Recognizing Retirees & 25-Year Employees in Video

FOR ALL STAFF
As you know, we were unable to hold the annual Employee Recognition Dinner in May due to COVID-19. We had many staff members take the time to submit video clips in recognition of our retirees and 25-year veteran staff members. Normally these would be shown at the annual dinner and we did not want the pandemic to stop us from celebrating our colleagues! You are invited to check out the recognition videos at these links:

• Retiree Video
• 25 Year Video

Celebrating Employee Milestones

FOR ALL STAFF
Join us in recognizing these WBSD employees for their years of service to our students, staff, and families.

Celebrating five years in the district: Ronald Hedrick-West High School and Jonathan Huehner- High School Maintenance.

Celebrating 15 years in the district: Karen Zainer-Technology Department and Pam Jung-School Nutrition

Celebrate Our Staff!

March is National Music in Our Schools Month. This is a great opportunity to recognize and thank our team of incredible music educators in the WBSD. Our music programs provide a variety of experiences to students that is unmatched in most districts across the state. We have strong participation and success in our band, orchestra, and choir programs throughout the district.

Assembling such an outstanding and comprehensive music program is a testament to the hard work of our music teachers at every level.  Our music teachers at the younger levels inspire our students to pursue music. Our upper age level music teachers help our students discover their musical passion, allowing them to grow as lovers of the arts and talented performers in our community. Thank you to all of our music educators!

Please join us in celebrating our colleagues for hitting milestones in their years of service to the district in March, including:

5 Years in the District

• Amy Braeger - District Nurse
• Kim Tucholka - High School
• Bryce Young - Silverbrook

25 Years in the District

• Lori Spaeth - Decorah

We also have a number of recent new additions within the families of WBSD employees. You can check out some adorable photos of the babies welcomed into the world recently by staff at this link to the HR Intranet Celebrations Page.

Award Nomination Deadline Approaching

FOR ALL STAFF
This Friday, March 6 is the deadline to submit nominations for the Rolfs Education Foundation Award and for the Support Staff Member of the Year Award.

• Click here for details on nominating a teacher for the Rolfs Award
• Click here for details on nominating someone for the Support Staff Award

Submit Rolfs and Support Staff Award Nominations

FOR ALL STAFF
Remember to submit nominations for the Rolfs and Support Awards on or before March 6, 2020.  You can find the nomination form and a list of previous winners here.

February is Black History Month

FOR ALL STAFF

As you know, February is recognized as Black History Month. Within classrooms there are many opportunities to celebrate the diversity of black cultures as well as to recognize the accomplishments of black Americans in our daily lives. Two places you can easily find resources for your discussions during Black History Month are www.teachtolerance.org and the Undefeated 44. Two opportunities for celebration in our schools are at Badger Middle School on February 21, 2020 at 1:30 p.m. and at the Silver Lining Arts Center and Gallery on February 28, 2020 at 6:30 p.m. This event will highlight student art and performance.

Celebrate our Staff!

National School Counseling Week is February 3-7. This is a fantastic opportunity for us to recognize our incredible school counseling team. Our counselors problem solve some of the most unpredictable and challenging issues and help provide the foundation of emotional and social safety that underlies all other success students have in school. Thank you school counselors!

Also, let's celebrate our colleagues for milestones in their years of service to the district this month!

Celebrating 5 Years in January

• Jessica Guerrero - McLane

Celebrating 15 Years in January

• Jenny Taylor - Fair Park
• Wendi Hess - Rolfs

West Bend Students Place in Dr. Martin Luther King Jr Art Contest

FOR ALL STAFF
The 36th Annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Birthday Celebration was held on Sunday, January 19 at the Marcus Performing Arts Center in Milwaukee. The program highlighted youth from Milwaukee Public Schools, Wauwatosa Public Schools, and West Bend Public Schools who interpreted Dr. King’s works through visual art, speech, and writing contests. This is the first year West Bend Schools participated in the contest. With more than 5,000 students entering, West Bend had two students place in the art contest. Placing second in the K-2 grades art contest is Imahdi Simond, a student at McLane Elementary. Placing third in the 9-12 grades art contest is Sa'maia Evans, a freshman at West High School. Congratulations to our students and their teachers.

Celebrate Our Staff!

FOR ALL STAFF

National Special Education Day is December 2! Take a moment to thank the staff in pupil services for the amazing work they do to ensure ALL students receive an outstanding education in the WBSD!

Celebrate WBSD Staff Members!

FOR ALL STAFF

• November 20 is National Education Support Professionals Day! This is a day to recognize the many aides, paraprofessionals, instructional techs, clerical staff, and other support staff who help us achieve our mission each day. Without their tireless work, our district could not function. Did you know that we have roughly the same number of support staff members as we do teachers in the WBSD? 
• Congratulations to Shelly Krueger from West High School for earning the Wisconsin Profesora Distinguda award from the American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese. This award recognizes Shelly as the Teacher of the Year for this state-wide foreign language organization. We are so fortunate to have phenomenal teachers like Shelly in the West Bend School District. 

