State Solo & Ensemble

Congratulations to all of the Belleville High School students who qualified for State Solo & Ensemble at last weekend's Capitol Conference event in New Glarus!

FFA Week

To conclude FFA week, 13 of our high school FFA members spent time in 3rd grade classrooms, teaching them about agriculture! The members helped the students make butter and played a game. They taught the 3rd graders about the crops and animals involved in making the ingredients of their butter and crackers. After making their own butter, students enjoyed the snack! They also played an ag trivia game where they learned facts about different livestock animals, crops, and Wisconsin agriculture and earned a prize for participating! The FFA members enjoyed the conversations and their time with the younger students talking about ag! [Submitted by Mrs. Knudson]

Middle School Students-of-the-Month for February

On Friday 2-24, Belleville Middle School teachers recognized Students-of-the-Month for February during Homeroom in the Middle School Commons. Each nominating teacher made a statement about a deserving student. Students received a certificate, Catty Shack (school store) buck, and the opportunity to put their handprint up in the Middle School. Congratulations to this exemplary group of Wildcats!

From Left to Right: Justin Caputo, Ryan Hagen, Cameron Kleiboer, Alexandra Steckelis, Josephine Latorre, Andy Lloyd, Ayisa Ceesay, Elise Medenwald, and Mia Ace 

(Polar) Plunging Wildcats

Belleville Middle School students, along with teacher Ms. Andrew, participated in a Polar Plunge this past weekend.  Team "Plunging Wildcats" raised over $4,000 to benefit the Special Olympics. School Board President Angie Edge said, "I am so proud of these students and especially Ms. Andrew for going the extra mile. Time and time again, Belleville teachers do more than just teach kids in the classroom, they participate in events outside of school and extra activities. It’s things like this that make me very proud to be part of the School District of Belleville."

Taking advantage of record temperatures!

Mrs. Knudson's Natural Resources class is learning about survival. Today (2-22), they were discussing shelters. The students suggested going out into the woods to build them.  Although not Mrs. Knudson's original plan, the weather was too nice to pass up the idea!  These kids are talented!

BANDtastic happenings!

Mrs. Meir was a busy Band Director last Friday! During the day, she conducted her 7th grade General Music class in performing "Ode to Joy."

Later that night, she celebrated with the Class of 2017 on Senior Night at the boys' basketball game, as the team came back win against Wisconsin Heights.

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Winter Week!

To break the doldrums of winter, despite the warmer temperatures this week, Spirit Club has put on Winter Week for February 13-17. Check out the daily dress-up plan and lunch game schedule, along with our students enjoying a departure from the routine.

The seniors won the student tug-of-war on Thursday but then lost to a fresh teacher squad.

Juniors win again for Dodgeball on Wednesday.

Freshmen cheering on their team during Steal the Sticks on Monday

Seniors placing 2nd in "no-peek" volleyball on Tuesday

Recognition for Noelle Maire

Noelle Maire, the Division 3 State Cross Country Champion, was honored at halftime of tonight's (2-10) girls' basketball game against Marshall. She, along with her parents Thomas and Kathy, received a plaque from her coaches Tamara Houser and Megan O'Brien and ovation from the home crowd. Belleville is SO proud of this Wildcat and all that she has accomplished!

Animal Science Field Trip to ABS

Today (2-10), 12 of the students in Mrs. Knudson's Animal Science class experienced a tour of ABS Global and the dairy, beef, sheep, & swine UW Research facilities. At ABS, students learned more about the technology of artificial insemination and the genomics involved. They saw the labs as well as the barns and bulls. From there, they saw the UW Research swine facility where they learned about the research being done on pigs to benefit human health. Their latest research project involved kidney stones and devising a procedure to remove them. Next was the sheep farm where they saw all ages of animals from rams to yearlings to lambing ewes. The vet happened to be on-site giving vaccinations and led a discussion about disease prevention and lambing complications. After that, they headed to the beef farm where they learned about the nutrition research being done, such as how to help cattle recover from stress brought on from being trailered long distances. Lastly, they stopped at the UW dairy farm and witnessed the automated equipment and latest technology, including a "fitbit" for cows which is used to track their activity and rumination. The students had a day filled with hearing and seeing things that they have been (or will be) learning about in class! [Submitted by Mrs. Knudson]

Wildcat News #4

Check out our latest edition of the Wildcat News in preparation for Winter Week:

January High School Students-of-the- Month

On Thursday (2-8), nine Belleville High School students were recognized by their teachers-one from each department- as Students-of-the-Month for January. They celebrated their accomplishments with a Godfather's pizza lunch, Marcus Theaters movie passes, and nomination forms from their teachers. Congratulations to this model group of Wildcats who show both academic excellence/growth and character!

