Essex Community Schools

Announcements

Apr 17, 2023

Rustic Romance Essex Prom 2023

The Essex Juniors planned the 2023 Prom this year in a Rustic Romance style and it was a huge success! Prom goers were treated to a gourmet meal prepared by our own Chef Alex and Mrs. Sholes with choices of ribeyes, bacon wrapped chicken, green beans, corn, mashed potatoes, smoked mac and cheese, and for dessert cherry cheesecake or chocolate mousse! This delicious meal was served in the beautifully decorated new Opera House downtown which was recently renovated; and in fact was the first event held in the . . .

Apr 14, 2023

Annual Community Service Day

On April 12th Essex students participated in our annual community service day. Elementary students picked up rocks, leaves and trash on the playground while the middle school and high school completed school projects and also left campus to work. Students cleaned up the streets and highways as well as cleaned up the community parks. One group spent the day in our school garden tree trimming, pulling weeds and planting. Our kitchen staff put together a BBQ lunch for everyone with the help of our culinary students. . . .

Apr 12, 2023

Student Council Visits the IA State Capital and Governor's Mansion

The High School Student Council traveled to Des Moines on Wednesday April 5th to visit the State Capital and Terrace Hill (Governor's Mansion). They were able to witness the legislature in session and get tours of both buildings. Members in attendance were Bradley Franks, Alex King, Brianne Johnson, Johnny Resh, & Addy Resh along with their chaperones Brenna Craig and Kathleen Johnson.

Mar 13, 2023

Essex High School Students Recognized by USAF

Three Essex High School students were recently recognized by the United States Air Force for their outstanding results on the ASVAB tests. Seniors Olivia Baker and Brianne Johnson, and junior Cynthia Swain all achieved above-average scores and were recognized by USAF Recruiter SSgt Jessica Montano of the 343rd RCS Air Force Recruiting Service. The ASVAB (Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery) test is a nationally recognized test used by the US Department of Defense in grades 10 and above to measure . . .

Mar 13, 2023

Essex Players Receive Area Basketball Honors

Congratulations to these Essex athletes who have achieved area basketball honors: Tony Racine - Corner Conference Basketball 2nd team! Brianne Johnson - 2nd Team All-Express Team! Brooke Burns - All-Express Team- Honorable Mention! Qwintyn Vanatta and Brooke Burns - Corner Conference Honorable Mention and SW Iowa Herald Winter Sports All-Area Second Team! KMAland Corner Conference All Junior Award- Brooke Burns, Kaden Peeler, Tony Racine, & Qwintyn Vanatta! KMAland Corner . . .

Mar 3, 2023

Essex Celebrates Read Across America Week

This week we celebrated Read Across America Week! Students participated in dress up days, special treats for Dr.Suess' birthday and a book mark contest. We always end this fun week with secondary reading to the elementary in the gym followed by donuts. Thank you to McDonalds in Shenandoah for donating the drinks and Bank Iowa for donating the Donut Stop donuts!

Mar 3, 2023

Essex National Honor Society Inducts New Members

Essex High School held a ceremony to induct new members Wednesday evening. National Honor Society members are selected based on 4 pillars; Scholarship, Leadership, Service, and Character. Mrs. Tammy Johnson addressed the students in the ceremony and the Study and Service Club provided refreshments. Pictured are Mrs. Johnson, current member Olivia Baker, new inductees Tony Racine, Brooke Burns, Tori Burns, and current member Brianne Johnson.

Feb 27, 2023

Baker Signs with BVU

Olivia Baker signed with Buena Vista University Track and Field and Cheer in a ceremony on Wednesday, February 22nd. Way to go Olivia!

Feb 27, 2023

Essex Celebrates FFA Week

The Essex FFA Chapter celebrated National FFA Week with many activities and events for the student body. To kick off the week the members organized a dodgeball tournament and they drove their tractors to school on Tuesday. Special snacks were prepared for the staff and media announcements of the officers were posted as well. The chapter is sponsored by Mrs. Rebekah Sampers. Thanks for the fun week!

Feb 15, 2023

Student Council Completes the February Service Day

The High School Student Council completed their service day this month by deep cleaning and organizing the East Gym and both basements at the main school. They made a huge difference and we are grateful for their contribution to keeping our school beautiful! Members of the council are Brianne Johnson, Olivia Baker, Alex King, John Staley, Johnny Resh, Bradley Franks, Mariska Kirchert and Addy Resh. Their sponsors are Kathleen Johnson and Brenna Craig.

Feb 11, 2023

Annual Sweetheart Week Celebrated in the Essex Middle & High School

The Essex High School organizes the annual Sweetheart Week each February which is a great way to break up the monotony of the long season of winter with its timing around Valentine's Day. Students as well as the staff have a fun time participating in all the activities and it enhances the student body by rejuvenating school spirit. Activities this year included daily dress up days with brain break challenges that came at random times of the day and a pep rally for the basketball games. The varsity volleyball girls . . .

