An open letter to the teachers of the Beaver Dam Unified School District:

As National Teacher Appreciation Week falls upon us, I am reminded of a Japanese proverb: “Better than a thousand days of diligent study is one day with a great teacher.”  The students that comprise the Beaver Dam Unified School District have experienced unprecedented academic growth and success over the past 18 months.  Without underestimating the hard working students and wonderful families that populate Beaver Dam schools, our world class teachers who serve these students are the foundation of the advancements we have made.  

Our teachers who work with our students are incredibly busy people because schools are busy places.  It is easy to forget the profound impact that great teachers have on students.  This week provides all an opportunity to stop and reflect on the great teachers who have reached out and touched our lives and the lives of the students they serve.  At times this is done with an inviting smile, an encouraging conversation, or a push to reach for goals once seen as unattainable.  Take a minute to think about a teacher who impacted your life.  Think about the footprint they left on you.  Send that person a note this week, thank them, and remind that person of the impact they have on the future world in which we will live.  Remind our youth to focus on the positive aspects of their lives, to reflect on the growth they have made this school year,  and to recognize the tremendous impact a teacher had on their successes.  

This letter is my opportunity to thank the teachers of the Beaver Dam Unified School District: past and present.  I want to extend my most heartfelt thank you to the teachers who shaped my future as I moved through BDUSD as a student and as a young professional.  Most importantly, thank you to our current teachers who work diligently every day to create a better tomorrow for the children and young adults of our community.  Any effort to create a kinder, brighter future for our community and country will begin and end in our schools.  Together we are building tomorrow by guiding our students and empowering their futures.  

Thank you!

Steve Vessey

Superintendent

Beaver Dam Unified School District

BDHS Ranks Among the Best Two Years in a Row

The Beaver Dam Unified School District is proud to announce that Beaver Dam High School has earned national recognition for the second year in a row.  Once again, the Beaver Dam High School community has been identified as one of the top high schools in the state of Wisconsin and nation through U.S. News and World Report.

Specifically, Beaver Dam High School has been identified in the top 10% of all high schools in the state of Wisconsin, placing BDHS in the Silver Medal Award rating for Best High Schools in the country.  This year’s report and rankings reviewed 468 high schools in the state of Wisconsin and more than 28,000 high schools across the country.  

BDHS demonstrated notable growth in the college-readiness category.  This growth and other documented improvements contributed to Beaver Dam High School’s ability to move up 80 spots in the national rankings of all high schools in the nation for the second year in a row by the US News & World Report.

Beaver Dam High School was the highest ranked high school in the area and in the Wisconsin Little Ten Conference.  Moreover, BDHS outpaced 13 schools in the Badger Conference that BDHS will join at the start of the 2017-18 school year.  These rankings are another indicator of the outstanding students, families, and dedicated staff who comprise the BDHS learning community as well as the Beaver Dam Unified School District as a whole.

When asked about his feelings regarding the high school earning this distinction for the second year in a row, BDHS Principal Mark DiStefano stated: “I couldn’t be more proud of the work our staff and students do to make this a reality.  It is a reflection of the value our students, staff, and parents have for high expectations in their education throughout our district, as well as a reminder that hard work does pay off!"

Children's Mental Health Matters

Good mental health is vital for learning and life. Children are able to enjoy and benefit from good mental health as it helps them form positive relationships and with everyday experiences. Developing emotional health and experiencing school success depends upon the care that children receive at home, in our community, and at school. Developing and maintaining positive relationships, learning to cope with adversity and stress,  and maintaining a healthy lifestyle are ways to help our children face challenges. We can help children develop these skills, work through adversity, and build resiliency.

