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

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

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

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

In her new role, Caelwarts will collaborate with Amy Uelmen, instructional technology coordinator, to bring the district’s technology environment to the next level to serve the educational community.

Caelwarts lives in Suamico with her significant other, Brian, and his son. She has two adult children, both of whom are married and live in the district. She has three grandchildren with another on the way. In her spare time, she likes yoga, swimming, fishing, camping and spending time in northern Wisconsin.

Krause said a job is now open on the information technology staff. He said the district is studying the direction of the technology department and the qualifications needed to fill that vacancy.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Army Sgt. Richie Ford, the ceremony’s keynote speaker, told the students about his time in Afghanistan and noted that one of the wonderful things about serving in the military is that, once you’ve finished serving, you’re able to see the impact made by that service.

Ford said his first duty when he went into the Army was to serve as a drummer. As a member of the 101st Airborne Division, he got to travel all over Afghanistan and play songs from Metallica, Green Day and other groups for soldiers serving at bases and outposts.

One outpost they went to was deep in a war zone, and the soldiers serving there were eating the same two meals per day. Ford and his fellow soldiers were able to bring in food when they went to entertain the outpost troops, and the different choice of chow was well received, he said.

“It wasn’t anything special. I think there were hot dogs and hamburgers and fries and cookies, and you’re probably thinking ‘Big deal,’” Ford said. “Well, remember that they didn’t have any of this stuff, so it was a big deal to them. On top of that, we played some songs for them. Why? To give their minds a moment of rest from the incredible stress that they were involved in.”

The impact of what Ford did resonated a few months later when he ran into a combat medic, a sergeant first class, who had served at that outpost. The medic told Ford — a specialist at the time — that, before the performance, four soldiers had been killed, so the morale was a little shaky, but being able to hear music from back home made a difference in boosting spirits.

“You’re talking about somebody who had served 10-20 years, and I was fairly new,” Ford said. “On top of that, this was a medic who had served in a ranger battalion, and this guy knew what war looked like. In my mind, this was a war hero. Not me. That’s not me, and he’s looking at me and paying me that kind of compliment. I hold on to that. No one’s going to take that away from me.”

Ford told the students that his point was for them to serve their communities. It didn’t have to be in a military uniform, as long as it was something that would make a difference.

Several students wrote essays for the occasion and read them to the veterans. One of them, sixth-grade student Tristan Sheldon, explained the origin of Veterans Day from Armistice Day and why it was important to veterans.

“I would like say thank you to all of the veterans because they go off to fight so we can go to bed knowing we’ll all be safe,” Sheldon said. “I can’t imagine being a veteran and having to go war … I wouldn’t be able to do the things they do, because it takes a ton of courage going into war, knowing you might not return.”

Watson disagreed with Sheldon’s self-assessment, noting that “you’re braver than you give yourself credit for.”

Seventh-grade student Jenna Ainsworth noted that veterans fight for freedom, which translates to opportunity. Veterans give and sacrifice so the rest of the country can have opportunities to make their lives better, she said.

“We have the opportunity to make our world a better place, all thanks to our veterans,” Ainsworth said. “Opportunity might not seem like something worth fighting for, but when you look at some of the countries that don’t have opportunities like we do, you start feeling like maybe it is.”

Ainsworth cited Syria as an example, noting many children can’t get to their school because of the war currently taking place.

Veterans Day is not just to celebrate veterans, but to honor those closest to veterans, according to eighth-grade student Faith Lammers. She said many families have to sacrifice because someone they love is off serving in the Armed Forces for an extended period and not able to be home.

“Did you know there have been 22 million veterans since World War I? That means 22 million people fought for their country out of respect and love to protect the rights of citizens,” Lammers said.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

After surgery, he spent 50 days in acute rehab as an inpatient. For two weeks, Kent was at Rennes Health and Rehab Center in De Pere. From there, he went to Craig Hospital in Englewood, Colorado, where they do rehabilitation for spine and brain injuries.

“Instead of being the only one in a wheelchair, everyone is in a wheelchair,” he said.

Kent and his wife, Kay, who has been constantly by his side, spent 28 days there.

“We learned so much,” Kay Kent said.

One of those things was that handicapped accessible doesn’t necessarily mean wheelchair accessible. Also, flying is something that can be a challenge.

“We learned how to navigate flying,” Kay Kent said.

Jonathon Kent came home to De Pere in March, a stable paraplegic.

