May - Potosi School District

Be Responsible, Be Respectful, Be Safe
Potosi District
Newsletter
May 2015
Potosi School District
128 Hwy 61 N
Potosi, WI 53820
CONGRATULATIONS to our Potosi Middle
School National History Day team for representing our school and community with enthusiasm, courtesy, and knowledge!! There
were 399 students participating in 250
different entries ranging from research papers to exhibits to performances. Out of our
9 entries at the Western Wisconsin Regional, one entry, the Nelson Dewey documentary won a $50 cash prize for Local History!
The top place-winners for their documentary "Bill Harley and the Davidsons: Innovation, Military, and Charity" are ALTERNATES
TO STATE! Our 22 regional qualifiers worked
very hard to refine their projects. Thanks to
everyone who participated or helped in any
way!
See page 4 for more information!
Phone: 608-763-2161
Fax: 608-763-2035
Potosi: A Community Of Character
School District of Potosi
Mark Siegert
Athletic Director
(608) 763-2161
Ronald S. Saari
District Administrator
(608) 763-2162
Mike Uppena
K-12 Principal
(608) 763-2161
The Bottom Line
by Ron Saari (4-13-15)
Good News!
On Wednesday, April 8th, Mr. Keith Livens gave the District a donation of $400,000. Mr. Livens met
with School District representatives in Madison providing the District with his gift to go towards the
creation of a community fine arts performance area. The receipt of this gift has been in the works for a
while and we are happy to share this successful gift news! The gift comes with a stipulation that it is
contingent on the passage of the proposed facility referendum that is being planned for this upcoming fall.
As a community, we need to appreciate this very generous offer by a Potosi Alumnus.
Over the last several months several community members, staff members, and former and present students
have written letters to Mr. Livens thanking him for thinking of our school and community. In recent
conversation with Mr. Livens, he indicated how much he appreciated those letters and how touched he
was that people would take the time to share their thoughts with him. He said that he could see the same
spirit, in the community he grew up in, still surviving today. That is a wonderful compliment for our
school and community. I would like to take this opportunity to thank everybody for supporting our efforts
to improve our school facilities.
This is a big deal folks! In all of my 24 years in education I have never been on the receiving end of a gift
of this magnitude. We are so fortunate to have a Potosi Alumnus recognize a long time need (since 1984),
in our school to step up, and offer a very generous gift to improve our fine arts program. This gift will not
only improve our fine arts program, but will also help us to fix high priority needs in our school in a more
fiscally responsible way for our district’s taxpayers. Anyone who may be interested in writing to Mr.
Livens can do so at this address: Mr. Keith C. Livens
112 Brookdale Drive
S. Milwaukee, WI 53172
After 18 months of studying our current facility needs, meeting with consultants, documenting community
input from walk-a-round tours, and prioritizing our facility needs, the community facility committee has
completed a blue print for the next two decades. A brochure is being developed that explains all the
details and outlines the proposed facility project. This brochure will be available to the community in a
few days.
If anyone has any questions regarding this project, or is interested in a school tour, please contact Ron
Saari or Jamie Pierce (763-2163). Community input is always welcome and appreciated.
Respect • Responsibility • Honesty • Courage
128 Hwy 61 N, Potosi, WI 53820 ∙ Fax (608) 763-2035 ∙ www.potosisd.k12.wi.us
Congratulations! Mr. Ron Saari was presented the Outstanding Administrator’s Award by the WSRA. “The WSRA’s Hidden Valley Reading Council nominated him for this prestigious award. Although Mr. Saari has not been at
Potosi for long, he has championed initiatives involving literacy. He actively
encourages the use of Professional Learning Communities in his district and
has financially supported the purchase of a professional learning library for
these PLC meetings. New material has been purchased for use across all the
content areas, allowing teachers to help students become college and career
ready. The district literacy committee noted that it is very grateful for his continuing support of their efforts regarding the district literacy plan, and for the
professional learning opportunities he has afforded his staff.”
