Excellence in Education Award: John L. Outlaw

From the November Board blue book:

JOHN L. OUTLAW
Retired MPS Teacher/Current MPS Substitute Teacher

John Outlaw’s career as an educator for Milwaukee Public Schools has spanned 55 years: He was hired in 1956 as a science teacher at Roosevelt Junior High School and formally retired in 1987 as a guidance counselor at Riverside University High School. Anxious to continue serving the students of Milwaukee, Mr. Outlaw decided to become a substitute teacher and has served in this capacity for 22 years thus far, rarely missing a day.

Due to his expertise as a teacher and his positive rapport with students, Mr. Outlaw is a popular and highly respected substitute teacher who is frequently requested by the schools in which he substitutes, especially for long-term assignments. He has been widely recognized and received the Ben Beck Oldest Worker Award in September 2009 as part of the Sterling Awards, Honoring Achievers Over 60. In a congratulatory letter to Mr. Outlaw, U.S. Senator Herb Kohl shared the following words:

With 31 years of experience as a full-time educator and 22 years as a substitute teacher, you have shared a lifetime of knowledge, skills and inspiration with thousands of students. I join the Sterling Awards Committee in applauding your lifetime of service.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel chose to profile Mr. Outlaw in a September 11, 2009, article titled “Reading, writing and respect.” In this article, Mr. Outlaw shared his thoughts on working as a substitute teacher in Milwaukee Public Schools: “It keeps me in touch with the new state of education, the new techniques.” In response to the article, Wisconsin’s First Lady, Jessica Doyle, stated in a letter to Mr. Outlaw

Wisconsin is known for its excellent education system, and it is because of the talent, hard work and dedication of teachers like you. Thank you for caring so deeply, and thank you for your service to our schools and children!

Mr. Outlaw continues to positively impact on the lives of countless students and their families as a dedicated educator. Always happy to share his knowledge and skills with his students beyond the regular school day, he started a camera club at Roosevelt Junior High School in the early 1960s. The members of this club used the skills they gained to become contributing members of high-school yearbook and newspaper staffs. Several members of Mr. Outlaw’s camera club became highly successful professional photographers/journalists, including Kenny Bedford, an ABC news photographer; Clayborn Benson, founder of the Wisconsin Black Historical Museum and photojournalist at WTMJ for 39 years; and Melvin Love, a Milwaukee photographer with his own professional studio.

The Milwaukee Board of School Directors recognizes and honors John L. Outlaw for his dedication, outstanding leadershio, and commitment to excellence on behalf of the students of the Milwaukee Public Schools.

The Kennedy discussion: part 3

In this third installment, the topics are Kathleen "Kick" Kennedy, Rose Kennedy's eccentric child-rearing practices and the influence of Catholicism on the Kennedy clan.

MPS American history teachers and Marquette University Professor Michael Donoghue gathered at Barnes & Noble recently to discuss the book "The Kennedy Legacy: Jack, Bobby and Ted and a Family Dream Fulfilled" by Vincent Bzdek.

The first installment is here, and the second is here.

Voices of the Young: Fred Smith

Fred Smith

What will you do to help make your community a better place to live? That's the question my instructor of the program Know Thyself asked me and I told her that I can't change a community on my own, the people who live in the community must come together to make our environment a better place to live. I can help change and give ideas about changing the community. My main idea is to put or add more community centers in our neighborhood to keep the youth off the streets so they can't commit crimes, use, sell, or buy drugs. This also can keep teens off the streets. There needs to be a place where they can play sports, have tutors to help them with school work, and take them on field trips so youth can experience fun activities. I also believe that the government should tighten up on security to keep drugs off our streets and tighten up on the crime that is happening every day. We need to get the criminals off the streets that are killing our youth, teens, and adults. There is a need for jobs in the city because the unemployment rate is very high and if people can't get jobs, then there is nothing else for them to do, except commit crime and get involved with drugs and other illegal behaviors. I can help my community by standing up and become that person who can lead or guide us to make these changes.

Fred Smith

For more about Voices of the Young, see the bottom of this post.

Stakeholder group to help interview superintendent finalists

A stakeholder group that includes Mayor Tom Barrett will participate in interviews of the three finalists for the superintendent's job, according to the MPS Office of Board Governance.

The members of the group were recommended by School Board President Michael Bonds and approved by the School Board Thursday night. Bonds said all of his nominees had indicated their willingness to serve.

“I am very pleased with this outstanding group of individuals," Bonds said. "Their diverse backgrounds and experiences will ensure that the interests of the whole community are represented in the Board’s selection of its new superintendent.”

Besides Barrett, members of the group are:

• Christine Neumann-Ortiz, Voces Dela Frontera
• Tom Morgan, Milwaukee Teachers’ Education Association (MTEA)
• Bouning Her, MPS Charter School/MATC
• Annette "Polly" Williams, African American Education Council
• Marvin Pratt, Marvin Pratt & Associates (Lobbying and Consulting)
• Roxanne Starks, Milwaukee City Council PTA/PTSA's, Inc.
• Peter Akubeze, Pan-African Community Association (African Refugee
Students)
• Alphonso Thurman, UWM School of Education
• David Beaulieu, UWM Professor — Electra Quinney Chair/Native American
Teacher Program
• Julia Uihlein, David & Julia Uihlein Foundation

The condom proposal passed and schools were closed

The School Board last night followed its committee's recommendations regarding school closings and condom distribution in high schools.

