Schools

Interns from the Sustainable Development Institute of the College of Menominee Nation recently made presentations at the 2017 First American Land Grant Institution’s conference in Washington, D.C.

CMN students Georgie (Dolly) Potts, Adam Schulz and Allison Bailey delivered information about the research projects in which they participated throughout the last growing season.

Research by the students is funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture. Potts and Schulz are conducting agricultural research to determine if different soil amendments impact the growth and yield of Bear Island Flint Corn, a traditional crop. The soil amendments chosen for the project were selected from archaeological work done by Dr. David Overstreet. Soil samples taken from the ancient Menominee garden beds show amendments of river muck, bio-char, pottery fragments, fish and other plant species.

Jonathon Kent didn’t think his life would go the way it has the past year.

Almost exactly one year ago, the Shawano Community High School choir director became paralyzed from the waist down.

“We had just driven to Milwaukee and back,” he recalled.

It was the Saturday after Thanksgiving when he started shaking violently and went to the emergency room. They did tests on Kent, 61, and Sunday he went back home, but returned to the ER on Monday when his legs began to go numb. The tests showed a staph infection and, the next day, he underwent surgery.

In 1992, he’d had a similar bout but was OK after six weeks of IV therapy. This time, it hit the exact same spot.

“I was in tremendous amounts of pain,” Kent said.

Shawano Community High School is this year’s recipient of a $500 science and technology grant from the ExxonMobil Educational Alliance program through local fuel retailer Auto Prep Center, 220 N. Main St., Shawano.

Only Exxon retailers that maintain favorable rankings in their store operations are eligible to apply for the grant. During the past 14 years, Auto Prep has been able to award nearly $7,000 in grants to local schools.

“Our schools work hard to make learning interesting and fun,” said Pat Trinko of Auto Prep. “We are proud to be a part of this program and to assist in that pursuit.”

The ExxonMobil Educational Alliance program was designed to provide Exxon retailers with an opportunity to invest in the future of their communities through educational grants to neighborhood schools. Local retailers like Auto Prep are allowed to work directly with educators to identify schools and programs most in need of support.

Service was the main theme that resonated through Shawano Community Middle School’s Veterans Day ceremony Friday.

With Veterans Day falling on a Saturday, SCMS held its annual ceremony a day early to pay tribute to those who have and continue to fight for freedom.

The school’s associate principal, Rod Watson, noted that he and others in the community continue to serve in the military. On the weekends, Watson is a lieutenant with the 127th Infantry Division in Appleton.

“We hold this at the middle school on purpose because middle school is a great time for kids to think about how they want to serve,” Watson said. “At 12 or 13 years old, you start to discover what kind of person you want to be and what kind of path you want to take.

“There are lots of ways to serve, and lots of different types of service. You don’t have to serve in the military, but there are many ways to serve the community.”

Northcentral Technical College (NTC) has announced the promotion of Shanna Hackel to the position of dean of regional campuses.

In her new role, Hackel will provide oversight to all NTC regional campuses, including locations in Antigo, Medford, Phillips, Spencer and Wittenberg.

Hackel has been with NTC since 2003, when she was hired as an office assistant for the Medford campus. After serving in that role for four years, she then spent an additional four years as an administrative assistant at the Spencer campus. Hackel earned a promotion to the role of learning coordinator for both the Medford and Spencer campuses in 2011, a role she held through April 2016.

She spent the last year and a half as regional manager for the western region, where she provided leadership to NTC campuses in Medford, Phillips and Spencer.

Hackel has a Bachelor of Science degree in management and Master of Arts in leadership, both from Bellevue University.

Tina Caelwarts is the new Pulaski Community School District information technology coordinator.

Caelwarts, who has worked 20 years for the district as a computer technician and software systems analyst, has an associate’s degree in microcomputing from Northeast Wisconsin Technical College. She is excited to assume her new role with the district.

“I think we have a good team, and I’m looking forward to continue to grow with that team and will move our district forward in our 1:1 and MacBook transitions,” Caelwarts said.

Tom Krause, the district’s director of personnel and employee growth, said, “We want to build on the foundation that is there and create the right technology environment for the Pulaski Community School District to serve our students, staff and district families.”

A grant from the U.S. Department of Education will help provide ACT preparation courses and leadership opportunities to Menominee Indian High School students. The four-year grant of $798,199 will be managed by the Sustainable Development Institute (SDI) of the College of Menominee Nation.

Part of the funding will enhance and expand SDI’s successful youth enrichment program and bring new, multifaceted activities to help introduce language and culture teachings, science, technology, engineering and math concepts, along with leadership and responsibility. The students will gain a better understanding of how indigenous ecological knowledge and Western science can interact, and how to apply that understanding to address environmental issues both inside and outside the classroom.

Eight Shawano Community High School students and teacher Angela Kowalewski recently attended the two-day Nobel Conference at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, Minnesota.

They were sponsored by the Mielke Family Foundation and were joined by students from various high schools and colleges in Appleton. Students attending from SCHS were Meagan Beaulieu, Isabella Burr, Corrine Hutmaker, Levi Johnson, James Krueger, Lina Liu, Morgan Meyers and Matthew Schwitzer.

To encourage intergenerational discussion and understanding, additional community members from both cities accompanied the students. Shawano community members attending were Kristin Brickl, Glen Gilbert, Diane Heikes, Kari Krueger and Chris Marcks, as well as Ed and Gloria Grys, who serve on the steering committee for the annual event.

Sacred Heart Catholic School

Students and staff at Sacred Heart Catholic School had an amazing time the afternoon and evening of Oct. 11 during a special fitness program called “Move to the Groove!”

Rhexz Arboleda is a music teacher from Neenah who created the program that targets obesity. It is being used in several elementary schools. It’s not only for children; it’s for the entire family or entire school. Move to the Groove demonstrates healthy choices to students and their families. It helps everyone understand the relationship between activity, exercise, nutrition and health. Sacred Heart works hard to educate and assist in the growth of all children, mind, body and soul. This was an important part of the school’s attempt to do just that.

Sacred Heart is so very grateful to the anonymous donor that made this program possible. For information about Sacred Heart Catholic School, call the school office at 715-526-5328.

People who believe they live or work with fools will think differently after they see Shawano Community High School’s latest theater production.

SCHS will present the Neil Simon comedy “Fools” starting Thursday. Director Alex Konen said he first read the script two years ago when he ultimately decided on “Harvey” for the show, but “Fools” remained in his mind as a good show for the high school students to perform.

“I just had no idea how to stage it at the time,” Konen said. “I re-read it this summer to see if it was something I could viably produce as a comedy.”

A drive to Pennsylvania gave Konen the chance to think about the set and how to create one that didn’t require major scene changes. He came up with a design that allowed for scene changes to take part on one area of the stage in darkness while characters are on another in the spotlight, continuing the show.