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CENTRAL MIDDLE SCHOOL SUCCESSFULLY MOVES TO THE WATERLOO CAREER CENTER ANNEX AS CENTRAL’S BUILDING RENOVATIONS BEGIN

WATERLOO, IOWA — Waterloo Schools’ Central Middle School has successfully moved into its temporary home at the Waterloo Career Center’s (WCC) recently constructed annex. The WCC is located directly next to Central and will house students in temporary classrooms until renovations are completed on the middle school in 2024. 

Central students return to school following winter break on January 4, 2023. Central families are invited to an open house event at the WCC from 5:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. on January 5, 2023, to tour the new space and speak with faculty. 

Parking at Central will have a new layout as pictured below, and according to Ross Bauer, Central principal, there is a specific lane for buses and spaces for parents to drop off and pick up their students. The school will also have a number of staff members stationed outside each day to ensure students enter and exit the building safely. 

“The students seem excited and curious about the new building!” said Bauer. “It will take some getting used to with such a big change, but we are going to do everything we can to make everyone feel at home in the new, temporary Central.”

Waterloo Schools Mission:

The Waterloo Schools community commits to a comprehensive system of education and support to assure that each and every student will graduate prepared for college, career, and citizenship as evidenced by continuing education, pursuing a career path, and contributing to a community.

Parking Layout at Central Middle School during the renovations###

 

Central Middle School welcomes students to Rec Night

Students bounced across the court, buzzing with energy and activity during Central’s November rec night. This monthly tradition encourages middle schoolers to come out and play with their classmates in a safe environment built for recreation. For only one dollar per student, parents can sign their pre-teens up for two hours of activities including basketball, video games, tetherball, and more. 

Students play pick up games of basketball in the gym at Central Middle School

According to Alek Davis, social studies teacher at Central, the rec nights started five years ago, and have been helpful in reconnecting with the school’s community, encouraging students to engage with one another outside of class. 

“It’s an opportunity for younger kids to interact with older kids and learn from them,” said Davis. “It’s not very complicated, it’s community.”

Students say they appreciate the time to connect and be around their classmates and educators in a non-learning environment. Ross Bauer, Central principal, says it’s a great opportunity for teachers as well, seeing their students in a different light. 

“Basketball is a sport I really like, and it’s fun to play with the kids,” said Bauer. “It’s helped me at times to relate with kids outside of the day-to-day.” 

One-on-one time is something that seems to positively impact both Central’s students and educators, with many former students citing this as the reason they chose to return as rec night volunteers. 

“My favorite part of volunteering is getting to see all of my old teachers,” said Elizabeth Whitehead, ninth grader at West High School. 

“Past memories,” said ninth grade volunteer Kennedy Kovac-Ostlund. “The teachers and their enthusiasm are fun to be around.” 

Ninth grade volunteers return to Central Middle School to assist with Rec Night

For seventh grade literacy coach Ashley Chase, seeing her students grow and become their own person is rewarding in itself. However, ninth grade volunteer Michael Avina, says it was Chase who inspired him to choose to become an educator himself. 

“Ms. Chase inspired me to be a high school English teacher,” said Avina. 

Whether it’s inspiring teenagers toward their future career ambitions, or making hot Cheetos readily available at the snack bar, the team at Central middle school knows what brings people together. Student and staff volunteers help to chaperone the event and sell snacks during the event

Hear Hoover podcast releases first student created episode

Hoover’s sixth grade class was inspired by listening to their favorite influencers over the summer, and requested a building-wide podcast of their own this fall. With support from principal Tom Harskamp, and sixth/eighth grade teacher April Kleinschmidt, students were able to dive right into creating their first episode.

“Students decided to share school-related information for Hoover families to listen to, detailing academic curriculum, athletic competitions, and art explorations in addition to student and faculty interviews,” said Kleinschmidt.

The Hear Hoover podcast is an after school activity open to all Hoover middle school students.

While the podcast is being shared internally currently, Kleinschmidt says after learning the content rhythm of a few episodes, they may begin to share them publicly as well. For now, Hear Hoover’s creators are excited to share their voices, crafting their own narrative of what being a Hoover student means to them.

“I think podcasts help us to get off screens and just listen,” said sixth grader, Zoe Van Der Veer. “They help us get the news without a screen, and highlight our day with a bit of comedy.”

Hoover parents can find the first episode of the podcast in their weekly school newsletter.

Career Inspire Event Creates Waves of Innovation for Waterloo Schools Students

Students flowed through the Career Inspire catalyst Thursday and Friday last week, soaking in their potential with each step and innovation. Cedar Valley professionals were equally enthusiastic, beaming with pride for their industries, personal passions, and love of sharing their craft with the next generation. This inaugural Career Inspire event enabled the Waterloo community to come full circle, sharing information across generational lines while expanding the foreseen career horizons for middle and high school students.

“It’s a moment for me,” said Amy Hunzlman, experiential learning coordinator. “There has been such a rapport with these eighth and ninth grade students with the business sector. It’s been pretty special these past couple days seeing how students are connecting with careers, finding their ahas and interests, and endless possibilities.” 

