Et cetera : We just had to ask... Vinton-Shellsburg School Board member Todd Wiley

During School Board Member Appreciation Week, we at Vinton Today (inspired by an idea from Karrie Bartling of the VS Administrative Office) decided to ask the school board members some silly questions (along with at least one serious question).

Here are the questions to and answers from School Board Member Todd Wiley:

Q. Is there anything that your spouse asks you not to cook, ever again?

A Nothing from my spouse. But Bob Hanson (Pioneer Bob) and I destroyed some spaghetti in college once.

Q. Is there anything your spouse wishes you would cook more often?

A. She just wishes I would cook anything more often.

Q. What happens to the missing socks in the laundry?

A. No question, they're in my sock drawer.

Q. Tell us about your favorite chair?

A. I affectionately refer to it as the "fatman chair." It fits me perfectly but the TV remote won't work from the chair's new location.

Q. Funniest memory as a parent:

A. There have been several. The toilet plunger stuck to the dining room ceiling was good. Of course nobody did it. The free watermelon at county fair from Steve Ries was creative. But the best one goes as follows (and most people may not fully appreciate this): Doc (our Vet) was out several years ago to vasectomize a boar for us. He administered the drug to render the pig unconscious, rolled him on his back exposing his belly, and proceeded to thoroughly wash and disinfect the surgical area. Isaac was in attendance (he was about 3 or 4 years old) and was fascinated by the proceedings. As Doc continued to aggressively scrub the area, Isaac asked "What are you doing?" Doc responded that he was scrubbing the boar's scrotum preparing for the surgery to make sure that it was clean. Doc then asked, "Isaac, is your scrotum clean?" Isaac immediately responded with a sense of bewilderment "I hope so!!"

Q. Do you remember anything either of your parents said over and over?

A. My dad was a man of few words. He never said anything over and over. You'd better be smart enough to get it the first time. My mom told me once that "It's nice to be important but it's important to be nice." That kind of stuck.

Q. How would your own children answer the previous question?

A. You get what you get and you don't throw a fit. Life's not fair....get over it.

Q. Best fast food sandwich ever?

A. I think it's fast enough to qualify....The one-half pound pork (of course) garbage burger at Hickory Park in Ames.

Q. What was your first job?

A. When my brother was seven and I was four, he thought it would be a great idea if we scraped manure from the pens of our first confinement building....daily. That became our daily chore. The building was 32' X 112'.

Q. If you were to get a traffic citation it would most likely be for….

A. History would say speeding.

Q. One place in the world you really, really wish you could visit?

A. A commercial fish farm that utilizes recirculating aquaculture systems.

Q. First pet you remember?

A. Sandy the dog.

Q. Who was your favorite teacher, and why?

A. Miss Mitschelen is the most memorable. She's the only one who ever sent me to the Superintendent's office. For real. I was an FFA jock, so Mr. Fisher was probably the most helpful.

Q. Strangest thing you did at work that was not part of your official job description?

A. I've never seen my official job description. I've done plenty of really strange things that actually are part of my job, most of which would gross your readers out.

Q. What book or author you have not read, but should?

A. The Bible. I've read some but not all of it.

And our serious question:

Q. With the building project and the budget (for now) behind you, what other issues are most important for the VS School Board?

A. In my opinion: Student achievement is always paramount even though we as a board periodically get distracted by the business of school operations. Professional development for staff so they can continue to improve classroom instruction and we can hold them to a high standard. Fully implement the alternative high school. Have high expectations of all of our students and provide creative ways for them to learn. Finally, devote more resources and staff to our talented and gifted programs to challenge our best and brightest students.

Q. Is there anything you wish we would have asked you?

A. Is there anything you regret asking?