UPbeat News April 2000

4/20/00 - Steve Weaver, Holly Phillippo and Mark Nordin were named to represent the School Board on a committee to hire a new staff member, at the Board's regular monthly meeting on Monday night. They will work with administrators to check references, review and compare qualifications and interview applicants for the position with combined responsibilities of principal of the Daggett and Mellen elementary schools and director of the Special Education Program for kindergarten through 12th graders. Applications are being received until the first of May. So far about six have been received. Inerviews of the top three or four candidates should take place in May.

In other business the Board accepted the bid of $65,351 from Independent Roofing for re-roofing the Stephenson Elementary School. They also voted to buy the new Science and Geography books recommended by the Curriculum Committee.

Written minutes of the Personnel Committee Meeting of April 3 were provided for the Board members but no oral report was given at the Board meeting. The minutes noted that the Committee discussed two major issues: 1.) The recent outbursts and behavior of a fourth grade student, and 2.) The number and types of students that have the potential to exhibit similar behavior. Several elementary teachers, listed as guests at the meeting, were asked for suggestions on how to solve some of the current problems. Their suggestions were 1.) Develop a plan to deal with problem students, 2.) Smaller class size, 3.) Put a counselor in each building, and 4.) Hire a teacher for a room where they can send disruptive students. The committee basically agreed that staff support is needed and said "The administrative realignment will help. Mr. Snyder will be at SES full time and more administrative time will be available at MES and DES. Further support may occur as options are considered."

4/19/00 - The FFA Alumni group met last week, not so mch to pat themselves on the back for the success of their Consignment Auction but to discuss things they can do to make next year's even better. Group president Monty Tuinstra estimated attendance at about l,000 with 473 of those involved as registered bidders. Next year they hope to have a lot more food, a better microphone system and a flatbed truck or pickup truck to display smaller items like lawn mowers and yard equipment so prospective bidders have a better view of what's available. Efforts will be made to clear up lingering misunderstandings about the difference between "donations" and offering items on "consignment." Plans also include more effort to get local equipment on site on the Saturday before the sale, and a few other organizational and operational improvements. The group will hold their next meeting in the Ag Room of the high school on May 25 when they will elect officers. Tuinstra will be stepping down as President and Dennis Gruzlewski has been nominated as his replacement. Gary Scarborough and Brian Hanson received nominations for the Vice Presidential spot and Cheryl Scarborough, secretary, and Barry Wehner, treasurer, agreed to run again for their positions.

4/13/00 - The Stephenson Marketing Co-op Auto Center advertised an "Open House" for today but actually it was and Open Garage. The Auto Center has been moved back to the original location, across from the Marketing's store and feed mill, after operating out of a shop on U.S. 41 for the last several years so it was an excuse for celebration. Manager Joe Liegl and his wife Lois were on hand, surrounded by racks of tires, auto parts and other car-farm supplies, to serve up brats, baked beans, sauerkraut and a lot of extras to those who braved the windy, snowy, rainy, cold weather. Temperatures in the 50's were predicted but they didn't show up until the next day. Still, people lingered over the plentiful supply of food and hot coffee and exchanged views of how the Elian case and the Packers' latest problems should be handled, among other things.

4/13/00 - Wally Majkrzak didn't have time for brats and coffee Thursday afternoon. He was preparing to have his building, the Tivoli Theater, overrun by 5th to 12th graders attending a "stage dance." The Majkrzaks bought the theater about three years ago and have been using it for movies on weekends and a variety of other activities as well, like the monthly dances. Actually, dancing doesn't seem to be very important to this age group. Loud music -- that's important. So is the refreshment stand in the lobby, and the arcade games. The real eye-popper this time was the $30,000 worth of flashing, dancing, circling, bobbing, multi-colored, multi-shaped lights continually filling the stage and theater walls. Wally says dances usually draw from 60 to 80 students from the area with some starting to come from the north and south ends of the county. He enjoys the challenge of finding new uses for the facility. Recently the high school drama club put on their play at the theater and the N&T Dance Studio show featuring Stephenson area students is scheduled for May l5 and l6. There are street dances in the summer, fireworks on the 4th of July, and Santa stops in near the end of December. But on Thursday night the latest dance "step" seemed to be doing cartwheels across the stage,and the attendees got more exercise hustling back and forth from the stage to the lobby than they did dancing. But they were having a ball, in their own way.

