School Notes

Sacred Heart Catholic School

Here is a quick reminder regarding the spring dress code for our school. Shorts must be within one inch of the knee and may not be worn unless the temperature outside is higher than 60 degrees. Also any clothing with lace may not be worn unless another piece of clothing is worn underneath to cover the skin. Modesty and neat comfort is our goal. Remember, too, to dress your best for Mass days.

The Student Council has planned a fun activity for the students Tuesday. They will be tailgating for lunch and then will rake the school lawn. We will conclude the activity by playing a student vs. teacher game outside. If you have a rake that we may borrow, please contact the school office, and label your rake so it can be returned.

Sacred Heart Church renovation is under way. The students and staff helped Father Luke Ferris set up the gym for Mass. The gym is now considered our church and worship space. The children have adjusted to our new surroundings and find the gym a fine place to worship. All the students realize that God is with us at all times. He watches over us and cares for us in the gym, too.

The fourth and fifth grades had a wonderful time last week at Heritage Hill State Park in Green Bay. The students participated in a large variety of activities, including a trial, school day and hospital tour from the mid-1800s. They also learned what it was like to live on a farm from the same time period. One student commented how much fun it was to learn all these new things. I am sure from the comments I heard, all the students enjoyed their learning. A special thanks to Amy Piantek for joining us as our chaperon.

The children continue to enjoy their swimming lessons each week. They enjoy the lessons as well as the free time they have for playing and diving in the pool. Each class is allowed 30 minutes of time in the pool. The exercise and fun they have are very gratifying.

Do not forget our Spring Showcase at 4:30 p.m. May 22, beginning with a sandwich dinner. There will be science presentations, a concert and a play to end the evening. Bring the entire family to have an enjoyable evening at school.

Shawano Community Middle School

SCMS had a great week last week. We celebrated Teacher and Staff Appreciation Week. Staff members received lunches from the Parent Teacher Association, district office and main office. We have staff members who are doing some great things here, and it was exciting to officially recognize their hard work and efforts. It was also great to hear the appreciation from the students.

Safe Routes hosted our second Bike to School Day of the year. Most students who participated beat the rain, and those who came a bit later didn’t let the weather stop them. Thank you for the donation of prizes, including water bottles, Subway gift cards and T-shirts, Safe Routes!

Shawano Pathways is hosting a “Let’s Get Moving” celebration of Shawano’s new Park to Park Loops from 4-7 p.m. Wednesday. Come on down to Kuckuk Park for walking the trails, grabbing prizes and surprises, and listening to Burnt Toast and Jam after it is done! This is also a tribute to Laura Dunnam, one of our former athletes, which will be held at 5:30 p.m. This is a free event, so we hope to see many families there. More details can be found at www.shawanopathways.org.

Our Super Cool Middle School Fair is from 3:30-7:30 p.m. Thursday. The students are excited to have all of their work on display, from art projects to musical performances. Come and join us for music, student art show, class project displays, food and refreshments. Group performances will begin at 3:30 p.m. with the beginning orchestra, followed by choir at 3:50 p.m., beginning band at 4:10 p.m., swing choir at 4:30 p.m., concert band at 4:50 p.m. and advanced orchestra at 5:20 p.m. The talent show featuring the SCMS jazz band will conclude the event at 6 p.m.

Students will have a half day of school Friday. They will be released at 11 a.m., and staff members will stay for their in-service.

We will have a jeans week for staff this week. We have two Destination Imagination teams that have made it to the Global Finals in Tennessee, and are raising funds in order to participate. Staff will wear jeans this week in exchange for a donation to these teams to help make their dream a reality. Congratulations to Tracy Laude and Emily Schwartz and their teams. This is the first time in the history of Shawano that we have had teams advance to this level. They will leave Monday for the University of Tennessee-Knoxville and will compete from May 21-24. Thousands of countries from around the world have student representation. What an amazing opportunity! Congrats, again, teams! We will be cheering for you.

St. Paul Lutheran School, Bonduel

Congratulations to the co-ed seventh- and eighth-grade softball teams, with the assistance of some sixth-graders and Lane Hischke, who placed second and fifth (consolation), respectively, at the Luxemburg tournament this past weekend.

