School year begins Friday at LMCS

Classes start Friday, Aug. 23, at Lake Mills Community School. The Back to School Breakfast will be held tomorrow (Thursday), in the foyer beginning at 7 a.m. The community is encouraged to attend and meet the staff, including three new teachers.

Skylynn Fleming
New to the Lake Mills Middle and High School Ag classes and FFA, is Skylynne Fleming, originally from Paxton, Ill., now living in Joice.
“I was raised on a small livestock farm, where we raised and showed meat goats and cattle,” said Fleming, a graduate from Gibson City Melvin Sibley High School. “After that, I pursued an agriculture business associates degree at Butler Community College, El Dorado, Kansas, where I was a member of the livestock judging team and other clubs. From there, I transferred to Iowa State University (Ames) to pursue a degree in agriculture education. At Iowa State, I was a member of the livestock judging team and many other clubs and organizations,” explained Fleming.
She said that she spent her summers doing internships and working different jobs—barn manager for Simmental cattle producer; Kent Nutrition Research farm; and for the Farm Service Agency.
“From a young age, I have had a passion for agriculture. I realized through my own experience in FFA, it gave me a wide variety of opportunities from networking to traveling and still all those around me had a similar passion. When I got to Iowa State, I wanted to give others the same opportunities that were available to me. What better way than to become an agriculture educator?”
Fleming said her parents have grown and developed a business in Ill., where they raise and sell dogs, do marketing for others in the area, along with raising livestock. She has a dog named Fancy, a Pembroke Welsh Corgi, and she enjoys anything involving livestock, different adventures, traveling and experiencing new things.

Olivia Garcia
Being a graduate (2013) of Lake Mills High School, has a lot of advantages for this new learner assistant.
 Olivia Garcia, Emmons, who received an associates degree in human services from Riverland College, Austin and Albert Lea, has worked a couple jobs at a time. She worked as a waitress/expo at the restaurant, Teluwut, Lake Mills, for the past seven years, beginning as a junior in high school. AND she has done three internships with LMHS.
Then, the school hired her as a substitute teacher for the last two years.
Born with cerebral palsy, Garcia understands what it is like, to have a para (learner assistant) help a student.
“I had cerebral palsy, so I grew up in my elementary school years, with a para, and then I graduated out of that need for one, but I’ve seen the importance of being a para and connections you make with the kids are different, than being with them for just 45 minutes a day (like a class teacher). So, I like the connection. I like knowing the kids and I’m really excited to be full-time so that I can be of more help than when you’re subbing.”
Garcia will be working in the high school. She has worked with kids from K-12th grade.
Her hobbies include knitting, painting, biking, listening to music and she is an avid reader.
Garcia’s parents are both graduates of Albert Lea High School, Albert Lea, Minn. Her mother has worked at Thorne Crest Senior Living Community, Albert Lea, for 40 years, and her father is employed by Poet Biorefining, Glenville, Minn. She has two siblings, Jasmine and Zachary.
“I’m just happy to be with the district. I know our kids and I know we (the staff) do our absolute best to include them, because I know that is not always achieved well (everywhere), so I feel proud to be a part of our district.”

Carmen Knudtson
Hired as a second grade, long-term substitue for Chantel Storby, Knudtson is originally from Readlyn. She graduated from Wapsie Valley High School. She met her husband through her sister, who worked with him.
She became a non-traditional student at Waldorf College, Forest City, receiving her BS degree in elementary education with a reading endorsement in 2016.
“I have been a long-time substitute in the Forest City, Lake Mills area, and last year at North Iowa, too,” said Knudtson.
She will have only a 10-12 minute commute from rural Forest City. Her husband, Brian, works at Manufacturers Bank and Trust (MBT), Lake Mills. The Knudtsons have a daughter, Kalin,18, and a son, Truman, 15.
Besides teaching, Knudtson’s hobbies include exercising, spending time with family, and following their kids activities.
“The logistics are ideal to have this position at LMCS. It’s a very warm, welcoming environment—a good place to connect with students.  It’s a good feel, knowing that I will have the resources I need available.”

Lake Mills Graphic

204 N. Mill Street
Lake Mills, IA 50450

Office Number: (641) 592-4222
Fax Number: (641) 592-6397

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