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Today is Friday, October 9, 2026
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On Tuesday evening January 10, something new is happening at Whitewater High School!
Anderson Waelchli, a senior WHS Choir student, will present a Voice Recital in the High School Auditorium at 7:00 pm. The recital is free and open to the public. There will be art songs and musical theatre songs, as well as some contemporary pieces.
This recital is presented as a result of Anderson’s work in an Independent Study in Vocal Performance this semester. We hope you can join us. It will be a night to remember!
Article Submitted by Karen Tordera
Whitewater High School Vocal Music Instructor
ktordera@wwusd.org
The Whitewater Girls’ Basketball Team played a conference game at home on Thursday night, January 5, against Evansville. It was an exciting, defensive battle throughout, ending in overtime.
Both teams battled in the first half, keeping the score low. We went into halftime down by 1, 10-11. Scoring increased for both teams in the second half, sending the game into overtime tied at 35. The Whippets fell short when Evansville connected on their free throws at end, losing 41-47.
We adjusted well to the changes Evansville made defensively, switching between a man and zone. We played with grit even when our shots wouldn’t fall. Being more patient when we have a lead late in the game is something we need to be more disciplined about.
Calli Grosinske led the Whippets with 13 points, followed by Danielle DePorter with 11, and Mayte Navejas with 8.
Article Submitted by Kristen Lippens
Whitewater High School Head Girls’ Basketball Coach
klippens@wwusd.org
Photo Courtesy of Bob Mischka
The WHS Players have received 14 Jerry Award nominations for their production of Beauty and the Beast! Winners will be announced in May after all participating schools have held their performances. School and student achievements are honored and featured in an awards show held at Overture Center in June, and two outstanding performers are selected to represent the program at The National High School Musical Theater Awards (The Jimmys) competition in New York City. WHS alumni Lauren Harkness was the 2019 winner who went on to represent the program in NYC.
The Jerry Awards, one of Wisconsin’s High School Musical Awards Programs, encourages, recognizes, and honors excellence in high school musical theater. Educators and industry professionals review productions at more than 85 high schools in 30 counties around the state providing valuable feedback. The program elevates the importance of musical theater within high schools.
OVERALL PRODUCTION AWARD NOMINATIONS
- Outstanding Orchestra
PERFORMER AWARD NOMINATIONS:
- Skyler Staebler – Lead – Belle
- Josh Kirley – Lead – Beast
- Brooke Mason – Lead – Mrs. Potts
- Ava Van Daele – Lead – Lefou
- Anderson Waelchli – Lead – Lumiere
- Ben McCulloch – Supporting – Maurice
- Mel Prince – Supporting – Chip
PRODUCTION TEAM NOMINATIONS
- Outstanding Direction: Jim McCulloch
- Outstanding Musical Direction: Liz Elliott
- Outstanding Choreography: Taytum Adkins
- Outstanding Scenic Design: Jim McCulloch
- Outstanding Lighting Design: Jim McCulloch
- Outstanding Costume Design: Karen McCulloch, Bobbi Wedl, Alejandra Diaz-Gallegos, Alexandra Cansino-Pena, Claire Tourdot, Maddison LaHaie, Remington Van Daele
Congratulations to all of our nominees!
WHS Players will be producing Agatha Christie’s “A Murder is Announced” from February 23-26 at the WHS auditorium. Tickets go on sale soon.
Article Submitted by Jim McCulloch
WUSD Theater Director
jmcculloch@wwusd.org
Photo Courtesy of Tom Ganser
It’s time once again for #FlashbackFriday with the Whitewater Historical Society. As we have done in recent years, we are featuring some Henry Scholl glass plate images from the turn of the twentieth century with winter themes for the coldest month of the year–January. Henry Scholl took many photos in winter and they give us a look at Whitewater in c.1900 at this time of the year.
This image is of the north side of the 700 block of Center Street with the Methodist Church in the background. No street plowing in c.1900!
