Plum City School District
SPRING 2015
From the Desk of the Superintendent
The Emergency Broadcast Center seemed
to be practicing all
the month of March
for emergencies as I
heard over and over
the screech of the
high-pitched warning
signal. What followed
was "This is only a test.
If this was a real emergency, tune into..." All
of us have heard the
routine. Perhaps we
become so accustomed to these tests,
the warnings fall on
deaf ears.
One thing is clear school funding is complicated. I certainly
can’t explain it all in
this short letter. While
at risk of being overly
simplistic in delivering
this message I will try.
The Governor’s 201516 proposed budget
contains a $150 decrease per student in
public school funding
for 2015-16. While $150
doesn’t sound like
much, this reduction in
projected revenue
comes close to$41,000
for the Plum City
There have been
School District. $41,000
many warnings in reis a large amount of
cent months coming
money for us to work
from Madison regard- without especially
ing school funding.
when we have had a
Some warnings imply
considerable number
the "sky is falling" with
of delayed maintedire consequences.
nance issues surface
Other messages are
this year in our district.
not so bleak, but still
For example, the cost
carry the message
of a boiler fix at the
there is belt tightening high school was over
happening and it will
$12,000. The cost of a
involve public schools. broken well at the eleSo what is the real
mentary school was
story?
over $15,000. The cost
of a new elementary
I am not an alarmist,
gym floor needed due
but I have to be hon- to safety and health
est. In the thirty-nine
hazards for our stuyears of being educa- dents was over
tor, I have never
$35,000. These are just
faced a more dismal
a few examples of the
outlook for public
major maintenance
schools than I have
issues facing our disthis year in our state.
trict. Yes, a loss of
VOLUME 27, ISSUE 4
By: Mary Baier
$41,000 is significant in
an already tight operating budget. These
‘fixes’ were not
“wants” but necessary
maintenance needs
to keep the school
operating. $41,000
cannot be found with
simple “belt tightening”.
Special points of interest:
 4K Screening, April 17
 Instrument Display,
April 21
 MS Spring Concert,
April 27—7 p.m.
 HS Spring Concert,
April 29—7 p.m.
This is just one of the
provisions in the pro Freshmen Smorgasposed budget that
bord—May 3
concern us. In the
Plum City School Dis NO SCHOOL—
trict we have historiMonday, May 25,
cally been fiscally pruMemorial Day
dent, and we use a
strategic process to
plan for both shortterm and long-term
needs. We respect the
financial investment
you make to the success of our schools
and students. We respect the commitment you make with
Inside this issue:
the tax dollars you pay
to support our schools.
Assessment Dates 2
We have tightened
our belt and did more
Principal’s Desk
3
with less for the last
several years. We did
Reality Check
4
this to lower the tax
impact for all our taxNHS
5
payers. As we look to
the next year, this
“belt tightening” is
5th Grade News
6
getting more and
more challenging.
Lunch Menu
7-8
And as we look to the
future, the economic
Music Notes
9
The School District of Plum City is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the Yearbook Sponsors
basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age ancestry, creed, pregnancy, marital or parental status,
physical or mental health, emotional or learning disability.
10
Page 2
Plum City School District
From the Superintendent’s Desk Continued . . .
challenges fostered in this budget will compound requiring us to make some serious decisions about the
district budget and create challenges far beyond the 2015-16 school year. That is the largest concern.
The District Steering Committee made up of over twenty community members who have volunteered
their time and commitment to studying the future of our district needs will have their first meeting April
22, 2015. Their work will be important to gathering factual and transparent information about the needs
of our district and making recommendations to your School Board in the upcoming months.
Additionally, the Governor proposed removing the 1000-student cap on private school vouchers.
These vouchers, as proposed, would be funded from public school dollars in which the voucher student
resides. Voucher schools use your tax dollars, taken from your local public schools and are not accountable to the taxpayers or for their academic performance. Although the financial impact is impossible to
calculate at this time, the net result will be less state funding for K-12 public schools in Wisconsin. And
this means, less for the children in your district. Wisconsin guarantees a constitutional right to our children
of a public education. We must be willing to support every child’s right to that education. Our children’s and grandchildren’s futures depend on it.