Superintendent finalists named

They are, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

• Robert Alfaro, an area superintendent with the Clark County School District, Las Vegas, Nev.
• Stacy Scott, associate superintendent of Montgomery County Public Schools, Rockville, Md.
• Gregory Thornton, superintendent, Chester Upland Public Schools, Chester, Pa.

Voices of the Young: Olisha Roshell Boyle

Olisha Roshell Boyle

My name is Olisha Roshell Boyle. I am 16 years old. I'm a 10th grader and I go to Custer High School. After school I want to go to college and be a doctor or do hair after that. I want to open my own salon because I love to do hair.

I live with my grandmother, Massie Miller. She is 60 years old and she has taken care of me since I was 6 years old. My mother is Brenda Faye Dauden. She was not there for me. She went to jail when I was 14 years old. She is 38 years old and doesn't have a job when she gets out. I see her every 2 weeks. My mother has two kids, me and my brother, Bevan L. Boyle. He is 17 years old and is in jail. He gets out May 2, 2009. He's in that game stuff. I hope he gets his self together.

I was living with my dad, Bevan L. Boyle, but I didn't want to stay with him any more because he was so strict. He has a job. He helps my grandmother every time I need something. I love my granny so much for taking care of me and for my mother. Thank her, bless her.

Olisha Boyle

For more about Voices of the Young, see the bottom of this post.

Other places: Boy suspended over crucifixion self-portrait

An eight-year-old second grade student with special needs was suspended and ordered to undergo a psychological evaluation after drawing a holiday picture portraying himself as Jesus on the cross, according to USA Today.

The boy drew the stick-figure crucifixion Dec. 2 after his teacher at Maxham Elementary School asked her class to produce pictures that reminded them of the holidays. The Christ figure had Xs for eyes, and the boy wrote his name above. That alarmed the teacher, who considered it a violent drawing, and the boy was suspended and ordered to be evaluated, at his parents' expense.

Legislators won't vote on takeover today; Lawton opposes mayoral control

The State Senate and Assembly will vote on drunk driving legislation today, but will not vote on legislation putting the mayor in charge of MPS, according to wispolitics.com.

"Lawmakers now have plans for a Jan. 5 public hearing at the Milwaukee School Board auditorium on the education reform bills," wispolitics reported in its newsletter.

In a related development, Lt. Gov. Barbara Lawton wrote to legislators urging them to reject the takeover legislation that is supported by Gov. Jim Doyle.

"Establishing a mayoral takeover of MPS that pivots on personality would be reckless at best," Lawton wrote. "We need to rebuild a successful learning environment for Milwaukee’s children, and that is a complex project that calls for expertise and focus and engagement of a broad community to support its success."

Rufus King, School of Languages make the "best" list

Rufus King High School and Milwaukee School of Languages made U.S. News and World Report's list of the best high schools in America.

They both achieved "silver" rankings, meaning they scored high on a college readiness index, but are not among the top 100 schools in the country.

The magazine's data page for MSL is here; the Rufus King page is here.

Teacher EXCEL Grant winners feted

The 2009 winners of Teacher EXCEL Grant awards were honored at a reception last week where they were served delicious snacks and, later and even better, checks to fund their projects.

The Milwaukee Public Schools Foundation, Inc. sponsors the program, which awards mini-grants of up to $750 for teachers to fund creative classroom projects or activities that enrich student-learning experiences.

Below are some videos from the event. The first is of MPS director of Human Resources Deborah Ford addressing the winner; the second shows River Trail teacher Tina Johnson discussing her proposal for "Baby, It's Cold Outside." and the third shows Victory school teachers Carey Flesner and Diane Edwards discuss their winning proposal for a project called “Lego Education Robotics.”
More about those two projects -- and all of the 2009 winning projects -- is below the videos.








Allen-Field
David Galarza, Doris Ortiz, Ann Nelson,
Kirk Peterson and Christopher Taylor
“Wisconsin’s Capitol” - $650

Students at the fourth grade level are learning about the state of Wisconsin. Students will complete a thematic unit that will enhance their perspective of their state’s geography, government, economics and civics. The project will culminate with a field trip to the State Capitol in which the students will have the opportunity to tour the building, explore the history and see how our government legislates our state.

The Alliance School
Alicia Moore
“Creative Response Lab” - $750

The purpose of this sixth through ninth grade project is to create a Creative Response Lab equipped with materials for middle and high school students to use to creatively respond to literature. The lab will provide students with access to audio visual equipment, art supplies, book making supplies and sewing materials to allow them to utilize multiple intelligences when responding to literature. The Creative Response Lab will increase student engagement in literacy and literature by fostering a spirit of investigation, intellectual risk-taking and personal connections to themes of literature and literacy skills.

