Broadcaster Press 9 January 29, 2019 www.broadcasteronline.com Year in Review January Ahuna Spreads His Love Of Ukulele With Free Lessons Since coming to Vermillion one-and-a-half years ago, Joseph Ahuna has been on a mission to share his Hawaiian culture and his love of the ukulele with all who are interested. Ahuna, a recent graduate of the master’s program in Communication Sciences and Disorders at USD, will be offering free ukulele lessons at the library beginning tomorrow, Jan. 27. The beginner class runs from 3:30 to 4 p.m. (ukuleles are available to borrow) and the advanced class runs from 4 until 5 p.m. Individuals ages 10 and over are urged to attend. Children under the age of 10 are welcome with a parent present. This is the fourth time Ahuna has offered free lessons in Vermillion. Sharing his culture is part of being in the Ahuna family, he said. “I started playing in high school,” he said. “My dad took us to various places and we would play as a form of service, not for pay. It’s always been an act of service for us. We played in rest homes, hospitals, at festivals – any place where we could share our culture.” Ahuna, who was born and raised in Hawaii, started studying the ukulele seriously when he was 14. He was a Boy Scout at the time, headed to the National Jamboree (where Boy Scouts from across the nation come together) as part of the Hawaiian contingent. His father, his Scoutmaster, decided that the Hawaiian contingent should put together a show featuring Polynesian culture to perform at the Jamboree. February Relay For Life Raises Over $17,000 Kathy Engbrecht was nervous Sunday afternoon as she prepared to address the crowd of University of South Dakota students and members of the Vermillion community who turned out for the American Cancer Society Relay for Life in the DakotaDome. Engbrecht has had to deal with far more frightening things than public speaking. She had an important message for all who turned out for Sunday’s event. “This is my first Relay for Life. I’m surprised at the emotions I felt after that first lap (around the DakotaDome),” she said. The Relay for Life, organized by the University of South Dakota’s Colleges Against Cancer, was held in the DakotaDome Sunday from 3 to 6 p.m. People walked laps in the Dome and took part in a variety of fun activities to help raise funds for the American Cancer Society. The event raised $17,254 to help battle cancer. The top fundraising team was the women of the Theta Omega Chapter of ESA who contributed $5,455. Educators Learn How To Use STREAM In Their Classrooms Elementary students in Vermillion still learn the three Rs that older generations in the community are familiar with – reading, writing and mathematics will always remain critical components of their education. Tuesday at Jolley Elementary, while students had the day off, teachers from Jolley, Austin and St. Agnes elementary schools were given tips during an in-service on how to best use Makey Makey, Ozobots, Dash & Dots and LEGOs that can come to life, thanks to electronic components the students themselves will learn how to build and program. Helping to make these high-tech additions to the local elementary curriculums possible is the STREAM Teaching Lab located at Jolley Elementary. STREAM (Science, Technology, Reading/Writing, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics) education represents an experiential method of learning that encourages children to discover that curricular content is interconnected, meaningful and relevant to their existence. Makey Makey is an electronic invention tool that allows students to connect everyday objects to computer programs. An Ozobot is a small toy robot that blends physical and digital worlds — and teaches kids programming. The company bills the Ozobot as the world’s tiniest robot. Dash & Dots is also a real robot that responds to voice, navigating objects, dancing and singing. The STREAM lab was made possible by a grant that was awarded to Jolley Elementary totaling over $99,000 from the state of South Dakota’s Classroom Innovation Grant. USD School of Education students also study at the new lab to learn how to incorporate the learning model in their own future classrooms. “The grant (for the STREAM lab) was written, and this is a grocery list of all the tools that we have as a result of the grant,” said Jolley Principal Sue Galvin, holding a pamphlet that lists over 20 tech-related items that may be introduced to the school’s curriculum, ranging from 3-D printers and snap circuits to a compound microscope and a reflector telescope.” Local educators involved with the STREAM lab indicated that staff development based on some of those top tools, she said, would be helpful and that led to Tuesday’s in-service which included input from Julie Erickson, a learning specialist with Technology & Innovations in Education (TIE) from Rapid City. “TIE is a partner with this grant,” Galvin said, “and so we let them know what tools we wanted some staff development on. What they’ve (TIE) provided are one-hour sessions on how to integrate the tools into the classroom. They also have a list of live (computer) links that they’ve provided with lesson plans and resources built behind them.” Tuesday’s in-service, said Hannah Mosterd, the technology modules teacher at Vermillion Middle School, provided information to elementary teachers on how to incorporate the STREAM technologies into their regular curriculums. Audience Learns Of Deep Divide In Statehouse Over Guns A deadly school shooting in Florida that left 17 dead had occurred only two days before Saturday’s Legislative Cracker Barrel meeting held in the meeting chambers of Vermillion City Hall. It was a topic that eventually came up as local citizens discussed a range of issues with District 17 State Rep. Ray Ring and State Sen. Art Rusch, both of Vermillion. The district’s other representative, Nancy Rasmussen of Hurley, was ill that day and didn’t attend. A viewer watching a live stream of the meeting sent a question to the two men by text, asking if they had heard of any upcoming proposals of if they planned to introduce any proposals to try to prevent something like the Florida shooting from happening in South Dakota. “We’re past the deadline, so no bills (can be introduced),” Rusch said. “I don’t know the answer to that. I don’t know that anyone knows the answer to that. There’s mixed views that the answer to that is to not let anyone have guns; there’s an equal number of people who think that the answer is that everybody should be able to carry guns. “I don’t know the solution … I don’t think anyone knows the solution to that problem,” he said. A few legislative colleagues