Tag Archives: Manitowoc

Manitowoc schools honored for music

Herald Times Reporter: Manitowoc Public School District has been honored with the Best Communities for Music Education designation from The NAMM Foundation for its outstanding commitment to music education. The Manitowoc Public School District is one of 4 percent of districts across the nation receiving the prestigious award in 2017.

The Best Communities Music Education designation is awarded to districts that demonstrate outstanding achievement in efforts to provide music access and education to all students.

To qualify for the Best Communities designation, the Manitowoc Public School District answered detailed questions about funding, graduation requirements, music class participation, instruction time, facilities, support for the music curriculum and community music-making programs.

Responses were verified with school officials and reviewed by The Music Research Institute at the University of Kansas.

This award recognizes that the Manitowoc Public School District is leading the way with music learning opportunities as outlined in the new federal education legislation, the Every Student Succeeds Act. The legislation, signed into law in December 2015 and awaiting state implementation, designates music and the arts as important elements of well-rounded education for all children.

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Outdoor classroom brings new lessons in Manitowoc

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Manitowoc Herald Times Reporter: Learning math and science don’t have to be done behind a desk in a classroom with four walls.

Rather, little ones can complete their lessons in science through collecting leaves, and math skills through building a “stick” house.

That’s the idea behind a new outdoor classroom started this school year at Riverview Kindergarten and Early Learning Center in the Manitowoc School District.

The Learning Adventure Land sits behind the school and includes large tree pieces for climbing, a building area, an outdoor “kitchen,” a mud area, sorting tables, a dry riverbed, and barrels for water play. Organizers planted 16 trees around the area to eventually give it a woodsy feel, and a future prairie patch behind the classroom was seeded.

The area is available to preschoolers, kindergartners and elementary school-aged students throughout Manitowoc, as well as other community members.

The district purchased an outdoor classroom curriculum so teachers could host classes from math to art to music and reading in the outdoors if they wanted to, said early childhood coordinator Lori Brandt. A donor also provided a shed that holds tools and other items, such as magnifying glasses, boots and “mud buddy” suits to keep little ones clean in sloppy conditions.

Most teachers spend about an hour in the outdoor space with children, and the area is used just about every day that weather allows.

“The Manitowoc district has a strong belief in environmental education,” said Kelly Vorron, the Manitowoc district forest coordinator. “Teachers understand how nature can be great in education. It gets kids active and interested in something outside. There’s really a big push for it in early childhood learning.”

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Youth apprenticeship sparks love of farming

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Manitowoc Herald Times Reporter:

At an hour most high school students are sound asleep, Joe Powalisz is in a barn milking cows.

No, he doesn’t work on his family’s farm. Rather, he’ll be out milking cows at 3 a.m. several days a week as part of the Manitowoc County Youth Agriculture Apprenticeship program.

Powalisz is completing his second year of the program at Meadowbrook Dairy farm near Francis Creek. His apprenticeship has led to a love of farming, and the Manitowoc Lincoln High School senior has been accepted into the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Farm and Industry short course for next school year.

This school year, Lincoln High School has 47 students part of Youth Apprenticeship, according to coordinator Bonnie Proszenyak.

Youth Apprenticeship is a rigorous one- or two-year program that combines academic and technical classroom teaching with mentored on-the-job learning for high school students. Educators say the program opens doors for students by giving them a chance to “try out” a career while working in an adult working environment and receiving on-the-job training.

Powalisz loves his job at Meadowbrook Dairy and says he never would have found it without the Youth Apprenticeship program.

“They are the ones with the connections,” he said. “It changed my idea of high school, it helped me find a career I’m excited about.”

Powalisz lives in the city of Manitowoc, and his father works as a supervisor for a public utility and his mother at a deli.

He had no real connection to farming or working outdoors until a family friend with a small hobby farm asked the teen a few years ago if he’d like to help out.

Powalisz, now 18, said he liked the work, and decided to work with the apprenticeship program to see if he could find another farm to work for. He tried out another farm in Valders before settling in to Meadowbrook in 2015.

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Manitowoc students run bank branch for youth apprenticeship

NBC26.com: Manitowoc School District and UnitedOne Credit Union are partnering to help educate students on money management. Lincoln High School students running a branch in the high school for students to learn about deposits, loans, and credit. It’s part of the district Youth Apprenticeship program that pairs students with real-life work experiences to explore careers. The Lincoln UnitedOne branch has been in operation since 2009, “There’s a lot of really important financial decision that high schoolers have to make. Do they know what a credit card is and how to respect? What do students loan actually look like,” said Brad Bartels with UnitedOne.

Through the program students are able to help their peers with most transactions. The students learning from each other about good and bad practices, “When someone comes in with an issues with their money, it’s nice to be able to help them,” said Lance Kettner, a Junior apprentice.

Since the program began 43 students have worked with UnitedOne, 13 still work for the Credit Union.

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