THE CLIPPER CONNECTION Sturgeon Bay Newsletter
Volume 1 Issue 2
Sunrise Elementary Playground a Reality! BY: KENDRA VANDERTIE
After five years of hard work and generous donors, the Sunrise Elementary playground has been remodeled, refreshed, and ready for play! From the vision of Cheryl Pfister and Craig Sigl in 2019, a volunteer playground committee was formed including Cheryl and Craig, parents, community members and the elementary Principals Katie Smullen and Katy DeVillers. Special thanks also to Nicole Matson, Brooke Ulrich, Rachel Maurer, Kendra Vandertie and Catherine Poon for their hard work and dedication to this committee.
Ribbon cutting at the Playground Grand Opening
STURGEON BAY HIGH SCHOOL Sturgeon Bay Wrestlers Compete on National Stage BY STEPHEN JACOBSON Several Sturgeon Bay High School students, and members of the Sturgeon Bay/Sevastopol wrestling team, competed at the state and national level this summer. Tiani Lemieux - Junior Tiani became the first female in school history to be named Packerland Conference Wrestler of the Year after advancing to the 138-pound championship match in the 2024 WIAA State Wrestling Tournament. In May, Tiani won the 148-pound championship at the Wisconsin Wrestling Federation Freestyle State Tournament, earning a roster spot on the Wisconsin 16U Freestyle National Dual Team. Tiani went 2-1 at Nationals, defeating opponents from Texas and Missouri.
Zak Wrobel - Senior A two-time all-conference wrestler and 2022 state qualifier, Zak is looking to put an exclamation point on his stellar career. In June, Zak attended the IronSharpens-Iron team camp in Fort Dodge, Iowa. Over 1,500 wrestlers from across the USA converged on Fort Dodge to learn from the top collegiate and Olympic-level wrestlers and to compete in a dual tournament. Zak went 4 - 1 on the week, upsetting two state place-winners and being named to the IronSharpens-Iron All-Star Team. He needs 11 wins this season to earn his 100th career varsity win.
Spencer Madsen - Junior A two-time All-Packerland Conference wrestler, Spencer has re-written most of the SBS Wrestling records, many of which date back to the 1940s. He placed 3rd at the 2024 Wisconsin Wrestling Federation Greco State Tournament in May, earning a trip to the 2024 Marine Corps Junior National tournament in Fargo, ND. His impressive resume caught the attention of the UW Parkside wrestling coaching staff, and Spencer announced his commitment to wrestle for the Rangers after graduating from Sturgeon Bay High School.
Celebrate the Holidays with Sturgeon Bay Band
Our Sturgeon Bay Band and Choir students are having an amazing year with new music and more concerts, giving our students opportunities to flourish and expand their musical abilities. Our students have been busy learning, practicing, and performing in preparation for our highly anticipated holiday concerts. Our Band Director, Ms. Heidi Hintz will be hosting our Winter Band Concert on Monday, December 16 at 7:00pm in the Robert H. Nickel Auditorium at Sturgeon Bay High School. In addition, our Choir Director, Ms. Avery Burns will be hosting the Winter Choir Concert on Thursday, December 19 at 7:00pm in the same Robert H. Nickel Auditorium. We encourage our community to get in the holiday spirit and join us for one or both of these outstanding performances that have become the highlight of December! In addition to the concerts, we have exciting news as we have been working with members of the community, the SBSD School Board, and building administration to make major renovations to the
Auditorium. As part of the fundraising process, we will be bringing in some concerts and recitals to the auditorium. We hope to see you at as many student and community performances and concerts as possible. Student concerts are always free. The auditorium renovation concert series that we are developing will have a suggested minimum donation of $10. Big thanks to Swingin’ Door Big Band for their fantastic concert in October to kick off the year! Please stay tuned to the Sturgeon Bay School District social media platforms to hear about these concerts and all of our music and other academic activities. Looking ahead to later this year, the jazz bands at the middle school and high school will have their second annual non-competitive jazz festival on February 1st featuring clinician, Dr. Eric High from St. Norbert’s College, as well as performances by the Swingin’ Door Big Band and The Last of the Big Bands.We encourage our community to celebrate our talented student musicians by attending any of the concerts or musical performances throughout the year.
SBHS Math Team
That next year led to many special requests to donors, grant writing, and working with the City of Sturgeon Bay to help with in-kind work on the demolition of the old decaying playground. Nearly $500,000 was raised overall and construction began at the end of July, 2024. Students and the community now have a more level soccer field at the school, three basketball hoops, multiple blacktop games including kickball and foursquare, and an all new play structure that has a poured in place surface making it accessible now to all students. The play structure has designated tranquility zones as well as swings, slides, and several gross motor activities. The playground Grand Opening was October 18th at 10:15 a.m. The students were able to access their playground the week before the grand opening. If you haven’t yet seen the new area, please come for a visit!! The playground is as much a community space as a school space and we look forward to seeing it used by kids and families all year long during nonschool hours.
