The Mt. Pleasant Community School board met for a work session on Monday evening. Although three new faces joined the board just two months ago, big changes are being discussed.
The world of social media is alive and well. Many businesses, churches, organizations, and school districts utilize popular apps such as Facebook and Instagram to reach the public. The school board watched through a presentation last night regarding the use of social media for the district. It is no easy task for all teachers and staff members district wide to get on the same page, which is where MonkeyThis comes in. This group boosts social media output in the form of an app.
Through this, staff can snap a picture of what is happening in the classroom, on the field, in the hallways, and then write a short caption about what is taking place. Then, the professionals edit the photo and caption, and then it is posted. The goal is to share what is happening to the whole community, not just those who have kids in school.
The board seemingly agreed that this is a great idea, as an app can bring great ease to what can be a large task. This would help get all schools in the district on the same page.
Superintendent Henriksen mentioned how the district is ready to get started with a district social media page and place someone in charge of the website and the page.
As this was a board work session, no decision was made, but there will be more conversation on this at a later time.
Regarding repairs to the Chapel, stress-fractures have been revealed in two of the three trusses. 325,000 to 375,000 dollars is on the high end for repairs, but the board is prepared for the worst case scenario.
Henriksen would like to begin the discussion into central office design in February, and open up the HOWE activity center in April for school use. It seems that the Chapel repairs will be completed in June. This is a rough estimate schedule, however, and certain items might be completed much sooner or later.
Mt. Pleasant’s matchup against Mid-Prairie last night was canceled. The Panthers will host Washington on Friday, January 26th, with the girls playing at 6 pm. KILJ 105.5 FM, kilj.com, will have the call with the pregame show at 5:45 pm.
Mediapolis and Danville’s games last night were postponed. The Bulldogs will take on New London tonight at home with the girls playing at 6 pm.
Van Buren County will square off against Danville in a road matchup with the girls playing at 6 pm tonight.
WACO versus New London last night was postponed. The Warriors will travel to Highland tonight with the girls leading off the night at 6 pm.
The Winfield-Mt. Union boys’ team had their matchup against West Burlington canceled last night. The Wolves will face off against WACO on Thursday, January 25th, with game one at 6 pm.
Central Lee versus Burlington Notre Dame was canceled last night. The Hawks will host West Burlington tonight with game one at 6 pm.
Holy Trinity Catholic will compete against Burlington Notre Dame tonight with the girls scheduled to play at 6 pm.
High School Boys’ Basketball Rankings
The Iowa High School Athletic Association released their third edition of the boys’ basketball rankings and Winfield-Mt. Union stayed locked in at #3. The Wolves sit behind Marquette Catholic and North Linn, respectively. The team sits at 12-1 on the season with Abram Edwards averaging a double-double with 15.7 points and 11.8 rebounds per game. Cam Buffington leads the team, averaging 18.7 points per game.
High School Wrestling
The WACO boys’ team will compete in a triangular today at home.
The Columbus/Winfield-Mt. Union boys’ team will host a triangular today against Louisa-Muscatine and Pekin.
New London will host a quad on Thursday.
The Mt. Pleasant boys’ team will compete in a dual on Thursday at Burlington.
The Mt. Pleasant, Columbus/Winfield-Mt. Union, and WACO girls’ teams will compete at Alliant Energy Power House for Super Regionals on Friday, January 26th.
High School Bowling
Mt. Pleasant will host Burlington on Thursday, January 25th.
University of Northern Iowa
The Glen Brand Wrestling Hall of Fame 2024 class will feature two former members of the UNI wrestling program. Shawn Kelly Sr. wrestled for the Panthers from 1979 to 1983 and he will be receiving the Russ Smith Community Impact Award after allowing UNI to transform his facility, USA Mat Club, into their temporary training facility.
The second member is Steve Hamilton, a former assistant coach for the Panthers. Hamilton also claimed two high school state championships and was a four-time All-American at Iowa State. He joined Mark Manning’s staff at UNI in 1997 and stayed until 2000. He helped coach All-Americans Eric Keller, Randy Pugh, and an NCAA champion in Tony Davis.
