MARY PIEPER
Special to the Globe Gazette
In her 23 years as a nurse at the Concord Care Center in Garner, Bonnie Butin never imagined she would go through something like caring for people during a global pandemic.
âIt was a learning experience,â she said. âIt was very busy and you needed to be especially attentive to the residents.â
Concord residents who tested positive for COVID-19 had to be in a different part of the building than everyone else to prevent the spread of the virus.
âIt was a scary time,â Butin said. âYou just had to reassure them and hope for the best.â
MARY PIEPER
Special to the Globe Gazette
Theresa Ahlf has cared for people at both the beginning and the end of life in her job as a nurse.
âI started out in labor and deliver where we brought the babies in, and now Iâm where everybody leaves,â said Ahlf, who began her nursing career at MercyOne North Iowa and now works at the Good Samaritan Society nursing home in St. Ansgar. âIâve seen both aspects of it.â
The rural St. Ansgar resident worked the night shift in the labor and deliver ward at Mercy One for almost five years before she was offered her current job. She accepted it so she could work days and not have to commute so far.
Barb Schwamman has been instrumental in a number of new initiatives and projects in her nearly six years as superintendent of schools for the Osage Community School District.
And while those initiatives have made for some proud moments during her tenure in Osage and as the superintendent in Riceville (since 2017), they pale in comparison to seeing students succeed in the classroom.  That is absolutely the best thing about my job, Schwamman said. All kids learn at a different pace, so to help them and see them all make progress and succeed is why we get into this field.
Schwamman will talk about helping students succeed in the classroom and the need for individualized education, among other things, as part of her keynote address at the 2021 Star Class recognition event on May 9 at North Iowa Area Community College.