New for the 2015-16 School Year!...2015-16 LCHS Yearbooks We are switching over to a new format for ordering the high school yearbook. Jostens offers ordering directly through their

Little Chute Area School District Summer Newsletter 2015 Page 1

Board of Education

Jerry Verhagen, President

Randy Sanders, Vice President

Leon Biesterveld, Treasurer

Joe Roehl, Clerk

Liz Spaeth, Member

Board Meeting Dates

5:30 pm District Board

Room

July 27

August 10

August 24

Important Dates

Registration

August 11, from noon—5 pm

August 12, from noon –7 pm

Your registration Packets will

be mailed last week of July

First Day of School

Sept 1, 2015

We have teamed up with Smiles 4 Life to provide

our students with oral hygiene services right at

school! Enrollment is open to all students in the

District. On average care is provided two to three

times per school year for participating students.

The Smiles 4 Life program provides:

Oral Screenings

Cleanings

Fluoride Varnish (decay prevention)

Dental Sealants (cavity prevention) To enroll, please click on the enrollment packet to complete a simple one page Enrollment

Form. Copies of the form are also available in every school office. Forms may be returned

to any school office or faxed directly to Smiles 4 Life at 262-347-4449. Smiles 4 Life

accepts the Forward Health (BadgerCare) Card!

Visit them on the web at www.smiles4lifedental.org

Questions? Call Smiles 4 Life at 262-896-9891

New for the 2015-16 School Year!

Students at Little Chute Intermediate and Middle

Schools learned more about autism during April,

which is Autism Awareness month. A variety of

information was shared with the students each

day. Students participated in activities that

helped them understand what it might feel like to

have a sensory difference similar to a person

with autism. A poster contest was open to all

grade levels. The purpose of the posters was to

promote inclusion. A guest speaker, Taylor

Wilson, spoke to our students. Taylor is a local

young adult who shared her story of living with

Autism. Teachers raised money for autism with

a Jeans Day, while students raised money by

wearing superhero costumes or pajamas.

Autism Awareness at the Intermediate/Middle School

Taylor Wilson with 6th grader Parker Roseman

Poet Brock G, 2nd Grade

By Linda Sheffler

http://www.smiles4lifedental.org/enroll/

http://www.smiles4lifedental.org


Four Little Chute Students Named Kohl Scholars

By Judy Hebbe, for the Times-Vi l lager

reprinted with permission

Little Chute High School seniors Rachyl Hietpas, Claire

Vanden Heuvel, Thomas Sanderfoot and Ben Verbruggen

will start school next fall with Herb Kohl Scholarships.

In celebration of the Herb Kohl Educational Foundation’s

25th anniversary, the scholarships were tripled to $3,000

per student, rather than the traditional $1,000.

Excellence Scholarships were won by Hietpas, Vanden

Heuvel and Sanderfoot, who demonstrated academic

potential, outstanding leadership, citizenship, community

service, integrity and other special talents. Each had to

write an essay on their academic and future goals.

Verbruggen received the foundation’s Initiative

Scholarship. His selection was based upon his

dedication to hard work and the school and the

recommendation of teachers. He was cited for his work

in designing a go-kart and the completion of extra

projects that were related to his Career Pathways

program.

He has been involved in the SkillsUSA and school to

work programs and participated in wrestling and golf.

Verbruggen is heading to Fox Valley Technical College,

where he plans to major in mechanical design. He was

inspired to enter mechanical design on a visit to

Amerequip Corporation in Kiel and New Holstein.

“I toured the engineering department and then saw how

their designs were turned into parts in the plant,”

Verbruggen said. “I would like to work on a team that

designs things and takes them through to a finished

product.”

Vanden Heuvel and Sanderfoot will attend the University

of Wisconsin-Madison next fall. She will focus on pre-

medicine, with a path to opthamology, prompted by the

experience of shadowing health professionals in the

health mentoring program. Sanderfoot pursues

secondary education with the intention of returning to

Little Chute High School to teach.

“I’ve told my math teacher that I’m going to come back

and take his job,” he said.

Both students served on student council, participated in

Academic Bowl competion, served as Mustang mentors

and are members of National Honor Society.

