Page three of the Manning Monitor May 18, 2006
"To teach a child is to touch the future"
By Dave Kusel
Over a year ago I saw Colene Rowedder on Main Street. I asked her if she would help with the school section of the Quasqui History book. She said she would think about it for few days but it didn't take her long to decide and thankfully she agreed to help. Another former Manning teacher, Gladys Schmidt, teamed up with Colene and together they worked hard on the academic section of the book. One of their major achievements was gathering a database of school teacher's names for the last 50 years and this list starts on page 55 of the Quasqui book. On that page you will see the lead-in title for that section and even though Colene is no longer with us, she will continue to "touch the future" through all of her students.
During the 1969-70 school year Colene taught Kindergarten North. The following students show a glimpse into the past of all her years teaching at Manning.
Colene Rowedder (1931-2006)
Abner Hendrickson --- Becky Mohr
Bob Wurr --- Brenda Irlbeck
Craig Hacker --- Craig Wegner
Dan Kalkhoff --- David Wegner
Dean Rohe --- Donna Herbers
Janice Eickman --- Jessica Dammann
Joyce Schlichte --- Julie Siepker
Kenneth Bauer --- Kristie Haskins
Lisa Hass --- Lori Justice
Lyle Christensen (1964 - 2007) --- Michael Lamp
Patrick Lutwitze --- Robert Genzen
Robert Schmidt --- Roxanne Halbur
Sara Carter --- Scott Fielweber
Sheila Ferry --- Shellie Hagedorn
Sheryl Warner --- Susan Lee
Todd Gruhn --- Todd Rix
Tom Johnson --- Valerie Weller
Missing photos: Paul Irlbeck, Chris Langel, Dan Vollstedt
Over a month ago I talked to Colene about another history project and she was looking forward to work on this project. Brian Lage and I are planning on publishing a "History of Manning Schools" book when Manning combines with IKM and the "Manning Bulldogs" no longer exist -- which may occur in 5 or 6 years. In the mean time Brian and I are actively seeking school related information and pictures. Brian will be concentrating on the sports section and I will coordinate small teams of people to work on different areas of the book. We will be asking everyone to dig into their scrapbooks and memories to submit to the different school sections. Please watch the Monitor for information about this long-term project and the specific areas we will be working on (probably starting some time after RAGBRAI).
We will be using some of the school related information from the Centennial & Quasquicentennial history books so if you know of errors/omissions in either of those 2 books please let us know. Below is an example of an omission in the school section of the Quasqui book ---- Page 44 Kurt Pfannkuch and Beth Opperman should also be listed in 1984 for All-State Band/Orchestra.
We envision this school history book following a design similar to the Centennial & Quasqui history books and holding as much data and pictures. The success of this book will depend on former students of Manning and anyone who has a connection to the school.