Once a Mustang, Always a Mustang: McCallsburg Grads Who Made Their Mark on the World

There's something about growing up in a small Iowa town that either pulls you back eventually or sends you out into the world with a quiet, steady kind of confidence that's hard to manufacture anywhere else. For a lot of McCallsburg graduates, it's both.

Over the years, this little community has produced more than its share of people who've gone on to do impressive things — educators, entrepreneurs, public servants, artists, and more. We tracked down a handful of them to get the full picture: where they started, where they ended up, and what McCallsburg still means to them today.

The Teacher Who Became a Superintendent

Ask anyone who graduated from McCallsburg in the late 1990s about Karen Brandt, and you'll get the same response: "Oh, Karen was going places."

She was student council president, a standout on the volleyball team, and the kind of person who seemed to genuinely care about everyone around her. After graduating, Karen went on to earn her education degree from the University of Northern Iowa, followed by a master's in educational leadership from Iowa State.

Today, she serves as superintendent of a mid-sized school district in eastern Iowa, overseeing thousands of students and hundreds of staff. It's a long way from the small classroom where she first discovered her love of learning.

"McCallsburg taught me that every kid matters," Karen told us during a phone call from her office. "When you grow up in a school where the teachers know your name, your parents' names, and your grandparents' names — that shapes how you think about education. I've carried that with me into every job I've ever had."

Her advice for current McCallsburg students? "Don't be in a hurry to leave. Pay attention to the people around you. A lot of your best lessons won't happen in a classroom."

The Entrepreneur Who Built a Business from Scratch

Derrick Olson graduated from McCallsburg in 2003 without a clear plan. He took some classes at a community college, worked construction for a couple of years, and then — almost on a whim — started a landscaping company with a used truck and a borrowed trailer.

That company, Olson Outdoor Solutions, now employs over sixty people and serves commercial clients across central Iowa. Derrick credits a good chunk of his work ethic to growing up in McCallsburg.

"You don't grow up on a farm or around farming without learning what hard work actually looks like," he said. "I watched my dad put in sixteen-hour days during harvest. That kind of thing gets into your bones."

Derrick still comes back to McCallsburg every summer for the community picnic and makes a point of stopping by the school when he does. He's spoken to students a few times about entrepreneurship and has quietly sponsored a couple of local youth sports teams over the years.

"I don't do it for the credit," he said. "I do it because somebody did it for me when I was a kid, and I never forgot that."

The Artist Who Found Her Voice Far From Home

Not every McCallsburg success story fits neatly into a business or education box. Some of them are a little harder to define — and all the more interesting for it.

Maggie Torgerson grew up on the outskirts of McCallsburg and spent most of her childhood drawing in notebooks and painting on whatever surfaces her parents would allow. She studied fine arts at Drake University and spent several years bouncing between Chicago and Minneapolis before landing in Nashville, where she now works as a muralist and illustrator.

Her work has appeared in restaurants, hotels, and galleries, and she's built a following on social media that stretches well beyond the Midwest. But her style — rooted in wide open spaces, rural textures, and a certain quiet kind of beauty — is unmistakably shaped by where she grew up.

"I paint what I know," Maggie said. "And what I know is Iowa. The sky, the fields, the way light hits a grain bin in the late afternoon. People in cities respond to that because they've never seen it up close. It feels like something real to them."

Maggie hasn't ruled out moving back someday. "I joke that I'll retire to McCallsburg," she said. "But honestly, it's not really a joke."

The Public Servant Keeping Iowa Honest

James Rutherford doesn't seek out the spotlight, which is probably one of the reasons he's been so effective in his work. A 1995 McCallsburg graduate, James went on to study political science at the University of Iowa before spending the better part of three decades working in state government — most recently in an auditing role that helps ensure accountability in how public funds are spent.

It's not glamorous work. It's not the kind of thing that gets you on a magazine cover. But James will tell you without hesitation that it matters.

"Somebody has to be the person who makes sure the numbers add up," he said. "I'm okay with that being me."

He credits his McCallsburg upbringing with giving him a deep sense of community responsibility — the idea that you owe something to the place and people that raised you, and that showing up and doing the unglamorous work is its own kind of honor.

"Small towns run on people who show up," James said. "That's just as true in state government as it is on a volunteer fire department."

What Ties Them All Together

For all the different paths these McCallsburg graduates have taken, a few themes keep coming up in conversation: a strong sense of work ethic, a genuine connection to community, and a gratitude for the kind of upbringing that small-town Iowa tends to produce.

None of them are particularly flashy about their success. None of them have forgotten where they started. And all of them, in their own way, are still giving something back — whether through direct involvement in McCallsburg, through the values they carry into their work, or through the example they set for the next generation.

If you're a current student at McCallsburg and you're wondering whether this small town can launch you somewhere meaningful — the answer, based on the evidence, is a pretty resounding yes.

The hallways you're walking right now have been walked by people who've gone on to run school districts, build companies, fill galleries, and hold public office. You're in good company. Make the most of it.