School Notes

Bowler Elementary School

The Science Fair winners were announced recently at an assembly at Bowler Elementary: Joe Cardish, third grade, first place; Gavin Klose, third grade, second place; Ethan Boyd, third grade, third place; Bailey Grosskopf, fourth grade, first place; Tristan Thiex, fourth grade, second place; Brady Strassburg, fourth grade, third place; Logan Blum, fifth grade, first place; Beau Hartwig, fifth grade, second place; Selina Thiex, fifth grade, third place; Adin Brei, sixth grade, first place; Skye Breitrick, sixth grade, second place; Kaitlyn Pingel, sixth grade, third place. The coordinator of the event was fifth/sixth-grade teacher Thomas Bagnall.

Sacred Heart Catholic School

We “berry” much appreciate our volunteers. We honored 11 special volunteers with baskets of strawberries for Volunteer Appreciation Week. Please take time to thank great volunteers when you see them in action. They help make our school a great place to be. Thank you to the Library Ladies: Michelle Siegfried, Sue Dietz, Alyssa Hammen, Linda Meisner, Amy Ghent and Michelle Bunker. Thank you to Barb Lichtensteiger for helping with the kitchen and math tutoring. Thank you to Amy Piantek, our SCRIP coordinator. Thank you to Dr. Carrie Verkuilen for volunteering in the office and the classroom. Thank you to Jeanne Boyd for her work with our Transform Wisconsin walking program. Thank you to Jenni Onesti for her help in the office, kitchen and cleaning in the library.

The eighth grade has raised $3,500 in two weeks for their service trip to Chicago in May. They are having a stock sale for $25 per share. Families or community members who wish to purchase a share of stock can do so by sending their $25 donation to the school office marked “stock sale.” Silver sponsorships of $250 are also available for any business wishing to support the trip. So far, Council of Catholic Women has sponsored $1,000 and Luigi’s has sponsored $500. Thank you!

Lelo Garcia, a seventh-grader at Sacred Heart Catholic School, has won first place and $30 for his piece of art that he submitted to the Shawano Women’s Club Art Contest. Way to go, Lelo.

While the Rev. Luke Ferris is rediscovering his heritage in Slovenia, the Rev. David McElroy came to celebrate our weekly Mass with us. We are very lucky to have Father McElroy join the students from his home parishes that attend our school. He spoke to our students about obeying. He had the students, staff and parishioners clapping and laughing as he delivered his message. Thank you to Father McElroy for joining us.

The Shawano community is invited to purchase items from our indoor rummage sale to be held in the school gym from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday and 8 a.m. to noon Saturday. Donations of items for the sale will be accepted at the school door No. 2 (back parking lot) starting on Wednesday if you are doing some spring cleaning.

This school year we are blessed to be enriching the lives of 86 students. We have enrolled number 88 and 89 today! Do you or someone you know want to be number 90? Contact Carolyn Reuter at creuter@sacredheartshawano.org or call the school office at 715-526-5328.

St. Paul Lutheran School

Under the direction of Deb Guenterberg, the third week of Prevea’s “Love to Run” program is nearly complete. The goal for last week was to run about 12 to 15 minutes without stopping, and this week we increased the time slightly. The weather has been perfect and warm for running! St. Paul has been participating in this program since 2013. It gives students of all ages the opportunity to learn the basics of a lifelong sport. Two after-school sessions each week include a warm-up, stretching session, a game and a period of running. Each day ends with a cool-down period and snack. Students and parents have the opportunity to put their running skills to work at the Cellcom 5K race in Green Bay for a reduced rate. It takes about 30 minutes to run a 5K, so we are slowly building toward maintaining a 30-minute run without stopping. Our goal is to run the Cellcom 5K on May 16 at 9 a.m. as a St. Paul team.

This week is midquarter of the fourth quarter! The warm weather and sun have been a nice transition to some new activities. Students in first grade are busy growing bean plants in containers on their windowsills, and this week their caterpillars arrive! They will await the transformation to butterflies and seed to plant as part of their science unit.

Fourth-graders are getting ready to identify minerals in a science lab, and seventh- and eighth-graders are enjoying the opportunity to rake leaves. Helping out people in need of assistance with yard work also helps them earn money toward their Washington, D.C. trip in May. Grades 5-8 are enjoying the nice weather to begin practice for Track & Field Day, coming up on May 15.

Softball practices have already begun, as well.