The Alliance School
Carolyn Joubert
“Visualizing Solutions” - $750

Visualizing Solutions will increase the variety and depth of hands-on projects related to math with sixth through ninth grade special education students within their algebra and geometry classes. Students recording of words, symbols, pictures, charts, tables and graphs will increase their ability to communicate mathematical concepts and reasoning. Through the use of a sketchbook, balsa wood and clay students will better understand the practical, real world applications of math. The use of hands-on applications is the key to engaging the students.


Bay View High School
Theresa Schwantes and
Dirk Anderson
“Family Blood Pressure Awareness Project” - $740

Tenth through twelfth graders will utilize Vernier blood pressure sensors to monitor family members’ systolic and diastolic blood pressures. This project will allow students to utilize this cutting edge technology to learn about blood pressure and introduce family members to blood pressure monitoring. Students will create and interpret graphs of blood pressure over time.

Clarke Street School
Lynn Brown
“Elementary Reading, My Dear Watson!” - $550

Fourth grade students will read chapter books about young detectives and complete study guides based on Bloom’s Taxonomy. They will write their own mysteries during writer’s workshop. The culminating activity will involve students solving a mystery by using fingerprints, composite sketches and their detective notebooks.

Community High School
Jane Wall
“Martial Arts/Building a Strong Body and Mind” - $750
Ninth through twelfth grade students will participate in martial arts training in two-hour sessions every week for eight weeks. Each session will take students to a higher application of martial arts with students having the ability to gain martial arts certification and belt rank.

Community High School
Joel McElrone
“Going Green Home Inspection” - $750

Ninth through twelfth grade students will learn how to do a thorough home of the future inspection. Students will participate in a home inspection course through the National Association of Certified Home Inspectors (NACHI) Standards of Practice. Building scale model homes with inspection and energy efficiency in mind will conclude the project.

Cooper School
Kathy Masch and Carol Hanney
“Mother-Daughter Book Club” - $750

The Mother-Daughter Book Club, open to all middle school girls, will meet monthly and discuss books about issues of concern to the members such as peer issues, family struggles, puberty, loss and friendship. Each month different mother-daughter teams will lead the discussion and provide activities to compliment the book. The book club will enhance mother-daughter relationships, provide a safe environment to discuss serious and sensitive topics presented in the books and provide strong female characters from the books as role models.

Craig Montessori School
Jessica Bahr and Erin Stanley
“Vermiculture and Composting” - $500

Vermiculture and Composting will consist of creating a sustainable worm farm (vermiculture) and composting program. Fourth, fifth and sixth grade students will be actively involved in collecting and composting enough food for the worms to eat and create castings that can be used as garden fertilizer. The students will help design collection containers, a plan for the fertilizer, a new worm farm and composting bins. This project will also help build capacity for a student garden as well as motivate the school and neighborhood communities to become more environmentally conscious.

Anna F. Doerfler School
Janet Moreno
“Old World Wisconsin” - $750

Fourth graders are required to learn about Wisconsin. What better way than to learn our great historical heritage through a visit to Old World Wisconsin. The students will visit and tour early settlement buildings of Wisconsin pioneers. It will increase awareness about the 19th and 20th century. The culminating activity will be a descriptive essay comparing and contrasting the life style of then and now.

Fairview Charter School
Laura Yale and Wendy Novak
“All the World is a Stage” - $750

All The World is a Stage has been designed to combine activities in the academic areas of reading, literacy, music, art, drama and technology in a second grade classroom. This project will introduce students to the different aspects of the performing arts while focusing on improving reading skills, problem-solving and cooperative learning. This project incorporates activities to reach diverse learners through active engagement.

Forest Home Avenue School
Pa Vang Xiong
“Math Kits” - $750

Math Kits will be an educational project that motivates K4 students to develop mathematical skills and incorporate family involvement. Each kit will focus on a specific math concept/skill such as shapes, colors, numbers, sorting or graphing. A variety of literature books, manipulatives, puzzles and games will be included in the kits to support students and their families learning together.

Benjamin Franklin School
Scott Fields
“Comics in the Classroom” -$750

Comics in the Classroom is designed to provide seventh and eighth grade students with a classroom library from which they will be able to check out books to read during a 10-15 minute structured time for silent reading on a daily basis. By providing students with graphic novels, they will be encouraged to make connections with their own experiences and with other books that they have read. Allowing students to check out individual books will ensure that they have an opportunity to read books in their entirety.

Fratney School
Carmen Reyes
“Early Literacy/Take Home Learning Packs” - $750

The purpose of the Early Literacy/Take Home Learning Packs is to provide resources and materials in Spanish and English for our K4 Spanish and English speaking children and families. The Take Home Packs will provide trade books and activities to help parents teach their children in the home environment.

Gaenslen School
Jill N. Delie
“Minds in Motion!” - $750

Young children are active, creative and spontaneous. Through the use of a variety of songs and games, this early childhood classroom of K3, K4 and K5 students with special needs will participate in a daily music and movement group. Materials such as bean bags, rhythm sticks, scarves and musical instruments will be used in order to teach basic readiness skills while also developing social/emotional, language and physical skills in these young children.