From left to right: Lucy Grady, Taylor Halvensleben, Skylar Butenhoff, Joey Sokol,
Ellie Gentilli, Caleb Swenson, Mitchell Mussehl, Lexi Walker, Rachel Markhardt

FFA Speaking Contest

On Wednesday (2/8), some of our FFA members competed in the District 13 FFA Speaking Contest held in Albany. Clarice Loeffelholz competed in the Employability Skills contest again this year.  She made a cover letter, resume, completed a job application on site, and experienced a mock interview with the judges. As freshmen competing for the first time, Brenna Meier and Mitch Mussehl were in the FFA creed contest. They memorized and recited the 5 paragraph speech to their judges, and we are very proud of them for trying something new! Denise Rankin also tried something new this year and competed in the Extemporaneous Speaking contest.  In this contest, she was given a random agriculture topic, had 30 minutes to prepare a speech, and then gave her 5 minute speech to the judges. Lastly, Amanda Lettman also tried something new this year and competed in the Discussion Meet.  In this competition, she was able to study specific ag topics ahead of time and then was judged on her ability to productively contribute to a group discussion with other members. All members enjoyed the night and improved their speaking skills in the process! (The picture is our FFA members with our Section 5 State FFA Officer, Ciera Ballmer.) [Submitted by Mrs. Knudson]

Capitol Conference Forensics Meet

Belleville hosted the Capitol Conference Forensics meet on Monday, February 6. Nearly 200 students from 11 schools in the conference participated. The Wildcats ended up third. Individual recognition went to:

Solo Acting Humorous

Jered Barclay - 2nd place

Noah Fahey - 3rd place

Storytelling

Grace Przybyl - 3rd place

Special Occasion Speaking

Kylie Rauh - 3rd place

Radio Speaking

Joey Sokol - 3rd place

Thank you to congratulations to Mrs. Alsteens and Mrs. Walejko who organized, set-up, and ran this event that only comes around to Belleville once every dozen years.

Wildcat Pride Day

Wildcat Pride Day is designed to acknowledge positive student behavior at both the middle and high school. Students with two or fewer office disciplinary referrals between January 9 and February 3rd participated in a day of fun, engaging activities, while a few students had a structured Study Hall to catch up on work and review behavior expectations.

Wildcat Pride Day began with an all-school assembly from 3Screens entitled "EPIC Ability." The middle school students then loaded buses to watch "Hidden Figures" at Marcus Theaters. High school students learned about Academic Career Plans, Youth Apprenticeships, and scheduling for next year. These meetings were followed by a snack and activities such as karaoke, chess, yoga, and volleyball. It was a great day to be a Wildcat!

Science Olympiad Continues to Roll!

The Belleville High School Science Olympiad Team participated at the South Central Regional today at Edgewood College against 15 other teams. With their second place finish, the varsity team increased its medal count from 9 last year to 14 this year. Congratulations to the following pairs and trios!

1st PLACE

Noah Niesen and Connor Theis in Electric Vehicle

Jaden Kieler and Grace Przybyl in Mystery Design

Noah Niesen and Gary Salmela in Robot Arm

2nd PLACE

Otto Anson and Joey Sokol in Ecology

Joey Sokol and Trevor Thole in Remote Sensing

Hansi Bartle and Gianna Diaz in WiFi Lab

3rd PLACE

Jaden Kieler and Gary Salmela in Astronomy

4th PLACE

Britney Markhardt and Emma Veeneman in Disease Detectives

Jaden Kieler, Grace Przybyl, and Emma Veeneman in Experimental Design

Britney Markhardt and Trevor Thole in Hydrogeology

Josh Bowers and Emma Veeneman in Helicopters

5th PLACE

Gianna Diaz, Riley Medenwald, and Trevor Thole in Code Busters

Otto Anson and Riley Medenwald in Chemistry Lab

Gianna Diaz and Noah Niesen in Game On

JV RESULTS

Dray Kieler and Erin Przybyl - 2nd in Helicopters

Lauren Theis and Zach Thole - 4th in Remote Sensing

Dray Kieler and Ryan Posthuma - 5th in Mystery Design

Hopefully, it's on to state!

Middle School Roller Skating Unit

JP's Middle School Physical Education classes arrived at school before 7am this morning to take advantage of the opportunity to rollerskate in the gym. This is one of activities that is a part of a School District of Belleville well-rounded education that makes it a special place to be. Take a look at the number of students here an hour before school started!