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Erin Steuerwald, a former Whitewater resident, was honored at the fifth annual Recognition of Outstanding Early Career Educators and Pre-Service Educator Mentors award ceremony sponsored by the Wisconsin Association of Colleges for Teacher Education and the Meemic Foundation. The ceremony was held at the Monona Terrace Community and Conference Center in Madison on Sunday, April 8.

Miss Steuerwald, a Watertown Unified School District elementary physical education teacher, was recognized for her excellence as an early career educator. She is in her third year of teaching physical education at two elementary schools in the district. She distinguishes herself in the district as a competent, driven and reputable educator. In the classroom, Steuerwald creates unique learning environments for the students as noted by Emily Lessner, principal at Douglas Elementary School. “Erin is dedicated to providing students with a well-rounded, purposeful experience in physical education. She focuses on teaching students skills and applying these skills in an engaging way. Within one physical education class, Erin’s students learn and practice a variety of skills. Erin reflects on student learning, modeling and providing feedback to students to promote growth. We are thrilled to have Erin on the physical education team in the Watertown Unified School District.”

Steuerwald has also been involved as a coach of extracurricular activities including seventh-grade volleyball coach at Riverside Middle School, varsity volleyball coach at Dodgeland High School, varsity assistant volleyball coach at Watertown High School, freshman team basketball coach at Watertown High School, varsity assistant basketball coach at Watertown High School, assistant track and field coach at Riverside Middle School and mentor for Girls on the Run in Watertown.

The extent of her outreach has allowed her to form unique relationships with many students which has opened doors for her to share her philosophy about building a life of character.

This is the fifth year that the Wisconsin Association of Colleges for Teacher Education has sponsored the Early Career and Pre-Service Educator Awards. The awards ceremony continues to grow each year, with over 200 people attending last year. This year 59 teachers from 30 different institutions of higher education across the state were honored for their professional excellence. The keynote speaker this year was Matthew W. Miller Sr., the 2018 Wisconsin Teacher of the Year. The Meemic Foundation sponsors the awards ceremony as well as the keynote speaker.

WACTE is a professional organization composed of the Wisconsin institutions that prepare students for initial teacher licensure. The educator preparation programs offer diversity in size, focus and delivery but are all designed to prepare quality teachers for Wisconsin’s schools. WACTE is an affiliate of the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education.

In celebration of their new office and one year ownership anniversary, Whitewater Grocery Co. is inviting the public to an open house at their new office location in the Whitewater Innovation Center, 1221 Innovation Dr. Suite 118, on Saturday, May 5, 2018, from 1 – 3 pm.

The open house begins at 1 pm and includes light hors d’oeuvres, free beer, free souvenir pint glasses, office tour, and a short presentation at 2 p.m. Owners are encouraged to bring their friends and will receive a raffle ticket for every friend they bring who is not currently an owner, which gets them entry in a raffle for a large gift basket filled with local products. New members who sign up during the open house will receive either a free t-shirt or yard sign. “In our first four days, we signed up 100 owners, making us the fastest growing business of our kind in the country. We are excited to continue that momentum as we work on building our community grocery store together,” Reichwald said.

Since officially incorporating in March 2017, the Whitewater Grocery Co. has reached some significant milestones. As one of the fastest growing start-up food co-ops in the nation, they’ve signed up 365 of the 1,000 owners needed to open a full-service grocery store in Whitewater. Additionally, they’ve elected a board of directors, conducted a preliminary market study which confirmed that Whitewater can support a 10,000 – 15,000 sq. ft. full-service grocery store, and established an office space at the Whitewater Innovation Center. Once the organization reaches 500 members, they can move on to the next step in the development process, Feasibility Stage 2b – location analysis and business planning.

An important part of the feasibility of the grocery store is showing that there is community support – through ownership shares. “The more people we have invested, the more influence we have with lenders and developers,” said board president, Lacey Reichwald. To become a vested owner of the Whitewater Grocery Co., individuals are asked to make a one-time payment of $150, or $25 installment payments for six months, which can be done online, in person, or by mail. The store will be open to anyone who wants to shop there, but owners will receive extra benefits, including special owner sales and discounts.

Whitewater Grocery Co. is a cooperatively owned business in Whitewater, Wisconsin working to build a full-service local grocery store. The mission of this group is to support farm to table eating, to be a model of environmental sustainability, to stimulate the local economy, and to create a “third space” for the Whitewater community.

