Armour, SD

Remember those “FUN” pre and post surveys that the Horizons Staff had you take during Study Circles and LeadershipPLENTY?

Believe it or not - it was for a purpose!  Those pre and post surveys help us to understand how much your community learned about poverty and about leadership by your participation in those specified curriculums.

As a result, we have assembled a community profile with the results of the pre and post surveys for both Study Circles and LeadershipPLENTY.  Check out your community results by clicking on the links found under “Survey Data” on the right hand side of your community blog.

November 7, 2007
The Armour PTT met at the Fire Hall at 7pm. Alyssa Larson, School Psychologist from Mid-Central COOP was our speaker. The topic was on child Depression and Suicide. Some of the highlights from this presentation were: Disorders (mood, anxiety, psychotic, behavioral, eating, obsessive compulsive, and conduct) to name an few. Statistics and treatments were presented for these disorders. Teacher/Student/Counselor/Parent involvement were discussed and ideas given on how to detect and manage these disorders. One very good suggestion was to have parents and teachers work as a team and be positive. Early detection is the best treatment. Various cartoons and television shows influence a lot of how our children learn and what they learn about today’s society. Another influence is video games and information overload. Alyssa also discussed Depression signs and symptoms. This diagnosis is becoming more common in younger children. They can detect some of these symptoms in preschool children all the way through adolescence and adults. Discussion involved what we can do as parents and teachers to get involved and detect these areas of concern in our children. Suicide was also talked about and statistics given including various risk factors, warning signs, prevention, and protective factors. They now have a committee called S.O.S. Signs of Suicide, which was formed to assist in early detection and prevention of suicidal students.

Remember that November 12-16 is Education Appreciation Week. Please remember to THANK our teachers and ancillary staff for all they do to educate our children on a daily basis. We have a wonderful teacher student ratio and the support shown by our teachers for our school is beyond what many parents can expect. Thank you to all our educational staff!!

Armour School will be starting their Breakfast Program soon. Start date is tentatively set for November 19. We are just waiting to get all the menus out to the parents to get a head count of the students that wish to participate in the Breakfast Program. The first day will be Belgian Waffles for all of those students that wish to get a warm meal at the school before your day begins. Parents should be looking for those forms to fill out and get back to dietary just so we can have an average count of how many to cook for. Breakfast will be served from 7:45-8:15 daily. We are hoping the schedule will work out to have town kids there and about done eating by the time the bus kids get in so there is not such a waiting line. Things are subject to change and we are open to suggestions. The menus for breakfast will be sent home and posted on the school website if you lose your copy.
Nicole

Armour’s Lorain Theatre will be showing The Final Season November 2-3-4. I think it’s worth mentioning on the blog because the movie has a small town theme and the plot contains elements that could easily play out in a community the size of Armour — specifically the prospect of a school consolidation and what effect that would have on a town.

In the small town of Norway, Iowa, everyone comes together for high school baseball. But life throws curve balls; and the passionate young players, rookie coach Kent Stock (Sean Astin), and the hometown fans find that life’s greatest challenges strike off the diamond. The Final Season is the true story of a coach who inspired his team and brought hope to a town when they needed it most.

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The Amour Community Development Corporation (ACDC) met Thursday, October 25, and discussed a variety of topics. Earlier this year the ACDC declared housing as its top priority. The group has a 96′x142′ building site that is available for new home construction. The parcel could be divided into two residential lots and a lot would be FREE to anyone willing to construct a traditional stick-built home on the site.

One of the long-term Horizons projects is to create new housing in our community. So, the oppotunity to work with the ACDC couldn’t come at a better time.

Armour has always excelled at coming together when something needs to get done. Our movie theater is a community project that has enjoyed the support of individuals and organizations for eight years now. We know the value of working together.

So, we have some land and we needs some houses … what’s next?

The Mitchell (South Dakota) Area Development Corporation recently launched a Web site aimed at luring people to move to Mitchell to fill open jobs. Take a few moments to browse the site by clicking the link in the previous sentence. What do you think?

Would a similar Web site be of benefit to Armour? One of the many discussions we’ve had during our Horizons meetings has been about attracting new residents to our community. Housing is also one of our long-term Horizons projects.

If you look beneath this post there is some tiny type. Look closely and you’ll see how many comments have been posted in response to this post. Don’t be shy. Click on the comments and it will open a new link for you to post your opinions. This blog is just another place for our Horizons dialog to continue.

As you know, the Armour Community Foundation has been challenged to raise $20,000 by June 30, 2008. If that goal is met, an anonymous donor will provide $10,000 in matching funds. We have received some great donations toward this goal and want to say THANK YOU to everyone who has contributed thus far. But to meet this challenge, we are going to need help from everyone in our community.

I have heard many people say they don’t give to things like this because they can’t afford to make a large gift–they feel like their gift won’t matter. But I am here to tell you, that’s wrong! Every gift does count! Large or small, YOUR gift will make a difference.

If each of the 700 people who live in Armour supported the Armour Community Foundation with a $20 gift this year, that would amount to $14,000!!! Think of that!

Remember, the money that is donated to the Armour Community Foundation is going to be spent to help the projects of non-profit organizations in the ARMOUR COMMUNITY. We need YOU!!! To help us meet the challenge goal, send donations to: Armour Community Foundation, PO Box 333, Armour, SD  57313.

THANK YOU for supporting Armour!!!!

Armour is pleased to be a participant in the Horizons program to promote community leadership and reduce poverty. We’ve been involved in the Horizons project since early 2007 and have now moved to Phase II of the project where all of the planning and leadership development we’ve completed are put into action. This blog will serve as a clearinghouse of information about the Horizons project and the community of Armour. Please check back often as we’ll be recruiting several bloggers to continue the discussion about Armour’s progress.

Please also be sure to visit Armour’s main Web site, which contains tons of information about the community and is updated often.