Monthly Archives: July 2017

MPS students complete high school in Summer Academy

July 31, 2017Stand Up for Public EdMPS, Region 14

MPS graduation

Milwaukee Public Schools: Milwaukee Public Schools has honored 167 students who completed graduation requirements during summer school and earned the right to wear a cap and gown. This year, MPS put a concentrated effort into summer high school, seeing it as a critical opportunity to ensure students have every chance to graduate and move on to college and career. A summer graduation ceremony recognizing their accomplishments was held July 28 at South Division High School.

This summer, MPS doubled the number of schools offering the summer high school program and included Madison, Obama, Pulaski, Riverside, South Division and Transition High Schools. Intensive outreach to students attracted those who could directly benefit from accelerated or recovery options. Offerings were increased and led to large enrollment and student success.

Students wore their school colors and accepted their diplomas from their own school principals at the large ceremony that was attended by family and friends.

MPS is proud to present these students with diplomas and send them on their personal journeys ready for college and career.

Manawa program helps students learn skills, prepare for careers

July 31, 2017Stand Up for Public EdManawa, Region 7

life after school

Waupaca County News: One committee got a first-hand look and later an in-depth explanation about a new program the Manawa School District hopes to launch.

At its Wednesday, July 26 meeting, the Buildings and Grounds Committee spent part of its time at 407 S. Bridge St.

“If I could have dreamt up the type of space that would work, this would be it,” said Danni Brauer, director of special education and curriculum for Manawa schools.

The district would like to start a Practical Assessment Exploration System (PAES). The downtown location would serve as the PAES lab, or hub for the program.

Brauer’s department has the goal to ensure that 100 percent of students leave with either a full-time, competitive paying job or a post-secondary education path.

The PAES lab would be for those students with individualized learning plans, meaning those with a variety of disabilities that affect learning.

“The kids I’m talking about are some of the hardest to employ,” Brauer said.

The downtown location would provide an atmosphere free of distractions like bells, so students who participate can focus on life after school.

“We have a very needy population of kids who need this training and we have some that just aren’t motivated,” Brauer said.

Webster High School at the Forefront of Trade Skills

July 24, 2017Stand Up for Public EdRegion 1, Webster

Webster

Burnett County Sentinel: While the rest of Webster was buckling in for the weekend on Friday, Webster Technical Education Teacher Roy Ward was anxiously awaiting the newest addition to the Webster High School shop, a Haas CNC Mini Mill.

Ward, the expert, describes the machine’s capabilities like this: “Using a piece of raw material or a casting, students will program the mill to perform one or several operations. There are 10 tool holders that can automatically change. One part might have an area that needs to be surface milled, a hole to drill, and a thread to tap. Another example might be a pocketing operation to remove material from an inside contour. To put it simply, it makes chips.”

The uncanny professionalism of Webster’s shop is due not only to an array of sophisticated machinery, it has also gained respect through Ward’s ambition to partner with the community and provide students with what they need to prepare for life after high school.

‘Land Lab’ Gives Deforest Students Real Life Agri-Business Experience

July 24, 2017Stand Up for Public EdDeForest, Region 12

DeForest

DeForest Times Tribune: The DeForest Area School District’s Land Lab is an integral part of both the high school’s agricultural science and Future Farmers of America (FFA) programs. On July 10, two students who participated in last year’s growing season presented to the Board of Education about their agri-business experience.

The Land Lab is a 68-acre plot east of Windsor Elementary School and lying between Gray and Windsor Roads. Each summer, students plan and then implement the planting, scouting, marketing and harvesting on the district’s test plot. Land Lab is designed to provide students with hands-on learning in agronomy, soil science and agriculture sustainability. According to Gwen Boettcher, agriculture teacher and FFA advisor, about 16 students were involved in the project during the 2016 growing season.

Participants Zach Mickelson and Reagan Schwoerer reported to the board that 15 acres of corn and 35 acres of soybeans were planted last May. They described how students met weekly throughout the summer to discuss marketing strategies. They also visited the fields to evaluate crop health and growth.

Mickelson and Schwoerer reported the soybean harvest brought an average yield of about 60 bushels an acre. The poor corn yield of about 993 bushels per acre was attributed to a mix-up when a nitrogen application was ordered, but not applied.

On the plus side, the 2016 crop generated a net income of $20,284. They presented a check to Board President Jan Berg for the district’s portion of the profits.

Washburn graduate starts recycling program for used fishing line

July 20, 2017Stand Up for Public EdRegion 1, Washburn

Washburn

Ashland Daily Press: There’s more to appreciate along the Washburn Walking Trail this summer than just birds, butterflies and beaches. For instance, Emma Meeker, a 2017 Washburn High School (WHS) graduate has created two Reel In and Recycle monofilament-recycling bins for used/unwanted fishing line.