Join us next week for more from the Whitewater Historical Society.
(3548GP, Whitewater Historical Society)
Congratulations to the Whitewater High School team of Josh Kirley, CJ Tomomitsu, Ben McCulloch, and Nick Weirich for their 7th place finish in the 1st Semester Wisconsin Stock Market Challenge!
The group finished the 10-week competition with a 17.95% return! A team from Shorewood High School won the 1st semester competition with an amazing 100.76% return. Over 300 Wisconsin high school teams participated.
The second semester competition will run from February 13-April 21st, and all WHS students are eligible to participate.
A big THANK YOU to Premier Bank for sponsoring the 1st semester teams!
Article and Photo Submitted by Brent Mansky
Whitewater High School Principal
bmansky@wwusd.org
The Whippet Boys’ Swim Team competed against Elkhorn on Tuesday, January 3rd. The boys registered 17 best times, and many tried out new events for the first time.
Some highlights include:
- Tyler Arnett edged out his competitor to win the 200 Freestyle by .04 seconds with a time 2:02.94
- David Enns had a huge time drop in the 200 Freestyle, dropping over 16 seconds.
- Cruz Aranda & Xavier Zei both going best time in 200 IM!
- Jack Hefty had a stellar night going best times and winning both individual events. Jack continues to put up a strong performance in the 50 Freestyle going a 25.68. He improved his 100 Breaststroke time by 4 seconds!
- Miles Nickelsburg had a strong performance in the 100 Freestyle dropping 6 seconds off his previous time.
- Onyx Thompson had a great night despite having all four of his events back to back. He tried out the 400 for the first time and then immediately went into the 200 Freestyle Relay where he went a season best split, then continued right into the 100 Backstroke, and then finished off the night 1 race later in the 400 Freestyle relay where he again went a season best split!
- Myles Morse swam a great race in the 100 Backstroke where he edged out his competitor by 1.08 seconds.
- Andrew O’Toole had a great 50 Freestyle going a best time of 29.45.
- Sam Nickelsburg continues to work hard and drop time in the 400 Freestyle.
The boys are back in action on Tuesday, January 10th at home against Platteville/Lancaster and PSC starting at 5:30 p.m. Come out and cheer on the Whippet Swimmers!
Article and Photo Submitted by Sarah Reynolds
Whitewater High School Co-Head Boys’ Swim Coach
sreynolds@wwusd.org
A new episode of “Wisconsin Life” which will air on Thursday, January 5 at 7 p.m. features, among other stories, the Milton House Museum, the last certified underground railroad stop in Wisconsin that can be toured. Blacks traveled the Underground Railroad to escape slavery in the South in the 1800’s. PBS Wisconsin is on Channel 11 on Spectrum (Charter) and may also be viewed online at https://pbswisconsin.org/
According to an article in the Milton Courier:
“Wisconsin Life” is a show produced by PBS Wisconsin and Wisconsin Public Radio that highlights local history, but each episode details a new city or region of the state. During the production of the episode, host Angela Fitzgerald spoke with Milton House Museum Executive Director Keighton Klos about the Underground Railroad and some about the Goodrich family.”
“Fitzgerald suggested the Milton House as a potential location of the show. Fitzgerald and producer Kelly Saran spent a day at the museum last summer to work on the show.”
“What surprised me was the role Wisconsin had in the abolitionist movement and how many freedom seekers came to Wisconsin,” Saran said. “People crawled through the tunnel, and we walked through it. That was moving and was so impactful.”
The Whippet Wrestling Team had the opportunity to host and participate in the Mid-States Wrestling Classic held at UWW on December 28 and 29. This is a long-standing tournament that has been going on for over 40 years and has some of the top talent from WI and IL participating. This year this talent consisted of 41 teams partaking in the very talented pool. There were many highly ranked teams from Illinois and Wisconsin in the tournament with 6 of the top 8 teams from Illinois.