Growth and Success for Sturgeon Bay High School’s Youth Apprenticeship BY LAUREN BAUMANN Over the past three years, the Northeast Wisconsin Youth Apprenticeship (NEWYA) Program at Sturgeon Bay High School has seen remarkable growth. NEWYA equips students with workforce experience within their chosen fields, and reflects Sturgeon Bay High School’s commitment to provide students with hands-on experience, venues to develop employability skills, and pathways to future careers.
state rate that year, at 18%.
The NEWYA program had just 7 participants in the 2021-2022 school year, but grew to include 22 in the following school year. The upward trajectory continued into the 20232024 school year when an all-time high of 38 students participated. This year, there are 29 participants and counting as enrollment continues into the beginning of the second semester for the current school year. Recruitment for the 2025-2026 school year NEWYA program commences with the second semester.
As we look to the future, NEWYA remains committed to expanding opportunities for our students. These opportunities are made possible by dedicated business partners within the Door County community. You can learn more about NEWYA opportunities at events throughout the year such as “Manufacturing Days,” hosted by the Door County Economic and Development Corporation (DCEDC). NEWYA also partners with the DCEDC for the Annual Door County Job Fair. Through valuable community partnerships and workplace experiences, students will continue to move forward in achieving impactful exposures to future career possibilities.
In the 2023-2024 school year, the State of Wisconsin saw an increased participation rate of 7.6% in Youth Apprenticeship. SBHS exceeded the
Youth Apprentices are required to work a minimum of 450 hours over a calendar year. This equated to a minimum of $254,545.71 earned by the Youth Apprentices of SBHS in the 2023-2024 program year. The average hourly wage for students was $14.89 last year; it is set to increase to $15.29 for this 2024-2025 school year.
National Merit Scholarship Semifinalist Sturgeon Bay High School’s very own Luke Selle has been named a National Merit Scholarship Semifinalist. This is an extraordinarily high academic achievement. Luke is one of approximately 16,000 semifinalists nationwide, which represents less than one percent of high school seniors and includes only the highest-scoring entrants in each state. Luke will continue in the competition with the opportunity to compete for some 6,870 scholarships worth nearly $26 million. To become a finalist, a semifinalist must have an outstanding academic record throughout high school, be endorsed and recommended by the school principal, write an essay and earn SAT scores that confirm the students’ earlier test performance. The National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC), established in1955, is a not-for-profit organization that operates without government assistance. Scholarships are underwritten by NMSC with its own funds and by approximately 280 business organizations, higher education institutions and individual donors to honor the nation’s scholastic champions and encourage the pursuit of academic excellence.
The math team season will soon be underway! The Sturgeon Bay High School Math Team has won 23 consecutive Packerland Conference Championships and several state championships, including first place in 2022 and 2023 and second place in 2024. Practices start before Thanksgiving, and there are 5 meets in January and February. Each team consists of 8 students - only 4 seniors can be on a team and 1 sophomore or 1 freshmen MUST be on each team. There are 4 individual events – Algebra, Geometry, Algebra II and Other Topics - and the top 5 individuals in each grade receive medals. Freshmen compete against other freshmen, sophomores against other sophomores, etc. There is also one team event. Math Team is a great way for students to develop problem solving skills and learn to work with each other.
INSIDE:
The committee hit a setback during the 2020 pandemic, but came back stronger and better during the summer of 2023 thanks to one motivated teacher associate and her summer school students. That summer, Mandy Schoeneman had students lining up to enroll in her Lemonade Stand class that not only taught entrepreneurship, budgeting, and marketing but also raised several thousand dollars for the playground campaign. The excitement and effort of the students invigorated Principal Katie Smullen to call the committee back together in order to make the new playground
a reality sooner rather than later.
TJ WALKER MIDDLE SCHOOL PAGE 2 SUNRISE ELEMENTARY PAGE 3 SAWYER ELEMENTARY PAGE 4
Upcoming Calendar Dates HS: BAND CONCERT - DECEMBER 16 @ 7:00PM HS: CHOIR CONCERT - DECEMBER 19 @ 7:00PM 5TH GRADE BAND CONCERT - DECEMBER 12 @ 7PM 1ST-5TH GRADE CONCERT - DECEMBER 17 @ 6PM 4K/5K CONCERT - DECEMBER 18 @1:45PM PTO MEETINGS - FIRST THURSDAYS EACH MONTH @ 3:30PM SAWYER FAMILY FUN NIGHT FEBRUARY 20@4:30PM - 6:00PM SAWYER SPRING INTO READING APRIL 22@4:30PM - 5:30PM