Dear KASD Friends and Family,
It's been a while since I last attended a 4th grade field trip. This week, I broke that trend when I had the chance to join the New Directions Learning Community 4th graders on their annual field trip to 1000 Islands Nature Center to learn about the production of maple syrup. Wow ... what a process!
The field trip took the students (and myself) through the nature trails of 1000 Islands and gave us an up-close look at the tree-tapping step, where I learned that it takes about 40-50 gallons of sap to make one gallon of syrup. From there, we went into the Sugar Shack - a log cabin structure on the grounds that serves as a home for a large evaporator tank heated by a wood-burning pit.
At one point, the steam exhaust fan was turned off so that everyone could hear better, and the cabin quickly filled with steam; the students thought this was pretty neat! This exciting part of the presentation was followed up with a pancake snack with homemade syrup (which I must say, was delicious!) served by more volunteers who then walked students through a number of mini-lessons about the process.
During my time at 1000 Island this week, I really enjoyed watching our students learn about this really neat process. But what really caught me was talking with the program volunteers. At the Sugar Shack, I met five volunteers who have been making maple syrup for several decades. It was inspiring to hear the passion in their voices and about their interest in passing on to our young learners the importance for and love of their craft. And inside, the volunteers seemed just has happy to be there sharing with the students as the students were to be there. It was really incredible to see the community come together in such a strong way, and to watch members of our community giving up their time to help lead our future. I'd like to extend a heartfelt thank you to Deb Nowak, the Center's Naturalist, and the many volunteers, for making this trip such an authentic experience for all.
I'd also like to add ... with all of the sap dripping and the maple syrup in production, I'm calling it: SPRING IS HERE!
With that, please continue reading about some of the other great things going on here at KASD. Thank you for our continuous support of our students, staff members and District.
Enjoy the Galloping Ghost Stories,
Mark P. Duerwaechter
Superintendent
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SUMMER SCHOOL!
Registration is upon us - this weekend, in fact! Summer School registration begins at 2:00 p.m. on Sunday, March 19th. Please visit our
Summer School page on the Kaukauna Area School District website to learn more about our course offerings and how to register.
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COME ONE, COME ALL ... AND SLURP!
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COMPUTER CLASSES FOR SENIOR CITIZENS
Two classes have passed, but we still have one more left. Join us on Wednesday, March 29th for the last of our Computer Classes for Senior Citizens series. Learn more and sign up
here!
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ONE SCHOOL, ONE BOOK
Students at Kaukauna's River View Middle School are taking part in a unique program designed to create a shared reading experience across an entire school community. Created by the non-profit organization Read to Them®, the One School, One Book™ program presents a unique opportunity to promote both literacy and community, building a strong foundation for all students at the middle school age group. It's been very well received among students and families, and we're really enjoying the process, which you can learn more about here!
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MORE BOOKS FOR HAEN
At Victor Haen Elementary School, instead of running the annual Scholastic Book Fair, the PAC chose to focus on getting more books in the hands of more students by sponsoring book drawings during conferences!
Every student received a ticket to put in the bucket for the book of their choice. Kids had over 100 books to choose from during both fall and winter conferences, and families were able to purchase additional tickets for their students as well. We even had a community member make a donation so that more kids could get more tickets! Victor Haen PAC paid for the books (of varying reading levels) that were ordered by our Reading Specialist. Thank you to everyone who made it possible to get more books into the hands of our very grateful young learners.
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JOB FAIR
On Wednesday, March 8, Kaukauna High School hosted its 11th annual Spring Job Fair. It was great to see so many students and staff in the commons diving into some of the many great opportunities that exist within our strong Kaukauna and Fox Cities communities. Thank you to the many employers who made the KHS Job Fair possible: CMD, FVTC, Belmark, YMCA of the Fox Cities, Truck Country, HCR Manorcare, Qualified Staffing, TMI Hospitality, Faith Technologies, Ariens, Local 400, Unison Credit Union, Electrical Apprenticeship, Green Bay Packers, Weed Man Lawncare, G&G Machine, D&M Interiors, Quality CNA Training, and Keller Incorporated.
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What a great winter season, filled with fun, excitement and success for the Galloping Ghosts:
Our Wrestling Team won its 4th straight WIAA Division 1 Team State Championship, beating Stoughton 35-27 in the finals for the third year in a row! The win marks 76 straight dual wins against Wisconsin teams for our wrestlers. The week before (at the Individual State tournament), Junior Keaton Kluever won the 285-pound title, beating the defending champion at the last second. Also placing were Trent Leon (4th), Bryson Alsteen (4th) and Brandon Micksch (5th). Last week, they had the opportunity to spend a little time with Pete Petoniak on Good Day Wisconsin.
The
Girls Basketball
season came to an end with a loss to West DePere after winning their first Regional game.
The Dance Team recently competed in Florida at the National Contest of Champions and came home with a 3rd place finish in Large School Pom.
KHS hosted our annual
Forensics
tournament on February 18th, and came through with a first place finish. This past weekend, the team took 3rd place at the New London invitational. Now, they're gearing up for State competition.
KHS will send eight orchestra performances, 26 band performances and 26 vocal performances to state after and outstanding performance at the Solo & Ensemble competitions held in February and March. River View Middle School students performed too, and represented themselves and our district very well. You can see the full results from the weekends here.
The Gymnastics finished their season hosting sectional competition at the end of February, where the Ghosts finished with their highest point total this season.
The
Polar Plunge took place on February 17th and raised $2,175 for Special Olympics. What an amazing, frigid event!
And the
Boys Basketball team came away with a regional title after beating Luxemburg-Casco, and then won a thriller in Ashwaubenon on March 9, defeating Pulaski in the Sectional Semi-final. In the Sectional Final vs Cedarburg, the Ghosts fought hard until the end, but were handed a tough loss, 78-75.
And now, spring activities are just getting started, with track and softball underway and girls soccer, baseball, boys tennis and boys golf starting up over the next two weeks! Don't forget ... you can always get updated information about what's going on at KHS by following the Kaukauna Ghosts on Twitter! |
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