The third annual Reality Store opened to students from Stanley and Powers Lake High School on Wednesday, Jan. 25. The event is presented by NDSU Extension Agent Sharon Smith and brings together community volunteers along with the freshmen and sophomores from both schools. The first year the event was open to SHS freshmen. Last year, the SHS sophomores were added to the list and this year Powers Lake students were invited to join.
The Reality Store is a career building event that helps students learn about life, the choices they make and how those choices will affect them. It also gives them an opportunity to see if the career paths they believe they want to pursue will allow them to have the lifestyle they would like to live. The process started for students earlier in the month as they were encouraged to pick their chosen “career”. They then had to research what an entry level position would be like and the salary they could expect to earn.
As they checked in, each student was given a card with their basic information and headed to their first stop at the bank. There they learned about their monthly payroll and deductions, benefits they may receive, and whether or not they had any student loans to repay. After that, they needed to stop at transportation and housing.
From there they were able to choose their next stops in no particular order. They included insurance, grocery and personal care, utilities, communications, entertainment, medical and dental, clothing, S.O.S., child care, contributions and credit, and the ever popular life happens. Life happens is a booth where anything could happen that impacts the student’s month. It could be a gift or an unexpected expense.
The goal of the program is to help students discover that life involves decision making, problem solving and budgeting. They experience the relationship between education and employment, and how that will impact their quality of life. It also 
English teacher Betty Van Vugt took her seventh grade students sledding last Wednesday, Jan. 25, as a reward for having met the challenge goal for the second quarter of this year. This quarter’s goal was to read at least 534 pages in books that met the Accelerated Reading program guidelines.
The day started with a walk on a warm day to Stanley’s Glass Hill, followed by an afternoon of sledding on what little snow remained on the hill. That was followed up with a walk back to the school for cake and hot chocolate.
Twenty-nine seventh graders met the goal equaling 63% of the students eligible. That compares to 51% of the seventh graders that met the first quarter goal. Top readers for the seventh graders included Kacey Clark with 1653 pages, Meghyn Spencer with 1497 pages, Kaylyn Obert with 1456 pages and Jared Halvorson with 1434 pages. All totaled the 29 students combined for 23,041 pages, or an average of just under 800 pages each. Reading totals ranged from the required 534 to the high of 1653 pages.
The goal with the challenges is simple. Van Vugt is a firm believer in the value of reading and believes that providing the challenge and prize it encourages students to read more. Reading is a lifelong skill that will benefit the students throughout their lives and any incentive to get students to read more is a good thing.
Each quarter, Van Vugt gives her students a reading challenge with a reward for those that meet the goal. The first quarter reward was Whirla-Whips from Dakota Drug and an afternoon of fun at the Community Activity Center. Additional challenges and rewards will be offered for the third and fourth quarter.
Because of the number of students in the junior high classes and 011 Annual Chiefs Report Stanley Volunteer Fire Department
During 2011 the Stanley Volunteer Fire Department responded to 61 calls, 27 calls in the City of Stanley, 33 calls in the Stanley Rural Fire District, and 1 mutual aid call to a neighboring district, which was an increase from 49 calls in 2010. A summary of the calls for the year are as follows: 1 Mutual Aid Call 7 grass/cropland fires 22 vehicle accidents 5 structure fires 2 oil site/equipment fires 8 vehicle/ag equip. fires 4 Haz-Mat calls 2 weather watch 8 false alarms/alarm called off 2 transformer fires Estimated total property loss due to fire in 2011 in the City of Stanley and the Stanley Rural Fire Protection district was $260,000. There was an average of 16 men responding per call with a total of 696 man hours required to respond to these emergency situations. There were no deaths or injuries due to fire within the City of Stanley or the Stanley Rural Fire Protection District. The Stanley Volunteer Fire Department serves the City of Stanley and the Stanley Rural Fire Protection District. The Rural Fire District consists of the cities of Ross, Palermo and the following townships: Lostwood, James Hill, Clearwater, Redmond, Idaho, Palermo, Alger, Purcell, Burke, Sikes, Brookbank, Ross, Manitou, Debing, Austin, McGahan, west half of Oakland, south half of Cottonwood, and the east half of 154-94 and 155-94 for a total of 653 square miles. The Stanley Fire Protection District is one of the largest in the state. The Stanley City Fire Department has the following equipment: 1971 International 750 gpm pumper, a 1992 Ford F700 1250 gpm pumper, and a 1998 GMC 5500 rescue Login or Subscribe to view full stories.NDTOA Plans 2012 Workshop Tour of North Dakota
The North Dakota Township Officers Association is again holding workshops for all township officers – supervisors, assessors, clerks, pound masters, highway overseers, zoning officers or any other office holder for a township in North Dakota. Workshops are scheduled in February and March as listed below. These workshops bring the NDTOA to the membership, at a location and a time which allows them to drive into the session and return home that same day. Each workshop will last approximately two hours. Township officers should bring their green NDTOA handbook as we will be distributing and discussing an update package which will incorporate the law changes affecting the duties and responsibilities of township officers that occurred during the 2011 Legislative Session. The program will include a report of organizational activities by President Larry Syverson. Ken Yantes, Executive Secretary, will lead in the distribution of the new handbook and review the township law changes made in the 2011 Legislative Session. Mark Verke, Risk Management Specialist for the North Dakota Insurance Reserve Login or Subscribe to view full stories.Cooperative Lineworkers Honored At NDAREC Safety Conference
The North Dakota Association of Rural Electric Cooperatives (NDAREC) honored graduating apprentice lineworkers at its annual Apprenticeship, Training & Safety (AT&S) Conference held Jan. 11-13 in Bismarck. The conference drew about 300 representatives of NDAREC member-cooperatives and the electric industry for classroom sessions, equipment evaluations and awards ceremonies. The U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Apprenticeship, is a cooperating participant in the conference. At the conference awards banquet, the following honors were presented: *Lifesaver Award: Given to Verendrye Electric Cooperative employees Jim Hagen, journeyman lineworker, and Justin Bullinger, apprentice lineworker, for performing a life-saving rescue after a young woman suffered an automobile accident in March 2011. *Graduating Lineworker Apprentices: Given to Kyle Binstock, Slope Electric Cooperative; Devin Dorval and Dusty Fladeland, Mountrail-Williams Electric Cooperative; Zach Maershbecker, Roughrider Electric Cooperative; Matthew Preszler, 3 C Construction; and Colt Rangen, McKenzie Electric Cooperative, Coordinated by NDAREC AT&S and the U.S. Department of Labor, the lineworker apprenticeship program is a four-year program of professional development for beginning lineworkers who complete Login or Subscribe to view full stories.
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