Wednesday, October 31, 2018

NHS Trick-or-Treating for Food Pantry

On Halloween night, members of Belleville's chapter of the National Honor Society, along with other BHS students, trick-or-treated for the local food pantry. Their efforts brought in over 750 pounds of food that was then donated! Thank you to NHS advisor Mrs. Jenkins, student volunteers, and especially those who donated items for making the night a success.

Volleyball All-Conference Student-Athletes

Three Belleville Wildcat volleyball players were recently selected to the Capitol Conference South Division's All-Conference teams. Seniors Rachael Heittola and Sydney Gentilli received 1st team honors. Rachael was a unanimous selection by the conference coaches. Senior Jade Halvensleben was also selected to the 2nd team. Congratulations to these Wildcat athletes for their tremendous contributions to the volleyball program over the last four years!

Monday, October 29, 2018

DECA Emerging Leadership Conference

On October 29-30, fifteen Belleville DECA members attended the 2018 DECA Emerging Leaders Conference at the Kalahari Resort in the Wisconsin Dells. The students had the opportunity to meet many other DECA members from schools around the state and interact with leaders from the business world.

Friday, October 26, 2018

Halloween Dance and Haunted Trail

On Friday, October 26, Belleville Middle School hosted its annual Halloween Dance. The dance  included a costume contest with prizes for the:
  1. Best overall costume.
  2. Scariest costume.
  3. Most original (homemade) costume. 
  4. Best Group/Pair.
 
As students exited the dance, many then went through Science Olympiad's Haunted Trail. The trail is open again tomorrow night from 5:00-9:30pm at the Oliver Trail (in the Church Street parking lot). If you didn't make it out tonight, we hope to see you Saturday night...or return for another round of scary fun!

Thursday, October 25, 2018

8th Grade Madison College Visit

Belleville Middle School 8th grade students toured Madison College on Thursday (10-25) morning. They were able to tour one of four career pathways- (1) Business & Applied Art, (2) Science, Engineering, & Technology, (3) Human & Protective Services, and (4) Health Education. The students were able to experience a college campus, but it left them wanting to explore additional pathways, especially those allowing them to participate in hands-on activities.

Tuesday, October 23, 2018

Rise Together Presentations

On Tuesday, October 23, as part of Red Ribbon Week, a Wisconsin organization Rise Together came back to Belleville Middle and High Schools to present solutions and coping strategies for a variety of teen mental health concerns. Rise Together had met with all students on the first day of school with a "take care of each other" message. They returned on Tuesday to meet separately with high school students in the morning and middle school students in the afternoon. They then met with staff after school before their parent forum on Tuesday night. Are hope is that we are better prepared to address student mental health issues moving forward!

Madison College Diesel Mechanic Visit

Mrs. Knudson's class learned first-hand about the Madison Area Technical College Diesel Mechanics program today. Belleville High School alumnus Philip Sokol, his classmate Avery, and their instructor introduced students to the program and discussed the demand for technicians within industry, as well as opportunities at Madison College in general. After the presentation, students were challenged with a scavenger hunt on the college semi to find the basic components associated with diesel equipment. It was great to have Phil back to share his post-secondary educational experience and career path!

Sunday, October 21, 2018

Regional Champs!

The Sugar River Raiders Boys' Soccer Team defeated Platteville 3-0 on Saturday (10-20) at Reddan Soccer Park to become the regional champions! They will play in the sectional semifinal on Thursday night (10-25) at McFarland at 6pm. Drive on over to support your Raiders as they take on the #1 seed in this Division 3 sectional!

Wednesday, October 17, 2018

Cross Country All-Conference Honors

On Monday (10-15), the Capitol Conference released its cross country all-conference teams for this fall. Sophomore Tayler Yapp earned 1st Team All-Conference South recognition for her 6th place finish at the conference meet on October 13. Congratulations to Tayler on this award, in just her first year of participation in cross country!

Award for "The Prowl"

On Friday, October 12, staff from The Prowl, Belleville High School's school newspaper, attended a scholastic journalism conference on the UW-Whitewater campus. At that conference, they won 2nd place for 2018 for news magazines from the Kettle Moraine Press Association (KEMPA). Ms. Kallien submitted three editions from last year for consideration. The second place showing was in competition with approximately 100 other high school publications that belong to the association. This is a great honor for Ms. Kallien, Mr. Farrar, and The Prowl writers in just the newspaper's third year of existence. 

Monday, October 15, 2018

Rise Together Parent Presentation

On Tuesday, October 23, Rise Together will put on middle and high school assemblies as part of Red Ribbon Week. The presenters will then be available to staff. Starting at 6:30pm in the auditorium, Rise Together will also present to parents. Please read a description of their presentation below. We hope that you can join us and be part of the solution to the increasing concerns all schools are experiencing in student mental health.

Rise Together is a Wisconsin-based organization that provides communities with educational programs, workshops, and trainings to develop strong advocates and leaders. Their cause is led by a team of dedicated professionals, all of whom have diverse backgrounds, educations, and skill sets. The purpose of the program is to educate our community around the overwhelming amount of young people that are suffering with significant trauma, large amounts of stress, substance abuse, self-harm, suicidal tendencies, and other mental and behavioral health conditions.

Friday, October 12, 2018

Art Fusion Designs

Mr. Benash and Mr. Neumann have 15 students this semester in their new Art Fusion class. They created the piece below as an inspiration to students in their class. Once the design was programmed in Inventor and cut on the CNC plasma machine, it was painted, mounted, and backlit with LED lights. The students now have their creative juices flowing and access to a world-class shop!