4/12/00 Oh boy! About 60 juniors and seniors at Stephenson found ANOTHER way to get out of classes Wednesday. They won't be disciplined or have to show up in court though. In fact, this is probably all you will hear about them, even though this latest caper involved a lot of blood letting. The Bloodmobile was in the Commons area at the High School from 9 am to 2 pm that day and of the more than 90 donors at least 60 were students. The Student Council sponsored the visit and members provided help with serving food and drink to donors, setup and cleanup and general assistance as needed. Council President Morgan Kuntze was available to answer questions and act as coordinator. Heidi Anderson, Rachel Turcotte and Abby Ruleau worked the sign-in desk. The Student Council has sponsorsed spring and fall bloodmobile visits every year since 1997.

4/12/00 Twenty senior citizens (14 women and 5 men) showed up at the Mid-County Senior Center in Daggett for a l0 a.m. meeting with Sheriff Tom Unger and TRIAD Coordinator Tina Nast. They agreed to work with local law enforcement personnel to improve communication and cooperation in the community in a variety of ways. Projects could cover everything from providing "File for Life" cards containing vital health and medical information to hang on refrigerator doors for use in emergencies, to helping solve problems involving elderly abuse, vandalism, uncontrolled animals, and many other common problems. A meeting to elect officers, select projects and set priorities will be held at the Center at 10 a.m. on May 3rd.

4/12/00 4-H is a family thing. It's been that way for years. Sarah Marciniak Borden, at 82, was probably one of the oldest people at this year's annual spring 4-H Achievement Day at the high school on Saturday. Members of 30 local clubs began setting up displays at l0 am for the open house and fashion revue which started at 6 pm. Sarah was there to support her daughter Linda's daughter Elizabeth. In the 70's, when her children Becky and Tim were 4-H members, Sarah and her husband Roy demonstrsated how to make home-made ice cream as part of the Achievement Day program.

The Zemba family was also well represented Satlurday. Adele had good reason to be proud of her grandchildren from third grader Ashley, who won a ribbon for her photography work to teenager Sarah who was one of three winners of the Clarence Hansen Memorial Scholarship and other awards. The other scholarship winners were Cathy Aderman and Kelly Parrett.

Elena Berg may have conned the fashion show judges, Gretchen Fossen and Bobbi and Dennis Morton, out of a point or two for the big red apple she presented to them as she modeled the warm winter jumper she made as part of her sewing project. Elena and her family moved her from Florida about a year ago. Winners of awards for the construction of the garments had been determined by a different set of judges the day before. The outfits modeled had all the special touches, zippers, darts, linings, etc., not usually found on the one-size-fits-all racks of popular stores.

And then there was Sophia Peretto and her green plastic shoes she got in Green Bay. They had nothing to do with any 4-H project, they were just unusual and hard to miss as she answered my questions about some of the other displays and the activities of the Looking Good 4-H club she belongs to.

4/12/00 Your not-too-serious horoscope for April birthday people: If you can say this fast five times without goofing up the rest of the month should be easy - Does this shop stock short socks with spots? If you didn't get it right try doing something else stupid tomorrow. You will have better luck.

4/8/00- Would you ever consider spreading a clear plastic shower curtain on the floor, spraying it with paint and letting an 8-month old, clad only in diapers, play around on it? Surely when they finished you would tack it up on the wall and invite all your friends over to admire your newly acquired piece of art. Or maybe you occasionally go out and snip a few branches from an evergreen tree and let your kids dip them in paint and create frameable artworks on poster paper. Of course! Kids at Lots-a-Tots day care do those kinds of things all the time, under the direction of Joy Schultz, Donna Buechler, and seven other staff members. Once a year they hold an Art Show. Parents, grandparents and siblings stop in and fill the various rooms loaded with imaginative displays. They even get to try a few projects on their own. The showing only lasts an hour but it's not the kind of art you have to ponder over to try and determine what the artist is trying to tell you. No matter what the project the message is clear: "We're having fun!" This year's show is over. It was Friday night. Next year's will probably be almost as good.