We wish the girls and boys teams well as they compete in the first-round of games in conjunction with Friday’s track and field day. St. Paul looks forward to hosting several hundred athletes and fans for track, field and softball events throughout the day Friday. The event is free to the public and lunch concessions are available.

Prevea’s Luv2Run program came to a close. Jim Guenterberg and Bridget Dingeldein, with the assistance of other adult runners and helpers, helped about 50 students. They taught them how to properly stretch, train and enjoy running as a lifetime sport during the last two months. Several runners will also compete in Saturday’s Cellcom 5K in Green Bay. We wish them well!

In preparation for the upcoming eighth-grade trip to Washington, D.C., students wrote essays with freedom as the topic. From those submitted, two will be chosen to place a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Winners should be announced next week.

The SPYRT Youth Group is holding an electronics recycling event for the community from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday across from the school. The former FS building will be the drop-off site for computers, appliances, laptops, etc. Most of the electronics will be collected for free. There is a fee for some larger items or items with screens, such as televisions and computer monitors. Please call the school office to inquire, and consider donating your old electronics. The youth group thanks you.

Wolf River Lutheran High School

Yosemite bound! On Sunday, the faculty and students of Wolf River Lutheran High School departed about 2:30 a.m. to Austin Straubel Airport in Green Bay, where they flew to California for a schoolwide field trip to Yosemite National Park. The group will return on Saturday. The trip was suggested and organized by the school’s math and science teacher, Paul Duerr, and has been in the works for months as students were busy raising the necessary funds to pay for the adventure.

“Mr. Duerr grew up in California and has visited Yosemite countless times,” said Jay Lindsey, the school’s principal. “He came to me with the idea and I encouraged him to get the school board’s permission.”

While the trip will be fun, the teachers have been working hard to make it an educational experience.

“The teachers have spent time teaching units in history, science, and literature centering on our nation’s vast national park program and Yosemite in particular,” Lindsey said. “Christian teachings, particularly creationism, have been emphasized, too.”

It is hoped that this trip, and others like it in the future, can become a tradition.

“An education is most effective when studied up close and personal. Our smaller school size makes trips like this more obtainable,” Duerr said.

Bonduel Elementary School

On Thursday we took our fourth-grade students to Madison for an action-packed day. We began our adventure at the Henry Vilas Zoo. All enjoyed giraffes, tapirs, bison, prairie dogs, penguins and many more animals. We had a picnic lunch at the zoo, and then it was off to the Wisconsin State Historical Museum. I was so impressed with all the facts the students remembered from class about immigration, lumbering, and mining. We took a cute group photo on the steps of the state Capitol and then had the amazing tour of our fascinating Capitol. The students were excited to actually see so many of the things they learned about this year. Tired feet boarded our coach bus and safely brought us back to the school. Wonderful memories were made in Madison on May 8.

— Traci Steinbach

Gresham Community School

Last week there were a few pretty exciting events at Gresham Community School. The band was able to have their incentive for doing well in their concert on Saturday. All band members were able to go to the school at noon for pizza, soda and open gym.

Last week was Teacher Appreciation Week. We played games and activities such as teacher Bingo. Every day at lunch the students voted on awards to give out to the staff members. Some of the awards were Most Chill Teacher, Funniest Teacher and Most Likely To Give Homework. At the end of the week we had an assembly to give out these awards.

We will also be holding our annual Cystic Fibrosis walk on Saturday. This will be the sixth year of doing this walk in memory of Cody Pluger, who passed away from Cystic Fibrosis. It is being held at Gresham School at 10 a.m. Anyone can come and walk, run or ride bike.

This week starts the beginning of our fundraiser for Cystic Fibrosis, Monday we have super hero day, Tuesday is hat day, Wednesday is twin day, Thursday is school spirit day, and Friday is blue-out day. All week students are able to pay $2 to use their cell phones during school, and the teachers pay $2 to wear jeans in school. We are hoping to raise a lot of money to donate to help find a cure for Cystic Fibrosis.