Center Benefit Aims To Raise Funds And Awareness

By Andrew Atwal
andrew.atwal@yankton.net

http://www.yankton.net/articles/2013/02/28/community/doc512edc01e1c00346624807.txt

Yankton Hosting State Debate Meet

By Andrew Atwal
andrew.atwal@yankton.net

Schools from around the state will be traveling to Yankton on Friday and Saturday to participate in the South Dakota State Debate Tournament, being held at Yankton High School (YHS).

There will be approximately 18 schools in Yankton for the tournament, including most AA schools with a debate team, and some A schools, such as Vermillion,  Harrisburg and Spearfish.

Local preparations for the tournament began around Jan. 1 with coordinators getting in touch with people to help with things needed for judges and making sure all rooms and backup rooms were read for the event.

The tournament will have several categories, including the group debate categories of policy, Lincoln-Douglas and the public forum debate. The individual events include original oratory, international extemporaneous and United States extemporaneous.

“The policy debate is an issue of policy. This year, students will debate whether the federal government should increase its investment in transportation infrastructure,” said Leo Kallis, YHS’ debate team coach. “Students have the resolution and work on it all year.”

The policy debate is the longest of the three group categories, lasting about 90 minutes.

The public forum debate is shorter, and is designed for a more current event or hot-button issue. Students go through a different resolution each month and, during the tournament, they will debate how the rise of China could be beneficial to the United States. The public forum debate lasts about 30 minutes, with each speaker getting six minutes to talk.
The Lincoln-Douglas debate pertains to resolutions of value. During the debate tournament, students in this category will argue about the idea of rehabilitation being preferable to retribution in the United States criminal justice system. The Lincoln-Douglas debate round lasts about 45 minutes.

“A three-judge panel determines the winning team in each round,” Kallis said. “The policy and Lincoln-Douglas debates are judged primarily by coaches and former debaters, while the public forum debate is judged by community members and is designed for a community audience.”

During the first few rounds, judges will eliminate each team with two losses, and then try to eliminate additional teams by the end of round four of the contest. The quarterfinal, semi-final and final rounds are all single elimination.

During the single elimination rounds, each judge will provide a reason for picking a school on their ballot. Ballots will also feature a 30-point scoring system.

“Each team is guaranteed three rounds of debate,” Kallis said. “We will start everything Friday morning, and hope to be done Saturday evening around 6 p.m.”

He added that kids want to do well in the state tournament, and have spent their last two weeks at national qualifying tournaments preparing for this event.

In addition to benefits for the kids in the competition, Kallis notes that the tournament brings a lot of positives to Yankton as well.

“The community, as a whole, will benefit from the teams staying in hotels in town and eating in Yankton’s restaurants,” he said. “I think community members should know that there are extracurricular activities out there other than sports, where students apply what they learn in class to a competitive environment.”

Kallis said, as an educator, he enjoys seeing kids extend what they learn from the classroom into the debate team.

The YHS team has a good history of competing in the group debate events, but Kallis said they can always get better in the individual  tournament events.

Winners are picked for each category of event, as well as each class of school. Schools are limited to two entrants per event.

Kallis said he hopes students see their hard work pay off in this weekend’s tournament.

“I hope students get the sense of accomplishment in the tournament because they’ve worked hard all season and they’ll be able to show the results of their work one last time,” he said. “I hope they win, but we just ask them to work hard to prepare and do the best they can in every round. I hope the students continue to do that.”

You can follow Andrew Atwal on Twitter at twitter.com/andrewatwal

http://www.yankton.net/articles/2013/02/25/community/doc512af3b01b136566448452.txt

Firm Focused On Recruitment In Search For YSD Superintendent

andrew.atwal@yankton.net

The Yankton School District (YSD) school board recently entered into an agreement with Dakota Educational Consulting. The agreement allows the consulting firm to lead the search for YSD’s next superintendent.

Dakota Educational Consulting has previously led administrative searches for districts across the region, including in Sioux Valley, Canistota, Rock Valley and Storm Lake, among others. The firm is currently leading searches in other districts, including Viborg-Hurley and Aberdeen Roncalli.

Tom Oster and Dr. Rick Melmer head the two-year-old consulting group, and both have an extensive background in education across the region. Oster currently serves as superintendent at Sioux Valley schools, was a superintendent in Avon and served as the Secretary of Education for South Dakota. Melmer currently is the dean of the College of Education at University of South Dakota, has been the South Dakota Secretary of Education and was a superintendent for Watertown schools and the Sioux Center school district.

The group will focus on recruitment as it conducts Yankton’s superintendent search.