M.S.Honor Roll- Quarter 3 April 2015
Distinguished Honors- Martia Abing, Will Bierman, Blake Cooley, Nicholas Edge, Brooklyn Friederick, Andrew McKillip,
Lilly Post, Konner Schroeder, Paige Siegert, Shae Siegert, Austin Uppena, and Alexandria Whitaker
High Honors-Nelson Bauer, Wade Brown, Andrea Burger, Sydney Fecht, Josh Gerhards, Elliot Haverland,
Jeffrey Jacobson, Harmony Jantzen, Janna Johnson, Jack Kaiser, Jessica Klas, Stevie Kliebenstein, Anna Kruser,
Shania Lange, Trenton Linneman, Hannah Nusbaum, Mandi Perry, Taylor Pluemer, Amanda Roling, Cyrus Siegert,
Riley Thomas-Coates, Justice Udelhofen, Angela Udelhoven, Caden Weber, and Kaylee Worthington
Honors- Tom Abell, Lexie Brandt, Jaydon Carbone, Ryann Dressler, Jadyn Noonan, Jason Oyen, Alexandria
Pennekamp, Sabrina Phillips, Kurt Ringberg-Cardey, Megan Roesch, Maggie Schmitz, Jacob Stoney, Allison Trost,
and Jared Wunderlin
H.S. Honor Roll-Quarter 3
Distinguished Honors- Brooke Dressler, Alec Ganarajah, Madeline Hawes, Nick Horner, Abby Kaiser, Kyle Kaiser,
Karlie Klas, Madelyn Kruser, Emily Langmeier, Thomas Leibfried, Kate Nusbaum, Brooke McKillip, Daniel Post,
Cole Reuter, Ryan Schmitz, Anna Schmitz, Logan Scholl, Luke Scholl, Allison Siegert, Hannah Udelhoven,
Denise Van Veldhuizen, Claudia Wagner, Kaitlyn White, Gunther Williams, and Rayne Wolf
High Honors- Alex Abell, Brad Abing, Karsyn Bartell, Kurt Bartell, Trenton Bauer, Makenzie Brown, Brent Curtis,
Tyler David, Nate Friederick, Teagan Friederick, Riley Hawes, Trevor Johnson, Taylor Kennedy, Jacy Koeller,
Allison Kruser, Zachary Lange, Jacob Langkamp, Sophia Langkamp, Bryce McMahon, Cole Menne, Brett Muench,
Cassidy Muench, Makylie Parkins, Madysin Pfab, Zack Reuter, Jessica Robinson, Austin Schmitz, Logan Schmitz,
Jake Schroeder, Michael Shaben, Tia Stohlmeyer, Amy Traver, Alex Udelhofen, Kalynn Vosberg, Emma Wagner,
Brendan Weber, Alyssa White, and Brittany Wiederholt
Honors-Christian Bauer, Brandon Bierman, Taylor Bloyer, Skyla Champion, Tanner Collins, Crystal Cragg,
Shawn Dietzel, Tristehn Duncan, Nick Fecht, Calie Gibson, Jesse Hamilton, Alysha Jacobson, Jeannie Johnson,
Sydney Kelley, Thomas Kelley, Cy Menne, Grace Morgan, Dan Nusbaum, Tommy Pluemer, Toni Pluemer,
Jacob Schmit, Nathaniel Schmitt, Hillary Schumacher, Blaine Stahr, Taryn Stappert, Jacob Udelhoven,
Maxwell Udelhoven, and Shakyla Udelhoven
Twenty-two students took 9 entries to the Western
Wisconsin National History Day regional at UWLaCrosse on March 30. The Vince Lombardi exhibit
(Paige Siegert and Shae Siegert) was asked to be
put on display at the LaCrosse Public Library. The
Nelson Dewey documentary took a $50 local history
prize (Konner Schroeder, Blake Cooley, Elliot
Haverland, and Jason Oyen). The Harley-Davidson
documentary took second alternate and is competing at state as our "Best of School" entry. State
NHD was on Saturday, April 25; those students going include Andrew McKillip, Will Bierman, Jaydon
Carbone, and Cy Siegert. All of our middle school
students learned valuable research and documentation skills in NHD!
FAMILY READING NIGHT
Thanks to everyone who came to Family Reading Night! It was a fun way to "stop, drop, and
read" on the "beach".........special thanks to Mr. Uppena, Mr. Winkler, Mrs. Kubal, Mrs.
Uppena, Ms. Reynolds, & Mrs. Hawes for performing "DW All Wet" and to library club members
for "The Pirates' Code".
It's always a good time to SOAK UP A GOOD BOOK!
The Potosi Student Council collected 415 pounds of food for
the Grant County Food Pantry in
April. The Student Council would
like to thank everyone who donated to this cause. The winning
classes were the combined team
of the fifth and eighth grades
with 120 pounds of food! They
will celebrate with root beer
floats.
Mrs. Laura Hartline had her Spanish students take the National Spanish
Examine. The following students were recognized for scoring top in their
classes.
Spanish 3/4
Denise Van Veldhuizen, Trenton Bauer,
Lane Stoney, and Claudia Wagner.