Genesis High School
William Harvill and Karen Peterson
“Aspire to Inspire” $750

In this ambitious venture, 50 high-risk high school students will become socially, politically, culturally and economically mindful. The students become photojournalists and social activists while producing effective writing. Students will take part in interviewing, photographing and recording influential life stories. Their feature stories based on community leaders will be published in the school newspaper.

Hamilton High School
Jacob Haskell and Kelly Kulinski
“Groundwater Model Project” - $750

The project will take high school students on a field trip to many fresh water and renewable energy locations around Milwaukee as well as to purchase a groundwater model to be used in the classroom to supplement the trip. Students will explore careers in these fields of study as well have a greater understanding of our impact on the environment.

Hampton Elementary School
Kate Rutkowski and Nicole Henzel
“Experience the Community with our Families” - $750

The purpose of this project is to take the K5 children into the community to learn about the community around them and see specific examples of what is being taught in the classroom. Through these activities students will be expected to write, read and create projects with their families and return them to the classroom to display. The project will also focus on getting the parents involved by inviting them to attend the community experiences.

Honey Creek Elementary School
Amy Hagenow
“Home/School Activity Bags” - $500

An activity bag will be provided for first grade students to take home and use with their families over the weekend. Activities will be provided in the academic areas of reading, writing, math, science and spelling. Included in the bags will be directions, materials, a family game and an evaluation form to be filled out by both student and parent.

Humboldt Park K-8 Charter School
Gail Saler
“Math + Family = Academic Success” - $750

Encouragement and support at home = confidence and success at school. Parents will be invited to an informational math night to strengthen the communication between parent and teachers regarding mathematics. Parents will be provided with specific board games and shown how these games can strengthen standards taught at school as well as improve a student’s ability to communicate about math.

Keefe Avenue School
Mark Eary
“Finding Milwaukee through the Lens of Youth” - $750

After reading “An Inconvenient Truth” 50 eighth grade students will go out into the community and take pictures of the movement of people, ideas and products throughout Milwaukee. This project will help connect the environmental themes in the book to Milwaukee. The central issues examined will allow students to analyze, synthesize and evaluate environmental issues.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. School
Deirdre Lafford
“VersaTile Learning” - $750

Students in third and fourth grade will independently work with VersaTiles to build skills and enrich academic areas in math, reading/language arts and science. Used as a teaching and learning tool, students will be able to build, maintain and develop skills while working alone or with a partner and self-checking material for accuracy. Independence and responsibility for personal learning will be impacted and developed with these materials.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. School
Lisa Loomis
“Ready, Set, Read” - $750

Ready, Set, Read will provide 27 first grade students the opportunity to enjoy reading and learning how to read in this new inviting reading center. The students will have several opportunities throughout the school day to explore and work in this reading center and also check out literacy materials and books to work on at home. The materials in this center will provide new opportunities for learning and reading.

Lincoln Avenue School
Peggy Repka
“Exploring and Enjoying Wisconsin’s Winter” - $750
Exploring and Enjoying Wisconsin’s Winter project is to expose a third grade classroom to different types of winter recreational activities in their community. Field trips to experience tobogganing, ice skating, cross-country skiing and maple syrup tapping will take place. The trips will enrich the students’ learning experience by making them aware of resources in their community that are available to them to provide winter recreation and keep them active.

Milwaukee Education Center
Richard Vail
“eFolios” - $750

Each student will create and maintain an eFolio that contains evidence of his/her proficiency. The eFolio’s will include the student’s computer generated work such as Inspiration organizers, Word documents, Power Point presentations, Excel worksheets and other chosen items. They will also contain digital images and/or videos of student oral presentations, demonstrations, experiments, science boards and other non-computer generated work samples. The eFolios will be shared with parents and students in varying forums.

Milwaukee French Immersion School
Andrea Goldstein
“The Pleasure of Reading” - $750

Children learn to love to read by reading books that they are interested in. In an immersion class, books in the targeted language are important to offer. The classroom library will be built up with books in the targeted language that are interesting and at the level of the first grade students.

Milwaukee French Immersion School
Jane E. Nickodem and David Gass
“The Generations Project” - $750

The Generations Project is a year-long interdisciplinary experience focusing on oral and written communication skills, as well as photography and painting. A class of fifth graders will interview, photograph and paint a family elder. The products of this project will be a biography and a 16 x 20 framed portrait of each family elder. The portraits will be exhibited not just at the school, but also at a city of Milwaukee art gallery at the conclusion of the project.

Milwaukee School of Languages
Indalecio Manzano and Tao Zheng
“Calculus Activities using Probes and a CBL2”- $700
The purpose of this activity-based project is to collect and analyze real-life data using scientific probes using a CBL2 in a high school calculus class. Four science activities connect calculus concepts to real-life science experiments in order to deepen student understanding of calculus.

Milwaukee Spanish Immersion School
John Nekich
“Snow Shoeing” - $750

Students get introduced to an activity that can keep them active outdoors in the winter time with their families. After the first snow fall, students in third, fourth and fifth grade will be introduced to snow shoeing during recess. The students will walk a challenge course on the playground while learning about alternatives to transportation that help to preserve our earth.

