Benton Community School District

The Benton Community School District is a school district headquartered in Van Horne, Iowa.[1]

Benton Community School District
Location
Atkins, Newhall, Norway, Watkins, Van Horne, Keystone, Elberon, Blairstown

The district is mostly in Benton County with portions in Iowa and Tama counties. It comprises seven rural municipalities: Van Horne, Atkins, Blairstown, Elberon, Keystone, Newhall, and Norway.[2] It also serves Watkins;[3] additional students come from Marengo, and Garrison.

Its athletic programs are part the WaMaC Conference.

History

The Norway school district merged into the Benton district on July 1, 1995.[4] The schools themselves consolidated earlier in a grade-sharing arrangement in the fall of 1991. From this consolidation, the movie The Final Season portrayed the final state title of the Norway High School baseball team.

Schools

Benton Community elementaries (Preschool through sixth grades) are located in: Atkins, Keystone, Van Horne, and Norway. The Junior High (Seventh and Eighth grades) is in Van Horne and attached is the High School (Ninth through Twelfth grades).

The High School, which houses an average enrollment of 450 students, offers many classes with the option of many extracurricular activities.

Fine arts

The band program includes marching band, concert band, pep band, and jazz band.

John Hayden has led the choir program, especially the show choir, to be one of the top 3A show choirs in the state of Iowa. The show choirs are Illusions, the Junior High group; Jubilation Incorporated, the Junior-Varsity group; and Celebration Company, the Varsity group. Other choirs include concert choir, mixed choir, chamber choir, and the Madrigal choir.

Concerts include Holiday and Spring JAVA, which are variety shows containing individual and small groups, plus performances from our show choirs, concert band, and jazz band. The Madrigal choir performs at a dinner shortly before Christmas, where the choir sings over a dinner, a cappella, that is, without a piano accompanying them. The show choir and marching band perform at a variety of competitions throughout the year. The concert band, concert choir, and mixed choir all perform at concerts at different points in the year as well.


Sports

Sports include football, cross country, volleyball, wrestling, basketball, golf, baseball, track and field, softball, and soccer. The girls track and cross country teams have won multiple State Championships under legendary coach Marty Thomae. Softball and Baseball have also added state titles. Current University of Iowa Defensive Line coach Reese Morgan coached at Benton in the 1970s and 80s. Former Dallas Cowboys defensive lineman and Outland Trophy winner Chad Hennings attended Benton, where he played football and wrestled. Former Big Ten high jump champion Ryan Kelly attended Benton, where he played football, basketball, and ran track. Current University of Northern Iowa offensive lineman Robert Rathje and shooting guard Madison Weekly are also Benton graduates.

Groups and Clubs

Art Club, FCCLA, FFA, HSA (Health Science Academy), individual and group Speech, Spanish Club, Journalism, Yearbook, SADD, and Robotics

Honors

National Honor Society, Silver Cord, honor rolls

Transportation

Multiple bus systems transport students to and from their hometowns to their respective schools.

Administration
  • Superintendent: Gary Zittergruen
  • Associate Superintendent: Doug Embray

Notable alumni


References
  1. "Home". Benton Community School District. Retrieved 2020-03-27. Benton Community Schools Central Office 304 1st Street Van Horne, Iowa 52346
  2. "Benton" (PDF). Iowa Department of Education. Retrieved 2020-03-27.
  3. "Booklet 2019-2020" (PDF). Benton Community School District. p. 4/24. Retrieved 2020-03-27.
  4. "REORGANIZATION & DISSOLUTION ACTIONS SINCE 1965-66" (PDF). Iowa Department of Education. Retrieved 2020-03-22.
  5. Lieber, Jill (July 13, 1992). "A New Blue Yonder". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved September 24, 2016.
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