Vanden Heuvel also participated in Key Club, basketball,

cross country and track. Sanderfoot is senior class

president, went to Badger Boys State and Catholic Heart

Work Camp in Oklahoma and is a golfer.

Hietpas will major in biology at University of Wisconsin-

Eau Claire with a goal of ultimately working in neurology

because “there is a lot we don’t know about the brain.”

She is also a member of the National Honor Society,

Key Club and participated in medical mentoring. She

has appeared in school musicals, played in the band

and sang in the choir.

She is confident in her career path, noting that “Little

Chute may be a small town, but the school system

shows you that you can go out and accomplish a lot in

the world.”

“I’m proud to be from Little Chute High School,” said

Sanderfoot. “It is a reflection of the village as a whole

and shows how good a community can be.”


Boys and Gir ls Club Awar ds Night

by Amber Stanek

Awards Night at Boys and Girls Club of Little Chute Elementary

School was May 21st from 5-7 pm in the cafeteria of the

Elementary School and was a huge success! There were 250

people in attendance. It was a pot-luck style meal with a

slideshow and pictures reminiscing about the successful and fun

year we’ve had. At 6 pm, the Award presentations started. Each

youth in attendance received an individual awards based on their

unique personality or contributions to the club. Awards ranged anywhere from “Colorful Heart” award, or “Gym All-

Star” or “Most Polite” award. Kids spent the days leading up to the celebration guessing which awards they would

be receiving. The eight volunteers the club has had, serving over 460 hours, were also recognized. The final

portions of the night were awards reflective of the priority outcomes: Academic Success, Good Character &

Citizenship, and Healthy Lifestyles, as well as top Service awards and then the Overall Youth of the Year.

Colin Gast: Youth of the Year

Mady Hunt: Youth of the Year

Keira Khanna: Good Character & Citizenship

Cory Stancer: Good Character & Citizenship

Megan Mrnak: Academic Success

Garett Johnson: Academic Success

Mitchell Kaphingst: Healthy Lifestyles

Madison Rollins: Healthy Lifestyles

Rhianna Amador: Service

Issaiah Nowak: Service

2015 Youth of the Year Awar ds

Amber Stanek &

Emilie Haessler Isabella Bleifuss, Chase

Butenhoff, & Rhianna

Amador— having fun Colin Gast- Male

Youth of the Year

Megan Mrnak & Kiera

Khanna


This year, the Little Chute High School National Honor

Society made a SPLASH in the Polar Plunge. And no, I’m

not just talking about the literal splash that 16 of the club’s

members took into the freezing cold waters of Lake

Winnebago in Oshkosh on February 21, 2015. I’m talking

about the $3,460 that they raised to support Special

Olympics of Wisconsin. That is no small sum of money.

The team actually appears on the Oshkosh Polar Plunge

homepage under “Top Fundraising Teams” and was the

23rd highest fundraising team, beating Kaukauna High

School and listed among teams of a much larger size. Our

NHS vastly exceeded the amount required to take the

plunge, $75/person, and raised additional funds to

support this great cause. Their only hope is to have

similar if not better results in future years to those which

were accomplished this year.

Additionally, the Polar Plunge isn’t all that our NHS has been up to. This year National Honor Society has also

volunteered at St. Joe’s Food Pantry, ran in the Warrior Princess Mud Run to support Harbor House, and put on the

annual Senior vs. Faculty Basketball Game. This

dedicated group of volunteers that makes up NHS

works hard at all the events directly supported by the

club as well as other projects in the community. This

year the club was led by Claire VandenHeuvel,

president; Thomas Sanderfoot, vice-president/treasurer;

and Rachyl Hietpas, secretary. It is the goal of NHS to

exemplify its pillars of Character, Scholarship,

Leadership, and Service, and it is our hope that in doing

so we make a positive mark on the world around us. On

that note, NHS is proud to welcome our newly inducted

members into the club: Abbie Botz, Parker Wyngaard,

Alex Mueller, Brianna Evers, Patrick Joosten, Chris

Peeters, Hannah Rambo, Clara Clifford, Troy DeBruin,

Ellie Mueller, Jacob Schmieder, Kendra Schumacher,

and Bryce VanCamp. May they carry on the traditions of

NHS and continue to make the world a better place.

