News & Events

It’s time once again for #FlashbackFriday with the Whitewater Historical Society. Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Once again we are featuring St. Patrick Catholic Church; this time the original church that stood on Cottage Street until being demolished in 1960 in favor of the new church that stands on West Main and Elizabeth Streets.

Next to the church, largely in shadow, is the still standing St. Patrick’s Rectory, a large brick house constructed in 1926. The large brick rectory was built as a residence for the parish priest, but also probably with the church offices since the old church building was small. The brick building is distinctive and makes an elegant residence today.

Join us next week for more from the Whitewater Historical Society.

(5140PC, Whitewater Historical Society)

Whitewater High School seniors Josh Demrow and Brandon Haas have each won Whitewater High $6,750 Wisconsin Technical Excellence Scholarship this year!  Josh and Brandon have the highest demonstrated level of proficiency in technical education subjects at WHS and each completed over four Career & Technical Education credits.  The Technical Excellence Scholarships are only for use at a WisconsinTechnical College.  Josh will be attending Blackhawk Technical College and Brandon will be attending Madison Area Technical College in the fall. Congratulations Josh and Brandon!!

Whitewater High School Seniors Emma Weigel and Ashlynn Prah have each won a $9,000 Wisconsin Academic Excellence Scholarship this year!  The State of Wisconsin Academic Excellence Scholarship provides $2250 per year for tuition at a Wisconsin college or university for up to four years.  In order to be eligible for this award, students must have acquired senior status, completed at least three semesters at Whitewater High School, and have the highest cumulative grade point average in all subjects taken for credit at the end of the seventh semester.  In the event of a tie, students are chosen based on their highest composite score earned on the ACT.  Other tiebreakers include the highest subscores on the ACT, the number of Advanced Placement tests passed with a score of “3” or higher, and the number of AP tests passed.  Wisconsin Academic Excellence Scholarships are awarded to alternate winners if the top recipients choose to attend college in another state.  Congratulations Emma and Ashlynn!!

The WHS Portfolio Committee is seeking community members to be a part of the listening audiences on Wednesday, May 24, 4:00 – 7:00 p.m. We are hoping for at least 15 Whitewater community members to participate. Community members willing to attend the presentations can email lmoll@wwusd.org or call 262-472-8203 to sign up by Friday, April 28.

Members of the Whitewater High School Class of 2023 are currently preparing for the annual Portfolio Event which will be held on Wednesday, May 24, 4:00-7:00 p.m. at the high school. 

This event for seniors allows them to showcase their academic achievements, celebrate their accomplishments, and share their postsecondary career and academic plans before graduation. To make the presentations more meaningful, students present to an audience of WHS staff members and members of the community along with family and friends who are invited to attend. 

Students present examples of their best work in core academic and elective areas, share two or more examples of their involvement in activities in and outside of school, or work experiences, and at least one service activity that had special significance. Students then describe their future career and educational plans and the pathway they have chosen to accomplish their career goals. Graduates end their presentation by summarizing the most important learning experiences they’ve had in high school and how they hope to use their knowledge and skills to become a productive and responsible member of society. 

Article Submitted by Lauren Moll
Whitewater High School Special Education Teacher
lmoll@wwusd.org

Since this evening’s snow totals continue to be heavy as predicted, the Whitewater Unified School District is going to plan for a 2 hour AM delay tomorrow, March 10th.

Morning bus pick up will be two hours later than normal.

AM 4K will be cancelled. PM 4K will run as scheduled.

A Winter Weather Advisory is in effect for all of southern Wisconsin Thursday afternoon/evening into Friday morning.  The Whitewater area is forecast to receive 4-7″ of snow.

119 high school robotics teams from Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, and North Dakota descended on the city of Duluth for twin FIRST Robotics Regionals at the Duluth Entertainment and Convention Center (the DECC) from March 1 through March 4. Ferradermis, Whitewater High School’s team, competed with 59 teams in the Northern Lights Regional, while the other 60 took part in the Lake Superior Regional. Ferradermis was one of the final 12 teams standing on the Northern Lights field, finishing as part of the 4th place alliance.

While at the event, the 17 WHS students who traveled with the team each took on different roles and responsibilities.

The team was led onto the field by Driver Andrew O’Toole, Operator Ace Hudec, Human Player Jazmin Cederberg, and Technician Erison Dreksler. After some unfortunate events on Friday, the team left the arena with a 2-4 record and ranked in the mid-forties. They returned with a fury on Saturday morning to win their final 3 qualification matches, finishing 5-4 and climbing to number 25 in the overall rankings. Ranked ninth in the offensive power ratings and having proven on Saturday morning that our bot was one of the strongest in the field, we were the 5th pick in alliance selections, joining the number 4 seeded alliance captained by the Warriorbots from Muskego High School. Warriorbots and Ferradermis would later invite Round Table Robotics from Oak Creek High School to join them to form an all-Wisconsin alliance.

