A Blue Ribbon Time for DMPS at the Iowa State Fair
Families register for school during a visit to the DMPS booth at the Iowa State Fair.
“It’s so great to see Des Moines Public Schools at the Fair.”
It was a Friday evening at the Iowa State Fair, the Kiss concert was about to get underway, and a woman walking through the exhibit area of the Grandstand was happy to see her local school district on display.
For the first time in recent history, DMPS had a booth at the Iowa State Fair: the state’s largest provider of education teaming up with one of the state’s most iconic events. Based on the response, taking part in the Fair was a blue ribbon opportunity for the school district.
From 9:00 AM to 9:00 PM each day – 132 hours in total during the 11-day run of the Fair – DMPS was on hand to help people register for school, answer questions about everything from academic programs to job opportunities, and give away some school district souvenirs.
In fact, more than three dozen families made use of the district’s presence at the Fair to get registered before this Wednesday’s first day of school.
The most popular DMPS giveaways were fans that read “I’m a big fan of” one of the district’s five comprehensive high schools. With 1,000 each for East, Hoover, Lincoln, North and Roosevelt (plus an extra 500 Scarlet fans for East Side night), all 5,500 were gone before the Fair was half over. That’s a lot of school pride on display at the fairgrounds.
Another 5,000 mini-frisbees featuring the district’s logo were also given away to visitors.
DMPS employees who donated a six-hour shift, or more, to take part in the effort, staffed the booth. They were not only excited about this experience but sounded ready to go back in 2017.
Kellie Hanlon, a system specialist for the district, noted how one family stocked up on 15 Lincoln High School fans. “They told me they have generations of alumni from Lincoln. They thought the fans were awesome and wanted to take them to the new ‘Southside Pride’ night on the first Saturday of the fair,” she noted.
Many DMPS staffers were pleased that so many people stopped by simply to say hello and share stories about their time in school. “The best part of the booth was seeing and visiting with several former students and parents and catching up with where they are in their lives,” said Scott Surprenant, an instructional technology coordinator for DMPS. “I loved that part.”
Added Bobbie Jo Sheridan, the community school coordinator at Lovejoy Elementary School: “We had a number of individuals thank us for the work we do, which I thought was very endearing. I know the group I worked with enjoyed our time at the fair and met many interesting people.”
Several college students planning to become teachers also visited the DMPS booth, asking about student teaching and carreer opportunities and sharing their interest in working and living in a more urban, diverse community such as Des Moines.
The booth even helped one student get back on track to graduate. A district social worker spoke with a mother and student who had dropped out of school last year. It turned out the student only needed one class to complete in order to earn their high school diploma. By the time their conversation was over the family and the social worker had a plan to begin the process of getting the student re-enrolled and headed towards graduation.
DMPS appreciates the thousands of people who dropped by our booth during the Iowa State Fair, and their engagement with the school district.
That engagement wasn’t lost on Tiffany O’Hara, director of certified staff at DMPS, who notes: “We had a chance to visit with many people who are huge supporters of DMPS, some alumni, some community members, but all supporters in one way or another of DMPS. It was such a great thing to see this support as an employee of DMPS. It tells me how important our work to our community is and the value it has with the community.”