“We have a routine that keeps me pretty functional,” he said. “Seems like a weird deck of cards I’ve been dealt. I thought I had it figured out.”

While coping well, Kent’s attitude took a new turn when a close friend died suddenly of a heart attack. He realized that he still had his life, if not his legs.

“That changed the way I feel about this,” Kent said.

He is grateful for still being able to be with his four children and three grandchildren.

Kent met Randy and Mary Wright through his sister-in-law Stacy Kent, who is married to Jonathon’s brother Chris. The former Shawano County sheriff, now retired, has a similar story.

On May 16, 2016, Randy Wright felt weak and, the next day, said he felt like he had been Tasered. At the hospital, it was determined that he had four abscesses and became paralyzed from the neck down for 48 hours.

“I prayed a lot to the big guy upstairs,” Wright said, thinking of his wife, their four children and eight grandchildren.

Wright had an operation on his neck and, eventually, the “Taser” feelings returned, which meant he was getting feeling back in his body. He had to learn to walk and stand again through rehab at Aurora and Woodside Nursing Home. It took a long time, but Wright steadily improved until this summer when he began staggering and his body shook with spasms. In September, he had surgery on his lower back and is getting better.

“I have to concentrate really hard on walking,” Wright said.

Kent and Wright have become good friends.

“There’s a bond there,” Wright said. “Each one knows what you’ve been through. I hope and pray every day that Jonathon gets to walk again.”

Kent said the Wrights have been a source of information and support.

“Randy and Mary have been a blessing to both of us,” Kent said.

Both men acknowledged the wonderful support of their wives.

On May 10, Kent returned to work part time, saying the students have accepted him for 18 years and that didn’t change. It was just a new normal. He plans to retire at the end of the school year.

Helping him out at school is Chris Kent, his younger brother and the SCHS band director.

“I’ve seen him fight and stay positive and take life on the same way I’ve seen him take on anything in this life — head on,” Chris Kent said. “I admire his strength and positivity.”

The brothers have worked together on musicals and performances at the high school. The two collaborate on the annual Dinner Dance in November and the Last Dance in May.

“There’s no dividing us because he’s my big brother, and I’m not going to let him down,” Chris Kent said.

Many people stepped forward to help out in Jonathon Kent’s absence.

“Chris and Stacy have been a huge support system for me going back to work,” he said.

There are many things that insurance doesn’t cover, so Nov. 25 there will be a benefit at Golden Sands in Cecil.

“It’s a one-year anniversary,” Kay Kent said. “We need to be with people. Thanksgiving is a great time to be with family and friends.”

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

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

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

The amendments chosen for this project included replication of the traditional amendments of bio-char and fish emulsion, and of a synthetic fertilizer determined by Jamie Patton, Shawano County’s agricultural agent. A control was also used in the study. In June, 16 randomized plots were planted at the institute’s facility on the CMN campus in Keshena, and the harvest took place in mid-October.

Student researchers found that the corn grew amazingly well, and the crop produced well-formed cobs of various colors and sizes. The biggest problem posed in the project was raccoons. Even with a six-foot-high fence, the critters managed to feast on the corn. With the help of Menominee Conservation personnel, nine raccoons, one skunk and a cat were caught in a live trap and released away from the research plot.

The project blended traditional and indigenous knowledge into the research. Potts, of the Prairie Band Potawatomi, is in the liberal studies/humanities program. Her presentation at conference described how traditional feasts, harvesting, gathering and stories play a role in agriculture.

Schulz, a first-line direct descendant of the Stockbridge-Munsee Mohican Community, oversaw the garden research. He is enrolled in the bachelor’s degree program in business administration program at CMN and holds an associate degree from the college in natural resources. His presentation at the conference focused on the agricultural research conducted through scientific efforts such as plot design, soil testing, project protocol and projected results.

Bailey is an enrolled member of the Oneida Nation who presented on her phenology internship experience. Phenology is the study of cyclical and seasonal natural phenomena, especially relating to climate as well as plant and animal life. For this project, students follow the growth and life cycle of 12 plants that grow in three forest research plots. Bailey described what the pheno stages of the plants are and the importance of plant observation in a changing climate. She is enrolled in the Early Childhood Education program at CMN.

To find out more about the College of Menominee Nation, Sustainable Development Institute and intern opportunities, visit www.sustainabledevelopmentinstitute.org, or contact Rebecca Edler, sustainability coordinator, at 715-799-6226, ext 3043.

