School District of Waukesha

National Assistant Principals Week is here! From April 1 to 5, 2024, the School District of Waukesha will celebrate its excellent assistant principals. Christina Ali has been an Assistant Principal at Waukesha North High School for six years. She also co-facilitates Homecoming, Freshmen Welcome Day, and Student Government.

The Family and Consumer Science students and staff at Waukesha South High School were proud to welcome 36 hungry guests into their culinary world to share how they have embraced their hands-on approach to learning by planning, growing, and harvesting their own food using hydroponics. Thanks to grant seed money, a partnership between environmental education and family and consumer science has grown into Embedded Agriculture. Our mission is to provide students with the knowledge and skills to lead healthy and sustainable lifestyles through our Embedded Agriculture program. Our program offers hands-on gardening and farming experiences that promote environmental stewardship, while also integrating farm-to-table education into the school curriculum. Through our Family and Consumer Science courses, we strive to educate students on the importance of nutrition, food safety, and cooking skills to create healthy and sustainable meals. We are committed to promoting food justice and providing equitable access to fresh, locally-grown produce for all students. Our goal is to inspire a lifelong appreciation for healthy eating habits, sustainable food systems, and community involvement.

Congratulations to the West Academic Decathlon team! They are State Bound and will compete tomorrow in Green Bay at the KI Convention Center. Good luck Wolverines!

Congrats, North Jazz Ensemble! The North Jazz Ensemble performed at Jazz Fest on Thursday where they were able to have solos and groups judged, as well as perform with guest artist Derek Brown. The Jazz Ensemble qualified for State with this performance, which will be held on May 2nd at Carroll University.

The Horning Middle School FLIGHT teams participated in the Fluid Power competition at WCTC in Waukesha last week and brought back a few awards! Overall Champions: Miles L., Levi M., Louis B., and Gunar A. 1st Place in Challenge: Ariel M., Eleni G., and Maci E. 1st Place in Design: Kiena S., Elise H., Bella B., and Leah S. The Fluid Power Action Challenge is a STEM-based competition that challenges middle school students to solve an engineering problem using fluid power. The students work in teams to design and build a fluid power mechanism and compete against other teams in a timed competition. To learn more about the Fluid Power Action Challenge, visit their website: https://nfpafoundation.org/

On Wednesday evening, the Board of Education approved the new Assistant Principal/Athletic Director at Waukesha North High School. Eric Plitzuweit will join the North team beginning July 1, 2024! Mr. Plitzuweit comes to North after serving the past 15 years as the Assistant Principal/Athletic Director at Burlington High School. Before working in Burlington, he was a teacher and administrator in Rochester, Minnesota, and Twentynine Palms, California. Additionally, Eruc is currently the president-elect of the Wisconsin Athletic Directors Association (WADA) and serves on the WIAA Board of Control. He is also the WADA Communications Director, leading the organization's social media efforts and facilitating professional development for athletic directors statewide. Welcome to Waukesha, Eric!

Did you know that in 2022, the School District of Waukesha Staff raised $18,000 for the Waukesha Education Foundation through Casual for a Cause? So far this year, we have raised $21,900! Staff members in the School District of Waukesha are typically expected to dress professionally during the school day. However, Thursdays are the exception to the rule when staff members can pay $5 to wear jeans to work, and that donation goes directly to the Foundation's grant funds. 100% of the dollars raised from this initiative are added to our available grant dollars. This is a fantastic contribution that positively impacts the WEF grant program. By purchasing a semester of "Thursday Casual Jeans Days," staff members are eligible for various prizes. The most coveted raffle drawing prize is having Dr. Sebert as their substitute for the day, giving them a much-deserved day off! Congratulations to Waukesha North Math Teacher Leslie Potter and Third Grade Teacher Karen Burr at Hillcrest for winning the drawing and enjoying your day off!

Summer School Registration opens March 20th at 9:00 a.m. Course guides are available on the district website. Visit https://sdw.waukesha.k12.wi.us/page/summer-school

Congratulations to the Waukesha West and Waukesha North App Development students! The Waukesha West students earned the top prizes, while two of our North groups earned "honorable mention" in the Winter Mobile Makers Contest! Kristin Kamenar teaches App Development at Waukesha North High School, and Brendan Egnarski at West High School. Bret Lemoine from Fox6 had the opportunity to visit with Mr. Egnarski and his students on Tuesday to learn more about this year's challenge. https://www.fox6now.com/news/waukesha-west-app-competition-winners

Congratulations to Malena Koplin! Malena was honored at the WEMTA annual conference on Monday, March 4th, as the recipient of this year's Excellence Award for her contributions to WEMTA and the library media and technology profession. The Wisconsin Educational Media & Technology Association (WEMTA) is an independent professional association serving school library media and instructional technology professionals. It is committed to providing leadership and professional growth opportunities to promote quality learning and information access and meet the needs of our educational community.

