SNOWCAP

Watching the snow and wondering whether your children have school or not? Just check your cell phone or email, thanks to a service Le Mars Community School subscribes to: SNOWCAP. When LCS and Gehlen Catholic School delay or cancel classes, LCS superintendent Todd Wendt immediately submits the announcement to SNOWCAP, which stands for Secure Notifications Of Weather/Urgent Cancellations and Postponements. SNOWCAP, based in Sioux City, turns around and pumps the message out to the local radio and TV stations.

But this year SNOWCAP is offering a service that will also send free alerts right to families' cell phones or email. Both LCS and Gehlen parents and families can use this service. The SNOWCAP concept, now in 344 schools and 128 businesses in the tri-state area, started in 1993 as a small service and has expanded to where their announcements feed directly into TV station's teleprompters.