Holiday Pack the Backpack, presented by Central Office Supply, a division of Minuteman and Kix 101.1! Each month during the school year, we will be awarding $101 to a Kix Country classroom to help out with supplies. We will award the prize on the last Wednesday of the month. You can listen to each new winner at 8:30a on the Morning Kix Start.
Our 1st Holiday Pack the Backpack winner is Resource Teacher at BCLUW Middle School, Mrs. Darci Steckelberg. She was nominated by the Gardner Family and here’s what they wrote to Kix 101.1:
We have a very special teacher at the BCLUW Middle school that goes over and beyond for every single one of her students she is amazing and she is also the special education teacher as well. She is one of the best out there – big heart and just all-around amazing person. Her name is Mrs.Steckelberg (Darci) she has had 2 of my four kids and they just love her so much and has help my kids more than she will ever know. I asked my daughter what she needs and she says “She always has snacks for us. And she’s always helping kids with folders and notebooks and pencils and pens and she uses post it notes too!!” I know she does a lot on the white boards so stuff for that. Anything that helps kids with reading and math. I hope she gets picked!!
Thanks,
The Gardner Family
Take a listen to our surprise interview with Mrs. Steckelberg below!
Nominate your Kix Country class by submitting a letter to us at backpack@kixweb.com.

Welcome to The List,
Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce are allegedly hitting a rough patch not over romance, but over the prenup. An insider claims the financial talks are “cold-hearted,” mostly because their bank accounts look like they’re from two different planets. Travis wants to play another season or two and eventually jump into broadcasting, and apparently Taylor’s not thrilled with that plan. The source says there is supposed to be a wedding this offseason… but right now the negotiations look less like love and more like Shark Tank.
-----
Willie Nelson is fed up with the internet declaring him dead every other week and he finally said something. He posted a photo of himself snoozing on a couch with the caption, “If you believe those A.I. death stories one more time.” For months, fake AI posts claimed he collapsed, was hospitalized, or worse. None of it true. Willie’s still here, still laughing, still alive… and more coherent than some of the people posting about him.
-----
Diddy allegedly thinks someone in his own family sold him out after 50 Cent got access to leaked footage for the Netflix documentary ‘The Reckoning’. The footage shows him distressed on a phone call and Diddy is reportedly determined to figure out who leaked it. He believes only family had access to something that sensitive. And after watching parts of the doc myself? Yeah… “eye-opening” is putting it lightly. This story gets messier by the hour.
-----
Luke Combs told ESPN he wants to headline the Super Bowl halftime show and watch his Carolina Panthers win that same game. Bold. Very bold. He said he grew up in Charlotte when the Panthers became a team, so it’s “in his blood.” Look, we love the confidence but asking for a halftime slot and a Panthers Super Bowl victory is what scientists call “a miracle.”
You can catch The List, weekday afternoons at 4:20 with Jonathan Knight. Only on Iowa’s BEST Country KIX 101.1