Akron Hometowner serving the communities of Akron, IA and Westfield, IA with Local News, Sports and What's Happening in the community. Designed by River City Digital Design www.rivercd.com
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September 12, 2007 What's Happening? Salt sales The A-W Athletic Booster Club annual salt sale continues with delivery Sat., Sept. 15. Contact Todd Colt, 568- 2020, to place an order. Farmers Market The Sept. 12 night is open at the Farmers Market in the Akron City Park. The Sept. 19 food stand is Carlsen Funeral Home and the last Farmers Market stand on Sept. 26 is the Akron Museum. History books You can still preorder Akron’s history book. Orders will be taken until Sept. 15. Contact City Hall or stop by the Quasquicentennial booth at the Scarecrow Festival Sept. 15 to order your book. If you don’t pre-order, there are no guarantees there will be many extra books. Scarecrow Festival Create a scarecrow or two for the 2007 Great Akron Scarecrow Festival & Contest, which is Saturday, Sept. 15. Or rent a booth to sell your crafts, food or wares. Festival proceeds raised go for community betterment. Rummage & Dinner On Sept. 21, the Westfield Congregational United Church of Christ will host from 4 - 8 p.m., a Rummage & Bake Sale, and from 5:00 - 7:30 p.m., a spaghetti dinner, at the church. For more information, call Kammy Stowe at 568-3301. Watch for Ad next week. Siren Testing Westfield officials will test their new emergency weather warning siren at NOON, Monday, Sept. 24.
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Auditorium: Another A-W Success this Decade
By Julie Ann Madden The Akron-Westfield School District renovated its auditorium -- probably the first time in about 30 years, said A-W Superintendent Ron Flynn. By the time of Akron’s Quasquicentennial Celebration this summer, the auditorium had new seating and carpeting. The numbers of seats is nearly the same, said Flynn, explaining that seats are made a little wider than they were three decades ago. The seats are red in color and move by gravity activation instead of on a spring system. It was decided not to have any “writing” arms on the seats to discourage use of the auditorium as a study hall, he said. The carpeting color was selected by Akron-Westfield School Board Member Janet Willer and A-W high school art teacher Robin Dirks. It complements the seat color. The first large public audience to use the auditorium will be community members, family and students who attend the school musical, Music Man, on Nov. 1, 2 and 3 of this year. “You don’t have to look to see if it’s a seat you want to sit in now,” said Flynn, noting that many of the old seats were uncomfortable due to being broken. The auditorium renovation project cost $47,078.58, and was paid for with School Infrastructure Local Option (SILO) sales tax revenues.A-W Successes: 2000 - 2007
Votes & Agreements • Wind turbine settlement in which city allowed school to keep $65,000. • Physical Plant & Equipment Levy (PPEL) vote --over 70 percent favorable. • School Infrastructure Local Option (SILO) tax: the biggest margin of approval was in the A-W District. • New contract with Greater Hoyt School District.
Academic • Record of seven class valedictorians twice. • Continue to meet No Child Left Behind mandates. • New Multi-Categorical Special Education room for severely handicapped children. • Around 150 new computers: switched from Macintosh to PC system. Purchased computer software and server so elementary teachers could have whole class on computers. • State and National History Day champions. • Lakeside Lab and Big Sioux River Tributary Water Study for science enrichment. • New elementary reading series, Grades K-8 science textbooks, and math textbooks for Grades K-12. • Kept small class sizes in lower elementary by hiring extra elementary teachers. • Restored elementary art and FFA program.
Extracurricular Activities • School records for wins in football, girls’ basketball, volleyball, and softball. • First conference title ever in boys’ track. • First ever state wrestling champions, three to date. • Three winning seasons in a row in boys’ basketball (2003-2006). • Two state championships in softball and five state tournament appearances. • All-State chorus and speech winners and award winning dance team. • State and national award-winning FFA program.
Facility Improvements • New roof, paid for with PPEL funds. • New floor coverings throughout much of building at $27,000 under budget. • Replaced old, worn out air conditioners at a cost of over $300,000. • Improved handicapped accessibility to building and bleachers. • Added voice mail to phone system. • Auditorium renovated. • Are replacing elementary windows.
Financial District financial condition has improved by more than $1 million in spite of more than half-million dollar deficit, declining enrollment, phasing out of budget guarantee and lowest allowable growth in state history.
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Designed by River City Digital, 2007
