2006 GHS graduate excited to get started

Nate Graves knows what it’s like to wrestle with the red and black G on his chest. And now he’ll have the opportunity to build his own program under the Tigers’ grappling umbrella.

A 2006 Gilbert High School graduate and an assistant coach with the Tigers’ wrestling program since 2018, Graves was officially named the new head coach of the Gilbert girls’ wrestling program earlier this month.

Graves takes the reins from Scott Auderer, who served as the head coach of the girls and boys teams over the past two seasons. Auderer will maintain his role as the head coach of the boys program.

A valued Gilbert assistant coach for six seasons, Graves worked primarily with the girls throughout the 2023-24 season, which made him a natural fit to take over in a head coaching capacity.

“I’m really excited,” Graves said of his ascension to a leading role. “I’ve kind of hoped and envisioned over the years that it might happen in some fashion, and the girls have been really fun to work with over the past few years. I’ve got daughters of my own who are growing up and getting into the sport, so it’s exciting to build something they might fit into someday.”

Iowa became the 34th state to officially have girls wrestling when the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union sanctioned the sport prior to the start of the 2022-23 season, and Graves has played a key role in one of the state’s bigger programs over the past two seasons. Gilbert’s first official team housed 20 wrestlers, and that number increased to 25 this past winter.

Gilbert has sent three girls to the state tournament over the past two seasons. Alex Harswick was a fourth-place medalist in 2023.

The numbers have been fantastic, and Graves is hopeful the enthusiasm will continue to grow. The sport is new to many Gilbert student-athletes, but he enjoys the teaching aspect that comes when working with inexperienced wrestlers.

“I’ve always enjoyed the teaching side of it and it’s cool when you get to see a lot of those lightbulb moments,” Graves said. “It’s fun to see a lot of these girls get into it. Most of these girls the past few years, it has been their first time on the mat and so it’s been a lot of focus on the basics and working on core concepts.”

Graves and his wife, Laura, have three children. Daughters Scottie, 7, and Izzy, 4, will attend Gilbert Elementary in the fall; Scottie will be in the second grade, while Izzy will be in preschool.  The couple also has an infant son, Gable.

Congratulations to Nate and the entire Graves family. We look forward to seeing him flourish in his new role with the Gilbert girls wrestling program.

GHS Agriculture Students have Industry Credentials Opportunities through Grant

In his role as an agriculture instructor at Gilbert High School, Adam Davis is constantly asking himself one question: What more can I do to prepare my students for the professional world?

After all, there is a high demand for careers in both agriculture and manufacturing in the state of Iowa. Mr. Davis works extensively with students who have incredible technical skills, and many of these students have long-term goals of working in the agriculture industry.

It’s Mr. Davis’s job to help prepare his students for their future careers, and he’s always — always — wanting to do just a little bit more.

He’s taken a big step in an attempt to do just that.

In February, Mr. Davis applied for “Credentials to Careers,” a competitive grant through the Iowa Department of Education (DOE) that was designed to help high school students earn industry-recognized credentials (IRC). And in April, the GHS instructor received the good — no, scratch that, great — news.

The Iowa DOE awarded GHS $138,175 to go toward aiding students in achieving their IRC, whether it be with new equipment purchases or other materials.

“It’s really exciting, and it will totally change what we’re able to offer students,” Mr. Davis said. “The goal is to get kids valuable experiences that make for an easy transition and relevant transition into the workplace, whether that’s working in the trades for the summer, or if they’re interested in going to a technical school, or just pursuing a full-time career.”

In all, the Iowa DOE awarded more than $1.7 million to 20 school districts across the state through the Credentials to Careers program.

A significant portion of the funds GHS received from this grant will go back to the students. For the first time, Gilbert will now be able to offer technical certifications free of cost to the students. And the agriculture education welding program is being recognized as a licensed educational institution through the American Welding Society, which opens the doors to students to earn up to 14 credential opportunities worth more than $7,500.