The ceremony will be held in Waverly, Iowa, on June 21st.
College Basketball
The #5 Iowa women’s team will look to get back in the win column on Saturday, January 27th, at 1 pm in a home matchup against Nebraska.
The Iowa State women’s team will look to rebound tomorrow, January 24th, against Kansas in a road matchup at 6:30 pm.
The #23 Iowa State men’s team will host Kansas State tomorrow at 8 pm.
The Iowa men’s team will take on Maryland at home tomorrow at 6 pm.
This Day in Sports History
1950 – The Associated Press picks “Miracle Braves” of 1914 as the greatest sports upset.
1984 – The Buffalo Sabres become the first team in NHL history to win 10 straight road games with a 5-3 victory at Boston.
2015 – Golden State guard Klay Thompson scores the most NBA points in a quarter (37) and most three-pointers in a quarter (9) in a Warrior’s 126-101 win over the Sacramento Kings.
IHSAA- After taking a week off due to the weather, the Iowa High School Athletic Association (IHSAA) has issued out the third edition of the boys’ basketball rankings for all the classifications. Despite the extra time for teams to make a move, there was only one #1 team dethroned.
Cedar Rapids Kennedy is still on top in Class 4A as they boast the only undefeated record in the class. Iowa City West and Waukee hold on to the 2nd and 3rd spots, respectively. North Scott fell from the #4 slot down to #7 after going 3-1 since the January 8th rankings.
For Class 3A, Clear Lake sits on top of the rankings with an 11-0 record. Solon ranks 4th in the rankings, despite being the only other team in the top ten with an undefeated record. Assumption rounds out the top ten with a 7-5 mark.
Class 2A saw Regina Catholic sneak in to the top ten with a 12-2 record, but West Lyon and Western Christian retained the top two spots on the list, respectively. Monticello slid down the list from the #3 spot all the way to #7 on the list as Hudson took over the free #3 slot.
This leaves Class 1A having the new #1 team as North Linn suffered their first loss of the season to Alburnett, resulting in Marquette Catholic and the Lynx flipping spots. Winfield-Mt. Union remained ranked at #3, followed by Madrid and Keota, respectively.
Gary Meth, Jr., 53, of Mount Pleasant, died Sunday, January 21, 2024, at Park Place Elder Living.
Gary was born April 5, 1970, in California, the son of Gary and Geraldine (May) Meth, Sr. He held a few general labor jobs, and most recently worked at Walmart. Gary loved his family and enjoyed spending quality time with them, as well as his dogs.
Gary is survived by his son Chaz Meth; special friend Jennifer Hopkins; two sisters Sherry (Randy) Carver, Terry Carver; brother Jerry Meth; two nephews Zach Carver, Spencer Carver; niece Stormy Carver; and a great niece Sommer Carver.
He was preceded in death by his parents.
According to his wishes his body has been cremated and no services are planned at this time. The Olson-Powell Chapel & Crematory is caring for Gary and his family. www.powellfuneralhomes.com
Danville, IA- Saturday was a time to celebrate and relive the achievements of two legendary figures in Danville’s history as the 2017-2018 Girls’ Track and Field team and Boys’ head Basketball coach Ken Laffoon were officially inducted into the Danville Athletic Hall of Fame for the 2024 class.
The celebration took place between the boys’ junior varsity and boys’ varsity basketball game against Davis County as the Bears junior varsity had just finished dismantling the Mustangs to start off the afternoon.
The 2017-2018 Girls’ Track and Field team was introduced first as this team finished in the top 11 in ten events to claim Danville’s first Track and Field state championship. On their way to the hardware, Alyssa Pfadenhauer grabbed four medals as she finished in first place in the 400-meters, joined Grace Grothe, Alexis Bauer, and Kathry Luers in the first place Sprint Medley team, McKenzie Speer replaced Luers in the 4×400-meter relay team for gold, and a third-place finish in the 200-meter.
