September 26, 1968 Baseball Collins team snapped a 1-1 tie, scoring 3 runs in the 2nd inning, then held on to lead the remainder of the game, defeating Roland on their diamond 7-4. Five Roland errors and hits by John Hale and Gordon Carver highlighted Collins 2nd inning, scoring 3 runs. Collins added single runs in the 4th, 6th, and 7th for the 7-4 victory. John Hale pitched: Innings - 7, hits - 4, runs 4, strikeouts - 6, walks - 7. Team hits - 10, team fielding errors - 6. (Lineup not found) Roland had defeated the Clippers 16-9 earlier.
October 1, 1968 Baseball The Clippers ended their baseball season on their home diamond with a 15-10 slugfest victory over New Providence. Their fall season record is: Won - 4; Lost - 2. New Providence took a 5-0 lead in the top of the 1st inning, but the Clippers responded with 2 runs in the bottom of the 1st and a big 7-run 2nd inning. Highlights of this inning were a bases-loaded triple by Marvin Huntrods and a 2-run single by Gordon Carver. Carver had 4 singles with 5 runs batted in for the game. Bob Earles and Jim Hale pitched: Innings - 7, hits - 11, runs - 10, strikeouts - 6, walks 16. Team hits - 11, team fielding errors - 3. (Lineup not found) (Insert 2008: 30 walks in one game must be some kind of a record.)
(Insert 2008: Boys Summer Baseball Season Summary (Incomplete information found in the newspapers and only team picture without names in the school annual)
November 8, 1968 Schools Face Action on "Standards" The State Board of Public Instruction studied whether to take action against 91 public schools which state education officials said failed to meet state standards. The board had three possible courses: (1) place the schools on one-year's probation, (2) give them a one-year warning to correct the deficiencies before placing them on probation, (3) do nothing.If the schools are placed on probation, they will have one year to correct their shortcomings or stand a chance of losing accreditation. This would mean the loss of state aid and possibility that colleges would not accept graduates of the schools without testing them. The deficiencies found in the 91 schools were all of academic nature. Most of the deficiencies were caused by lack of course offerings in second year languages, science, fine arts, math and social studies. Another major shortcoming was lack of librarians and counselors. Earl Miller, director of the State Division of Supervision, said he would recommend that action be taken on 15 schools that are considered to have more critical deficiencies and on 76 others that have been found lacking in less serious ways. Collins was included in the 15 schools category with more critical deficiencies. The nearest school in this category is SEMCO of Gilman. Roland and United Community were included in the less serious category.
Supt. Reith of Collins told the Journal he had no official word from the State Department of Education and he planned to talk with the regional consultant immediately. Collins has updated their program extensively the past three years to keep abreast of state regulations. Reith said the announcement came as a surprise to him.
November 14, 1968 School Reorganization Iowa's school battle was waged on two separate fronts with the State Department of Education voting to "crack the whip" on the state's smaller schools and Iowa Association of School Board directors voting to fight state plans for mass reorganization. The Iowa Association of School Boards went on record as opposing a federally-financed study recommending major school reorganization in Iowa. The directors said the study recommendations "are based on the unproven premise that a small school is necessarily inferior." The directors also said the reorganization study, known as the Great Plains Project, places "undue emphases on alleged economic savings without sufficient attention to the educational impact upon the child." The Great Plains Project covering school organization in Iowa, Nebraska, Missouri, and South Dakota recommended that each school district have at least 3500 pupils. Few Iowa districts presently would qualify.