Bonduel Middle School

Bonduel Middle School will hold parent-teacher conferences Thursday and Friday. All core middle school teachers will be available on Thursday from 4-9 p.m. in the Bonduel High School/Middle School Commons. On Friday, teachers will be available in their classrooms from 1:30-4:30 pm. Conferences are not scheduled so parents can choose the most convenient time. Parents who are unable to attend at this time are encouraged to contact their child’s teachers to set up an alternative time.

Sacred Heart Catholic School

The students and staff have been very busy at Sacred Heart Catholic School. Through their physical education and health classes, the students are working toward healthier eating choices. Mrs. Kenfield, K-8 physical education teacher, focuses on one healthy choice per month. For September, students had nutrition calendars to keep track of their fruits and vegetables. Over 39 percent of our students completed the healthy choice calendar. For October, they focused on proteins, and those calendars are due this week. During November, students are asking themselves, “How healthy are the snacks I eat?”

On Nov. 1, the parish and school came together to celebrate All Saints and All Soul’s Day. This is a day in our Catholic faith when we remember the saints and family members who have died and are waiting for us in heaven. Parishioners, students and staff members were able to remember loved ones by presenting a candle to put in the front of church to burn to remind us of those lost during the past year. We celebrated the lives of more than 25 family members that day.

We are grateful to the Shawano community for joining us for our citywide Halloween party again this year. We had more than 330 students come join in the fun. It was a wonderful experience to have our parish staff and students work together to make a memorable event for the children of the community.

Finally, basketball season is here. The students are excited for the basketball season home opener Friday night against Trinity Lutheran from Green Bay. The action starts at 4 p.m. in our school gym.

Olga Brener Intermediate School

Do you know what Wisconsin’s state mineral is? How about the state fish? Why is our state animal the badger? These are all things that the fourth-graders here at Brener are learning about in social studies. They will spend the year learning about all of the important and interesting facts of Wisconsin. In conjunction with this, the students in Jennifer Konkel’s class did classroom projects. Some of the projects were on state animals, different trees of Wisconsin, maple syrup and so much more. The fourth-grade classes will have an opportunity to go to Madison and tour the Capitol in the spring.

The annual vocabulary parade roamed the hallways on Oct. 31. Mrs. Konkel’s and Mrs. (Karen) Braun’s fourth-grade students were given a vocabulary word and dressed up accordingly! A fun time was had by all.

Upcoming: Monday, Book Fair begins; Tuesday, Thanksgiving feast; Nov. 21, Daybreak with Dad; Nov. 26, half day; Nov. 27-29, Thanksgiving vacation.

Wolf River Lutheran High School

Each Wednesday, Wolf River Lutheran High School students and staff gather for chapel. Last week, we were visited by the Rev. Jacob Gaugert, a missionary who is preparing to teach at a Lutheran seminary in Dapaong, Togo. With a population of 7 million, the people of Togo are approximately 50 percent Animist, 30 percent Christian and 20 percent Muslim. Gaugert shared the urgent need for theological training for church leaders and members in Togo and surrounding regions. He will be teaching native Africans using the French language and equipping these church leaders to teach their members in the myriad tribal languages used throughout West Africa. During his presentation, Gaugert showed some fascinating maps illustrating the enormity of the African continent, showing how the United States, Canada, China, India and Europe would all “fit” in Africa. He also gave some amazing statistics about church growth in Africa. For example, there are more Lutherans in the African country of Ethiopia than there are in the entire United States. We are looking forward to a continued relationship with Rev. Gaugert as he serves in Togo.

Basketball season has begun. Wolf River Lutheran High School will have both a boys team and a girls team. WRLHS is pleased to welcome coach Paul Duerr to head the boys basketball team. He previously coached at Crean Lutheran High School in Irvine, Calif., and is excited for his first season at WRLHS. He will be assisted by Brent Schultz, who will be the primary coach of the girls team. Go Silver Eagles!

Bowler High School

Recently, our 11th grade U.S. history class at Bowler High School went to the Mission School in Red Springs and the Arvid E. Miller Museum on the Stockbridge–Munsee Reservation. We explored the mission school, which was fun. Our teacher, Patrick Curran, had a history treasure hunt worksheet prepared for the Arvid E. Miller Museum. We had to find the answers inside the museum. While unable to go inside the mission school, we did have the opportunity to look around the building. We expected it to look scary inside, but when you looked in the window, there were pews lined up perfectly, and papers set up nicely on the tables. It would’ve been interesting if we could have gone inside, but just being able to check it out from the outside was pretty cool. The museum was fun to look at. Everybody was rushing around, trying to find the answers to our questions. After everybody finished with their worksheet, we went to check out a wigwam, wooden canoe and many other things. They even had a real tobacco plant. Overall, we all had a fun time looking at history, exploring the Arvid E. Miller Museum and even getting out of class. Everybody learned at least one thing. Even though it was 10 minutes down the road, it was still really fun. It was nice learning about the history of our area. It is amazing how so many things can happen is such a small area.

— Stevie Tousey

Menominee Indian High School

Friday will be the end of the first quarter for Menominee Indian High School. Congratulations to all students who have been meeting their goals for the first quarter!

There will be an early release Monday at MIHS. Students will be released at 11:30 a.m. Staff will be having staff development in the afternoon.

Winter sports will soon be starting and parent meetings will be scheduled. Impact Aid forms are still needed, and this year parents will need to complete one form per student.

The first quarterly Freshman Academy breakfast will be held Nov. 15. The event will start at 8:05 a.m. in the MIHS theater to acknowledge students on the honor roll and students and mentors of the month. After acknowledging accomplishments, breakfast will be served for parents/guardians, freshmen and mentors. Hope to see all parents and guardians there!

The freshmen sponsored a Halloween zombie dance on Oct. 25. More than 50 MIHS students participated and came to the dance. A few students came dressed up, but a lot of them had their zombie make-up done by Traditional Menominee Craft teacher Ben Grignon. Menominee Youth Empowerment Program sponsored the disc jockey for the event and the healthy snacks for the students. Fun was had by all.

St. James Lutheran School

This past weekend the St. James A volleyball team was in Milwaukee playing its way through the state tournament. Many family members and staff were there to cheer them on. St. James had the best fans in the tournament. The team started play on Friday night and split its wins and losses. They continued to play on Saturday. The girls gave it their all and played hard to win their final games on Saturday, which carried them to the consolation championship game on Sunday. The girls were unable to pull off a win in that game, but overall the girls were very satisfied and happy to have made it as far as they did. Thank you to everyone for all of the support this season, for the prayers, cookie sale, donations and cheers. It was an incredible season.

Pulaski School District

Focus on Energy, Wisconsin’s statewide program for energy efficiency and renewable energy, and the Wisconsin Public Service Corporation this week presented the Pulaski Community School District with an incentive check for $59,078.36 following the completion of several energy efficient upgrades including boiler replacement, variable frequency drives, food service equipment, chiller and vending machine controls.

Pulaski School District was also a recipient of a competitive $25,000 grant that was funded by WPS for energy efficiency projects, while Pulaski Community Schools received additional funds supported by WPS’s Energy Bundle Bonus program for energy projects completed.

Northeast Wisconsin Technical College has developed an innovative way to help recent high school graduates transition to college life, and it is doing it one class at a time.

The Shawano campus is providing students ages 18-23 a different way to take courses. Instead of the traditional juggling of several classes that meet two or three times a week over a four-month period, students can now take courses through the “4X4” system, where they go to one class for four days a week over a four-week period, spending three hours each day learning one general studies subject.

For Dylan Kroening and Hunter Galleske, two of 35 participants in this year’s 4X4 program, the fast pace of the program is a big plus.

Kroening, a graduate of Bonduel High School, said he’s able to better grasp the knowledge in the 4X4 setting than he could dealing with several different subjects simultaneously during the semester.

“I feel like, when you go through a 15-week course, you’re going to get to a point where you’re just sick of it. They don’t want to sit there, week in and week out, and do all this homework,” Kroening said. “It’s nice to do it over those four weeks and be done with it.”

Galleske, a Shawano Community High School graduate, said the faster, more intense pace helps students retain more of the subject matter and develop a closer academic relationship with instructors.

“You kind of bond with the teachers more,” Galleske said. “I feel like that they get a better understanding of us. We know what to prepare for.”

The 4X4 program was piloted locally and at other campuses last year, according to Jeannie Jafolla, manager for the Shawano campus. Besides Shawano, NWTC is utilizing 4X4 in Luxemburg, Niagara, Oconto Falls and Marinette.

“About two years, we heard feedback from the high school counselors that high school grads wanted to be with students their own age,” Jafolla said. “At the time, we had a large population of dislocated workers, so to be with their parents in the classroom, it caused uncomfortableness.”

The pilot program, which had eight participants locally, looked at how focusing on one subject for a shorter period of time impacted learning, according to Jodi Tetting, the local campus 4X4 coordinator.

There have been marked results. The median grade-point average of students participating in 4X4 was 3.2, compared with 2.8 for the typical student in general studies, according to Tetting.

“Probably the biggest transition for them is they’re making the decisions themselves,” Tetting said. “When they hit college, they’re adults. Their parents really aren’t privy to their information; they have to answer questions themselves.”

While the grades are important, Jafolla said the program also focuses on soft skills — showing up to class, being on time and getting along with other people. She noted that local businesses have commented they struggle acquiring younger workers with those abilities.

“Some of these students didn’t even like each other in high school, and now they’re best friends because they have to be together for nine months in college,” Jafolla said, adding that the group in the pilot program still gets together from time to time.

Jen Johnson, a SCHS graduate, took part in last year’s pilot and found the format to be simpler than what she dealt with in high school.

“I took one class (at a time), and it was a done deal,” Johnson said. “It didn’t even feel really hard at all. You go in, you have fun and you learn something. I had trouble in high school, so I liked working on one class.”

The program seems to work better on smaller campuses, Jafolla said. NWTC piloted 4X4 on its main campus in Green Bay first and found it did not work as well there, prompting officials to look at tailoring it for regional learning centers.

“The idea was they would go to school for a year here and then transfer to a four-year university,” Jafolla said. “After a year, about half of them transferred, which is fine. They can either transfer or continue on with their two-year degree here.”