Although the Whitewater team did not have as high of finish as they have had in years past, the coaching staff feels this may have been one of the team’s best performances on the mat. The level of competition may have been the best in the 17 years Coach Schimming has been coaching at Whitewater, so team placement is deceiving. Coach Schimming stated that Whitewater has at times struggled in the opening round of this tournament; however, this year the team did outstanding. They won the first 6 matches contested with 5 of them coming with a pin! Of those 5 weight classes, the loss Whitewater saw was against an opponent that ended up making the semi-finals and thereby guaranteed top six placement, so we consider those some quality losses.
Whitewater had 3 wrestlers advance to day two of the competition, placing these individuals into the top 12 of their weight class. Jarvis Porcaro had his best outing of the season on day 1 with 3 great wins, putting him into day 2. Jarvis ran into tough competition on day 2. He wrestled tough but ended up taking 12th place for the tournament.
Aaron Porras also won 3 on the first day and made day two of the tournament. Aaron opened the day with a tough loss but then came back with one of his best matches of the season as he had a strong opponent from Nicollet, and it was a tight match going into the 3rd period. Aaron turned it on and put together a couple of nice takedowns and ended up using basic techniques and pinned his opponent. Aaron ended his tournament in 10th place.
The Mid-States Classic honors the top 8 wrestlers in their weight class on the podium at the end of the night. This year Whitewater had Connor Friend make the podium with a 6th place finish. Connor lost a close quarterfinal match 8-7 that came right down to the end with Connor almost getting a turn to claim back points but just did not quite make the turn. Connor came back on day 2 with a convincing 10-0 win and then a 4-0 win to reach the top 6. He then dropped the consolation semi-final match to go into the 5th place match. Connor wrestled tough in the last match but could not quite pull it out. Connor wrestled well throughout the tournament with quality matches that allowed us to find things we will work on as we enter the back half of the season.
The team is next in action on January 5th when they travel to Jefferson for an RVC Dual. On January 7th the team will host a large JV Tournament with approximately 20 teams at Whitewater High School.
Article and Podium Photo Submitted by John Schimming
Whitewater High School Head Wrestling Coach
jschimming@wwusd.org
Action Photo Courtesy of Bob Mischka
Obituaries
Sally A. Schutte, age 73, of Whitewater, went home to be with her Lord and Savior on September 21, 2026, while at Hearthstone Memory Care in Whitewater. Sally was born on November 6, 1952, to Roy and Elsie (Rohloff) Haas. Sally married William Schutte in the spring of 2003. Sally grew up on the family farm in the Town of Hebron and graduated from Jefferson High School. She dedicated nearly her entire career to Fort HealthCare, where her hard work and versatility shone through various roles. Over the years, she served in housekeeping and medical records, Center for Dermatology. Sally … Read more
Zachariah “Zach” Schoenke, 41, of Whitewater passed away peacefully on Tuesday, September 22, 2026. He was born April 4, 1985, to Keith W. Schoenke and Kathleen Schoenke in Fort Atkinson, WI. He grew up and graduated from Whitewater High School in 2003. Zach worked various jobs over the years but was currently working at Cracker Barrel in Janesville. He was a big Packers Fan and liked to play fantasy football. He enjoyed reading, cooking, and watching horror shows. Zach fiercely loved his son, Lincoln, his sisters, Cami and Cary, his mom and stepdad, and his aunt Robin. He will be dearly … Read more
Carla Winn, 82, died September 5, 2026. Funeral Service will be at 12:00 PM, Saturday, September 12, 2026, at East Heights United Methodist Church, 4407 E Douglas Ave, Wichita, KS 67218, followed by a burial at 2:00 PM at White Chapel Memorial Garden 1806 N Oliver Ave. Carla is preceded in death by her parents, Vivian Dwight and Wilma Lois Krehbiel; and sister, Jennifer Krehbiel. She is survived by husband, Stephen; daughter, Ashley (Clint) Gagel, of Overland Park; siblings, Paul (Kay) Krehbiel, of Socorro, NM, Lynn (Bill) Oetting, of Wichita, Ellen (John) Querner, of Wichita, Teresa Woodson, of Lawrence, KS, … Read more
