by | Sep 7, 2018 | Stand Up for Public Education Blog
Luck High School principal Brad Werner announced the offer on Tuesday at the school’s welcome back assembly in the school gym. The school’s 34 seniors were sitting in the front.
“It was a fun experience for me to share this experience with the seniors and watch their faces and their eyeballs get big,” he said. It was almost as big a shock for Werner.
He said Dennis Frandsen, who owns companies around the region and one of Luck’s two banks, called last month and asked to meet with Werner and the school superintendent.
Werner said Frandsen’s bank has been very supportive of the school in the six years he has been the principal, but they’d never met. “He just showed up and set the offer on the table for us. It’s almost mind boggling to think that that’s just come through, out of the blue, and is an opportunity for our kids,” Werner said. “It’s a little bit hard to wrap your mind around.”
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.
Read the complete article.
by rsullivan | Jun 11, 2018 | Stand Up for Public Education Blog
Burnett County Sentinel: This year, 100 percent of Siren Seniors walked across the stage and graduated, a feat that many were proud of.
“It took a lot of hard work,” Associate Principal Wayne Koball said. “A lot of people took a lot of time to help these kids walk across the stage. The students are the beneficiary and were very proud of that.”
Native American Coordinator Tera Voss said the tribal student graduation rate was also 100 percent with five students graduating and Special Education Director Denise Johnston said that nine special education students graduated this year.
Read the complete article on Siren graduation.
by rsullivan | Jul 24, 2017 | Stand Up for Public Education Blog
Burnett County Sentinel: While the rest of Webster was buckling in for the weekend on Friday, Webster Technical Education Teacher Roy Ward was anxiously awaiting the newest addition to the Webster High School shop, a Haas CNC Mini Mill.
Ward, the expert, describes the machine’s capabilities like this: “Using a piece of raw material or a casting, students will program the mill to perform one or several operations. There are 10 tool holders that can automatically change. One part might have an area that needs to be surface milled, a hole to drill, and a thread to tap. Another example might be a pocketing operation to remove material from an inside contour. To put it simply, it makes chips.”
The uncanny professionalism of Webster’s shop is due not only to an array of sophisticated machinery, it has also gained respect through Ward’s ambition to partner with the community and provide students with what they need to prepare for life after high school.
Read more.
by rsullivan | Jul 20, 2017 | Stand Up for Public Education Blog
Ashland Daily Press: There’s more to appreciate along the Washburn Walking Trail this summer than just birds, butterflies and beaches. For instance, Emma Meeker, a 2017 Washburn High School (WHS) graduate has created two Reel In and Recycle monofilament-recycling bins for used/unwanted fishing line.
“My goal is to make life easy for boaters on Lake Superior,” said Michelle Shrider, general manager of the Washburn Marina since 2007.
One way to make life easier has been helping to facilitate Meeker’s project.
“The primary reason we put those containers up is because one of the biggest hazards to a marine habitat in a heavily used recreational boating environment is fish line, which gets caught up on the fish gills and they die. Also, those fish get caught up in boat props and can do a lot of damage,” Shrider said.
Meeker began her project junior year in 2015 while attending the Conserve School fall semester.
“As part of a Stewardship class, we were asked to create a project that we wanted to bring back to our community to help the environment,” Meeker said.
Read more.
