Tag Archives: Region 11

Mukwonago weather balloon project a splashing success

Stand Up for Public Ed,

Lake Country Now: Eagleville Elementary’s Nucleus Science Club launched a weather balloon of their own creation on June 2, in front of the Eagleville student body, parents and Mukwonago Area School District Superintendent Shawn McNulty.

Dan and Christine Pawlak, Eagleville parents and founders of the after school science activity club, worked with Eagleville students for months on preparing and planning this project. On that clear, sunny morning, the weather balloon rose quickly into the sky carrying several types of cameras and computer tracking cargo.

The balloon traveled at incredible speed, crossing over 75 miles of southeastern Wisconsin while reaching an astounding height of almost 100,000 feet, according to Eagleville teacher Cathy Selzer-Benavides. Eventually, the balloon burst and the device landed safely in Lake Michigan where it was retrieved by the Milwaukee Police Harbor Patrol.

“Eagleville’s Nucleus high altitude balloon project was an amazing success,” said the Pawlaks in a letter to Eagleville families. “We captured the entire flight on high definition video and portions of the flight on a student customized infrared camera. We also collected thousands of scientifically relevant bits of atmospheric data over the course of the flight that are sure to prove valuable for future educational projects at Eagleville.”

Dan and Christine Pawlak were able to present video footage from the weather balloon’s cameras to Eagleville’s students and families, as well as sharing with students attending Eagleville’s E3 summer school session.

“The video and data it brought back with is nothing short of breathtaking,” said Selzer-Benavides in an email.

Waukesha STEM Academy encourages engineering careers for girls

Stand Up for Public Ed,

Waukesha Now: The Saratoga STEM Academy overflowed with girl power.

During the STEM for Girls/ STEM para chicas event earlier this month, the emphasis was getting girls interested in engineering careers by participating in a variety of activities presented by women in the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics careers.

The event, now in its sixth year, hosted around 100 fourth to eighth-grade girls in the Waukesha School District, including many from the Waukesha STEM Academy.

This year the STEM for Girls event hosted more than 25 presenters and many local businesses and STEM companies, including Kohl’s, the Wisconsin Humane Society, GE Healthcare and Rockwell Automation, among others.

“The event not only looks to bring in women who are role models, but to show girls that it can be fun and interactive,” said Genny Lambert, the event coordinator. “We want to broaden their horizons.”

Read more.

Mukwonago High School students win WCTC auto repair contest

Stand Up for Public Ed,

Lake Country Now: For the fourth time in recent history at Mukwonago High School, the school’s two-person team won the Waukesha County Technical College (WCTC) Automotive Repair Competition for high school students on April 13.

This year’s contest had a record number of contestants from both Waukesha and Milwaukee County high schools. Students competed as two person teams, being scored on a written test along with hands-on repair of vehicles at seven different stations.

The MHS team, made up of J.D. Murphy and Dawson Greenwald walked away with the championship, placing first out of 17 high school teams. Both students each received a Snap-on toolbox, valued at $780, for their efforts.

Read more.

School District of New Berlin Named Recipient of 2015 Governor’s Financial Literacy Award

Stand Up for Public Ed,

New Berlin Now: The School District of New Berlin (SDNB) has received the 2015 Governor’s Financial Literacy Award for its efforts in promoting financial literacy for its students.  Nominated by State Representative Joe Sanfelippo, the District was one of 15 individuals, businesses and organizations honored during an awards ceremony hosted by the Governor and his Council on Financial Literacy at the State Capitol on February 10, 2016.

An important component within the District’s College and Career Readiness program, SDNB’s  Financial Literacy Initiative provides opportunities that span from 5th through 12th grade.

“We believe exposing our students to financial literacy through a comprehensive initiative such as the one we developed with our partners, Junior Achievement of Wisconsin and Layton State Bank, is more effective in establishing a strong financial foundation than limiting that learning to a single course offering,” said Kelli Kwiatkowski, Director of Curriculum.  “Between the resources our partners bring to the table, and the coursework expertly taught by our educators, we have developed a very robust program for our students.”

Read more.

new program at Arrowhead High School is bridging the skilled trades gap

Stand Up for Public Ed,

Fox6Now.com: A state-of-the-art engineering and manufacturing facility has opened in Hartland. The new 10,000-square-foot addition to Arrowhead High School is impacting both students and the community.

It’s far from your typical shop class.

“Our curtains came down and the students started walking down the hallway and it was shock and awe, wow what’s going on down here,” said Arrowhead High School Engineering and Manufacturing Instructor Anthony Christian.

This year, students at Arrowhead High School were welcomed into the new Design Engineering Manufacturing Center.

The addition was made after area manufacturing companies approached the school about concerns over the skilled trades gap.

Read more.

Franklin High School’s InRoads program aims to prepare students for careers

Stand Up for Public Ed,

Franklin Now: Franklin High School’s InRoads program was first announced in 2013 — the college and career readiness curriculum somewhat coincided with the high school’s $33 million reconstruction project.

Initially estimated to include 30 students in the program’s first cohort, more than 160 students are enrolled in InRoads.

“I feel like there’s a couple things happening in education right now — really big picture, you see this push back against standardization, not that [standardization] doesn’t have its place, but was it too much?” asked Brooke DeLassus, the InRoads coordinator at Franklin.

“There’s a lot of talk [of] engaging kids and better preparing them for the world we’re actually living in.”

The InRoads program consists of three strands — biomedical, engineering and global business.

Read more.

Kettle Moraine schools featured in national Future Ready videos

Stand Up for Public Ed,

Lake Country Now: The Kettle Moraine School District (KMSD) is one of eight Future Ready school districts in the country featured in a set of professional learning resources recently released by the U.S. Department of Education. The resources are designed to expand the capacity of district superintendents and their leadership teams to effectively lead the transition to digital learning.

Over the course of 18 months, the Department’s Office of Educational Technology (OET) rigorously evaluated school districts against 27 key policies and practices characteristic of strong Future Ready leadership. As a result of that screening process, OET selected Kettle Moraine as an exemplary Future Ready district.

“When I learned of the Future Ready initiative and examined the commitments contained in the Future Ready pledge, I was delighted to see a very tight alignment between what Kettle Moraine is doing and the focus of the U.S. Department of Education,” said KMSD Superintendent Dr. Patricia Deklotz. “It’s an extreme honor to be able to share the good work of our district with educators across the nation in an effort to better meet the needs of all students and prepare them for their future.”

Read more.

Kettle Moraine High School students learn from experiences in community

Stand Up for Public Ed,

Thirteen High School of Health Science seniors are working with the fire and rescue staff from Lake Country Fire and Rescue on the first level of emergency medical technician training. Students have learned how to take vitals, transport injured people and clear airways. Senior Becca Grubb enjoys how hands-on it is, and the application it has to real life and her work as a CNA at Aurora Medical Center Summit. Once the course is completed, seniors will be able to take the State of Wisconsin EMT test that will allow them to work as a professional in the field.

Is there anything better than learning about research from a primary investigator who works at the Medical College of Wisconsin? Jess Olsen and Tim Sobotka, the college’s educational outreach liaison, created a Research and Design Course that allows KM’s High School of Health Science students to work in a true research environment.

Read more.