Please share your concerns with our governor and legislators.
Governor Scott Walker
Representative Warren Petryk
Senator Kathleen Vinehout
P.O. Box 7863
Room 103 West
Room 108 South
Madison, WI 53707
State Capitol
State Capitol
608-266-1212
P.O. Box 8953
Madison, WI 53707-7882
[email protected]
Madison, WI 53708
(877) 763-6636
(888) 534-0093
[email protected]
[email protected]
District Assessment Coordinator Update
The 14-15 school year has included many new assessments.
The students and staff at Plum
City have done a remarkable
job of adapting to these challenging tests. Please review the
following assessment schedule
for the rest of the school year:
April 27, 28, 30
Badger Exam (grades 3-8; English/Language Arts & Math)
MAPS (grades 6-10; Reading,
Grades 6-8: April 14, 15, 21, 23 Language, Math)
Grades 3-5: April 21, 22, 28, 30
May 18, 19, 20, 21
ASPIRE (grades 9-10; English,
Reading, Writing, Science, Math)
School Counseling Department Update
Our seniors have been busy
working on scholarships, firming
up their future plans, and preparing for graduation. I am
happy to report that 88% of the
class has committed to a postsecondary institution! It has been
fun to watch this group grow
throughout the last four years
and I am looking forward to
hearing about their future suc-
Submitted by: Danni Noel, School Counselor
Submitted by: Danni Noel, School Counselor
cesses. Parents of eighth and
fifth grade students should keep
an eye on the mail for an invitation to attend their student’s individual planning conference in
the upcoming months. The students have been working very
hard to prepare their academic
and career portfolios to share
with you. The purpose of these
conferences is to establish a col-
laborative team to assist our students in achieving their academic and career goals. I look
forward to assisting each of you
in this exciting process. As always, please feel free to contact me at school if you have
any questions or concerns that I
can assist with. Have a safe and
relaxing summer!
Page 3
Plum City School District
From the High School Principal’s Desk
We are entering a very busy time
of the school year and nearly all
the students are participating in
extra-curricular activities. Our
high school and middle school
groups received all firsts at the
Large Group Music Festival in
Spring Valley last week. The students and Mr. Bonn should be
commended for another great
job at the Music Festival. The
spring concerts will be held on
April 27 and 29 at 7 pm. Please
plan to support our music program by attending the concerts.
The students enjoy performing for
a large audience.
Submitted by: Paul Churchill
quire through forensics. Developing good communication skills is
one of the most important things
a student can do to be successful
in life. Good Luck forensics team!
on Thursday, April 23 in Eau Claire.
The senior class is excited about
leaving on their class trip to Chicago, New York City, and Washington D.C. on May 6. This will be
the 60th anniversary of the senior
Our juniors finished taking the ACT class trip to Washington D.C. The
exam last month and have refirst senior class trip was a day trip
ceived their individual reports.
to Wisconsin Dells in 1951, from
This is the first year all students in
1952 to 1955, the senior class took
the junior class were required by
a 3-day trip to Chicago, Ill. Since
the State of Wisconsin to take the 1956, the senior class has made
ACT exam. Our 9th and 10th
the trip to Washington D.C. as
graders will be taking the ACT As- part of their 8 day trip that also
pire exam the week of April 27th. includes Chicago and New York
This exam is also required by the
City. A mandatory student/
State of Wisconsin and replaces
parent meeting will be held on
the Wisconsin Knowledge and
Wednesday, April 22 at 6 p.m. to
Congratulations to the following
Concepts Exam for Math, English, review the class trip rules and turn
students who qualified for the
Writing, Reading, and Science.
in parent permission and insurState Forensics Meet in Madison
ance forms.
on April 17. Taylor Chilson, Rhian- On April, 6, the National Honor
non Kernstock, Rachel Redding,
Society held its annual awards
Many FFA members will be recogJosalin Helmueller, Tuvara Riley,
night and inducted six new mem- nized for their accomplishments
Kassandra Heit, Linkon Foley, Lexy bers. Congratulations to Kailee
at the annual FFA banquet on
Weiss, Kailee Broeckert, Anna
Broeckert, Danyelle Hovland,
Tuesday, April 14. CongratulaAlmsted, and Wyatt Holt. Mrs.