Recognizing Our Staff

FOR ALL STAFF
November gives us a chance to celebrate a number of important members of the WBSD team, such as:

• November 11 is Veterans Day! You may not be aware, but the WBSD is home to many
  
  employees who are also veterans of the United States Armed Forces. We are extremely grateful to these brave men and women who served our country in uniform and now serve our community's children as part of the WBSD team. THANK YOU VETERANS!
• November 4 is National Coach Appreciation Day! Take this opportunity to thank a coach you see doing great work for our students. Employees who also coach devote a great deal of time to go above and beyond to provide ways for our students to develop and highlight their talents in athletics and other co-curricular areas.
• November 8 is National STEM Day! Our STEM teachers inspire kids to pursue and explore their interests in science, technology, engineering, and math. Opening these doors to our students helps prepare them for the innovative opportunities that the 21st-century workplace will provide. Thank you to our STEM teachers!
• November 10 is National Accounting Day! Let's recognize the men and women in our fabulous Finance Department for the behind-the-scenes work they do to manage our nearly $100 million budget. This small team of committed WBSD employees work hard every day to make sure our staff and students have the resources allocated to make the magic happen in our classrooms!
• November 11-15 is National Psychology Awareness Week! This is a chance for us to recognize our school psychologists for the work they do to support teachers, students, and families in the WBSD. We truly could not provide the high level of programming we do without their hard work!

We also have a number of WBSD team members celebrating some impressive milestones in November, including:

Celebrating 5 years in the district

• Gerald Wiese - East & West High Schools

Celebrating 20 years in the district

• Dawn Goralski - East & West High Schools
• Jeannine Beilman - ESC
• Justine Jung - Jackson

Celebrating 25 years in the district

• Elisa Spaeth - East & West High Schools

Celebrate Your Efforts to Be Safe

FOR ALL STAFF
In most school districts, injury caused by student interactions is the number one cause of worker’s compensation claim expenses. That is NOT true in the WBSD. Thanks to de-escalation skills, high-quality training, and careful attention of our staff, we are the exception to this trend.

Thank you to everyone who plays a role in training staff in de-escalation techniques like NVCI and trauma-informed care. Thank you to all staff for your skillful ability to calm students and maintain the safest possible environment for students and staff. The level of sensitivity to challenging student situations is making a real difference in the overall safety of all colleagues.

Celebrating Our Staff's Committment to WBSD

FOR ALL STAFF

Please celebrate your colleagues for milestones in their years of service in the district:

Celebrating 5 Years in October

• Laura Burch - East & West High Schools
• Jennifer Thompson - Silverbrook

Celebrating 10 Years in October

• Katrina Austinson - Green Tree

Celebrating 20 Years in October

• Donna Brooks - Jackson
• John Kall - McLane
• Jill Whitlock - McLane
• Julie Balistrieri - Rolf's

Celebrating 25 Years in October

• Colleen Daley - ESC
• Wendy Kannenberg - Silverbrook

You can always check out staff celebrations on the HR intranet page here.

Celebrate Our Staff!

FOR ALL STAFF

In a school system, one of our biggest partners are the parents of the students we serve. During August and September, staff across the district took time to build relationships with families to better serve our students. Thank you all for going the extra mile to meet the needs of our students.

We would like to give a  for their creative approach to Family Night! Each house provided a welcoming environment for families to engage in a variety of activities focused on gaining more information about life at Silverbrook.

Celebrate Our Staff!

FOR ALL STAFF
October is a month to celebrate a number of different employees in our district!

• October 2 was National Custodian Day. Thank you to everyone in our Facilities Department for the work they do to keep our schools clean and in good working order. Every day our custodians deal with truly unpredictable situations. Thank you to all of them for being ready to serve our staff and students at a moment's notice!
• October 3 is National "Techie" Day so thank that person in your school who is your go-to for random tech-related help. Everybody has at least one person like that in their lives! Plus an extra thank you to our Technology Department for the work they do to put amazing tools in the hands of our staff and students.
• October is National Principal's Month and October 16 is National Boss's Day. Take a moment to tell your supervisor thank you for a way he or she has gone above and beyond for you!

Recognize Our Great Staff!

FOR ALL STAFF

• Welcome new teachers and support staff! We have some new team members in the West Bend School District who are ready to contribute their talents to making a difference for our students. We have 18 teachers new to WBSD and while some still have the perspective of recent college graduates joining our team, others have come from out of state, some are rejoining the profession after a hiatus, and others are coming directly from another district. We are also very fortunate to add several great people to the staff in non-teaching positions. You can check out who our new employees are at this link. Please join me in welcoming them to the West Bend team!
• September 8-14 is National Arts in Education Week. This is an opportunity to celebrate the many music, art, theater, dance, media, literature, design and visual arts teachers in the WBSD.  The work they do to nurture creativity and innovative thinking makes a life-long impact on our students!  Thank you to our Teachers of the Arts!
• Tuesday, September 17 is I.T. Professionals Day. Where would we be without the geniuses of our Technology Department? Whether they are technicians visiting your schools regularly or network administrators and systems managers working tirelessly behind the scenes to keep everything running smoothly, our I.T. professionals work wonders to give our students and staff access to incredible technology tools. Thank you!