Iowa Association of Alternative Education

Don Betts, Carrie Lane High School, Charles City, Iowa, understands the importance of building a trusting and supportive relationship between home, school, and the community.  He serves alternative education through hosting Small Wonders conferences; providing leadership in STARS celebrations; founding and leading Northeast Iowa Alternative Teachers (NEAT), a group organized to provide support for alternative educators in small programs and schools; and serving on the IAAE Board of Directors.  In recent months and within his own school system of Charles City, Don has shown leadership, passion, and vision as he has directed the effort to expand his program in order to serve more students.  Through hands-on learning, Don has instilled within his students a sense of ownership of their alternative high school.  Don has been aptly described as “fiercely loyal and dedicated to the passions in his life.” 

Kim Kitterman, Boone Futures, Boone, Iowa, has worked in alternative education for eight years and the students love her. She gives them her full time and attention and has that ability to get tough when she needs to. She allows each student to start school with a clean slate and does not pre-judge. She does not give up on students even when they want to give up on themselves. She has mothered hundreds of children and has found homes, childcare, medical care, and counselors for those in need. She has fought battles for both the staff and students when it needed to be done.

David Edelstein, Business and Math Instructor, Walnut Creek Campus, West Des Moines, Iowa, and Kelsey Ruzzi, Career and Parenting Teacher, Crusade High School, Morning Sun, Iowa were recognized as the IAAE Co-Educators of the Year.

Joanne McAleer of Kimberly Center East in Davenport, Iowa, is the 2005 IAAE Educator of the Year. Joanne has been involved in alternative education since 1987. She currently teaches special education and is in charge of the school’s Student Council. Student activities she has organized include a recycling program, reading to elementary children and volunteering at a retirement community.

Julie Norby has been in alternative education for 11 years. She originally worked in the Western Dubuque Community Schools as an At-Risk Facilitator for the EXCEL Program and as the School-Based Youth Services Coordinator. In 1997, Julie started the NICC/Western Dubuque Kaleidoscope Program at the NICC campus in Peosta, Iowa, where she currently works. Julie has displayed a unique talent for developing distinctive learning activities that benefit her students, including canoeing, ropes courses, moonlight bowling, trips to the opera, and an annual Thanksgiving dinner for friends, family, and alumni of her program. Her students also volunteer at the local food bank and with senior citizens, and have helped victims of a tornado. They have participated in Make-A-Difference Day and raised money for the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Julie is the founder and the driving force behind the creation of the Iowa STARS Celebration, an event that highlights the talents of alternative school students from across the state of Iowa. Julie has also overseen the creation of The Mandala, an art and literary publication showcasing alternative school students in Iowa. She has been active in creating events that will benefit students from other alternative programs in northeast Iowa as well. Julie has organized numerous activities that benefit students in her area of the state, including school-to-work seminars, student trips, and an annual student excursion to visit the State Capitol in Des Moines. Julie is active with the Northeast Iowa Alternative Teachers (NEAT), an organization of alternative school educators who promote Northeast Iowa’s small alternative schools. She is also a member of the Executive Board of the Iowa Association of Alternative Education.