Adrianna Almsted, Anthony
tions to the state qualifying horse
Laehn and Mrs. Bechel are the
Ebensperger, Josalin Helmueller,
judging team of Tiffany Stauffer,
advisors for the forensic team. As and Kaitlyn Ahlers for your outKatitlyn Ahlers, Danyelle Hovland,
a high school student years ago, I standing scholarship, leadership, and Lexi Diesing.
feared the thought of speaking in character, and community serfront of other people. I admire
vice. The NHS students will be
Have a nice spring!
the confidence that students ac- working at the community table
Come Support
the Freshmen Class Fundraiser With
DAD’S WAFFLES
Sunday, May 3, 2015
9 a.m.—Noon
Plum City High School
Advanced Tickets $7 or $8 at the door
Thank you for your support!
Page 4
Plum City School District
Reality Check Simulation
This year the Plum City Junior
class was invited to Mondovi to
do a Reality Check Simulation
on March 26. This simulation
consisted of everyday activities and issues that may occur
throughout a person’s life.
Prior to the event, students had
to research several different
occupations and gather information regarding each one,
be able to keep an accurate
checkbook, and determine
withholdings. The students
then picked one of their occupations and filled out a form
which was sent into the Extension office. This form was used
by the Buffalo County Extension Office to give each of the
students an occupation and
other relevant information for
the simulation.
The day of the Reality-Check
simulation the students realized
very quickly what real life was
all about. Some students were
paying child support of more
than $1000 a month, other students needed to apply for second jobs just to make their
Submitted: Nanette Murray, Business Ed.
payments, and still others needed to take out
loans. They realized that
living on their own takes
a lot of money and ability to plan a budget.
During the duration of
the simulation, some students were apprehended by the police
officer and given tickets.
Depending on the
ticket, some of the students needed to go see
the judge before paying
for their fines. The students also needed to do exit
interviews and check-outs before they were
allowed to
leave the simulation.
Students
learned a lot of
valuable information and
were excited
that they had
the opportunity
to participate
in such a realistic simulation.
They continue
to talk about
the experience
today which is
always a positive thing. Plum
City students
were given several compliments throughout the day by
all the volun-
teers on how respectful and
courteous they were.
Page 5
Plum City School District
Student Reflection— Reality Check Simulation
I think reality check is
beneficial to applying skills that
are learned in the classroom in
a simulation. Overall I thought
that it went really well and I
liked it! The volunteers were
nice and very helpful also. I
felt pretty comfortable working
and managing my budget for
the month. I actually had my
totally come out to having an
extra $1.29 when everything
was almost said and done but
I wasn’t aware that I had to
pay for a credit card that I didn’t even use so I had to dip
into savings which I wasn’t
looking forward to but I guess
that’s how things work out
sometimes! I also learned that
being single and having children is much harder than having a spouse to also supply income and to add to that
healthy, safe, and smart life
choice will pay off and end up
saving money and are overall
good for your well being.
Aaron Mattingly
It made me realize that
even though a person doesn’t
plan on being divorced or getting tickets or having kids
Reality check was a
young, that these things hapgreat learning experience for pen. Of course I knew these
me. By going, I learned how to things could happen but I didspend money wisely or else
n’t think of all the things that
deal with the consequences of come along with all those bad
my poor spending. It really
cards dealt to a person.
Brittany Bataglia
opens a person’s eyes about
their career choice as well like
what I would be able to spend
Congratulations NHS Members
The Plum City Chapter of the
National Honor Society held its
annual banquet on Monday,
April 6. This banquet recognized the achievements of
twelve students over the
course of the school year. Their
activities included
a ‘Pink Out’ in the
fall to raise money
for Breast Cancer
Awareness, a ‘Red
Out’ to raise money
for the American
Heart Association,
a bean bag toss
and 50/50 raffle
during basketball
games with recipients of those funds
to be determined.