Upon entry, each class of students was assigned one of six designated industry-specific rooms for a twenty minute exploration period. After each elapsed session, students would rotate to the next, absorbing the potential careers for applied science (math, engineering, and mathematics),  agriculture and natural resources, transportation/logistics/architecture/construction, health sciences, human services, arts/communications/information solutions, and business/finance/marketing/management. 

One unique component of the event is the separation between the displaying companies and their featured experiences. While John Deere showcased their $80,000 3-D modeling equipment, students only saw Career Inspire volunteers instead of the company’s iconic green and yellow branding. This intentional detachment helped participants to focus conversations on the technology itself and the many career opportunities available to students. 

“We are honored to be a part of this experience for students. We have been a long time partner with not only Waterloo Schools, but Junior Achievement,” said Mindy Schmidt, Community Relations Manager at John Deere. “This is just one wonderful opportunity to be able to have our students just kind of dip their toes into career exploration to say maybe there’s an interest and it can build on the plans that Waterloo Schools is doing.” 

According to the Junior Achievement of Eastern Iowa (JA-EI) team, the event takes roughly a year to plan, with designated committees responsible for each industry sector. 2022 marks the first year for the event, and both Waterloo Schools and JA-EI are eager to get planning underway for years to come. 

“The planning team really thought about what are those core businesses within the Cedar Valley that we can lean into that would make sense in the six pathways that align from the governor’s perspective of education – and tying that in,” said Schmidt.

Many education officials celebrated the launch of this Waterloo centric event, including Dr. Ann Lebo, Iowa’s Director of Education. 

“We have so many opportunities within our own communities,” said Lebo. “We need to sell who we are. We need to engage our schools and communities together, so we can support new businesses, and let kids know there’s real opportunities for them right here.” 

The Career Inspire event was hosted by JA-EI in collaboration with Waterloo Schools.  In total over 1,500 students attended the event from Waterloo middle and high schools. Cary Weiland, Expo Alternative Learning Center principal, believes that this event will have an impact on his students for years to come.

“Our students were able to experience careers that in most cases they weren’t even thinking about,” said Weiland. “I would one hundred percent recommend this opportunity. I wish I had this type of experience when I was their age.”

According to Dr. Jared Smith, Superintendent at Waterloo Community School District, the Career Inspire event is one of many career-focused experiences across students k-12 curriculum with Waterloo Schools. 

“Our career development initiatives are a top priority for Waterloo Schools,” said Smith. “And Career Inspire has been a powerful and exciting opportunity for our students to take another big step to discover where their passions meet professions.”

Career Inspire event encourages students to explore local Waterloo careers

On Thursday and Friday, October 6-7, 2022, Waterloo Schools eighth and ninth graders engaged in hands-on career-ready experiences with more than 60 Cedar Valley businesses at the inaugural Career Inspire event at the Waterloo Convention Center. 

 “This year, we were thrilled to partner with Junior Achievement (JA) to offer Career Inspire to every single eighth and ninth grade student,” said Waterloo Schools Superintendent Dr. Jared Smith. “It was very exciting to see our community coming together to support our students and our districts.” 

According to Smith, this experience expanded upon Waterloo Schools’ career development work which officially began in 2016 with the opening of the Waterloo Career Center. 

“Exposure to professionals in a variety of industries and careers allows students to see their potential future in action through the Career Inspire event,” said Amy Miehe, Lead Administrator at the Waterloo Career Center. “More importantly, students got to interact with professionals in industries and careers of underrepresented populations such as male nurses, women in the trades, etc. The hope is to encourage students to see their future opportunities and be inspired by the many role models working within our community.”

“Think of the Career Inspire event as a shopping mall of careers,” said Amy Hunzelman, Experiential Learning Coordinator. “Students will shop around to different activities figuring out what ‘fits’ and what sparks their interest.”

The Career Inspire event is a hands-on career exploration experience for eighth and ninth grade Waterloo Schools students. Many local businesses from the community showcased their career paths for students, including the steps needed to obtain a specific job, and how to start preparing for their desired career while attending Waterloo Schools. More than 60 businesses participated in the event including Veridian, Hawkeye, UNI, and John Deere.

“We reached out to several community leaders in each of the six service areas within Iowa, and they did a great job of actively recruiting a diverse field of businesses,” said Jeff Frost, Executive Director of Professional Technical Education. 

According to Frost, students find their passions and path to careers throughout their K-12 journey with Waterloo Schools. 

“We have some students that lock onto their career interests early and follow that all the way through graduation and beyond,” said Frost. “Programs we offer, such as LifeLabs, Career Inspire, our own Middle School Exploratory, all help students narrow that focus.” 

The Career Inspire event, unique to the Cedar Valley and its direct connection to the Waterloo Schools’ district-wide K-12 Career Development strategy, was attended by Iowa’s Director of Education, Ann Lebo.

“Our career development initiatives are a top priority for Waterloo Schools,” said Smith. “And Career Inspire has been a powerful and exciting opportunity for our students to take another big step to discover where their passions meet professions.”

 

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