Thursday, January 10, 2019 • Vol. 134, No. 28 • Oregon, WI • ConnectOregonWI.com • $1.25
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Hermsens protect 59 acres of land for future park EMILIE HEIDEMANN Unified Newspaper Group
Photo by Emilie Heidemann
Annabell Schwartz and Jacy Andrew, RCI fifth-graders, build a catapult for their STEAM class.
Thinking big, working together Real-world challenges highlight new STEAM class at RCI Unified Newspaper Group
Building bridges, curing cancer – it’s all in a semester’s work for fifth-graders at Rome Corners Intermediate School. That group is participating in the school’s first dedicated STEAM course this year. The course, split into two semesters so all fifth-graders can attend, is described by the district as a “handson/minds-on class that focuses on applying the engineering design
Right next to a1 FuRnituRe
‘We only have one’
Oregon School District
SCOTT DE LARUELLE
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Oregon Observer The
process to learn and develop solutions to problems.” Teacher Michelle Minter had previously taught at Oregon Middle School before taking a hiatus in real estate and is in her first year at RCI. She said the goal is to eventually transition into a full STEAM program at grades 5 and 6. “Fifth-graders are starting to become much more aware of themselves and their world and are thinking big thoughts and asking big questions,” Minter said. “STEAM class gives them another place in school
where they can hold on to their sense of wonder, flex their creative muscles, and participate in the important work of solving world problems.” In previous years, she said, students in those grades had “tech tools” classes that taught computer and technology skills, but now the program is more integrated into the district’s STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art and math) curriculum. “The elementary schools do a great
Turn to STEAM/Page 7
Across the street from the rapid development in the village’s Bergamont area, two homeowners are envisioning a different future for their land. It has been clear for years Patrick and Patricia Hermsen both have a Patricia Hermsen passion for t h e e nv i ronment, as evidenced through how much work the couple has poured into their 59 acres. Patrick Hermsen Since taking ownership of the land in 1984, they’ve planted 9,000 trees and have lost count, Patricia said, of all the native grasses and flowers they’ve planted. Plus, Patrick raises bees as a hobby. And while most of the property consists of various
species of trees, the couple is also restoring a 22-acre patch of prairie just a short stroll away from their log home. N ow, t h ey h ave h e l p protecting and preserving the land, having signed an agreement on Dec. 11 with the Groundswell Conservancy, a 35-year-old nonprofit organization that had been known before 2018 as the Natural Heritage Land Trust. The conservation easement means the Hermsens will continue to own the land, but any development would be restricted to “park and nature-based recreation,” explained Jim Welsh, executive director of Groundswell Conservancy. Whenever the Hermsens leave the land, their property will be donated to the Village and Town of Oregon as a conservation park for the public to enjoy, Patrick said. The next step in that process is to sign a reserved life estate, which he said will make the entire project official. That isn’t going to happen for a while yet, Patricia said. The two approached the village and town about preserving the land in 2015, calling it a “no-brainer”
Turn to Hermsens/Page 7
Spring election
3-way race for Water leak shuts down two elementaries Brooklyn president Prairie View, EMILIE HEIDEMANN AND SCOTT DE LARUELLE Unified Newspaper Group
The holidays are over, but students at Prairie View and Netherwood Knoll elementary schools got a bit of an extended break last
as usual, but the water had to be shut off the following day while repairs were made, as it was the main water line to the schools and Oregon School District pool. Classes for all other OSD schools remained in session Thursday, and classes resumed Friday at Prairie View and Netherwood. There was no internal damage to any schools or the pool, and since the closures
are considered “emergency closure” per state law, they are not counted as snow days, according to OSD communications director Erika Mundinger. District employee Ron Novinksa discovered the leak while salting the PVE/ NKE parking lot early Wednesday morning, tracing the source from the back of Netherwood to a
No other contested races locally SCOTT GIRARD AND SCOTT DE LARUELLE Unified Newspaper Group
Village of Brooklyn voters will have the only local contested election this
Turn to Water/Page 7
Turn to Candidates/Page 5
Contested elections Village of Brooklyn President: Jim Bakken, Kyle Smith, Brit Springer State Supreme Court Candidates: Lisa Neubauer, Brian Hagedorn
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Netherwood closed for the day Jan. 3
week, a gift from Old Man Winter in the form of a day off. The two schools, which share a common parking lot and outside play areas, were closed Thursday, Jan. 3, while the village public works department fixed a leaky water main underneath the NKE playground discovered the previous day. Both schools had running water Jan. 2 and operated