Volunteering at St. Joe’s Food Pantry

National Honor Society Takes the Plunge

by Rachyl Hietpas

2015-16 LCHS Yearbooks We are switching over to a new format for ordering the high school yearbook. Jostens offers ordering

directly through their website. Watch for information to come to you yet this summer! Ordering will be

available as soon as high school registration in August. Look for our table to order your book! Updates

will come out as more information becomes available!


Flex Academy Students Help Other Kids with

Buddy Bag Program

By Brian Roebke, for the Times -Vi l lager

reprinted with permission

Service learning was practiced by Little Chute’s Flex

Academy on a recent Spring Friday morning at the Heart of

the Valley YMCA.

Students from the charter school stuffed “Buddy Bags” for

other kids that are going through a tough time.

Officers from the Fox Valley Metro Police Department will

have bags with them that include a beanie baby, crayons,

activity book, and reading book with the intent the officer and

volunteer crisis responder will be able to sit with that child and

interact and make a connection with them, according to

teacher Jennifer McDermot.

Those situations include domestic situations, sudden death,

and fires.

The department typically comes across two fire and two

domestic situations a month where the child will get one of

these bags and get to keep it.

Before the project began, students talked to Officer Michael

Lambie about crisis situations and how kids are impacted.

Service learning is a big part of the mission of the school, so

they developed this idea to serve the community of children

like themselves.

The goal is to sustain the program and continue to collect

items to fill additional bags.

There are bags for younger kids and older kids.

People who purchased books to donate have a label inside

the book with their name on it placed inside the book.

Lead teacher Kent Swanson said giving back to the

community is one of the foundations of the school and they

do that through service learning and “having that opportunity

to do what we’re supposed to do.”

Giving back is part of what they want the foundation of the

school to be, and one of their success stories should be how

they’re giving back to the community.

“We have families and we’ve collaborated very well with the

YMCA and other partners to promote that effort as what we’re

doing,” he said.

They partnered with one of their community sponsors, the

Fox Valley Metro, and making an impact with children who

are in a crisis situation.

“It’s an exciting opportunity for our kids to see, but also the

community to see, and having them be involved in this whole

process as well,” Swanson said.

The idea came from teacher Nikol Waters, who found it and

wanted to do this as a service learning project for the Flex

Academy.

The school reached out to VF Corporation to get Vans

backpacks that contain the buddy bags. Officers keep one of

the backpacks that were donated by Vans in the trunk of each

of their cars.

Nicolet Bank donated the drawstring bags for the buddy bags,

the YMCA gave them the space to assemble the bags and

give them access to 1,500 or their members on Healthy Kids

Day to make donations.

The stuffed animals, crayons, and books were donated by the

YMCA and community members.

“It’s giving back to the community, it’s helping the Fox Valley

Metro Police,” Swanson said.

A display is on hand at the Heart of the Valley YMCA that tells

of the program and gives information on making donations.

Photo reprinted with permission


Lit t le Chute Area School Distr ict

Students Suppor t the Community . . .

Friends of Autism….. The Little Chute Mustang team Walked-4-Autism on

April 25th, enjoying sunshine, and brisk temperatures.

The team included staff, students and families.

We walked with the many families in our district that

have their own teams honoring family members who

have autism. The Walk-4-Autism is a major fundraiser

for Friends of Autism, which funds events and projects

that increase autism awareness, education, and

research. This was our third year as a team; we look

forward to walking again next year.

Elementary Student Council

Raises Fund for A Very Special

Place

This year the Elementary School Student Council held

a Penny War with the proceeds going to “A Very

Special Place” day care center. Throughout the week,

the student body raised $951.84. The center will use

the money for materials they need to support their

special needs clients. Elementary Student Council


. . . .Seventh Graders Support St. Jude A very motivated group of seventh graders raised $3,131.80 for the math*a *thon this year at LCMS. This is the

second- highest amount ever raised at LCMS! The money will be sent to St. Jude’s Research Hospital to help

research cures for cancer and other life threatening illnesses. These forty-one dedicated and caring individuals

should be very proud of their accomplishments. Seventh graders involved are as follows:

