Dear editor,
As the school issue takes center stage, I would like to propose a few things to ponder.
Thomas Bowlus was a forward thinker over 50 years ago when he provided for funding our Fine Arts Center. He even stipulated the beautiful home he occupied be razed and the new building occupy the site. Many of this era would be horrified at the destruction of such a lovely home, but he was looking toward bettering education for Allen County students, and this was the route he chose.
When the present schools were built, and even well into the 1970s, children with special needs did not exist in our classes. I do not remember a single classmate that was physically or mentally challenged to the point they could not take part in class. This is not to say there were no people that met that criteria that were my age, but if they had handicaps of any kind they didn’t go to school here. We did have one teacher, Mr. Jon Horine, who was wheelchair-bound and he was carried up the stairs of IHS each day. This inaccessibility remains an issue to this day for students in the elementary schools.
At present, I am a fourth-grade teacher and only two students in my class walk to school. On the average there are fewer than 15 bikes ridden to school and one of those is a teacher’s. Several of my students would be closer to school at the proposed site. My class is typical of most of the classes at Jefferson.
Our schools were built when advanced technology was a typewriter and a telephone. Now we have fax machines, copy machines, laminators, iPads, computers, and SmartBoards trying to make do with the few electrical outlets planned for over 70 years ago, which is a concern in our inspections by the fire department each year.
Due to the differences in the delivery of education now versus 70 or more years ago, changes have had to occur in the location of classes. If you get sick nowadays at any of the elementary schools, you are given a plastic bag in a trash can and get to sit out where everyone walking by can see you, and/or catch what you have. I don’t know that it is much better at Iola Middle School or Iola High School.
Without a doubt, the issues in the schools will have to be addressed and soon. We are the oldest schools in the local area and we are losing families to the newer facilities. The choice is going to come down to voting to provide our children with the opportunity similar to what Mr. Bowlus did over 50 years ago, and do it with 51 percent state aid, or fix up our old buildings for approximately the same amount.
I will be voting Yes on both items on the ballot this November. For the sake of our future, I hope you, too, will consider what is best for our students and community.
Mary Ann Regehr,
Iola, Kan.
Dear editor,
This past weekend the Bowlus Fine Arts and Cultural Center celebrated 50 years of presenting cultural and educational programming for our community. It was wonderful to see the auditorium filled to the brim on Friday night when the Kansas City Symphony gave an outstanding performance. It was fun to see old friends reconnect on Saturday morning during the Bowlus open house. Finally, on Saturday evening our own Bowlus alumni did us proud as we showcased their talents in the variety show. Without the support of the Sleeper Family Trust, none of this would have been possible. So, THANK YOU to the Sleeper family and the Sleeper Trustees.
As you can imagine, a two-day event of this magnitude takes a huge commitment of time and energy from a large number of people.
First, thank you to the Bowlus Trustees, who are elected as the USD 257 Board of Education, and the Bowlus Commission for their support, with special thanks to BOE President Tony Leavitt, who spoke so eloquently at the rededication ceremony.
A special thank you to our two guest speakers, Attorney General Derek Schmidt, who has long been a supporter of the Bowlus; and our thanks to Burton Bowlus, 92, nephew of Thomas H. Bowlus, who spoke on behalf of the Bowlus family.
I also appreciate Mayor Joel Wicoff and Allen County Commissioner Dick Works, who represented the city and county in the rededication ceremony. Representative Kent Thompson helped secure the governor’s proclamation making it Thomas H. Bowlus Fine Arts and Cultural Center Day in Kansas.
Neil Magnuson, Class of 1995, flew in from New York City to be our master of ceremonies Saturday. He did a terrific job as did each and every one of our performers that night.
As an audience member we often take a very special group of people for granted — the stage crew! Besides our wonderful Bowlus tech director and assistant tech director, we had an amazingly talented crew made up of past alumni, Erica Gilmore Richie, Class of 2002, as stage manager and her husband Kevin programming and running lights, spot operators Richard Spencer, Class of 1968, and Jasmine Walker, Matthew Hoisington and Russell Head on sound, John Collins, assistant sound operator, and running crew member Ben Olson, Class of 2007. They each did their job so well that the Alumni Variety Show came off without a hitch.
I also want to recognize the members of CITF, Coterie, Friends of the Bowlus, Iola Reads, Kiwanis, PEO, Rotary Clubs, and the Veterans Committee, who served birthday cake and punch.
It goes without saying that none of this would have been possible without the outstanding Bowlus staff members who made it a labor of love to pull this very special weekend together.
Finally, thanks to our wonderful and supportive audience. Your energy and enthusiasm made the weekend worth all the hard work and planning.
Sincerely,
Susan Raines,
Executive Director
