1964 - New Albin Honor Roll Students - 1964

The following students at the New Albin grade school have been listed on the honor roll:

4^th grade: Janice Burke, Steve Fink, L’Louise Kester and Barbara Toedter

5^th grades: Joe Burke, Stuart Burmester, Eddie Hammell, Marion Hammell, Julie Heiderscheit, Victoria Lee, Kathy Meyer, Darrell peters, Richard Reinke, Robert Staggemeier and Fred Wiemerslage

6^th grade: Donna Becker, Mary Ann Bradshaw, Linda Buege, Robert Fink, Mary Heiderscheit, Steven Imhoff, Dennis Pottratz, Samuel Smerud and Janell Thorson

7^th grade: Anna Hammell, Francis Mauss and Mary Schulte

8^th grade: Debbie Imhoff, Ken Buege, Liz Jordan, Claire Burmester and Margaret Hammell.

Those having perfect attendance are:

Kindergarten: David Crane, Jana Dresselhaus, Debra Reburn, Dean Renk, Raymond Renk, Gary Weymiller, Janet Weymiller, Debra Colsch, Richard Dahl, Todd Darling, Gregory Dougherty, Anita Erickson, Dennis Mulholland and Debra Weber

First: Judy Bulman, James Burke, David Dahl, James Darling, Randall Erickson, Ruby Gordon, Cindy Maust, Dean Reinke, Jean Renk, Tim Weymiller, and Laura Hartley

Second: Jerome Burke, Mark Dahl, Steven Darling, Rosella Hammell, Alvin Jacobson, Dale Mauss, George Mauss, Robert Meyer, Robert Renk, Terry Schoh, Donald Weymiller, Angela Wuennecke, Patricia Zeimet and Emelie Hartley

Third: Danny Bulman, Kim Carroll, Diane Colsch, Jay Darling, Phyllis Hammell, Kathy Hitchins, Ellen Mauss, Scotti Maust, Linda Meyer, Debra Reinke, William Schulte, Lila Solberg, Greg Thorson, and Craig Wiemerslage

Fourth: Randall Beneke, Douglas Bulman, Janice Burke, David Darling, Michael Darling, Steven Fink, and Tony Hammell

Fifth: Beverly Breeser, Joe Burke, Lynn Gordon, Kevin Gramlich, Eddie Hammell, Marion Hammell, Sandra Kasten, Kathy Meyer, Debra Norskog, Darrell Peters, James Schulte, Robert Staggemeier, Freddie Wiemerslage, and Bill Zoll

Sixth: Donna Becker, Mary Ann Bradshaw, Linda Buege, Jerome Colsch, Kerry Darling, Kenneth Donovan, Bernard Hammell, Vicki Jacobson, Daniel Mauss, David Mauss, Dennis Pottratz, Janelle Thorson and Michael Zeimet

Seventh: Michael Fink, Gary Gordon, Anna Hammell, Joyce Hammell, Larry Knight, Alan Mauss, Francis Mauss, Danny Maust, Mary Schulte and Jean Webb

Eighth: Daryl Beneke, Robert Becker, Ken Buege, Scott Carroll, Joan Hammell, Linus Hammell, Margaret Hammell, Mary Jordan, Victor Maust, Donald Moore, Carolyn Renk, Marilyn Renk and Bonnie Zeimet.

~Allamakee Journal, Lansing, IA, 25 Nov. 1964
~contributed by Errin Wilker

~Article & photos are from the La Crosse Tribune, La Crosse, WI, September 21, 1969 ~contributed by Errin Wilker

Teacher of the Week - Mr. Brayer Amble
By Colleen Marzen

“It has been interesting to get to know the class of ’86, whose motto, ‘learning to work and working to learn,’ has carried us forward,” was Mr. Brayer Amble’s comment on this year’s ?fth graders.

