“You’ll get a sticker,” a student at Iola Elementary School whispered to a friend who wasn’t feeling well. Sara Clift overheard the conversation and smiled. It makes her job a lot easier when children feel…

It’s time to fight for public education, USD 257 Superintendent Stacey Fager told board members at Monday’s meeting. He asked the board to set aside time at the next meeting at 6 p.m. on Feb.…

Driving a school bus can be a lot of fun, longtime drivers Mark Whitney and Warren Johnson agree.  The kids make it fun. The drivers listen to their stories and watch them grow.  But the…

Students in SAFE BASE, the after-school program in USD 257, learned all about whale sharks as part of the annual Shark Week program. A school bus was decorated as a whale shark, the world’s largest…

Set goals and you’ll get results. That was the message to USD 257 board members from Steve Parsons, a former superintendent and education consultant at the Southeast Kansas Education Service Center in Greenbush. Parsons and…

Iola Elementary School is under a shark advisory. A bus in front of the school was turned into a shark last week to recognize the return of Shark Week for SAFE BASE students. That’s because some…

Now that Iola’s new elementary school is up and running, the focus shifts to what to do with the old elementary schools. A plan is underway, as BNIM, a Kansas City, Mo.-based architect and design…

Area students will finally get their hands on a home remodel project in the next few weeks, after about two years of waiting. Don Settlemyer, instructor for the construction trades class at the Regional Rural…

The past year has been challenging for food service professionals in USD 257, Robert Vicin, regional manager with OPAA! Food Management service, told school board members Monday evening. To start, the district opened a new…

Three teenage girls twist wrenches and peer inside the engine of a Chevrolet Malibu on a Friday afternoon at the Regional Rural Technical Center at LaHarpe. They’ve replaced the engine. Now, they need to finish…