Benton Community School District

Benton Community School District
Atkins, Newhall, Norway, Watkins, Van Horne, Keystone, Elberon, Blairstown

The Benton Community School District, part of the WaMaC Conference, comprises eight rural towns located in the state of Iowa (United States of America): Atkins, Newhall, Norway, Watkins, Van Horne, Keystone, Elberon, Blairstown; additional students come from Marengo, and Garrison.

Benton Community elementaries (Preschool through sixth grades) are located in: Atkins, Keystone, Van Horne, and Norway. The Junior High (Seventh and Eighth grades) is in Van Horne and attached is the High School (Ninth through Twelfth grades).

The High School, which houses an average enrollment of 450 students, offers many classes with the option of many extracurricular activities:

The band program is under the direction of Dr. Brad Williamson, and includes marching band, concert band, pep band, and jazz band.

John Hayden has led the choir program, especially the show choir, to be one of the top 3A show choirs in the state of Iowa. The show choirs are Illusions, the Junior High group; Jubilation Incorporated, the Junior-Varsity group; and Celebration Company, the Varsity group. Other choirs include concert choir, mixed choir, chamber choir, and the Madrigal choir.

Concerts include Holiday and Spring JAVA, which are variety shows containing individual and small groups, plus performances from our show choirs, concert band, and jazz band. The Madrigal choir performs at a dinner shortly before Christmas, where the choir sings over a dinner, a cappella, that is, without a piano accompanying them. The show choir and marching band perform at a variety of competitions throughout the year. The concert band, concert choir, and mixed choir all perform at concerts at different points in the year as well.

Under the strong lead of John Hayden and Dr. Brad Williamson, the Benton fine arts program is shaping up to be one of the top 3A fine arts programs in the state.

Sports include football, cross country, volleyball, wrestling, basketball, golf, baseball, track and field, softball, and soccer. The girls track and cross country teams have won multiple State Championships under legendary coach Marty Thomae. Softball and Baseball have also added state titles. Current University of Iowa Defensive Line coach Reese Morgan coached at Benton in the 1970s and 80s. Former Dallas Cowboys defensive lineman and Outland Trophy winner Chad Hennings attended Benton, where he played football and wrestled. Former Big Ten high jump champion Ryan Kelly attended Benton, where he played football, basketball, and ran track. Current University of Northern Iowa offensive lineman Robert Rathje and shooting guard Madison Weekly are also Benton graduates.

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