Tag Archives: Region 15

Oconomowoc school farm grows pollinator habitat, awareness

photo of student working in field

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Oconomowoc High School students are part of a national effort to establish a pollinator habitat.

“This is the real deal,” said Marge Waite, who has taught agricultural and plant science courses in Oconomowoc since the 1980s. “It’s a timely project that people are interested in.”

Thanks to grants from the Sand County Foundation, the Monarch Joint Venture and additional support in Wisconsin from the We Energies Foundation, Oconomowoc was one of 16 Wisconsin and Minnesota school districts that helped grow native prairie plants that sustain endangered insect pollinators and monarch caterpillars, according to a news release from the Sand County Foundation.

Insect pollinators and monarch butterflies are essential for crop pollination and ecological diversity. They are at risk partly due to loss of farmland habitat. The pilot project encourages schools with greenhouses to grow vegetation such as red milkweed, compass plants, rattlesnake master and purple coneflower, and transplant them in rural areas. Oconomowoc High School fit the bill with a commercial greenhouse and a 74-acre school farm.

Read the complete article.

Menomonee Falls Schools Named Top Workplace

image of Menomonee Falls teachers

Menomonee Falls Patch: The School District of Menomonee Falls is proud to announce that it has been named on the Journal Sentinel’s Top Workplace list for the fourth time in four years.

“This award represents the care and commitment of our staff,” said Superintendent Dr. Pat Greco. “Their dedication to each student, support for families, and commitment to our community are the difference makers. It is a genuine passion that our teams have for making a difference and supporting one another along the way. Falls Schools and the Menomonee Falls community has something really special.”

This year SDMF came in at number 20 in the “Large Employer” category of 500+ employees. The designation of Top Workplace is awarded to companies that participate in a workplace dynamics survey on work atmosphere, support and opportunities in the workplace. Staff does not know the survey is for Top Workplace as the district regularly surveys its staff around workplace environment already.

“This is among the accolades I am most proud of in our district,” says Director of Curriculum and Learning Corey Golla. “In every category we have exceptional people working collectively with the greatest of attitudes for the common goal of changing outcomes for kids. It is a great place to work and to have that shouted across the rooftops of Greater Milwaukee is another reason to be proud of our work.” Mr. Golla will take over as superintendent of the district on July 1, when Dr. Greco retires.

Read the complete article on the Menomonee Falls School District’s recognition.

Whitefish Bay Students Win CNN Documentary Contest

Patch.com: C-SPAN announced today that students from Whitefish Bay High School in Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin, are winners in C-SPAN’s national 2018 StudentCam competition.

Will Foote and James Dyer are first-prize winners and will receive $3,000 for their documentary, “WI Votes Count?,” about gerrymandering and the 14th Amendment Equal Protection Clause. This documentary will air on C-SPAN at 6:50 a.m. ET and throughout the day on April 20.

Patricia Mathu, Emma Mitchell and Jong Jung are third-prize winners and will receive $750 for their documentary, “Neither Snow Nor Rain,” about the Postal Clause.

Each year since 2006, C-SPAN partners with its local cable television providers in communities nationwide to invite middle school students (grades 6-8) and high school students (grades 9-12) to produce short documentaries about a subject of national importance. This year students addressed the theme, “The Constitution & You: Choose a provision of the U.S. Constitution and create a video illustrating why it’s important to you.”

Read the complete article on the Whitefish Bay students’ award-winning documentary.

Homestead High School’s Robotics team among best in the world

photo of Homestead High School robotics team

TMJ4.com: Homestead High School’s robotics team ranks among the best in the world.

In February, they were even ranked number one overall for a week. They’ve since dropped to a measly 8th out of 6,000 teams but have their eyes on the top spot with two more competitions coming up.

An impressive feat by kids who mostly can’t drive yet but drive robots with the best of them.

“It’s a lot of fun,” Kaitlyn Donley, a junior on the Kraken Pinion Robotics team said. “I love competing with other teams. It gives me real-world experience and prepares me for what I want to be when I grow up which is an engineer.”

Read the complete article on Homestead High School’s Robotics team.

Menomonee Falls School District gets moment in national spotlight on cover of Education Week

Menomonee Falls image

Journal Sentinel: The Menomonee Falls School District’s success in “continuous improvement” has made it the subject of a cover story in a national education magazine.

Education Week published a story on the district’s schools and how the district’s work in continuous improvement is helping it to be successful.

“This is just one more way our district has been recognized nationally and internationally for the work our staff and students do each and every day,” said Superintendent Pat Greco. “We started our continuous improvement journey nearly a decade ago, and in that time we’ve moved from a district in need of improvement to a district that leads in cutting-edge continuous improvement.”

Education Week’s story focuses on the district’s work from the superintendent down to 4K classrooms, and how those efforts have helped the district succeed despite the challenges facing it and other districts. Those include a highly competitive workforce, budget reductions and fluctuating enrollment.

