle school, and high school, equal in importance to reading and math and taught in a similarly successive fashion. He emphasized that these changes to the educational system would give his generation their best chance of living in a sustainable future.

The Commission on Presidential Scholars, a group of up to 32 eminent citizens appointed by the President, will select approximately 160 U.S. Presidential Scholars program finalists. The U.S. Department of Education will announce the Scholars in May.

Margaret Aitken Haggerty, a Chair of the Commission on Presidential Scholars, remarked, “Regardless of the final outcome of the competition, it is a great honor and an exceptional accomplishment to have reached the semifinalist phase in this highly selective and prestigious program.”

Two Decorah Middle School students recently qualified for the National History Day competition which will be held June 11-15 at the University of Maryland.

Jayden Lundtvedt qualified with her exhibit titled Valentina Tereshkova: Frontier in Female Cosmonautics

Naomi Kutz qualified with her website titled Jane Bolin: Leading the Frontier for Equality in Law

This year’s theme was Frontiers in History: People, Places, and Ideas.

Decorah Home School Assistance Program (HSAP) student Eva Kriemelmeyer received first place in the junior (grades 6-8) individual performance category at the state National History Day competition in Des Moines on April 24. Her performance is titled “Marie Curie: Frontiers in Radioactivity.”

Kriemelmeyer will advance to the 2023 National History Day contest at the University of Maryland June 11-15, where she will compete alongside nearly 3000 other students from all 50 states, American Samoa, Northern Mariana Islands, Department of Defense Schools in Europe, and international schools, including several from Asia.

National History Day is a year-long academic enrichment program that challenges students to research, develop, and present projects about historical issues, ideas, people, and events related to an annual theme. This year’s theme is Frontiers in History: People, Places, and Ideas.

Lucas Arendt, Connor Evelsizer, Gabriel Hiner, Anders Lovstuen, and Aidan Nalean-Carlson, members of the “DNR” Envirothon team representing Decorah High School, took first place at the Envirothon state contest held April 24that the Jester Park Nature Center near Granger, Iowa. They will represent Iowa at the international contest to be held July 23-29, 2023, at Mount Allison University located in Tantramar, New Brunswick, Canada. Decorah’s “Team Skabush”–Justin Berlage, Peter Essa, Nathaniel Myers, Nathan Swarbrick and Henry Weis–finished in fourth place. Both teams tied for first place in the Current Environmental Issue category.

The Envirothon is a team competition for high school students, testing their knowledge of the natural world around them. In the field and classroom, teams of five students are challenged to use their knowledge and critical thinking skills to conduct hands-on investigations, solve real-life scenarios, and answer questions covering five categories: Aquatics, Forestry, Soils, Wildlife, and a current topic. This year’s current environmental issue, “Adapting to the Agricultural Changes Needed in a Changing Climate,” required each team to prepare and present a speech outlining a designed plan with recommendations and possible solutions to meet the current topic challenges.

Adviser Larry Berland remarked, “Have you ever been asked to determine the amount of sand, silt and clay in a soil sample by using only your hands?  Do you have the desire to figure out the basal area of trees growing in a woodlot with a 10 factor prism?  How about sighting in on the clarity of a water sample using only a Secchi tube or identifying turtles by the markings on their carapace?  High school students in Decorah who have been participating in the school’s Envirothon program are ready for these challenges and more.”

“I am very proud to say that 70 awesome Decorah High School students participated in the Envirothon program this year–a new record,” Berland continued. “They offer hope for the Earth’s environment. I want to especially thank Adam Riley along with the entire Decorah system for their support, including the super help of John Kraus and Maggie Schwarz along with a very generous contribution made to our program from Barb Schroeder and the Winneshiek County Conservation Board.”  

The Decorah FFA competed at the 95th Iowa FFA Leadership Conference on April 17th and 18th at Iowa State University in Ames. Twenty-two Decorah FFA members attended this year’s conference, including Brooke Anfinson, Annika Brynsaas, Brody Courtney, Kiele Eberling, Karlie Einck, Rashell Lippe, Anders Lovstuen, Morgan Moen, Creed Monroe, Justin Nierling, Travis Nordheim, Jeramiah Rediske, Chezny Ryant, Eden Scheidel, Hannah Schnitzler, Kayleigh Smith, Derek Tieskoetter, Ciara Wedmann, Addison Wemark, Kamryn Werges, Thea Zidlicky, and Dalton Zidlicky. The members participated in seven contests.

Results on State Qualifying Events

Addison Wemark, the 2022-2023 secretary of the Decorah FFA, submitted the Decorah FFA Secretary’s book for the state evaluation. The book received a gold rating and was awarded as the state champion. Wemark was recognized on the main stage and presented with a plaque.

Anders Lovstuen, 2022-2023 treasurer of the Decorah FFA, submitted the Decorah FFA treasurer’s book. The book received a gold rating, and Lovstuen was recognized on the main stage during the first general session.

Annika Brynsaas competed in the ag sales individual leadership development event. She received a gold rating and was recognized on the main stage during the first general session.

Jeramiah Rediske competed in the job interview leadership development event and received a silver rating.

State Ag Skills Career Development Event

The Ag Communications team–Eden Scheidel, Kamryn Werges, Kiele Eberling, and Rashell Lippe–received 9^th place and a silver rating. Eden Scheidel was named the top individual in the journalistic writing practicum.

The Farm Business Management team received a silver rating. Members of this team include Addison Wemark, Dalton Zidlicky, Hannah Schnitzler, and Morgan Moen. This career development event is designed to provide the students an opportunity to display their agricultural knowledge and skills in the area of farm management.

Karlie Einck and Thea Zidlicky participated in the FFA Greenhand Quiz event. This quiz allows members to showcase their knowledge about the FFA organizations. Einck and Zidlicky both received bronze ratings.

Iowa FFA Degree

The Decorah FFA also had members earning individual awards and degrees. The Iowa FFA Degree is the highest honor a member may receive from the state. FFA participants who qualify have completed the three-circle model’s minimum participation requirements: Supervised Agricultural Experience (SAE), FFA, and Classroom/Laboratory. This year eight members of the Decorah FFA received this honor: Brooke Anfinson, Creed Monroe, Justin Nierling, Travis Nordheim, Chezny Ryant, Hannah Schnitzler, Ciara Wedmann, and Addison Wemark.

Stars Over Iowa

Justin Nierling was named the 2023 Star in Agribusiness winner. This award category is based on an entrepreneurship/ownership Supervised Agricultural Experience (SAE) program in a non-production agriculture area. Nierling keeps records from his business Nierling Custom Farming.

Additional Contest Results and Activities

The Decorah FFA Chapter earned a gold rating in the National Chapter Award Program, a contest designed to encourage chapters to plan activities and carry them out with a successful program of activities. Chapters are recognized for outstanding achievement in the areas of student development, chapter development, and community development. Brody Courtney accepted the award on behalf of the chapter during the second general session.

Members also took part in a variety of events that took place throughout the Iowa FFA Leadership Conference and attended the career show. Morgan Moen and Kiele Eberling played in the state FFA band, Creed Monroe and Kayleigh Smith served as state courtesy corps members, and Anders Lovstuen and Travis Nordheim served as the chapter’s delegates and attended the state FFA association’s business session. 

Joni Bruvold, agricultural science teacher at Decorah High School, is the FFA advisor.