4/7/00 - Stray dogs and cats, mostly cats, are running wild again. It's time to clean up the parks and solve a few parking problems. It's Spring...and the Stephenson City Council is doing their best to keep all of us happy. The short, but irritating, power outages of the past week should be ending as Jim Gardiner reported the work on the electrical sub-station in the city is about completed. Donations of $400 to the Little League program and $100 to the Legion baseball team were approved again this year. Their is also a plan underway to put in 3 or 4 parking places in front of City Hall so law-abiding people will no longer have to fight the temptation (often losing) to illegally park in front of the fire station doors when they stop by to pay utility bills or make other brief visits. They hope to have the details worked out and ready for approval by the May 4 council meeting.

4/7/00 - Textbooks are no longer just collections of dull, boring information kids are expected to read and memorize. Now they come with "Consumable Kits" providing certificates to mail in when a project calls for goldfish or worms, or other such things schools don't knowingly or intentionally keep on hand. Elementary School Principal Scott Snyder and his staff have been reviewing five different series of Science books to replace the 8-to-12 year old ones currently in use. He brought samples of the ones considered "best" to the Wednesday night School Board Curriculum Committee meeting. The books not only have colorful illustrations and charts to make lessons easier to understand, they also provide hands-on projects for each section and links to other subjects, like Math. If the Board approves the purchase of the books at their May meeting they could be ordered in time to arrive by August. And, if the students are as enthused as the teachers, who are already using some of the ideas from the books in their classrooms, they should have a very challenging and productive year next year.

There are also some 8-year old Geography books that are "literally falling apart" according to High School Principal Paul Weismantel, that need to be replaced. The many boundary changes in the Balkans and old Soviet Union have severly outdated the material in them. He recommended an edition that covers the basic geography subjects but includes emphasis on thinking skills and integration of history, literature and science instead of something heavy on memorizing the names of rivers and capitol cities, etc. He also noted that the new book was easier to read because it didn't use long, complicated sentences without "talking down" to the students.

4/5/00 - Election Results. There was no competition in yesterday's election and no write-in candidates for office. So...winners were: Mayor Pete Getzen with 41 votes and Council Members Jim Gardiner - 45, William Rasner - 43 and John Starzynski - 42.

Old Age Benefits. If you're lucky enough to be 'old' the meal at the Mid-County Senior Center on Friday will consist of salmon loaf, whipped potatoes, creamed peas, chocolate-peanut butter bar, bread, margarine and milk. All for a suggested donation of $2.00.

4/5/00 - Stephenson Elementary School kids had a project recently where they were to note Random Acts of Kindness they did or saw others do. Some samples: "I saw a 4th grader help Mrs. Roemer whipe up coffee when someone else ran into her and spilt it." "Someone did something for me." "I killed a chicken for dinner." "I'm a sixth grade girl and I did so many good deeds I forgot a lot of them!" "I said yes M'am." "I brushed horses, lot of fur." - my favorite, "I witnessed Mr. Haight take out Mrs. Parrett's stitches (on her hand) and she didn't even sceam, kick or faint! She did say Thank You."

4/4/00 - Too Late and Too True to be April Fool Jokes - Relatives in Hungary are paying the equivalent of $3.90 a gallon for gas. No wonder bikes and mopeds are popular and few families own two vehicles. But good public transportation, (buses and trains) is available.

Here in Stephenson a niece's computer conked out a couple of weeks ago. The repair people lold her it was probably struck by lightning. In March? In the U.P.?

Coming home from Menominee at about 3:30 this afternoon I saw two deer having a snack around the picnic table in the park in Wallace.