Dubuque Senior Madrigal continues with its traditional dinner and, new this year, tea with the King and the Queen!
The Dubuque Community School District and the Dubuque Esports League (DEL) are pleased to announce an innovative partnership that will establish a new esports program for students enrolled at Dubuque Senior High School and Hempstead High School.
One of the fastest growing activities in the world, esports is a form of competitive video gaming where players compete against each other in organized tournaments and leagues. Often connected to STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) learning, extracurricular esports programming helps students develop strong bonds with their school and classmates while developing critical mental and physical skills such as teamwork, strategy, communication, mental toughness, hand-eye coordination, technical skills, time management and more.
“Esports has skyrocketed in popularity across the world and it’s been a regularly requested addition to our extracurricular offerings,” said Coby Culbertson, the district’s chief technology officer. “This new partnership gives us the chance to connect our students up with the expertise and facilities of the Dubuque Esports League. It’s a true partnership with everyone dedicated to giving students outstanding opportunities to compete while developing them as individuals.”
Through this new partnership, the district will recruit students to participate in esports and provide a staff liaison to coordinate programming at the high schools. The Dubuque Esports League, which is a 501(c)3 charitable organization, will provide students participating with access to the organization’s state-of-the-art esports facility as well as coaching support and training opportunities for the esports teams. Funding the for the district’s initial year of programming was made possible through a generous grant from the DRA, a Dubuque-area philanthropic organization.
This is the first extracurricular offering in the Dubuque Community Schools that is facilitated through a partnership with an outside organization – and it’s a model that both groups believe could spark additional future innovation in activities programming.
“We’re excited to see this partnership come to life and offer Dubuque Community Schools students new esports opportunities,” said Shelby Wartick, DEL co-founder and co-executive director. “Our goal has always been to create a safe, welcoming community where students can thrive. We’re grateful to partner with a school district that innovates to engage students in their passions and help them grow through skills like teamwork and leadership through platforms like esports.”
“As college scholarships for esports continue to grow, this partnership offers students a pathway to compete and pursue educational opportunities through esports,” said Susie Quinn, DEL co-founder and co-executive director. “We’re excited to kick off our winter season with games like Overwatch 2 and Rocket League, both of which are also played at the collegiate level. The possibilities ahead are incredibly exciting!”
High school junior varsity and varsity teams will begin forming this fall and the district anticipates joining the Iowa High School Esports Association, which currently oversees esports competition between high schools in the state.
As part of its homecoming festivities, Dubuque Senior High School will host a community open house on Saturday, Oct. 5, from 10 a.m. to noon to showcase the school’s recently completed renovation.
The district recently completed a $34 million second-phase renovation of Dubuque Senior, which included a newly renovated Lamb-Hedeman Auditorium and Nora Gymnasium, as well as new performance physical education space, a wrestling room, a restructured music wing and classroom updates.
This most recent renovation also added two additional elevators to the school and completed full climate control of the building so all spaces are now air conditioned. The project, which was completed on time and on budget, was funded through the district’s portion of the statewide SAVE (Secure an Advanced Vision for Education) sales tax fund.
The first phase of renovations at the school, which were completed in 2018, included a new secure entrance and office area, commons areas, a new cafeteria and library, and an additional gym. Together, the two phases fully renovated the school updates designed as a 50-plus year solution to ensuring up-to-date high school facilities for decades to come.
We are pleased to live stream the 2024 graduation ceremonies on Saturday, May 25.
Dubuque Senior High School: 3 p.m.
Hempstead High School:
On Monday, Dec. 11, 2023, the Dubuque Community School District Board of Education approved the school calendars for the 2024-2025 and 2025-2026 school years.
The Dubuque Community School District has added competitive dance to its high school extracurricular offerings for the 2023-2024 school year, with teams taking shape at Dubuque Senior High School and Hempstead High School.
As part of the launch of these new teams, a Dance Clinic will be held for students entering grades 9-12 at Dubuque Senior and Hempstead on Thursday, July 20, from 9 a.m.-noon at Dubuque Senior’s Nora Gymnasium.
Cost for the camp is $25 per person and reservations can be made at www.dbqschoolscamps.com.
With the addition of this new activity also comes the appointment of inaugural head coaches for these teams. The district is pleased to announce the appointment of Kylie Goedken as the head coach of the Dubuque Senior High School dance team and Angie Olson as head coach of the Hempstead High School program.
Goedken, a graduate of Dubuque Senior, is owner/studio head director at Xtreme Dance in Dubuque. Olson is a German teacher at Hempstead who brings a variety of competitive dance experience to the role. Both schools will begin competition in the upcoming school year.
We are pleased to live stream the 2023 graduation ceremonies on Saturday, May 27.
Live stream links will be posted on this page prior to the event.
VIEW THE HEMPSTEAD HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATION:
VIEW THE DUBUQUE SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATION:
We are pleased to present the Spring 2022-2023 K-12 Virtual Student Art Gallery, highlighting the amazing artwork of our students.
The exhibit features the ability to virtually walk through a curated gallery of work — and we hope you’ll enjoy immersing yourself in the exhibit as the vision of these talented student artists comes to life.
Dubuque Community School District Teacher of the Year Cassie McDonald (right) from Dubuque Senior High School is congratulated by Dubuque Senior Assistant Principal/Registrar Joan Schueller.
The Dubuque Community School District Teacher of the Year was named at the annual Educators’ Recognition Reception on May 11, hosted by the Dubuque Education Association.