Mr. Amble lives in New Albin with his wife Vicki, and his four children, Brant, Jennifer, Jill and Sara. They also have a dog, Maynard, and five cats. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree at Upper Iowa and Master of Arts degree at Winona State. Mr. Amble taught at Hamburg, Iowa and Dysart before teaching here. He now is teaching 5th grade at New Albin Elementary. He has been teaching in the EACS system for eleven years. In the summer, while not teaching, Mr. Amble does odds jobs and watches his children. His many hobbies include fishing, swimming, playing chess, gardening, woodworking and reading.

“Practice reading every day,” was his advice to next year's 5th graders.

~Allamakee Journal, Lansing, IA, hand-dated 1979
~contributed by Errin Wilker. Mr. Amble was her 5th grade teacher.

Teacher of the Week – Mrs. Barbara Leppert
By Natalie Leppert

You won’t often recognize this teacher of the week when she has on her black leather jacket while riding on a Honda with her husband, Bob. She is Barbara Leppert, the fourth grade teacher in New Albin.

Mrs. Leppert lives on a farm ten miles west of Lansing, with her family, which consists of three daughters and one son. Andy and Audrey are at home and Lesa and Josey are in college. Hobbies of Mrs. Leppert’s are sewing and reading.

“Seeing the end products after the children graduate,” is what Mrs. Leppert commented, when asked what she liked most about teaching. She has been teaching at EACS for fifteen years.

~Allamakee Journal, Lansing, IA, hand-dated 1979
~contributed by Errin Wilker. Mrs. Leppert was her 4th grade teacher, and one of her favorite teachers.

Teacher of the Week, April 1979 - Mr. Gary Thomas
By Kris Carroll

Featured this week, as teacher of the week, is Mr. Gary Thomas. Mr. Thomas lives in New Albin with his wife, Sara, his three boys, Ty, Glen and Jon, and his daughter, Kari.

Mr. Thomas has been teaching for 13 years. He received his teaching degree at Winona State University. He taught in Wasco, California prior to coming here, and he has always taught sixth grade, along with some fifth grade math.

One of his more memorable moments was having a bottle-band in one class, and Alvin Jacobson’s bottle was always flat because he would drink the water. Another is, "When a class does well—like this year the class did well on the Iowa Basic Skills tests. It makes you feel good."

When asked why he likes teaching elementary, his answer was, "Because you aren’t restricted to teaching one subject. Then you don’t get tired of teaching just one. It’s fun to work with the kids; you always have a fresh perspective on life working with young people. It helps keep the blood pressure up, too!"

“l first wanted to be a teacher when I was in high school because I had a coach who kind of talked me into going to college and into teaching. Also, when in the service those who had an education had a respectable and responsible job, and those who didn’t have an education did not." That was his reply to the question when and why did he start teaching.

Mr. Thomas said: "A democracy is only as good as its people, and a democracy can’t work without educated people. Everyone should get as good an education as possible." In his spare time, Mr. Thomas enjoys working on engines and remodeling.

~source: Allamakee Journal, Lansing, IA, April 1979
~contributed by Errin Wilker. Mr. Thomas was her 6th grade teacher

Kindergarten Roundup - 1984

Kindergarten roundup for children who will reach the age of five on or before September 15, 1984 in the Eastern Allamakee Community School District is scheduled on Wednesday, March 14, at New Albin Elementary Center.

Known students in the New Albin area include Daniel Beneke, Ryan Colsch, Hannah Darling, Holly Dibert, Brooke Feuerhelm, Molly Fink, Jennifer Gibbs, Michael Kasten, Stacie Meyer, Emily Mitchell, Jeremiah Plagge, Leslie Renk, Cara Schoh, Angela Smerud, Jon Somermeyer, Jeremy Stouvenal, Lana Weymiller, and Kate Zoll.

Parents will be mailed a family record sheet and a health information sheet, both of which are to be filled out and brought to the roundup. A certificate of birth or other proof of age is needed.

