(Radio Iowa) – A new program at the University of Northern Iowa could help ease the state’s teacher shortage by allowing paraeducators to become certified teachers without leaving their current jobs. All classes for the two-year program, called the Purple Pathway for Paraeducators, will be offered online outside of normal work hours. Colleen Mulholland, dean of the U-N-I College of Education, says more schools are looking within their own classrooms to develop new teachers. “Paraeducators come to the profession in many, many different ways and many of them are very interested in continuing their career growth in education,” Mulholland says, “so the Purple Pathway is our attempt to fill that need.”

Mulholland says paras have experience in the classroom that makes them good candidates to become new teachers. “Paraeducators are committed to the community. They’re committed to the school,” she says. “They’re, in some cases, the constant or the continuity for students in their school.” Applications for the program will be accepted starting this week. Earlier this year, the state Department of Education announced a grant program to support schools that create apprenticeships for paraeducators to finish their teaching degrees.

(reporting by Grant Gerlock, Iowa Public Radio)

(Radio Iowa) – Health experts are encouraging Iowans to make sure their children are up to date on their COVID-19 vaccinations before summer vacation starts. In May, the Centers for Disease Control expanded its recommendations for booster doses to include children who are five to eleven years old. Mike Brownlee, chief pharmacy officer at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, says kids should be fully vaccinated — and boosted — before heading off to summer activities. “So as we think about where people are traveling to, they may be traveling into areas that are higher risk,” Brownlee says. “We’ve seen that changing throughout the country where, with this new sub variant, it’s still spreading, the virus is still here, the pandemic is still a real thing.”

Brownlee says state data show just about a quarter of the state’s five-to-eleven-year-olds are fully vaccinated, and COVID cases are rising across the country. “We know that millions of kids have been infected,” he says. “Last I remember, about 30% of those that don’t really have other conditions still end up being hospitalized. Federal health officials recommend children get the booster shot five months after their last dose, or three months after if they are immunocompromised.

(reporting by Natalie Krebs, Iowa Public Radio)

Police in Red Oak report the arrest at around 9:45-p.m. Tuesday, of 29-year-old Isaias Guerra, from Red Oak. Guerra was taken into custody in the 1800 block of E. Summit Street in Red Oak, on a charge of simple Assault. His bond was set at $300.

(Creston, Iowa) – Police in Creston report the arrest Tuesday night, of 31-year-old Ashton James Olson, of Creston. Olson was arrested at his residence on a Union County Warrant for Failure To Appear, on an original charge of Operating while under the Influence 1st Offense. He was transported to the Union County Jail and later was released on a $1,000 cash or surety bond.

And, a woman residing in the 800 block of Golden Shores, in Creston, reported to Police Tuesday morning, that someone had broke into her home and took multiple items. The missing items include medications, jars of change, Apple Airpods and ONN Headphones. The loss was estimated at $810.