Also grabbing gold was the team of Grothe, Bauer, Speer, and Luers in the 4×200 meter relay. The same team took second in the 4×100 meter relay. Luers claimed 7th place in the 200-meters. Speer leapt to a 9th place finish in the high jump. Lastly, Addison Parrott took 10th in the 3000-meters and 11th in the 1500.
The full team included Kaley Eisenmann, BreAnn Yaley, Kenzi Downing, Drew Fox, and Breanna Teel. Assistant coaches Lucas Gourley and Amanda Richardson also attended, moreover, head coach Natalie Ford was happy to have her team reunited again,
“It’s a pretty amazing honor, you know, its really great to see all these faces back here and get all the girls back together and we were all just talking about how different, you know, things are even five years later. It’s a really cool thing to do, I’m glad Danville does something like this. It gives a lot of past athletes a chance to come back and get honored, so it’s very cool.”
In a season full of memories, Ford had trouble picking out her favorite, but she finally settled on the one featured at the induction ceremony.
“Coaches aren’t usually allowed down on the track at state, so once we got that trophy, we were all down there together for the first time and, you know, they got all the roses, the trophy, all the medals, so we just soaked it up once last time all together down on the track. So, probably that.”
The other member of the 2024 class is one familiar throughout southeast Iowa as he was inducted into the Iowa basketball coaches Hall of Fame back in 2019 and a mainstay at the state tournament as the leader of Bears varsity boys’ basketball team. Ken Laffoon, a six-time District/Substate Coach of the Year recipient, got to enjoy his moment in the limelight, but if it was up to him it would’ve gone to the community,
“When I was hired in Danville in the 1994-95 school year, it was the best thing that has ever happened to me, and I was blessed to get this job and to keep this job for 25 years after that. The Danville community is just that good, so any award I get like at the state Hall of Fame or the Danville high school Hall of Fame that’s a reflection of the community. They support you like crazy.”
Laffoon led the Bears to seven state tournament appearances, which included back-to-back state championships back in the 2000-01 and 2001-02 seasons, and runner-up finishes in the 2010-11 and 2011-12 seasons.
From Jake Wenig’s three-point shot to win the state championship, the development of Michael and Steven Soukup along with Brock Ita, or a wild shot in a freshman game that went rattling around frame holding the basket up, there was always a sea of blue that would follow and cheer on the Bears, something that still sticks with Laffoon to this day.
Since his departure from the sidelines, the Soukup twins have led Danville back to the state tournament as they co-coach the Bears. Despite his legacy of collecting a career record of 508-181, which includes 433 wins at Danville, he’s happy to see Michael and Steven make the program their own,
“One of the things that I like about what Mike and Steven have done is that they’ve put their own mark on the team. You know when I watch them [the team] play, I’m like ‘we didn’t do that’ or ‘we didn’t do this’ and I’m not one of those guys that tell Mike and Steven ‘you know, do this and do that’ if they ask for a question, I give them an answer. But they put their own mark on the program, and they’ve been successful, I mean, they’ve already been to the state tournament, took me a lot of years to get there! So, I’m very proud of them, I’m very proud of every kid that’s ever played for us.”
The Bears put an exclamation point on the weekend when the varsity team went on to take down Davis County 60-43 after the ceremony. Another win for a school that has become accustomed to the feeling.
Anita Hill, 84, of Mt. Pleasant passed away on Tuesday, January 9, 2024 at the Southeast Iowa Reginal Hospice House in West Burlington.
A Celebration of Anita’s life will be held on Saturday, January 27, 2024, from 2:00 p.m. til 4:00 p.m. at the Murphy Funeral Home in Mt. Pleasant.Memorials may be directed to the American Cancer Society or to the Kidney Foundation in her memory. According to her wishes cremation has been entrusted to the care of Murphy Funeral Home of Mt. Pleasant.