The Dead Dog Cafe might sound like the last place anyone would want to go, but when the words “Comedy Hour” are attached, it’s a different story.

The College of Menominee Nation is performing “The Dead Dog Cafe Comedy Hour” next week, three individual episodes from a popular radio show penned by Cherokee author Thomas King. The show will be performed at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Menominee Indian High School, N501 State Highway 47-55, Keshena, while the other show takes place at 7 p.m. Thursday at the Norbert Hill Center, N7210 Seminary Road, Oneida.

Besides the community shows, CMN is also performing two shows for MIHS students.

Ryan Winn, CMN theater professor and director of the show, said he knows King professionally and was interested in doing a live action staging of the show that was popular on Canadian radio for four years. Winn contacted King by email to see how amenable he would be to his work, set for a radio studio, gracing a theatrical stage.

“He wrote back that it was fine with him and to have fun,” Winn said.

The three individual episodes are titled “Aboriginal Decorating Tips,” “Ask Tonto” and “Blackout Bingo.” They are all from the show’s first season, Winn said, adding that the “Comedy Hour” title is slightly misleading, as each episode is about 15 minutes in length.

“They acknowledge that in one of the comedy of errors, if you will, or the farce,” Winn said. “Tom King is the one sane guy, and then everyone else who comes on is a little bit crazy, and hopefully it makes everyone laugh.”

The three episodes are interspersed with live music and some sound effects, similar to what went into radio performances. Winn noted that a lot of the humor is vocal in nature, but the students have been adding action to bring out even more humor to a visual audience.

“We added a backdrop, and we’re adding some visual gags to go along with what they’re saying to make it more of a live-action event,” Winn said. “It’s been fun transforming a radio comedy into a live-action comedy.”

Many theatrical productions tend to be frenzied and hectic, with some actors struggling to remember dialogue or blocking, or something else going awry. Winn said this fall’s theater class has been very good about coming to rehearsals prepared and remembering lines, an anomaly for a beginning theater class.

“I’m waiting for the other shoe to drop,” Winn said. “Everyone’s learning their lines and rehearsing and they’re being committed.”

Indigenous humor is what made “The Dead Dog Cafe Comedy Hour” a popular radio show, in Winn’s view. Some of the jokes are almost taken a step too far, he said, but they’re done in a clean way.

“There’s one skit that teaches, don’t be wasteful,” Winn said. “The idea is a lot of hunters only mount the head of a moose or some other animal. They’re suggesting you mount the entire body. You can mount the hind quarters in the bathroom and the tummy in the kitchen.”

The show stayed strong, Winn said, because it used traditional native values and humorized them so that a situation “seems pretty ridiculous, but in the best possible way.”

This is the 13th year that CMN has partnered with the Oneida Nation Arts Program to produce theatrical performances, which is why the show is being performed in two locations. Winn noted that past experience has shown doing more than one show in each community tends to bring out low attendance at each performance.

“At this time of year, if we do multiple shows during finals week, we get about 20 each night,” Winn said. “That play was done a few years ago, so now we do one night in Keshena and one night in Oneida.”

There was plenty of milk to be had Wednesday when a couple of four-legged visitors joined Wisconsin’s Alice in Dairyland at Bonduel High School.

Several Bonduel students got the chance to milk a cow by hand, a practice not done as much by Wisconsin farmers since technology has produced automated milking machines. But it gave the student body a chance to see how milk was collected in the days of yesteryear.

Crystal Siemers-Peterman is the 70th person to hold the Alice in Dairyland crown. She talked to the students about the state’s agriculture industry, focusing mainly on dairy. Siemers-Peterman gave the students a chance to test their trivia skills, and a few others attempted to moo like the cows that were brought in for milking.

Even with today’s modern technology, Siemers-Peterman said that she has milked a cow by hand. As a sixth-generation crop and dairy farmer from Cleveland, Siemers-Peterman noted the cow milking was one of the more unusual presentations she has given.

Prior to the cows entering the gym, Siemers-Peterman urged the students to remain quiet to avoid spooking the animals.

“Let’s remember that these cows are ladies,” Siemers-Peterman told the students, “and we’re going to treat them as such. We’re going to be quiet because they can be a little shy.”

Aside from one incident where a jittery cow stepped into the milk pail, the demonstration proved fun for the Bonduel students who interacted with the cows.

