From left to right, Brylee Nelson, Layla Pansegrau, Lori Norton, Sue Patterson, Kinnick Haughey and Wyatt Silhanek were all smiles during the planting event outside of the future South Tama County Middle School last Wednesday afternoon. NEWS CHRONICLE PHOTO BY ROBERT MAHARRY

Retired South Tama County teacher Denise Fletcher has a simple motto when it comes to volunteer projects within the adjoining communities she calls home — if you want it, you’ve got to do it.

Fletcher was one of several volunteers, many of them fellow school district retirees, who joined with current staff and students last Wednesday afternoon to put about 160 plants in the ground — including eight trees — at the site of the former Iowa Juvenile Home in Toledo, which, as of next fall, will become the new South Tama County Middle School.

“I read somewhere that if you live in a big city, things are provided for you, but if you live in a small town, if you want nice greenery, if you want plants, whatever you want, you’ve gotta work for it, and it takes volunteers because city budgets, school budgets aren’t what they used to be. Or what they ever were,” Fletcher said. “You’ve gotta step up.”

Local community members and the State Bank of Toledo pitched in to purchase the plants from Norton’s Greenhouse and even got a hand from Lori Norton herself. Scharnweber Inc. donated a skid loader and an employee to help out — all of which drew praise from Middle School Principal Ben Adams.

“It started with an idea from the community, and we’re very fortunate. These are people that are heavily invested in the community. You can tell, and they took it upon themselves to think ‘Hey, how can we make the landscaping look nice?’ So it started with an idea from the community, then it started spinning some wheels,” he said. “They recruited some more community members, (and) we have very responsible students out here.”

STC students Jaylen Kajer and Bryce Lacina put a tree in the ground last Wednesday at the future middle school, which once housed the Iowa Juvenile Home. NEWS CHRONICLE PHOTO BY ROBERT MAHARRY

The students who participated — 16 from the high school and eight from the middle school — were primarily members of the student council and FFA, and they made life a lot easier for district Maintenance Director Steve McAdoo. The renovation of the facility is expected to be finished by early spring, but Norton, who knows a thing or two about plants through her job, was happy to get them in the ground before the winter.

“It’s been great that we’ve had this mild fall. It’s really gonna help out in the rooting of these plants to get (them) established,” she said. “There’s times, I was thinking back to the middle of September years ago, we had snow, so this is great. It’s perfect. It’s all working out great.”

And after a bond referendum to turn the Juvenile Home building into the new middle school passed with overwhelming public support (83.43 percent, to be exact) back in 2022, students, staff and community members are all excited to see the finished product with classes set to start there next fall.

“The old middle school is over 100 years old. It’s a special place. We’re gonna miss that, but we’re very excited to move into the building and have this kind of a state-of-the-art facility for our young kids and be able to give them adequate spaces and all those things for 21st century learning,” Adams said. “Timeline wise, it’s sounding like there’s a good chance we’re gonna be done well prior to summer, and then that allows us to move in and gives us time to do that so we’re not trying to do all that transition in late July, early August.”

Parking at the old school was always a challenge as it sat directly in the middle of a residential area, and the new building will also be fully air conditioned.

STC Maintenance Director Steve McAdoo and Superintendent John Cain refill buckets of water during the planting event. NEWS CHRONICLE PHOTO BY ROBERT MAHARRY

“We’re excited about not having to cancel school for heat,” Adams said.

All in all, it was another exciting reminder of the progress at the historic facility getting a new life in Toledo and a shining example of Trojan Country coming together.

“It’s a good opportunity for community volunteers to come together with students and work on a really meaningful project that’s gonna last many, many years into the future,” Superintendent John Cain said.

NEWS CHRONICLE PHOTO BY ROBERT MAHARRY

NEWS CHRONICLE PHOTO BY ROBERT MAHARRY