On April 23 the stu-
on my salary. At reality check I
was a single divorced mother
of an infant, between child
support, diapers, food and
child care, I was just about
broke.
Submitted by: Steve Ottman, NHS Advisor
dents will travel to Eau Claire
to prepare and serve a meal
at Community Table.
Six new members were inducted at the banquet. In order to be eligible for NHS a stu-
dent must maintain a 3.85
grade point average; attend
school with no more than five
excused absences, show traits
of good leadership, service
and character.
NHS Members: Rachel
Redding, Lexy Weiss,
Jillian Holt, Anna Almsted, Rhiannon Kernstock, Cheyenne Catura, Kailee Broeckert,
Kaitlyn Ahlers, Danyelle
Hovland, Nash Gilles,
Austin Coss, Anthony
Ebensperger, Joslyn
Helmueller, Peter
Fenter, Dillon Hovland
and Linkon Foley. Missing are Tiffany Stauffer
and Allysa Wieser.
Page 6
Plum City School District
5th Grade Achievements
Submitted by: Kristen Elbe, 5th Grade Teacher
The fifth graders have been busy “stretching their thinking” lately! The past few months, they
have participated in the following enrichment activities:
Elementary Spelling Bee
On Friday, February 27th, nine elementary students took the stage to
face a list of very tough words to spell and an audience made up
of parents, grandparents, and classmates. Three of each grade’s
top spellers represented their third, fourth, and fifth classes. Participants included: Grade 3- Kali Brunner, Giovanni Nunez & Trichelle
Smaller ; Grade 4- Ally Gilles, Alicia Hines, Cheyenne McMurray;
Grade 5-Joey Bechel, McKenna Kannel & Hailee McDonough.
Joey Bechel claimed the title of Spelling Bee Champ, by correctly
spelling the word “vacuum.” Congratulations to all of our school’s
top spellers!
Pierce County Speaking Contest
Lauren Schultz headed to Ellsworth on Monday, February 2nd to
compete in the Pierce County Environmental Speaking Contest. Lauren researched, wrote and delivered a 5-minute speech about Wisconsin’s reed canary grass. She represented Plum City well and
earned a 4th place award. Way to go, Lauren!
Math Masters
An enthusiastic group of fifth
graders have been spending
extra time after school preparing for the 2015 Math
Masters Competition, which will be held held at St.
Croix Central Middle School on Friday, April 24th. This
team will compete in individual and team rounds,
challenging their math skills in the areas of both fact
drill and problem-solving. Good luck to our 5th grade
Math Masters team, which includes: Greta Batho,
Joey Bechel, Colton Coss, Jarrod Pelzel, Travis Seipel,
and Dayne Whipple!
SPECIAL THANKS FROM SUPPORT OUR SCHOOL
Heartfelt thank you to those who made Plum City School District’s S.O.S.
Schwan’s active campaign a success! Our school will continue to earn 5% on all product sales
through March of 2016, so it is not too late to join our campaign.
Appreciate your contribution of Box Tops, Kwik Trip milk caps, and bag tops throughout the
year.
Thanks again for your support!
April 2015
LUNCH MENU
MONDAY
TUESDAY
All meals are served
with 1% and skim
milk choices along
with 100% whole
grains.
WEDNESDAY
THURSDAY
FRIDAY
1
Turkey burgers or
hamburgers (m/h)
Hamburgers (elem)
Broccoli
Pineapple tidbits
2
Chicken nuggets
BBQ beans
Sliced pears
Banana bread
13
NO SCHOOL
6
Hamburgers
Sweet potato fries
Baked beans
Applesauce
7
Breaded chicken
Sandwich
Mashed potatoes
Fresh veggies/dip
Fruit cocktail
8
Pizza hotdish
Broccoli
Mandarin oranges
9
Soft shell tacos
w/ fixings
Green beans
Tropical Fruit
10
Mandarin orange
Rice bowl (m/h)
Chicken nuggets (el)
Rice
California medley
Sliced pears
13
Grilled chicken sand.
