including 13.7% of those under age 18 and 6.0% of those age 65 or over. Education The Vinton-Shellsburg Community School District operates public schools. The district was established on July 1, 1993, by the merger of the Vinton Community School District and the Shellsburg Community School District. Vinton is the home of the Iowa Braille and Sight Saving School, Iowa's state educational institution for vision-impaired students. Residing in the Braille School since 2008 is the North Central Region headquarters for AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps (NCCC). Media Portions of downtown Vinton, along with the Benton County courthouse, were featured in the 1996 John Travolta film Michael. Also seen during the movie's opening credits was Prairie Creek Church, a rural area Christian church located approximately six miles northeast of the city. Portions of downtown Vinton were used in the movie "The Final Season". Notable people Desi Druschel, baseball coach, graduated from Vinton's high school and began his coaching career in Vinton. James Lorraine Geddes (1827–1887) A native of Scotland he moved to Vinton before the American Civil War where he joined as a private but rose in rank to brigadier general and later became Superintendent of the Iowa Institution for the Education of the Blind from 1867 to 1869. Mary E. Holland (1868–1915) A detective and fingerprint expert; he was born in Vinton. Mary Ingalls (1865–1928) was a student at the Iowa College for the Blind (now the Iowa Braille and Sight Saving School) in the early 1880s. The town is often mentioned in connection with the writings of her sister Laura Ingalls Wilder, author of Little House on the Prairie. Seaman A. Knapp (1833–1911), whose farming experiments led to the formation of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Cooperative Extension System, claimed Vinton, Iowa, as his hometown and named Vinton, Louisiana, after it. Bing Miller (1894-1966) was a professional baseball player and coach for the Philadelphia Athletics; his walk-off hit won the final game of the 1929 World Series against the Chicago Cubs. He was born in Vinton. Sally Pederson (1951- ), who was the 45th lieutenant governor of Iowa, graduated from Washington High School in Vinton. Cato Sells (1859–1948) The Commissioner at the Bureau of Indian Affairs from 1913 to 1921 was born in Vinton. Buren R. Sherman (1836–1904) who would later become the 12th governor of Iowa, was a resident of Vinton from 1863 to 1866, during which he