It has been six years since Alice in Dairyland has visited Bonduel’s schools, according to Bonduel School District Superintendent Patrick Rau, but it has been more than 10 years since a milking demonstration has coincided with the Alice visit. The Bonduel FFA and Bonduel FFA Alumni sponsored Wednesday’s Alice presentations.

“It’s a great learning experience for the kids,” Rau said.

Siemers-Peterman noted that Wisconsin ranks No. 1 in many agricultural industries — including cranberries, ginseng, snap beans, carrots and milk goats.

“But it’s Wisconsin’s dairy industry that contributes $43.4 billion to the state of Wisconsin annually,” Siemers-Peterman said. “We’re known as the cheese heads for a reason, as Wisconsin produces over 600 different types of cheeses.”

In addition to the high school visit, Siemers-Peterman visited Bonduel Elementary School earlier in the day and talked with the students about the state’s dairy industry. She also visited St. Paul Lutheran School to play games with some classes and taught other classes how to make butter.

“I hope that they have a little more appreciation for our hard-working dairy farmers,” Siemers-Peterman said.

After her visit to the high school, Siemers-Peterman commented that she could see the excitement on students’ faces as they got the chance to learn more about the state’s agriculture industries. She noted that the students in Bonduel “really knew their stuff,” were eager to learn more about where their food comes from and seemed especially excited to find out about the tie-in between Wisconsin’s dairy farms and restaurants.

“More and more restaurants across the nation are using more dairy products,” Siemers-Peterman said. “Maybe the next time they go to A&W, they’ll think, ‘Hey, they use Wisconsin cheese curds.’”

When Alice in Dairyland started in 1948, it was more of a beauty pageant geared toward women just out of high school. Today, the Alice position is a full-time job with the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection, and the women who hold the post have four years of education and experience with agriculture and/or public relations.

Siemers-Peterman graduated in May from the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities with a major in agricultural and food business management and a minor in marketing. During her time at the school, she worked with the National Agri-marketing Association, National Grocers Association and Gopher Dairy Club.

Wednesday’s visit was one of Siemers-Peterman’s early visits to schools in the state. Most of her school presentations will take place in February and throughout the spring via the program “Mapping a Healthy Wisconsin.”

“Each and every day, there’s something different,” Siemers-Peterman said. “This was another one of those great days.”

Small, sparsely populated school districts across the state have received $18.5 million in sparsity aid, including four in Shawano County, according to the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction.

Marion School District will receive $150,337, while Tigerton School District will receive $70,276, according to a DPI press release. Bowler School District will get $123,946 from the state, while Gresham gets $92,515.

Unlike most categorical aids, which are targeted to a specific program or service, sparsity aid may be used for general school operations.

For the 2017-18 school year, 144 districts in the state qualified for sparsity aid based on membership of 745 or fewer students and density of less than 10 pupils per square mile of the district’s geographic area. Aid was paid on the third Monday in September.

Sparsity aid is computed on prior year audited membership, which includes all students receiving services from a public school district and is different from enrollment. Combined, the eligible school districts had pupil membership of 62,377, which is about 7 percent of Wisconsin’s total public school membership for the 2016-17 school year. The membership total from eligible school districts required that the statutory sparsity aid payment of $300 per member be prorated at 98.84 percent this year for an actual payment of $296.52 per member.

“Across the state, the local school is the heart of the community. Its activities extend past the classroom as a gathering place for academic, athletic and other social activities that hold communities together. As a major employer, schools also support the local economy,” said state Superintendent Tony Evers. “The sparsity aid program is an important support to our small school districts.”

Sparsity aid was enacted as part of the 2007-09 state budget and based on recommendations from the State Superintendent’s Rural Schools Advisory Council. The council stressed that declining enrollment and escalating fixed costs along with the lack of economies of scale were issues that put added pressure on small, sparsely populated districts. With the exception of the 2015-16 school year, sparsity aid has been prorated each year.

A local club has donated archery equipment to Wittenberg-Birnamwood High School for its individual and lifetime leisure sports classes.

Nick Mechelke, who teaches the two elective courses to juniors and seniors, recently approached the Witt-Birn chapter of Wisconsin Deerhunters Inc. to see if the group could help give the students a better experience by providing 3-D targets.

The club purchased and donated all of the equipment for the school’s archery curriculum, which included bows, arrows and targets. The equipment arrived on Friday.

It is the first time the organization has donated to a specific physical education program.

