Tag Archives: Waunakee

Waunakee students prepare for workforce

Waunakee CTE photo

Waunakee Tribune: If you graduated from high school 20 years ago, it’s likely you were being prepared for college and anticipating choosing a career from there.

But today, emphasis on career preparation begins as early as middle school.

“The shift is, now in high school, even middle school, is when we start thinking about what we’re good at and interested in, and what we might do to make a living, and start looking at adding courses that support that,” said Michelle McGlynn, Waunakee High School’s Career and Technical Education Advisor.

February is Career and Technical Education month, and it’s a time McGlynn feels especially proud. Unlike many school districts, Waunakee is able to offer high school courses in all six areas of career and technical education. They include agriculture education, business and information technology, family and consumer science, health science, marketing education and technical education and engineering.

Several courses are offered under each umbrella of CTE, allowing students to begin thinking along those career pathways, McGlynn said.

Student organizations under each of those umbrellas allow them to use their classroom knowledge in competitive situations both at state and national levels.

Students following an agriculture or animal science career path can participate in FFA; business and information technology students can be active in FBLA.

“We’re pretty unique and lucky that at Waunakee, we offer all six programs under career and technical education and also offer career and technical education student organizations,” McGlynn said.

Continue reading the article on the Waunakee School District.

Waunakee’s ‘Literacy for All’ approaches reveal positive impact

Waunakee Tribune:  A report on the “Literacy for All” initiative for the Waunakee School District indicated that it is having a positive effect.

“We’re happy with the results,” said Assistant Director of Instruction Amy Johnson, who gave a presentation on the program’s efforts at the Jan. 8 school board meeting. “It speaks to the longevity of the project and the professional development.”

Writing in the K-6 grades is an area that will be receiving scrutiny in the coming months, as educators mull over which of two writing programs to use in to teach the subject in the future.

Teachers in those grades are currently piloting “Units of Study,” published by Heinemann and written by Lucy Calkins/Teacher’s College Reading and Writing Project, and “Being a Writer,” published by the Center for the Collaborative Classroom. A decision is expected in April.

Johnson said the plan originally was to have teachers use both books to teach writing. She explained that the schedule wouldn’t allow it.

“We had a lot of eager pilot-ers,” said Johnson.

Read the complete article on Waunakee’s ‘Literacy for All’ initiative.

Waunakee School District pegged for $25k Fab Lab grant

The Waunakee Tribune: Jeff Willauer, technology education instructor at Waunakee High waunakee_fab_labSchool, calls it a “yes” place.

As he sees it, the district’s Fab Lab, or innovation center, is where students’ ideas take shape, evolving from theory to palpable product.

That happened just last week as engineering students sought a 3-D printer that could produce flexible materials. Using a variety of different parts, they built that printer themselves and produced their first sample.

The Wisconsin Economic Development Commission has recognized the lab’s ability to foster innovation and entrepreneurial spirit and is awarding the Waunakee Community School District a Wisconsin’s Fabrication Laboratories (Fab Labs) Grant.

The district has been planning its Fab Lab for the past several months, and the school board recently approved hiring a director for it. That planning, along with the school board support, made Waunakee more likely to receive the $25,000 in state funds.

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Waunakee teachers help students find love for reading

Within the Waunakee Community School District, the goal is to build a foundation of lifelong reading in each student.

September was Rotary International’s Literacy Month. During the Waunakee Rotary Club’s Sept. 17 meeting, Amy Johnson, the school district’s assistant director of instruction, discussed how Waunakee teachers go about instilling a love of reading in students.

Johnson focuses on curriculum for 4K to sixth-grade students and teachers. Her background is in early learning and she has been a reading specialist. She said the goal at the state and district level is to have all students be college and career ready when they graduate high school.

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