“We will spend a lot of time over the next few weeks contacting potential candidates, discussing the position and giving candidates information about the school district and the community,” Melmer said. “Our group will also help facilitate the interview process and help narrow down the applicants for the board to review.”

He added that he is not aware of other firms with which the board negotiated to handle the search, but cost could have been a reason why his group was chosen. The board will pay Dakota Educational Consulting $8,000 for search services.

“Tom (Oster) and I are connected throughout South Dakota and the region, and now, a lot of folks in education as well,” Melmer said. “We have both been with the Department of Education and have been superintendents in the state, which allowed us to make connections in education.”

Another reason why the firm may have been chosen, according to Melmer, is because of the nature of its proposal.

“All of the board members have jobs or lives outside of their work at the board, many of them probably don’t have the time to make contacts, call recruits, answer questions about the application process because they’re already busy in their daily lives,” he said. “Many of the members on the board probably don’t have the connections Tom (Oster) and I have because board members, generally, live in the private sector. Oster and I are well networked in the state and region.”

The application and recruitment phase for Yankton will be open until around March 15.

“I don’t think there are very many drawbacks to the timeline the school board has in place,” Melmer said. “It’s early enough that the district will get good candidates for the position.”

He added that there are a number of smaller districts in the area looking for superintendents, but Yankton differentiates itself because of its larger size.

“Either candidates are ready for Yankton School District or they’re not,” Melmer said. “The district is a good size compared to others that are also looking for a superintendent.”

One of the strategies the firm will use comes through the contacts Oster and Melmer have made in education across the region.

“We ask the people we know in education and call other names around the state and region and ask if they know anyone who might be interested in the job opening,” Melmer said. “We will follow up with the names we receive and ask if they’re interested in the position. There will also be natural candidates that apply through the postings we have online.”

You can follow Andrew Atwal on Twitter at twitter.com/andrewatwal

Kindle Interviews For Norfolk Schools Opening

From P&D Staff Reports

Yankton High School (YHS) principal Dr. Wayne Kindle interviewed for the superintendent opening at Norfolk Public Schools on Wednesday.

He said he began the interview process at 7:30 a.m. Wednesday morning, with his final interviews at 8:30 p.m. that evening with the Norfolk School Board.

Kindle said candidates were asked to limit their discussion with the media until all interviews are completed so he did not offer any additional comments.

http://www.yankton.net/articles/2013/02/21/community/doc5125967857511846921768.txt

YCTC Seeks New Home

By Andrew Atwal
andrew.atwal@yankton.net

The Yankton Children’s Theatre Company (YCTC) has been rehearing in the old Elks building, in the 400 block of Walnut, for several years, knowing that the facility could be sold at any time.

That time has come.

“The Old Elks building has been our home base for several years, so having to move at this point is certainly a challenge,” said Jill Paulson, president of YCTC. “However, we plan to do everything we can to work towards the continued progress of the organization, despite this bump in the road.”

The YCTC has been informed that the building will be sold after May 1, but they must be out by that date.

Paulson added that since the building has been for sale before, it was always a possibility that they would have to move out at some point.

“On a few occasions, we have reached out, or attempted to reach out, to property owners in the community that we felt might have empty or underutilized buildings that could fit our needs,” Paulson said. “Unfortunately, we have not been able to find, or connect with, the right opportunity at the right time. Through connections on our current board, we do have a few possibilities to explore, but we certainly do not have anything definitive in the works at this time.”

The building is scheduled to be sold at a hectic and busy time for YCTC. They have just completed one of their major annual fundraisers this past weekend, and are still in rehearsals for their largest production of the year, “Aladdin and His Wonderful Magic Lamp.”

Paulson said this will be an issue that YCTC will need to continue to work on as it moves forward.

“If we cannot find a new home, we are prepared to put our large collection of costumes, props and set items in storage temporarily,” she said. “This would not be an ideal situation, but we’re committed to keeping these creative opportunities open and available to all Yankton-area youth and their families.”

In YCTC’s current situation, officials are able to build their sets, prepare costumes and hold all of their initial rehearsals at the old Elks building. However, the building, Paulson says, is not a viable location for productions, so the YCTC must rotate between the three main theatres in town (Dakota Theatre, Summit Center Theater and the Marian Auditorium), based on the needs of the production and availability.

“In an ideal world, YCTC would love to find a home that would allow us to do all the things like rehearsals, set construction, productions in one place,” Paulson said. “This would not necessarily require a ‘traditional’ theater space — we are a creative group of people and might see possibilities in spaces that others might not. This would only increase our ability to enhance and grow our productions and offer new        programming.”

She added that what YCTC needs more than anything is a constant and stable location for storage, set and costume construction, as well as rehearsal space.

