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What is 3DE at Marshalltown High School?

Columnists

3DE is a model for transforming high school education built around real-world business case studies integrated directly into our core curriculum. Instead of traditional, isolated subjects, students learn through problem-based and inquiry learning that is relevant to the real world. This approach is rooted in the belief that the best way for students to learn is by applying their knowledge to solve real-world problems. The success of this program is a testament to the dedication of our educators. Their willingness to adopt this innovative, hands-on approach is what makes these ...

Who deserves sympathy should not depend on politics

Columnists

Truth should be measured by evidence, not by political allegiance. Can’t we all agree on that? With that in mind, a useful question for citizens and journalists to ask at times like this is simple: “Help me understand …” The phrasing invites the person being questioned to explain his or her views on some matter of interest without the questioner coming across as accusatory. Had I been in the White House press briefing room last week for one of Karoline Leavitt’s Q&A’s, I would have framed a question like this about the Minneapolis woman’s shooting death by a federal ...

Real reform starts with PBMs

Your View

Working in public health has given me a front-row seat to how hard it has become for Iowa families to simply stay healthy. I’ve spent years volunteering with mobile clinics and nonprofit groups, meeting people who are blocked at every turn by pharmacy benefit managers. These PBMs sit between patients and their prescriptions with zero transparency. It’s heartbreaking to stand in a mobile clinic and watch a patient walk away without the medication their doctor prescribed because a PBM denied it or pushed a different, higher-priced drug. I’ve seen patients end up in the ER over ...

Why Hollywood (plus) hates Trump

Columnists

It’s fashionable in mentally disheveled circles to revile and disrupt America’s ICE agents, and law enforcement in general. Doing so is symptomatic of the subversive impulse. In Marshalltown, it also illustrates what’s become of those who, decades ago, gathered each night on the Courthouse lawn. (Today, their Age of Aquarius beads clank against their walkers.) Hardly a week passes without some entertainer voicing anti-Trump poison into the nearest microphone. (Remember those annoying high school Drama Club kids? Many now reside in Hollywood.) Mark Ruffalo is but one tinselly ...

Breakfast on the Hindenburg

Columnists

I stumbled across an old menu the other day on social media, one claiming to be from 1937, for the passengers on a German zeppelin crossing the Atlantic. “Breakfast,” it read, “on board the airship Hindenburg.” The words dotted the page in elegant script like a poem: “Coffee, tea, milk, cocoa Bread, butter, honey, preserves Eggs, boiled or in cup Frankfort sausage Ham, salami Cheese, fruit” I wondered if it was fake, written as it was in English, when the airship had been designed and its luxuries planned to broadcast the triumph of post-World War II German ...

COP climate talks

Your View

As world leaders gather for climate talks, one major contributor to climate change continues to be sidelined: industrial animal agriculture. While energy and transportation dominate the conversation, factory farming remains a leading source of greenhouse gas emissions, deforestation, water pollution, and biodiversity loss. Ignoring this reality weakens any serious climate plan. We cannot meet climate goals while leaving animal agriculture off the table. Fortunately, solutions already exist. Shifting toward plant-based foods reduces emissions, conserves water, and lessens pressure on ...