At some point, most every child faces some difficulty. When students experience problems such as getting along with peers, sadness, depression, anxiousness, or loss of a loved one, there are supports at school to assist our students. School psychologists, school counselors, social workers, and nurses routinely support students with mild to severe needs and identified mental-health conditions. On a daily basis, the student-services staff consult with teachers, parents, and community providers. In the Beaver Dam Unified School District, our student services staff provide classroom presentations about social/emotional development, protective behaviors, and social skills. Some students who are experiencing more struggles may receive individual counseling or work in a group with other students. When needed, our staff partners with community professionals to help the student(s) and parent(s).

As a parent, you can help your child face challenges by thinking positively. Modeling positive attitudes and positive emotions is very important. Using a “can do” problem-solving approach to situations teaches children a sense of power and promise. Express love and gratitude! Praise should always occur much more often than criticism. Positive emotions buffer kids against depression and other negative reactions to adversity. Express yourself! Parents who help kids become more aware of emotions, label emotions appropriately, and help children deal with upsetting events are giving their children useful life skills. Get fit! Healthy eating habits, regular exercise and adequate sleep protect kids against the stress of tough ordeals. Regular exercise also decreases negative emotions such as anxiety, anger, and depression. Foster competency! Children who achieve academic success and who develop individual talents, such as playing sports, drawing, making things, playing musical instruments or playing games are much more likely to feel competent and contain the ability to deal with stress positively. Having friends, staying connected to friends and loved ones, and helping others can also foster and increase resiliency.

If you would like more information about children’s mental health or have questions about services, please contact your child’s school and speak with a student services staff member.You may also visit our district website to learn more about our services at the following web address:  http://goo.gl/tPzrUs or http://goo.gl/5fH72K.

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Excerpts from: “Resiliency: Strategies for Parents and Educators,” Virginia Smith Harvey, Helping Children at Home and School II: Handouts for Families and Educators, NASP, 2004

Super Girl!

Monica Keel’s quest for inspiring girls to be their best self began more than thirteen years ago.  While she was in college, Ms. Keel  volunteered at a weekend summit called Sister-to-Sister.  She participated in the summit for two years while at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater campus.  The vitalizing program was designed to help middle-school-aged girls learn strategies for building healthy relationships.  

When Ms. Keel left UW-Whitewater and began her teaching career, the experience she had at the Sister-to-Sister summits left her with the deep-seeded knowledge of the power of inspiring girls to live their lives as authentic, remarkable young women.  While teaching, Ms. Keel kept on the lookout for a program similar to the Sister-to-Sister Summit that she could incorporate into a possible summer-school course for girls.

Thirteen years later, Ms. Keel, who is currently teaching kindergarten at Wilson Elementary School, saw the founder for a non-profit organization called Super Girls on the news.  The founder, who is a Wisconsin native, explained that the Super Girl program is structured around six-core principles.  Each principle is further developed into ten lesson plans and provides a focused program that involves skits, role playing, discussions about real-life experiences, conversations around cyber-bullying, true understandings around bullying, positive relationships, and leadership.

Ms. Keel contacted the organization and attended one of their training sessions in May of 2014, which made her a Super-Girl Facilitator.  In 2015,  Ms. Keel held her first Super-Girl sessions in three different elementary schools in Beaver Dam as an after-school class.  She has also held Super-Girl sessions over the summer at the Seippel Homestead.

Ms. Keel currently offers Super-Girl sessions to Beaver Dam 4th and 5th grade elementary students, as well as a Beaver Dam Middle School group offered to 6th-grade girls.  The curriculum of the program is modified to span 2nd grade through 11th grade, and Ms. Keel would like to eventually offer enough sessions that all 5th-grade girls would be able to participate.  Ms. Keel emphasizes that “Strong, healthy girls is a goal we all share — parents, educators, and community members.”  

If you would like to learn more about the Super Girl Program, or would like to find out how you can help support and grow this program, please contact Ms. Keel at keelm@bdusd.org.

Kindness at Lincoln School

Teaching students is both an honor and a privilege.  Helping students reach their academic potential and watching them grow is one of the most exciting things that can happen in a school.  Ask any teacher, and they will tell you there is nothing better than being a part of student success.  As educators, we value academics.  We also value the way we treat one another.  Caring and kindness matters.  

