🏅 Des Moines Kids Just Won a National Championship — and Almost Nobody Knows

Seven athletes from Chow's Gymnastics & Dance Institute returned home as national champions after winning both Level 9 and Level 7 team titles at the 2026 USA Gymnastics Western Nationals in Texas. The team earned 35 total medals, including three all-around golds and 10 event golds. 🥇

🌸 Got Extra Garden Plants? Des Moines Wants Them.

The City of Des Moines Greenhouse is collecting donated plants May 16–17 for local parks, schools, nonprofits, and community gardens. Residents can donate perennials, bulbs, shrubs, grasses, and more at the greenhouse on SE Maury Street. 🌸

🏠 Oakridge Neighborhood Is Building 33 New Affordable Family Apartments in Des Moines

Oakridge Neighborhood is developing a new $15 million affordable housing project called Cynergy in Des Moines. The development will include 33 family apartments plus on-site workforce training and wellness services for residents.

🎭 Des Moines Metro Opera's 2026 Season Is Almost Here — and It's Going to Be Spectacular

Des Moines Metro Opera announced its 2026 festival season featuring Tosca, King Roger, and Of Mice and Men. Early ticket sales are already breaking records as performances begin selling out. 🎶

🗓️ The End-of-Year Push Plan: With school wrapping up in weeks, now is the time to map out every remaining test, project, and due date on one calendar. Seeing it all in one place removes the anxiety of the unknown and helps students prioritize what needs attention first.

💤 Sleep Before a Test Beats Cramming Every Time: A well-rested brain outperforms a sleep-deprived one on test day — every single time. If your student has a big exam this week, enforce a hard lights-out time two nights before. The last-minute review session isn't worth the brain fog.

🎯 Reward the Process, Not Just the Grade: When your student puts in genuine effort — studying for three nights, asking for help, redoing a problem they got wrong — celebrate that. Kids who are praised for effort develop resilience. Kids praised only for grades develop anxiety.

📝 The Brain Dump Technique: Before starting a study session, have your student spend two minutes writing down everything on their mind — worries, to-dos, random thoughts. Getting it out of their head and onto paper clears mental space and dramatically improves focus for the session ahead.

Need more than homework help? Camp Homework is here to support confidence, focus, and stronger learning habits every step of the way.

School's almost out — and summer slide is real. Kids can lose months of progress over the break without even realizing it.

Camp Homework is offering a free course at PreventSummerSlide.com to help your family get ahead of it before summer even starts.

And if your kid needs a little more support, Camp Homework connects K–12 students with real human tutors (not AI) starting at $150/month — affordable, flexible, and actually effective.

Jared has been working the door in Des Moines for twenty-six years. He arrived from San Diego at twenty years old, already a year into the trade, and somewhere between the late nights, the four-year crowd cycles, and bar time running fifteen minutes ahead of the clock, this city became his.

He is forty-four now, still working the door at American Outlaws on Court Avenue, and he carries the kind of knowledge that only comes from outlasting almost everyone else in a room.

He knows how to read a face better than a scanner can. He knows which time of year the crowds shift indoors and which nights start slow and end in the two-hour power. He knows what it sounds like — and he can describe it precisely — when a person falls twenty-eight feet onto concrete.

That’s the night he won’t let go of.

A young man. A railing. A door cracked open just enough that Jared saw everything.

He became the first responder. He gave the triage. He was told the man didn’t make it.

He carried that for years — until one phone call changed everything.

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There’s a music school tucked behind a castle-shaped daycare off 8th Street in West Des Moines, and if you haven’t heard about it yet, you’re about to. All Ages Music School opened last August — and in less than a year, it’s already serving students from age 3 to 76, drawing families from all over the metro, and doing something most music schools around here simply don’t do: offering nearly everything under one roof, taught by people who are genuinely extraordinary at what they do.

The woman behind it, Shanda Fordyce, didn’t take the obvious path to get here. She was on track to become a band director — until a single moment on a podium changed everything. What she saw in that band room sent her in a completely different direction, and honestly, the Des Moines area is better for it.

We sat down with Shanda to hear the whole story, and there’s a part of it — involving a kindergartner, a set of baby teeth, and a very important lesson — that you won’t see coming.

The school has also quietly become something of a sanctuary for students that other programs haven’t always known how to reach. One student in particular stopped us in our tracks. She’s five years old, barely speaks, and she’s already doing something that most trained musicians can’t do. We’re not going to spoil it here — but it’s in the article, and it’s worth the click.

Oh, and before you go — there are two reader-exclusive deals available only through this article, and one of them expires May 26. If you’ve ever thought about signing your kid (or yourself) up for music lessons, now is genuinely the best time.

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Two absolute rock legends on one stage at one of the most beautiful outdoor venues in the Midwest. Styx and Cheap Trick together at the Amphitheater on a warm May evening — this is the kind of show you remember for years. Water Works Park at sunset with classic rock filling the air? There's honestly no better Thursday night in Des Moines. Tickets are moving fast.

Two shows, one night, all laughs. The Temple Theater's comedy series is one of the city's best-kept secrets for a fun weeknight out. Intimate venue, great energy, and a perfect way to kick off the back half of the week. Grab the 6 PM show for an early night or the 8:30 PM for a proper late evening out.

306 vendors, 43 brand new this season, representing farms and makers from across 42 Iowa counties — with an estimated 28,000 neighbors showing up every single Saturday. Fresh produce, live music, hot breakfast, handmade goods, and the best Saturday morning energy in the city. The Farmers' Market is the heartbeat of Des Moines on a Saturday — make it yours this week.

We want to hear from you! Des Moines Digest exists to help locals find the best things to do, see, and explore across the metro — but we can only make it better with your input. Tell us what sections you love, what you skip, and what you wish we covered more. Whether it's a hidden gem, an event type, or just a quick "keep doing this" — we're all ears. Your feedback shapes every issue, so hit reply or click below and let us know. This digest is for you, Des Moines! 💬
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Thanks for starting the week with us, Des Moines. See you Thursday! 🌱

— Alex | Des Moines Digest 📘
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