Tag Archives: Tomah

Teachers from China visit Tomah elementary school

image of Chinese educators in Tomah classroom

The Tomah Journal: Lemonweir Elementary School received visitors from the Orient on Monday.

Thirty-six teachers from China observed classes and asked and answered questions about the education systems in the United States and China when they visited Lemonweir as part of the Kingstar Nanjing Foreign Language School Program and XuZhou Kindergarten Teachers College, which partners with the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh.

Nicki Pope, Lemonweir principal said the purpose of the trip is to learn best practices for education and how classes are conducted in the United States.

The educators from China visited Lemonweir because of its 45-15 school year. They were curious about everything from how classrooms are set up and designed, how teacher contracts are structured and the daily schedule, Pope said.

“It’s interesting,” she said. “It’s fun to watch the students excited to see and ask them questions. So it’s been a good experience.”

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Month of the Military Child: Tomah and Sparta school districts hold recognition luncheon

The Tomah Journal: April is the Month of the Military Child.

To celebrate military children and recognize the challenges they face and sacrifices they have made, the Tomah Area School District and the Sparta Area School District co-sponsored a luncheon Thursday at Fort McCoy.

John Hendricks, SASD superintendent, said the luncheon is a way to show appreciation and understanding for families of military personnel.

“We just can’t do enough to recognize how special these students are,” he said. “This is just a little opportunity to do that … to hear from students, to understand them better. It’s an opportunity to meet parents and recognize the sacrifices that they make.”

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Learning in the great outdoors

The Tomah Journal: Maple syrup is a specialty product in Wisconsin, and it’s one that can be made by students in the Tomah Area School District.

Tomah High School students got the opportunity to show fourth-grade students from LaGrange Elementary School Monday how to collect and make maple syrup at the Wolf Den located in the TASD school forest.

Krissy Gerke, fourth-grade teacher at LaGrange, has always wanted to find a way to utilize the Wolf Den and that learning about maple syrup with THS agriculture teacher Nelda Bailey’s forestry and wildlife natural resource class was a great way to use the facility and teach students about a Wisconsin product.

“I know a lot of what they do in the high school in their forestry classes would kind of piggy-back with our Wisconsin topics that we discuss in fourth grade,” Gerke said. “So she said that in the spring they would be making maple syrup, so I kind of invited the fourth-graders to come out and partake in the events.”

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Goodwill program teaches work, life skills

La Crosse Tribune: “I was a little nervous (taking over the program) because I know that they’ve done a really good job, and I knew that there was going to be a lot to get to know,” she said. “But I was excited because I know the kids love coming here.”

Four days a week Kallio takes a group of 10 juniors and seniors to Goodwill for an hour and a half. The students work and gain job experience.

“It’s a two-year program,” she said. “The juniors are basically learning the work skills, and then senior year they start just working. Senior year is all work experience.”

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Tomah teacher wins physical education honor

Kyra Neumann, an exercise and sports science teacher at Tomah Middle School, was named the state Middle School Teacher of the Year by the Wisconsin Health & Physical Education Association.

“I’ve been teaching for 14 years, so I guess when you get an award in your field of study, you feel honored and privileged to bring it back to the community when you get to share ideas and help within my own area,” Neumann said.

Neumann has helped shape the curriculum in the Tomah district that led to a $600,000 grant that funded the purchase of a considerable amount of fitness equipment. The curriculum also marked the transition from physical education to exercise and sports science.

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