“The work done in this district at all levels impact student success,” said Corey Golla, district director of curriculum and learning. “Their deep commitment to being better every day shows in this piece from Education Week. We hope our district can be a beacon for other schools looking to make the same incredible improvement.”

Read the complete article on Menomonee Falls.

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.

Oconomowoc High School music teacher Michael Krofta honored as 2017 band master of the year

Krofta

Journal Sentinel: Michael Krofta, a 26-year teacher at Oconomowoc High School, received one of the highest honors in music education for the state of Wisconsin recently.

Krofta, the conductor of the school’s wind symphony, concert band, Jazz Ensemble I and jazz combo, pep band and marching band, and who also teaches lessons at the school, earned the 2017 Wisconsin Phi Beta Mu Band Master of the Year Award, according to a Facebook post from the Oconomowoc Area School District’s Band Aids group.

“I am very humbled that my fellow band directors from the state of Wisconsin, who are all master educators, have selected me as the Phi Beta Mu, 2017 – Wisconsin State Bandmaster of the Year recipient,” Krofta said in an email to Lake Country Now. “I was inducted into Phi Beta Mu in 2003, and I believe this honor is a reflection of the tradition of excellence the Oconomowoc Area School District band program has had for many years. I have had the wonderful opportunity to have taught at Oconomowoc High School for going on 27 years! The students, parents, staff, administrators and community really make this an amazing place to work!! This is an awesome community!!”

The Phi Beta Mu organization is a national bandmasters fraternity that honors outstanding band directors for their paramount dedication and devotion. According to Krofta, the first official meeting was held at the Rice Hotel in Houston, Texas in February 1939. Almost every state has an active Phi Beta Mu chapter, and each year, every state chapter elects its “Bandmaster of the Year.”

Number of New Berlin Grads Leaving High School with Industry Credentials Continues to Rise

New Berlin

Waukesha Patch: Forty-four students, or 12 percent of the School District of New Berlin’s Class of 2017, graduated high school with an industry credential in manufacturing, health sciences, information technology, hospitality and/or STEM disciplines, giving them a competitive advantage as they transition to postsecondary education or work.

Attainment of an industry credential is one of many benchmarks monitored by the SDNB as part of its district level ‘College and Career Readiness’ dashboard.

“Industry credentials indicate a level of a commitment to a future career interest and allow students to demonstrate not only what they know, but what they can do with what they know,” Superintendent Joe Garza said. “In 2013, we didn’t have any students on record achieving an industry credential. The Wisconsin Fast Forward Pupil Grant program provided the impetus to relook at our programming to determine which credentials would support students as they explore options that might impact their postsecondary plans.”

During the 2014-15 school year, the district implemented an onsite certified nursing assistant (CNA) program in partnership with LindenGrove of New Berlin and Waukesha County Technical College. This program now certifies approximately 50 CNAs annually. The certification allows students to seek employment at area hospitals and senior care centers and gives them a competitive edge when applying for postsecondary education. One Eisenhower graduates took a CNA job immediately out of high school. Her employer has since offered to pay for her tuition at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee to become a registered nurse.

Read the complete article.

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.

Shorewood High School senior’s creative writing program has global reach

Shorewood

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: “I am juicy, gooey, hot, cheesy and heaven in your mouth. What am I?” the teacher asked.

Hands shot in the air and 10 children bounced up and down in their seats. “Pizza! Pizza! Pizza!” they squealed.

The children, ages 8 to 12, were practicing giving their teacher descriptive words about their favorite food item without saying its name. 

It’s just one small piece of a curriculum created by 17-year-old Katie Eder.

Four years ago, Eder’s sister started tutoring kids in math, and she wanted to follow in her big sister’s footsteps. There was one problem — Katie is bad at math.

But the thing she is good at is writing, and Eder couldn’t find anywhere that offered tutoring for children, so she approached Milwaukee’s COA Youth and Family Center to allow her to teach creative writing.

They took a chance on the 13-year-old and agreed — and the result was Kids Tales, a program to empower children, often in low-income areas or in juvenile detention centers, to use creative writing to discover their voice and share their story.

Teenagers, and only teenagers, volunteer to teach children for a week and guide them as they write their own short story, working on brainstorming and plot and character development. Once the stories are completed, they are put into a book, making each child a published author.

Tom Schneider, COA’s executive director, said there was plenty of skepticism during Eder’s first summer, but the results spoke for themselves.

“We’ve (COA) got nothing but admiration and applause for the work that she’s (Eder) done and the impact of the kids that she’s worked with,” Schneider said.

The Shorewood High School senior said it isn’t uncommon for participants to tell her it felt like the first time their stories could be heard and that their voices mattered.

 “I didn’t have an understanding exactly about the impacts that it would have,” Eder said. “I thought, OK this is something I could just keep for myself …  but it’s also something that has a real impact and can make a difference.”