“My goal is to make life easy for boaters on Lake Superior,” said Michelle Shrider, general manager of the Washburn Marina since 2007.

One way to make life easier has been helping to facilitate Meeker’s project.

Meeker began her project junior year in 2015 while attending the Conserve School fall semester.

“As part of a Stewardship class, we were asked to create a project that we wanted to bring back to our community to help the environment,” Meeker said.

Wisconsin’s History Teacher of the Year has Strayed from Using Textbooks

July 17, 2017Stand Up for Public EdHamilton, Region 15

Northwest Now: Rhonda Watton has progressively gone away from relying on textbooks to teach her social studies students at Templeton Middle School, relying most on primary accounts of history to teach, a method that has earned her the accolade of Wisconsin’s History Teacher of the Year.

Watton has been a teacher for 25 years, beginning in the Milwaukee Public Schools in 1992 and spending the past 20 years in the Hamilton School District.

Her love of history was sparked by college professors at Carthage College in Kenosha.

“They made history come alive for me; it really was interactive classes and they had different ways of presenting the material,” Watton said. “Some of it was through literature, some was through film and plenty of discussion.”

This teaching style struck Watton so much as a student that she made it her own as a teacher.

“The use of primary source documents in the classroom and not just teaching out of a history book, which is someone’s secondary source interpretation of what went on, is important,” Watton said.

La Crosse Employees Come Together to Benefit Students

July 17, 2017Stand Up for Public EdLa Crosse, Region 6

La Crosse

News8000.com: The shelves of a local food pantry are filling up thanks to the efforts of employees of a local business.

Tammy Huntington, an employee of McLoone Metal Graphics of La Crosse, decided to start a fundraiser to benefit local students during the summer. Through donations from fellow employees, the business was able to collect about $450 worth of food for the Hunger Task Force of La Crosse.

Huntington says her donation drive is an example of how easy it is to help those in need.

“It’s no fault of their own that they don’t have the food that they need to survive and I just think it’s sad with where we live and how easy it is to reach into your pocket and donate just a little bit,” said Huntington.

Milwaukee Public School District To Expand Free Driver’s Education Program

July 17, 2017Stand Up for Public EdMPS, Region 14

MPS drivers ed

Wisconsin Public Radio: The Milwaukee Public School District is expanding its free driver’s education program to 1,400 students this upcoming school year. All students age 15 ½ to 17 ½ are eligible to participate in the program.

Annie Kubes, coordinator of citywide programs with the district, said today’s students need a valid driver’s license in order to find jobs.

“Seventy-five percent of the job openings in Milwaukee County in 2012 were in the suburbs,” she said. “Most were beyond the bus line so they weren’t necessarily accessible so having a driver’s license is really key in terms of accessing employment.”

Chippewa Valley Awarded $1 Million to Support Youth Mental Health

July 10, 2017Stand Up for Public EdChippewa Falls, Region 4

WEAU.com: The Eau Claire City-County Health Department released the following news release.

After a year of planning, the Mental Health Matter’s project was awarded funding for the next five years by the Advancing a Healthier Wisconsin (AHW) Endowment at the Medical College of Wisconsin. The goal of the grant is to promote youth resilience and mental health in the Chippewa Valley. This funding is part of AHW’s initiative focused on improving community behavioral health. As part of its mission to improve health in Wisconsin, AHW supports community projects that lead to improvements in health at the local level.

Locally, eighteen organizations from Chippewa and Eau Claire counties came together over the last year to form the Mental Health Matters Coalition and complete the first phase of the initiative. They found that 28% of local middle and high school-age youth felt sad or hopeless almost every day for two or more weeks in a row in the last year. To change this, the coalition looked to strategies to build resilience, or the ability of youth to adapt to difficulties. All youth, including those who have a history with adverse childhood experiences, can be supported by factors that increase resilience.

Iola-Scandinavia Students Learn from Climbing

July 10, 2017Stand Up for Public EdIola-Scandinavia, Region 7

Climbing

Waupaca County News: A climbing wall at the Iola-Scandinavia Community Fitness & Aquatic Center has been turned into a learning experience for students of all ages.

“The last two years, we had introduced the climbing wall in physical education classes at all levels of the school district,” center director Tim Welch said.

It only seemed natural to add it to the summer school curriculum and Welch said it has been a big hit.

“Climbing is called a Challenge by Choice activity,” he said. “This means students make their own choices how far and high to climb. This way, climbing becomes an individual fun activity not based on fear, but based on what they can do physically and what they feel comfortable doing.”

Students agreed.

“It’s a lot of fun,” said Ahnna Check, 8. “I was a little scared at first, but I love it now.”

“It’s much harder than I thought, but I like the challenge,” third-grader Korz Loken said. “Everyone should give it a try. It’s something new and fun to do.”

“I finally made it to the top,” added Jayden Ridge, 7.