The YCTC has been instructed to be out of the building no later than May 1. However, that date may change.

“We have not been informed of a specific date at this point, but it is our understanding that the building will go up for auction sometime after May 1,” Paulson said.

She added that programs like the YCTC are important for the public because often arts-related programs are being cut in schools, so community-based programs for children, like YCTC, are increasingly  important.

Members of the YCTC are encouraging the public to call executive director Allison Spak if they think they have a space, or know someone that does, that might work for the organization.

You can follow Andrew Atwal on Twitter at twitter.com/andrewatwal

http://www.yankton.net/articles/2013/02/22/river_city/doc5126dd0940562915271008.txt

‘Aladdin’

Queen Sultane (Haylee Heinemeyer) and the Sultan (Jacob Smith, center) confer with Aladdin (Sky Nockels, left) while Ali Bubba (Sam Carda) looks on in the Yankton Children’s Theatre Company production of “Aladdin And His Wonderful, Magical Lamp,” which will be presented at the Dakota Theatre in downtown Yankton Feb. 28-March 3 and March 7-10. To see or purchase images from this event, visit spotted.yankton.net. (Kelly Hertz/P&D)

Classic Tale Is Brought To Life By YCTC

By Andrew Atwal
andrew.atwal@yankton.net

Although Tara Gill has an extensive background directing plays in Yankton, “Aladdin And His Wonderful, Magical Lamp” will be her first time heading a show for the Yankton Children’s Theater Company (YCTC).

“The people from the Yankton Children’s Theatre Company asked me to direct a play for them so I thought I’d give it a shot,” Gill said. “I directed ‘Annie’ for Lewis and Clark (Theatre Company) and enjoyed working with the children in that production, so I thought I’d give an all-kids play a shot.”

She added that she is thoroughly enjoying her first production with YCTC, and looks forward to directing more plays with them in the future.

Gill said that when many people think of “Aladdin”, they often think of the Disney version of the production. However, this play is more of an adaptation of the original version of the book.

“Aladdin is a boy who gets into a lot of mischief,” Gill said. “He’s always looking for an adventure, and because of that, it leads him to get into trouble.”

Eventually Aladdin comes across Jamaal, who is an evil magician in search of a genie lamp. Through all of Aladdin’s adventures, he meets Princess Jasmine, who is supposed to get married soon. By the end of the play, he ends up with Jasmine.

“It’s just a cute musical, with a lot of new music,” Gill said. “The play doesn’t have the same songs as the Disney version, and the characters have different names. Although the story is similar, this is a different perspective on it.”

She added that the characters in the play are fun, and each have their own, individual personalities.

The production will be held on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday the weekends of Feb. 28 and March 7. Sunday shows are at 2 p.m., all others are at 7:30 p.m. at the Dakota Theatre.

“The kids we have in this play have worked so hard and it’s truly an all-kids production,” Gill said. “We have a lot of talented kids in this town and the play incorporates dancing and acting. We need a good audience to keep them motivated and keep them in theater. Coming out to the show is a good way to support YCTC and everyone involved with the play.”

Cast List:

Jamaal — Jordan Kuipers

Halima — Olivia Hudson

Scheherazade — Blake Wieseler

Alakazam (monkey) — Gage Becker

Aladdin — Sky Nockels

Chop Chop — Logan Haak

Princess Jasmine — Megan Haselhorst

Sheba — Jordan Walter

Zara — Rachel Wood

Ali Bubba — Sam Carda

Dragon — Daniel Bruegman

Queen Sultane — Haylee Heinemeyer

Sultan — Jacob Smith

Neela — Catherine Perekslis

Mother of Aladdin — Gabby Slowey

Merchant Woman (Jarma) — Tajia Schamp

Merchant Woman (Sahria) — Tori Class

Genie of the Ring — Kaycee Smith

Genie of the Jewel — Kaitlin Paulson

Genie of the Lamp — Anna Carda

Genies-in-Training — Aria Beaudette, Raina Schaeffer, Joselyn Pearson

ROYAL PROCESSION:

Asha — Emily Wieseler

Asad — Jaden Pearson

Hadi — Makayla Palacek

Nadim — Cory Lucht

Nadira — Emma Eichacker

Prema — Anjeliene Schaeffer

TOWNS PEOPLE:

Safia — Jasmine Gill

Thana — Tess Zoss

Ashan — Alyssa Ogstad

Saleem — Carson Heinemeyer

Hema — Cora Johnson

Abbud — Joseph Wieseler

You can follow Andrew Atwal on Twitter at twitter.com/andrewatwal

http://www.yankton.net/articles/2013/02/20/community/doc512452a699368214609745.txt

Forum Tackles Medicaid Expansion

Joy Smolnisky, director of the South Dakota Budget and Policy Project, discusses the pros and cons of South Dakota joining the Medicaid expansion plan, during a forum held Tuesday at Mount Marty College. (Kelly Hertz/P&D)

By Andrew Atwal
andrew.atwal@yankton.net

The pros and cons of Medicaid expansion were discussed during a forum held at Mount Marty Tuesday.

