Episode No. 8 of the Gilbert News in 90.

This week, we talk cross country success, trunk or treat, and a prestigious award for one of our own teachers!

Check it out below. #GilbertPride #TigersTogether

Congratulations to Gilbert Intermediate PE teacher Stephanie Klaffke, who has been named the recipient of the Outstanding Young Professional Award from the Iowa State University Alumni.

Mrs. Klaffke, who is a 2006 graduate of ISU, will be presented with her award on Oct. 31.

Mrs. ...Klaffke has won numerous awards for her innovation and dedication to her profession, and Gilbert Schools has been the beneficiary. We are so excited for her and proud of her!

For the second straight year, the Gilbert cross country teams said GET OUT THE BROOM at the Raccoon River Conference meet today in Winterset.

The Tigers again swept the team titles in the really strong conference that had five ranked teams in each race.

Let’s start with the ...girls …

The No. 13-ranked (3A) Tigers put four runners in the top 12 and tallied 54 points to best runner-up and 10th-ranked (3A) Winterset by 10 points at the top of the standings. No. 17 (3A) North Polk (74), No. 12 (3A) ADM (84) and No. 18 (3A) Ballard (88) rounded out the top five.

Sarah Feddersen led the way for Gilbert with a third-place finish in 19:42.31. Keira Andersen (20:33.30) was 9th, Kaitlyn Dear (20:39.90) took 11th, and Abby Patel (20:42.40) was right behind her in 12th. Sophia Bleich (21:31.90) rounded out the scoring in 19th, while Mia Kautman (22:09.19) was 29th and Raya Mueller (22:56.67) 36th.

And for the boys …

Even without Jacob Tallman in the lineup, the No. 1-ranked Tigers were DOMINANT. The proof is this: Count all seven Tigers scores … and they still win the team title by 36 points.

Gilbert finished with 19 points, a mile (OK, 62 points) ahead of No. 9-ranked and runner-up ADM (81).

Logan Bleich won his second straight individual RRC title in 15:43.38, and Carson Squiers was the runner-up in 15:54.55. Emmett Barber (16:46.45) was fourth, followed by Preston Stensland (16:51.43) in fifth. Emrick Ryan (16:57.41) gave the Tigers yet another top-10 runner; he was seventh. Liam Trampel (17:17.93) was 12th, and John Artz (17:24.64) finished 14th.

What a day. What a season. And it’s not over yet!

Congratulations, athletes and coaches! #GilbertPride #TigersTogether

The Middle School Middleball Tournament has taken on a life of its own. Tons of teams, great team names (my favorite this year was "Walmart Clearance Aisle"), great costumes ... the works.

Now, don't ask me to fully explain Middleball because I'm not entirely sure how ...it works. It's got elements of volleyball in it, but with a bounce, and the ball can be played off the walls. It's unique, to say the least.

Anyway, here are some photos from that tournament.

Full Middleball Tournament Gallery Link: https://gilbertschools.smugmug.com/Middle-School-Middleball-Tournament-Oct-11-2024

#GilbertPride #TigersTogether

As we told you a few days ago, the Middle School students had so much fun at the annual flag football and middleball tournaments on Friday. The students and staff work so well together to make this a memorable day each year.

We took plenty of photos from both tournaments. We'll start ...with the flag football tournament.

Full Flag Football Tournament Gallery: https://gilbertschools.smugmug.com/Middle-School-Flag-Football-Tournament-Oct-11-2024

#GilbertPride #TigersTogether

Our Gilbert High School DECA students are currently selling caramel candy to raise money to lower the cost for students to attend the International Career Development Conference (ICDC) next April.

DECA is a student-led organization that helps prepare emerging leaders and entrepreneurs to ...be college and career ready. Our DECA students build professional skills such as collaboration, critical thinking, and leadership.

If you would like to purchase the caramel candy or simply make a donation to support DECA, please click the link below. The fundraiser will end later this week, so act fast! #GilbertPride #TigersTogether

SupportFund

supportfundedu.com

This short story is sweeter than all of the candy at Casey’s.

Every year in Mrs. Bresnahan’s K-prep class, students get the opportunity to become the “Star of the Week.” Each day, the Student of the Week shares something special about themselves with the rest of the class, and then... on Friday a special family member makes a visit to the classroom to talk about their job or hobby.

This past Friday, Joey Squiers had her big brother Carson, a junior at Gilbert High School, come in to talk about cross country. A refresher for you — Carson is currently the 5th-ranked individual in Class 3A and one of the leaders of the No. 1-ranked 3A team in the state. He was an all-state runner a season ago when he helped to propel the Tigers to their fourth 3A state championship in the past 10 seasons.

Carson brought the 2023 state title trophy with him on Friday. Mrs. Bresnahan said Carson did an amazing job presenting to the class, and he even came prepared with notes. Afterward, he took part in a race with the K-prep students on the playground.

These are the types of things that make Gilbert so special. A growing school with four different buildings, and yet we’re still one united district. And our high school students (we’re looking at you, Carson) are tremendous role models for our younger students.

Thank you to Mrs. Bresnahan for sharing this story and these pictures with us. #GilbertPride #TigersTogether

Connor Rash might not be able to play football this fall due to a knee injury he sustained last March, but he's discovered he can still be an instrumental leader without putting on the pads.

Introducing: Coach Connor.

Connor has spent the season being a student-coach, ...specifically helping to mentor his cousin, Ethan, who took over as the starting quarterback in Connor's absence.

Connor was gracious enough to wear a microphone during pregame and the early portion of Friday's home game against Bondurant-Farrar to give us a behind the scenes look.

What did we discover? For starters, he really likes to sing.

This was fun, and we hope you enjoy it. #GilbertPride #TigersTogether

It's the last week of the regular season for our volleyball and cross country teams! Join us Friday night for senior night for our football team, cheerleaders, and band members!

For more information about these events, including start times and locations, please visit our website. ...#GilbertPride #TigersTogether

Love Night of Champions — our chance to celebrate some of the state’s best teams. Last night we honored our 2023-24 state championship girls golf and boys cross country teams, as well as our Gilbert Clay Commanders who won a state title (I missed getting a photo of that group). AD Ian Smith ...does a tremendous job of honoring our past.

Edit: Thank you Debbie Gray … we now have the Clay Commanders photo added to our Night of Champions post. #GilbertPride #RollTigs🐅

Some photos from last night's home football game against Bondurant-Farrar. The Bluejays pulled off a 31-28 upset, handing the Tigers their first loss of the season, but there's plenty of football left to play.

Spent the early part of the game shooting video for a project that ...will be out in the next few days that we think you'll enjoy.

Full Photo Gallery Link: https://gilbertschools.smugmug.com/Football-Bondurant-Farrar-Oct-11-2024

#GilbertPride #RollTigs

Competitors? Sure.

Rivals? Yep.

But at the end of the day, they’re football players. And nobody understands how bad leg cramps hurt more than other football players.

Love this photo of B-F’s Chase Rial helping Gilbert’s Tayshawn Gillen late in last night’s game. ...

More from the game coming soon. #GilbertPride #RollTigs🐅 #iahsfb