Although the chapter has donated equipment and block targets to the high school before, this was the first time it donated to a specific program.

Member Denny Brahmer said the club ordered six 3-D targets, costing approximately $2,500, from Rhinehart Targets.

“The targets consisted of whitetail deer, big horn sheep, coyote, wild turkey, pronghorn antelope and black bear,” Brahmer said. “We were fortunate Rhinehart gave us a substantial discount off the retail price.”

Mechelke is excited about the donations that offer the students a more real-life hunting experience.

“Archery is a popular sport in our area and so why not provide the students with this opportunity,” he said.

The club has also provided all of the archery equipment and animal targets for the Witt-Birn Nature Center. At the center’s fall open house, students as young as 10 were able to try that equipment.

The third grade class at Sacred Heart Catholic School, instructed by Jamie Gegare, recently held a pajama drive in support of Scholastic’s Pajama Program.

The annual Scholastic Book Clubs Great Bedtime Story Pajama Drive is a national nonprofit organization that provides new pajamas and storybooks to at-risk children. The Pajama Program supports children living in shelters, group homes, and foster care, and those who attend Title I schools, Head Start programs and other organizations that support at-risk youth.

For every pair of pajamas the class donated, Scholastic donates a book. Those items are then donated together to families in need.

For information about the drive and Pajama Program, go to scholastic.com/pjdrive.

Since 2009, caring classrooms like Sacred Heart Catholic School’s third grade class have donated nearly 600,000 pairs of new pajamas nationwide. Scholastic Book Clubs has more than matched those numbers with nearly 1 million new storybooks donated directly to Pajama Program headquarters, where they are then shared with children across the country by Pajama Program.

The 56th annual University of Wisconsin-Extension Cow College program three-part series starts Jan. 9 in Clintonville.

The first session on Jan. 9 from 1-3 p.m. features Dr. Kent Weigel and Dr. Victor Cabrera, both UW-Extension specialists from the Dairy Science Department at UW-Madison. Weigel will discuss what has been learned about using DNA analysis as a tool to improve health and productivity of commercial dairy herds. Cabrera will then discuss the economics of cross-breeding low producing dairy cows and heifers with less genetic potential to beef bulls with superior carcass traits as an option for increasing dairy farm income.

The second session on Jan. 16 also begins at 1 p.m. featuring Dr. Randy Shaver and Dr. John Goeser, both with the Dairy Science Department at UW-Madison. They will review lab results from the 2017 forage and grain harvest with feeding strategies for dairy producers to consider in the coming months.

Both sessions are at Fox Valley Technical College on U.S. Highway 45 in Clintonville.

The final session will feature a dairy farm tour on Jan. 23. The first stop at 10 a.m. is at Wagner Farms, N6928 County Road BB north of Cecil, followed by Green Valley Dairy calf facility, W3171 Lodge Rd, Cecil.

Following the tour, lunch will be provided at the Cecil Village Hall, 111 E. Hofman St. After lunch, Matt Akins, UW-Extension dairy specialist at the Marshfield Ag Research Station will share an update on the cost of raising heifers in Wisconsin from data collected by Extension agents in 2017.

Visit the Waupaca County UW-Extension office website, http://waupaca.uwex.edu, for the program agenda and registration information.

All dairy producers and industry professionals are welcome to attend. Cost is $5 per session, or $10 for all three sessions (including the tour). Advance registration is required by contacting Jamie Patton at 715-526-6136 or jamie.patton@ces.uwex.edu.

Nsight, parent company of Nsight Telservices and Cellcom, is offering scholarships to area seniors who are planning to enroll in a full-time undergraduate course of study at an accredited two- or four-year college, university or technical school.

Cellcom will award 16 scholarships of $750 each to graduating high school seniors across its service area. Applicants must reside within a Wisconsin or Michigan county where Cellcom operates. Interested students can visit www.cellcom.com/events for more information.

Similarly, Nsight Telservices will award six $1,200 scholarships to graduating high school seniors in Niagara, Florence, Pulaski, Oconto, Oconto Falls, Two Rivers, Shawano or Door County. Interested students can visit www.nsighttel.com/the-nsight-difference for more information.

Recipients for these scholarships will be selected based on academic record, potential to succeed, leadership and participation in school and community activities, honors, work experience and an essay on community involvement. Financial need is not considered.

Applications are due March 15, and only online applications will be accepted.

