by rsullivan | Aug 27, 2018 | Stand Up for Public Education Blog
The Chippewa Herald: When Hillcrest Elementary teacher Marcie Lindbom asked her friends and family if they’d be interested in sponsoring a child from her fourth-grade class by donating money for books, she didn’t expect a flood of interest.
But that’s what Lindbom got – and more.
Last week, she posted on Facebook asking people to consider donating $9 for a child in her class to receive one free book per month for the entire school year.
“Within a couple hours, I had my whole classroom sponsored, with extra,” Lindbom said.
Other Hillcrest teachers were surprised by the overflow of generosity, and ran with the idea, Hillcrest principal Leslie Lancette said.
“At Hillcrest, five of my teachers that I have seen that are doing it,” Lancette said.
It’s an idea that is delighting teachers across Wisconsin. Lancette and Lindbom say the trend has taken over their friendly social media network of teachers, from Rib Lake to Stevens Point to the eastern side of the state.
Read the complete article.
by rsullivan | Aug 24, 2018 | Stand Up for Public Education Blog
Green Bay Press Gazette: Southern Door County School District has won the Education Innovation Award from the Northeast Wisconsin Manufacturing Alliance. The award honors the district’s work to advance technical education through collaborating with local manufacturers, according to the Southern Door County School District.
The district will receive the award Oct. 23 at the 7th Annual Excellence in Manufacturing/K-12 Partnership Awards in Green Bay sponsored by the Northeast Wisconsin Manufacturing Alliance.
“The technical education department at Southern Door has a long-standing tradition of excellence in preparing our youth for the trades, manufacturing, and engineering,” said Southern Door County School District Superintendent Patti Vickman.
Innovative programs, including a race car program and the high school Fab Lab, engage students “in new career pathways,” Vickman said.
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by rsullivan | Aug 20, 2018 | Stand Up for Public Education Blog
DeForest Times-Tribune: Employers want many things in their workers – productivity, positivity, and reliability as a short list.
For American Packaging Corporation in DeForest, “personal accountability” is a major sticking point. It’s the difference between suffering from a large turnover rate versus a workforce that commits to a company and rises up through the ranks. Company representatives said there is significant management investment to recruit and retain workers that display promising qualities.
“We’re not hiring to keep people at the bottom level,” said Facility Manager Josh Voelker. “That’s not our plan.”
But even with state-of-the-art equipment and an assortment of internal policies to promote advancement of workers, policies including tuition reimbursement and in-house certifications, the Philadelphia-based company reports that it’s struggling to fill vacant, local positions.
Now, the DeForest Area School District is showing interest and recently sent 11 teachers on a tour of the factory. Located in DeForest’s northern industrial park, the teachers visited the American Packaging plant Aug. 9 and heard from company representatives. Topics of discussion included workforce development and the types of skills needed to start working right out of high school.
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by rsullivan | Aug 20, 2018 | Stand Up for Public Education Blog
Burnett County Sentinel: Larsen Auto Center has partnered with the School District of Webster. Larsen Auto Center has joined forces with the national Chevrolet Youth Baseball program to provide new equipment, invitations to free instructional clinics, and an opportunity for community members to earn donations for their league via a Test Drive fundraiser.
“Playing the game of baseball helps kids develop skills like leadership, cooperation and sportsmanship while bringing families and communities together to show their support. Larsen Auto Center and Chevrolet Youth Baseball are proud to participate in a sport that brings so many smiles to kids and families in Webster.” said Phil Nehring, General Manager for Larsen Auto Center. “Chevrolet believes that in play, there are possibilities and supports the spirit of teamwork that baseball instills in its players.”
2018 marks Chevrolet’s Youth Baseball program’s 13th year, and since its introduction has helped aid local teams, benefiting more than 12.4 million young people in communities where Chevrolet’s customers live, work and play. In 2017, more than 1,500 Chevrolet dealers participated across the country.
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by rsullivan | Aug 13, 2018 | Stand Up for Public Education Blog
The Tomah Journal: Lemonweir Elementary School received visitors from the Orient on Monday.
Thirty-six teachers from China observed classes and asked and answered questions about the education systems in the United States and China when they visited Lemonweir as part of the Kingstar Nanjing Foreign Language School Program and XuZhou Kindergarten Teachers College, which partners with the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh.
Nicki Pope, Lemonweir principal said the purpose of the trip is to learn best practices for education and how classes are conducted in the United States.
The educators from China visited Lemonweir because of its 45-15 school year. They were curious about everything from how classrooms are set up and designed, how teacher contracts are structured and the daily schedule, Pope said.
“It’s interesting,” she said. “It’s fun to watch the students excited to see and ask them questions. So it’s been a good experience.”
Read the complete article.