The 4X4 classes generally take place in the morning, which gives students the afternoon and evening to go to a job and/or engage in social activities, Jafolla said. She noted that the students who participate in 4X4 save about $10,000 in tuition, lodging and book fees by getting some of their general studies courses out of the way at NWTC the first year as opposed to enrolling at a four-year school.

Fancy Vele, who graduated from Gresham Community School in May, loves the program and hopes that more students will take advantage of it after high school.

“All the staff and the teachers are really helpful. They know all of our names, and it makes me feel really good that they take the time to say hello to you,” Vele said. “It’s a small facility here, which is really helpful. You’re not wandering around looking for your class and asking a bunch of people.”

Elizabeth Bartz, a psychology instructor for NWTC, said the 4X4 format allows teachers to spend more time on a subject than if the class met once or twice a week.

“We’re seeing each other for four days out of the week, so if something is going on, we can gauge them a little better,” Bartz said. “For four weeks, you’re getting pretty close.”

By the time the assembly was finished at Olga Brener Intermediate School, many children were enjoying their spoils — and several teachers were getting whipped cream out of their hair.

Olga Brener students gathered Friday afternoon for a celebration in honor of the end of the testing period for the Wisconsin Knowledge and Concepts Exam, a state test given to grades 3-8 and high school sophomores.

Test results will not be known for several months, but Olga Brener started a tradition last year where the staff amped up encouragement before and after the school’s WKCE testing period to get students to try their best on the test. Because the test is not a requirement for overall class scores and promotion to the next grade, students previously did not do their best to get a high score, according to principal Karen Smith.

“In years’ past, they would draw bubbles and just quit,” she said.

However, the test is a key factor in determining whether schools and school districts make the grade via state report cards. With that in mind, Olga Brener came up with its rewards and encouragement program, starting with classroom visits by Smith as her alter ego, Captain Smartypants.

Smith’s efforts before the exam focused on giving tips about how to be a good test taker — getting a good night’s sleep, not getting bogged down by one question, double checking work if there is still time and not rushing through the exam. Her tips included distributing Smarties candies to students who provided answers on good test taking.

During the WKCE, teachers kept watch over their students and filled out tickets for the ones who appeared to be trying their hardest on the test. Those tickets were put into bins for Friday’s assembly, where select students were picked for prizes.

The school purchased tablets, MP3 players, board games, candy and miniature footballs with money raised through its Knowledge-A-Thon last year. Some students also were selected to throw pies at certain teachers, and one got the ultimate prize — throwing a pie at Smith herself.

“From our test results (in 2012), it looked like we had a positive effect,” Smith said. “We don’t know if it was the teachers’ prep in getting the kids ready or if it was the incentives, but we definitely saw an increase in our test scores, and we’re very pleased with that.”

Shawano Community Middle School

We had a Veterans Day ceremony at the middle school. The local vets presented the colors, there was the pledge, an invocation, the national anthem, service songs, a presentation of student essays, taps, a gun salute and the retreat of the colors. An American soldier’s white table was displayed for those lost in battle. At the end of the ceremony the vets were thanked by our student body in a receiving line. This was the 12th annual Veterans Day ceremony here at SCMS. The reverence and respect the student body displayed to the veterans was exceptional. Every vet was surprised and pleased by the level of respect shown them during the ceremony.

Gresham Community School

Last week the fourth-graders visited Heritage Hill. “We had a lot of fun and learned a lot. The kids enjoyed reliving history,” teacher Tom Haight said.

Also, the fifth-graders went to the Weidner Center to watch “Toy with Science” by Garry Krinsky. “It was a magical science show about simple machines,” teacher James Mathews stated.

Brenda Hoffman’s parenting class of juniors and seniors received their “babies” Thursday and had them until Monday. They participated in the “Baby Think It Over” program through the Shawano County Child Support Agency. The students participate in a parenting simulation after learning about the challenges of teenage pregnancy and will now learn about pregnancy and child development. The students were relieved to give the babies back. This assignment made them realize the difficulty of being a parent. A student said, “I’m glad I did this assignment because it made me realize that I’m not ready to be a parent anytime soon.”

Gresham’s junior high boys had a game Thursday night against Menominee Indian Middle School. Eighth grade had a victory, while seventh grade took a lost.

We also had a half-day Friday, and the teachers had in-service on our new technology and our one-on-one initiative.

On Oct. 31, Gresham Community School’s Student Council hosted a costume contest for all grades. The winner of each class got a prize. The students also had a parade of their costumes to show the school their creativity. While doing so, they did a little trick-or-treating through the school. Then that night the Gresham Lions hosted their annual Halloween party. The kids all showed up in their costumes and walked around the gym until the winners were chosen. Everyone ended up with something. The winners of the Halloween party for preschool through kindergarten were Gavin Fischer, Joel Surprise, Ateryu Figueroa, Jacob Lassen, Cody Mehlberg, Brock Gourley, Adam Gourley, Teraleigh Cole, Jessa Brei, Malory Brown, Kailyanna Zaitz, Louisa Knaack, Katy Goers, Mykalyanna Huntington and Abby Goers. The first- and second-grade winners were Camille Gourley, Abby Hohensee, Lexi Hoffman, Lily Boivin, Alex Aschenbrenner, Maddy Haffner, Jami Ready, Emily Knope and Olivia Roe. The winners for third- and fourth-graders were Chloe Bohl, Alexi Boivin, Ella Shepard, Caprice Gomeaosh, Braeden Fischer, Weston Roe and Leo Schultz. The winners for fifth- and sixth-graders were Rayna Kupsky, Mimi Barnes and Dani Damveld. All the kids and parents had a great time.

The citizens for the month of September were also named. Each kid got a Gresham Pops T-shirt, candy and a certificate.

The staff of Gresham also had a potluck dinner for the retirement of Shari Arndt on Oct. 29.

Sacred Heart Catholic School

The staff and students of Sacred Heart Catholic School would like to thank all of our parents who came for parent-teacher conferences in October. We had 100 percent participation! Parent involvement is a key component of a child’s education. We appreciate you taking time out of your evening to discuss with the teachers your child’s progress at our school.

On Monday, Father Luke Ferris and the third- through eighth-grade classes attended the Shawano Veterans Day service. We felt very blessed to be able to participate in such a moving dedication to all the military men and women who served and are serving our country. We also hosted our own Veterans Day service on Nov. 12. The students shared their own experiences of patriotism through essay writing and poetry.

Our first basketball games at Sacred Heart Catholic School were fun to watch, but we came up a little short on the scores. The A girls, C girls and A boys all took a loss to Trinity Lutheran. However, our C boys came out on top with a score of 36-12. Be sure to come cheer on our teams Friday as they have another home game starting at 4 p.m.

Reminder that Sacred Heart Parish has liturgy club. It meets every Monday here at the school. It is open to all students in grades 2-8 that are members of the parish. For more information, please contact Susan Kurek at the parish office by calling 715-526-4104. You can join at any time.

Mark your calendars. There has been a change in our school schedule for the week of Thanksgiving. We will have a full day on Monday, Nov. 25, half day on Tuesday, Nov. 26, and no school on Wednesday, Nov. 27.

Our school will be participating in the annual Shawano Christmas parade on Dec. 6.

St. James Lutheran School

Preschool 3’s had their sports party Oct. 30 and 31. The children were asked to dress up in their favorite sports attire. They enjoyed a sports matching game, Nerf basketball, Nerf bowling and a football bean bag toss. The day was topped off with a snack of mac and cheese, which most of the children say is their favorite food.

The annual third-grade dog biscuit bake sale had another successful year. Thanks to Shelly and Dave Dobberstein, Jessica Heling, Kerry Barkley and Sandy Zastrow, biscuits were made and baked. On Saturday, during the PTL Craft Sale, salesmen Andrew Herrmann, Brooklyn Heling, Blake Hartmann and Jace Conradt sold out the inventory. A total of $254.38 was raised to donate to the Shawano County Humane Society.

Thank you to everyone who contributed in any way to this year’s gala. What a blessing to our school and its children. Preliminary totals tell us that we have met our goal of $20,000 again this year! When the funds are distributed, we will let you know the final totals and how they were used.

Sacred Heart Catholic School unveiled a new logo Thursday that is expected to raise the school’s recognition in the community and hopefully attract more students.

The logo has a cross intertwined with a heart and the initials SH. The cross and heart are inside a circle, and the school’s full name is on the outside.

Sacred Heart previous had no logo, Principal Elisha Wagenson said, although some people associate the school with its mascot, the cardinal. The logo, along with a motto that is still being developed, are part of the school’s strategic marketing plan.

“We’re hoping this gives us some kind of identity so that people recognize who we are and what we do,” said Carolyn Reuter, the school’s admissions director, who spearheaded the effort to create a brand for the school.

Sacred Heart’s parish has also adopted the same logo, Wagenson said, except the word “Parish” is substituted for “School.”

The school’s students were the first to see the logo at an unveiling Thursday morning when staff members emerged wearing T-shirts bearing the new logo.

Students, parents and parishioners voted on several different designs before deciding on the one submitted by Adam Ponschok, who is currently studying graphic design and agreed to do it for his portfolio. Ponschok’s grandfather, Fred Ponschok, chairs the school’s marketing committee.

“There was lots of discussion about which one represented us in the best way,” Wagenson said.

The school also plans to host open houses in the future to show off the logo and future motto to the community. No dates have been set.

Signage is also in the works and is expected to be developed by the end of 2013.

“We want to do it right. We don’t want to rush this process,” Wagenson said. “It’s important that it reflects who we are and what we’re doing.”

A lecture Tuesday wrapping up the College of Menominee Nation’s 2013 lecture series inquired about what constitutes American Indian literature, but attendees left without a definitive answer.

For Ryan Winn, a humanities and theater professor at CMN, that is just fine with him, because he isn’t sure there are solid boundaries for the literature subset.

“It’s almost an impossible topic to put in one hour,” Winn said. “It’s just an idea to get a conversation going.”

Winn noted to those in attendance that he did not believe it was essential for someone to be “native” in order to write about American Indian struggles and characters. It mainly comes down to doing proper research, he said.

In literature classes, Winn likes to give his students a book with American Indian themes and one that is not. It isn’t until after the students read the books that he reveals the book with the American Indian theme was written by a non-Indian author and vice versa.

“How do we classify American Indian literature? The author’s ethnic background? Did they grow up on a reservation? Do they need to know their native language?” Winn said. “Can anyone write American Indian plays? Who gets deputized as a culture cop?”

