Nappanee Advance-News, Volume 134, Number 34, Nappanee, Elkhart County, 23 August 2012 — Page 1

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COMMUNITY EUCHRE AUG. 28 WAKARUSA Miller's Senior Living Community in Wakarusa is having a free Community Euchre Tournament Tuesday, Aug. 28 at 6:30 p.m. at the Assisted Living building. Prizes and refreshments will be offered. If planning to RSVP to attend or to learn more, call 574-862-1918. NIGHT OUT AGAINST CRIME SEPT. 4 NAPPANEE Nappanee's city-wide Night Out Against Crime will take place Tuesday, Sept. 4 at 6 p.m. and will take place at West Side Park, 500 N. Nappanee St. The annual event is in celebration of the police and community partnership in Nappanee during which attendees are ottered free hot dogs, drinks, cookies, and chips. There will also be music and games for the children. The police dog, fire trucks, and other city departments will be in attendance. There is no admission or fee but those taking part are asked to bring at least one non-perishable food item. Donations will be divided between local food banks and FCDC and Opeii Door. To learn more, call Officer Steve Rulli or Chief Julie Dijkstra of the Nappanee I Police Department at 574-773-4111. BIBLE STUDY TO BEGIN SEPT. 12 NAPPANEE - A Bible study for women will begin Wednesday, Sept. 12 at 9 a.m. at Living Gospel Church on the comer of ! west Walnut and north Locke streets in Nappanee. Teaching, discussion groups and fellowship are included in the study fropi the Book of Genesis ! entitled, "Lessons for the Family Qasses will be provided for children ages 2 to 15 and a nursery will be available for infants. For more information call the church office at 574-773-i 7110 or call Judy Kitson at 260-894-4203. SCHOLARSHIP PAGEANT DEADUNE APPROACHING NAPPANEE - The | Nappanee Miss Apple Blossom Scholarship Pageant will headline Thursday's opening | events at the 37th annual ! Nappanee Apple Festival, Sept. 13. Incorporating a sports theme for the introduction portion of the pageant, contestants will be comSee Around, Page 2

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Wa-Nee students, teachers evaluated

By Amy Wenger Correspondent NAPPANEE - An impressive list of agenda items came before members of the Wa-Nee Community Board of School Trustees in their final meeting before the launch of the 2012-13 school year. Slate evaluations The board gathered at the Wa-Nee Administration Building on Monday evening, Aug. 13. Within the various topics up for consideration included the revelation that Wa-Nee students fared extremely well in the latest round of ISTEP+ testing, which was administered this past spring. The ISTEP+ examinations

300 attend ‘Farm to Table’ dinner, auction

NAPPANEE - When more than a dozen chefs team up to prepare a meal, and they turn to local farmers for ingredients, if s time to set extra places at the table. The Family Christian Development Center filled every seat in the Upper Room of the Coppes Commons in Nappanee Saturday, Aug. 11, for a benefit dinner that began with a sparkling mixed berry float from Rocket Science Ice Cream and ended more than three hours later with Happy Dance cupcakes. The event, which also included both a live and silent auctioa raised more than $60,000 for FCDC, whose food pantry was a special beneficiary of the night. "The many donations we've received in support of this event in just overSee 300, Page 5

Worldwide ‘Open Farm Days’ comes to Nor-Bert Farms

By Angel Perkins EDrroß Local dairy hosts ‘open farm’ to show robotic system BREMEN There are robots that assemble things in factories, robots that perform surgery and robots have even found their way into the milking industry. That's why Nor-Bert Farms (7081 IB Road) in Bremen, is opening its doors to the public for an "open farm" event to demonstrate the Lely Astronaut A 4. The dairy farm, begun with six cows in 1945 by Norman and the late Bertha Krathwohl was named after both the owners and was later managed by their daughter Deb and her husband Roger Dankert. Now Norman also can call his

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Panther fans: Are you ready for some football? „ ~ Pages 7,8

are based upon requirements set forth by Indiana's Academic Standards, and it is given to students to help determine who might be experiencing difficulty meeting grade level expectations. The test includes language arts and math at grades three through eight, science in grades four and six, and social studies for grades five and seven. The exams were distributed in two parts, with the first portion in March including essay and short answer questions. In late April and early May, the second part, featuring questions in multiple choice form, was given. By early June, students then received comprehensive individual reports tai-

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Photo provided Master of Ceremonies for the evening, former FCDC Board President, Mark Mikel (right), interviewed Chef Scott Woods of Noa Noa in Warsaw as he introduced his course.

