The ninth, and possibly last, school directions booklet

bookletschoolarea
This map, working off the 2005-06 Iowa Dept. of Ed. districts map, shows all the public schools covered by the directions booklet in white. Previously included but now removed districts are in gray.

First in a series.

At the end of the 20th century, I led an Eagle Scout project that combined my interest in maps with technology of the time. New football districts were placing North Tama with teams the Redhawks had never played. I thought that making a booklet of directions to dozens of schools, informing parents and fans of exactly how to get to events, would provide a great community service.

In small-school Iowa, not everything is in one place. The high school and junior high can be in different towns, and not all sports may be played at the high school. Gladbrook-Reinbeck, whose high school is in Reinbeck, plays varsity football by the Tama County Fairgrounds in Gladbrook, and continues to do so even after closure of the Gladbrook school. One especially oddball example is that Colo-NESCO plays softball, and only softball, at McCallsburg.

I didn’t necessarily expect that I would continue updating that booklet for the next two decades. I definitely didn’t expect that it would outlast the existence of the Boy Scouts of America.*

But while thinking about the latest version, I have also been considering if it should be the last. In an upcoming series of blog posts, I will explain more about this thought process.

*The future “Scouts BSA” has been sued by the Girl Scouts of America for its decision to admit girls … after being pressured by the National Organization for Women for its position of not admitting girls.

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