As an example, Winn pointed to Nasdijj, who was thought to be an author of Navajo descent and wrote an essay in Esquire in 1999 titled “The Blood Runs Like a River Through My Dreams,” which was about the death of his son from fetal alcohol syndrome. It was revealed in 2006 that the essay was fiction and was written by a European American named Timothy Patrick Barrus.

In society, it can be difficult to determine who is an Indian, Winn said. Blood quantum laws were first established in 1705 as a way of limiting certain ethnic groups’ rights, he noted, but the laws are used by tribes today to see who has enough Indian blood to warrant getting certain tribal benefits, such as casino profits.

“Blood quantum is an ingenious way for Indians to discriminate against one another,” Winn said.

Prior to 1968, only nine novels written by American Indians had been published, according to Winn. He noted that most portrayals of American Indian characters today are still being created by non-Indian authors, and in many cases, the characters have been romanticized.

Pocahontas is an example, Winn said, as the real-life person was only 11 when she met John Smith, who was 28. The historical account is nothing like the Disney animated film about Pocahontas, which portrayed the woman as a young adult, and even the first plays about Pocahontas are done with rose-colored glasses.

The most well-known American Indian character today, Winn said, is Injun Joe from author Mark Twain’s “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.” There is an effort afoot to cleanse the book and refer to the character as Indian Joe, Winn said, noting that he does not advocate changing authors’ words after their death.

“I feel that it fails to show how far we’ve come as a society, so why not look back at the mistakes and see right now that we’re not doing it instead of changing the record of the past?” Winn said.

Hillcrest Primary School

The first-graders at Hillcrest Primary are learning about rocks and other Earth materials in science. They have noticed all of the different things that are made from rock and Earth materials and have done numerous investigations to explore rocks. We have many future geologists among us.

As you begin to shop for Christmas, the first-grade students want you to remember our four-legged friends at the humane association. In lieu of buying any gifts for classmates or teachers, we would like you to contribute to a collection of wish list items for the shelter. A list of possible items will be coming home in Wednesday Folders soon. Items must be packaged and unopened for the shelter to accept them.

The second-grade students in Dan Everson’s class are busy finishing their writing entries for the PTA Reflections Contest. They are also busy writing and illustrating their pages of our classroom book that will be sent off to a publisher soon.

Karen Flunker’s second-grade class is learning about the holidays of November. They just celebrated Veterans Day. They discussed what Veteran’s Day is about and why it is so important to so many Americans. The students wrote “thank you grams” to veterans and their families for serving our country. They are also making thank you grams for people in their lives who have helped them, such as school personnel and family members.

We have also been eagerly preparing for the Harvest Breakfast, which is coming up on Nov. 26. We are looking forward to spending this special time with family and friends as we gather for a breakfast celebration from 8:15-9 a.m.

Wolf River Lutheran High School

Friends, Romans, countrymen! Lend me your ears. … Last week, Wolf River Lutheran High School history classes teamed up to perform “The 10-Minute Julius Caesar,” a comedic twist on Shakespeare’s classic drama. Donned in togas, the students treated WRLHS staff, parents and board members to the historical drama and to a Roman luncheon honoring the life and untimely death of Julius Caesar. Thanks to Brent Schultz for spearheading this event.

Last Friday, the Intro to Agriculture class visited Tidy View Dairy, run by Milk Source, of Kaukauna. Milk Source is a proud part of Wisconsin’s dynamic and sustainable dairy industry. The company is run by three multi-generational Wisconsin dairy farmers who operate dairies, a calf farm and a heifer-raising facility. Our ag students watched a short video on the running of the dairy, and then were provided a tour of the milking area and several barns.

In a recent chapel service, Wolf River Lutheran High School students had an opportunity to learn about Bethesda Lutheran Communities, a recognized service organization of the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod that specializes in ministering to people with developmental disorders. WLRHS students were encouraged to consider participating in one of BLC’s summer camps (the closest is in Watertown) at which teenagers are given the opportunity to work with that special group of God’s people. For more information, visit bethesdalutherancommunities.org.

Olga Brener Intermediate School

The fourth-grade students at Olga Brener participated in a presentation by local veterans on the American flag. Students learned the history of the flag, what the stars and stripes represent, and what the colors represent. Did you know that when folding the flag, that they fold it 13 times? And that each fold has a meaning behind it? The veterans demonstrated how to fold the flag and explained what each fold meat. The first fold of our flag is a symbol of life.

The following students were chosen for the Hawk Award in their class for demonstrating the character trait Respect: Aidan Preston, Alison Moede, Ania Hoffman, Teghan Kristof, Emily Alvarez, Aubrey Christian, Lane Bonde, Jackson Boucher, Julian Perez, Chad Norton III, Corissa Hutmaker, Dane Adams, Ruby Phillips-Levin, Jacob Elertson, Adeline Lyles, Mitchell Soto, Abigail Rabideau, Kaden Marcell, Noah Fike, Sophie Guetschow, Isabel Daniel, Braden Eiden, Grace Beyer, Leo Liu, Larson Wendorff, Freya Dickson, Nolan Buck, Avery Dreier, Mimi Beaulieu-Morgan, Ben Cook, Grace Huntington, Shawn Pamonicutt, Ethan chelberg, Angel Tomow, Angela Brown, Draven Duchesne, Lucas tePlate, Morgan Westphal, Haley Sheldon and Brandon Bushy.

Sacred Heart Catholic School

We had a most exciting past week here at Sacred Heart Catholic School. On Nov.14 we revealed our new school logo! The logo took shape as students, staff, parents and parish members gave their input as to what would best represent our school. It is our hope that all members of the school and community see the new logo as a great representation for what we stand for. School spirit wear is available now through the school office with the new logo. We offer many options of embroidered items as well as screen printed items. If you place your order by Dec. 2 we will have the items here in time for Christmas gifts.

Our basketball teams have had a rough start to the season. Girls A and C teams are hoping for their first win Friday at home against St. Martin’s. The boys A team is working hard this week, too, toward that first win. The boys C team has two wins and is keeping focused for this week’s game. Games start at 4 p.m. in the school gym.

This week we celebrated a very special person at our weekly Mass. Carol Aschenbrenner has been a part of our staff for over 24 years. She has worked as a playground supervisor and lunchroom supervisor from year to year. She has endured the cold and rain with a smile. Mrs. Aschenbrenner has decided that 24 years of cold and rain have been enough. She will officially retire from our staff on Nov. 26. The students and staff are grateful to her for her years of dedication of keeping our students safe. She will be missed!

The students have begun practicing their Christmas songs for the upcoming Shawano Christmas parade on Dec. 6. We are hoping to have many parents and students join us on the float. They are also working hard on their performance songs for the Christmas program on Dec. 12.

Reminder that our school schedule changed for the week of Thanksgiving. We will have a full day on Nov. 25, half day on Nov. 26 and no school on Nov. 27. Take the extra time with your family to be grateful for all God has given you.

Bowler Elementary School

Chris Olson and Gitche, a Norwegian elkhound, recently gave a presentation to first- and second-graders at Bowler Elementary School in conjunction with the Healthy Families in Shawano County Coalition. The program reviewed animal safety rules and showed the group defensive measures to prevent serious dog bite wounds. The program is also offered in other Shawano County elementary schools.

St. James Lutheran School

In honor of Veterans Day, our eighth-grade students, under the direction of Mr. Schumm, presented a program for our school. Included in this program were the Pledge of Allegiance, “The Star-Spangled Banner,” “America the Beautiful,” a rifle salute and taps. After the program our students had the opportunity to shake the hands of our veterans and thank them for their service to our country.

Second grade has been excitedly working on the writing and illustrations for their first class book, “Christmas Blessings.”The students have done the prewrite, editing and final copy of their stories and pictures. Our ship date for publishing was Nov. 15, so we hope books will be back to us in time for Christmas.

Sacred Heart Catholic School

This week marked the end of 24 years of service to our school for Carol Aschenbrenner. She has served on our support staff as a supervisor outside and inside the lunchroom. We wish her well on her retirement. People like Carol make our school a great place to be.

This week we take time to show how thankful we are to those who support our school in time, money and talents. In our prayer service to open this week, our fifth- and first-graders acted out the Gospel of Luke when Jesus meets the 10 lepers. Jesus chose to cure all 10, but only one came back to give thanks. Our students were reminded that God is always there for us even when we forget to be thankful. After our all-school Mass we had our own “turkey trot” to the local food pantry. Each student and staff member walked their canned food donation to bring to those who are in need this season. It was a great opportunity for students to share in giving.

St. James Lutheran School, Shawano

St. James Lutheran School and band director David Pelow are proud to announce that Erin Cerveny has been selected to participate in the 2014 National Band Association Wisconsin Chapter’s All-State Junior Band. Erin plays the oboe. The 2014 All-State Junior Band is comprised of 102 students from 41 schools throughout Wisconsin. Talented young musicians chosen for the honor were nominated by their directors and will perform as a group at the finale concert of the 30th annual convention of the NBA-WC. The concert will be held at 7 p.m. Jan. 18 at the Performing Arts Center on the campus of Wisconsin Rapids Lincoln High School, Wisconsin Rapids. Liz Rosenthal, a well-known and highly respected music educator from Beloit, will conduct this year’s band. All performances at the convention are open to the public.

LEADS Primary Charter School, Shawano

During the month of November, Betsy Henning’s LEADS first-graders are doing a mini-inquiry about pilgrims and the Wampanoag Indians. We are studying the Mayflower voyage, the Plymouth plantation and the first Thanksgiving.

We are learning to research answers to our “Wonders” using different sources, such as virtual field trips on the computer.

We also continue our ongoing study of day and night skies. We are observing the moon phases each evening and recording our observations in our research booklets.

We are learning about features of informational text and how they help the reader.

Menominee Tribal School

On Nov. 15, “JA in a Day” community volunteers taught the K-5 students about financial literacy, entrepreneurship and work readiness. We give out a big maec waewaenon to those generous people who gave an entire day to our students. In March, “JA in a Day” will need more of those fine people to enlighten our students about checkbooks, credit cards, debit cards, mortgages and loans. Meanwhile, students will be able to sign up for Junior Achievement classes taught through our Bear Trails afterschool tutoring, homework and enrichment program.