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Photo by Jennifer Freeman This is one of three Lely Astronaut robotic milkers at Nor-Bert Farms in Bremen. An “open farm” will be hosted for the public to peruse the facility and watch the robots in action Sept. 1 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. grandchildren his co-work- ers as Jeremy Dankert and sister Jennifer (and her hus-

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lored to their results, illustrating their performance in terms of "Pass +," "Pass," or "Did Not Pass." Director of Curriculum Jim Bennett led the presentation on test results and data, starting with a comparison of how Wa-Nee measured up against other schools in neighboring communities and districts. For the total percentage of students passing in all areas, Wa-Nee outpaced seven local school corporations, followed in scoring order by Fairfield, Middlebury, Wawasee, Concord, Baugo, Elkhart, and Goshen. Wa-Nee also topped the list for the number of students receiving passing scores in language arts, and

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was second only to Fairfield in the math category. The average scores for grades three through five statewide, registered in percentages, were at 85 and 79 for third grade language arts and math. Fourth graders across Indiana averaged an 82 in language arts and a 79 in math, while fifth graders posted a median score of 78 for language arts and 86 for math. At the middle school level, Indiana sixth graders landed at an average of 78 for language arts and an 82 for math, with seventh graders achieving an average 75 and 78 scores in the same. Eighth graders tallied at 73 percent for language arts and 80 for math.

Nappanee not short on acts of kindness By Ancei Perkins Ediiok NAPPANEE Reading the headlines today may make one think that there are few things to be proud of their fellow man for but not in Nappanee. Consideration is the norm and random acts of kindness are seen often, even when the person doing the kindness doesn't want anyone to kfiow about it. Karen Sherer Stoltzfus, executive director of the Family Christian Development Center says she sees actions that not only make a difference, but that ironically come when they are most needed. "It happens more often than you'd think," she explained of unexpected donations, "but it always amazes us. You might have someone come in and you're not sure at first why they are here, or what kind of service they might need ... and then next thing you know they plop down 10, SIOO bills and just walk away!" And that's exactly what happened this May after FCDC office manager and volunteer coordinator Idella Chupp asked a woman if she could help her. The woman explained that she had just watched a televised report on area food pantries and that "it had been awhile" since she gave to her local pantry. But rumor has it, the same anonymous woman (just as unexpectedly) did the same thing walked in and out, giving the same amount last year and offering no name and taking no receipt. The woman, referred to as "the mysterious angel donor," isn't alone. Last January someone walked in and gave food pantry manager Ken Woodcox a set of diamond rings that were later found to be valued at more than $5,000. In May, that return donor also brought in more jewelry and a trum-

The three elementary schools of the Wa-Nee district were very well represented in their scores. Woodview Elementary had 99 percent of their third graders passing the language arts section and 90 percent passed math. For the fourth graders, 88 percent aced the language arts, wltile 93 percent excelled in math. Fifth graders earned 89 percent passage in both categories. At Wakarusa Elementary, 88 percent of the third graders went above passing in language arts, with 77 percent doing likewise in math. Fourth graders topped out at 92 percent for each section, while fifth graders chalked up 86 and See Evaluated, Page 3

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band Monty) Freeman do their part on the family dairy farm. Someday Jennifer's children Dalton, Dillon and Breanne may take on the task but for now, its taken care of by the adults and their robots. The Netherlands-based company Lely was started by Comelis and Arij van der Lely, brothers that grew up on a farm, brainstorming ways to alleviate their hard labor. They came up with fertilizer spreaders and power harrows to make the job a little easier and in turn, the second generation of brothers, (Cornelius' sons) Olaf and Alexander van der Lely (now the company CEO) brought robotic milking to the dairy world in 1992. "My father didn't really want to hear about it at first," explained Deb Dankert. "We had visited the family our son went to See Farms Page 9