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Photos and Stories from Around the MMSD
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Allis and Nuestro Mundo Art Teacher Steve Hurst submitted 30 artworks of his 4th grade students for display at Old Country Buffet. The art project featured Native American shield designs and on Jan. 25th awards and goodie bags were presented to the students. The art show remained on display until February 21st.
As a part of The Urban League's Career Development initiative, Wright Middle School hosted a series of after school Entrepreneur Workshops just before the winter break. The idea was that our students could use the two weeks off from school during winter break as a way to earn a few extra dollars. The workshops were intended to instruct students how to sell themselves as a service provider and then give a few tips on specific services like babysitting and pet-sitting. We send a special thanks to Michael Mitchell from the Youth Job Center, Giene Wicker from Dog Den LLC (pictured), and Red Cross volunteer Ted Laufenberg for giving their time and expertise to the 66 students that benefitted from attending these workshops!
The Madison Metropolitan School District WSMA Solo & Ensemble Festival was held on Saturday, February 17, 2007 at East High School. The event was hosted by the East High School music staff. Students in grades 6-12 particpated in the event, performing within ensemble and/or solo events. Performances were judged and presented awards based on a set of criteria including: overall musical performance, technique, and expression. Congratulations to the participants of this wonderful district music event.
Affiliated Alternatives staff members, Dave Hoon, Erik Shager and Anne Fischer recently attended the Accelerated Schools-PLUS National conference. Held in the heart of downtown Memphis, the "Fulfilling the Dream" conference was held over the holiday weekend celebrating the life of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King. A special pre-conference session was held at the National Civil Rights Museum which is located in the restored, historic Lorraine Hotel — the site of the assassination of Dr. King. Work and Learn teacher, Erik Shager (pictured) was a key presenter at this "Powerful Learning through Student Inquiry" session which focused on the civil rights movement. The Affiliated Alternatives School is a National Demonstration Site for ASP, having been recognized as a school which demonstrates excellence in teaching and learning, as well as an ongoing commitment to reflective practice and continuous improvement.
On Wednesday, January 10, 2007, the graduating seniors of the Affiliated Alternative's Work and Learn Center-Brearly visited the Governor's Executive Residence at the invitation of First Lady Jessica Doyle. Twelve volunteers from the Madison Senior Center joined the students for their final Dialogue Across the Ages session. Mrs. Doyle allowed the group to use the first floor of the residence for the morning meeting. During that time, the students shared drafts of their graduation speeches, and the senior volunteers provided positive feedback and editing suggestions. The students and volunteers had been meeting monthly since the beginning of the school, discussing issues like terrorism, the war in Iraq, voting and citizenship, and career choices. Both the students and the volunteers from the Madison Senior Center had positive things to say about these intergenerational meetings. As one student said, "I learned new things from the volunteers. I enjoyed hearing other experiences from different people. It was interesting and exciting to hear their stories." One of the senior volunteers reported, "I was nervous about coming here, but the young people are wonderful!" What a fitting way to wrap up the students' last semester of high school!
MSCR Safe Haven Child Care Sites Receive Accreditation MSCR Falk and Glendale Safe Haven programs recently received child care accreditation from the City of Madison Office of Community Services. On January 22, Linda Eisele, Child Care Specialist, presented staff with the official certificate. The City of Madison Child Care programs accreditation review is similar to the State of Wisconsin licensing requirements for child care providers. Since the MSCR child care program is part of the school district services, MSCR is not required to be state licensed. However, staff felt accreditation would assure parents that Safe Haven is a quality program. It also allows MSCR to receive additional child care reimbursement funds from Dane County. Seventy-five percent of all the Safe Haven participants (MSCR has 10 sites) qualify for free and reduced lunch and receive Dane County Child Care Reimbursement or MSCR scholarships. Falk and Glendale Safe Haven programs serve 120 children. Jean Gascho, Community Learning Center Supervisor; Christie Ralston, Recreation Specialist at Falk; Michelle Herrera, Recreation Specialist at Glendale, and their staff, as well as, Eileen Otis, Youth Programs Specialist, worked many extra hours to provide the required paperwork, trainings and procedures required to meet the accreditation standards. MSCR is now reviewing the Lake View and Mendota Safe Haven programs for accreditation.
Falk Elementary: Recognizing the need to reach out to our entire Falk Community beyond the school day , the Falk staff has developed different ways to support our families. Recently Nuria Moffat, Bilingual Resource Specialist, created and led a Spanish Interpretation Class for Falk parents on February 9. These trained parents will support non-English speaking families at PTO meetings, Mosaic Meetings and other evening/Saturday school events. A grant from the Meriter Friends 4 Friends organization has provided seed money to grow this important resource for families and Chipotle donated the entire meal for the group.