MTS applied for and received a grant that provides tutors and teachers, snacks and a huge variety of choices for enrichment for Bear Trails. The enrichment opportunities include science club, art club, beading, arts and crafts, sports, tumbling, math games, dance, nutrition and astronomy. The program runs from 3:30 to 5 p.m. The fall/winter session began Oct. 28 and ends Dec. 12. The winter/spring sessions begin in mid-January and conclude May 15.

MTS honored our local veterans during an annual breakfast on Nov. 7. Students gave presentations thanking the veterans for their service.

Our art teacher, Janice Rabideaux, traveled to Myanmar (Burma) early in November with 24 other art educators. She has returned with numerous pictures, items, wonderful impressions and new ideas to share with the students.The first project attempted by the art club is painting on cloth that has received an initial coat of thinned glue covered with sand. The students are excited about the novelty and challenge of exploring this new medium.

St. Paul Lutheran School, Bonduel

The eighth-grade class continues to do fundraising for its class trip to Washington, D.C., this spring. The students are looking forward to seeing our nation’s historical sights in a Christian viewpoint and perspective. They are taking orders for Christmas cut-out cookies, your choice of decorated ($5 per dozen) or undecorated ($3.50 per dozen). See any St. Paul eighth-grader or call the school office at 715-758-8532 to place your order by Dec. 9 and support the eighth-grade class trip. Cookies will be ready for pick-up on Dec. 17.

St. Paul will host a Red Cross blood drive Monday from noon to 5 p.m. While walk-ins are welcome, an appointment can lessen your time commitment. Please phone the church office at 715-758-8559 to schedule an appointment.

Menominee Indian High School

The Menominee Indian School District will have its annual holiday concert at 6 p.m. Dec. 11 in the high school theater. The band and chorus will perform many holiday selections. Please note that the concert time has been changed. More details will be sent home informing everyone of what concert attire will be and what time each group will need to be at the high school.

The winter sports season has also begun at Menominee Indian High School. The first wrestling match will be on Dec. 5 at home at 7 p.m. Parents and community members are encouraged to come and support the Eagles.

MIHS held parent-teacher conferences on Wednesday. Parents who attended had their names put in a drawing for Eagle gear and a season pass for any winter sporting event.

Students began their Thanksgiving break Wednesday and return Monday.

Gresham Community School

Representatives from Northeast Wisconsin Technical College met with interested juniors and seniors to take Accuplacer tests, complete a career assessment and apply for college. The students completed a career assessment at www.wi.careerpathways.org which showed them what careers would be a good fit for them and their values and talents. The students also took the Accuplacer tests for acceptance into NWTC or any tech school. There were five seniors that applied to NWTC and got accepted.

Kimmie Petrich, a senior who attended the session, said, “They were very helpful and supportive. Even if you got a low score, they reassured you that you would get into college and just have to take extra classes.”

Gresham Community Schools had parent-teacher conferences and a half-day Nov. 19. The book fair also finished up that day. We also celebrated the beginning of hunting season by wearing camouflage on Wednesday and wearing blaze orange on Friday. Also on Friday, each of our school organizations met.

Students are off Wednesday through Friday for the Thanksgiving holiday. School resumes Monday.

Hillcrest Primary School

Some of the second-graders’ work was mentioned in last week’s School Notes. Here’s a further update:

The second-graders at Hillcrest Primary of Shawano have been very busy during the first few months of school. Many classrooms have been working on different writing pieces and learning about the different stages of the writing process. Most classrooms are also wrapping up with their study of insects during science. This unit provided our second-graders with a hands-on learning experience, teaching them about the life cycle, habitat and parts of an insect.

Diana Wichlacz’s class just completed its study of insects, although we are still monitoring a few silkworm cocoons. We were able to see three adult silkworm moths hatch. It was exciting to see them go through their life cycle from very small larvae to adults. Now we are watching for eggs. Currently we are investigating balance. Using what we learned about balance points and the use of counterweights, we were able to balance a pencil on its tip. We also made cool mobiles to hang in our classroom to show how to balance objects of different weights.

Jamie Kriewaldt’s class has been using its schema to make connections to texts during Language Arts. We learned that we can make connections through our personal experiences, from other texts we have read, and through things we have seen on television, in the newspaper or on the Internet. Making connections to texts helps us understand the author’s purpose and helps us understand the meaning of books we read.

Sarah Radke’s second-grade class has been hard at work utilizing the reading strategies Activating Schema and Making Connections. Through the use of mentor texts, teacher think-alouds, student discussion and student reading and writing, the class has learned how to use prior knowledge to help comprehend the current reading. We practiced making connections to a story based on feelings rather than just surface-level experiences. Students are also delving deeper into their reading by asking themselves “What is this story really about?”

Rebecca Arens’ class is learning to convert its classroom behavior points into cash. They earn points daily. These points have a cash value that they keep track of and can spend at their classroom store every other Friday. They are learning the value of each coin, exchanging coins and adding multiple two-digit numbers. They learn to make choices at the store based on their total amount and then receive their change to save for the next store.

Chris Kellett’s second-grade class is really working hard at our “greater than” or “less than” math facts. We have multiple math stations that the kids have enjoyed completing and challenging one another.

Students in Curt Preston’s class have been busy investigating the life cycle of various insects. Students constructed suitable habitats for their live specimens, then hypothesized, observed and documented changes and behavior in the insects. We hope to continue the life cycle of some all year.

Lori Schwecke’s classes have been studying fairy tales. They have been learning about character traits, story structures and morals and comparing and contrasting versions from different cultures. The students have also been eagerly writing their own version of a well-known tale.

The students in Stacey Popp’s class have just finished their study of interesting insects. We discovered that mealworms change into darkling beetles. As number detectives, we have been working with numbers up to 1,000. Each day of the week we collect clues to solve a mystery number of the week. We have also been practicing reading with expression so that we can read to our 4K book buddies.

Jennifer Zoll and the LEADS Charter School second-graders are learning how to summarize and synthesize traditional tales while also trying to think about the purpose behind the first retellings of these traditional tales many years ago. We are becoming extremely familiar with traditional tales. This is important because a lot of literature, music and movies base themselves off of traditional tales. Making text connections to these traditional tales can help us understand the world around us. We have also been thinking about our wants and needs, along with how our community helps supply these for us. November is a great time for us to be thankful for our community and being able to have certain needs and wants met.

Hillcrest Primary School

In Heather Schmidt’s class, we have been learning about why the first Thanksgiving was celebrated. We have been playing some games that the pilgrims and Native Americans may have played. We also learned how to make butter and tried out our homemade butter with our snack. We have been doing an Ann Morris author study. We are learning from Ann Morris how to write an informational text about something we know a lot about.

We love to reach out to the community in Bonnie Hilgenberg’s class. In September, we started practicing our nursery rhymes by learning them. It has helped us to learn to read and write. In October, we performed our nursery rhymes for Birch Hill Nursing home. In the beginning of November, we began learning the first Thanksgiving story. We brought Plymouth Rock, the Mayflower ship and our house we made to perform our play at Birch Hill for Thanksgiving. We had a fantastic experience.

Gresham Community School

The junior high had an incentive day Nov. 26 as students who were eligible played Wii games, pin knock down and board games.

Gresham school was on break from Nov. 27 until Monday.

FFA had a meeting Monday night. Members turned in their fruit orders, discussed the sales, played board games and had an ice cream treat.

On Thursday, the middle school boys have a basketball game at Bowler.

Sacred Heart Catholic School

Students and staff enjoyed the extended weekend to celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday with their families. Our school family has so much to be thankful for; we have great students and staff. We also are fortunate to have a parish family that supports us with time, talents and money to keep our school moving forward.

This week marks a special time in our calendar. This is the first week of Advent. It begins our church calendar for the coming year. Our students are busy preparing for the coming of Jesus at Christmas. We opened our week with a prayer service to remind us that God’s gift of Jesus is coming soon and that we need to be prepared.

Mark your calendars! Watch for our school Christmas float in the Shawano parade on Friday. Father Luke will be throwing out special basketballs with our new school logo on them.

On Dec. 12, the community is welcome to join us at our annual Christmas concert in the school gym. All students in 4K to eighth grade will be singing and playing instruments to remind us of the reason for the season. The concert begins at 6:30 p.m.

Olga Brener Intermediate School

We are gearing up for the first book club event at 5:45 p.m. Jan. 16 in the Community Room at Olga Brener School. The mission of the Family Book Club is to give the families of the Shawano School District an opportunity to get together and share their love of reading. The book that has been chosen is “The One and Only Ivan,” by Katherine Applegate, who blends humor and poignancy to create Ivan’s unforgettable first-person narration in a story of friendship, art and hope. Families are encouraged to do a read-aloud or a shared reading of the book prior to Jan. 16, jot down some thoughts on the book, and bring the books and their thoughts with them for the book club discussion. Books will be provided by Olga Brener School. If you are interested in joining with your child, please contact Carrie Ninham at ninhamc@shawanoschools.com for registration and more information.

There were many things happening to show that Brener cares, for both students and staff. The Hawks Club organized a schoolwide food collection that was donated to SAFPARC. Staff donated items to Toys for Tots and participated in Mustache Movember! Some male teachers grew mustaches for men’s health awareness, and all staff paid to wear jeans twice this past month. Money that was raised will be donated to the Prostate Cancer Foundation.

Wolf River Lutheran High School

The Wolf River Lutheran High School entrepreneurship class has been enjoying lectures from guest instructor Joe Miesbauer of Edward Jones, Shawano. He has been teaching Junior Achievement Titan for the past 10 years. JA Titan is an online game in which students learn how to operate their own business and compete in the marketplace against other young entrepreneurs. Students learn about research and development, supply and demand, demographics, target market, market research and the “4 P’s” — product, price, place and promotion. Over the course of eight sessions, Miesbauer incorporates lesson instruction and an opportunity to practice the online game. During the final session, he will play against the WRLHS students — and he has never been beaten. This should be excellent preparation for the JA Titan tournament in Shawano on Feb. 26.

WRLHS students have been lifting up their voices in the school’s newly formed choir. Under the direction of Brent Schultz, assisted by pianist Debbie Welch, the choral ensemble has been learning a compilation of traditional hymns, contemporary praise and, of course, Christmas carols. Over the past few weeks, the WRLHS choir has sung at area churches, including St. John Lutheran Church in Pulaski, St. Jakobi Lutheran Church in Shawano and St. James Lutheran Church in Shawano. On Dec. 11, both the choir and the WRLHS brass ensemble will perform at the annual St. Jakobi Christmas Concert. Hope to see you there!

