ADMINISTRATIVE REPORTS
BOARD MEETING APRIL 20, 2015
4K
2014-2015 4K Enrollment: We had four students enroll in our current 4K program this past
month or so. Therefore, we are at our ideal capacity. We could add a couple additional
students if needed but our current enrollment numbers are preferable to maintain student to
teacher ratios and allow for a manageable workload for staff.
Final Open Gym: On Saturday, April 11, the program had its final MH4K open gym.
Approximately 13 families participated in this event. Over the course of the school year, 25
families typically attended this family involvement activity. As the program is to provide a
minimum of 87.5 family outreach activities, the open gyms account for a good portion of these
hours.
MH4K Advisory Council: On Tuesday, April 14, the program had its last Advisory Council. The
following members met with Sarah Straka, Director of Early Learning, throughout the year to
discuss 4K-related topics ranging from report cards to parent/teacher conferences to take
home activities. The members played a crucial part in developing the 2014-2015 MH4K Family
Feedback Survey.
Advisory Council Members: Vicki Beglinger, Joy Finley, Beth Heiting (Agape); Jaime Meyers
(Hearts & Hands); Jen Johnston, Amanda Rockow (Little Vikings); Darcy Hesseling (SonShine);
Diana Rothamer (Board Member); Sarah Straka (Director of Early Learning)
2014-2015 MH4K Family Feedback Survey: All current 4K families received an e-blast on April
13th asking for their feedback on our current program. All results are being compiled on the
district survey monkey account. Results of this survey will be shared in May.
EARLY LEARNING CENTER/PRIMARY CENTER
The Kindergarten Spring Sing will be held at the Primary Center on Friday, April 24 starting at
2:00 in the PC gym. The children are very excited to show off what they have learned this year.
A special thank you goes to Barb Underwood, music teacher, for bringing out the musical
talents of our littlest Vikings.
We are finishing up our Spring MAP assessments this week. The rest of our spring assessments
will quickly follow in the upcoming weeks. The state mandated PALS assessment window
begins on May 4.
On Monday, April 13 our Primary Center students celebrated another 100 gold coin
accomplishment with extra recess with dance music. It was a beautiful day to honor all of the
respectful, responsible and ready behaviors are students are using on a daily basis.
Speaking of being respectful, responsible and ready, our students were making so many great
choices we were running out of red tokens to hand out! This was a GREAT problem to have.
Therefore, we ordered another 3,000 red tokens to be distributed to classrooms. We used box
top and milk cap funds to purchase the shiny new batch of tokens. We look forward to running
low on tokens again in the near future as this means are kids continue to make more and more
great choices and teachers are acknowledging these awesome behaviors.
Our 3rd Annual Related Arts & Guidance Night event was once again a huge success. We had
approximately 90 first graders and their parents attend. This event was started to share with
parents the valuable work our related arts and guidance staff does with our students on a
weekly basis. Here is the link to the promotional video that was used to publicize the event.
https://youtu.be/fzvojyp5tgA
Here are some pictures for you to enjoy!
I would like to thank our AMAZING Related Arts
and Guidance Staff for ALL of their hard work to
make their programs such a HUGE success!
Barb Underwood – Music Teacher
Deb Kabler – Library Media Specialist
Ryan Kleppe – PE Teacher
Laura Gruetzmacher – Art Teacher
Emily McKee – Guidance Counselor
Cullen Steck – PE Teacher
Quotes from Parents at the end of Related Arts Night:
“This was my second favorite event of the whole year!” “So much fun…Thank you!” “It is so
nice to put faces to the names I hear from my child every day. Now I have all of 2nd grade to
make that connection.” “What a fun event. So glad you guys do this.” “Neat idea!” “It is so
nice to get to experience what my child does outside of the classroom on a daily basis.”
INTERMEDIATE CENTER
Safety/Security Update: The new security electronic door lock is installed and working as well
as is our entry area camera! The last week we participated in a severe weather safety drill.
When the mock warning for the drill was issued, we practice by putting our severe weather
emergency preparedness plan into effect. This gave us an opportunity to see how effective our
preparedness plan actually is.
SCIENCE at the IC!
3rd grade Space Day: Space Day was a celebration of their space unit. At various centers
we students were able to experience activities like those astronauts do.
Get Ready for the Mt Horeb IC
Explore Science Night and Student Art Show
Wednesday, May 20th 6:00-8:30 pm
All 3-5 students are welcome and encouraged to participate.
The science projects should be simple, easy to show, and something that students can explain
to others on their own. All students will receive a participation ribbon. This is not a competition
but a chance for students to explore and share what they think is fun and exciting about
science! All student projects will be displayed in the cafeteria. More information to come.
(Note: This is an extra opportunity for students and in general not a classroom project).