Spanish 1
Brandon Weber, Austin Schmitz, Nathaniel Schmitt,
Annie Schmitz, and Rayne Wolf
Amy Traver, Madelyn Kruser, and Emma Wagner
Spanish 2
Nick Horner, Ally Siegert, Katie Nusbaum, Thomas Leibfried
and Alyssa White.
Spanish Book Drive
Help the Spanish classes expand their classroom library!
Reading Spanish books is an
important part of the Spanish
curriculum at Potosi Schools.
Consider donating a new
Spanish book to our classroom
library so that every student
can find books that interest
them at their reading level.
There are two ways to donate:
1. Make a monetary donation. $6 = 1 new book!
2. Visit our wish list on Amazon, purchase a book, and have it shipped to
the school.
To access our Amazon wish list,


Follow this link: http://amzn.com/w/1FUSASIRR5X0V, or
Use the QR reader on your phone to scan the code to
the right (requires an Amazon account).
Contact: Laura Hartline [email protected]
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Spanish Book Drive – Monetary Donation Form
Name of Donor: _______________________________________________
Donor’s Address: ______________________________________________
Phone: _________________
E-mail: __________________________
Amount of Donation: $ ___________
(Checks payable to Potosi Schools)
On Wednesday, April 22, the senior Consumer Ed. class attended the Financial Literacy Reality Event which ten area schools put
together and was held at the Lenz Center at SWTC. The purpose of the event is for students to go from station to station and
make necessary purchases for their adult lives… and stay out of debt!! Before going students were given a life status (marital
status, career, occupation, family, etc.). The student will go through a month’s worth of financial decisions including making
deposits, writing checks, using their debit card… they pay bills, and making a multitude of consumer choices about clothing, entertainment, investments, child care, transportation and much more. This is a part of our Consumer Education program taught
by Char Schenkel and Mary Wedig. With the advice and assistance from local company volunteers, the event was eye opening
and found students returning their “big boy toys”, getting second jobs and being satisfied with less than the top of the line
choices. All students were “treated” to the FATE table which could be a positive or negative financial event. The Police and DNR
helped create the scene as well giving random citations to individuals.
Front row- Konner Schroeder, Hunter Theisen, Stevie Kliebenstein, Ryann Dressler,
Jadyn Noonan, Blake Cooley, Andrew McKillip, Alex Freese, Cy Siegert;
Back row - Paige Siegert, Sydney Fecht, Anna Kruser, Shae Siegert, Amanda
Roling, Caitlin Thingvold, Taylar Pluemer, Hannah Nusbaum, Harmony Jantzen,
Alexandria Pennekamp, Jaydon Carbone)
Jadyn Noonan - 4-minute
Speaking - 1st place
Blake Cooley - 4-minute
Speaking - 3rd place
Cy Siegert - Demonstration
Speaking - 3rd place
Hannah Nusbaum - Solo
Acting - 1st place
The Junior Class will be having prom on May
2nd at Holiday Gardens. Friends and family will
be able to join us at 10pm for the Grand March
and coronation ceremony.
Back row: Tyler Udelhoven, Nate Friederick,
Teagan Friederick, Jake Langkamp, and Ryan
Schmitz Missing: Lane Stoney (Master of Ceremony)
Front row: Madeline Hawes, Calie Gibson, Emily
Langmeier, Taylor Bloyer, Tia Stohlmeyer
(Mistress of Ceremony) and Claudia Wagner
Fractions are Fun! Pizza Making Day!
There might be some future chefs among our 2nd graders! Mrs. Uppena’s were making
pizzas courtesy of Papa Murphy's. Reading a recipe and learning about fractions were
a couple of key concepts along with food safety. The students got take their pizza
home that night to eat.
Potosi School District
School Board Meeting
April 20, 2015
Unapproved Minutes
President C. McMahon called the meeting to order at 7:00 PM.
Members Present: C. McMahon, T. Schroeder, C. Bierman, P. Udelhoven, W. Weber, T. Reuter,
R. Kruser.
Members Absent: None.
Certification of proper meeting notification was verified by C. Bierman and T. Reuter.
The Board reviewed the minutes from the March meetings.
Motion by R. Kruser, seconded by W. Weber to approve all minutes as presented:
A. March 16, 2015 regular meeting minutes.
B. March 28, 2015 special meeting minutes.
Motion passed. 7-0
The Board reviewed the current expenditures.
Motion by W. Weber, seconded by R. Kruser to approve the expenditures as presented.
Motion Passed.
Roll Call Vote: All Yes 7-0
Public Input: None.