Hillcrest Primary School has received $25,000 from the Mielke Family Foundation that will go toward a multi-purpose “sensory integration” room for its young students.

The foundation is a fierce advocate of early childhood education, said Troy Edwards, Hillcrest principal. When Edwards showed the school to some of the foundation’s board members a year ago, they were eager to contribute to the school in some way, he said.

Edwards then met with staff members and other education professionals to see what kind of project could be developed that would benefit students and secure funding. The task force hit upon the idea of discovery learning — an education style that is particularly effective for teaching autistic students.

“Sensory integration is good for all students, but especially for those with autism,” Edwards said.

The room will be constantly changing, providing new experiences for students. One of the themes is lights and sounds, according to Edwards, while other themes address colors, textures, and fine motor and gross motor skills.

Hillcrest regularly collaborates with St. James Lutheran School and Sacred Heart Catholic School on programs, and the school often hosts Girl Scouts, 4-H clubs and other community organizations, which also will be able to utilize the room.

Originally, Hillcrest had asked for $21,000 in the hopes of getting basic materials for the sensory room. Edwards said to shoot for more seemed disrespectful.

When members of the foundation board visited the school for a second time, however, they questioned why Edwards had only asked for $21,000 and ultimately provided $4,000 more.

“They wanted to make sure we had that tie with the community and that we got everything we needed,” Edwards said. “We were very grateful.”

The school hopes to have the room ready sometime this school year.

Ed Grys, Mielke Family Foundation board member, said the foundation is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. One of the oldest benevolent organizations in the region, the foundation is eager to help Shawano and Appleton, due to the family’s historic ties to both cities, he said.

“We’ve always had an education basis for giving,” Grys said. “Over the next 10 years, the Mielke Family Foundation is committed to giving in the neighborhood of $1 million for childhood development in the Shawano and Appleton communities.”

Shawano Community High School is working to integrate reading in some form into every class, including physical education.

The change is being made to improve the school’s reading scores on the state’s standardized tests, according to principal Scott Zwirschitz. Just coming off the Wisconsin Knowledge and Concepts Exam in November, high school students will also be taking a battery of ACT exams this spring that will become the new measuring stick for the state standards.

Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction data shows that 35.5 percent of then-sophomores at SCHS in 2012 had a score in the proficient or advanced ranges on the WKCE. Another 53.5 percent had a score in the basic skills category, which is not a passing score.

The state average shows about 36.1 percent of students scored in the proficient or advanced categories.

“What we chose to do to try to increase those reading scores, is to develop different reading strategies to be used in the classroom,” Zwirschitz said. “What we’ve found is many times when someone is reading, the questioning that happens is a lot of recall — what year did something happen — in a social studies class?”

The school had three inservices this year focused on reading and reading strategies, Zwirschitz said.

One of the strategies is annotating, which requires students to take notes while reading.

Another strategy is to make sure students use multiple sources to come up with positions. Zwirschitz noted that many people look only at one source, usually on the Internet, and believe it to be gospel.

Strategies have to be used in a classroom at least once every two weeks, Zwirschitz said. That makes it possible for students to be exposed to those strategies almost once a day among their seven to eight classes.

“The strategies are becoming more and more common with the students,” Zwirschitz said. “When I walk into a classroom, I seem them doing different reading strategies. I think that will only help our students moving forward.”

Zwirschitz said that the school will not actually know if these strategies are working until freshmen and sophomores take the ACT Plan and ACT Explore tests in April.

Shawano Community High School

The Shawano FFA will sponsor a teddy bear toss at the SCHS boys basketball game Friday. You will be able to buy a teddy bear at the game or you can bring your own from home. We will be checking in the bears in the commons before the game. At halftime of the varsity game, you can throw your bear out on the court and possibly win a prize. All proceeds and bears will be donated to Safe Haven in Shawano.

Olga Brener Intermediate School

Students in Melanie Miller’s fifth-grade class got a chance to participate in a hands-on Christmas craft when they made evergreen kissing balls. Carey Hanauer, a parent of a student in Miller’s class and partner in Fuzz & Fa’s, came to the class and demonstrated how to make one. The students then got to make their own to take home. A big thank you to Mrs. Hanauer for volunteering her time.

The Hawk Way trait for November was tolerance. The following students were chosen by their classroom teachers for demonstrating this trait: Roan Pubanz, Donovan Vigue, Ely Williams, Hunter Hess, Kesaehsa Pyatskowit, Tucker Pyatskowit, Brianna Luebeck, Nathaniel Rohr, Alex Paque, Hailey Saferite, Caitlyn Katchenago, Tyler Zook, Bryce Dixon, Kate Williams, Jaden Lobermier, Morgan Hintz, Jesus Rebolledo, Austin Weckler, Genasis Lor, Kloie Boyles, Tyler Thiel, Macie Kammerer, Joseph Sperberg, Summer Adams, Parker Trinko, Ty-Esha Newton, Derek Rosenow, Megan Hass, Chris Teeter, Anna Cuenca, Michael Dickmann, Claire Guenther, Emily Heling, Taylor Powell, Zach Erdman, Annika Campton, Gage Timm, Markie Chevalier and Dominic Boivin.

Wolf River Lutheran High School

The world history students just completed a memorable study of the bubonic plague, or Black Death, which killed at least 25 million people in Europe between 1347 and 1352, and by the end of the 1500s had claimed nearly half of Europe’s population. To emphasize the grim topic, students decorated the classroom with spider webs and plastic rats eating out of plates on the tables. With Gregorian chants playing in the background, the students role-played they were medical examiners seeking clues about the disease’s transmission. After reviewing 10 case studies, many students determined rats were the cause of the Black Death. Upon further study, they learned that rats actually harbored the infested fleas, and it was the fleas that carried the virus from person to person.

The WRLHS drama students are gearing up for their winter production to be held in mid-February. The students will be performing 10 comedy short selections grouped under the theme “Parents Just Don’t Understand.” The students are enjoying their practice sessions and looking forward to an evening of dramatic humor.

Gresham Community School

Last week Gresham School had a pretty exciting week. Every day we had a dress-up day to help raise money for our sister schools in the Philippines. Monday was electronic/jersey day. Students could pay a dollar to use electronics during homework time. They could also wear a jersey to show support. Tuesday was pajama/electronic day. Students were able to wear crazy pajamas to school. Wednesday was hat day. We were able to wear hats all day during school. Thursday was electronic/superhero day. It was fun to see all of the different costumes that were worn that day. Friday was blue and red day. Blue and red are the colors of the Philippines flag. All week the staff members were also able to pay a dollar to wear jeans. At the end of the week we raised roughly $540 to send to the Philippines.

This week student council is beginning its candy cane sales at lunch. Students can buy a candy cane for a friend or a special someone. The candy canes are given out with a note the day before Christmas break. The prices are $1 for one candy cane and $2 for three candy canes.

Gresham School will be celebrating ugly sweater day Dec. 20. Students are supposed to wear the ugliest Christmas/winter sweater they can find. The purpose is to get into the Christmas/winter spirit and to have fun.

On Dec. 19 we have our parent night for our middle school boys basketball program. We play against Menominee Tribal, and it should be a good game. Come on out and show some support.

Shawano Community Middle School

We have a new communication tool at SCMS. Beginning Wednesday (and Wednesdays on a weekly basis), progress reports will be sent home to families via our Skyward grading program. If your email address has changed recently, please make sure you contact the school to make sure the information is being sent to the correct address. If you have a middle school student who is in danger of failing a class, a report will be generated and sent via email to you so you are aware. Grades of D’s and F’s will be sent home, in an effort to help you know where your student is at academically in classes. This is also a great opportunity to help you talk to your student about what is going on at school, as well as checking his/her agenda for assignments. The agendas are also great communication tools, as you can write notes back and forth to any staff member you may have questions for. We also welcome parents as visitors and are always willing to have meetings if necessary.

SCMS also completed our second evening of parent-teacher conferences Thursday, and it was a very successful evening. Conversations were had regarding student progress, and plans were discussed and put into place to help our students experience even more success here at SCMS. Thank you to all who were involved. The more you are involved in the education of your children, the more success they will have! As always, please stop in or call any time.

St. Paul Lutheran School, Bonduel

Practices have begun for upcoming children’s Christmas services. The public is welcome to attend any or all of the upcoming free services in the church sanctuary at 240 E. Green Bay St. (County Road BE) in Bonduel to help remember and celebrate the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ: preschool, 4K and kindergarten, Saturday, Dec. 14, 3 p.m.; grades 5-8, Tuesday, Dec. 17, 7 p.m.; grades 1-4, Thursday, Dec. 19, 7 p.m.

The eighth-grade class is going to be busy in the next week filling all their orders for plain or decorated cut-out Christmas cookies! Thanks to Judy Schmidt, cookies will be baked, decorated if requested and ready for pick-up on Tuesday, Dec. 17.

The Scholastic Book Fair is on display in the Fellowship Hall and will be open for purchases after all worship services (including Christmas program services) now through Dec. 22. In addition, there will be some days that it will also be open over the lunch hour or after school; contact the school office for exact hours. A portion of the profits from the sale goes back to teachers for classroom libraries. A special thank you to Amy Zernicke for organizing this for our school and congregation.

Hillcrest Primary School

Michelle Wallrich’s class: In November we had our first meeting with our book buddies in Stacey Popp’s second-grade class. The students met and read stories together. We finished off the month by talking about what we are thankful for and baking a delicious pumpkin pie.

Melissa Mahloch’s class: Students have been reflecting about what they are thankful for and reading many books that discuss what being thankful means. We have also been having turn-and-talk discussions about this topic. We have also been making books in our classroom. The students have been working hard to add details to their stories and make sure that the books they are making are staying on topic. They have been excited to share their books with each other, especially when they get to use the Smartboard!