One piece of equipment students will have the opportunity to work with as a result of the grant is the cutting edge Miller LiveArc Welding Performance Management System. This state-of-the-art piece of equipment allows both novice and advanced students the chance to get a hands-on experience welding through an AI program before they strike the arc. It gives real-time feedback on proper techniques throughout the process. Once students are comfortable, they can begin live welding with the same constant real-time feedback, including a composite score on a scale of 1-100 upon completion of a task.

These new teaching techniques will be invaluable, Davis says.

“I think this is going to be a fantastic bridge because sometimes kids are a little intimidated with things like the sound, the heat, and the sparks,” he said. “With this machine, they can see how they’re going to do with all of those (variables) removed. It’s cutting edge as far as what it’s able to provide … it’s able to tell you things that I can’t actually tell them myself, like structural integrity.”

Mr. Davis consulted with a number of businesses such as M.H. EBY, John Deere, Vermeer Corporation, Lane Trailer Manufacturing, and Sargent Meal Fabricating throughout the grant writing process. He says he knew early on how important it was to become familiar with local connections and their processes and equipment, which will help students to attain their IRCs.

“What we quickly realized is we need to update some things and then also make it industry relevant,” Mr. Davis said. “When our kids go into the workforce, are we providing relevant education for them? Because that’s always the goal.”

GHS Principal Cindy Bassett lauded Davis’s efforts, not only with securing funds from the grant, but for putting the best interests of his students at the forefront of his teaching philosophy.

“This grant leads to more opportunities and experiences in our (agriculture education) department,” Mrs. Bassett said. “Funds will help implement training and equipment to prepare GHS students for a variety of pathways. Thank you to Adam Davis for seeking out ways to grow our program!”

Mr. Davis’s communication with EBY not only helped to serve as a reference for the grant, but it also provided an avenue for the company to play a role in the education of our students. He says EBY has already provided a $15,000 aluminum push-pull welder and buckets of material to practice with. The company is also providing a professional welder to help with individual lessons for students in advanced welding courses.

“That was unexpected, but a very welcomed opportunity,” Mr. Davis said. “The goal is to get kids career opportunities, and what better way than working with kids one on one?”

Let’s end this the way we began with Mr. Davis’s question: What more can I do to prepare my students for the professional world?

Mr. Davis, you have certainly answered your question.

Twenty-one Gilbert High School students milled around Room 403 on a Friday afternoon earlier this month, enjoying a few refreshments while they chatted away with their fellow classmates. The large group has formed a bond over their passion for science, and it’s a group that biology teacher Cara Rinehart is proud to oversee.

The get together turned serious for only a few brief moments, as Mrs. Rinehart lauded the students for their work throughout the school year. But this was just the start, she said. She sees the potential, and she sees a group that can be even better during the 2024-25 school year.

More than several heads nodded in agreement.

Mrs. Rinehart is the leader of the GHS Science Olympiad team, and these 21 students are her pupils. She encouraged them to continue on their studies, to work with their teammates in their free time, and even to seek guidance from experts in various fields.

What is Science Olympiad? We’re glad you asked. It’s a nationwide competition for middle school and high school students with the goal of raising the interest in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics), as well as providing recognition for outstanding achievement in team events.

These GHS students are incredibly smart and incredibly talented. And in them, Mrs. Rinehart sees a team that can and will continue to raise the bar and compete with the best teams the state has to offer.

GHS sent these 21 students in two teams — Gilbert Red and Gilbert Black — to the 2024 Iowa Science Olympiad state tournament on the campus of Iowa State University on April 6. The competition included 23 events within earth science, biology, chemistry, physics, and engineering. The events included things such as Air Trajectory, Anatomy and Physiology, Chemistry Lab, Code Busters, Experimental Design, Ecology, and Flight, just to name a few.

The teams did well, placing 13th and 14th, respectively, in the high school division, and three students — Raylene Chen, Sean Wu, and Lena Dinsmore brought home medals.

Dinsmore and Wu finished second in the Detector Building competition, a complex project where they were tasked with designing, coding, and building an instrument that detects voltage and NaCI (sodium chloride) content of water from 0-5000ppm (parts per million). Chen and Wu placed third overall in the Tower event.