The alliance lost their first playoff match in the double elimination tournament by three points, 108-105, to the fifth seeded alliance. They then bounced back with two strong wins, 104-60 and 112-75. In round 4, the alliance thought they had secured a victory, but after the match ended, the officials called for a replay due to a problem with the field. The Ferradermis alliance lost the rematch and was eliminated from the playoffs, finishing in fourth place.

Support in the pit was provided throughout the event by Safety Captain Daniel Portwine and electrical team members Elora Wildermuth-Breitzman and Belle Cohen. Competition Logistics Lead Emerson Dunham led the scouts including Zoe Olson, Chacha Binagi, Margaret Brown, and Rae Breisath, with many other students rotating through scouting shifts as well and Emerson representing the team on the field for alliance selections.

There are many activities and responsibilities at an FRC event that are not directly related to the robot as well. Cosette Wildermuth-Breitzman, Maddi LaHaie, and Andrew Zimmermann worked tirelessly on the team’s presentation for the Impact Award, which allows teams to highlight their community outreach and STEM education efforts. Five team members, including Willow Vogelzang and Mel Prince volunteered for the FRC Team choir, performing the national anthem at opening ceremonies for both regionals.

Ferradermis will next compete at the Wisconsin Regional in Milwaukee at UW Milwaukee Panther Arena from March 22 through March 25. The event is free and open to the public on Friday and Saturday for the qualification and elimination rounds. We encourage spectators to both cheer from the stands and visit the pits to see the robots up close. Ferradermis members are especially looking forward to exposing some of our elementary and middle school students to this FRC event as we have chartered two busses to bring the FIRST LEGO League (FLL) teams from Lincoln, Lakeview, Washington, and the middle school to Milwaukee on Friday morning!

A special thanks to Tim O’Toole for pulling his trailer to Duluth and to our bus driver extraordinaire Bruce Parker for helping us arrive safely on Wednesday despite a  winter storm that turned out to be much worse than predicted. Thank you also to all of our sponsors who make this team possible, our volunteer mentors who work tirelessly with the students, and our parents who keep us well fed and cheer us on both in person and online.

For full results and to view match videos from the Northern Lights Regional, visit https://www.thebluealliance.com/event/2023mndu2

Go, Ferradermis!

By Lynn Binnie
Whitewater Banner volunteer staff
whitewaterbanner@gmail.com

A major reconstruction project on US Highway 12 between Whitewater and Fort Atkinson is resulting in the closure of a frequently used route for approximately nine months, beginning on Monday, March 6. A public information meeting was held on March 1 at the Town of Koshkonong Town Hall regarding this project. The meeting was led by Craig Hardy, P.E., Project Development Project Manager with the WI Department of Transportation (DOT), and he was joined by Chad M. Raschein, Project Engineer with CGC, Inc. of Madison. Rock Road Companies won the bid for the construction, with CGC overseeing the work. Approximately fifty people attended the meeting; from the comments, it appeared that most of them reside in the rural areas along the affected route. A primary concern that was expressed was that during the previous construction period many semis were using the township roads, some of which have recently been resurfaced, but are not designed for heavy truck traffic.

The above “road closed” sign is located just north of Business Highway 12 (Main Street) and the bypass. The actual construction area begins at Buckingham Road and continues to County Highway M, where Baker Glass is located. Through traffic will be prohibited throughout the construction period, which is officially due to be completed by the end of the year, although Hardy anticipated it might end around the end of November. He assured the audience that one lane traffic will be maintained, except for brief periods, in order to ensure access to residences and businesses along the route. For example, Whitewater residents would be able to go around the barriers to travel to Binggs Restaurant. Drivers using the road for through traffic (i.e. from Whitewater to Fort) will be subject to being cited. Although an inconvenience, many drivers will likely be pleased to see the road repaved, as it has been notoriously difficult to navigate during rain, with ruts that can contribute to hydroplaning.

Although the 511 Wisconsin Construction Projects website of the DOT indicates that reconstruction will include “modifying three substandard horizontal curves to meet current design standards,” Hardy indicated that there will be no major changes to the road’s route. He did state that the sight lines at the intersection with Hackbarth Road will be improved.

DOT indicates that the detour will be Highways 59 and 26, which is a result of their policy that calls for detours to be routed over state highways. Most Whitewater area residents, however, will likely prefer taking Cty N (from Tratt Street) north to State Hwy 106 and west into Fort Atkinson. Alternatively one could reach Hwy 12 from Cty N by traveling west on Cty M. However, it was indicated that a separate project that will start later in the spring will result in the closure of Highway 12 from Cty M to the intersection with Madison Avenue in Fort where Walgreens is located.

Notes to residents of the affected areas:
– Garbage service will continue during construction. Any changes to which side of the road to place the cans will be communicated to the residents.
– Mail pick-up: A cluster of mailboxes will be set up once grading operations begin. Notification to residents about the location of the mailbox cluster will be communicated once a location is determined.
– School bus pick-up/Drop-off: Will continue during construction.
Project contacts:
Craig Hardy, P.E.
WisDOT – Project Manager
(608) 246-5406
craig.hardy@dot.wi.gov

Chad Raschein
Consultant Project Leader
(608) 225-1364
CRaschein@CGCinc.net