Menominee Indian High School

The Menominee Indian High School singing and drumming group, The Young Chiefs, has been making a name for themselves in the community and on the powwow circuit by having a positive impact with their peers and in the dance arena. The Young Chiefs have raised funds to cover their travel expenses. They have been to powwows in Lac Du Flambeau, Stevens Point, Wausau, Oneida and Milwaukee. They were invited to the Hunting Moon Powwow in Milwaukee and placed second in the youth drum contest. While at powwows they are given words of encouragement by experienced drummers, singers and dancers. Group members recently attended a Menominee Indian School Board meeting to sing for the board members and present each of them with a gift of appreciation for allowing the group to travel. They have also participated in the Woodland Boys and Girls Club Thanksgiving dinner by singing social songs on the drum and their hand drums. The students also raised money to purchase matching sweatpants and hoodies. The dedication and commitment the students have is outstanding. They keep up with their academics, attend sports practice and then attend drum practice. The Young Chiefs are supervised by Menominee elder Rose Wayka and consist of the following students: Dallas Madosh, Ronnie Wescott, Aaron Penass, Thomas Thunder, Velquise Hawkins, Daunte Lyons, Trevor Madosh, Jay Reiter Jr., Warren Kakwitch, Anthony Waupoose, Austin Waupoose, Janice Menchaca, Loretta Menchaca, Deborah Lyons, Monea Waukau and Shania Teller.

St. James Lutheran School, Shawano

On Dec. 3, the two kindergarten classes traveled to the National Railroad Museum in Green Bay for their “Holiday on the Rails” program. After learning about all different types of transportation over the past few weeks in reading, the children had a great time exploring trains. They even got to go on a double-decker train ride around the rail yard. The museum also had a reindeer toss, snowball throwing game, cookie decorating and several other centers for the children to explore. It was an extra fun day. All aboard!

We are published authors! Grade 2 was so proud to open and read the book that we wrote together, “Christmas Blessings.” We enjoyed seeing our words and illustrations in print and viewing our classmates’ pages, too. After so much hard work, our efforts turned out beautifully and will be meaningful keepsakes for our families each year, especially at Christmas. Maybe we’ll even autograph our book for Mom and Dad!

The seventh-graders wrapped up their last chapter in math by completing an advertisement. As a group, students had to create a logo that would go along with a product they chose and to advertise their product. To begin creating, students had to come up with a simple shape or polygon. After deciding which shape they were going to use, students had to reflect, rotate or translate the shape five times to create the logo for the product. Students were very creative in coming up with their logo. Throughout the class we had logos for restaurants, diamonds and shoes, to mention a few. Along with creating a logo, students came up with a catchy slogan to go along with their advertisement. The students had a great time putting together their advertisement and working on transitions at the same time.

Menominee Tribal School

On Dec. 9, the grades 5-8 language and culture classes visited the logging museum near Keshena to hear Sylvia Wilber discuss the effort that was taken to restore the Menominee Tribe to reservation status. The elders and presenters were impressed with the students who asked pertinent questions, were polite and personally thanked Mrs. Wilber.

Menominee Tribal School held a K-8 Family Night on Dec. 12. Parents and students made Christmas decorations for both school and home, frosted cookies and enjoyed a meal of hot turkey sandwiches, chips, veggies and dip.

The annual Christmas program was held at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday in the school gym. The theme was “Welcome to the North Pole.” A variety of musical offerings and poems, such as “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” and “The Night Before Christmas,” were presented by grades kindergarten through eighth grade. K-4 classes also included songs in Menominee such as “Oh Christmas Tree.” They were led by their culture and language instructor, Sherrie La Chapelle. Between the movement of the classes onto the risers, third- and sixth-graders shared their “elvish” jokes and riddles.

Menominee culture and language classes have been focusing on The Restoration, celebrating its 40th anniversary. Through 19 years and over the terms of four U.S. presidents, Menominees and their friends fought against the federal government’s Termination Act of 1954. At last, on Dec. 22, 1973, President Richard Nixon signed the Menominee Restoration Act, repealing termination and restoring sovereignty to the Menominee people. Events at the College of the Menominee and the casino will celebrate Restoration Day from 9:45 a.m.to 1:30 p.m. Sunday.

Shawano Community Middle School

This is our last week of school before the holiday break. The holidays represent joy and cheer for many, but we also need to remember that there may be anxiety and stress as well. The staff here at SCMS will be pooling their talents for a special activity for students on Friday. Students were able to sign up for some activities to close the week out. Activities range from acting to crafts to sports. Some will be making Christmas presents for friends and/or family, and some will be participating in tournaments. We will have a special visit from Santa to deliver an iPad Mini to a winning student, as well!

As always, we are continuing to focus on respectful, responsible and safe behavior. Students have been seen practicing random acts of kindness toward each other, and we are also focusing on the Golden Rule this week (treat others as you would like them to treat you).

Please feel free to stop in with any curiosities. Please remember, we are all here to work together to help students experience success at SCMS.

Sacred Heart Catholic School

As the Advent season is upon us, we have many reasons and people to celebrate in our Catholic faith. Students shared their voices with parents and friends Thursday night. It was a great night to celebrate Advent and prepare for the coming of Christ. We ended the night with hot chocolate and Christmas cookies that the students baked last week. They made more than 700 cookies to share.

On Friday, Juan Diego, aka Father Luke (Ferris), visited with our students to share his story. He spoke of his experiences with the bishops in Mexico City after seeing the Lady of Guadalupe. This was a meaningful experience for our students and staff.

On Friday night, we had brave souls, parents and students, join in the Shawano Santa Parade. It might have been chilly, but the season certainly warmed our hearts, and we had fun! Many thanks to all the parents for putting the float together and coming out to support our school. Hopefully you were in the crowd to receive a school pencil or a basketball thrown out by Father Luke with our new logo on it.

In our final week of school before Christmas the 4K/5K class led our prayer service. They reminded us that in this season of gift giving that Jesus is the greatest gift! Students were also reminded of all that Jesus did for them to ensure that they will be with him forever in heaven.

Sacred Heart Catholic School, students and staff, would like to extend a very Merry Christmas to all and a safe and enjoyable break. Watch for information in the new year regarding enrollment for the 2014-2015 school year, or contact the office for more information.

Gresham Community School

Candy canes are being sold for $1 or three for $2 at lunch as a fundraiser for Student Council at Gresham Community School. Sales will continue until Thursday.

The Gresham FFA is also accepting donations for its Christmas is for Caring drive to help local families during the holiday season. Donations can be given to any FFA member or dropped off at school for the adviser, Jeff Zobeck.

There was a band concert on Dec. 12 for grades 6-12.

On Monday, grades kindergarten-12 had a choir concert.

FFA fruit orders arrive Wednesday afternoon.

On Thursday, the middle school boys basketball team hosts Menominee Tribal Middle School. It is also parents night.

We start our holiday break on Friday.

Olga Brener Intermediate School

Our annual Morning with Mom was a huge success. More than 275 moms and grandmas joined our students for breakfast. It’s a great opportunity to spend some time with your child and to meet others in your child’s school community.

Having a hard time coming up with Christmas gift ideas? Some great ideas that your child would love and that will also nurture their education would be books, board games and building sets such as LEGOs, to name just a few. If you aren’t sure what reading level, don’t hesitate to contact your child’s teacher. Also consider a book that could be read as a family read-aloud. The gift of reading is a lifelong gift.

Upcoming: fourth-grade concert, Thursday; Christmas break, Dec. 23 through Jan. 1.

Wolf River Lutheran High School

The Wolf River Lutheran High School boys basketball team has had a great start to the season. In its Dec. 10 game versus Faith Christian Academy in Coleman, the team posted a 37-29 victory. In its Dec. 12 game at Rawhide Academy, the boys had a come-from-behind victory to go 2-0 on the season. Way to go, Silver Eagles; we are proud of you!

The WRLHS choir had a busy weekend, caroling on the school’s float during Friday’s 19th annual Shawano Santa Parade. Although the frosty weather made for chilly fingers and toes, students and staff enjoyed taking the music of the season to the streets of Shawano. On Sunday, the choir traveled to three area nursing homes, spreading Christmas cheer: Mason Woods Retirement Community, Cecil, Meadow View Care Facility, Bonduel, and Birch Hill Care Center, Shawano.

Seniors in the personal finance class recently had the opportunity to participate in simulated job interviews. In anticipation of these interviews, the students prepared their resumes, researched the target companies and selected professional attire. Special thanks to Gerald Schmidt, principal of St. Paul Lutheran School, Jeanna Matuszak, of Community Regional Hospital, Peter Schmidt, of Schmidt’s Ponderosa, and Kristi Wilhms, of Bonduel Subway, for coming to Wolf River Lutheran High School and interviewing our seniors.

The WRLHS school office will be closed from Dec. 23 through Jan. 3 for the Christmas break. Classes resume Jan. 6.

Hillcrest Primary School

Becky Arens’ second-grade class is studying motion in science. We are exploring rotational motion by making three things that spin: tops, zoomers and twirlers. We are investigating variations in design and the force (a push or a pull) they need to put them in motion.

Each student in Stacey Popp’s class wrote a letter to Santa after learning the five parts of a letter. In math we have learned addition strategies to help our brains calculate sums quickly.

Sarah Radke’s class is starting to work on telling time on both an analog clock and a digital clock. Students are working hard to distinguish the difference between the hour hand, the minute hand and the second hand. They are also determining which things we do in the a.m. versus which things we do in the p.m.

We are preparing for the Christmas holiday in Karen Flunker’s class. We wrote letters to Santa and have been practicing for the holiday concert. We are also concerned about the cold temperatures and wrote how to bundle up for the cold Wisconsin winters. We are also learning about production workers in our community and how they play an important part in our community.

Jamie Kriewaldt’s class is studying fairy tales and folk tales during language arts. We are also focusing on many different spelling strategies to help us become better readers and writers. Soon we will be writing our own fairy tales and sharing them with the rest of the class.

Diana Wichlacz’s class has enjoyed its study of balance and motion. Students especially enjoyed the zoomers, twirlers and the marble runway. The marble runway was just like a roller coaster with many ups and downs and a wild loop.

Chris Kellett’s class is writing fiction short stories. We are using dialogue and conversation within our writings.

Jennifer Zoll’s students are working on developing reading, writing, math and behavior goals. They are working on these goals in order to get smarter.

Lori Schwecke’s class has been learning how authors try to persuade their reader to think a certain way. Now, as writers, we’re going to write a persuasive essay to get our classmates to read a beloved book.

Tigerton Schools

Tigerton Schools will not be in session from Dec. 23 to Jan. 1. We will be back in school starting Thursday, Jan. 2.

“Hate is nothing. Love is everything,” Holocaust survivor Henry Golde told Clintonville Middle School students Tuesday.

