Trust The Best Scott Stewart & Kathy Bartels KBartels@StarkHomes.com SStewart@StarkHomes.com (608) 512-8487 • (608) 235-2927 adno=28558
Verona Press The
Thursday, October 25, 2018 • Vol. 54, No. 23 • Verona, WI • Hometown USA • ConnectVerona.com • $1.25
Verona Area School District
Mixed results on spring staff survey Stoner Prairie, Badger Ridge have lowest marks
Next week Read about the parent responses to the survey
SCOTT GIRARD Unified Newspaper Group
Both Verona Area School District schools with new principals this year had below-average results on a survey given to staff before they came here. The results of the 20171 8 p e r c e p t i o n s s u r vey, released earlier this month to the Press, included separate a parent survey sent to families. The school board is expected to discuss both surveys at an upcoming meeting. Overall, district staff who took the survey had positive responses to many
questions. Their responses were slightly above average on questions like “All things considered, this district is a good place to work” and “ It would take a lot to get me to leave this district.” There were also some below-average areas districtwide, including on questions of “process for evaluating the effectiveness of new initiatives” and “student discipline is handled in a consistent manner by
Turn to Survey/Page 13
VAHS food drive begins Students hope to donate 20,000 pounds to BPNN SCOTT GIRARD Unified Newspaper Group
The beginning of the annual Verona Area High School food drive was a bit more muted this year. In the past, the group of students leading the drive, which collects food and other items for Badger Prairie Needs Network, held a “kickoff” event in the Performing Arts Center featuring a mix of goofy skits for laughs and information about the goals of the drive. This year’s group decided it wasn’t worth the time — instead, they wanted to focus on the food. “Usually it’s kind of theatrical and kind of a
production,” said adviser Megan Wenn. “We thought we really just had to kind of get back to the mission.” The students hope the drive, which has its first collection next week and will run into December, will bring in 20,000 pounds of various items for BPNN. We n n r e c a l l e d t h e group’s thinking: “Are we collecting more food because of this? Are we collecting more funds because of this?” “We decided as student leaders that the cost versus the benefit was not very productive,” she added. Student leader Molly McChesney, who has worked as a volunteer at BPNN over the last year and is coordinating getting more students signed up for that during the food drive,
Turn to Drive/Page 14 The
Verona Press
Photo by Kimberly Wethal
Seymour (Benjamin Johnson) and the urchins form a conga line during the Verona Area Community Theater’s performance of “Little Shop of Horrors” on Sunday, Sept. 21.
‘Little Shop of Horrors’ On the web
The Verona Area Community Theater put on five shows of their production “Little Shop of Horrors” from Thursday, Oct. 18 through Sunday, Oct. 21. The show’s plot involves plant Audrey II, named by Seymour after his More photos from the Verona Area Community coworker Audrey, who he has a crush on but is dating a chauvinistic den- Theater performance of “Little Shop of Horrors”: tist, Orin. During the show, the plant promises Seymour anything he wants as ConnectVerona.com long as he can provide the plant with the blood it needs to survive.
St. James expands to meet community needs Construction adds almost 9K square feet KIMBERLY WETHAL Unified Newspaper Group
Fellowship at St. James Lutheran has changed from a weekend affair to a Monday through Sunday operation. For that reason, the church underwent a $4 million renovation and expansion in 2017 and 2018 to better serve the needs of the congregation, said the Rev. Kurt Billings, one of the pastors at St. James. “We wanted to have the church be able to better reflect the needs of the current generation,” he said. “When the church was built a number of years ago, obviously it was a different time and the needs were different.
‘When the church was built a number of years ago, obviously it was a different time and the needs were different.’ – The Rev. Kurt Billings, St. James Lutheran Church “It used to be that churches generations ago primarily gathered on Sundays, and then for funerals and weddings,” Billings added. “But now as times have changed, there are many more activities throughout the week.” The almost $4 million expansion and renovation, which added 8,952 square feet to the first floor and the basement to bring the church’s total
area to 32,509 square feet, added a commercial-grade kitchen, an expanded fellowship area on the first floor with a fireplace, an expanded preschool area in the basement, safety features to multiple areas of the building and a new parking lot. The sanctuary was left alone during the renovation, Billings said, but everything else in the church prior to expansion was redone. Now that the building is complete – the church moved into the space in January and held an open house in September – they hope to make it a space available for the community outside of the congregation. Billings said planning for the expansion and renovations was a three-year process of “listening and
Turn to St. James/Page 16
EXPERIENCE THE UPTOWN LIFESTYLE
608.441.9999 avanteproperties.com
VISTA APARTMENTS
1 & 2 Bedroom Units Available
5120 E Cheryl Parkway, Fitchburg, WI adno=28613