Congratulations to the Waukesha South Mock Trial team! For the fourth year in a row, the team has placed in the top five, coming home in third place at the State competition last weekend. Going into the fourth round as the top-ranked team, the Bar’s power marching system pitted them against the other undefeated team. Although the team won more points than their opponents, they did not get the ballot of the presiding judge and lost the round.

Waukesha North Alumna Carmen De La Paz visited art students at Waukesha South High School last week to share her life journey and how she got from where she started to where she is today. De La Paz encouraged students to always have a dream and to accept the opportunities presented to them. Carmen has been on Broadway, featured on HGTV and Telemundo, and appears on Home Made Simple on OWN. District Art Coordinator Tom Mancuso and ceramics teacher Codey Gallas shared some exciting news with students while she was there. In preparation for the installation of the Parade Memorial in Grede Park, students will assist De La Paz with her Waukesha Strong Community Tile Project by glazing and firing the tiles that community members have designed. De La Paz said, "It also comes full circle for them. Those students were involved, they get to heal and help the community heal." You can engrave a tile this Saturday at the Waukesha Public Library from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The cost is $25 per tile. #waukeshastrong

The School District of Waukesha hosted its 16th annual Reality for approximately 400+ high school students at Waukesha County Technical College. This hands-on, interactive simulation was designed to give young people insights into the world of personal money management. The simulation begins with an overview provided by Educators Credit Union explaining why it is necessary to understand finances related to future planning and how their specially designed app works. Students are given their financial situation related to their anticipated career choice and their family dynamics, including income, taxes, and a credit score. Next, students enter the simulation room where they are faced with an array of choices and occurrences that they may face for a monthly budget, trying to make their money stretch to meet the demands of being an adult. Each station in the simulation room has volunteers from different industries available to explain what they should be considering and the impact their choice may have on their finances. This allows them to select their life decisions and have a real-time checking account balance available. The event is a real eye-opener for many students as it tests their ability to stay afloat and get ahead if possible. We are thankful to have a strong partner like Educators Credit Union that sees the need and value of a simulated personal financial planning exercise.

National School Social Work Week is from March 3 to March 9, 2024. This week-long celebration shines a spotlight on the dedicated professionals who play a pivotal role in enhancing the well-being and success of students across the nation. The event is designed to honor and recognize the tireless efforts of school social workers, whose commitment to fostering positive school environments directly impacts students, administrators, teachers, educators, parents, and the community. Thank you to our SDW School Social Workers! Kelly Bratz - North & Summit View Andra Burton-Piering - Heyer & Lowell Cathie Callahan - West, Bethesda & on-call Rose Glen Jody Ebbinger Bentley - East, Prairie & AODA coordinator Mary Green - South Attendance / Engagement Specialist Angie Krueger - Horning & eAchieve Callie Lederman - Butler, STEM & on-call Saratoga Heather Mersberger - South & on-call Hillcrest & Meadowbrook Kelly Ohme - Hadfield Laura Reichert - Les Paul & MKV/FC Liaison Samantha Tyler - Hawthorne & Banting

Today, March 4th is Custodian & Maintenance Appreciation Day! There should be more than one day to celebrate everything our custodian and maintenance crew do for our buildings, staff, students, and community. There is never a job too big or too small for these fantastic humans! This collage is just a tiny sampling of the welcoming smiles inside our buildings, ready to help.

Congrats, Megha and Harper! Megha and Harper are both Waukesha West students who qualified for DECA Nationals (ICDC). The National conference will take place from April 27-30 in Anaheim, California. Great job girls!

Good luck to Core 2062! Core 2062 is our high school Robotics Team that has student representation from many of our high schools (North HS, South HS, West HS, WAHP, and WEPA) and is led by a group of adult volunteers. The team is in Duluth, MN, attending the Northern Lights Regional Competition this weekend. Through the in­ter­na­tional or­ga­ni­za­tion FIRST, For In­spi­ra­tion and Recog­ni­tion in Sci­ence and Tech­nol­ogy, the team builds a ro­bot to com­pete with each year. Working with their mentors and peers during the build process helps de­velop life-long skills such as collaboration, leadership, work ethic, pro­fes­sion­al­ism, and pride. The team encourages younger stu­dents to ex­pe­ri­ence the same ex­cite­ment of en­gi­neer­ing through pro­grams like FLL and VEX.

Good luck to the Waukesha South Mock Trial Team! The team will be in Madison this weekend, defending their state title. Pictured from L-R: Pelham Hasler, Carrie DuVall, Amalia Waltz, Taylor Masch, Bryanna Madson, Keira Bizub, Jynx Wasley, Reed Mueller

Congratulations, Kaylynn! Kaylynn qualified for the WIAA Gymnastics State competition on the balance beam. She will compete this Saturday (3/2) at Wisconsin Rapids Lincoln High School. Good Luck!

Congratulations to West Cheer on their 2nd place finish in the Gameday Small division at WACPC State! Go Wolverines!