Alexander Mitchell Integrated Arts School
Diane Rakowski and Carol Gad
“Unforgettable Edibles: Leaves, Stems, Roots and Shoots” - $740

Unforgettable Edibles: Leaves, Stems, Roots and Shoots is a project that will promote plant life cycle awareness and encourage healthy (vegetable) eating habits for our students. Students will plant a vegetable seed and meet the needs of the plant as it grows into an “Unforgettable Edible.” Students will also research the famous African American, George Washington Carver, and the contributions he made to the plant kingdom and the world.

Morgandale Elementary School
Rachel Schlueter
“Linking Literature to Life” - $750

Students in a K4 classroom will be given the opportunity to link literature to “real-life” experiences. Seasonal thematic units, integrated subjects and activities/experiences will provide the background knowledge needed to enhance learning and understanding in all subject areas. Parents will be involved in various aspects of the units and serve as support and reinforcement through classroom participation and activities at home.

Pierce Elementary School
Isabel Roche-Román and Mulunda Jones
“We Are All Connected” - $750

We are all Connected is about teaching children the “connectedness” in nature and the importance of maintaining the balance among living things. Second and third grade students will learn about life cycles of plants and animals and the relationship between them through activities and field trips. In the end, students will have a better understanding of the basic principles of symbiotic relationships.

Pierce Elementary School
Ellen Evans
“It’s Treeeeeemendous” - $750

Its Treeeeeemendous is about trees and the benefits they afford the earth and us. Fourth and fifth grade students will study both deciduous and coniferous tress and how important trees are to our world. Through a variety of activities and field trips, students will come away with the knowledge and appreciation of trees and perhaps spawn some future arborists.

Project STAY Senior Institute
Cathleen Hunt, Brad Blatnik and Heidi Miller
“From Diapers to the Dow” -$705

Diapers to the Dow is the interdisciplinary “hook” that excites at-risk high school students while exposing them to financial literacy. Each semester 30 high school seniors invest a hypothetical $100,000 in stocks, mutual funds and bonds competing for the best portfolio performance. The economic concepts learned through this hands-on, project-based curriculum help students develop positive spending and saving habits as citizens within the local, state, national and global economic communities.

Ronald Reagan College Prep High School
Kathleen Westrich
“Science, Technology and Critical Thinking Skills” - $750

High school students will use Vernier Data Collection Technology in biology and physics courses. Analysis of data collected with the Vernier Software and Sensors will be interdisciplinary by incorporating mathematics and graphing skills. The project will incorporate literacy skills by having students communicate in writing their data-based conclusion, a natural follow-up to the data collection and analysis process.

River Trail School
Tina Johnson
“Baby, It’s Cold Outside” - $750

The Baby, It’s Cold Outside project consists of learning centers that are created, introduced, monitored and maintained by special education third and fifth grade students during cold weather recess. Students have the opportunity to strengthen their academic skills in reading, writing, math and technology as well as increase their self-concept and reinforce their retention of basic academic facts and skills.

Roosevelt Middle School of the Arts
Kathleen Leonard and Corina Herr
“Learning Life Skills through Dance” - $750

Forty middle school dance majors will be given the opportunity to work with guest artist, Alissa Ferrante. Students will work with Ms. Ferrante throughout the school year on a weekly basis in order to learn original choreographies incorporating jazz, tap, musical theatre and modern dance. At the end of the school year, students will showcase their newly-learned skills as part of the dance concert, which is open to parents, students and the public at large.

Sixty-fifth Street School
Tracie Noah, Henry Leonard and Dan Kartz
“Adventures at Camp Silverbrook!” - $750

Forty-five students from grades fifth through eighth grade will be going camping for three days and two nights at Camp Silverbrook. All students attending camp will work cooperatively to fish, cook, build campfires, canoe, hike, orienteer and function as a unit while learning about our environment, nature, cooperation and themselves.

Sixty-fifth Street School
Kimberly Gibbs
“A Trip to Madison, the State Capitol” - $750

Students in fourth grade will take a trip to Madison. They will visit the State Capitol, the Wisconsin Historical Museum, the Wisconsin Veterans Museum and the UW-Madison Geology Museum. This day trip will enhance students understanding of Wisconsin focusing on the areas of history, government and geology. The students will complete a “Madison” scavenger hunt booklet.

South Division School
Eric B. Losin
“Mathematics Literacy with Airliners” - $645

Mathematics Literacy with Airliners gives teachers and students access to SMART boards from anywhere in the room. This technology allows the teacher to write out a math problem using a wireless slate and then hand it to a student to fill in the answer so their work is visible for the whole class to see. No matter where students sit in the room, they’ll get all the benefits of interacting with digital resources and high-impact lessons. Students will justify their thought process when they share their work.

Gilbert Stuart Elementary School
Marianne Soldavini
“Student Volunteers: Observing, Working and Writing” - $750

Thirty-eight third, fourth and fifth grade English Language Learners will join with a third grade room to participate in conservation work at the Mequon Nature Preserve as student volunteers during five visits. In addition to this outdoor work, students will go to the Milwaukee Public Museum to compare the rain forest habitat with the Mequon Nature Preserve. A book of reflective writing will be published.

