Like Nature in Spring, SPARKLE is Flourishing

sparkle car wash

By Dan Merritt, Advocate reporter

They decided someone needed to clean-up this town and they were right.

A cleaning business begun in winter 2014 is flourishing in Winner — and the area, as well — to the point of possibly hiring more workers, says Mardi Pederson.

“It’s going really well. Really well. We’re really busy. Better than I could have hoped.”

After several months of consideration, she and her mother Kaye Eckerman launched SPARKLE Cleaning Company, LLC on Feb. 14, 2014.

They have a crew busy every day cleaning homes, some businesses, and plenty of automobiles, as well.

(Yes, they will take-on that messy inside and muddy exterior car of yours and make that dirty ride all clean and shiny inside and out.)

Appointments for cars need to be made at which time costs for the service can be discussed, Pederson added.

Watts Works with Math Studio

jimmi watts and story

 

By Dan Bechtold

Editor 

Growing up in Winner, Jimmi Watts always had a passion for teaching.

As a first grader, Watts had Jo Haffield as a teacher. The first grade teacher so inspired Watts that even in first grade the student made a vow to become a teacher. That promise carried over to  high school. When Haffield was an elementary counselor she worked with the Character Counts program and Watts had the opportunity to work with elementary youths.

Now, Watts is teaching kindergarten students in Omaha, Neb., and is part of a program known as Math Studio in the Omaha Public Schools.

Watts, daughter of Rusty and Penny Heenan of Winner, graduated from Winner High School in 1998. In 2003, she received her degree in in elementary and special education from the University of South Dakota. In 2006, Watts earned a master’s degree in curriculum and instruction. In 2010, Watts received a elementary math specialist degree.

She teaches in the Belle Ryan School in Omaha and has 21 students in kindergarten. In that class, the students speak seven different languages.

Watts is taking part in a process called Math Studio, a model classroom that provides professional development for teachers, coaches and administrators. It’s a small piece of a $5.5 million grant to bolster math instruction in the Omaha Public Schools from the Sherwood and Lozier Foundations.

Freshmen Compete in Essay Contest

high school essay participants

Winner High School freshmen English students took part in the South Dakota 4-H Quotes to Live By essay contest.

WHS freshmen English teacher Cyndy DeMers said she had every freshmen write an essay about their favorite maxim.

Statewide record numbers participated in this year’s contest.

Karelyn Farrand, SDSU Extension 4-H Character education field specialist, said “The increase in participation is exciting news. I am especially pleased that more students have been given the opportunity to learn from maxims.”

Participants use critical thinking skills to examine how a maxim impacts their lives. “It helps them build a stronger character foundation by reflecting on their own lives and who they are and are going to be as a persons of character. It is also good to see more students practicing and improving their reading and writing skills by participating in this contest.”

The contest is designed to promote reading, critical thinking and composition skills. Participants choose a maxim from a predetermined list and write an essay that shows how the maxim fits into their lives. The contest was offered to all South Dakota youth in fourth, seventh and ninth grades.

Hossle, Soles Win FFA State Degree

hossle and soles ffa

 

By Dan Bechtold

Editor 

Nick Hossle and Lesley Soles received their state FFA degree at the recent state  convention in Brookings.

Wyatt DeJong, Winner High School FFA advisor, says less than one percent of the start Future Farmers of America membership received his degree.

“It takes a lot of work and commitment on the part of the student,” said DeJong.

Students must keep records for three years in a certain project area.

Soles worked in food science and technology and Hossle worked in beef production.

In addition to keeping records for three years, a student must have a minimum of 15 community service hours plus need a grade point average requirement.

“It is a nice honor and I am impressed to have two students receive it. I am blown away by their commitment,” said DeJong.

Doctor Spends Month in Winner

dr. ashraf

 

Dr. Muna Ashraf is spending a month in Winner as part of her family practice residency.

She started work at Winner Regional Clinic April 6 and will leave May 1. She will return to Sioux Falls where she has two months left on her residency.

In September, she will start  work for McGreevy Clinic in Sioux Falls.

The doctor graduated from the University of South Dakota Medical School in 2012 then went into a family practice residency program at Center for Family Medicine in Sioux Falls.

This is not her first visit to Winner, as a sophomore in medical school, Ashraf spent a month working with doctors at Winner Regional Clinic.

In Winner, she has been seeing patients at the clinic and being on call in the emergency room at the hospital.

“In a small community, I enjoy the variety of being able to do emergency medicine plus also work in the clinic. I enjoy the warmth of people in a small community. They are very kind,” she said.

Ashraf has a degree in computer science graduating from Augustana College, Sioux Falls, graduating in 2000. For five years she worked in the computer field at Citi Bank and Sencore. For these firms she did a lot of programming.

Ashraf is a graduate of Lincoln High School in Sioux Falls and always had an interest in science. While working with computers, the doctor found she missed working with people.

For three years, she worked with people with disabilities at Lifescape and also took pre-med classes.

“I enjoy interacting with patients and I have a passion for medicine,” she explained.

Development Corporation Elects Directors

bill matousek   chamber

Directors were elected at the annual meeting of the South Central Development Corporation on April 21 at Winner Country Club.

The directors are Chuck Keiser, Phil Husher, Don Bice, Mike Trosen and Charlie Grossenburg.

Mark Schweigert is retiring on May 1 as the Tripp County Economic Development director. The office of economic development will move to the Winner Area Chamber of Commerce office on Main Street. Karla Brozik, Chamber director, will serve as the interim development director.

Community Connections Received Accreditation

cci accreditation small group and story

By Dan Bechtold, Editor

Community Connections Inc. of Winner has achieved a four year person centered excellence accreditation.