Broccoli
Sliced peaches
Brownie
14
Lasagna/bread stick
California medley
Diced pears
15
Chicken nug/bread
Romaine salad
Strawberries
16
Ft. long hot dogs
BBQ beans
Fresh veggies/dip
Bananas
17
Tatertot hotdish
Whole grain bread
Green beans
Orange wedges
20
Meat & cheese subs
Romaine salad,
tomato & onion
Corn
Mandarin oranges
21
Chicken nuggets
w/bread
Broccoli
Apple wedges
22
Ravioli w/marinara
sauce
Green beans
Grapes
23
Hamburgers
Sweet potato tots
Banana
24
Breaded chicken
sandwich
Baked beans
Sliced peaches
27
Pizza burgers
Roasted potatoes
Cooked carrots
Applesauce
28
Corn dogs
Fresh veggies/dip
Diced peaches
29
Grilled chicken sand.
Romaine salad
Calico beans
Fruit cocktail
30
Chicken tacos
& fixings
Baked beans
Orange wedges
May 2015
LUNCH MENU
MONDAY
TUESDAY
WEDNESDAY
THURSDAY
FRIDAY
1
Hamburgers
Sweet potato fries
Baked beans
Applesauce
All meals are served Salad bar served daily
with 1% and skim milk for middle/high school
choices along with
100% whole grains.
4
Spaghetti &
Breadstick
Green beans
Cucumber sticks
Apple wedges
5
Chix-n-fri stix
Baked beans
Baby carrots/dip
Strawberries
Muffin
6
Tacos & fixings
Romaine lettuce,
tomato
Corn
Pineapple tidbits
7
Meatball subs
Sweet potato fries
Broccoli
Grapes
8
Pizza
Romaine salad
Cauliflower
Jello & bananas
11
Pulled pork sandwch
BBQ beans
Baby carrots & dip
Tropical fruit
12
Lasagna & breadstick
California medley
Sliced peaches
13
Foot long hot dog
Sweet potato tots
Cole slaw
Diced pears
14
Hot ham & cheese
Romaine salad
Potato wedges
Banana
15
Tater tot hotdish
Bread & butter
Green beans
Orange wedges
18
Pizza burger
Roasted potatoes
Green beans
Applesauce
19
Corn dogs
Broccoli
Fresh veggies/dip
Diced pears
20
Grilled chicken
sandwich
Romaine salad
Calico beans
Fruit cocktail
21
Ground beef
stroganoff
Bread & butter
Cooked carrots
Cucumber sticks
Apple wedges
22
Bosco sticks
Marinara sauce
Cauliflower
Banana
25
26
Breaded chicken
sandwich
Romaine salad
Green beans
Fruit cocktail
2
Pizza hotdish
Bread & butter
Broccoli
Mandarin oranges
2
Tacos & fixings
Romaine salad, tomt.
Corn
Pineapple tidbits
Ice cream treat
2
Chicken nuggets
Rice w/ cinnamon
sugar
California medley
Diced pears
Bread & butter
NO SCHOOL
Page 9
Plum City School District
Music Notes
MIDDLE SCHOOL SPRING
CONCERT
On Monday, April 27 Plum City
Middle School will hold their final
concert of the year. The Spring
Concert will be held in the high
school gym at 7 p.m. Starting the
evenings performances will be
the SAB Middle School Choir.
They will sing songs from their
Large Group Festival including
“Sanctus” and “Didn’t My Lord
Deliver Daniel”. The Blue & Gold
Band will take the stage next.
They have been working hard all
year and are ready to show their
improvements with “Old
McBingo” and Rockin’ The
Blues”. Finishing the evening’s
performance is the Middle
School Band. They will feature
the flute section with “Flutes Espana”, and then feature the
trombone section with “Slippery
Slides”. Awards will also be given
to the top 8th grade vocalist and
instrumentalist. This concert is
open to the public and is free of
charge.
