An appraisal for the Union County Fairgrounds has been in the works since the June 14 meeting. A commercial appraiser from Sioux Falls was hired not to exceed $8,000 and half was to be repaid by the City of Alcester. However, after hearing nothing from the appraiser and seeing no progress, the Union County Commissioners approved a different appraisal company to handle the work at their meeting Sept. 6. Elwood & Martin Appraisals, LLC was approved to do the appraisal for the fairgrounds on the recommendation of State’s Attorney Jerry Miller.

The Dakota Valley girls soccer team took their varsity roster to Garretson Saturday, Sept. 10. The squad played hard and after a slow start in the first half they were able to claim victory with a 2-0 win over the Blue Dragons. “The first half was very sloppy, the girls were making unusual simple errors and we couldn’t get into a good rhythm,” head coach Jesse Castillo commented. “We were not getting to 50/50 balls, scared to head the ball, the ball was being played too much on our half of the field and turning the ball over too much. But after the half-time break we came out and possessed on their [Garretson’s] half and created chances. It was good to see them bounce back.” An offensive push developed in the second half with Isabella Mijangos scoring twice. She found the net on the first goal off an assist from junior Claire Hemmingsen. Mijangos’s second goal came from an assist by sophomore Emma Deacon. “Izzy Mijangos scored both of the goals and had five shots on goal,” Castillo remarked. “Mijangos, an eighth-grader, is leading the team this year with five goals.” The victory over Garretson marks the fourth win of the season for the Panther girls soccer team.

It was a sweltering hot day for the Canton Invite on Sept. 6, but the Dakota Valley Panthers showed up ready to beat the heat and run.

The boys soccer team for Dakota Valley travelled to Hartford, SD on Sept. 8 to go up against the West Central Trojans on Anderson Field. The Panthers entered the game with high hopes and played well, but unfortunately were not able to come out of the match with a win. Dakota Valley fell to the Trojans 0-4 at the end of regulation.

The first full week of September brought the Panther volleyball squad an away match in Beresford and a busy Saturday of tournament games. All volleyball squads from Dakota Valley travelled to Beresford Sept.

It was a wet Friday Night Lights for the Dakota Valley Panthers as they travelled north to take on Sioux Falls Christian Chargers in a tough football game Sept. 9. It was a back and forth contest that came down to the 4th quarter when scores by the Chargers put the game out of reach. The road game was the first loss for the Panthers this season and the final score was 14-24.

This year’s theater production at Dakota Valley will be Seussical: The Musical. Auditions took place over a threeday period at the end of August with Cody Juffer, the DV middle school and high school theater director, announcing the cast and crew Aug.

The Dakota Valley High School’s Annual Homecoming Parade will take place Sept. 30 at 1:30 p.m. This year’s homecoming theme is “We Got Game”. If anyone is interested in having a float, car or sign in the parade, contact James Schmit ( james.schmit@k12. sd.us) anytime from now until Sept. 23. This is a great opportunity to connect with area residents. There is an average of 50 entries in the parade, so there will be several people lining the streets of Military Road. Businesses and people will not want to miss this opportunity.

Providing a well-rounded education for students is not always easy, but at Dakota Valley Elementary School, we are determined to make it happen! Students in our building are taught the core academic subjects as well as receive instruction in specialized classes such as art, music, physical education, STEM, guidance and library. We are so grateful to have the ability to provide students the opportunity to discover and develop their strength areas and passions at such an early age in so many different intelligence areas.

Dakota State University student Samantha Voeltz is student teaching kindergarten for the fall 2022 semester and first grade for the spring 2023 semester in the West Central School District. Voeltz is an elementary education major