90 Years of Excellence - Allis School

On December 14th Allis School celebrated its 90th birthday. Students, staff and administration celebrated with an assembly at which a historical skit and slide show were presented. Fifth graders modeled sweatshirts, tee-shirts and beanies that were worn by Allis students over the years. Students enjoyed singing the old and new school songs for some special guests. These guests included Florence Branch, 97, who taught at the school for 38 years, from 1936-1974 and Chip Felland and Steve Barr, who were students at Frank Allis during the1950's. Steve's father, Walter Barr, was principal at Frank Allis for 25 years from 1941-1966.

The land for Frank Allis School was donated by Mrs. Allis when her husband Frank passed away. Frank was a son to Edward Allis of the Allis-Chalmers Tractor Company.

If you would like to know more about the history of Frank Allis School go to the following website: http://www.madison.k12.wi.us/it/studentwork/allis/

Pictured: Florence Branch and Principal Joy Larson and Allis fifth grade students presenting a historical skit at the assembly.

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Decadance at Affiliated Alternatives

Members of the Decadance Theater troop came to Affiliated Alternatives, Lapham School site on Tuesday, February 12th. Defying hip-hop stereotypes, Decadance's all-female group of artists aims to take urban dance from street to stage. Decadance uses a combination of underground dance styles to explore the international cultural phenomenon that is hip-hop. The two dancers presented to the students of AERO, Cluster, SAPAR, and WLC on the history of hip-hop and on the images of women in hip-hop. The subject was controversial, that of the objectification of women in mainstream hip-hop videos and resulted in provocative discussion between the dancers and the students. The dancers' main message was for members of the Hip-Hop Culture to not just be consumers of the culture but to be creators and innovators for the future of the culture. The students from SAPAR were able to attend a Decadance performance at the Overture Center on February 15th.

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Elvehjem Elementary - Read Across America

On March 5th Elvehjem Elementary School celebrated Read Across America by having students from La Follette High School visit. 38 Students from La Follette came, paired off and visited classrooms (pictured). In the classrooms they read a favorite picture book and talked to students about reading and school. Most rooms concluded with a question and answer session that included questions like: What does your room look like? Do you like cake? Is high school hard? What type of activites are you in? It was a nice cooperative event and it good time was had by all.

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MSCR Hosts Olympian Jean Driscoll Appearance

Jean Driscoll, Olympian, Paralympian, author and advocate for persons with disabilities, spoke to a crowed gym at HuegelElementary on Wednesday night, March 12th. This public event was free.

Despite having spina bifida, Driscoll won the Boston Marathon eight times in the women's wheelchair category. She is the only one in history to achieve that accomplishment. She has been recognized as one of the top 25 female athletes of the 20th century by Sports Illustrated for Women.

The focus of Driscoll's presentation was inspirational. She encouraged people to look at their strengths and not their limitations. She also discussed how hard work and goal setting can help individuals fulfill their dreams.

The event was co-sponsored by Capital City Harley-Davidson, Madison's Spinal Cord Injury Group, The McBurney Center, Park Towne Development, UW Health and UW Accessibility Advocates Student Organization. Please call 204-3020 for more information.

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Children's Theater of Madison presents for an Educator's Workshop

Children's Theater of Madison (CTM) staff presented "Bringing Children's Literature to Life through the Arts" to MMSD staff. The workshop focused on taking literature to the classroom in unique ways, getting students involved with all creative aspects of the story and characters. Actors from the current production of CTM's Esperanza Rising were a part of the workshop to model classroom theater strategies. This Educator's Workshop was co-sponsored by the Overture Center for the Arts.

A set of school residencies have also been planned to complement the Educator's Workshop. Hawthorne, Wright, and Cherokee, will work directly with actors, musicians, and production staff of the CTM play, Esperzanza Rising, later this month and later see the performance of the show in April. A special grant from the Aristos Scholars Grant Program is assisting with costs for the Educator's Workshop and residencies. Thank you to all the participants and sponsors of these wonderful collaborative events.

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WSMA Large Group Festival

The Madison Metropolitan School District Large Group Festival occurred on Wednesday, March 5, 2008 at Memorial High School. Choral, band, and orchestra groups were critiqued by WSMA judges on their musical performances. Congratulations to the students for sharing their musical talents at the festival. Also a special thank you to the music staff for their efforts preparing the students for the festival and for their efforts throughout the year.

The WSMA Solo/Ensemble District Festival is scheduled for April 5, 2008 at LaFollette High School. This event will focus on individual and small group performances. See the Fine Arts District Calendar for more details.

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MSCR Drill Team Festival

The annual MSCR Drill Team Festival took place on Monday, March 10 at the UW-Madison Memorial Union Theater. About 200 teens performed fourteen different dance numbers to a receptive audience of about 1000. The event is an opportunity for middle and high school age youth to showcase their talent. Many groups represent MSCR afterschool programs.

MSCR groups that performed were Black Hawk Dance Team, Toki Dance Team, SMS (Sherman Middle School), C4 Toon Squad (Whitehorse Middle), Panthers (Wright Middle), Cherokee Drill Team, Sennett Dance Team, Whitehorse 8th Grade Dance Team, Cherokee Latin Dance and Vibe2 (LaFollette High School). Arthur Richardson, Streets of Gold Productions, served as emcee.

MSCR thanks Friends of MSCR for sponsoring the event and MMSD TV for filming the show for a later broadcast on Channel 10.

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Whitehorse Middle School students visited with First Lady Jessica Doyle as part of her Read On Wisconsin program. Students were given a tour of the Executive Residence before sitting down with Mrs. Doyle to talk about books and reading. Students also received a book of their choice to take home. (Mrs. Doyle was a Learning Coordinator at Whitehorse)

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Whitehorse Middle School hosted its first annual Literacy Fun Night, February 13th. Activities that families participated in included: listening to local celebrities read from their favorite books, making bookmarks, hearing La Follette students present their poetry, playing FreeRice.com, playing literacy-related board games, sharing student writing in the Claw Cafe, and purchasing books at the Book Fair.

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Toki Middle: On March 19th and 20th, six boys from Toki Middle School had the horizon-broadening experience of attending the 12th Annual W.E.B. DuBois Invitational Honors Conference at Hampton University, in Hampton, VA. Three of the boys participated in an Oratorical Competition, and three of the boys earned third place in an Academic Quiz Bowl. Thirty-two donors contributed funds, thus allowing the trip to occur without any financial obligation falling upon the students' parents. The participants were (from left to right): Jamal Beckam, Nikyle Braxton, Kaleb Sandell, AJ Ramon, Darrius Clay and Ra Quan Cunnigan.