Joy Smolnisky, director of the South Dakota Budget and Policy Project, reviewed the potential positives and negatives of Medicaid expansion and also took time to answer audience members’ questions.

Smolnisky said the Affordable Care Act has five components to it that will not change regardless of potential Medicaid expansion in South Dakota. Those components include coverage guarantees, insurance exchanges, federal tax credits to help pay for insurance, an individual mandate and funding provisions.

“The main concept of health care remains the same: If someone is sick, we will treat them,” she said. “However, with provisions in the Affordable Care Act, no one can be turned down for insurance because of preexisting conditions. Insurance also has to be affordable, given someone’s income level.”

Smolnisky added that 20 percent of non-elderly South Dakota adults do not currently have insurance, and that number could come down if Medicaid expands in the state.

One of the provisions of the Affordable Care Act — federal tax credits to help individuals pay for insurance — works under the premise that if a household or individual has a lower income, they are entitled to lower premiums. However, as their income increases, they take more responsibility for their costs of insurance, making their premiums rise with income level.

Smolnisky said that the 2014 insurance exchange subsidies will only be in place for those that are within 100-400 percent of the federal poverty level. Thus, those under 100 percent of the poverty level and above 400 percent are not eligible for the subsidies.
Without Medicaid expansion in 2014, there will be approximately 30,000 South Dakota residents left uninsured.

“Some of the lowest income residents across the state will not be eligible for certain aspects of the health care reform,” Smolnisky said. “In some cases, if someone has an income that is too low, they will not qualify for federal subsidies to buy insurance and their income would also be too high to qualify for South Dakota Medicaid, if the state chooses not to expand the program.”

She added that the expansion decision might be purely political for legislators.

“If South Dakota does decide to expand, and then they don’t like the results, they can choose to change back to the old Medicaid program,” Smolnisky said. “There is also a broad array of folks out there, both providers and consumers of health care, that are in support of the expansion. However, regardless of the decision, health care reform and Medicaid must continue to be monitored by officials.”

She said the Medicaid expansion decision would primarily impact the poor, adults without children, non-elderly and parents who are between 50 and 100 percent of the federal poverty level.

“It makes economic sense for the state to expand the Medicaid program from the perspective that they would get a 10 to 1 match from the federal government for the program,” Smolnisky said. “It brings money into the state to provide care that is needed for poor people. If, down the line, the government can no longer afford to give funding to states for the Medicaid program, South Dakota can switch back to the old program.”

There will be a public hearing on Medicaid expansion today (Wednesday) in Pierre at 10 a.m. The hearing will also contain a period of public testimony where South Dakota citizens can voice their opinions on the Medicaid expansion decision to legislators.

You can follow Andrew Atwal on Twitter at twitter.com/andrewatwal

Daily Dose: Trip To Lincoln A Memorable Experience

By Andrew Atwal
andrew.atwal@yankton.net

After starting my job with the P&D straight out of Journalism school at Michigan State University at the end of last May, I made my first trip down to Lincoln this past weekend to check out the University of Nebraska and take in the MSU vs UNL basketball game.

The trip was memorable. The fans at UNL, even though they don’t care for basketball too much just yet, were nice and cordial.

After a concessions worker saw me in my MSU shirt, he even said to take it easy on them during the game.

I thoroughly enjoyed the trip to Lincoln, which was with about 100 other Michigan State alumni members from the Omaha-area, but I also believe the new arena will serve UNL well.

Although the game was considered a sell out, it is known they don’t typically draw sold out crowds for most basketball. In addition, the Devaney Center does not have many amenities that newer arenas do. I don’t think it had enough concessions areas and bathrooms, and hopefully that will change with the new arena next year. The new arena might also help UNL a lot in landing top recruits to compete with the other schools in the Big Ten.