That same night, there will be student art on display on the first floor of the IC. Students and
families are encouraged to come to see the kid’s art as well as take in the science fair. We look
forward to a fantastic event.
Attendance: At the IC we participated in the Madison Capitols area Perfect Attendance
Program to reward students for attendance during the school year! Students, 3rd thru 5th, with
perfect attendance in the month of March received a voucher for one complimentary ticket to
two exclusive Capitols games this season! 2015. We had almost 300 students have perfect
attendance for March!
Literacy: At our early release on April 13th the teaching staff was able to see presentations
about two possible new literacy programs. Staff was allowed time as teams to discuss and give
input about literacy.
Assessment: We are finishing up our last round of MAPS testing. Students have been working
hard and took assessments in both math and reading. Once we get the data back. We will use
this information to see if we have met our growth goals as well as to inform our instruction.
Volunteers: Many of the activities we do at the IC would not be possible without the help of
volunteers. Activities such as Field Day, tie-dying, field trips, Homework Club, and day-to-day
classroom help are just a few of the ways parents, community members, and high
school/middle school students make a difference for our students!
Our staff and
students will be acknowledging these special people during Volunteer Appreciation Week. We
will have a volunteer assembly on April20th.
MIDDLE SCHOOL
Technology in the Classroom and the Community: A Cooperative Effort
Steve Grundahl of Midwest Prototyping, Tim Killinger, of Intense Engineering, and Dan Biddick,
a technology teacher at Mt. Horeb Middle School recently collaborated on a week-long project
for seventh grade students. The goal for the students was to learn how ideas are developed
and changed over time to achieve the needed requirements. The idea that Grundahl, Killinger,
and Biddick wanted the students to develop was for a new pencil cup design. The three
collaborators would select one design from both class periods and one “best of show” design
from both classes.
The students worked through the development process from the initial idea and inspiration
(with Tim Killinger, Intense Engineering) all the way to the final 3D printed prototypes (with
Steve Grundahl, Midwest Prototyping).
The first days of the design included a design/sketching introduction from Tim Killinger and the
students began designing pencil ideas. Tim stressed the idea of failing time and time again
before coming up with the needed design outcome. After two days of building and refinement
Steve Grundahl, Tim Killinger, and Dan Biddick chose the top three designs from both classes.
Tim Killinger took the three designs and put the designs into a 3D modeling software
(Solidworks) and sent the designs to Midwest Prototyping to be created in 3D print form. On
the final wrap-up day, the students had the drawings shown by the designer, Tim Killinger and
had the finished models presented by Steve Grundahl. “Overall, it was great to see the
students with so much excitement toward technology and engineering and for Steve Grundahl
and Tim Killinger to donate their time and resources to the program here at the middle school,”
said Dan Biddick.
Coming Soon………………
Mt. Horeb Middle School Musical
Mt. Horeb Middle School will be performing Seussical Jr. on Friday, June 12 with two
performances for the general public scheduled for 5:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. at the high school
auditorium. Sign-ups for the musical begin on Monday, May 4 and auditions will be held on
Monday, May 11. The musical is open to all Mt. Horeb Middle School students. Rehearsal for
the musical will start on Saturday, May 16 and will conclude with dress rehearsals on June 8, 9,
and 10. The directors for the production are Calli Ingebritsen, Theresa Buechner, and John
Mesoloras.
Eighth Grade Kalahari Band Festival
Eighth grade band will be participating in the Seventh Annual Band Festival in Wisconsin Dells
on Thursday, April 23.
The festival was created in 2008 the goal of offering middle school bands a quality band
experience in a supportive environment. Each participating band will be performing a number
of selections for a panel of judges and eighth grade peers. Following the performance, each
band will receive not only written and audio comments, but also a thirty-five minute clinic by
one of master judges. The emphasis of the clinic is to take this “teachable moment” to
demonstrate the concepts in order to validate the performance of the students.
Each band will have the opportunity to listen to at least two other bands during the day. The
participating bands will enjoy a pizza party as well as the water park.
Mt. Horeb Middle School is proud to be one of the long standing members at the festival. The
students and band instructors look forward to this event which promises to be enjoyable and a
rewarding experience for the musicians.
HIGH SCHOOL
NHS had a successful blood drive on April 8 collecting 81 units of blood.
NHS has selected new members. They will be inducted during a ceremony at the High School
Auditorium on April 22 at 7 PM.
The third annual Viking Book Battle occurred on April 13. The event consists of teams reading
several books and then competing in a multiple choice test and jeopardy round to test their
knowledge of the books.
