News

Over the past several years, our elementary specials team’s professional work has focused around character education and learning new ways to help each student be successful. Our team goal has been to engage students in thinking about their own talents, beliefs and the footprint they can leave on this earth. We thought the best way to celebrate our learning and embrace our whole schools vision for a bully-free and character driven school would be through our first ever Vinton-Shellsburg Elementary FLASHMOB!  The 3rd-5th grade students at Shellsburg and Tilford Elementary learned the dance in gym class this month with Mrs.

Alliant Energy reminds customers that snow and ice can affect natural gas meters Now more than ever, make sure you carefully clear snow from your natural gas meter and furnace vent.   With the substantial amounts of snow in recent storms, and the high winds, Alliant Energy crews are reporting several meters covered in snow and ice across the region.

As our members looks back and reflect on the school year that has past, they can’t help but think about all of our accomplishments and the great year that we have had so far. We have gained many new FFA members, had many activities and have had many achievements. Some of these highlights are our Local Greenhand Night, Pancake Breakfast, National Convention, and our Animal Learning Lab.

Being a Future Farmer of America back in 1928 when FFA was founded meant at least four things for sure. It meant that everyone in the chapter was male, there were no African Americans, everyone lived on a farm, and the classes being taught consisted of Ag 1, 2, 3, and 4. In fact, it was this way for many years. As these 86 years have progressed, things have changed, but one of the biggest changes only took place within the past 26 years.

Due to the amount of snow we received over the last 24 hours, we are going to do a 2-hour late start on Tuesday, Feb 18. There will be no morning PK and the busses will be running on hard surface routes only.  We hope you enjoyed your snow day and were able to spend some time playing in the snow. See you all at school tomorrow kids!

Yeah, it's another one of those days. The Vinton-Shellsburg "make up day" has turned into a a "Snow Day."  The school announced early today that there would not be classes. So many days have been missed that the make-up days have been filled and future cancelations will lengthen the school year, which grew by one day already.

Tilford first graders, with the help of the VSHS Ag Dept. students and Benton County Naturalist Karen Phelps, made terrariums in the VSHS Greenhouse on Thursday, Feb. 13. This was a culminating activity for the first graders Living Things science unit. See more photos HERE.

By Benton County IRVM Manager Ben Bonar The tallgrass prairie once covered more than 170 million acres of the United States.  Stretching from Indiana to Kansas and Canada to Texas, this sea of grass, sedge and forb species created an intricate ecosystem that dominated the Midwest for roughly 8,000 years.  Between 1830 and 1900 the prairie underwent one of the most drastic land transformations in human history.

We’re going completely NUTS at the Palace this week, and not because of the weather! “The Nut Job” plays Friday, February 14 through Thursday, February 20 at 7 pm, and Monday, February 17 at 2 pm. The animated antics in this 3D adventure of city squirrels and impending shortage of nuts, expertly voiced by Will Arnett, Liam Neeson, Brendan Fraser, and Katherine Heigl, will have your own little rodents rolling in the aisles, along with their popcorn and Skittles! A witty and mischievous Valentine treat for the whole family.

One of the first-time participants in this year's Vinton Unlimited Mini-Masters event is the Benton County Volunteer Program office at 303 First Avenue in Vinton (in the Sherman Building across from the courthouse). The course is simple: Putting from the door to a dustpan in the corner, with obstacles representing the tools used by volunteers in helping others.