Tag Archives: Wauwatosa

A Wauwatosa elementary school receives Recycling Excellence Award for composting efforts

Tosa compost

Journal Sentinel: Sometimes trash talking is a good thing, and at one Wauwatosa school they not only talk the talk, they follow that up with award-winning action.

Wauwatosa’s McKinley Elementary received the 2017 Recycling Excellence Award for Projects and Initiatives from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources for their work the past two years creating a recycling and composting program.

“The Recycling Excellence Award program is designed to encourage and reward communities and programs for outstanding efforts, innovation, and performance in recycling, while providing examples of how to increase the effectiveness of local recycling programs,” wrote Joseph Van Rossum, the director of the Bureau of Waste and Materials Management with the Department of Natural Resources. “It’s an honor to recognize these programs for their waste diversion achievements.”

Even though the school’s recycling program is innovative and unique, teacher Elizabeth Daily said the kids regard it as “business as usual.”

Read the complete article on McKinley Elementary School’s award.

Wauwatosa teacher to speak at international conference on music software

Wauwatosa teacher

Journal Sentinel: Wauwatosa East High School orchestra teacher Mike Hayden is heading to Germany in November to speak on integrating modern music technology in the classroom, a passion he’s developed in his 11 years of teaching.

Hayden will speak at the Ableton Loop Festival to attendees who are either teaching music production formally, in an after-school program or looking to start a music program.

Although he’s a regular presenter at state music education conferences, this is the first time he will travel to speak internationally.

Hayden has been using the Ableton Live software throughout his teaching career, which has included teaching a variety of music courses, including orchestra ensemble, a rock band class and digital music.

Although another teacher is in charge of the digital music classes at Wauwatosa East, Hayden helped create some of the curriculum for that class, and he still finds ways to integrate the software into his orchestra classes.

“I’m still able to do a lot more composition and improvisation activities in orchestra,” Hayden said. “We record and listen, we’ll use trap beats sometimes instead of our traditional metronome … I show kids that it’s OK to have fun and incorporate the stuff you like to listen to with what you play.”

Read the complete article.

Wauwatosa East Orchestra Teacher Honored with Award for Creativity and Innovation

mikehaydenpic
Michael Hayden

Wauwatosa School District: Wauwatosa East Orchestra Teacher Michael Hayden has been awarded the Melvin F. Pontious Creative Sparks in Music Education Award from the Wisconsin Music Educators Association (WMEA).

Hayden, who is in his first year at Tosa East, was honored at the WMEA state conference in Madison on Thursday, Oct. 27, 2016.

The award recognizes “imaginative, creative, and innovative teaching practices in a music education setting”. Hayden was nominated in 2015 by another music teacher in the state for his efforts in the area of music technology and popular music education, specifically the development of a commercial music program at his previous high school.

“This program grew from an idea of mine to two different courses in music industry, two in rock music, and establishing the school music technology lab,” explained Hayden. “East and West High School have also started offering digital music courses (new this year) and are great examples of ways that schools, district, and communities are supportive in finding ways to encourage all students to be creative and help them make music.”

Read more.

Former Wauwatosa East Student Honored at the White House

CBS58.com: Former Wauwatosa East student Juliette Price along with 11 other individuals from around the country was honored at the White House this past week. They were recognized as “Champions of Change for College Opportunity” for their work in education and commitment to community.

Former Wauwatosa East student Juliette Price along with 11 other individuals from around the country was honored at the White House this past week. They were recognized as “Champions of Change for College Opportunity” for their work in education and commitment to community.

Price attended Wauwatosa East from 2002-2004 where she was involved in debate club, golf team, and student newspaper. Her brother, Thomas Price graduated Wauwatosa East in 2004.

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Wauwatosa school libraries gear up for fall introduction of ‘makerspaces’

Wauwatosa Now: About 15 sixth-grade students in Longfellow Middle School library gathered around blob-shaped tables and sat on bright blue and green chairs during their lunch period Tuesday, May 24.

The library, which was renovated before the beginning of the current school year to include extra space, new furniture and deep blue shelves stocking hundreds of books, is about to get another new addition come this fall, said librarian Tracy Eccles.

Thanks to a $17,200 grant from the Education Foundation of Wauwatosa, every school library in the Wauwatosa School District will be equipped with a “makerspace” for the 2016-17 school year. The innovative spaces give students access to materials and supplies that foster creativity, Eccles said. Through the spaces, students can inquire, create, collaborate, tinker, mentor, experiment, invent and solve problems.

Makerspaces are popping up around the country, said Eccles, and devoting areas of libraries to the cause is part of a greater push across the education system for group work and project-based learning.

“It gives them opportunities outside of the traditional classroom,” Eccles said of makerspaces. “It’s free and available to every child.”

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McKinley Elementary is first Wauwatosa school to compost lunch waste

Students, parents and teachers at McKinley Elementary started a composting initiative for leftover lunch waste when school began this year — partnering with local composting service Compost Crusaders, McKinley’s Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) and teachers introduced composting bins and compostable bags to the cafeteria.

Beginning on Sept. 8, students were able to dispose of lunch waste in three bins in the cafeteria: composting, recycling and landfill waste. Within four days of composting, the school had diverted 78.8 percent of its lunch food waste through composting and recycling.

“The impact is greater than just composting,” McKinley Art Teacher Jenny Leigh said. “Teaching the youngest of people the ways to help their planet, it ripples out into our water, our air quality, soil quality, food quality. It’s a much bigger effect.”

Read more.