Eighth-graders are also busy working on their Confirmation stoles and writing their Statement of Faith. This year’s Witness Service is on April 29, with Confirmation on May 3.

St. Paul Lutheran School continues to accept enrollment for all grades, 3-year-old preschool through eighth grade, for the 2015-16 school year. We ask if you are considering St. Paul for your children, contact the office for a tour and registration papers. To schedule a tour or have questions answered, call 715-758-8532.

St. James Lutheran School

The fourth-graders had a moooving experience at the Krueger’s Farm last week. Adding to their study of Wisconsin, the fourth-graders are participating in Adventure in Dairyland. The students are learning the many different products that come from farms, specifically dairy farms. While visiting Krueger’s Farm, the students saw cows being milked, baby calves, calves that like to suck on our hands, tractors and two milk houses. The students also had the opportunity to visit Charlie’s County Market. They took a tour of the different departments at the store, paying close attention to all the products that are related to dairy. They are having a great time learning about this important industry in Wisconsin.

This week the third-graders reached a milestone. They completed reading the New Testament in their own Bibles, which they received from the congregation last fall. In order to accomplish this task, they have read two chapters every day since the beginning of school in September. They also highlighted verses that they found interesting or important. The class would like to thank St. James congregation again for their Bibles. They appreciate them even more after this accomplishment.

On Wednesday, the preschool held a special night for the children to bring their dads to school. They were able to play in their classrooms and in the gym. The evening ended with the large parachute and the children singing “Four Hugs a Day.” The evening was a success as fun was had by all.

Bonduel Elementary School

A quick glance inside the Bonduel Elementary Art Room.

As we saw in weeks prior, art is a continuous process at Bonduel Elementary. However, we cannot forget to take a look at what some of the other grades have been doing to broaden their artistic abilities.

Third grade just finished up learning about the concept of camouflage and color for animal survival and created ceramic insects living in a three-dimensional habitat. Now they are moving on to a more intrapersonal project. They were reminded of the definition of adjectives and asked to come up with 10 adjectives and 10 hobbies relating to themselves. These 20 items would make up the silhouette of a self-portrait in the form of images, written words and, of course, color! As they learn the anatomy of the human face, they will be learning all about portraits in a nontraditional sense of the term.

The idea of the fourth grade’s current project sprouted when a student asked how to mix gray paint for a different project. Because this is an important skill for all students to have, they are now creating a cityscape using this very idea. Students are learning all about tints and shadows and how mixing black into white in gradual amounts will give the effect of buildings getting closer from the distance. To help with this effect, each section of cityscape becomes darker than the one it overlaps until the closest set of buildings is completely black. Not to mention, even with something as simple as cityscapes, students have found incredibly creative ways to decorate the tops of their buildings to really make them stand out.

The last group to be creating artwork to be proud of would be the fifth-graders. After learning about the Carnival of Venice and the intricate masks that are involved, students got to delve into the world of mask making. Using plaster strips and powder, students created their masks using a mold, and then let them dry. Then came the decorating! Masks from the Carnival of Venice are often brightly colored with paint, glitter and ribbon. None of this was spared as students were able to creatively decorate their masks.

Students at Bonduel Elementary have been hard at work ensuring that quality artwork floods the halls, and it’s exciting to anticipate what they will create next!

Gresham Community School

Three girls went to Madison for forensics Friday. Shyann Moreno received a bronze medal.

Citizens of the month for March were Mykalynn Williams, Morgan Shawanokasic, K Jameson Paiser, Ciara Bugler, Andre Creapeau, Ellamay Martin, Wanbli Spotted War Bonnett, Ayianna Hill, Nathan Webster and Jack Haffner.

On Monday evening, Culture Club bundled tobacco for the powwow that will be held at 12:30 p.m. May 1.

Olga Brener Intermediate School

The fourth-graders have been busy learning about their state this year, how it came about, the state symbols, Wisconsin Native American tribes, etc. In conjunction with their curriculum, the entire fourth grade went on a field trip to Madison. The students sold fruit to help fund this great experience. They toured the state Capitol, Wisconsin Historical Museum and the Wisconsin Veterans Museum.

Local musician Wade Fernandez recently worked with some of our fifth-grade students on playing Native American flutes. Wade did a school presentation on April 15 about the type of music he plays and how he got into it. Fifth-grade students performed in front of the rest of the student body, demonstrating what they had learned while working with him. They also performed at the fifth-grade concert held Tuesday.

Upcoming: Friday, half day and Walk in My Shoes Day; April 30, Good to Go Run.