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An uncommon student

By Staff | Oct 29, 2010

David Schramm, of Moville, was awarded one of the Iowa’s six Uncommon Student awards for 2010. He initiated a community service project that has led to downtown beautification in Moville.

MOVILLE – David Schramm, of Moville, said that his son, Drew Schramm, is one of the busiest people he knows. Drew’s involvement in cross country, Sunday baseball league, 4-H and other activities leave little room for much else.

Not much else, that is, except for partnering with the Moville city council, Chamber of Commerce, city engineer and mayor on a downtown beautification project. Yes, busiest and one of the most productive people one may ever meet.

“Community service has always been a big part of our township’s 4-H program,” said Drew Schramm, a nine-year veteran of the Arlington Future Farmers. “I wouldn’t have had the idea if it hadn’t been for the influence that 4-H has had on me.”

He credits his township’s 4-H program for instilling his interest in community service and leadership. Schramm, now 17, has been in the program since he was eight years old.

The beautification project, which was also motivated by Moville’s upcoming quasquicentennial celebration in 2012, has been documented from the start.

“There have been a few changes along the way,” Schramm said. “Initially, I was going to clean up a downtown lot, but other citizens beat me to it. It was a good problem, but I still needed to find a way to directly benefit Moville.”

Schramm said he met with Moville’s local government on several occasions to seek its advice and blessing on what would eventually become a downtown-wide project.

Schramm said applying for and receiving a $10,000 grant from Missouri River Historic Development Inc. was a good test of his communication skills, which was afforded by his 4-H background.

“Acquiring that level of funding was exciting for the project,” he said. “It opened up doors for doing much more than I expected.” The money was secured through Schramm’s grant writing and speaking abilities.

Continuing on, he jokes, “I still have some money to spend. Unlike our government, I’m pretty wise about how I spend money given to me.”

So far, Schramm has worked with county engineer Mike Weaver to hang colorful banners and flower baskets from the downtown light poles.

“We purchased these items from Moville and Sioux City area to stay as local as possible. It’s been fun to see the business owner’s take ownership of the flowers; it’s become sort of a good-spirited competition.”

As a testament to his project, Schramm was one of 15 Iowa high school students to receive the Uncommon Student Award from the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library Association on Oct. 9. Schramm is also one of six 4-H students in that group to receive the prestigious award.

“It’s really all about what 4-H had done for me,” Schramm emphatically stated. “I simply couldn’t have done it without the city of Moville’s interest, my family’s support and what I learned in 4-H. I’m grateful to everyone who has helped out and continues to be involved in this project.”

Contact Doug Clough at douglasclough@yahoo.com.