School Notes

Bowler Elementary School

At the beginning of this school year, students from Jody Siahaan’s Panthers Acquiring Knowledge and Skills class were involved in writing an application for a grant from the Wisconsin Department of Instruction.

Many schools from the state wrote applications, and only some schools were chosen. We received a grant for $1,000 and are using the money to help students understand how important it is to treat each other with respect and kindness.

We based it on a book about how to be a “bucket filler” and not a “bucket dipper.” We designed some banners for our walls at school and made T-shirts for our classes.

We are also attending a play at the Grand Theater in Wausau to learn about how Jackie Robinson overcame racial attitudes of people who didn’t always treat him with kindness and respect.

Our next project is to buy buckets for each elementary classroom and also give them some pom-poms. Every time someone from the class receives a compliment or gives one, a pom-pom goes in the bucket. When the bucket is full, they will become true “bucket fillers.”

Shawano Community High School

Brynn Huntington, Kaitlin Pescinski and Sarah Benzinger represented the Shawano FFA Chapter at the Wisconsin Farm Bureau’s FFA Farm Forum in Wisconsin Rapids on Feb. 17-18.

During the two-day event at Hotel Mead in Wisconsin Rapids, nearly 200 FFA members attended workshops that covered topics including post-high school agricultural opportunities, social media, agriculture advocacy and leadership.

Joining Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation President Jim Holte as speakers at the event were Mark Holley, Sunrise 7 meteorologist, and Chris and Amy Blakeney, owners of Amazing Grace Family Farm.

The Wisconsin Farm Bureau Foundation sponsors the FFA Farm Forum in cooperation with the Wisconsin Association of FFA. This year’s FFA Farm Forum marks the 45th year the Farm Bureau family of affiliates has sponsored the event for Wisconsin youth.