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Editor’s note: The Following information was provided by First English Lutheran Church.

Our Christkindlmarket will be in the First English Lutheran Church parking lot on Sat., Dec. 4th from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.  The community is invited.

A Christkindlmarkt is a German street market held during Advent with a history that goes back to medieval times. At these markets, farmers came to town to shop and offer their wares.  Villagers bought and sold homemade Christmas decorations and traditional European handicrafts, such as hand carved nutcrackers and straw ornaments.

From open-air stalls, food and drink were served. The early markets were usually held in front of churches and were looked at as part of a church visit.  The name, Christkindlmarket, can even be attributed to Martin Luther. He suggested that children exchange gifts because of das Christkind, the Christ Child.

Lincoln Elementary School, Whitewater, WI celebrated a very special 3^rd grader and her family in a very special way. With permission from her mom, I share her story.

Milena, one of our wonderful Lincoln 3rd grade students uses a wheelchair. At school, she has a wonderful piece of adaptive equipment that allows Milena to stand, dance, and do art with her class. It is called the Sara Stedy. Unfortunately, these pieces of equipment are so expensive, and many families cannot supply the same equipment at home that helps their children gain independence, joy and experiences outside of their wheelchairs. Here is the story of how the money was raised, and how we surprised Milena and her family on the day she was leading and we were broadcasting the announcements to the entire school!

Here are the words from Milena’s mom on what happened…

“Gratitude might be the greatest emotion of all time in my book. I am still trying to process all that has happened today. Lincoln has been the most pivotal institution in our lives as a family, and today was the exemplification of why.

The kindness, caring, empathy, and support from our second family brought us to tears. Earlier this year, Milena’s new Physical Therapist suggested a transfer device called the Sara Stedy, and it has been a game changer. Not only can Milena’s paraprofessionals transfer her more easily; she can use it for other activities throughout the day to build her leg strength.

We decided we wanted one for home, but like most assistive devices, they are pricey. One of Milena’s paraprofessionals, Lori Hintz, found one used for a reasonable price and asked her co-workers to contribute to the device. Not only was the money raised within 24 hours, it was nearly tripled, and we can now purchase more therapeutic equipment for Milena to increase her strength and mobility.

I really do not have enough words to tell you all what Lincoln has meant to us and our family over the years. Lincoln was the first place we made lifelong family friends, it is where my boys have learned the importance of helping others, that everyone is different and unique, and is truly Milena’s safe place to land. I feel like this is her protective bubble where she is not only accepted but also celebrated.

Your (Lincoln’s) dedication to our students is incredible and not recognized nearly enough! I just want you all to know that you have meant so much to us over the years, set our family up for success, and laid a foundation that will benefit our family for years to come. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!”

While I submit this story as a way of passing on kindness, gratitude and service to others, I also write this to bring awareness to the needs of many in accessing affordable, medically needed equipment for many of our friends and families who need them. I hope this story touches your heart, but also brings this awareness to increasing accessibility for our community members and our children.

Respectfully Submitted,

Mary Kilar, PROUD Principal of Lincoln!

Editor’s note: The following information was provided by the Dwight Foster Public Library.

The Dwight Foster Public Library will welcome Martha Bergland, author of the recently published “Birdman of Koshkonong” at 1 p.m. on Saturday, December 11. The program will be held in the FCCU Community Room on the first floor of the library.

Thure Kumlien was one of Wisconsin’s earliest Swedish settlers and an accomplished ornithologist, botanist, and naturalist in the mid-1800s, though his name is not well known today. He settled on the shore of Lake Koshkonong in 1843 and soon began sending bird specimens to museums and collectors in Europe and the eastern United States, including the Smithsonian. Later, he prepared natural history exhibits for the newly established University of Wisconsin and became the first curator and third employee of the new Milwaukee Public Museum.

For all of his achievements, Kumlien never gained the widespread notoriety of Wisconsin naturalists John Muir, Increase Lapham, or Aldo Leopold. Kumlien did his work behind the scenes, content to spend his days in the marshes and swamps rather than in the public eye. He once wrote that he was not “cut out for pretensions and show in the world.” Yet, his detailed observations of the Midwest’s natural world—including the impact of early agriculture on the environment—were hugely important to the fields of ornithology and botany. As this carefully researched and lovingly rendered biography proves, Thure Kumlien deserves to be remembered as one of Wisconsin’s most influential naturalists.