Lexi Lorbiecki

Isabella Ernst

Cassidy Schroeder

Kristin Huelsbeck

McKenna Lamers

Susuki Vang

Greyson Lambert

Madison Withrow

Leah Behrendt

Alexis Bakken

Makenna Maronek

Kayla Arts

Jordan Lonigro

Jessica Arvizu

Makenna Rasmussen

Kennedy Van Asten

Genna Knudsen

Nathan Murrow

Ashley Zuege

Jordan Mars

Elizabeth Heiman

Kimmy Haima

Chandler Liesse

Christina Yang

Casey Clark

McKenzie Jeffers

Paige Samp

Emily Woldt

DJ Morgan-Bedolla

Sarah Fleming

Jordan Meronek

Brodie Van Handel

Alex Gillis

Cece Schertz

Bailie Baxter

Esther Hammen

Kaitlyn Lewicki

Callie Anderson

Kani Johnson

Tyler Konrad

Halie Konrad

A special recognition to Jordan Mars for raising $505 – the greatest amount for the class! Way to go

seventh grade!

Lit t le Chute Area School Distr ict

Students Suppor t the Community . . .


Numbers and Awards Continue for

L i t t le Chute Destination Imagination

DID YOU KNOW? 10 – Number of teams in the Little Chute School District this

school year.

65 – Number of students involved from 3rd to 12th grade.

15 – Number of volunteer Team Managers.

17 – Number of Financial Sponsors and Donors.

Regional Results 10 – Number of teams that earned awards at the 2015

Regional…

6 – 1st place teams.

1 – 2nd place team.

3 – 3rd place teams.

2 – Instant Challenge winning teams.

1 – Team Spirit of DI Award.

State Results 18 – Number of consecutive years that the LCASD has

competed at the State Finals.

7 – Number of teams that qualified for state by finishing in 1st

or 2nd at Regionals this year.

2 – 2nd place teams.

3 – Instant Challenge winning teams.

1 – Team Spirit of DI Award.

Global Finals 8 – Number of times since 2007 that the LCASD has been

represented at the Global Finals.

2 – Number of teams that qualified for the Global Finals by

finishing 1st, 2nd, or 3rd at the State Finals.

1 – LCHS team – 2nd place at State Finals.

1 – Our youngest, Intermediate team (5th graders) – 2nd

place at State Finals.

3 – Number of LCHS Alumni that are volunteering at Global

Finals.


The Boogie Woogie Book Readers Read Their Way to State!

Little Chute Intermediate School participated in the

Wisconsin State Battle of the Books. Forty six teams of

171 fifth and sixth graders battled to determine who

would represent our school in the state battle. To do this,

teams read from a list of 20 titles and answered

questions that all began, “In which book…” The answers

are always one of the 20 titles. The state contest took

place during the third week of February, with 225 teams

from across the state representing their respective

schools. Our team took 4th place, which is quite an accomplishment! Our top three teams also competed against our

teacher team: ROTTEN (Reading Olympic Teacher Team Enjoying Novels: Mr. Hietpas, Mrs. Peeters, Mrs. Klukas,

Mrs. Kleist, Mrs. Beltz, Mrs. Wiese, Mrs. Gloudemans, Mr. Vanderloop, Mrs. Strasburg, Mrs. Sheffler, Ms. Thomson,

Mrs. Ryan, Mrs. Kaschner, and Mrs. Wenig.

On April 20th, Little Chute Middle School and St. John’s 8th

grade students attended the “Your Future” Career Expo

sponsored by the Fox Cities Chamber of Commerce. The

Career Expo was meant to help student plan for their future.

Many of the students, like us, thought they knew what they

wanted to do but this experience gives you an inside look at

so many different careers! It shows you what you could be

doing one day and gets you excited about the possibilities.

There were many interesting careers. I think that we all

really feel much more confident on what we plan on doing in

the future as a result of the Career Expo. Even if we didn’t narrow it down to a specific career, the expo gave us the

right skills and direction for us to continue our search for the exact match. This was truly a great experience!

Your Future Career Expo

by Eighth Grade Students Carrigan Hurst and Kyra Hietpas


I know it sounds cliche, but time really

does fly when you're having fun! It's

been another fascinating year for our

mentor groups. The Mustang Mentors

were 90 plus strong again this year, and

our CAMP group topped out at 21

mentors. It's been a great year!