First place: Becca Amick, Emily Gray, Jackson Kealy
Second place: Nichole Banfield, Jessi Neuman, Natalie Wyss
Third place: Ashlee Beauchamp, Hannah Fargo, Emily Nelson
April 15, all MHHS Sophomores participated in Career Day at the high school. The day was
coordinated with support from the Business and Education Partnership. The goal of Career Day
was to provide an insight about careers so that students have a broader understanding of
career options, education requirements and skills needed for various careers. Many of the
volunteer speakers were graduates of Mount Horeb High School.
Students received information from 6 different career areas by professionals in their respective
fields. Presenters included: Dr. Kate Schacherl from Main Street Dentists Verona, Eric
Brinkmann from Madison College Fire Science EMS/FDMH/MFD, Jeff Grundahl from JG
Development Blue Mounds Architecture/Construction, Mikel Kelley from 4th Street Ceramics
and Chris Laufenberg from cm. Graphic Design Inc. Arts, Peter Nelles from Johnson Industries
International Engineering/ Manufacturing, and Ross Hazelwood from Youth Services of
Southern Wisconsin, Human Services. A special thanks to these individuals who gave their time
and shared their expertise with the students.
Sunday April 12th we held our annual Top Scholar Banquet in the Dells. All principals in the
Badger Conference present their schools top scholars. The attached photo is courtesy of
Adrienne Bestul.
The Badger Conference Academic Honors Banquet was held Sunday, April 12, 2015, at the
Chula Vista Theme Resort in Wisconsin Dells. The banquet celebrated academic excellence by
recognizing the Badger Conference Top Scholars. Mount Horeb High School determines top
scholars by using the Academic Excellence formula. The Mount Horeb Area School District
applauds our Top Scholars for establishing an excellent academic credential.
Attached Picture from left to right: Front row-Elizabeth Iverson, Madeline Cook, Ashley Hall,
Becca Amick, Kiara Huemer,
Back row- Jackson Kealy, Braeden Buchanan, Blaine Bestul, Nate Klopotic. Not pictured Frederic
Hofmann
Each year the best of the best high school seniors from around the state are selected to
represent their communities at the WBCA All-Star Game. Recently, Drew Fredrickson was
selected to represent Mount Horeb on June 20th at the Just A Game Fieldhouse in Wisconsin
Dells. This is a charitable event that has raised over 2.1 million dollars to the MAACC Fund –
Midwest Athletes against Childhood Cancer. All participates are asked to collect
donations/sponsors for the event. Please consider donating money to Drew by visiting the
website-- http://www.wisbca.org/drewfredrickson OR you can write a check out to
WBCA/MACC Fund and send it to Jacque Fredrickson in inner school mail or to: Mt Horeb
Intermediate Center200 Hanneman Boulevard Mt Horeb WI 53572
Donations are due by May 19th.All contributions are tax deductible ---Exempt number is
ES16609 (MACC Fund)
Note from Drew --- I feel so lucky to have played for Mount Horeb and I would really appreciate
your support. I am hoping to raise as much money as I can to fight childhood cancer. Thank
you, Drew
Students in Beth Maglio’s Social Problems and Anna King’s Photography classes are doing an
amazing job with the Humans of Mount Horeb project! Students have been documenting the
unique people who live in our community and creating a photoblog by posting their interviews
and photographs to the project’s Facebook page. They started out the project within the high
school and are now interviewing people in the larger community. It has been so fun to hear
people’s stories! Here are a few recent posts (see attached JPEGs for images and quotes).
Featured posts include: Accompanied by photographs
Walter, Community member and great uncle of Ashley Straubhaar (HS student)
"My life changed one day when I was at home with my new
born son and I saw an article in the paper for farmers from
Germany to come to America. Without a question or even
asking my wife, I signed up for it and before I knew it, my
family and I were on a ship to America. When the ship arrived,
I was given a slip of paper that said Mount Horeb, Wisconsin. I
thought to myself, I am the luckiest man in the world. I didn't
have a dollar with me and I didn't know a word of English, but I
still felt so lucky to have made it. I admire the people who
helped me get on my feet in America. I wasn't able to get a lot
of education because of the war in East Prussia. When I came
to America, farming was completely new to me and I had a lot
of people who were patient and helped me learn even though it wasn't easy."
Peg Ginsberg, local artist
What inspired you to become a watercolor painter?
"All the possibilities that come with the watercolor."
Shaye Doyle, HS student
Who is your biggest role model in school?
”Mrs. Showers because she doesn’t sugar coat anything—she’s
very honest. And she doesn’t stand for bullying.”
Kimberly Hillary, HS teacher
Why do you love books so much?
“Books are a way to experience things that I won’t experience in my
life. To be places I’ll never go, meet people I’ll never meet. Books are
an escape, a connection. They are amazing gems wrapped in a
cardboard cover.”
Todd Nesheim: WI State Journal/WI Prep Zone Boys Basketball Coach of the Year
Martha Koller-Faust: All Area Coach of the Year.