Susan Miller Celebration of Life There will be a gathering of friends and acquaintances at Susan’s Farm Store to celebrate Susan’s life on Saturday, September 19th from 2-5 p.m. at N6623 Lake Lorraine Rd., Delavan, Wisconsin
Our loving mother, JoAnn E Harrop, age 95, passed away on September 11, 2026. Our sorrow is deep, but we are filled with gratitude for the many years we had with her. Even as her mind was failing, she remained strong and appreciative of all who cared for her. JoAnn was born on January 13, 1931, daughter to Fred Braun and Evelyn Braun {Storck). She was raised in Whitewater, Wisconsin by her grandparents, Otto and Edith Storck. She attended Whitewater High School and helped at the Storck tavern where she met her husband Earl C. Harrop. They married on November … Read more
Russell O. Johnson “Russ,” 88, passed away on September 4, 2026 in Whitewater, Wisconsin. Russell was born on July 12, 1938, in Janesville, Wisconsin. Russ grew up in Janesville, and after high school he joined the Air Force on May 1, 1958, serving as an aircraft mechanic until June 12, 1962. He then worked at Parker Pen in Janesville for a time, where he met his future wife, Avis. After marrying Avis Mason in April 1964, Russ worked for Gillman Manufacturing for a time, then began a career at Dana until its closing in 1980. In 1981, Russ started working … Read more
Marcia Zingg, beloved wife, mother, grandmother, businesswoman, and friend, passed away peacefully on September 1, 2026, at the age of 75. Marcia will be remembered for her unwavering love, remarkable strength, generous spirit, and lifelong devotion to her family. She shared 40 wonderful years of marriage with her husband, Jeffrey Zingg, who considered her not only his wife but also his best friend, business partner, and the love of his life. Together, Marcia and Jeffrey built a successful life rooted in perseverance, hard work, laughter, and love. As entrepreneurs in Whitewater, Wisconsin, they owned and managed new car franchises and … Read more
Amanda Jean Hunter was born to Ralph and Malinda (Thomas) Hunter of Whitewater, Wisconsin, on October 6, 1976. She passed away on August 4, in Fort Worth, Texas, where she lived with her family. Amanda passed peacefully in the hospital, surrounded by her loved ones. Amanda was a kind-hearted free spirit with an unmistakable hippie warmth. Generosity, spontaneity, a quick wit, a macabre sense of humor, and an open heart were traits that she embraced. She was a tireless champion of those in need, an innate characteristic that became among the best of her qualities. She proved to be a … Read more
Ellen Eichmiller, 82, of Whitewater, Wisconsin, passed away on Saturday, August 22, 2026. Ellen was born on September 10, 1943, in Monroe, Wisconsin, to Chester “Guy” and Irene (née Holmen) Steig. She married the love of her life, Paul Eichmiller, on December 7, 1963, and together they made their home in Whitewater, Wisconsin. Ellen spent much of her working life as a secretary at the University of Wisconsin–Whitewater, where she formed many lasting friendships and memories. Ellen cherished her family and friends and treasured the time she spent with those closest to her. She was known for her love of … Read more
Janet Quinn, age 71, of Jefferson passed away on Thursday, August 20th. Janet was born on December 22nd, 1954 in St. Joseph, MI to Robert Mounsey and Edith Christison Mounsey. She was a granddaughter to Herbert Bragg Mounsey, Charlotte Mounsey, and Ester Christison West. She married Michael Durden in 1979 and later married Eury Quinn Jr. (J.R.) in 1988. Janet grew up in Benton Harbor, MI, and subsequently lived in New York and Arkansas before moving to Wisconsin in 2016. She was a dedicated caregiver to her disabled Mother, and worked as a custodian for various employers over the years. … Read more
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