News & Events

The National Honor Society hosted the 8th Annual International Student Exchange Weekend at Whitewater High School November 8 – 10! The festivities began with introductions, pizza party & pictures on Friday night, baking, shopping, movies, supper & Cosmic bowling in Fort Atkinson Saturday night, and a trip to Madison Sunday morning before the students had to leave Sunday afternoon. This year, the international students were from Peru, Brazil, Japan, Hungary, Sweden, Croatia, Ecuador, Thailand & Turkey. Thank you to Jim & Julie Caldwell (Jenna), John & Shannon Frye (Broderick), Alex & Holly Crowley (Caroline) and Brad & Patty Ceranske (Allison) for hosting the students in their homes! Another special thank you to Jim & Julie Caldwell for sponsoring supper on Saturday night, to the Whitewater Rotary Club for sponsoring the pizza party & bowling activities, and to Ron Binning for being the guest speaker when the students arrived!

Participating National Honor Society members were Broderick Frye, Caroline Crowley, Allison Ceranske, Jenna Caldwell, Abby Grosinske, Gwynne Sahyun, Madalynn Arnett, Colin Chenoweth, Jenna Lee, Hailey Murphy, Alyssa Schumacher, Mina Truesdale, Andy Vo, Cooper Pease and Bryce Hibbs.

The international students shared the following reflections about the weekend:

Laura Samardzija from Croatia said, “This was the best weekend yet. I saw more things in three days here than three months in Racine. Met people that I feel like they’re my best friends. Had an awesome time!”

Lisa Gornert from Sweden shared, “I had an awesome weekend with Maddie, Caroline, Abby & Alyssa. Thank you for taking us everywhere and thank you for being so welcoming!”

Alejandra Quecedo Cepeda from Ecuador said, “It was a good experience. The best part of the weekend was that I met wonderful people, especially Allison.”

Flora Banki from Hungary reflected, “Jenna & Caroline are definitely the best people I’ve ever met. Of course with everyone else from their school, including Ms. Sonmor-Wintz, the National Honor Society Advisor, who did an amazing job to organize this weekend for us. We participated in fun programs like bowling together, and I felt like I met new friends forever! Thank you so much for everything!”

Bartu Karabulut from Turkey shared, “This weekend was really fun. Everybody was nice to us. We had really good time on both Friday & Saturday. The pizza party was really good. We had the chance to meet everybody. After that we had really good time playing bowling.”

Pun Workakulpisut from Thailand said, “Thank you for making this an awesome weekend! I really enjoyed spending time with all the students from WHS. They are all nice & friendly.”

Fuka Sunagawa from Japan shared, “I had a good time! Thank you so much!”

Natalia Salinas from Peru said, “Thank you for spending your weekend with us. We had fun sharing our cultures and laughing!”

Marina Rangel from Brazil shared, “Thank you for this awesome weekend! It was really nice to meet new people and learn more about America’s culture. P.S. I had no idea I was good at bowling!”

NHS members shared the following reflections about the weekend:

Jenna Caldwell said, “Meeting & talking with all of the Foreign-Exchange students was a truly unforgettable experience. Combining all of our cultures together made for a great time. Through our conversations, I learned so much about the different countries that the students were from. This instilled so much knowledge into myself and my peers. I cannot wait for next year’s exchange and everything it has to hold.”

Broderick Frye shared, “It was great to get to know the people from Turkey & Thailand. Hearing about their culture back in their home country was interesting. Even just hearing about the place they are staying here in the United States was incredible too. Some people have stereotypes about people from different cultures and I believe the only way to diminish that is to get to know the people. I was able to get to know them and it was a great experience.”

Madalynn Arnett shared, “It was fun to show the two girls different parts of Wisconsin. They enjoyed shopping, going to Culver’s to eat cheese curds, and even stopping at Dunkin’ Donuts twice. Instantly on Friday night, all of our personalities clicked and saying goodbye on Sunday was very hard. We all are already planning on when to meet next and are so grateful that this weekend brought us all two new best friends.”

Abby Grosinske said, “I loved this past weekend and everything we did. From meeting everyone on Friday night to watching the sectional meet with our students Saturday, it was truly a great time. I made life-long friends with the two girls I spent the weekend with and I hope more students are encouraged to participate in this weekend next year. All the students were so respectful when they met new people and loved sharing some of their favorite things from the exchange so far!”

Alyssa Schumacher reflected, “I absolutely loved getting to know all of the foreign exchange students. They were very talkative and were willing to answer all of our questions about their home countries. It was really cool to be able to learn about their cultures and the biggest differences between here and there. I have definitely made some great new friendships and will have some great travel buddies when I travel to different countries!!!”

Submitted by:
Pamela Sonmor-Wintz, School Counselor (M-Z)
Coordinator of School Counseling Services/National Honor Society Advisor/International Student Exchange Advisor/Scholarship Coordinator

The UW-Whitewater/Community Optimist Club will be hosting a series of fun-filled events for Youth Appreciation Week. Wednesday, November 13 from 4 p.m.-6 p.m. there will be free bowling at Hawk Bowl, sponsored by Hawk Bowl. Saturday, November 16 the club will host a free screening of the movie Secret Life of Pets 2 at Whitewater Cinemas starting at 10:30 a.m. Food and beverages will be available for purchase at both events.

The UW-Whitewater/Community Optimist Club has been committed to serving the youth of the Whitewater community since 1981. On December 7, 2019 the Optimist Club will be hosting its annual Breakfast With Santa.

If you are interested in joining the UW-Whitewater/Community Optimist Club, please visit our blog (http://blogs.uww.edu/uwwcommunityoptimist/) for more information.

