This week in Pictures, March 23, 2022
Fire claims rural home
On March 11, a fire claimed a home in rural Kensett, located at 1175 430th Street. The Kensett and Northwood fire departments were dispatched to the home shortly before 6 p.m. on March 11. They arrived to find the home fully engulfed. The home belonged to Fred and Sue Varner and their children, none of whom were home at the time. Unfortunately, the family’s home, pets and belongings were lost in the fire. An online fundraising campaign to help the family recoup can be found online at gofund.me/395c7c0a. The picture above was shared by Paul Ausenhus, who said that he saw the home partially on fire and it was totally engulfed in the time it took to turn around for a picture.
Easy as pi
The week leading up to the Pi Day celebration included a competition to see who could recite the most numbers of pi. Pictured above are this year’s winners, and the number of numerals they recalled, including (from left) Alec Ducommun, 37, Weston Willand, 33, Christopher Madsen, 26, and Josiah Kliment, 67. The school record was set in 2021, when Sydney Welch recited 188 digits, or 3.14159265358979323846264338327950288419716939937510582097494459230781640628620899862803482534211706798214808651328230664709384460955058223172535940812848111745028410270193852110555964462294.
Pie in the faces for Pi Day
The Northwood-Kensett Math Club once again celebrated Pi Day (March 14 for its numerical connection to the first three digits of pi, 3.14) recently. With the date falling during spring break, the club members held their academic recognition pep rally on March 10. Besides giving a chance to highlight those taking part in academic extracurricular activities, the pep rally included a few pie-based activities. That included a pie eating contest, with a fresh pie prize, won by Drake Tiedemman (at right). A pie auction was also held, raising $610.50 for scholarships for calculators for graduating Math Club members. The event ended with a few lucky students having their names drawn to get a chance to place a pie in the unlucky faces of teachers. Raffle tickets at $1 a piece were sold to students for a chance to pie a teacher. Nick Hanson won the chance to pie Mrs. Butler (below, left). De’Angelo Ferguson pied Mr. Cotter (below, center). And, being as Math Club advisor Mrs. WIllert will retire at the end of the school year, she graciously agreed to be pied by Math Club member Andrew Breitsprecher (below, right).
The mystery of the MRE
Students in Family and Consumer Science classes at Northwood-Kensett were recently visited by SSG Luke Scheer, from the Northern Iowa National Guard. Scheer brought MREs (meals ready to eat) to the classroom. He shared information about the nutrition and science involved in the portable meals used on duty. The students also got a chance to sample some of preparation and taste the meals.
N-K Math Club celebrates academic successes
Members of the Northwood-Kensett Math Club recently hosted the annual academic pep assembly, sharing the successes and activities of students that take part in academic extracurricular activities. The pep assembly was also held to celebrate Pi Day (March 14 or 3/14), with a number of pie-based activities. N-K Math Club members pictured above include (in front, from left) Trent and Drake Tiedemann, (middle row) Kale and Ariah Bode, Weston and Wyatt Willand, Chloe Costello, Jadyn Beland, Ashlynn Skellenger, (back row) Kenny Conlin, Christopher Madsen, Jon Meksi, Teagan Johnson, Emma Davidson, Andrew Breitsprecher, Hayden Moore, Thomas Block, Madalynn Hanson and Math Club advisor Mrs. Willert.
Chess rewards
The Northwood-Kensett Math Club hosted the winter chess tournament with Tiffany Tiedemann’s help. Pictured are the winners at the recent Pi Day pep rally. Pictured with the Tequila’s gift certificates they won, sponsored by Bolan Storage, are (from left) high school and middle school first place finishers Drake and Alex Tiedemann, TIffany Tiedemann, and middle school and high school second place finishers Caden Helgeson and Walt Kelly.
NVFC funds for better equipped transportation
The Northwood Volunteer Fire Company recently received a $4,000 donation from Viafield along with their partner co-op Land O’Lakes to convert the existing rescue truck into a more capable vehicle for handling calls to grass fires and vehicle accidents. Pictured are (from left) Chris Menke and Brandon Severson from Viafield and NVFC chief Blake Severson.
A warm weather return
During the recent spring-like weather, a few creatures made an unseasonable return. That included this wasp, which was spotted in the warm sunlight moving along a local roadway.