Golde is the author of “Ragdolls,” which recounts his life from the age of 11 to 16 as a witness to Holocaust horrors and atrocities in Poland, Germany and Czechoslovakia.

Golde was born in Plock, Poland, and grew up in a normal Jewish family until he was taken, at age 11, from his hometown by the Nazi Party’s Schutzstaffel Army. He said his only crime was being born a Jew.

“For five years, I feared for my life every day,” he told the students.

He was moved from one concentration camp to another. There was very little food, Golde said, and for three years he didn’t grow an inch.

Conditions were awful, he noted. At one location, the sanitation was bad and they could only take one shower a month. He was stricken with typhoid fever and survived.

“I don’t know if it was luck, faith, or a small miracle that I survived,” he added.

Eventually, he was able to make his way to London, where he met his future wife. After they came to the U.S., he worked in a sweat shop in New York and drove a cab. After moving to Appleton, he has made his living as a tailor, though he suffered a retina detachment in the concentration camps. Ninety percent of his eye is dead, he said.

Golde has not been back to Poland. He said he is still not wanted there, and he doesn’t have any relatives there. He was never able to find out how his family died.

Despite the treatment he received from the Germans during World War II, he told the students that he did not hate them.

Golde’s presentation was funded by the Clintonville Historical Society and the family of Gladys and Marlin Boyer. Pam Skoken, a granddaughter of the Boyers and a sixth-grade teacher, made the arrangements for the program.

Later in the day, Golde met with members of Clintonville American Legion Post 63.

Hillcrest Primary School

The first-graders have been very busy this month. In art class, they made beautiful gingerbread houses for the holidays. The students did a wonderful job singing during their winter concert.

The Humane Society came and talked about caring for pets. The students were very generous with their donations to the Humane Society. Also, a special thanks to Tracy, Kathy, Gloria, Goldie and Caresse from the Hillcrest cleaning staff for their donations.

Students are also learning about good nutrition and health through the Shawano County University of Wisconsin-Extension office.

With the cold weather upon us, please remember to send hats, mittens, boots and snow pants (labeled) with your child every day. Have a nice holiday break!

Gresham Community School students and staff donned their Packers gear Friday in support of the Green Bay team’s NFL wild card playoff game Sunday.

Although dressing up in Packers gear is not unusual, the participation Friday was somewhat surprising since officials didn’t announce the Green and Gold Day until just as school was letting out Thursday.

It did not take long for seventh-grader Johnny Kerry to decide what to wear. He donned a jersey with the number 12 on it in celebration of his hero, Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers.

“This is the most popular team in this school, and I think the Packers are going to win this Sunday against the 49ers,” Kerry said.

Principal Keary Mattson said the school has encouraged students to dress in Packers jerseys and other attire four times this season, including the Friday before the Nov. 4 game against the Bears in which Rodgers broke his collarbone.

“We always try to dress up before the Bears games,” Mattson said, noting one staff member is a staunch Bears supporter, and his colleagues like to provide a little gentle ribbing.

The second game against the Bears took place while the school was on Christmas break, so it was decided that at least one more Green and Gold Day seemed appropriate. The Packers face the San Francisco 49ers this weekend at Lambeau Field.

Kerry said he was surprised the Packers made it to the top of the North Division of the National Football Conference.

He said watching the Packers was “not good” while Rodgers was sidelined for two months, but he was glad to see the quarterback return last weekend to face, and defeat, the Bears.

Riley Neitzer, a high school junior, is also optimistic about the Packers’ chances Sunday but believes the game will be close.

“I think (Rodgers) knocked the cobwebs out last week, but this week I think he’ll come back strong,” Neitzer said. “I think they’ll make it to the next game. I hope they do.”

While most students and staff wore jerseys to show their support for the Pack, high school sophomore Alison Reyes went the extra mile, donning green and gold from her headband to her socks.

“My family loves the Packers,” Reyes said. “We’ve always decorated for Christmas with green and gold lights on the Christmas tree and Packers ornaments. We have a Packers tree topper. Everything is Packers.”

Reyes said she’d like to go to the game, but the subzero temperatures predicted are prompting her to watch from the comfort of home. She said she is optimistic the Packers will win.

Shawano Community High School

The Shawano FFA held a teddy bear toss at the boys varsity basketball game Dec. 13. Anybody from the community was encouraged to bring a teddy bear to toss or buy a teddy bear for any donation at the game. All donations and bears were donated to the Safe Haven domestic abuse shelter in Shawano. At halftime, we had the kids and then the adults throw their bears onto the court. The top three closest to or in a bin won a prize. The toss was sponsored by Charlie’s County Market, Body Essentials, Tractor Supply, Angie’s Main Cafe, Papa Murphy’s, Caroline Implement, Perkins, Twig’s Beverages, Adams Meats and the Shawano FFA Alumni. The sponsors donated prizes to the teddy bear toss that we gave away to the winners. The top prize was $50 cash. Makayla Bolonga, who won the kids’ toss, was generous enough to donate her prize to Safe Haven. The first-prize winner of $50 cash in the adults’ toss was Brett Ainsworth. The second and third prizes consisted of gift cards from our sponsors. We also had a drawing for raffle prizes, also donated by our sponsors. Overall we raised $156.51, and we donated 72 bears to Safe Haven. We are looking forward to doing this event again next year.

Sacred Heart Catholic School

Happy 2014! We are excited for the new year and all the events that 2014 has in store at Sacred Heart Catholic School.

We are having an early childhood open house for families with students who will be eligible for 3K through grade 1 for next school year. The open house is on Saturday from 10 a.m. until noon. There will be activities for the children so mom and dad have a chance to meet our teachers and see what our school has to offer. For more information or to RSVP, call the school office at 715-526-5328.

Mark your calendars for Jan. 26 for our Winter Wonderland open house. We will have many activities for kids of all ages. The Home and School Association will host a spaghetti dinner from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. This event will kick off our celebration of Catholic Schools Week. We also will be accepting registration for the 2014-2015 school year. We hope you can join in the fun and come see what our school has to offer!

St. Paul Lutheran School, Bonduel

January chapel offerings are going toward a Camp Luther Wish List item — 50 new life jackets. We are going to try really hard to meet our goal of purchasing all 50 with student offerings each Wednesday this month, so that we can present the full amount needed to the Camp Luther representative who is coming to school on Feb. 3. Check out our display in the office hallway to follow our progress.

St. Paul is participating in the fourth annual Great American Can Roundup School Challenge. The aluminum cans that are collected by school and congregation families until April 22 will be part of a national recycling initiative. Last year, St. Paul was the winning school in Wisconsin, collecting just over 11 pounds per student, earning us $1,000. The winning school in the nation will receive an additional $5,000. Community members are welcome to help our efforts; save your aluminum cans until February and then drop them off at the trailer in the parking lot beginning Feb. 1. Thank you in advance.

Plans are under way to celebrate this year’s Lutheran Education Week from Jan. 26-31. The week will begin with all students singing in one of the Sunday church services. Once the school week begins, the entire student body will be participating in a daily online mission trip through Lutheran Hour Ministries. “Online Mission Trips” is going to take us to the mission field via several types of media. Videoconferencing makes it possible for live presentations from LHM international headquarters in St. Louis, Mo., and LHM-Kenya ministry center in the capital city of Nairobi. Short pre-recorded videos will engage our senses and pique our curiosity while students and teachers alike gain insight into ministry in a different part of the world. This will be something new for us, and we are very much looking forward to it. Other classroom activities are still being planned, but the culmination of the week will again be Parents Day on Friday, Jan. 31. Following a chapel service, activities for parents are being planned by the pastors and principal. Teachers will organize classroom activities for parents and their children. Following lunch, everyone will enjoy the annual Lutherlympic competition in the gym.

Performing in a school concert with friends is easy, but some “all-star” students expanded their comfort zone a notch Saturday.

About 200 students — many of them from six local high schools — came together for a day of growth that culminated in a community concert Saturday afternoon at Menominee Indian High School for the 14th annual Central Wisconsin Conference All-Star Band and Choir Festival.

“Each director from band or chorus, respectively, they nominate students from their group who they think are excelling or are very successful musicians,” said Julia Flanagan, choir director for Menominee Indian High School. “All of the strong musicians from each of the schools, they work with clinicians and have small and large group clinics throughout the day.”

Alyssa Roe, a Gresham Community School choir student, was eager to be part of a larger group.

“It’s really neat. We get to learn lots more stuff with our voice and what we can do with it,” Roe said. “It’s neat working with so many other people. We can have everyone together, and it just sounds amazing.”

The challenge for Taylor Hoffman, another Gresham Community School student, was learning a new singing range. Hoffman, a soprano in her school choir, had to learn Saturday’s music as an alto.

“It was interesting, but I got the hang of it,” Hoffman said. “I didn’t think I could sing alto.”

In previous years, Flanagan said she has seen her students make new strides and stretch themselves as musicians because of the festival.

“I think they have a greater motivation in both the all-star festival prep as well as in class,” Flanagan said. “Their dedication is evident because they’re clearly putting in extra time and effort, since this isn’t part of their course work. They’re going above and beyond to pursue something they’re enjoying.”

The festival featured composers Quincy C. Hilliard and Brad Burrill, who traveled to Keshena to work with the voices from the conference’s 19 schools. The concert also featured a piece by each composer among the 10 songs.

Burrill, who directed the choir, directed at the festival for the first time. He said it was challenging bringing together a group of 100 students who had practiced the music either on their own or with a small group.

“I’ve really enjoyed working with these kids,” Burrill said. “As a conductor, I teach also. It’s not a totally new experience, but it’s nice in this format.”

Noah Treptow, a Bonduel High School band student, was eager to embrace Hilliard’s music. The band performed “The Day the Clowns Cried,” a piece Hilliard composed based on a tragedy in Hartford, Conn., where a fire in a circus tent killed 168 people, two-thirds of them children.

“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience. I’ll probably never get to work with Quincy again, so this is a cool thing,” Treptow said. “I like that it tells a story. There’s always a story to his music, and you hear the story in his music.”

Treptow, who plays the baritone saxophone, also liked being part of the festival because it introduced him to other people who share his passion for music. He said he learned some new things, including a few musical techniques he hadn’t used previously.

Hillcrest Primary School

This past month the LEADS kindergarten class has been busy learning all about the Arctic. The children have discovered many interesting connections between the habitat, weather and animals. This week the kids have done experiments to help them understand how Arctic animals adapt to survive in such cold weather. Mother Nature from Wisconsin cooperated with a real live Arctic blast to help them understand firsthand about how cold it really is at the North Pole.