of Ring and Rusch called on South Dakota school districts to implement a school sentinel program in reaction to the to the Feb. 14 Florida shooting. March Ninth Polar Plunge Sets Records There was no need for ice cubes at the ninth annual Vermillion Polar Plunge, held last Saturday in downtown Vermillion. While in past years, ice was added to the water to make the plunge feel more authentic due to unseasonably warm weather, this year, Mother Nature took care of things, producing a snowy and cold winter day to really challenge participants. “It was a true polar plunge,” said organizer Jon Cole, a Vermillion police officer who is also assistant director of the Law Enforcement Torch Run, the organization which sponsors the plunge each year. “There was a little bit of snow in the morning that we had to clear. But then it stopped snowing long enough for us to have the plunge, and then it started snowing again right after the plunge was finished. So, temp- and weather-wise, it was a true plunge.” Last Saturday’s air temperature was 22 degrees with a water temperature of just 38 degrees, truly making it a chilly dunk for those who participated. This year’s plunge drew a record number of participants. “We had 126 people who took the plunge,” said Cole. “That is our largest plunge ever since beginning.” Organizers are still counting the money raised from this year’s plunge, but so far, donations are sitting at $20,000 and counting, which is also a record. “That’s the most we’ve raised since the first year when we started the plunge,” said Cole. But this year’s Vermillion Polar Plunge didn’t just set participant and donation records. It also commemorated some important milestones. First, this year is the 30th anniversary of The Law Enforcement Torch Run, the fundraising and public awareness organization that puts on the Polar Plunge each year to benefit the Special Olympics. Secondly, 2018 marks the 50th anniversary of the Special Olympics, the organization that organizes athletic events for youths and adults with mental and physical disabilities. New Boxing Clubs’ Aim Is Building Youth’s Confidence, Self-Esteem Two new programs – Yankton Area Youth Boxing and Vermillion Area Youth Boxing – are up and running thanks to Jody Harnois of Vermillion and the assistance of others in both communities who are inspired to do something good for youth after 17 young people were killed Feb. 14 in a school shooting in Florida. “We had a group of coaches and we had been talking, and we had been thinking of doing this for a while, but after everything that happened in Florida, we kind of came to the realization that when it comes to what’s happening with kids, they’re just not as engaged as they used to be,” Harnois said. “That’s not always their 138 years in business 123 402 East Main St Vermillion, SD 624-4466 years in business www.koberfuneralhome.com 97 As a third-generation family owned business for 97 years, we couldn’t be more THANKFUL for all the support the community has given us over the past year. YEARS IN BUSINESS 83 years serving its members 73 years in business April National Music Museum Gets Green Light On Building Expansion After several years of planning and evolving architectural concepts, the National Music Museum (NMM), at the University of South Dakota in Vermillion, has received the go-ahead to add approximately 16,000 square feet (two floors plus an underground level) to their existing Carnegie building. The proposal, put forward by the Museum’s Board of Trustees, was recently approved by the South Dakota legislature. Funding for the estimated $9.5 million building project has already been raised privately by the Museum’s Board, with up to $1.5 million of that amount — representing upgrades to HVAC and facilities infrastructure — to be covered by the University of South Dakota. The NMM addition will provide much needed room, including approximately 4,600 square feet of new exhibit space, a gallery dedicated to temporary exhibits, a new performance hall, a dedicated classroom, a new conservation lab, a new photography lab, and new above-ground staff and administration offices. This construction also presents the opportunity for reconfiguring existing museum space, as well as re-conceptualizing exhibits. NMM Board Chairman Scott Lawrence says, “The National Music Museum addition and overall renovation will dramatically improve the visitor experience while addressing pressing operational needs — from storage to staff use and enhanced collections management. We Award-Winning News Coverage Since 1884! 201 W. Cherry • Vermillion Phone: 605-624-2695 www.plaintalk.net years in business years in business The new youth boxing organizations are for young athletes between the ages of 8 and 18. 5 W. Cherry St. • Vermillion • 605.624.4444 134 84 fault, because I don’t think they have the same access to the same opportunities that maybe we had when we were kids.” Harnois became involved in a local boxing program during his youth. “It changed my life,” he said. “If it wasn’t for Bill Burns and the program that he started here – I don’t’ know if I would have had the confidence to go to college.” The two new youth boxing clubs in the two communities are being operated under the umbrella of the Brotherhood Youth Boxing Club that has been in existence in Vermillion for over 35 years. “We are community-based nonprofit organization established to provide a safe positive environment for area youth to prepare themselves physically, mentally and emotionally for challenges in and out of the ring,” Harnois said. “Our objective is to help our athletes to develop a strong self-esteem and the confidence to overcome their fears and self-doubts to achieve goals and confront life challenges.” The club, a part of Brotherhood Boxing, is sanctioned by USA Boxing and will compete in amateur boxing events in the state of South Dakota and surrounding states. “It’s just amazing. The response we’ve had over in Yankton has just been almost overwhelming,” Harnois said. “Over 40 kids have already signed up (in Yankton).” There about 30 kids participating in Vermillion. The Yankton program includes kids and adult volunteers from Yankton, Crofton, Santee, Niobrara and Lesterville. The Vermillion program is made up of those from Vermillion, New Castle, Centerville, Akron, Iowa and Sioux Falls. Vermillion: 605.624.5618 kalinsindoor.com bp Broadcaster Press 201 W. Cherry • Vermillion • Phone: 605-624-4429 Since 1934 Broadcaster Press www.broadcasteronline.com 605-624-2673 1410 E. Cherry St., Vermillion www.clayunionelectric.coop Clay County Abstract & Title 121 West Kidder Street #104 • Vermillion, SD 57069 605-624-2068 • contact@claycountytitle.com