The school board, administrators, and staff would like to extend their sincere welcome to all of our young learners. We hope that all of our students and their families will become involved in our school community.
Holocaust Survivor Talks About His Experiences
Recently students and members of the community listened intently as Holocaust survivor and author of the book Ragdolls Henry Golde told of his experiences of growing up in the Jewish faith in Europe during World War II.
Born in Plock, Poland in 1929 Golde shared his story of how in 1939, at the age of 11, his life changed forever. Golde told of being beat up by the Christian children because of his faith. He also went on to tell of having his entire community ordered into a 10 block area of the city known as the “Jewish Ghetto”. Being a survivor of a total of nine concentration camps in Poland, Germany and Czechoslovakia he spoke of the terrible times he endured while in the camps until their liberation by the Russian Army in 1945. Golde shared with the audience what was required to survive while living in the concentration camps. One particular story he told was very horrific. Golde told of his name being called for him to be moved to another camp. He wisely noted that the other people who were also called were either very sick or very weak. Fearing they were not going to be sent to another camp as told he was sure they would be taken out to the forest and shot. He then decided to hide behind the hospital barracks among a pile of dead bodies. He waited there overnight until the group he was supposed to be in left camp. He did find out later that the people in that group were indeed taken out to the forest and shot to death. This was just one of the many harrowing experiences he shared of his survival in the camps. After the Russian Army liberated his camp he went to live in England until he moved to the United States in 1952.
The second part of the program was used for questions. One of the most poignant questions asked was by an elementary student who asked ” What made you want to stay alive?” Golde calmly replied, ” Where there is life there is hope’’. At the end of Golde’s talk he wanted to leave a message for the students in particular. He spoke of how he had experienced the worse prejudice in the world and just wanted to ask” Why do we hate each other so much?” When all we need to know is, “Hate is nothing, love is everything”.
If we truly listen to these words we can hopefully prevent this type of history from repeating itself.
JOHNSON CREEK COMMUNITY PROJECT
In February, 2012 a group of 40 Johnson Creek community members met to begin talking about the assets of the community. Under the facilitation of Stephen Kretzman, PhD, Director of Wisconsin’s Americorps program, we began learning about Asset-based Community Development.
Asset-based community development is a large and growing movement that considers local assets as the primary building blocks of sustainable community development. Building on the skills of local residents, the power of local associations, and the supportive functions of local institutions, asset-based community development draws upon existing community strengths to build stronger, more sustainable communities for the future.
On April 17th, we held another meeting and drew community maps of assets, as the one illustrated above.
As you can see, Johnson Creek has a variety of many assets in place. As the group discussed, the goal is to build on those strengths and make better connections between the groups, the businesses, individuals and the school. We are recognizing that successful schools rest on the rock of economically viable
communities. This group is exploring the idea that schools might become important participants, contributors, and beneficiaries in a process of community development that values the internal assets of neighborhoods.
From this discussion, we have formed some projects that we are planning to begin and implement. They are:
· A community garden- we plan to locate it at the school. It would start as a school-community garden with hopes that over time, plots could be rented by community members. We would like to also help supply the Food Pantry. We see this growing and developing to meet community needs
· A community data base of assets- we are polling citizens about their strengths and abilities and developing a database. For example: if you are looking for someone who knows how to knit, or do woodworking, would be willing to read, etc -this would be a community resource for businesses, the schools and new community members.
· YOST- Youth and Old Stick Together-we would like to build partnerships between youth and the elderly. This group would perform tasks for elderly(errands, chores, lawn work, going for a walk, reading to, conversations, etc) and attend or invite them to local events
· Business-School connect- developing job shadows and connections with local businesses
to offer youth a look at local businesses and jobs.
To make this a success, we need your help. If you are interested in serving on one of these committees or to be involved, please contact Kris Blakeley, Elementary Principal at 699-2511.
Artist in Residence at Johnson Creek Schools
During the week of April 16th students at Johnson Creek schools were given the chance to work with David Daniels, professional actor and education director for American Player’s Theatre in Spring Green, Wisconsin. Mr. Daniels visited Johnson Creek schools through the Artist in Residence program. This program was developed through the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C.. Mr. Daniels uses his passion for acting and love of theatre as an approach for teaching poetry and literature to students using such works as Shakespeare‘s Romeo and Juliet.
In a College Prep English class Daniels broke down some unfamiliar language through acting out the text for a clearer understanding asking students along the way to explain in their own words what they felt was happening in the scene. In a drama class he went through the complexity of the characters and plots in the play Romeo and Juliet and used modern day examples to make the play more understandable to the students. Daniels also worked in the elementary with fifth and sixth grade students using his theatre approach to teach students about the different types of poetry.
Throughout the week it became very evident that Mr. Daniels helped give the students a much greater appreciation of literature and theatre. The Artist in Residence program was sponsored by generous donations from the Friends of Our Schools, High School Parents, The Johnson Creek Education Foundation and a local business trust.
Common Core State Standards: A new Foundation for Student Success
The Johnson Creek School District is proud to announce that three educators have been nominated for the Kohl Teacher Fellowship Award. The nominees are; Angie Hoffman, who has been with the district for 17 years, Paula Wolter, who has been with the district for 10 years and Fritzi Heckel who has also been with the district 10 years. Both Hoffman and Wolter are third grade teachers and Heckel teaches Jr. High Science and 8th grade Health.
The Kohl Teacher Fellowship recognizes and supports innovation and excellence in the field of teaching. It is a statewide program started by Senator Herb Kohl. Each year 100 teachers are honored for their role in the classroom and awarded a $1,000 grant. Each grant recipient’s school also receives a matching $1,000. The Fellowship recipients will be announced in the spring. Good luck to these to very deserving educators.
WE, THE MEMBERS OF THE SCHOOL DISTRICT OF JOHNSON CREEK, BELIEVE IN THE POTENTIAL OF ALL AND ARE COMMITTED TO DEVELOPING LIFE-LONG LEARNERS WHO VALUE THEMSELVES; CONTRIBUTE TO THEIR COMMUNITY; AND SUCCEED IN A CHANGING WORLD.
