News

Free Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) Clinic Returns to UW-W

Clients can access the UW-Whitewater College of Business and Economics volunteer tax program on the first floor of Hyland Hall near the atrium. (UW-Whitewater photo/Craig Schreiner)

Qualifying taxpayers are invited to receive free tax preparation and electronic filing of 2019 federal and state income tax returns at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater Volunteer Income Tax Assistance clinic. This IRS-sponsored program is available for low and moderate income taxpayers at no cost, and no appointments are needed.

Clinic hours are from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. on Saturdays and 4:00 to 7:00 p.m. on Wednesdays. Clients will be served on a first come, first served basis and they should arrive at least one hour before closing. The 2020 tax clinic will run from February 1 through April 11; however, it will be closed on March 21, March 25 and March 28.

The UW-Whitewater VITA clinic is located in room 1001 of Timothy J. Hyland Hall at 809 Starin Road in Whitewater. Parking is available across the street in lot 7. Lot 7 is also known as the Starin Road lot and contains the Visitor Information and Parking Services building.

On Wednesdays before 6 p.m., stop at the visitor center and request a free parking pass for the tax clinic. Parking permits are not required on Saturdays. Clinic visitors should park in non-metered parking spaces.

The VITA clinic is staffed by certified student preparers and supervised by faculty in the College of Business and Economics Department of Accounting. In addition to providing hands-on experience for graduate and undergraduate accounting students, the free VITA clinic helps residents of Whitewater and surrounding communities.

“We have many long-time clients who return for assistance each spring,” said Robert Meyers, accounting department lecturer and VITA program director. “The opportunity to apply training while working with real people is also an invaluable experience for our students.

Important information, including a location map, program limitations and required supporting documentation, can be found at http://bit.ly/2O9bgKp. For additional information, email the VITA Site Coordinator at vita@uww.edu or leave a message at 262-472-5449.

Whitewater Middle School Blood Drive – Friday, 2/7

The Guys Group and the Luna Group once again are hosting a blood drive at Whitewater Middle School. Please visit redcrossblood.org and enter the Sponsor Code “WMS” to schedule an appointment to participate in this event. Additional details are avaible in the flyer image above.

Local student Allison Sedmak named to Dean’s List at Marquette University

MILWAUKEE, Wis. (January 28, 2020) – Allison Sedmak of Whitewater, WI, has been named to the Dean’s List for the fall 2019 semester at Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Sedmak is pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Sciences.

Marquette University is a Catholic, Jesuit university that draws its more than 11,500 students from all 50 states and more than 75 different countries. In addition to its nationally recognized academic programs, Marquette is known for its service learning programs and internships as students are challenged to use what they learn to make a difference in the world. Find out more about Marquette at marquette.edu.

Contact Abby Cole in the Office of Marketing and Communication at (414) 288-6195 with questions.

Treyton’s Field of Dreams 2020 Special Events

Treyton’s Field of Dreams continues to draw baseball and softball teams from all over the state of Wisconsin, and surrounding states to Starin Park year in and year out. This facility boasts an all turf infield, lights, stadium style dugouts and seating, along with a full service concession building and two tunnel batting cage. Treyton’s Field of Dreams is also home to Whitewater’s Youth Flag Football teams that participate in the Quad County Football League. In 2020 Starin Park will be host to a number of youth baseball and softball tournaments and other special events, including the 12u Boys Quad County End of Season Tournament. The event dates are listed below. Click HERE to be directed to the tournament website. 

April 11th (Rain Date: April 18th): MLB Pitch, Hit, & Run Local Competition – This is an exciting skills event for boys and girls where participants have the opportunity to compete in four levels of competition including Team Championship events at all 30 Major League ballparks and the National Finals at the 2020 MLBAll-Star Game at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.

April 24th – 26th: Play for Trey Baseball Tournament – This is an A/B level tournament for teams at the 10U, 11U and 12U divisions.

May 1st-3rd: Starin Park Showdown Baseball Tournament – This will be an A/B level tournament for 10U, 11U and 12U teams.

May 9th (Rain date: May 16th): MLB Pitch Hit & Run Sectional Competition – The top competitors from the local competition will get a chance to move on to the team championship at Miller Park in Milwaukee. The competition will start at 10:00 a.m. at Treyton’s Field of Dreams

May 30th-May 31st: Play For Trey Softball Tournament – This is an A/B level tournament for teams at the 10U, 12U and 14U divisions.

June 5th-June 7th: Summer Classic Baseball Tournament – This is an A/B level tournament for teams at the 10U, 11U and 12U divisions.

June 12th-June 14th: Starin Park Showdown Softball Tournament – This is an A/B level tournament for teams in the 10U, 12U and 14U divisions.

June 26th-June 28th: Summer Classic Softball Tournament – This is an A/B level tournament for teams at the 12U, 14U and 16U divisions.

July 10th-July 12th: Whippet Challenge Baseball Tournament – This is a B level tournament intended to attract teams made up of players from the same school district. Teams from the 10U, 11U and 12U divisions are eligible for participation.

July 24th-July 26th: Whippet Challenge Softball Tournament – This is a B level tournament intended to host team made up of players from the same school district. Teams from the 10U, 12U and 14U divisions are eligible for participation.