Next up for the students is their quest to close the gap between themselves and Ames High School, the 2024 state champion and a regular at the top of the leaderboard. Ames will be joined by state runner-up Cedar Falls and third-place finisher Mount Vernon at the national competition in Lansing, Michigan, in late May.

But it’s about more than medals and the competition for our GHS students. Toward the end of the get together, Mrs. Rinehart asked all of her team members to jot down their answers to one simple question: Why do you take part in Science Olympiad? Their answers show how important learning and camaraderie are as well.

“I like participating in Science Olympiad because I like getting to learn new things about topics that interest me,” one student said.

“I love being part of a team that can do more advanced work,” said another student. “The atmosphere is fun and friendly and yet we still do college-level work. The challenge each event brings will never be easy to solve, but doing well is incredibly rewarding.”

“I like to participate in Science Olympiad because it’s really easy to be involved and it’s a great way to make friends,” said another student.

Learning. Friendship. Competition.

Science Olympiad is all of that. What more could you want?

GILBERT HIGH SCHOOL SCIENCE OLYMPIAD ROSTER

SENIORS: Jaden Wilson, Raychie Chen, Madeline Lamm, Kalyn Schmidt, Alice Zhang.

JUNIORS: Tyler Anderson, Tristan Limoges, Aldo Schwartz, Andrew Soupir.

SOPHOMORES: Alyse Beyer, Chloe Chen, Maks Koziel.

FRESHMEN: Avery Wilson, Lena Dinsmore, Canaan Dunn, Raylene Chen, Sean Wu, Chloe Lee, Matthew Zhang, Wyatt Jones, Jordan Martinek.

First Gilbert preschool class set to graduate in May

One by one, they walked through the preschool classroom door, unsure of what to expect. They stopped at the back of the classroom and looked around, from one side of the room to the next. They saw the youngest of Gilbert students sitting at tables, either coloring or playing or talking. They glanced to the front of the room and saw a familiar face in Heather Currans looking their way with a smile on her face and a tear in her eye.

And one by one, they smiled. They were back where it all began. Where they started it all, really.

They were the first. And they always will be.

•••

Mrs. Currans simply doesn’t own a poker face. She often wears her emotions on her sleeve and communicates through radiating eyes and a warm and welcoming smile, which is perfect for a preschool teacher.

She did her best to hold it together — the emotions of the moment — when 18 of her former pupils walked through her classroom door on a bright Thursday morning just after the first bell had rung. Had her current students not already been in the room and needing her undivided attention, she almost certainly would have crumbled.

A few tears did slip down her cheek, first when senior Cam Stephens presented her with a floral arrangement from the Class of 2024. Hugs were quick but so heartfelt, both from teacher and student.

This was going to be a good morning.

•••

In a few short weeks — seriously, where does the time go? — the Class of 2024 will say goodbye to the Gilbert Community School District. Like so many classes before, graduation will be celebratory, reflective, and emotional. The seniors will move on, and hopefully they’ll look back at their adolescent years with fond memories of what they experienced inside our halls and classrooms.

This class is special though, particularly to Currans and Gilbert Elementary Principal Staci Edwards. In the fall of 2010, 20 of this year’s graduates — Taylor Banning, Ashton Dodds, Henry Gustafson, Jackson Johnson, Kiera Miller, Kilee Miller, Taylor Puck, Eli Roske, Ian Roske, Toby Ruba, Cam Stephens, Elle Ellingson, Adalyn Gauck, Zach Heimer, Haley Loonan, Hope Marquette, Zain Mueller, Maddy Shannon, Sidney Steenhoek, and Dylan Terry — were a part of the first ever preschool class at Gilbert. Classmate Jacob Leedom, who tragically passed away this past fall, was also part of that special group.

The first Gilbert Elementary preschool class to graduate. Now that’s pretty special.

