“We (teachers) looked at each on the third day of school and went, ‘I love all-day kindergarten,’” Foust said.

One of the reasons the love may be apparent is the increased time teachers have to cover material. Under the previous half-day setting, teachers indicated they sometimes felt rushed to cover the necessary subject matter in a mere 3 1/2 hours. Now, with seven hours in the day, the students and teachers can cover more material.

“In the past, the priorities became language arts and math, as it should be. But that meant we didn’t have time to consistently cover social studies, science technology and other areas that are beneficial for our students,” Walker said. “With a full day, we are able to put those things back into a day and help students recognize how things fit together.”

Walker added that students can now explore topics in a deeper manner in a workshop structure.

“Students are doing more exploring of concepts, developing their application of skills and practicing their knowledge in different ways,” Walker said.

The extra time has allowed this year’s kindergarten students to advance far beyond kindergarten classes of previous years.

Providing an example, Foust said, “Last year, our standard was to count to 20. Already in January, we were counting to sets of 30.”

Social development among students has also advanced beyond previous years thanks in large part to a 20-minute daily purposeful play period added this year. Through different activities such as putting on a puppet theater show, Foust said the students are developing social and logical capabilities.

“We’re really seeing good things in the social areas. The kids are learning to solve their own problems through play,” she said. “They’ve come so far socially in learning to work together.”

The all-day setting also allows students to feel more involved in their schools.

“The students feel more connected to our school because they get recess, lunch and can attend everything,” Flatten said.

Although the first year of all-day, every-day kindergarten has not been without hiccups and adjustments, the teachers agreed that students are in a better place at this point than they’ve ever been.

“The students seem like pros. You’d never know it was their first year,” Flatten said.

In turn, the teachers seem to have developed greater job satisfaction.

“We’ve always loved our jobs,” Flatten said.

As if on cue, Faust completed that thought.

“We love them even more now,” she said.

At the end of each year, members are given grant applications and information from potential grantees. The members vote and the majority rules. For 2017, that meant more than $16,420 in grants to the following: 

• $1,739 to purchase an Automated External Defibrillator to have onsite at the Beacon Center.
• $1,400 to support a digital literacy program at the Boys & Girls Club which focuses on new skills as well as online safety.
• $1,363 to Divine Providence of South Dakota to help fund start-up costs for its Pulpit Supply program which provides volunteer ecumenical lay preachers for area pastors and churches.
• $1,390 to Habitat for Humanity Greater Watertown Region for laptop, printer, wireless phone and software.
• $1,920 to Joy Ranch for materials to construct a wheelchair accessible lift for the horse riding area.
• $1,363 to Lake Area Zoological Society to support the Wildlife Warriors boys’ Roots & Shoots program at Bramble Park Zoo. This is the fifth consecutive year for GB365 support of this program!
• $1,000 to PACH for a cart for the packing area and totes for outgoing snacks.
• $1,244 to REACH (Respond-Educate-Advocate-Counsel-Heal) to purchase a Bluetooth speaker which will enable team to monitor forensic interviews. Part of the grant will be used to also purchase educational books to give to families that are seen at the child advocacy center.
• $2,000 to the Salvation Army to support a music program for youth.
• $2,000 to Watertown Area Transit to update telephone system.
• $1,000 to Watertown Artwalk to cover printing costs in 2018 which includes 4,000 brochures distributed to residents and visitors.

These grants will touch hundreds of lives. Thank you 2017 Giving Back 365 donors for making all of this possible.

A dollar a day does make a difference. The 2018 Giving Back 365 effort is just beginning. Join anytime during the year by giving $365. For more information on Giving Back 365, please contact us at 605-882-3731, 211 E. Kemp, or email: foundation@iw.net.

Dempsey is also planning for the World Pizza Championship April 9-11 in Parma, Italy, where he’ll be part of the 41-member United States Pizza Team.

“I’ll be in the Mecca of pizza,” Dempsey said about the Italy trip. “My mind’s blown even thinking about going to it.”

But first there’s Vegas and trying to repeat the 2017 success that happened in his first-ever competition. He admits that he was just excited last year not to finish in last place.

“Now I’m feeling a bit more confident about my surroundings and what I’m doing,” he said. “I’ve been here (Dempsey’s) pretty much every day, making different batches of dough, playing with different pies and working out my levels of hydration and making sure I have the perfect crust to compete with.

“I have to be ready. This is the Super Bowl of pizza making. It’s the biggest one in the States.”

Dempsey admits he didn’t have any grand plan in place that led to last year’s success. He took his own ingredients, including Watertown water, and his pizza turned out well.

“I think it was a lot of work I had put into it last year,” he said. “I didn’t know what was happening. I didn’t realize that all that hard work I had done in the past really paid off.”

This year he’ll be entered into the non-traditional category and assistant Michael Bacon will be competing in traditional.

There are five categories in which to enter, and the overall winner will receive a giant silver pizza pan and the title Pizza Maker of the Year.

The competition will be more stout in Italy at the site where Parmesan cheese was invented. Titles will be awarded for 11 different types of pizza. Dempsey will enter a reuben pizza into the Classic Pizza category.

“Italian pizza is all very crispy and light and one topping,” Dempsey explained. “I’m not going to make something that’s super heavy, but I’m going to make something that’s very memorable. Hopefully I won’t get hung for it.”

The U.S. team includes 23 Premiere members who compete regularly several times a year, and 18 Competing members, such as Dempsey, who are either new members or have yet to earn their “Black Coat” to become a Premiere member. The coat is only obtained by winning a sanctioned contest.

Dempsey will fly to Philadelphia in early April where the U.S. team is gathering before they fly together to Italy. After the contest Dempsey will travel by train to Austria and then to Germany to visit relatives.

He has no expectations about where he’ll finish in the contest. He’s just looking forward to discovering new ideas.

“I want to learn from all these people who’ll be there,” he said. “Meeting new people, looking for new ideas, seeing how somebody from Japan or Egypt makes their pizza. It will be fun just to experience the entire thing and learn from it and see how it goes.”