Midvale Elementary: During the week of February 5th, Midvale ES welcomed over 20 African American men as part of its celebration of Black History Month and the 100th day of school. While all visitors are prominent members of the Madison community, many are also members of the Madison chapter of 100 Black Men, Inc. Each individual visited classrooms to talk with students about topics important to their future success. Topics included the importance of getting a good education, character building, setting goals, and making dreams become a reality. Several of the visitors returned the following week to participate in Midvale's National African American Parent Involvement Day luncheon.
Sandburg ES enjoyed wonderful attendance and participation at the annual Community Meal on January 17th. More than 150 family members joined the Sandburg students to enjoy a spaghetti lunch and spend some extra time at school. The PTA provided volunteers to help serve the meal and the Eatery provided the meal.
Hamilton MS: Ensemble Galilei presented a music program at Hamilton on Thursday, Feb. 8th for orchestra students. The program included many celtic songs, as well as original compositions from the group. Ensemble Galilei's school visit was in collaboration between the Overture Center for the Arts and MMSD Fine Arts. The visit was part of a performance stop which later included a performance at the Overture Center.
Black Hawk MS eighth-graders were visited in late January by two professional athletes: Mustafa "Moose" Adbur-Rahim, a Dartmouth College Master of Engineering graduate who competed at the Olympic decathlon trials in 2004; and Tennessee Titans tight end and special teams player Casey Cramer. Casey's mother, Nancy Johnson-Cramer, is the school psychologist. "Moose" and Casey emphasized how education helped them be successful and succeed in their athletic accomplishments. Both athletes used their college sports experience to get to the next level. They stressed that very few highly talented high school athletes are recruited right out of school so it's important to do well in school. They signed autographs, t-shirts and footballs for the students.
The Village of Shorewood Hills and Shorewood Hills Elementary School were awarded the, "Gold Leaf," Award from the International Society of Arboriculture for their collaborative work on Arbor Day, 2006. This award was presented at the ISA conference held at Green Bay in February. The project involved a number of fourth and fifth grade students from Shorewood Hills Elementary School, teacher Jody Lee-Lampe, and Corey George, the forester/horticulturist hired by the Village of Shorewood Hillswho, planted trees on school grounds on Arbor Day. Some trees were new plantings and others were meant to replace old trees that will need to come down in the future. The trees were purchased through grants that had been awarded to the Village of Shorewood Hills and Mr. George who secured grant money for the trees and then shared the trees with the school.
On February 8, 2007, the Transition Learning Center (TLC) was visited by MC Serch. MC Serch, aka Michael Berrin, is a successful businessman, host of VH1's top rated show "The White Rapper Show", and famous hip-hop artist. Students from the TLC, Work/Learn and McFarland high school attended the presentation. MC Serch shared his life experiences and encouraged students to stay focused on their dreams and set goals. He engaged the students with stories of his life struggles and successes. Throughout the talk Serch answered questions from students. MC Serch enjoys talking with high schools students around the country and was awarded the Nassau County Martin Luther King Jr. award for his non-profit work in Nassau County. He is also co-founder of ECKO Unlimited Clothing and CEO of Serchlite Music. Serch's message resonated with students, staff, and community members.
TLC student Chloe Patterson, (pictured above with MC) wrote: "I appreciated MC Serch coming to TLC on Thursday. It's great that he wanted to take the time out of his life to reach out to kids who, like himself, have had to face struggles from day one. Serch shared with us his personal background, all the way from his hardships in New York, to his success in the rap group 3rd Bass, the Ecko Clothing line, his own reality show "The White Rapper Show", and to his very own "Serchlite Music" production company. He treated us as respectable people who he believed could really make something of themselves. He offered us inspiration as well as encouragement to love ourselves and everyone that surrounds us. He showed us trust by giving us his tips to success, his own personal email address, even his cell phone number! Throughout his whole presentation, I felt that he actually wanted to be speaking to us and that he truly cared about our futures. By the end of his visit, a sense of hope had spread through Serch's listeners as we recognized that anything is possible." La Follette HS: On Monday evening February 19th, La Follette students, parents, staff, and alumni celebrated the renovation of the seating in the August Vander Meulen auditorium with a Rededication Ceremony and Honors Convocation. In attendance were the three children of August Vander Meulen, who was the first principal of La Follette from 1963-1974. Judy Vander Meulen Crain spoke on behalf of the family. Also in attendance was Assistant Superintendent Pam Nash, Martha Vukelich-Austin from the Foundation for Madison's Public Schools and former principal Michael Meissen. Mr. Meissen was approached in 2004 by Dan Koellen, Class of 1975, to initiate a fundraising campaign at the school called the La Follette Capital Fund. Dan is assisted by La Follette staff member, parent and classmate Celeste Richards-Gannon. Together they have raised over $60,000 to complete the seating project, which provided comfortable, "Lancer red" padding and upholstery for the seat bottoms and backs. The "purchase a seat" program has allowed donors to include a dedication to a student, family member, or friend on an engraved brass plaque. Seats will continue to be sold to fund ongoing needs at La Follette, including equipment for World Languages and Mathematics as well as lighting upgrades for the auditorium. This project has been supported and administered by the Foundation for Madison's Public Schools.
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