Cellcom provides nationwide service for its customer base throughout Wisconsin and Michigan, with more than 50 retail and agent locations. Nsight Telservices offers high-speed Internet, voice, and cable television for residential customers in various service areas of Northeast Wisconsin.

Team Teddy of Wisconsin is hosting a “Box Out Breast Cancer” fundraiser during Friday’s Pulaski High School varsity girls basketball game against De Pere.

Proceeds from the event will go to Pulaski High School teacher Katie Titler, who is battling breast cancer.

“Students came forth wanting to support Mrs. Titler and needing a way to give back to someone who has given so much to them,” said Kelly Logue, middle school health and physical education teacher and Team Teddy of Wisconsin president.

The game is scheduled for 7 p.m. Friday at the Pulaski High School Fieldhouse, 1040 S. St. Augustine St., Pulaski.

“Box Out Breast Cancer” T-shirts will be sold at the game. A root beer float sale will also be held. A “Miracle Minute” is planned at halftime, when Team Teddy members will scatter throughout the bleachers and collect donations.

“We are so appreciative of the outpouring of community support we have already received and encourage everyone to get involved in some way,” said Jack Walker, Team Teddy of Wisconsin student president. “We hope to see everyone on Friday wearing pink, coming together for this great cause.”

Team Teddy is a student-run, nonprofit organization that provides stuffed animals to hospitalized children.

Sacred Heart Catholic School in Shawano learned late last year that it received accreditation by the Wisconsin Religious and Independent Schools Accreditation. Earning the certificate of accreditation for the 2017-18 school year means the school has been an accredited institution for over 20 years.

“We applaud the accomplishments of the Sacred Heart Catholic School community and its commitment to ongoing school improvement and high standards of excellence,” said Beatrice Weiland, executive director of the accrediting organization.

To be a school in good standing, educators must complete a comprehensive self study and undergo a peer visit to validate compliance with the accreditation team’s standards. Sacred Heart Principal Aleta Young and the Rev. Tom Farrell worked with school leadership to develop a long-range plan to meet their improvement goals. The accreditation board of directors announced in November that the school earned its accreditation certificate for this school year.

For information about Sacred Heart, call 715-526-5328, ext. 205, to reach Autumne Gee, director of admissions and development.

Seven College of Menominee Nation students are sharing student government leadership responsibilities at CMN in the 2017-18 academic year.

Betsy Trudeau, a sophomore in CMN’s biological and physical sciences, serves as student government president. Trudeau is an enrolled member of the Hannahville Potawatomi and currently resides in Neopit.

Bowler resident Adam Schulz, a junior majoring in natural resources and business administration, is vice president. He is a Stockbridge-Munsee descendant.

The organization’s treasurer is Susan A. Schuler, a freshman from Shawano who is majoring in biological and physical sciences.

Two enrolled members of the Menominee Tribe are respectively secretary and co-secretary: Maria Frechette, a sophomore public administration major, and Leah Pamonicutt, a junior majoring in public administration and business administration. Both reside in Keshena.

Student government leadership also includes an elected student representative from each of CMN’s two campuses. The Keshena campus representative is Kayla Rusch, a junior business administration major from Shawano. Terrence Telford-Hicks Jr. from Green Bay represents the Green Bay/Oneida campus. He is a freshman majoring in liberal studies social science.

The College of Menominee Nation is an accredited institution awarding bachelor’s and associate degrees, as well as technical diplomas. In 2018, the college celebrates its 25th year in operation.

Pulaski High School students are staging “42nd Street,” a musical that tells the story of a young performer who gets her big Broadway break in the 1930s.

The musical, written by Michael Stewart, Mark Bramble, Harry Warren and Al Dubin, “might not be familiar to some,” said director Kathryn Brown, Pulaski High School choir instructor. “But don’t let that stop you from coming. … It’s very entertaining from start to finish.”

Four performances are planned, Feb. 10-11 and Feb. 17-18, with shows starting at 7 p.m. on Fridays and 2 p.m. on Saturdays. Tickets are $8 and are available at the high school, 1040 S. St. Augustine St., or by calling Laurie Fischer at 920-822-6800.

