Brandon Lewis
January 30, 2026
Monday 2nd February 2026
What a great event we have with 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 November winner is the ELL Teacher at South Tama County Elementary, Mr. Matt Beatty. Matt was nominated by his girlfriend, Kirstyn Vest who is certainly proud of his accomplishments in the classroom. Here is the letter nominating Mr. Beatty:
Hey kix my name is Kirstyn and my funny caring goofy boyfriend Matt Beatty is the ELL teacher at south tama county elementary. He graduated from Upperiowa and moved two hours away from hometown to teach in this district. His passion for his job is endless any where we go in town and see students all of them are “Hey Mr Beatty” sometimes I feel like I’m with a hometown celebrity. It’s very hard for outside people to understand what all the job of teaching entails but I see it first hand between late-night projects and material preparation i honestly don’t know how some people do it. He does that and then some including coaching football and track through out the year. Every time we go to Walmart or target he always getting little organizal items for his classroom/students and recently got his own laminator so he didn’t have to spend late nights at the school laminating learning tools. He is one of few male teachers at the elementary so he is a great role model for many students because he connects with them on their level is very real with them. I think he would be a good pick for pack the backpack because his students learning and well being is always at the top of his list even if he has to use his own money to achieve that so this would just be the little extra help he needs to keep achieving all those goals with his students.
Below you can listen into my interview with Matt and watch his reaction here!
Nominate your Kix Country class by submitting a letter to us at backpack@kixweb.com.
AT THE MOVIES -
Join us Thursday during the Drive at Five for ‘At The Movies” brought to you by North Grand Cinema in Ames..
In Theaters this weekend: “Send Help”
Two colleagues become stranded on a deserted island, the only survivors of a plane crash. On the island, they must overcome past grievances and work together to survive, but ultimately, it's an unsettling, darkly humorous battle of wills and wits to make it out alive.
https://youtu.be/FXzz-LBbKp8?si=ygNobonneIjx9BUX
“Send Help” is rated: R
Stars: Rachel McAdams, Dylan O'Brien
AT THE MOVIES...Thursday’s at 5:40, brought to you by North Grand Cinema in Ames and IBC KIX 101.1….
Welcome to The List,
Hudson Westbrook is finding out real fast what it feels like when a song stops being yours and starts being everybody’s. He says every time he plays “House Again,” the crowd is already singing it back to him like it’s been around for 20 years. The song’s all about leaving something familiar, a place, a person, or that phase of life where you thought gas would never hit four bucks. Congrats, Hudson. You wrote a feelings song and now strangers are screaming it at you.
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The regret meter might be flashing red in Keith Urban land, at least according to the rumor mill. Sources are whispering that Nicole Kidman still loves him, misses him, and that her friends are basically standing guard yelling, “Do not text him after midnight.” Nostalgia is powerful, folks. It’s the same thing that convinces you bangs were a good idea in 2004.
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Bruce Willis’ wife Emma Heming is opening up about his dementia, sharing that Bruce doesn’t fully realize what’s happening and that she’s grateful he isn’t suffering with that awareness. It’s a heavy reminder that sometimes love looks like strength, patience, and showing up every single day even when life rewrites the script.
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Lainey Wilson is having herself a moment and then putting it on Netflix. Her new documentary, “Lainey Wilson: Keepin’ Country Cool,” hits this spring and follows her journey from tough breaks to big wins. And because Lainey never does just one thing at a time, she also teamed up with Wrangler for cowboy-inspired tracksuits, complete with studs and flared legs. Country music, but make it comfy.
You can catch The List, weekday afternoons at 4:20 with Jonathan Knight. Only on Iowa’s BEST Country KIX 101.1
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