It’s a case ripped from the headlines and presented during a mock trial Wednesday at the New Hampton Middle School.
    Students from NHMS and Tripoli participated in the 25th annual Iowa Middle School Mock Trial Tournament, which is a program of the Iowa State Bar Association Center for Law and Civic Education. The students presented the case of Kelly Procope vs. Winkies Food Corporation, which is inspired by the events of the Liebeck vs. McDonald’s famous 1990 case involving a customer who brought suit against the fast food restaurant over hot coffee. Although there were some similarities to the famous case, the facts in the mock trial were significantly altered so the students would learn to limit their decisions to only the facts that were presented.

     Second grade teacher Carolyn Nuss was among the top five finalists of nearly 100 teachers competing for the 2008 Excellence in Education Award.
    Sponsored by the Iowa State Education Association, all the teachers were nominated by co-workers, students and community members because of the difference they make every day in the lives of Iowa's school children.

     The fifth Character Counts Spotlight goes to Tyler Shatek, fifth grade, Jordan Legg, sixth grade, Matthew Holschlag, seventh grade and Michael Vetter, eighth grade. Let’s learn a little more about these highlighted students from New Hampton Middle School.  The pillar of the month for November is fairness.

     The New Hampton High School Christmas program will be at 7 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 18, at the high school gymnasium.
    The ninth grade choir, NuHi Chorale, jazz band and concert band will be performing. Admission is $5 for adults and $3 for students.

     The Big 4 Unit of Retired School Personnel will meet at 9:10 a.m. Wednesday, Dec. 17, at the First Citizen's National Bank in Charles City. Guest speaker will be Susan Jacob, who will share her experiences helping with the cleanup after the Parkersburg tornado.

    The New Hampton Just Eliminate Lies (JEL) group planned several mini counter marketing strategies to acknowledge the Great American Smoke Out at the high school.
    JEL is a statewide tobacco advocacy group with local chapters all over the state. The group in New Hampton organized last spring as a subgroup of the Chickasaw County Tobacco Free Coalition and has continued to grow.

     St. Joseph students will present their program “Sing with Us: The Christmas Story” at 1:30 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 14, at Holy Family Parish Center.

    The New Hampton Community School District will hold a regular Board meeting on Monday, Dec. 8 at 5 p.m. in the High School Media Center.

    The New Hampton High School Dance Team and Flag Team is preparing their routines for state competition.
    The 2009 Iowa State Dance/Drill Team Championships will be held at Veterans Memorial Auditorium and HyVee Hall on Friday, Dec. 5, and Saturday, Dec. 6.
    The performance times for the New Hampton Team are as follows: Flag Team, 10:30 a.m. Friday at Vets Auditorium; Dance Team (Novelty), 11:40 a.m. Friday at Hy-Vee Center; and Dance Team (Hip-Hop), 1:50 p.m. Friday at Vets Auditorium.
    Coach Sonja Galligan said members would like the community to come support the NHHS Dance and Flag Team during this competition.

     The New Hampton Elementary kindergarten through fourth grade students will present their annual Christmas concert at 7 p.m. Monday, Dec. 8, in the high school gymnasium.
    This year's show “It's Christmas” will feature Christmas favorites, as well as some new tunes. The public is invited and there is no charge for admission. Those unable to attend the evening performance can come to the dress rehearsal at 1:30 p.m. that day.

     The New Hampton Middle School students, grades fifth through eighth will present their annual Christmas concert Monday, Dec. 15, in the Middle School gymnasium. The fifth and sixth grade performance will begin at 7 p.m. and feature the bands, general music classes and Keynote Singers.
    The seventh and eighth grade will perform at 8:15 p.m. featuring the chorus, concert and jazz band. The public is invited and there is no charge for admission.

      Students at St. Joseph Community School participated in the annual Thanksgiving basketball game Tuesday. The tradition started in the early 1970s with the Indians vs. the Pilgrims, which was made up of only boy teams. Political correctness has changed that to Red vs. White teams with girls participating as well. Each grade gets to play, with the relaxed rules and lowered nets for the younger students. This year’s Turkey Shootout ended with the Red team winning 46-37.

    Looking around the choir room a person can see a bunch of talented students. Those students need leaders and this year one of the leaders in the choir is sophomore Kevin Hennessy.
    Last spring Hennessy was appointed captain of the choir and the NIACC Singers, along with sophomore Alycia Brunsvold, for this year.
    Hennessy was chosen as captain by last year’s captains for his leadership abilities.

    Our fourth Character Counts Spotlight goes to Joey Scholbrock, sixth grade, Rebecca Sabelka, fifth grade, Emily Marvin, eighth grade, and Brooke Loftus, seventh grade.
    Let’s learn a little more about these highlighted students from NH Middle School. The pillar of the month for November is fairness.

    There was no cause for alarm as smoke was recently seen coming from the front of the Elma Elementary Charter School. The Elma community was invited to attend a mobile Smoke House demonstration sponsored by the Parent-Teacher-Partnership group. 
    The Smoke House is a traveling fire safety and fire prevention show provided by the Waterloo Fire Department.