Our CAMP (Community Action Mentor

Partnership) program had four exciting

gatherings this year, and it seemed as

though everyone had a great time at

each gathering. We started our year off

in October by making Christmas

ornaments and cards for the residents at

Parkside Manor. In December, we took

over the community room at Parkside

Manor and filled the halls with laughter

while playing BINGO with the residents.

At the conclusion of our evening, we

gave out the ornaments and cards, and

our students felt a sense of camaraderie

and fulfillment. Several of our students

mentioned to me that evening they

would like to come back again next year.

I think we've started a tradition.

At the end of February, we spent an

evening painting pottery, making

mosaics and glass fusing at The Fire in

Appleton. It truly is a gift to watch the

creativity flow from our children. I think

they sometimes amaze themselves at

their abilities. We ended our year with a

potluck on May 19. It was a night to

meet a new member of our group, as

well as her mentee, enjoy some pizza

and have a quick game of "name that

group". That's right, we are looking to

rename our group from CAMP to

something a little "jazzier." We have two

names that made the cut, and we will be

voting soon. Watch for the new name in

the Fall edition of the newsletter!

There are big things on the horizon for

our CAMP group. We are working with

ResourceOne in Little Chute to expand

our mentor/mentee relationships, and

we hope this relationship encourages

other local businesses and citizens to

consider mentoring as well. As I've

mentioned in the past, we are ALWAYS

looking for new mentors. We have a

waiting list of about 15 students, and it is

always growing, who would love to find

camaraderie, consistency and stability in

a mentor relationship. Please consider

giving of your time and affection to our

students. I promise you will gain as

much, if not more, from this relationship

as the student. If you're at all interested

in learning more, please give me a

call at 788-7605 ext: 3108, or you can

email me at

[email protected].

The Mustang Mentors had another

fabulous year. We matched about 90 of

our younger students with our high

school mentors. In January, we took our

group to the Resch Center to cheer on

the Green Bay Phoenix Basketball team.

We were able to get two of our young

students out on the basketball floor

between quarters, and it was so fun to

watch the kids on the floor, but just as

importantly, the kids in the stands

rooting on their classmates/friends. We

were not able to watch the final minutes

of the one point win against Valparaiso,

but it was an exciting evening

nonetheless.

Our end of the year bash took place on

May 27 at Village Lanes in Little Chute.

We inundated Village Lanes for two

hours that afternoon while enjoying

some bowling and lots of pizza. The kids

were patient, gracious and some were a

bit sad to say good-bye to their senior

mentors. It's always an emotional

reminder to our mentors of the impact

they have on our younger students.

As with every year, I've learned several

things along the way, and I hope to keep

providing value and worth to these two

amazing programs. It's an honor to work

with the fine students of the Little Chute

Area School District as well as the staff.

Our teachers are always so supportive

and patient with our Mustang Mentor

program. They encourage their students

to participate even when it means a

slight disruption in their day or activity.

Without the encouragement and support

of the teachers, these programs would

be far less successful. In addition to the

teachers, we have the counselors and

psychologists in the buildings that

provide so much insight, guidance and

support. I can't thank them all enough

for their time, thoughts and

encouragement throughout the year.

Undeniably the backbone to our mentor

programs are our mentors, to whom I

say "thank you." Thank you for your

commitment. Thank you for your time,

affection and selflessness. Without you,

we would have no mentor programs,

and we would not be able to witness the

growth in our mentees. Keep up the

great work!!

It's been a great year. Thank you for

allowing me the opportunity to work with

such a fun and active group of people.

We truly have a blast in all that we do,

and I would encourage anyone who is

thinking about mentoring to please give

me a call. There will be no commitment

in a phone call; rather, a time to learn

more and chat about the rewards.

I wish everyone a safe and enjoyable

summer. To our graduating seniors,

thank you for a fantastic year. You will

all do great things. Hold your head high

and march on, Mustangs!!!

Mentor Programs Have a Great Year

by Inge Murphy

Documents

New for the 2015-16 School Year!...2015-16 LCHS Yearbooks We are switching over to a new format for ordering the high school yearbook. Jostens offers ordering directly through their