Ivanhoe, Hendricks citizens get together for the students
By Robert Wolfington IIIIt was billed as an opportunity to have a constructive discussion about the schools in Hendricks and Ivanhoe.
Organizers say about 80 residents from both Hendricks and Ivanhoe attended the first "Save Our Students" meetings in Hendricks on Sunday night.
Slade Siverson helped organize the meeting to bring the communities together to discuss various issues.
"We're trying to join two communities that we feel might not be going in the same direction," said Siverson. "We had about 80 people there and I think it was a very good meeting. We're starting to bridge some gaps between the two communities."
Siverson said one of the main goals for the meeting was to encourage community members to run for open positions on the Hendricks School Board.
"My main goal was to try to get people to run for office," said Siverson. "Our goal was achieved, we had three people stand up and say they would run."
Chad Olsen of Hendricks attended the meeting because he said he wants to see the communities work together.
Olsen volunteered at the meeting to run for one of the open positions.
"There are positions open on the Hendricks School Board and not a lot of people wanted to run," said Olsen. "I just want to try to save this school in a small community.
"I have small kids coming up, so I'm just going to do what I can do," he said.
Chad Schmidt and Lowell Nelson also agreed to run for the open school board seats.
Olsen said it's important for both communities to work together on common goals.
"I want to save the school and I want to see Hendricks and Ivanhoe to continue working together," said Olsen. "It was supposed to be a meeting with positive new ideas.
"I don't like to be negative, so I wanted to go to a meeting that was positive just to see if we can get things back on track and get Hendricks and Ivanhoe working together."
Olsen said some of the issues could be traced back to a time before the schools were paired.
"I think there is a lot of pride that needs to be swallowed between both communities," said Olsen. "Twenty years ago, before the schools were paired, Hendricks and Ivanhoe were big rivals in sports. I think a lot of that is still there."
Olsen said the meeting Sunday could serve as a jumpstart to get the communities working together.
"If Hendricks wants to support an elementary and Ivanhoe wants to support a high school, it's going to take both towns to make it work," said Olsen.
"(Sunday's) meeting was probably an eye opener for most people, if we don't start working together, neither school will survive. I hope people will rethink the past and move forward with positive ideas."
Siverson said there is already some trust built between the two communities.
"I love the fact the high school is in Ivanhoe and the elementary school is here," said Siverson. "My little kids are here in Hendricks and I think it takes a lot of courage and trust for the Ivanhoe people to put their kids on a bus and bus them over here."
Siverson said meetings like the one Sunday night are important to encourage community involvement, he said. He said there is a lot of competition for students in the region.
"We have some strong school systems around us," said Siverson. "We're trying to not go down without a fight. People from Hendricks are frustrated, Ivanhoe people are frustrated and we want people to come and talk about their frustrations and see what we can do as community members to assist each other."
Siverson said the blame doesn't rest on the school board or teachers. He said a lot of it comes down to community involvement.
"I personally don't believe it's board members' faults or teachers' fault; it is certainly not the students' fault," said Siverson. "It's our communities that are the foundation of our schools. It's not anybody's fault but our own. It's up to us to bring our community together."
Siverson said there was discussion about future meetings, including one tentatively planned in a month.
"We did talk about holding another meeting in four weeks," said Siverson. "We're going to have it in Ivanhoe. Hopefully we can bring similar topics up."
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littleguy56289
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09-09-08 2:30 AM
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What on earth are the adults arguing about? This was a great story by the way, but I'm just wondering what the deal is, why is there any "frustration" in the 2 towns... They need to consolidate ASAP and start worrying about facilities as one school district.. Not bickering as "Hendricks" or "Ivanhoe"
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