Cassie McDonald, an English language learners (ELL) teacher at Dubuque Senior High School, was selected for the honor.
McDonald joined the district as a Spanish teacher at Dubuque Senior High School in 2005-2010. From 2019-2022 she also served in that role until 2022 when she taught in a dual ELL teaching role at Dubuque Senior and at the district’s Alta Vista Campus. This school year, she returned to teaching ELL full-time at Dubuque Senior.
Outside of the district, she is an English Speaker of Other Languages (ESOL) instructor at Northeast Iowa Community College, an English instructor in the online VIPKid English Program, and an independent contractor language training tutor for John Deere. She also served as a high school English teacher in Delavan, Wisconsin, from 2002-2005.
McDonald holds a bachelor of arts degree in Spanish and English: Language and Secondary Education from Loras College and a master of education degree in English Language Learning from the University of North Dakota – Grand Forks.
“Cassie McDonald has built a community of caring and learning for her students that helps them gain confidence, find success and feel at home at Senior High School,” said one of McDonald’s nominators. “When most teachers are packing up and heading home for the day, Cassie can be found conducting an after-school study hall/support group for her students to give them extra care and connectedness to ensure they stay on track. She’s a hero for her students, and they would tell you as much.”
Other finalists for the Teacher of the Year Award were:
Also at the event:
Project Rooted received the Friend of Education Award, presented for the organization’s efforts to provide students with access to and education about nutritious foods and fresh, local produce. This happens though the group’s Rooted Boxes, created once a month for first-graders in the district’s elementary schools. The boxes are themed and include a journal; fresh, local ingredients; and a utensil (such as a mini cutting board or portable fork and spoon). The boxes also include Rooted Buck, which are vouchers that can be redeemed at Dubuque’s Farmer’s Market, giving children the opportunity to choose healthy foods while making a connection with local community members who grow/produce it.
The Iowa Governor’s STEM Advisory Council is proud to announce Greg Moklestad, 9-12 Computer Science and Engineering Instructor at Dubuque Senior High School in Dubuque, Iowa, has been named as a recipient of the 2023 Iowa STEM Teacher Award, sponsored by Kemin Industries. The award is given to six educators each year who go above and beyond to inspire student interest in and awareness of science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
Dubuque Senior Teacher Greg Moklestad (center) receives the Iowa STEM Teacher Award from Heidi Hall of Kemin Industries and Jeff Beneke of the Iowa Governor’s STEM Council.
Now in its ninth year, the award is given annually to one full-time, licensed preK-12 teacher from each of the six STEM regions in Iowa. Each recipient is honored for their efforts to foster enthusiasm and inspire a passion for STEM that goes beyond the classroom and helps prepare students for future high-demand careers.
Moklestad is being recognized for his work in reimagining the school’s engineering program and bringing new life to the subject, as seen by increased enrollment in his classes and the need for additional courses to meet interest levels. He recognizes that success in the 21st century revolves around a healthy STEM education and focuses on creating strong relationships with his students and providing access to real-world experiences to increase awareness of STEM opportunities.
Molkestad created a partnership with the John Deere Dubuque Works Facility where students have the opportunity to work on intern level engineering projects with John Deere engineer mentors. His work on this trail-blazing program will not only benefit students at his school, but also allows for other schools to partner with John Deere using structures similar to what he set up.
In addition to his classroom work, Moklestad is a co-founder of the Dubuque Senior High School’s FIRST Robotics team, participates in STEM outreach programs, and continually looks for ways to stay up-to-date with STEM careers and the industry.
As a recipient of the 2023 Iowa STEM Teacher Award, Moklestad will receive $1,500 to use for his classroom and $1,500 for personal use. He recently received his award and a small celebration at his school and will later be honored, along with his fellow recipients, in a recognition ceremony during STEM Day at the Fair at the Iowa State Fair.
About the Iowa Governor’s STEM Advisory Council
Established in July 2011 via Governor’s Executive Order, the Iowa Governor’s STEM Advisory Council is a public-private partnership of educators, companies and Iowa students and families addressing policies and programs designed to improve Iowa’s educational system focused on science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). The STEM Council works to engage and prepare students for a career-ready workforce path, regain our state’s historic leadership position in education and provide a vital competitive economic advantage now, and for the future, to ensure that every Iowa student has access to world-class STEM education opportunities. The 62-member STEM Council is co-chaired by Governor Kim Reynolds and Foundation Analytical Laboratory Owner and Director of Technical Services Diane Young. For more information, visit https://iowastem.org.
About Kemin Industries
Kemin Industries (www.kemin.com) is a global ingredient manufacturer that strives to sustainably transform the quality of life every day for 80 percent of the world with its products and services. The company supplies over 500 specialty ingredients for human and animal health and nutrition, pet food, aquaculture, nutraceutical, food technologies, crop technologies, textile, biofuel and animal vaccine industries.
For over half a century, Kemin has been dedicated to using applied science to address industry challenges and offer product solutions to customers in more than 120 countries. Kemin provides ingredients to feed a growing population with its commitment to the quality, safety and efficacy of food, feed and health-related products.
Established in 1961, Kemin is a privately held, family-owned-and-operated company with more than 3,000 global employees and operations in 90 countries, including manufacturing facilities in Belgium, Brazil, China, Egypt, India, Italy, San Marino, Singapore, South Africa and the United States.