Feb 11, 2023

HS Chemistry Class Celebrates National Periodic Table Day

The High School Chemistry class celebrated National Periodic Table day last week by creating their own periodic tables using items of their choice to categorize as a class assignment. They displayed their creativity in Trojan Hall for the public to see. Members of the class include Seniors Nat Taylor, Matt Givens, Olivia Baker, Clara Showalter, and Juniors Tori Burns, Brooke Burns, Kyndra Gray, Cindy Swain, Alex King, Christian Johnson, Bradley Franks, Tony Racine, & Johnny Resh.

Feb 6, 2023

Makerspace Highlight: Tech Group Experiments With Photography

The Makerspace tech group led by Martha Sunderman has spent the last two Fridays exploring the school and seeing things in a new light. "This week we were practicing with light, shutter speed, and aperture. We created still life displays to practice and did some photographing in the gym for action shots. We also did some experimenting with stop-action video and green screen." The featured photos come from students Aila Valdez. Kira Green and Emmett Green.

Jan 31, 2023

Essex Honor Roll

Congratulations to all of our 6-12th grade students who made Bronze, Silver and Gold Honor Roll 1st semester of the 2022/2023 school year! Bronze: Jersey Bowers, Jesse Johnson-Wityk, Benjamin King, Brody Kirchirt, Garrett Harris, Payton Taylor, Damien Aradanas, Isabella Donnelly, Riley King, Jacelyn Huntley, Haillee Kievit, Haleigh Olson, Adriana Resh, Kylie Valdez , Hunter Steinhoff, Bradley Franks, Christian Johnson, Qwintyn Vanatta, Olivia Baker, Victoria Sample, Natalie Taylor. Silver: Clayton Deihl, Piper . . .

Jan 25, 2023

Essex Cheerleaders Chosen to Cheer at the Shrine Bowl

Essex varsity cheerleaders Olivia Baker and Kirsten Kalkas were both selected to the 2023 Iowa Shrine Bowl All-Star Cheerleading Team after being nominated by their coach Mary Ohnmacht. The Iowa Shrine Bowl All-Star Cheer Squad is made up of the best cheerleaders in the state of Iowa. Olivia was chosen to be on the ICCA All-Star Squad that will perform at the Basketball All-Star Tournament in March. The All-Star committee selected its team based off of try out videos and coaches recommendations. Seniors with similar . . .

Jan 25, 2023

Essex Espresso Now Open to the Public

Essex Espresso is a student council ran coffee shop in Trojan Hall. Outside patrons can now order Starbucks style drinks from 7:30-7:55 AM. Public hours are for GRAB AND GO ONLY due to school security. Please order by 7:55 and exit the building by 8:00. We appreciate all your cooperation!

Jan 23, 2023

Essex FFA Chapter

Essex Community Schools is excited to announce we now have our own FFA chapter. The chapter will be led by sponsor Rebekah Sampers who works at Essex CSD as the Ag Farm teacher and has had a huge hand in running the farm school. Check out Essex FFA on Facebook for updates on everything the group will be doing!

Jan 11, 2023

Essex Seniors Honored on Senior Night

Essex Senior boys and girls basketball, cheer, and band members were honored Monday evening between the varsity basketball games vs. Diagonal. Pictured is Band member Natalie Taylor, Mike Johnson, Girls Basketball player and Band member Brianne Johnson, Kathleen Johnson, Don Baker, Girls Basketball player, Band member and Cheerleader Olivia Baker, Meredith Baker, Caleb Robinette, Boys Basketball player Jacob Robinette, Stephanie Robinette, Chris Staley, Boys Basketball player Jonathan Staley, and Mindy Staley.

Dec 16, 2022

Student Council Spreads Christmas Cheer to Supporters

The Essex High School Student Council recently completed another one of their monthly service days by preparing Christmas goodie trays and volunteering at the Food Pantry. After putting the trays together, they delivered them to businesses and supporters of the school in appreciation for all they have given us. We are very thankful for the community support! The second half of the day they volunteered at the Shenandoah Food Pantry where they helped with recycling and restocking the shelves. Previously . . .

Dec 16, 2022

Essex Education Foundation Awards Fall Grants

The Essex Education Foundation represented by Tim Johnson awarded their spring grants to several Essex teachers Friday afternoon. Recipients included Brenna Craig who was awarded $1390 for new white board tables and chairs, Amy Resh who received $275 for Makerspace tools, Rachel Cabeen who received $300 for instrument repairs and purchases, and Kimberly Peterson received $2078 to expand upon the school based enterprise and $800 for elementary books for the library. Congratulations to all the recipients and thank you to all the . . .

Dec 13, 2022

Essex Celebrates the Holidays with a Christmas Feast!

Essex students and staff were treated to a special Christmas Feast on Monday, December 12th. The menu included shrimp scampi, crab cakes, steak pasta, fruit, salad, rolls, and cannoli for dessert! We appreciate all the hard work Mrs. Sholes, Chef Alex, and the culinary students put in to make this meal possible. It was delicious and enjoyed by all!