“The evolution of that particular class has been so fun to watch,” Edwards, who led the effort to implement the Early Childhood Program at Gilbert, said. “They’ve been in school the whole time I’ve been at Gilbert and I think about the change they’ve seen going from a district that had three buildings to four buildings, and then to a new (high school) building. It’s exciting to know in a bigger picture how much change can happen in really just the school lifetime of a kiddo here at Gilbert.”

With administration and community support, Edwards wrote the early childhood grant for state funding throughout the 2009-10 school year, and after receiving accreditation through NAEYC (National Association for the Education of Young Children), Gilbert was ready to welcome its first class in the fall of 2010.

Currans, who had worked in the Ames school district for a number of years, applied and was hired to lead the new program at Gilbert Elementary. In the first year, she taught two sections of preschool — a morning class with 17 students and an afternoon class with 16 students.

“It was pretty exciting to be able to start a program from the ground up,” Currans said. “Everything from how you’re going to set up your room to what is your teaching philosophy going to be, to getting new things. And what I really loved is Staci is an early childhood person … she trusted me to make the decisions that I felt would be best to build the program. Anywhere I’ve ever worked, I’ve never had the kind of support from a principal or administrator that I have here. She was instrumental in getting the program here and making it what it is.”

Over the past 14 school years, approximately 750-800 students have taken part in Gilbert’s Early Childhood Program. So popular was the program that in 2012-13, another educator was hired and preschool increased to four sections — two in the morning and two in the afternoon. Kindergarten prep was added for the 2013-14 and 2014-15 school years, and then returned again in 2019-20 where it has remained since.

•••

And that brings us back to last Thursday — April 11, 2024 — when some of those first students returned to where it all began.

After the initial shock of being in their first classroom, the 18 seniors quickly acclimated to their surroundings. After greetings with Currans, they gravitated toward the tables spread around the room to interact with this year’s preschool students.

Slowly, the memories began to flood back into their minds.

“I really couldn’t remember a lot of things off the top of my head, but being back in the classroom again made me remember all of the things we did,” Cam Stephens said. “It’s where I met all of the kids and a lot of them are my friends today.

“It was cool to be back, especially talking to Mrs. Currans because I’ve known her for so long. She was definitely a great teacher.”

Following the free time with the young students, the seniors joined the preschoolers on the carpet in the front of the room to get the day started. Many of the soon-to-be graduates nodded their heads, remembering the morning routine of checking the date and the weather outside. Those are happy memories, but there was also a bit of melancholy at the realization of just how fast the entire school experience went.

“Mrs. Currans has seen us all grow up and be who we are now, so there is a lot of nostalgia for that for sure,” Elle Ellingson said. “But it was also kind of sad being back there. To be back there and see all of the little kids … seeing how much life they have to go through and learn, it’s sad that it went by so fast, but also beautiful to think about.”

Zain Mueller wore a perpetual grin on his face throughout the morning. The energy and enthusiasm of the preschoolers was infectious and made it impossible for the seniors not to see the joy.

“It’s fun to see them be happy all of the time,” Mueller said. “I was definitely thinking back to my preschool and elementary memories, and it was fun to be in Mrs. Currans’ room again. She was definitely the best preschool teacher you could ask for. She was always so sweet and helpful.”

Mrs. Currans felt the affection from her former students, both through their expressions and their words. So see them all in her classroom again, to see what it meant to each of the seniors to return to where it all began, it will stay with her forever.

“It was incredible and I was blown away with how many of them came,” Mrs. Currans said, the emotion in her voice resonating through the cracks. “I know the things these kids have gone through and I know the accomplishments they’ve had, so to see them grow is just really neat. It meant so much to me to see all of them back here.”

Just like their entire academic careers at Gilbert, the 30 minutes in the classroom went by quickly. It was time for the seniors to leave, to head to their own building and prepare for a day of learning.

But not before they made one last stop.

The seniors went out the back door of the classroom and headed to the playground for one last trip down slide mountain. There were laughs and even a few screams as, one by one, they flew down one of the side slides.

“It doesn’t seem like 14 years ago I was in that classroom sitting on that carpet and writing my name in a workbook,” Stephens said. “It definitely goes by really fast.”

It sure does.