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.