Martha Bergland is the coauthor, with Paul Hayes, of Studying Wisconsin—a Society Press biography of famed Wisconsin naturalist Increase Lapham, which won the Milwaukee County Historical Society’s Gambrinus Prize. She taught for many years at Milwaukee Area Technical College. She lives in Glendale, Wisconsin.

Contact Amy Lutzke at (920) 563-7790 for additional information.

Editor’s note: The following information was provided by the Walworth County Department of Health & Human Services.

Walworth County Announces Youth Suicide Prevention Initiative
Community-Wide Hope Squads Would Support School-Aged Children and Adolescents

The Walworth County Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS)
announces a new collaboration with Hope Squad, a school-based, peer-to-peer suicide prevention program for young children and adolescents that is part of a communitywide effort to support the mental health and well-being of school-aged children. DHHS will host a community outreach session on November 30, 2021, to introduce the Hope Squad program to local parents, caregivers, community members, and partner organizations. School board members, staff, and educators will participate in two school-focused sessions earlier in the day. Ultimately, the goal is for all Walworth County schools to
implement their own Hope Squads.

The Hope Squad community outreach session will be held via Zoom. Hope Squad Founder and Executive Director Dr. Greg Hudnell and his team will give a presentation about Hope Squad followed by a Q&A. The community outreach session will take place on Nov. 30 at 6 p.m. Participants can register at www.co.walworth.wi.us/995/Hope-Squad.

“Walworth County has had four youth suicides thus far in 2021—far higher than any recent year. Given this statistic, adolescent mental health and well-being needs to be a top priority in our community, particularly as we consider the potential negative impacts of the COVID pandemic,”says Walworth County Public Health Officer Erica Bergstrom. “Hope Squad is another tool to add to our toolbox as we work to support the mental health of our children.”

Hope Squads, which are in over 1,100 schools throughout the United States and Canada, prevent youth suicide through education, training and peer intervention. A unique aspect of Hope Squad is that students nominate peers they trust to become Hope Squad members. Hope Squad advisors then train these student members on how to act as peer advocates, recognize signs of suicide contemplation, and respectfully report any concerns to an adult. At the elementary level, this training focuses on safety, kindness, anti-bullying and resilience. For middle school and high school Hope Squad members, the curriculum emphasizes understanding of suicide prevention awareness, mental health and self-care. Regardless of age, all Hope Squad members strive to create safe school environments, promote connectedness, support anti-bullying, encourage mental wellness, reduce mental health stigma, and prevent substance abuse.

Hope Squad is currently used locally in the Whitewater Unified, Big Foot High School, Elkhorn Area, and Delavan-Darien School Districts.

“Since implementation, the program has helped to create a group empowerment and structure where the students can help and respond,” says Elkhorn Area School District Superintendent Jason Tadlock. “There has been positive feedback, even though the program is in the infancy stages. The County supporting such an endeavor would provide countywide buy-in with multiple schools working together and using the same strategies, which will ultimately help with cohesion between school districts and DHHS.”

Learn more about Hope Squad at www.hopesquad.com. Questions regarding the local
implementation of Hope Squad and the upcoming outreach sessions can be directed to Walworth County Public Health at 262-741-3200 or walcoph@co.walworth.wi.us.

Students from 18 high schools throughout Southeast Wisconsin and Northeast Illinois gathered at the Milwaukee School of Engineering on Friday, November 19, for their annual Opportunity Conference Computer Programming Competition. Whitewater was represented by seniors Elijah Grall, Cooper Hammond, Arno Crowley, Guin Yeager, and Collin Hoxie, juniors Brooke Bazeley and Drew Swartz, and freshman Andrew O’Toole.

The students worked in teams of four, using two laptops per team, to solve as many of the nine competition problems as possible in Java or Python. Teams electronically submitted their solutions to the judges as they finished them and were either rewarded with positive points or with a deduction of 3 points and a message to try again. After 2.5 hours of steady hard work, the competition was closed, and students headed off to the auditorium to learn about Rosie, MSOE’s supercomputer, and how it uses deep neural networks to solve problems. When the winners of the competition were announced, a team from Whitefish Bay High School came out on top.

The students are looking forward to the next in-person contest, which will be at Marquette University in the spring.

Article and Photos Submitted by Laura Masbruch
Whitewater High School Computer Science Teacher
lmasbruch@wwusd.org