A three person  team visited  Winner April14-17 to conduct a review CCI.

Community Connections was the first agency in the United States to go through accreditation using a new model– “Person Centered Excellence.”

The three women who reviewed the agency were from the Council on Quality and Leadership. For over 40 years, CQL has provided international leadership in designing progressive practices in services for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and people with mental illness.

Olsons Win Fishing Tournament

SONY DSC

 

The team of Vern Olson and Brandon Olson won first place in the Billy Bolander Memorial fishing tournament on April 25. The pair caught 12.07 pounds of fish.

There were 50 fisherman in the tournament at Roosevelt Dam.  The awards were presented at Stormys.

Second place went to Bryce Hauf and Jake Luse with 11.31 pounds of fish.

Herman Qualifies for State in Discus

pierre track 4x200

Winner High School track athletes competed at the Pierre Legion Relays on Friday.

Delores Herman had a state qualifying throw in the discus with a throw of 114-7. She took third place. Herman also placed 5th in the shot put with a throw of 35-7.

The medley relay team took fourth place in 4:33.1.  Runners were Sydney Fritz, Hayley Halverson, Alexis Richey and Chloe Bartels.

On the boys side, Nathan Galbraith took third place in the 400 in :51.5.

Other results of the WHS boys include:

Shot put—Brendan Harter, 5th, 46-1

Discus—Harter, 6th, 133-1

400 relay—6th, :46.2, Nick Hossle, Isaac Naasz, Riley Calhoon and Tyrel Haley

1600 relay—5th, 3:35.3, Coleton Schuyler, Sam Naasz, Kayleb Brozik and Nathan Galbraith

Medley relay—6th, 3:56, Nick Hossle, Riley Calhoon, Kayleb Brozik and Luke Engel

 

Winner Teams are Big Dakota Conference Champs

luke engel  relay

Winner boys and girls track team won the Big Dakota Conference track meet held in Mobridge on April 21.

The WHS boys won first place with 157 points with Miller taking second with 105 points.

The Lady Warriors won the meet with 108 points with Mobridge-Pollock taking second with 102 points.

For the girls, Deloris Herman won both the shot put and the discus. The Winner senior threw the shot put 35-6 and the discus, 102-1.

Alexis Richey won the 400 in 1:07.08.

Other results of the WHS girls include:

400—Hayley Halverson, 4th, 1:09.02

800—Chloe Bartels, 2nd, 2:42.50; Richey, 5th, 2:51

1600—Bartels, 4th, 5:52.59

3200—Bartels, 2nd, 13:28.25

Long jump—Rachel Sherman, 4th, 12-2.5

Shot put—Kyran Meek, 4th, 30-1

Discus—Brindi Felix, 3rd, 90-6; Casey Norrid, 4th, 88-6

4×100 relay—3rd, :57.03, Rachel Sherman, Sydney Fritz, Kelsey Bertram and Kyran Meek

4z200 relay—2nd, 2:00.47, Rachel Sherman, Sydney Fritz, Kelsey Bertram and Sydney Schuyler

4×400 relay—3rd, 4:57.37, Alexis Richey, Kelsey Bertram, Kyran Meek and Sydney Schuyler

4×800 relay—2nd, 11:11.72, Haley Halverson, Sydney Schuyler, Alexis Richey, Chloe Bartels

Medley relay—4th, 5:06.87, Sydney Fritz, Kelsey Bertram, Hayley Halverson and Sydney Schuyler

The Winner High School boys were led by Coleton Schuyler who won the 800 in 2:05.55; Kayleb Brozik who won the high jump in 5-6; Brendan Harter who won the discus with a throw of 135-11

The Warriors won first place in two of the relays.

Other results of the Winner Warriors include:

100—Nick Hossle, 4th, :11.56; Tyrel Haley, 6th, :11.59

200—Windsor Barry, 4th, :23.78; Haley, 5th, :23.88

400—Nathan Galbraith, 2nd, :53.41

110 hurdles—Haley, 3rd, :16.55; Sam Naasz, 4th, :17.31

300 hurdles—Haley, 2nd, :44.18; Naasz, 4th, :45.24

800—Kayleb Brozik, 2nd, 2:15.34

Long jump—Nick Hossle, 2nd, 17-3; Riley Calhoon, 4th, 16-7.5; Windsor Barry, 6th, 16-5.5

Triple jump—Barry, 3rd, 36-9.5

High jump—Brendan Harter, 2nd, 5-6

Shot put—Harter, 2nd, 43-5; Trevor Sachtjen, 5th, 38-0; John Kludt, 6th, 37-6

4×100 relay—4th, :49.40, Jayden Schroeder, Isaac Naasz, Riley Calhoon, Levi McClanahan

4×200 relay—1st, 1:39.12, Nick Hossle, Isaac Naasz, Sam Naasz and Windsor Barry

4×400 relay—1st, 3:43.81, Coleton Schuyler, Kayleb Brozik, Sam Naasz and Nathan Galbraith

4×800 relay—2nd, 9:10.74, Luke Engel, Izak Moleterno, Kayleb Brozik, and Coleton Schuyler

Medley relay—2nd, Nick Hossle, Riley Calhoon, Isaac Naasz and Nathan Galbraith.

“Great effort by all the student athletes,” said coach Larry Aaker.

“On the boys side, we were able to place someone in every event except one and that really helps when you’re trying to win a meet. We expected the boys to do very well  but they needed to go out and perform well  and they did,” said Aaker.

On the girls side, the coach said the team knew it was a going to be a close race and could possible come down to the last race, which it did. “All the girls stepped up and did what they were asked to do and were able to come away winning the team title by six points,” said the coach.

halverson 400