Student performers in “42nd Street” include Emily Archambo, Emmarose Bader, Ava Baenen, Riley Brown, Alyssa Bruckert, Jordan Busse, Allison Carter, Oriana Cheney, Hunter Chrisman, Grace Christiansen, Hannah Dornfeld, Mara Grasse, Jessica Goska, Abby Harris, T.J. Hock, Allie Huber, Gabe Koepke, Kailee Kryger, Lauren Lacera, Amelia Lara, Brayden Lom, Dana Madden, Gavin Mangold, Avery McCallum, Megan Miesbauer, Caleb Miller, Marcus Moss, Cole O’Brien, Benjamin Petroll, Alyssa Rettke, Autumn Rettke, Jade Sampo, Frances Schaetz, Tyler Tanner, Jena Truckenbrod, Geovanni Virella-Torres, Lauryn Wessely, Karissa Willette and Brittney Winter.

Members of the pit band are Victoria Vaile, Makenna Agen, Courtney Faucett, Brooke Volkman, Megan Walkenhorst, Madison VanUs, Cheyanne Kandler, Megan Mielke, Connor Parr, Caleb Wilinski, Malorie Schultz, Edgar Flores-Martinez, Corinne Galligan, Sara Kunesh, Adrian Caylor, Alyssa Utech, Will Voelker and Scotty Smith.

Members of the stage crew are Cameron Carpenter, Nick Diefenthaler, Jason Dietrich, Ben Evenson, Caleb Haag, Sarah Kurowski, Jayden Lepp, Rachel Pagel, Iyana Ramey, Holly Schupbach, Megan Schwoerer, Ashley Valeria, Kiley Van Schyndel, Hannah VanEnkevort, Ruby VanZeeland and Mackenzie Walla.

Editor’s note: Wolf River Media recently chatted with Wade Turner, principal of Bowler Elementary School. At a school assembly Jan. 9, he was given the Outstanding Administrator Award from the Wisconsin State Reading Association. Turner was nominated for the award by fifth/sixth-grade teacher Jody Siahaan and the Wolf River Reading Council.

Q: What is your title, and how long have you been with the Bowler School District?

A: I am the Bowler elementary principal. This is my fifth year as principal, 18th year in the district. I have taught first, second, third and fifth grades. I’m also summer school principal for the district, five years as well.

Q: What is your career history and educational background?

A: I was a journalist for seven years after graduating from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point with a Bachelor of Science degree. My major was in communication, and I minored in writing and business administration. I went back to school to get my teaching certification for grades K-6 from UW-Milwaukee. I have been at Bowler since 2000. This was my first full-time job in teaching. I received my master’s degree in reading licensure from UW-Stevens Point. I received my administrative licensure from Viterbo University in La Crosse.

Q: Did you know you had been nominated for the Outstanding Administrator Award?

A: I had no idea that I was nominated or received the award. I thought we were having an assembly for our reading incentive program, which is through the Green Bay Bullfrogs. So I gave the announcement for the assembly to begin, not realizing it was actually for me.

Q: What does the award mean to you?

A: It means a lot to me because it ultimately originated from the staff, and I realize that I am only as good as our pre-kindergarten to sixth-grade staff. I am fortunate to have a caring, conscientious and hard-working staff. I am here to support them so our students can be successful. I feel fortunate to be in the education business so I can make a difference in students’ lives on a daily basis, and I always try to be positive and show the students that I care.

Q: Why are you a member of the Wisconsin State Reading Association?

A: Being a member of the Wisconsin State Reading Association allows you to have access to the latest reading trends and strategies and what the successful teachers are doing around the state, which sets them apart. Reading is the backbone to all instruction, and any insight I can parlay to teachers is a benefit to everyone. I am always encouraging teachers to try new things in the classroom and not worrying about failing, since that is the only way to ultimately succeed.

Q: What is your connection with the Wolf River Reading Council?

A: The Wolf River Reading Council is a good way to network with neighboring schools and see what they are doing to help improve their students’ reading skills and, ultimately, improving our standardized testing results. In fact this past year, our elementary school improved its score quite significantly from a year ago. The council also brings in top-notch presenters to its monthly meetings where teachers have definite takeaways that they can use in their classrooms even on the following day.

Q: What is your philosophy regarding reading?

A: My philosophy regarding reading is you ultimately must get the students interested in reading. This is especially true for those struggling readers, who often need high-interest books to get them hooked, and then hopefully their reading will flourish. Instruction must also be a balance of teaching fluency, primarily in the younger grades, and then complement that with comprehension skills as they get older. If a student has to focus too much on fluency, he/she loses the accompanying comprehension of the story. That is why teaching the basic phonics skills at the younger level is so critical. Also, if students feel confident in reading, they should do well in all subject areas as well, like math and the social sciences. In conjunction with reading instruction, writing must also be embedded into the curriculum since so much of schoolwork is tied into quality writing. Reading is the backbone of education, and we have a huge responsibility as educators to make sure students are successful in reading, which hopefully parlays into success outside of school as well.