Dec 9, 2022

Essex Takes Top Honors at the Corner Conference Science Fair

The Junior High Corner Conference Science Fair was held in Hamburg on November 22nd. There were 21 Junior High students attending with their instructor Mrs. Cynthia Fischer. Essex had several winners including the Grand Champion! Rhys Chambers earned that title with his project testing the amount of electrolytes in sports drinks. He also earned 1st place in the Consumer Science division. Great job Rhys! Aila Valdez earned 2nd place in the Physical Science division. Ella Sandahl earned 3rd place and Payton . . .

Dec 7, 2022

Essex Juniors Plan Veteran's Day Ceremony Honoring Vets and Two of Our Own

The Essex Junior American History under the direction of Steve Schuster planned their annual Veteran's Day Assembly honoring area veteran's. This year the assembly included honoring two of our own teachers. Mr. Curtis Sloop was awarded the Quilt of Valor for his service in the US Army. Mr. Steve Schuster was awarded the Quilt of Honor for sharing his love of veterans with students through his class. The assembly included band and choir performances, a soloist, a special flag folding demonstration, and video prepared by the . . .

Nov 8, 2022

Volleyball Awards

Congratulations to Cindy Swain for being selected to the KMA Sports 2022 Volleyball Corner Conference All Junior team and to Addy Resh for selection to the All Freshman team! Congratulations to Olivia Baker and Brianne Johnson for the Academic All State award! Congratulations to Brooke Burns on making honorable mention for the Corner Conference team! Great job girls!

Oct 27, 2022

High School Student Council Completes First Service Day

The Essex High School Student Council recently traveled to Council Bluffs to complete their first Service Day of the year. The Council members have committed to give back by volunteering at various non profit organizations throughout the school year. The first day included volunteering at the Midland Humane Society in Council Bluffs. They also took a tour of the Council Bluffs Police Station and received valuable information to help plan an upcoming school Safety Workshop they will be providing for the Middle and High School . . .

Oct 24, 2022

Essex Farm School

The farm school at Essex Community School has been a long time passion of superintendent Mike Wells. With the help of Ag teacher Rebekah Sampers students have the ability to help raise and tend to goats, chickens and soon many other animals. The Essex farm school was featured in an article by Nick Johansen for The Red Oak Express. To read the full article click the link below. Hands-on learning at Essex Farm School

Oct 24, 2022

Essex Volleyball Team Honored at KMA Sports Hall of Fame

The Essex volleyball program owned the early 1990s in KMAland. The 1991 and 1992 squads qualified for the state tournament and combined for an incredible 68-2-4 record with their only two losses coming in the state semifinals. “(They) worked extremely hard,” former Essex coach Angel Melendez said on behalf of the team. “Coaches say that all the time, and I think (assistant coach) Dan Cox can attest to it. We worked extremely hard every day. We never opened the doors to the gym to get fresh air. We would play in . . .

Oct 12, 2022

Students Attend Plum Creek Literacy Festival

Essex students in Ms. Martha Sunderman’s 7th Grade ELA class attended the Plum Creek Children’s Literacy Festival at Concordia University in Seward, Nebraska this fall. Students were able to attend presentations by three of the nineteen authors and illustrators present at the festival. The three chosen authors were Jerry Pallotta, Roland Smith, and Jennifer Nielsen. Pallotta’s advice to young writers was to be aware that subject matter is all around them. “I had a dory when I was younger, so I . . .

Oct 3, 2022

Clarinda Band Jamboree

Congratulations to our marching Trojans! They marched on Saturday at the Clarinda Band Jamboree parade competition. The middle school received 3rd place and the high school received 12th place over 18 bands in the 1A division.

Sep 23, 2022

Essex Students Creations Selected for the 2022- 2023 Choose IOWA Coloring Calendar

Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig encourages school-age students to participate in the Choose Iowa Calendar Contest hosted by the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship. The artwork should feature at least one aspect of Iowa agriculture — food, livestock, crops or renewable fuels. Submissions will be judged on creativity and the ability to connect agriculture to everyday life. Two students were selected from across the state of Iowa from Essex. . . .

Sep 15, 2022

Annual Powder Puff Game

Congratulations to the White Team on their win in the Second Annual Powder Puff game!

Sep 8, 2022

Essex Homecoming Court 2022

Congratulations to our Essex Homecoming King and Queen Brianne Johnson and Preston Driskell and all the court members! Pictured left to right: Front row: Crownbearers Maelie Ward and Nick Johnson Back row: Freshman Attendants- Riley King and Ashon Kline Sophomore Attendants- Promise Steng and Kaden Buick Junior Attendants- Alex King and Bradley Franks Queen Brianne Johnson, King Preston Driskell Senior Candidates- John Staley, Olivia Baker, Jacob Robinette, and Chloe Edie