The Bettendorf Community School District has excelled time and time again to earn the reputation as one of the best school districts in the state. It’s no surprise our students made sure the 2021-22 school year was no different.
Students of all ages in the district experienced a year filled with excitement and growth. From completing projects to help their community to enhancing their curriculum at all levels, the Bulldogs came together to push for excellence for their students and families.
Check out how the BCSD continued the Bettendorf legacy of excellence this year.
Bettendorf High School Students Created Apps to help Farmers in Computer Science Academy
The Computer Science Academy offers BHS students an opportunity to gain real-world experience in the computer science field. Students partaking in the Computer Science Academy, which began in 2015, take two classes before a capstone project, where they design a mobile application in partnership with employees from John Deere.
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Students work together in the BHS Computer Science Academy
“Students go over to the John Deere World Headquarters and present their apps to some of the executives. It’s actually a pretty cool practice,” said BCSD STEAM Coordinator Chris Like.
This year, the students have created four apps, which include these services: Operator Identification, which resets a tractor to an operator’s preferred settings; Grain Logistics, which gathers data in real time on how grain travels from the field to its destination; Sprayer Field Survey, which tracks what type of spray used in fields and where; and Seed Blend, which documents the types of seeds that are blended in a farmer’s planter and where they’re planted in the field.
The BCSD Therapy Dog Program Cared for Students’ Well-being
The Bettendorf Community School District has seven therapy dogs throughout the district to provide support to students throughout the day. Each dog is trained with multiple people at each school and has various jobs.
“Students take breaks with Akin, earn rewards, have quite time with the dogs, and are able to take him out throughout the day,” said Jodi Hanson, 4th grade teacher and handler of Akin at Neil Armstrong Elementary. “Akin works with the fourth grade class, librarian, and counselor.”
Students are able to receive support from the therapy dog throughout the day. The therapy dog program has proven to help students with behavior and calming down tactics.
BCSD Elementary Schools Adopted Illustrative Math
Bettendorf Elementary School students have gained a new tool this year to help them understand math: Illustrative Math. Illustrative math is a research based, highly-rated math curriculum co-founded by William McCallum, who helped write the Common Core curriculum.
“It is more beneficial than other math curriculums because it encourages students to think like mathematicians and incorporates the Common Core Standards for Math Practice and the five practices for orchestrating mathematical discussions,” said BCSD Director of Curriculum Jillian Dotson. “It encourages more deep thinking and conceptual understanding of the content.”
Illustrative math helps students to learn in communities while promoting mathematical growth. All of the BCSD elementary schools have implemented this curriculum in grades kindergarten through fifth, and some of the secondary grade levels utilize components of it as well.
Bettendorf High School Science Teacher was Featured on a PBS Iowa Series
BHS science teacher Spencer Mesick worked with the PBS Iowa Science Phenomena Website to create educational science videos as resources for schools.
“A science phenomena occurs when you observe something that happens in the natural world that is perplexing, interesting or ‘phenomenal’ and makes you wonder why that occurred or how that part of the natural world works,” explained Mesick.
Mesick was invited by Iowa Public Television’s instructional media designer to build these resources with ten other teachers from Iowa. His students were also featured in the series discussing what they learned about different phenomena. The videos will be used by teachers across the state to help students understand and experience phenomena happening in their area.
The Bettendorf High School Boys Swim Team Made Waves at the State Championship
A group of BHS boys tore through the water at the Iowa State Swimming Championships to earn a title. Max Wetteland, Carter Anderson, Noah Mitvalsky, and Alex Stone won the 200 freestyle relay with a school-record setting time of 1 minute, 23.09 seconds.
The time was also the second fastest in state history.
Alex Stone, who will swim at Indiana University next year, didn’t stop celebrating there. He also earned All-American status in all four events he competed in this year. This means he clocked in times that rank in the top 50 times in the country.
Bettendorf's Alex Stone celebrates after the Bulldogs' 200 freestyle relay won a state title during the Iowa state swim meet Saturday in Iowa City.
“[Alex] is a real analytical person. He knows the fundamentals of swimming really well and utilizes what he can excel at. His work ethic is amazing and he is very goal oriented,” said Bettendorf coach Mike Ahrens.
The Bettendorf High School Robotics Team Flexed Their Technical Skills at State
Excellence in STEM runs deep at Bettendorf High School. The BHS Robotics Team made the semi-finals of the Robotics State Tournament. The tournament was held in Coralville.
BHS participated in FTC (FIRST Tech Challenges), open to 7th through 12th graders.
“A typical competition is a collection of 15 -20 teams getting together to compete with and against each other in 5-6 matches per team. There are 2 teams of 2 robots each on the field at one time,” said BHS Robotics Coach Eric McCoy.
The robots compete in 2.5 minute matches, partially autonomously and partially controlled by a driver. The teams present their robots and their engineering techniques them to a panel of judges for additional awards, as well.
The BHS team also won the second place Control Award.
Bettendorf Middle School Students Learned to Restore a Prairie
BCSD used a grant from the National Environmental Education Foundation (NEEF) to teach 7th grade students about prairie restoration. The NEEF grant, which was funded in part by Arconic, was intended for projects that would get students out of the building. Science teacher Erin Allen had already been working on prairie restoration as a project with her class, so STEAM Coordinator Chris Like knew it’d be the perfect project for the grant.
“Ultimately, we wanted them to experience what this prairie looks like now, and what’s prairie-like about it. What’s not prairie-like? What plants should be there? What plants do we not want to be there? What are the invasive species?” said Like.
Bettendorf Middle School students explore the prairie.
BHS has partnered with Pleasant Valley Middle School to study unused land owned by Scott Community College. Students took a field trip to already-restored prairie in Le Claire to understand what restored prairie is like. They then took their research and made recommendations to Scott Community College on how they should move forward with their prairie land.
BHS Career & Technical Education Program Adds Health Services & CNA Program
BCSD unveiled a health sciences classroom and lab to support their new Certified Nursing Assistant program. Students who complete this program are eligible to sit for the state CNA licensure exam.
Roxanne Schmertmann, ARNP, and Bettendorf student Ava Rice-Miller demonstrate the techniques that will be learned at Bettendorf's new Health Science Program classroom and Certified Nursing Assistant lab, unveiled Wednesday.
Sophomore students can enroll in the Introduction to Health Careers class and then move to the more advanced classes. Students will earn college credit for Medical Terminology, and will be able to earn several dual credits next year.
“In many ways, students get a jumpstart on their college courses. They are challenged with more rigorous coursework and build confidence in their abilities in a supportive and caring environment. Dual credit also may alleviate some of the financial burden families and individuals face when looking at higher education,” said Health Sciences CTE Instructor Roxanne Schmertmann.
BHS Senior Commits to the University Iowa Girls Wrestling Team
Ella Schmit became the first in-state wrestler to commit to the new women’s wrestling program at the University of Iowa.
The hard work she has put in over the course of her career proves she has earned that spot.
Ella Schmit celebrates her third IWCOA state championship.
Schmit has won three girls’ state championships, a feat that has only been accomplished by one other girl before her. In 2021, she became the third girl in the history of Iowa to make the boys state wrestling tournament, the second girl to win a match at the tournament, and the first girl to win there by a pin.
“She definitely has earned that spot,” said Bettendorf Head Wrestling Coach Dan Knight. “She does so much more than just wrestle three months in the winter. She is going to be a good one, on and off the mat. She will be greatly missed at Bettendorf!”