~Allamakee Journal, Lansing, IA, Mar. 1984
~contributed by Errin Wilker

New Albin teacher, Jane (Jensen) Meyer

Meyer Reflects on 41 Years of Teaching 1st Grade
(photo above left)
By Kari Berns

For Jane Meyer, who has been a first grade teacher in New Albin for the past 41 years, she’ll always have fond memories of the children she has taught. “All of the sudden, I remember one day, a child said, ‘Oh, I can read!’” Meyer said. Reading, said Meyer, was her favorite subject to teach. “I enjoy teaching reading,” she said.

Meyer said she always believed in the phonetic approach to teaching reading. When teachers were ordered to stop teaching children to read by the phonetic method, Meyer said she definitely noticed a difference in the children’s reading abilities. Word recognition was not all it was cracked up to be. So, to insure that her students could get the hang of reading, she added in some phonetics here and there. “I snuck it in every chance I could get,” she said. Over the years, Meyer estimated she has helped almost 1000 children learn to read and learn other academic skills. Meyer said she will always remember the children because of their vitality and unpredictability. “I will remember their joy and enthusiasm for life,” she said. “And, never knowing what they’re going to say when they open their mouth. “You can be down in the dumps and they can give you one of those little smiles … Every day was a new experience,” she said.

Meyer, the 14th child of 16 children born to rural Independence, Iowa farmers, earned her teaching degree at the Iowa State Teachers College, now known as the University of Northern Iowa. Growing up in a large family helped Meyer in her career, she said. “It teaches you patience and to get along and work with others,” Meyer said.

In her retirement, Meyer said she plans on going to Florida in the winter to be with family who live there. Eventually, she said she might even move there. Meanwhile, Meyer plans on doing a lot of gardening. “I was raised on a farm,” she said, “and I guess you never take it out of the person.” But, even though gardening will keep her busy, Meyer said she will miss both the children and the staff. As a new first grade teacher comes in to take her place, Meyer said this, “The best thing is to have a routine and keep to it. Be true to what you say.”

~Allamakee Journal, Lansing, IA, June 1999

Teacher to Enjoy Retirement
(photo above right)
By Lyle Ernst

“There go the geese,” Jane Meyer pointed out from her patio. Meyer, 62, retired to a new home in Lansing, after teaching first graders at New Albin for 41 years. Jane, who is enjoying her retirement, said, “I miss the kids, but not the politics.” The Canadian geese have made a nest amidst the pussy willows in the large pond in back of Jane's home. Meyer, who prefers to go by Jane J. Meyer, was born Jane June Jensen, in Independence. One of sixteen children, ten boys and six girls, she has a twin brother who farms near Independence. The family had an interest in education, resulting in six of them becoming teachers. Two of her brothers are professors, one at the University of Iowa and the other out east. “I did not want to go to college, but Mom insisted,” she said. After graduating from UNI, she came to Lansing to visit, saw an ad in the paper, and applied for the advertised position. “My favorite subject to teach was reading. It always made me feel good when a child would suddenly exclaim, “I can read! I always believed in teaching phonics. There was a period of time when we were instructed not to teach phonics.”

During her teaching years, Jane lived on Blackhawk Road near New Albin. “At the end of every school year, I would have a picnic at my house in the country for all the children. The kids loved it and one year they thought they saw a bear,” she said, laughing. Reminiscing, she added, “It was fun to take the kids on trips to Myrick Park in La Crosse.”

“I love my house, but I do enjoy my trips to Florida to visit relatives.” Smiling, she said, “The best parts of retirement are you don't have to put up with any hassles, you can get up when you want, wear what you want, do what you want to do, go where you want to go and not be accountable to anyone but yourself. Retirement is time to stop working for a living and work at living.” Jane seems to be doing just that.

~Allamakee Journal, Lansing, IA, May 2000

~both news articles were contributed by Errin Wilker