Thursday, November 7, 2019 • Vol. 135, No. 19 • Oregon, WI • ConnectOregonWI.com • $1.25
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Oregon Observer The
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Village of Oregon
‘We have to deal with the facts’ Village to address ongoing water concerns through forum EMILIE HEIDEMANN Unified Newspaper Group
Photos by Scott De Laruelle
Matt Kissling runs the CNC router at the Oregon High School STEAM lab last week, as Colton Eyers looks on. The two were working on clock projects.
Cutting edge classroom SCOTT DE LARUELLE Unified Newspaper Group
No offense to math, but it’s safe to say Oregon High School students have never had as much fun learning as they do now in the space that hosts the school’s sprawing STEAM lab. And with a new STEAM ( s c i e n c e , t e c h n o l o g y,
engineering, art and math) class this year – Art Tech Workshop – students interested in disciplines that previously were thought to be far apart from one another are seeing how it all comes together. It’s all happening in an area that formerly housed five math classrooms before the school was renovated in 2016. The class was co-designed by art teacher Mike Derrick, who serves as
consultant, and tech ed teacher Ryan Stace, who teaches the course. Fourteen students are enrolled in what is essentially a pilot course, with hopes to expand both the numbers of students and teachers. So far, students have designed and created logos “for a business or personal or whatever they wanted to” and learned “concepts of art and space and relationship and contrast,” using tools like laser engravers, Stace
told the Observer last week. Current projects include using “found” (repurposed) items to create a clock (it doesn’t have to work for a passing grade). The final project has students visiting a junkyard/flea market with a small budget to purchase items to combine into a project. “It takes all those elements: science, technology, engineering, art and math,”
Turn to STEAM/Page 11
Closing in on boundary plan hear what people think about it. With a new elementary school set to open next September, the district moved a step closer to establishing new attendance boundaries for K-6 students on Oct. SCOTT DE LARUELLE 28 with the school board’s “conceptual approval” of a Unified Newspaper Group plan to essentially split the The preliminary plan is district in lateral thirds. With that now in hand, set. Now Oregon School District officials want to the district is looking for
‘Conceptual approval’ of new map pending public feedback
On the Web To find out more about the Oregon School District’s ongoing boundary plans, visit:
oregonsd.org/Page/5421 feedback before final board decides whether to approve it, which will likely occur Dec. 16. Prior to then, the district has scheduled three listening sessions for next
month to let people view district presentations, ask questions and provide comments. Those sessions are set for 6:30-7:30 p.m. Monday, Dec. 2, at Oregon Middle School, 9-10 a.m., Saturday, Dec. 7, at Rome Corners Intermediate School and 6:30-7:30 p.m. Thursd a y, D e c . 1 2 a t R o m e
Turn to Boundary/Page 13
Turn to Water/Page 12
Hwy. 14 will close next year Rerouting will block path to 138, could bring traffic through village EMILIE HEIDEMANN Unified Newspaper Group
Next year and into 2021, Oregon residents might see increased traffic in the village due to U.S. Hwy. 14 improvements. And for two months, the direct route to Stoughton will be shut down completely. Public works director
Jeff Rau warned the Oregon Village Board on Monday, Nov. 4, the closure of parts of the highway could worsen traffic conditions in the village from April through June – most notably at Perry Parkway. That’s an intersection where several residents in recent weeks have asked the village to prioritize making it safer. Rau pointed at a map of the village off of Hwy. 14 and onto Janesville Street and said the improvements will “definitely cause
Turn to Highway/Page 12
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New STEAM course fitting right in at OHS
Village public works director Jeff Rau hears complaints about Oregon’s worsening water issue almost daily. He’s heard stories about homes and businesses getting flooded, resulting in months of repairs, high costs and sometimes relocation, and he points out that some lower income families might not even be able to pay for the repairs. Even those who aren’t suffering the worst effects of excess precipitation and flooding are dealing with inconveniences. Streets such as
Netherwood Road have been closed, restricting the routes residents take to get to work, school and home. And the trails once used for biking and other recreational activities are now barren. “The majority of complaints we receive are dealing with constantly running sump pumps and then dealing with the water after it passed through the pump,” Rau said. “Some people’s gutters are continuously flowing with water. “And as we head into winter, residents need to figure out alternate locations to discharge (the water),” Rau added. With residents feeling like their local government isn’t doing enough to solve their problems, Rau said, he has organized a public water forum to discuss the issue in detail.