HIGH SCHOOL SPRING CONCERT
This year’s High School Spring
Concert is slated for Wednesday,
April 29 at 7p.m. The evening’s
entertainment will start with the
Jazz Band performing 3 selections, one of which is by Van
Morrison. Following the Jazz
Submitted by: Mike Bonn
band will be the H.S. Vocal Jazz
Ensemble. They also be singing
three selections including an accapella version of “Stand By
Me”. Next up is our class “A”
Concert Choir. After receiving a
“I” at Large Group Festival, they
will be happy to perform
“Neighbors Chorus”, and “Here
Inside My Hear” for the audience. Lastly, the evening will
end with the dynamic High
School Band. After getting rave
reviews at Large Group Festival
they will perform “The Washington Post” by John Phillip Sousa
and “Exhilaration” by Larry Clark.
End of the year awards will be
given to the musicians.
INSTRUMENTAL DISPLAY
Any and all students wanting to
join band should plan on attending the music departments Instrumental Display. The display
will take place on Tuesday, April
21 from 6-8 p.m in the elementary gym. Students and parents
can come in anytime during
that time frame to select, rent, or
purchase instruments and
method books for the upcoming school year. Mr. Bonn
and Schmitt music from Eau
Claire will be on hand to answer
any questions.
ELEMENTARY VARIETY SHOW
This year the Elementary Variety
FFA Update
On March 28 & 29, Plum City FFA
members competed in the Ag
Tech contest at UW-River Falls.
The day was highlighted by the
Horse team finishing second and
qualifying for the state contest
for the second year in a row.
Danyelle Hovland led the team
Show will be held a week earlier
than usual. The show will be held
on Friday, May 8 in the elementary gym at 1:30 p.m. All students
are allowed to sign up for two
separate acts, one solo and one
group event. These acts could
be singing, dancing, skit, playing
an instrument, lip sync, or any
other talent they would like to
share. This is a great opportunity
for parents to catch some footage or take pictures. Let’s have
some fun Friday, May 7th!
SPRING MUSIC DATES:
Instrumental Display
Tuesday, April 27, 6-8 p.m.
Middle School Spring Concert
Monday, April 27, 7 p.m.
High School Spring Concert
Wednesday, April 29, 7 p.m.
State Solo & Ensemble
May 2, TBA
Elementary Variety Show
Friday, May 8, 1:30 p.m.
Graduation Ceremony
(grades 8-11 and H.S. Choir)
Saturday, May 23
Memorial Day Services
(M.S. Band)
Monday, May 25
Submitted by: Scott Imrie
with a 5th place finish in her first
ever contest. Four middle school
teams competed in the Agriscience contest and they represented themselves very well. The
Plum City #1 team of Noah
Gansluckner, McKenzie Raethke,
Olivia Miller, Carson Smith and
Alexis Reinhardt won the contest.
Noah and McKenzie tied for second place individuals in the contest. The chapter also had
teams compete in the Wildlife
and Livestock contests.
Thank you so much for your continued
sponsorship of the Plum City yearbook.
Your support is greatly appreciated.
Tractor Central
First Bank of Baldwin
Kristo Orthodontics
Durand Builders
Westconsin Credit Union
Eau Galle Cheese
Durand Publishing
Molly's on Main
Midwest Dental
Bauer Built
Heike Pharmacy
Bauer's Gas & Appliance Sales, Inc.
Rhiel Funeral Home
Idosew alterations--Deb Ottman
Cottage Hill
Wieser Concrete Products
Chippewa Valley Cable, Inc.
S.O.S.
Plum City Hardware
Panther Drive Inn
Security Financial Bank
Fetzer Farms, Inc.
Weiss Woods of Plum Creek
Lonnie Larson--ReMax
Binkowski Oil LLC
Plum City Service
Designs by Dianne
Kent's Auto Service
Cat-Matt
Binkowski Trucking
Panel Systems
Valley Repair
Bittersweet Bakery & More, LLC
Precise Concrete Walls, Inc.
Pioneer
Fleet Feet
Ellsworth Cooperative Creamery
JM Watkins, LLC
Pittman Maple Syrup
Durand Optometry Clinic LLC
Ryan's Sports Shop Inc.
Wolf's
Michaels Portrait Design Inc.
Grange Hall Auto, Inc
Plum City Care Center
Annabell's Catering
Fairmount Minerals