Belleville FFA's Drive Your Tractor to School Day

On Thursday, October 11, numerous Belleville High School FFA members participated in the annual Drive Your Tractor to School Day. It was the coldest morning that we have had this fall, so some may have been put off if their tractor didn't have a cab. At noon, FFA members gathered for their photograph. You will see this again on their holiday card at the time of their fruit sale.

Thursday, October 11, 2018

High School Students-of-the-Month

On Thursday, October 11, Belleville High School staff recognized Students-of-the-Month for the first time this year. Students were treated to a pizza lunch from Tano's and received a personalized certificate from their nominating teachers, along with movies passes donated by Marcus Theaters. The theme from teachers was that these students started the school year tremendously well and "go above and beyond" what is asked of them. Congratulations to this wonderful group of Wildcats!

Adrian Balderas, Lance Varney, Heidi Wegehaupt, Jenna Banfield, Melanie Humke, Ashley Kramer, Anna Nolden, Mya Enerson, and Mili Julian

Tuesday, October 9, 2018

Youth Apprentices Bake for PTO Fall Festival

Juniors Taylor Anderson and Kylie Rauh, both Hospitality/Culinary Youth Apprentices, helped to bake and decorate 20 cakes that will be used for prizes for the Cake Walk game at the PTO Fall Festival. The festival is tomorrow (October 10th) from 5 to 7:30pm in Library Park.

Saturday, October 6, 2018

Haunted Trail

Now an annual event, please make plans to visit the Haunted Trail the weekend before Halloween. The event is put on by the Science Olympiad Team. Proceeds go toward lowering hotel costs on overnight trips. The team has lengthened the trail and improved the experience each year. I can't wait to see what they have planned for this year!

Friday, October 5, 2018

Middle School Students-of-the-Month for September

On Friday, October 5, Belleville Middle School staff recognized the first round of Students-of-the-Month for the 2018-19 school year. Students received a certificate, a Catty Shack buck, and a 3-D printed coin from Mrs. Swenson. Those who had not previously had their handprint up on the Middle School's walls were able to put theirs up with their signatures today as well. Congratulations to these Wildcats who have had a great start to the school year!
Front Row: Aidan Keyes, Jacob Jensen-Moyer, Isaac Erb, Hayden Boyce, Jenna McKnight, and Alison Thompson
Back Row: Olivia Wenger, Ava Patrow, Madeline Miller, Alexa Lindstrom, Makensi Kahl, Kaydence Baxter

New Teacher Poster

For the past three years, the staff of Belleville Middle and High Schools has taken a photo to create camaraderie and to imitate those posters of the seasonal sports. With our new #WildcatWay t-shirts, Mrs. Swenson and Green Briar Photography took individual green-screen photos of teachers to create this year's photo. Each teacher receives one for his or her classroom, and a  larger poster is displayed on the Catty Shack. It does draw interest from students throughout the entire year! 

Thursday, October 4, 2018

Youth Apprentice Julia McNamar Presents to Department of Work Force Development Administration

STEM Youth Apprentice senior Julia McNamar was one of two students invited to speak to Department of Workforce Development administration during their meeting at EPIC yesterday (10/3). She discussed why she applied to the Youth Apprenticeship Program as a sophomore, what her mentors have taught her during her paid engineering placements (at Findorff and North American Mechanical during her junior year and at Federal Industries during her senior year), and how the Youth Apprenticeship Program has helped her with long-term career goals.

Other presenters included Josh Fassl (Dane County School Consortium Director), Shelia Hibner and Greg Benz (Middleton-Cross Plains CTE Coordinators), Teresa Gartley (Belleville School-to-Career Coordinator), and Middleton-Cross Plains senior Paige Olson and her mentor Mark Klingele (UW Credit Union).

Both students' presentations left the DWD administrators impressed with the value Youth Apprenticeship has had in helping them grow as employees and in gaining technical skills in careers they wish to pursue at the post-secondary level.

Wednesday, October 3, 2018

ACT Comparison Results

When Dane County comparison results were released on Tuesday in the Wisconsin State Journal, Belleville High School was one of only two Dane County high schools to show growth from one year to the next in all three comparison content areas- English Language Arts, Math, and Science. Stoughton High School was the only other school to do so.

Congratulations to the Class of 2019 and our Math teachers! They gained over 22 points from the previous year and posted the second highest Math score in the county, behind only Waunakee. As part of their department goal, Mr. Cryderman, Mr. Martin, and Mrs. Spellman set up numerous ACT review sessions last year in preparation for the February test. Their hard work certainly paid off!

Tuesday, October 2, 2018

Jostens Visit

Jostens representative Dale Komo visited with both our freshmen and seniors this morning. Freshmen signed their graduation pledge that will go to the school board on Monday night and be displayed in the Ag/Band hallway thereafter. Seniors were then measured for caps and gowns already! It's never too early to start planning.

Parents - look for class ring and senior clothing orders coming home tonight!

Monday, October 1, 2018

Senior Class Photo

In recent years, the senior class photo has been taken on the Friday of Homecoming Week. That date works well for the photograph because the seniors are nearly all in attendance and are wearing spirit gear. The Yearbook staff selects the location, with input from the seniors. This year they chose the depot- a spot that has not been frequently used in the past. Thanks to Jerry Butts and Mrs. Otteson for driving the bus and capturing these images. I think it turned out fantastic for the Class of 2019!