The students in Gina Monfils’ kindergarten class are busy working on a friendship quilt in preparation for the 10th annual Martin Luther King Community Celebration. We have been learning more about respect for others, forgiveness and peace through biographies of brave individuals such as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Ruby Bridges and Rosa Parks. Together, as a class, we performed several random acts of kindness, practiced using words to fix our problems, and strengthened our classroom community through our show of respect for each other.

Sacred Heart Catholic School

It has been busy this cold, cold January at Sacred Heart Catholic School. After resting in the warmth of our homes for two days, we came back to many exciting things happening in our classrooms.

Grades 3 and 4 worked hard on research projects about volcanoes. They had to research, write a report, make a visual guide poster and create a model. Some of the models exploded! One model was even edible! They shared their creations and information with our younger students, too.

The students in 4K through second grade are learning about healthy teeth. They took a short walk to Midwest Dental to learn how dentists help them keep their teeth healthy. They learned what they need to do at home to ensure a long life with a bright smile. The second-graders enjoyed a special “tooth talk” in school to finish up the healthy teeth unit. Thanks to Midwest Dental for sharing your time with our students.

Our big school event to talk about is the Early Childhood open house that we hosted on Jan. 11. We were excited to meet many new little friends who brought smiles and laughter while having fun participating in the many activities planned just for them. Families were able to meet staff and learn what our school has to offer for the 2014-2015 school year in our early childhood classes. We are taking registration for next year in 4K through grade 8. We are also taking family interests for our 3K program. We hope to offer 3K, based on enrollment interest.

All families, parishioners and community members are welcome to join us for Winter Wonderland on Jan. 26, following Mass. A spaghetti luncheon will be served in the cafeteria by Home and School from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. for a freewill offering. The staff will be hosting Winter Wonderland activities in the school from 12-2 p.m. Some activities include winter sensory, Smartboard learning, basketball shootout and more. We hope to have you join us and enjoy God’s blessing of winter and all the wonder it has to offer.

If you would like additional information about our Early Childhood classes, Winter Wonderland or registration, please call the school office at 715-526-5328 or email Carolyn Reuter, admissions director, at admissions@shcscardinals.org.

Olga Brener Intermediate School

The Hawk Way trait for the month of December was “Caring.” The third-graders really demonstrated that Olga Brener students really do care. The third-grade students, together with their teachers, picked a charity they’d like to raise money for and chose the Red River Riders, a nonprofit organization that provides therapy through horseback riding. The students brainstormed and came up with some ideas on how to raise money. Each classroom was responsible for different items that would be sold during the lunch hours for one week. Items that were sold were bottles of Gatorade, hand-made candy sleighs, reindeer candy canes, mini candy bars, candy canes, taffy and hand-painted ornaments. The students ran their store in the cafeteria during the lunch hours, where they practiced their math skills and found out what it was like to run a business. The students raised a whopping $1,613. Way to go!

Upcoming: Thursday, Family Book Club; Friday, half day; Monday, no school; Jan. 24, PTO Family Hoedown.

Gresham Schools

In the last few weeks, many classes made or brought in holiday treats to celebrate Christmas together before the holiday break began. There was also time taken out of the day for a caring community lesson that happens every month.

The elementary students gathered together in the library to watch the classic movie “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.” With the film as a teaching tool, the students discussed the rights and wrongs on how to treat people.

On Saturday, Gresham Junior High’s boys basketball team played in a tournament in Almond and came out in fourth place. Everyone played great and tried their very best.

Olga Brener Intermediate School

The fifth-grade students at Olga Brener study and do presentations on different countries throughout the world. As part of learning about countries, they got the opportunity to learn about Sweden from a foreign exchange student attending Shawano Community High School, Vendela Anderson. She gave a presentation on the similarities and differences of Sweden and the United States, and even brought money to be passed around for them to see.

Hawk Way Trait Award winners for the month of December are Brandon Reed, Jakobe Baumgartner, Braiden Mott, Dominic Helder, Morgan Van Eperen, Lindsey Peters, Addison Olsen, Will Bieber, Brandon Smith, Alexis Christopherson, Emma Hintz, John Zeise, Aidyn Poquette, Norma Roubideaux, Ella Skenadore, Alex Radtke, Taylin Ejnik, Gabe Bohm, Brianna Goetsch, Joseph Jumonville, Margo Gull, Ethan Schwitzer, Kylie Teetzen, Morghan Marquardt, Matthew Berg, Matthew Kaczmarek, Tea Tomow, Chloe Kissinger, Jordan Faubel, Maggie Wopshel, Bus Daebler, Isabel Colon, John Rhode, Mattilyn Koehler, Hunter Balcer, Morgan Westphal, Zach Rusch, Emma Krueger and Caden Nelson.

Upcoming: Friday, PTO Hoedown; Jan. 30, Family Math Night; Feb. 14, half-day in-service; Feb. 17, no school; Feb. 21, Gnome Games.

Shawano Middle School

We are beginning the second semester of the school year already! This year has been going by very quickly. The eighth-grade students toured the high school to receive information about next year, and everyone is working hard to make sure all students experience success here at SCMS, both academically and behaviorally. Discipline referrals to the office are cut in half with our PBIS efforts, and the walking club is wildly successful. We would like to share an interesting website that shows how important attendance at school is: https://getschooled.com/attendance-counts. Enjoy!

Bonduel Elementary School

What is occupational therapy and how does it help students in the school setting? Occupational therapy works on specific occupations. For example, in the school setting, a student’s main occupation is to complete academic tasks for learning purposes. Occupational therapy works to ensure students can functionally participate in school activities. In the school setting, occupational therapy is a related service that comes into play when a child is found to have a disability needing an IEP (Individualized Educational Plan). To receive special education services through an IEP, a student must have a disability that affects learning to a degree where specialized services are needed in order to be functional within the school setting. Occupational services that are commonly worked on in the school setting include motor skills, cognitive processing, visual perceptual skills, attention, organization and sensory processing. In conclusion, within the school setting, occupational therapy is a related service that may be provided to improve the function of students; allowing them to better perform in the classroom and be successful!

Hillcrest Primary School

In Trisha Springborn’s class, we started January by reviewing the rules, then jumped right back into working on letters of the alphabet. We had fun making a jack in the box for the letter j, cutting and reviewing shapes. We made an alligator for the letter a and had to cut out the sharp teeth in a zig-zag pattern. We have also picked out the first letter in our names and have been filling in sounds we know when writing our daily message. The boys and girls enjoy the surprise when giving clues to their peers on what is hiding in their letter of the week bag. We continue to work on line basics and following and listening to directions. Manners are reinforced daily. The theme of the year in our classroom is showing kindness to our peers and teachers.

Melissa Mahloch’s class has been practicing shared reading (reading with a partner) and discussing our thoughts on the pictures we see in books. We have been reading wordless picture books. We have been playing a lot of math games to practice counting, recognizing numbers and writing our numbers.

Sally Slezewski’s class has participated in making Mossy and Hedgie, two characters that they have learned about from our author study on Jan Brett. In our studies we have learned that she writes and illustrates her books. We have discovered that she uses borders in all of her books and draws detailed animals. We will continue with other author studies for the next few months.

In Michelle Oss’ LEADS Charter 4K class, the children had the opportunity to work with a literacy coach from Illinois, Jennifer Burton. Mrs. Burton taught us about text features in books such as bold words, labels, photographs and captions. Now the children are working on making their own text features book to help them remember to look for those text features when they are reading for information.

St. James Lutheran

Grade 4 recently read “Mystic Horse,” a Native American legend. After discussing the story, the students read about pow-wows in their readers. Desiree Pyatskowit, Thalia Crow and Kaden Cox told the class about some of the Menominee and Native American traditions. Desiree brought her jingle dress to school to show the students. Students also read Ojibwe, Navaho and Quiulette legends and retold the stories with their own pictures.

Our St. James Lutheran School is celebrating 125 years! The second milestone weekend is Saturday and Sunday. This is also the kickoff to Lutheran Schools Week. One of the guest pastors for this special weekend is Pastor Ben Vogel. He is the son of Susan Longmire and the late Pastor Jon Vogel, who served here as pastor for 10 years. Pastor Ben Vogel is also an alumnus of St. James. We are very excited to have him come and share a special message with us. The students of our school and preschool are going to be singing at three of the services. They are going to be divided by last name. Last names beginning with N-Z will be singing at the 5:30 p.m. service Saturday, A-G at the 9 a.m. service Sunday, and H-M at the 10:30 a.m. Sunday celebration service in the gym. They are singing the same song, so if you can’t make your designated time, you are welcome to come to another service time. Students will come forward when it is their time to sing, then return to sit with their families. This is going to be a great weekend you won’t want to miss. Bring your family and friends, too. We look forward to seeing you to there.

Congratulations to fifth-grader Molly Miesbauer who has read more than 1 million words this year through Accelerated Reader. Great job, Molly! How much is a million? Well, counting once per second (easy at the start, but tough when you reach the hundred thousand mark), eight hours per day, seven days per week (no weekends off), it would take you a little over a month to count to one million!

Sacred Heart Catholic School

Our basketball players thanked their parents by recognizing them during parents’ night Friday. Parents were announced and given a rose by their students to show their appreciation for supporting them in their extracurricular activities.

Maybe you drove by our school this past weekend and saw our new addition? We have installed a large billboard sign by our parking lot that shows off our new logo. It also states what we are all about: faith, family and learning. We would like to extend many thanks to the parish Building and Grounds Committee for installing our new sign before our special celebration this upcoming week. The week of Jan. 26 through Feb. 1 is Catholic Schools Week. We are excited to start off our celebration with an open house themed “Winter Wonderland.” We are welcoming our families, students, staff, parishioners and community members who would like to learn more about our school while enjoying some fun activities. There will be sensory stations, face painting, penny-barge building and a basketball shootout at 1:40 p.m. in the gym. The Home and School is offering a free spaghetti luncheon from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. in the cafeteria. The activities in Winter Wonderland take place from 12-2 p.m. We will also be taking names for registration for the 2014-2015 school year. If you would like to RSVP for the luncheon or would like more information, please call the school office at 715-526-5328 or email us at admissions@shcscardinals.org .