Individuals interested in joining Whitewater Grocery Co. can find more information at www.whitewatergrocery.co or by emailing contact@whitewatergrocery.co

Longtime teller, Edie Oldenburg, is retiring from First Citizens after 40 years of service! There will be an Open House for her on Tuesday, May 1^st from 1:00 – 3:00 pm at the First Citizens State Bank Main Branch Lobby (207 W. Main Street).

This year marks the 3rd year that the Whitewater Community Foundation (WCF) has awarded grants to nonprofits in Whitewater and those outside Whitewater that serve the Whitewater community. The mission of the WCF is to collaborate with our civic partners to create opportunities for youth and adults to achieve their educational and economic dreams, to create a vibrant city for the arts, and to celebrate and preserve the qualities that make Whitewater exceptional.

Past grants have been awarded to groups that improve the health of Whitewater citizens, as well as providing more opportunities for Whitewater youth to participate in extracurricular camps and workshops and reading programs, providing funding to pay musicians at various nonprofit events and providing help with murals and playgrounds. Please spread the word to those who are trying to effect change in Whitewater. We look forward to working with leaders who are working one goal at a time to make our town a greater place to live.

Interested organizations can find more information at http://www.whitewatercommunityfoundation.org/grants/

The deadline for applications is May 31, 2018.

Emerson Ellenwood, a student at Whitewater Middle School, has been named the 2017-18 winner of an honorable mention award from the Wisconsin Center for the Book.

Ellenwood was one of more than 760 Wisconsin students in grades 4-12 who participated in this year’s Letters About Literature contest and one of more than 51 semi-finalists. The contest invites young readers to write a letter to an author describing how that author’s work changed their view of the world or of themselves. Judges selected Ellenwood’s letter to author Veronica Roth about her book, Divergent, in Level 1 competition for students in grades 4-6. The awards ceremony was held at the YWCA Auditorium in Green Bay as part of the Untitledtown Book Festival on April 21, 2018

The first- and second-place plus honorable mention winners were chosen from the group of semi-finalists in various grade levels (Level 1 – Grades 4-6; Level II – Grades 7-8; and Level III – Grades 9-12). First-place winners at all three levels are sent on to the national Letters about Literature competition for judging and additional prizes. More than 40,000 young readers across the country participated in this year’s Letters About Literature contest.

The Letters About Literature program in Wisconsin has been coordinated by the Wisconsin Center for the Book since 1992 in partnership with the Library of Congress.

Excerpt of Ellenwood’s letter: “You pointed out that it would be boring if we were all the same and gave me the message that being diverse or unique is okay and in some ways interesting or an advantage.”

WHS Golf Takes 6th at Prairie Woods Meet

From Coach Wiegman:

“The Whitewater High School Golf Team began the Rock Valley Conference season at Prairie Woods Golf Course on Tuesday, April, 24th, with Clinton as the host school. The Whippets finished with a team score of 210, placing 6th place in the 10-team conference. Leading the way for the Whippets was senior Billie Jo Parker, who fired a 41. Parker is off to a good start to the season after shooting 95 at the Geneva National Invitational on Monday. Fellow senior Tommy Cushman scored a 52. Rounding out the scoring was Jacob Zuehlke with a 56, and Jon Brunner and Bowen Babcock both with a score of 61. The Whippets continue their season on Friday at the Evansville Invitational held at Evansville Country Club. ”

WHS Baseball Defeats East Troy

Article by Nate Parrish

The Whitewater Whippet baseball team (5-0) defeated East Troy 3-1 on Tuesday Evening. The Whippets struck right away in the first inning after James Dedrick and Dylan Pease led off the game with walks, a groundout moving the runners over by Bryce Parrish and an infield hit by Jimmy Duval led to a 1-0 lead. Jordan Curtis would hit a sac fly to left for a 2-0 lead after one inning. East Troy would get 1 run back in the top of the 3^rd but that is all they would get the rest of the way as Whitewater would tack on one more insurance run on an RBI ground ball by Jaden Salmieri scoring Gehrig Monday in the bottom of the 6^th.

The Whitewater bats have been slow to get going after the long break as they managed just 4 hits. Danny Harnack was 2 for 3, Jimmy Duval had a single and Bryce Parrish had a double. Hunter Martin picked up the win as he tossed 4.1 innings allowing 4 hits, 1 earned run, and striking out 4 while issuing 4 free passes. Bryce Parrish picked up the save for the second consecutive night going 2.2 innings and not allowing a base runner.

Whitewater will be back in action on Thursday evening at East Troy with first pitch at 4:45 and will be back at home Friday evening to play Milton.

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