Registered

Iola Middle School students have been working hard to have each other's backs. That's the purpose behind Aevidum, a student organization that started here in 2019 and promotes positive school culture and mental health awareness. Aevidum means "I've got your back" in Latin.

In this week's episode of Registered, IMS eighth graders Finley Nelson and Jim Olson join school counselor Stacey Crusinbery to talk more about what the club does — and why they so enjoy being a part of it. Here's our conversation.

Cody Haviland is a school-based mental health therapist with Southeast Kansas Mental Health Center, where he’s worked since 2015. He splits his time between the Humboldt and Chanute school districts.

September is Suicide Prevention Awareness Month, so we wanted to speak with Haviland about what he sees in our young people today. What are some of the underlying issues affecting teen mental health? How as a community can we improve to help reduce the stigma around asking for help?

In this week’s episode, Haviland talks about why human connections are so important, his challenges to improve the culture around mental health, what sustains him in his role, and more. Here’s our conversation.

Maureen Olson and her family came to Iola in 1995. Almost immediately, she began managing the Iola Drive-In and the Iola Theatre.

Maureen left those positions in 1999 to become the director of Christian ministry at Iola's First Presbyterian Church. She later attended Phillips Theological Seminary in Tulsa and was ordained as a minister at First Presbyterian Church in Yates Center in 2014.

In this week's episode of "Registered," we talk with Maureen about her time at the Iola Theatre, what the movies meant to Iola back then, and why theaters are still necessary today.

Marv Smith came to Iola in 1966. He retired from 46 years of teaching at Iola High School in 2012 but continued to coach cross country until the pandemic. If you account for his years of coaching track and field, football, cross country, and his time in the classroom, he touched the lives of thousands of students.

Marv is a local legend and hard to introduce. Hard to write about. He means many things to many, many people. But his focus is unwavering, constant and true: the kids. It's always been about the kids for Marv. Helping them, guiding them, motivating, inspiring and imparting his love of learning. The times change, but Marv was always focused on his students.

In this week's episode, we talk with Marv about what kept him engaged in the classrom for nearly five decades and coaching for even longer. Hope you enjoy the conversation.

Last month, Gov. Laura Kelly announced that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services had approved Kansas’s new Community Supports Waiver.

The waiver will expand home and community-based services to 500 Kansans for up to $20,000 per year. It's a major expansion of an effort to keep individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities with their families and integrated in their communities.

Here to explain it all is Robin Lohman. Lohman lives in Iola and is an Assistant I/DD Director with the Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services.

In this week's episode, Lohman breaks down what the waiver is, how it works, and why it's so important.

In this week's episode of "Registered," we speak with Iola High School principal Scott Carson.

Big changes await IHS students when they return this fall. First, a statewide ban on cell phones will be in effect.

Second, the school is moving away from assigning Chromebooks to each student, instead allowing students to have access to classroom Chromebook carts on an as-needed basis.

The two changes will affect every single student, teacher and classroom. They also come as more and more schools are critical of, or are certainly rethinking, technology's place in our children's education.

We talk with Carson about what this means for Iola students, how the school is adapting, and what’s next as the school year approaches.

Kale Godfrey is 19 years old and has already completed his first marathon. But he’s not stopping there. Kale has already signed up for his second marathon this fall and has completed two half-marathons.

The 2025 Iola graduate wasn’t always a runner—he joined cross country for the first time his senior year. But in the span of just a few years, running has changed Kale. It’s changed his attitude, how he things about himself, even his career path.

In this week’s episode of Registered, we talk with Kale about what he enjoys so much about the sport, and what keeps him running today.

SAFE BASE is gearing up for another summer full of fun, learning, and unforgettable field trips. The free summer program for K-8th grade students in USD 257 starts June 1 and runs Monday-Thursday through June 25.

In this week’s episode of “Registered,” SAFE BASE director Angela Henry speaks about what she loves most about her work, the impact SAFE BASE has on the community, and her hopes for the program’s future.

Henry has been with the program since the beginning—26 years ago—but her passion for working with kids and helping them grow is as strong as ever.

Mark Peters is one of three new Iola City Council members sworn in this January. But Peters has been here before—he represented Ward 4 before stepping down in April 2024 to care for his late wife.

In this week’s episode of “Registered,” we speak with Peters on what motivated him to return to City Council, what he hopes to accomplish, and what concerns him about Iola’s future.

Taelyn Mathews is a school-based therapist with Southeast Kansas Mental Health Center. She’s based in Iola Middle and High Schools and has a master’s degree insocial work.

As the school year ends, it’s a good time to check in with Mathews about what she’s experienced this school year—her first in USD 257. What are students struggling with? How does she help?

It’s clear Mathews is a therapist who deeply cares about the kids she works with, someone whose passion is with helping kids, as she says, deal with the messiness of life.

May is Mental Health Awareness Month, an appropriate time to focus on mental health by speaking with people like Mathews.

Here’s our conversation. Hope you enjoy it.