Thoreau School
Harry Orkowski and Alisa Nelson
“Lost and Found” - $750

This project is designed to get eighth grade students out into the parks to apply basic orienteering skills and learn to respect and protect the environment. Their basic skills will be obtained from a lesson from a state orienteering leader. The project will take place in both the homeroom and physical education class. Students will be learning and applying knowledge about Wisconsin plant and tree identification through study and Internet research.

Victory School for the Gifted and Talented
Carey Flesner and Diane Edwards
“Lego Education Robotics” - $700

LEGO Education WeDo Robotics for students aged 7-11, will provide students a head start on simple robotics. Students will learn to build models, attach sensors and motors that are plugged into a computer and configure behaviors using a simple programming tool. The activity pack is divided into four themes: Amazing Mechanisms, Wild Animals, Play Soccer and Adventure Stories including science, math, technology and language.

Vieau School
Mary Thundercloud-Eary
“Our Earth Matters” - $750

Our Earth Matters is a project in which 30 sixth grade students who are the recycling team for the school will learn how to protect the environment by researching ways to reduce, reuse and recycle. The students will apply their knowledge and teach other students at school ways to create and live in a more eco-friendly environment.

Whitman Elementary School
Julie Rezash
“Time Sure Flies When You’re, Growing Like a Weed” - $750
This first grade project will include experiences with container gardening through the use of a greenhouse, composting and learning to tell time. The class will measure and record the growth of various vegetables and herbs and the students’ height and weight. The project also includes telling time using individual analog and digital watches. Journal writing will include the data and the experience of the greenhouse and composting project.

Wisconsin Conservatory of Lifelong Learning
John Kish
“Rube-Goldberg Machine Competition - $750

High school students will participate in the building of a Rube-Goldberg machine, which consists of at least 20 simple machines all connected to each other, designed to dispense an appropriate amount of hand sanitizer into a hand. The group will compete in the local competition in February at Discovery World. This competition is designed to foster a creative spirit among the students, a look into how engineers plan projects and to learn teamwork in construction.

Wisconsin Conservatory of Lifelong Learning
Char Harteau and Lynn Maholias
“Investigating Our Court System” - $750

Investigating Our Court System will affect 79 students and their parent(s)/guardian(s) in grades four and nine. The students will learn about federal and state laws, county government and the three branches of government. The group will tour the Milwaukee County Courthouse and its jail facility, Marquette University Law School, the State Capitol and the Wisconsin Supreme Court to listen to oral arguments. Student communications about this project will be listed on the school’s Student Learning Community (SLC).

The Kennedy discussion: part 2

The Kennedys' sexual appetites (at least the guys') have been well-documented and in this second excerpt from a Teaching American History grant book discussion, Marquette University Professor Michael Donoghue discusses the role that Joe Kennedy had in unleashing them in his sons. This piece has been edited a bit because this is, after all, a family-rated blog.

The first excerpt is here.

Condom distribution, most school closings given nod

The School Board's Innovation / School Reform Committee recommended on Tuesday night that the district allow condoms to be distributed by high school nurses to students who request them.

The committee also recommended closing Fletcher Elementary School at the end of the school year, but not LaFollette, as the administration had recommended, according to breaking news tweets emitted by the district Division of Communications and Public Affairs during the meeting.

The committee directed the administration do further investigation and bring back a recommendation in January. The committee also recommended the district terminate charter contracts with Du Bois; Foster and Williams; and Northern Star schools.

Specifics on the administration's recommendations are here.

Doyle calls special session on takeover

From the governor's press release:

MADISON – Governor Jim Doyle today called a special session of the Wisconsin State Legislature for December 16, 2009 to address the needs of the students at Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS).

The Governor is calling on state lawmakers to pass Senate Bill 405, which changes the governance structure of MPS by making the superintendent a mayoral appointee, and Assembly Bill 534, which grants the state superintendent the ability to intervene and support to help a failing school district.

“The status quo in the governance of Milwaukee Public Schools is failing our students, as was made clear again today by the U.S. Department of Education,” Governor Doyle said. “I am calling a special session of the Legislature because we must act now to drive real change that improves students’performance, month after month and year after year. The children at Milwaukee Public Schools are counting on the adults around them to prepare them for success.”

Milwaukee Public Schools was among 18 large, urban school districts that participated in the 2009 Mathematics Trial Urban District Assessment, part of the National Assessment of Educational Progress conducted by the U.S. Department of Education. The results showed that fourth- and eighth-grade students in Milwaukee Public Schools scored significantly below the national average and near the bottom for urban school districts.

Reaction from State Rep. Tamara Grigsby (D-Milwaukee), who is sponsoring competing legislation:

It is disappointing that Governor Doyle has decided to ignore the will of Milwaukee’s citizens and continue his push for a mayoral takeover of Milwaukee Public Schools. MPS needs serious reform, but the top-down approach for which he advocates lacks the level of community engagement and consideration that any proposal of this magnitude requires.

At this point, it goes without saying that the governor’s proposed mayoral takeover is not the only option for reforming Milwaukee Public Schools. I am working to ensure that the “RACE for Success” receives consideration at any Special Session in which mayoral takeover is pushed upon the legislature. Of course, I would prefer that any legislation related to the future of MPS go through the normal legislative process, a process which would ensure public input, but Governor Doyle seems intent on avoiding that opportunity. Any legislation on the future of Milwaukee Public Schools deserves a public hearing, but both proposals for education reform should be heard if the legislature enters into a Special Session.