All in all, the weekend trip to Lincoln was enjoyable and I look forward to going down there for more events in the future. The fans were nice, the area was nice and it’s always nice to meet up with other college alumni. All told, a great first trip to the University of Nebraska.

http://yankton.net/articles/2013/02/19/community/doc5122fed076bfe825484363.txt

A Distinctive Honor

Jane Pugh (pictured) and Judi O’Connell were honored with “Woman of Distinction” awards during an annual luncheon held at Mount Marty College’s Roncalli Center. (Kelly Hertz/P&D)

O’Connell, Pugh Win Annual Awards For Service

By Andrew Atwal
andrew.atwal@yankton.net

Women from Yankton were honored for their service to the community during the annual “Women of Distinction” luncheon held at Mount Marty College on Monday.

The program featured a keynote speech from Kristie VerMulm, who was born in South Dakota and now anchors television newscasts at KTIV in Sioux City for 17 years.

VerMulm spoke about the life lessons that people can take from a roll of South Dakota sod.

“The experiences we have, both good and bad, help shape who we are,” she said. “A roll of sod on the side of the road was a big deal for my family growing up. One day my brother wanted to go back and get the roll he saw on the road but my dad already got it. This made me realize that simple things bring joy to families.”

She connected this to volunteering, telling the audience at the Roncalli Center, that our actions can be simple but they can make a difference in the community.

“This event is great because it recognizes people that make a difference in their community,” she said. “All of the women here today have great talents and give up their time to the community. We need more people like that across the country.”

Some of the lessons that VerMulm spoke about including finding humor in your life, understanding the challenges other people might face in the future and to love the life you are living.

“Each of us has a life and a story to tell,” she said. “You’ll never know how many lives you’ve had an impact on, both positively and negatively.”

Their were 10 nominees this year for the Women of Distinction awards, including two who were nominated in both the Outstanding Community Service and Outstanding Professional categories.

Nominees in the outstanding professional category were Joan Neubauer, Judi O’Connell, Jane Pugh and Sister Margo Tschetter. Nominees for the outstanding community service award were Mary Fiedler, Dagmar Hoxsie, Jane Pugh, Joan Neubauer, Diana Roth and Leah Smith.

The winner for the outstanding professional award was Judi O’Connell, while the outstanding community service winner was Jane Pugh.

“I feel so honored to receive this award,” O’Connell said. “All of the nominees here are outstanding Yankton citizens.”

O’Connell founded Judi’s Dance Studio in Yankton and has been involved with Yankton Area Arts, the Dance Network of South Dakota and Beta Sigma Phi.

When Pugh found out about winning her award she said every woman in the room deserves the award, but was appreciative of the achievement.

“Both emotionally and in my heart I can’t tell how much this means to me to win the award,” she said. “I’m honored and humbled and really can’t put any words to it. This event is important because women need to be honored for what they do in the community, and often times that doesn’t happen.”

Pugh has been involved with the Susan G. Komen Foundation, the Yankton Contact Center and the Human Services Center Advisory Board.

She also noted her battle to overcome drug and alcohol problems more than 20 years ago.

“When I first found out about the nomination, I said ‘Wow,’ and wondered who nominated me and why,” she said. “But I have put in a lot of work in the 24 years I’ve lived in Yankton and felt that it’s what I needed to do to be a part of the community.”

Paula Tacke, who is on the Women Community Leaders Committee of the Yankton Chamber of Commerce, said there were a number of qualities that separated O’Connell and Pugh from other nominees.

“It was a tough decision because there were a lot of really good applicants,” Tacke said. “Judi (O’Connell) was nominated by her daughter, who put a lot of love and passion into her application and resume. Jane (Pugh) had obstacles she had to overcome, but when she did, she went full speed ahead with being involved in the community.”

Tacke added that O’Connell has impacted a lot of lives both within the dance community and with the other programs with which she’s involved.

“This year we had fewer nominees than we’ve had in years past, but the voting for winners was really tight,” she said. “We had tough decisions to make on nominees and winners.”

Carla Addy, committee chair, said this year her group wanted to bring more attention to each nominee.

“The volunteer work that each of these ladies perform daily is truly amazing and inspiring,” she said. “Each nominee provides so much value to the community because of their hard work, and yet their efforts are mostly ‘behind the scenes.’”

Addy added that she enjoys praising the work, dedication and the tenacity of each of the nominees.

“Choosing a winner in each category is a difficult process. The committee works in a democratic matter — each member has one vote — and each member relies solely on the information in the nomination form,” she said. “This event is truly about recognizing the achievements of all the nominees — not just the winners.”

You can follow Andrew Atwal on Twitter at twitter.com/andrewatwal

http://yankton.net/articles/2013/02/16/community/doc511ec74c94c3d551522169.txt

Local Man Inducted Into Hall Of Fame

Larry Hames (right), stands with his wife Irene, after he was inducted into the Sacred Heart School Hall of Fame last month. (Submitted Photo)

By Andrew Atwal
andrew.atwal@yankton.net