October 3rd: End of Summer Slam Softball Tournament – This is an A/B level tournament for 12U, 14U, and 16U teams.

October 17th: Whitewater Fall Classic Softball Tournament – This is an A/B level tournament for 12U, 14U, and 16U teams.

Whitewater University Innovation Center Newsletter

The Whitewater University Innovation Center aims to attract, develop, and retain new
businesses in Whitewater. As the cornerstone facility to the Whitewater University Technology
Park, the Innovation Center was dedicated in May 2011.

Together, the City of Whitewater, the Whitewater Community Development Authority, and the
University of Wisconsin – Whitewater collaborated to build and maintain the Innovation Center.
Our entrepreneurial community strategically built with the support from the University of
Wisconsin – Whitewater and the broader entrepreneurial ecosystem throughout Wisconsin.

The Innovation Center provides education and resources for entrepreneurs. Through the
Whitewater University Incubation Program, the University powers our incubation services,
mentor program, and events. Mentors provide business planning support, product development
assistance, marketing and sales support, and additional guidance. By working closely with the
university, the Innovation Center provides unique internship opportunities for students. Also,
student entrepreneurs are encouraged to apply to the student accelerator, Launch Pad.

The Innovation Center provides everything an entrepreneur needs to succeed. Starting with
three anchor tenants, the Innovation Center is now home to over 25 companies. If you’d like to
tour the Innovation Center, please contact us on our website.

The Innovation Center has a monthly email newsletter that is sent on the 2nd Tuesday of each month. Please find the January edition of that newsletter here. If you would like this newsletter emailed direct to your inbox you may sign up here.

Contact Information:
Please direct an PR, event, facility, or membership requests to:
Mark Johnson
johnsomw@uww.edu
262-472-5290
Please direct any cross promotion, website, newsletter, or social media requests to:
Kristina Koslosky
innovation@uww.edu
262-472-4776

Lakes Drawdown Community Meeting Saturday, February 1, 2020 at 10:00 AM

The City of Whitewater and Wisconsin DNR will be hosting a meeting on Saturday, February 1 at 10 a.m. to update the community on the lakes drawdown project.  This project to draw down both Trippe and Cravath lakes to help improve their quality started in July of 2019 and is scheduled to be completed in the Spring of 2021.  City and DNR staff will present on the current status of the project, what the community can expect for the remainder of the project and answer any additional questions from the public.

The meeting is open to the public and anyone with interest is encouraged to attend. The meeting will take place in the Community Room located at Whitewater City Hall, 312 W. Whitewater Street. The community can contact the Parks and Recreation Director, Eric Boettcher at 262-473-0122 or eboettcher@whitewater-wi.gov for additional information.

Whitewater Middle School Spelling Bee Winners

L-R: A’lani Rogers, Zoe Olson, Davin Parboteeah, Quinton O’Toole

The annual school spelling bee was held at Whitewater Middle School on Thursday, January 23. Congratulations to the following winners:

1st place – Zoe Olson, 7th grade with the winning words of senile and aspersions.

2nd place – Davin Parboteeah, 8th grade. Devin went out on the word therapeutic.

3rd place – A’lani Rogers, 7th grade. A’lani went out on the word depot. 

The top 6th-grade speller was Quinton O’Toole who went out on the word withers.

Good luck to Zoe as she advances to compete at the Regional CESA 2 Spelling Bee on Wednesday, January 29th at Whitewater High School.  

Whitewater Community Gives Generously to Mitten Tree Project

Shown above, on Jan. 21st, accepting a good portion of the collection of more than 600 items from the Mitten Tree project are Rick Fassl, Optimist Project Co-Chair; Kelly Seichter, Director of Instruction; Dr. Lanora Heim, Director of Pupil Services; Jeanine Fassl, Co-Chair of the Optimist Project, and Dr. Jim Shaw, Superintendent for the Whitewater Unified School District.

By Jeanine Fassl

It is with our most sincere gratitude that the UW-Whitewater/Community Optimist Club extends a huge thank you to our community. The community responded beyond our expectations! The wonderful people in our community donated over 600 pieces of clothing including socks, underwear, snow pants, hats, scarves, gloves, and 160 pairs of mittens. 105 pairs of those mittens were hand knit by Dottie Koenitzer of Whitewater. A special thanks is given to the generosity of Faye Brugge, at First Citizens State Bank, Diane Carlson, from First English Lutheran Church, for the adorable baby sweaters, those who knit and crochet at PremiereBank and all the other community members who painstakingly hand made dozens and dozens of hats, mittens, sets of both, and scarves! The increase in the collections allowed us to spread out the distribution to other local agencies including the Whitewater Police Department; each of our 10 WPD squad cars received a bag of hats and a bag of mittens or gloves to distribute.

Additional thanks go to the Associated Bank, PremierBank, First Citizens State Bank, Fort Community Credit Union, and First English Lutheran Church, and Irvin L. Young Auditorium for serving as collection sites.

As “Friends of Youth”, the UW-Whitewater/Community Club thanks our very generous local community for helping to spread Christmas cheer this holiday season. We are always looking for new members, year-round, to share that cheerfulness with Whitewater’s youth. If you are interested in joining us in that mission, contact Al Hutchison, President, at alnjoyce.hutchison@gmail.com or visit
http://blogs.uww.edu/uwwcommunityoptimist/ for more details.