Story originally printed in the Onalaska Life or online at www.onalaskalife.com
Published - Tuesday, June 03, 2008
OASIS at OHS wins board OK
A special program to help struggling students was approved Monday by the Onalaska Board of Education. The program is called OASIS — Onalaska Alternative Services And Instruction School — and is meant to be a different environment in the high school.
“It is for the square pegs who don’t fit into education’s round holes,” high school Associate Principal Paul Coenen said.
“We have known we have needed this type of program for many, many years. It is long overdue,” school board member Florence Hyatt said.
“It is a monumental step with a lot of potential,” school board President Kirby Lentz said.
The state Department of Public Instruction awarded Onalaska $75,000 for the program. The DPI insists the program last at least five years and the state money will diminish each year.
OASIS will give certain students additional help differently than they would receive in regular classrooms. The students in OASIS will be kids who otherwise might drop out or barely make it through school.
The alternative school, approved by the school board Monday night, is the result of Coenen trying to find out why some kids were truants. “I tried to get some insight on what makes them tick, and it turns out they are bored,” Coenen told school board members. “They are marching to a beat of a different drum.”
Coenen said the high school is improving its student retention, but some kids still are headed for failure.
It is very important to help students who are failing and who are not going to higher education, said Fran Finco, district instructional services director.
“We want them to leave school with some skills for decent paying jobs. They will be our neighbors,” Finco said.
The DPI received 43 applications requesting almost $4 million for alternative education grants. The $1.8 million allocation for the 2008-09 school year will be split among 24 grants serving 28 other Wisconsin school districts and one cooperative educational service agency.
REACh grant
Another program to give students help has been renewed. The REACh (Responsive Education for All Children) grant received a $48,000 grant to run for its second year. The grant was successful enough the school district received all the money it applied for, according to grant administrator Teri Faulkner. The grant is also larger than last year’s grant of $42,000, which is unusual, she said.
Faulkner said it is a highly coordinated effort among all district educators to monitor student progress and rush help to kids having trouble before they get into academic trouble. “It is huge. We are finding kids who aren’t learning and helping them learn,” Faulkner said.
Onalaska’s program is so successful the DPI has used it as an example for other state school districts.
“It allows us to close the achievement gap among students,” Superintendent John Burnett said.
Bowl-bound band
OHS band director Dawson Strutt hopes the UW-Madison Badgers will play in the Outback Bowl during the New Year’s holiday because his band, the Onalaska High School Hilltoppers, will perform at the Outback Bowl. The board of education gave permission for the trip Monday night.
The marching band will travel to Florida Dec. 27- Jan. 4 and perform at the Outback Bowl in Tampa.
Onalaska’s musicians would perform at Disney’s Magic Kingdom, a parade at Universal Studios, the New Year’s Eve parade in Tampa, the Outback Bowl halftime show and compete in a field show competition.
The trip would be open to the band, related school organizations and families.
Spending approvals
The school board plans to spend $108,577 for workstations and another $41,260 on select technology gear for next school year, despite not having a budget. The order for “SmartBoards,” stands, projectors and mounting equipment makes it possible to have it installed in time for the start of school in September.
The school budget process begins sometime in November and concludes the following October so administrators have to do some guessing and betting to make the actual school year work fiscally.
Students recognized
Onalaska middle school students who took the ACT college admission test and did well at it were recognized Monday by the school board. Those who had high scores in the 2008 Midwest Academic Talent Search included sixth-grade students Grace Zeng and Mary Diermeier, seventh-grade students Landon Kramer, Bjorn Blomquist and Megan Brewer and eighth-grade student Rachel Caron.
They took the same test as high school juniors and seniors. “Many of our talent search students had scores the high school students would envy,” gifted and talented teacher Karen Keil Arellano noted.
Several students who participated in the WordMasters Vocabulary Contest also were recognized. Those who got high honors include Northern Hills third-graders Ruth Hallstead and Madeline Goethel and Eagle Bluff fourth-grader Abby Hess. “They were in the top 2 percent of contest participants in the nation,” gifted and talented teacher Pam Jepson said.
Honorable mention also went to Northern Hills third-grader Jessica Ni, Eagle Bluff fourth-grader Abby Saner and Eagle Bluff fifth-graders Bennett Hutson and Patrick Szopinski. They were among the top 10 percent of participants nationally.
Students recognized for top scores in the Continental Math League Contest include: Eagle Bluff fourth-grader Spencer Runde, Eagle Bluff fifth-grader Bennett Hutson, Northern Hills second-grader Sarah Wood and Northern Hills third-grader Ruth Hallstead.
People
Hiring was approved for: Jeremy Ackerman, high school art teacher; Jodi Copus, Irving Pertzsch Elementary LD/ED teacher; and Carrie Cunningham, Northern Hills Elementary LD/ED teacher.
Resignations were received from: LeaAnn Bohn, middle school paraprofessional, and Amy Jo Lakey, pupil services secretary.
Resignations also were received from Brian Frerks, ninth grade volleyball coach; and Curt McIlquham, JV head baseball coach.
All stories copyright 2006 Onalaska Life and other attributed sources.