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From the Desk of the Superintendent...

January 22, 2020

FEBRUARY 2020 DISTRICT DISPATCH On Wednesday, December 11, 2019, our high school guidance counselor, Kirk Hughes; our high school principal, Matt McDonough; and I joined representatives from the Pottawattamie County Community Foundation, representatives from the Treynor Community School District, and family members of the late Rick Wenninghoff for the presentation of the largest gift in the history of the Pottawattamie County Community Foundation. Mr. Wenninghoff left a $5,000,000 endowment to the foundation to be earmarked for postsecondary education scholarships for students in the Underwood and Treynor Community School Districts. He was a Treynor High School graduate and farmed west of Underwood for several years. In a letter to his children, Mr. Wenninghoff explained that he wanted “to create an endowment fund that would continue to benefit future generations.” The Wenninghoff scholarships will be awarded through the Southwest Iowa Educational Foundation which has a long history of working with the Pottawattamie County Community Foundation. Council Bluffs attorney Tony Tauke, president of the Pottawattamie County Community Foundation Board and a member of the Southwest Iowa Educational Foundation Board, said the application process will be developed over the coming months and the scholarships are tentatively scheduled to begin with the graduation classes of 2021 in the Underwood and Treynor Community School Districts. On behalf of the Underwood Community School District Board of Directors and the Underwood community as a whole, I want to extend a sincere thank you to Rick Wenninghoff and his family for this generous scholarship program for Underwood students pursuing postsecondary educational opportunities. This gift will open doors that otherwise might have been closed for young people wishing to advance themselves educationally. Please note that there is no school on Friday, February 21, 2020, because of winter break.