And from State Sen. Jeff Plale (D-South Milwaukee), a co-sponsor of the mayoral takeover bill:

We cannot wait any longer to act. The new data is extremely alarming and reiterates the need for drastic changes to the structure of MPS. These statistics are appalling. We cannot continue to do nothing and play politics while our children struggle in an inadequate school system.

I would like to see these bills before us on the floor. There is no mistaking the findings of this study. Major change is imperative to improve student achievement in MPS.

The JS story is here.

How many ways to say "ugly"? MPS NAEP scores poor

The results of the math part of the National Assessment of Educational Progress are out and MPS did poorly overall compared to their urban peers.

Here's the Journal Sentinel's take on it.

And here are the snapshots of the district's fourth grade results and eighth grade results.

Not a whole lot there to be happy about.

Shoot! Here comes winter

With really nasty weather possible over the next few days, it's a good time to review the district's severe weather routines so you can know what to expect if we actually get the snow that is forecast.

Not so coincidentally, the fine people in Communications and Public Affairs just put together a document outlining those very routines.

MPS Winter Weather Routines

When heavy snow or other severe weather conditions during the night make travel conditions to schools difficult, the decision on whether to close schools will be made by Superintendent William G. Andrekopoulos. The decision is made with the best information we have on hand at the time, including information about city street conditions. Street conditions are critical to safe bus transportation.

The decision on whether to close schools is most often made prior to 5:30 a.m. The information is uploaded to the homepage of the MPS Portal at http://mpsportal.milwaukee.k12.wi.us/portal/server.pt with the picture of the little girl and the snowflake. When you see the girl on our homepage, you know there is important information from MPS affecting our schools!

MPS Communications staff will announce closures to media, and often do live interviews with radio and TV stations early in the morning. The stations include:

WYMS 88.9 FM Radio.
WTMJ 620 AM Radio.
WISN-TV Ch. 12.
WTMJ-TV Ch. 4.
WITI-TV Ch. 6.
WDJT-TV Ch. 58.

When MPS schools are closed prior to the start of the school day, all afternoon and evening recreation and interscholastic athletics/academics are cancelled. The district has procedures in place in the event of the need to cancel weekend activities, or in the event of a need to shorten the school day. The following are classifications of severe weather conditions that could result in the closing of schools:

Winter Storm Warning/Heavy Snow Warning.
Blizzard/Severe Blizzard Warning.
Ice Storm/Freezing Rain Warning.

Closing recommended for LaFollette, Fletcher and three other school programs

From Communications and Public Affairs:

The Milwaukee Board of School Directors’ Committee on Innovation/School Reform will weigh on Tuesday, December 8, 2009 the proposed closure of five schools. The schools include two traditional MPS schools, LaFollette and Fletcher, and three schools that have charter contracts with the district. The three MPS charter school contracts proposed for termination are with Northern Star, W.E.B. Du Bois, and Foster and Williams.

The reasons for the proposed closures vary. In the case of Robert M. LaFollette K-8 School, 3239 N. 9th Street, the reason is low enrollment. Enrollment is 216 students, down from 509 ten years ago. School budget allocations are based on the number of students and the projected budget allocations for 2011 may not provide the school with the resources needed for adequate programming.

Superintendent William Andrekopoulos and his administrative team also are recommending the closure of Dr. Arthur Fletcher Elementary School, 9520 W. Allyn Street, because of low enrollment. Fletcher, formerly known as Granville School, merged with Happy Hill School in 2006. At the time of the merger there were 350 students, but in just three years enrollment has fallen to 223 students. If Fletcher and LaFollette stay in operation, they may need to operate with part-time principals, no specialists and combined-grade classes. "That’s not acceptable," said Superintendent Andrekopoulos. "We must move our students to programs where there are enough resources to gain successful classroom outcomes."

The MPS Administration also is recommending that the charter contract with W.E.B. Du Bois High School be terminated. The school is located in the Marshall Complex at 4141 N. 61st Street. The recommendation was made because Du Bois failed to fully implement its educational program and students failed to make adequate progress in math and reading.

The school leaders at two other charter schools have requested termination of their contracts. Northern Star is a program serving 40 students in grades 6 through 9 that shares space with Custer High School at 5075 N. Sherman Boulevard. Foster and Williams High School of the Visual Arts and Communications has also requested a termination of its contract with the district. Foster and Williams, which shares space with Burroughs Middle School, 6700 N. 80th Street, currently has 140 students.

The closures of Fletcher, LaFollette and Du Bois, if approved as proposed, would be effective June 2010. Foster and Williams has requested termination of its contract at the end of the current semester. If the Board approves, Foster and Williams will close in January 2010. The administration has recommended that the contract with Northern Star be terminated in January, but that the school remain open to students and operate as a traditional MPS school until June 2010, at which time it would close. In all cases, if the closures are approved by the Board, district personnel will work with families to find appropriate placements for the students involved. The administration proposes exploring potential uses for the LaFollette facility, to be presented to the Board at a future date.