Administrative Reports:
Mr. Saari, District Administrator gave a verbal report.
Mike Uppena, Principal presented his Principal Report.
Unfinished Business: None.
New Business:
Duane Ford Presentation regarding SW Tech Opportunities – Not for action.
School Brd. Mtg. – 4.20.15
Page 1
The Board reviewed the Facility Committee Recommendation. Motion by W. Weber, seconded
by T. Schroeder to approve the Facility Committee’s recommendation as presented.
Motion Passed. 7-0
The Board reviewed the proposed Referendum date. Motion by C. Bierman, seconded by
R. Kruser to approve November 3, 2015 as a referendum date.
Motion Passed. 7-0
The Board reviewed the retirement of Pam Fritz. Motion by W. Weber, seconded by
T. Reuter to approve the retirement of Pam Fritz as Art Teacher and to thank her for her years
of service to the district.
Motion Passed. 7-0
The Board reviewed the recommendation for the HS/MS English Position. Motion by
W. Weber, seconded by P. Udelhoven to approve Alexa Nutter as a HS/MS English Teacher
beginning at the start of the 2015-16 school year.
Motion Passed. 7-0
The Board reviewed the recommendation for the Agriculture Position. Motion by C. Bierman,
seconded by T. Schroeder to approve Tracy Brunton as our Ag Teacher beginning at the start of
the 2015-16 school year.
Motion Passed. 7-0
Girls Basketball Coach – Not for action.
The Board reviewed the Maroon and Gold Club. Motion by C. Bierman, seconded by W. Weber
to approve the change in direction for fundraising by the Maroon and Gold Club, or whatever
new name they may use.
Motion Passed. 7-0
Board Retreats – Not for action.
Election Results and Administration of the Oath of Office and Recitation of Board Operation
Protocol – Not for action.
Readings of the following Proposed New/Revised/or Reviewed Board Policies were discussed by
the Board:
344.1 Policy – Adult Education (Reviewed)
345.1 Policy – Grading Systems (Revised)
345.2 Policy – Student Progress Reports to Parents (Revised)
345.11 Policy – Cheating Consequences (Revised)
School Brd. Mtg. – 4.20.15
Page 2
345.12 Policy – Retaking Classes (Reviewed)
665 Policy – Student Activity Funds Management (new)
Motion by W. Weber, seconded by T. Schroeder to approve all six (6) policies as presented with
change as mentioned.
Motion Passed. 7-0
Posting of Board Meetings – Not for action.
Board Member Input: None
Closed Session:
Motion by T. Schroeder, seconded by T. Reuter to move into executive session at 8:22 PM for
the purpose of discussing personnel matters per state statue 19.85 (1) (c) (f), to consider,
deliberate, and take action, if appropriate, concerning employment, promotion, compensation
or performance evaluation data of any public employee over which the governing body has
responsibility;
a.) Staffing for 2015-2016
b.) Preliminary consideration of nonrenewal of teachers contracts
Motion Passed.
Roll Call Vote: All yes 7-0
Open Session:
Motion P. Udelhoven, seconded by T. Schroeder to move out of executive session at 9:55 PM.
Motion Passed.
Roll Call Vote: All yes 7-0
Action on Staffing for 2015-16. Motion by C. McMahon, seconded by W. Weber to reduce the
math department as presented.
Motion Passed. 7-0
Consideration of approval of individual teacher contracts for 2015-16. Motion by R. Kruser,
seconded by C. Bierman to approve the list of Individual Teacher Contract Renewals for
2015-16.
Motion Passed. 7-0
Action on resolution to consider the nonrenewal of a teachers’ contract and issue a preliminary
notice of nonrenewal. Motion by C. Bierman, seconded by R. Kruser to approve the preliminary
notice of nonrenewal for Mallory Mau.
Motion Passed.
Roll Call Vote: 4-3
Yes: C. McMahon, R. Kruser, C. Bierman, W. Weber.
School Brd. Mtg. – 4.20.15
Page 3
No: T. Reuter, P. Udelhoven, T. Schroeder.
Action on resolution to consider the nonrenewal of a teachers’ contract and issue a preliminary
notice of nonrenewal. Motion by W. Weber, seconded by C. Bierman to approve the
preliminary notice of nonrenewal for Matt Winkler.
Motion Passed.
Roll Call Vote: All yes 7-0
Adjourn Meeting:
Motion by P. Udelhoven, seconded by T. Schroeder to adjourn the meeting at
10:08 PM.
Motion Passed. 7-0
Respectfully submitted: Craig Bierman, Clerk
School Brd. Mtg. – 4.20.15
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