Q: What genres do you prefer to read for leisure?

A: I’ve always loved to read. But having a journalism background, I like reading nonfiction books. So I read many biographies, autobiographies and real-life stories or documentaries. Being an avid sports fan, I enjoy reading sports-related books and can spend several hours browsing through a Barnes & Noble bookstore. And, of course, since I used to write for a newspaper, I enjoy reading the daily news and especially like reading feature stories on people who make a difference in the community.

Birnamwood Elementary School went into a soft lockdown Jan. 18 after a man was noticed exhibiting suspicious behavior outside the school.

Garrett Rogowski, superintendent of the Wittenberg-Birnamwood School District, called the Shawano County Sheriff’s Department, which contacted the school’s liaison officer, Dan Weisensel.

Weisensel investigated and said the 24-year-old man from Texas was apparently involved in an online relationship with a teacher. The man was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct, Weisensel said.

The man has since posted bail and is back in Texas. There were no threats made and no danger to anyone, according to the sheriff’s department.

Most of the students were unaware of anything unusual, Rogowski said.

During a soft lockdown, the school maintains normal activities but no one is allowed outside.

“It happened and was handled in the morning, and I didn’t alert the parents at that time as I didn’t want to heighten concern,” Rogowski said.

At the end of the school day, the school sent a phone message via Skyward — the school notification system — to tell parents what had happened.

“It’s important to note that all other schools, like Tigerton, Bowler, etc., would have followed the same protocol,” Weisensel said.

Some parents, however, have expressed concerns about how the incident was handled.

Jamie Arndt, who has two children at Birnamwood Elementary, said she was concerned that the phone message was hard to hear and that it came so late in the day. The only option for parents with questions was to leave a message.

“Personally, as a parent, I would have liked to have been notified a lot sooner that an incident occurred and maybe a better explanation sent home in a letter that day of what happened,” Arndt said.

Arndt spoke with Rogowski on Friday and suggested a review of the incident, including what went well and what could have been done differently.

Parents also raised the issue at the Wittenberg-Birnamwood School Board meeting Monday.

During the public comments portion of the meeting, Leah Lex, of Birnamwood, said there should have been more information provided following the lockdown.

Rogowski again said he did not want to heighten an issue that had been resolved.

“Jesus Christ our Superhero” is the theme for Sacred Heart Catholic School’s celebration of National Catholic School’s Week, Jan. 28 through Feb. 2. Students and staff will join with their families, parishioners and Shawano community members to celebrate the week with Masses, an open house and other activities.

A family Mass at Sacred Heart Parish, 302 S. Main St., Shawano, will start Catholic School’s Week at 10:45 a.m. Jan. 28. A superhero-themed open house will follow from noon to 2:30 p.m. at Sacred Heart Catholic School, 124 E. Center St., featuring free food and fun activities.

During the school week, students will engage in activities that the school says will demonstrate Jesus’ acts of heroism and how they are called to be like Christ by being brave, kind, faithful, powerful, hopeful and wise.

Rhex Arboleda will help students “Move to the Groove” on Jan. 29.

On Jan. 31, the public is invited to a presentation by Brig. Gen. Joni Matthews, the first female general in the Wisconsin Army National Guard. Matthews, who has 30 years of military experience as a combat helicopter pilot and brigade commander, comes from the Lake Superior Chippewa Indians and attended Catholic grade school while being raised on the reservation. She will share her message at 6:30 p.m. in the Sacred Heart Catholic School gymnasium.

“Special Persons Day” will wrap up the week Feb. 2 with an all-school Mass, special luncheon, live radio broadcast with WTCH and more. The students will welcome important heroes from the community, including Shawano Mayor Jeanne Cronce, Police Chief Dan Mauel, Shawano County Sheriff’s Deputy Sandra Finger, school liaison officer Jody Johnson, and Shawano Ambulance Director of Operations Pat Trinko.

Sacred Heart Catholic School, the only Catholic school in Shawano County, has been serving the community for 135 years. For information on these events or enrollment, call the school office at 715-526-5328 or find them on Facebook.