The Innovation/School Reform Committee will meet at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, December 8, 2009, at MPS Central Services. The meeting is open to the public and public input is welcome.

In which we borrow from Arts @ Large

Some more of the good things happening for MPS teachers and students with the assistance of MPS partners at Arts @ Large. This video and the text is from the recently redesigned Arts @ Large web site at http://www.artsatlargeinc.org/




On October 9th, Arts @ Large took nearly 30 teachers and school administrators to the John Michael Kohler Arts Center in Sheboygan, WI. Participants toured the American Story exhibit and enjoyed a hands-on workshop with American Story artist Xenobia Bailey.

The American Story exhibit considers what it means to be an American, and explores the diversity of American culture through fifteen artists who fuse personal identity and cultural heritage in compelling and illuminating works of art. Participants had a chance to discuss the creative process with Bailey and learn about the inspirations and heritage of her work.

Originally from Seattle, Washington, and now living in Harlem, New York, Bailey brings African American roots music into visual terms with vibrant room-sized installations of crocheted mandalas, tents, and costumes. In a hands-on workshop with Bailey, Arts @ Large participants added to an on-going installation in The ARTery using a variety of materials, as well as creating their own mandalas and decorative crowns.

I cannot thank you and the A@L team enough for setting up that wonderful trip to Sheboygan, says a Teacher from Garland Elementary School in Milwaukee. After a very, very hectic week, it truly was a relaxing and reenergizing experience for a weary soul - dramatic, I know, but also true. We spend so much time nurturing our students that sometimes we forget to nurture ourselves and we dont even realize it until were forced (given an opportunity, rather) to slow down.

Audio: Teaching American History discussion on Kennedy book

MPS American history teachers and Marquette University Professor Michael Donoghue gathered at Barnes & Noble at Mayfair recently to discuss the book "The Kennedy Legacy: Jack, Bobby and Ted and a Family Dream Fulfilled" by Vincent Bzdek.

The discussion was lively and the Kennedy legend was parsed and dissected along with, in this first audio excerpt, the potential motives of the author.

The MPS condom proposal

The Journal Sentinel story is here.

It seems mostly balanced, although the use of the word "freely" is a loaded and inaccurate. Under the district's proposal, nurses would control condom distribution, students would be required to discuss their case for condoms with nurses and up to two condoms would be available per student.

According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, "freely" means, among other things, "without restraint or reservation" or "with freedom from external control."

Not at all what MPS is proposing.

Centralization? Well, maybe, maybe not

A School Board committee last night directed the administration to develop models showing the affects of centrally-managed staffing of school administrative positions.

The vote of the Strategic Planning and Budget Committee was 8-1, with Director Bruce Thompsohn opposed.

The committee also directed the administration to develop a budget that would use the district's full revenue limit authority -- a "tax to the max" strategy that still would require projected cuts of totaling about $2.6 million in the school operations and construction funds. The vote on that measure also was 8-1, with Board President Michael Bonds voting no.

The full Board will vote on the issues Dec. 17. All nine Board members are on the Strategic Planning and Budget Committee.

The Board's request for administrative centralization models may affect the time that schools and school and school governance councils have to work on their budgets. Committee members said the they would meet again in early January to consider the staffing models. The ultimate decisions by the committee and the Board must then be incorporated into budget documents and instructions for schools, which will take some time and make it difficult to distribute them to schools in early January, as they were for FY10 budget preparation.

Centralization, FY11 budget outlook to be discussed

To centralize or not to centralize, that is the question the administration will ask the School Board's Strategic Planning and Budget Committee when it meets to night to begin discussions about the FY11 budget.

The meeting is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. in the auditorium of the central services building, 5225 W. Vliet St. It follows a 5:30 p.m. meeting with representatives of the Wisconsin Association of School Boards, a 6:30 p.m. special School Board meeting regarding a law suit and a public hearing on district governance issues at 6:45 p.m.

The administration is suggesting a couple of recentralization options, if the Board decides that some form of recentralization is something it supports.

Under the first option, the district would develop a limited centralized staffing formula for all traditional schools. The staff levels determined by formula would be for principals, assistant principals, clerical staff, paraprofessional assistants, safety aides, and general aides. Teacher staffing would be determined at the school level.

Under the second option, the district would implement a broader centralized staffing formula for elementary and K-8 traditional schools for FY11. Middle and high schools would not be included in the first year due to the complexities of staffing at those levels. In the next two years, centralized formulas would be developed for other school levels and non-staff school accounts.

Here's a risk-free prediction about the overall budget process: it will be long, arduous and painful.

The administration is projecting a decline in enrollment of 1,993 students, or 2.2%. The revenue limit is projected to decline by about $2.6 million, meaning that the school operations and construction funds budgets must be cut by that total, according to the administration's report to the committee (the budget stuff is item three). The employee fringe benefit rate is expected to hit 71% for most employees, with a 90% rate for School Nutrition Services. State aids are expected to decline, but it is impossible at this point to say by how much. The decline also should be at least partially offset by a decrease in the deduction for the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program.