The Irvin L. Young Memorial Library, in partnership with the Alzheimer’s Association, is hosting a monthly Memory Café for individuals who are living with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI), early-stage Alzheimer’s or other dementia, and their care partners. This free social event is held on the second Monday of every month in the Library Community Room at 431 W. Center St. in Whitewater, at 10:30 am.

The next meeting will be November 11th. The theme will be Gratitude.

The Memory Café offers participants a safe and fun way to share their stories and socialize with others who have similar experiences. Learn how staying physically, socially and mentally active is good for the brain.

If you are attending for the first time please call 800-272-3900.

LEAF AND YARD WASTE COLLECTION:

The City of Whitewater Department of Public Works will conduct a leaf and yard waste collection the:

• Week of November 4 – November 8
• Week of November 11 – November 15

Yard waste is defined as leaves, grass clippings, small branches, and yard and garden debris.  Yard waste must be bagged in clear, transparent, or biodegradable bags only.  The City offers Bio-Bags in the fall at the Finance Department free of charge while supplies last.  Yard waste will not be collected if not properly bagged or placed in non-transparent or black bags.

The compost site is open Saturdays from 8 a.m. – 2 p.m. and Wednesdays from 2 p.m. – 6 p.m.  The compost site will close for the season at 6 p.m. Wednesday, November 20, 2019. 

Residents requesting brush collection should call 473-0560 to make an appointment for pick up on Tuesdays.

On Monday, October 28, the Whitewater Unified School District unanimously approved Dr. Jim Shaw as the District Administrator for the remainder of the 2019-2020 school year. 

The Whitewater Unified School District School Board held interviews with candidates and was impressed by Dr. Shaw’s extensive experience, commitment to public education and proven track record of strong leadership.  After Dr. Shaw’s appointment was approved he said, “I am honored to serve the Whitewater Unified School District and community.”     

Dr. Jim Shaw is the former Superintendent of the Menomonee Falls and Racine Unified School Districts. He also served as Clinical Professor and Director of the Wisconsin Idea Executive PhD program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He started his career as a social studies teacher. He is also a school psychologist, and worked as director of pupil services, director of curriculum and instruction, and school business manager in the Kettle Moraine School District. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Marquette University, a master’s degree from UW-Milwaukee and a PhD from UW-Madison.

Dr. Shaw is a former Wisconsin Superintendent of the Year, and was recognized by the Wisconsin and National Education Associations, the Public Policy Forum in Milwaukee, and the University of Wisconsin-Madison for his leadership and contributions to public education.

Casey Judd, Whitewater Unified School District School Board President, said, “We are excited to have Dr. Shaw lead our District for this school year. I hope our staff, teachers, parents, and the broader community will join me in welcoming Dr. Shaw to our exceptional school district.”

Dr. Shaw’s first day as District Administrator is Tuesday, October 29. There will be an event held in the coming weeks where all staff, parents and community members will be invited to meet him. 

Judd indicated, “The School Board will conduct a full search for a permanent District Administrator to lead our District as we work to fulfill our mission of inspiring and empowering students to achieve excellence in a safe, innovative and educational environment.”

A 14-year-old girl and a 7-year-old girl were killed in a crash involving a Ford Excursion and a semi hauling an empty tanker trailer on US Highway 12 at Walworth Avenue in Whitewater Thursday evening, Aug. 1. The accident happened around 7:30 p.m.

None of the persons involved were reported to be Whitewater residents.

For more information from Fox6Now.com, click here.

With warmer weather and with regular rain, many of us are mowing our yards more often. It might seem like a great solution to simply blow the clippings into the street. Before you do that, consider either composting or leaving them to naturally break down in your yard (this is like free fertilizer!).

Grass clippings in the street often end up in the storm drains and sewers and are sometimes a hazard to motorcycles and cyclists (it also isn’t very attractive in our neighborhoods).

Storm drains lead to the storm sewer system — you can see the drains, but the pipes connected to the drains are underground. These systems are totally separate from “sanitary sewer” (what drains from your house). The water in storm sewers makes its way into our lakes and local creeks.

Grass clippings, leaves, and other debris have a tendency to “clump” in storm drains and in the sewers. As it builds up, this can cause the drains to back up since they’re not performing at their peak. This, in turn, can cause flooding or drainage issues in the street and our neighborhoods, and that’s something we’re all hoping to avoid!

When grass clippings remain in the street and get wet, they can become slick and hazardous to drivers, cyclists, and motorcycles. If you’ve ever slid on loose gravel, you can imagine how much more you’d slide on wet grass! This is definitely a safety issue and our friends and neighbors will thank you for helping keep debris out of the street.

Further, since our storm runoff ultimately ends up in public waterways, we have to consider the environment. Grass clippings contribute nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorous, which can cause an unwanted and uncontrolled growth of algae and aquatic weeds. This can rob streams, rivers, and lake of precious oxygen. We’re having serious issues with algae and other plant growth in the lakes, and clippings contribute to that.

When mowing your yard, you might make the first few passes blowing grass away from the street or ditches. If you end up with grass in the street, think about blowing or sweeping it back into your yard.

Finally, per Whitewater Ordinance 12.08.010 – “No person….shall place, deposit, keep, or cause to be placed, deposited or kept in or upon any street, alley, gutter, sidewalk or public ground….any stone, earth….grass clippings or lawn debris….” The Neighborhood Services Officers are issuing warnings to property owners when they find clippings in the street, and if not resolved, that will be followed with fines.

Please help your neighbors and the whole city by not blowing/leaving grass or debris in the street!