The staff and students at Lincoln School display caring in many ways.  In October, one of our crossing guards was injured while helping our students cross the street safely.  Students and staff donated money toward a  get-well gift to let her know we were thinking of her.  Students made her cards and wrote letters to let her know that we cared about her. We also celebrated our grandparents in October by having them join their grandchild for lunch.  The students loved eating with their grandparents and showed appreciation for them.  In November, Lincoln School participated in the district-wide food drive, and the amount of food collected was nothing short of amazing.  Prior to Christmas break, the staff at Lincoln School raised money to help a family in need.  Our gift was in knowing we helped make someone’s Christmas special.  In January, we showed our crossing guards that we care about them by having students deliver special treats everyday,  and we also invited them to have lunch at school on a day of their choice.  We value  the special people who are a part of our students’ lives.

Now we are joining efforts with our PTO to make caring a priority in the month of February.  Spearheaded by Jessica Michael of the PTO, the staff and students at Lincoln School are going to focus on how we can care for one another.  At the beginning of the month, we will provide the students with a calendar that provides many different ways students can exemplify caring in their school, at home, and in their community.  The ideas presented do not need to happen in any particular order, nor are they required.  The hope is that students will realize their acts of kindness positively affects the receivers of their goodwill and will then entice the students to continue their caring behaviors.  The students will have the opportunity to share their good deeds with their classmates and teacher throughout the days and month.  The teachers will provide opportunities for students to share how it made them feel when they showed someone else that they cared for them.  

Lincoln School will also celebrate Random Acts of Kindness Week, February 16-19.  Throughout that week, there are special activities for students in which to participate.  The week is another opportunity for students to show people they care by participating in the following opportunities: collecting canned goods, having a special dress-up day, and participating in a dollar-hat day with donations going to the American Family Children’s Hospital Cancer Fund.  As parents and teachers, we hope that students will remember how it feels to treat others with kindness and caring.

Beaver Dam Unified School District Selects CG Schmidt for Construction Manager

The Beaver Dam Unified School District Administration and School Board is pleased to announce the selection of CG Schmidt (CGS) as the construction manager for the high-school campus and district-wide safety-facility planning process. CG Schmidt will partner with Plunkett Raysich Architects (PRA), a firm previously hired by the district to analyze facility needs. The two firms will work together to engage the district and identify the most cost-effective facility solutions to position the Beaver Dam Unified School District for the future.

CG Schmidt has previously completed construction projects for the District. This past summer, the construction firm completed work at the Beaver Dam Middle School, updating and remodeling a special-needs room and accompanying office area to improve services for students. Additionally in 2013, CGS completed both the addition to Prairie View Elementary School and the science-laboratory renovations at Beaver Dam High School. These projects completed the improvements outlined in the District’s 2011 Facility Study. As of September 2015, the district had addressed all significant-facility needs as identified in the 2011 study, leaving only large-scale mechanical-and-remodeling projects at the high school and safety-and-security improvements throughout the district.

The Board approved the selection of CG Schmidt at their December 14, 2015, meeting. The PRA and CG Schmidt team will work with the Board, administration, and teachers to meet district-facility goals, while keeping the community engaged and informed. These two firms are leaders in K-12 design-and-construction facilities.

Beaver Dam School District Makes College Board Honor Roll

The College Board has announced the 6th Annual Advanced Placement (AP) School District Honor Roll.  The College Board honors less than 5% of school districts across the United States and Canada for increasing access to and success in college level Advanced-Placement courses at the high-school level.  

Helping more students learn at a higher level and earn high Advanced-Placement scores is a goal the College Board and the Beaver Dam School District share.  Inclusion on the 6th annual AP School District Honor Roll is based on the examination of three years of school achievement data from 2013-2015, looking specifically at the following criteria:

• Increased participation and access to AP courses

• Increased academic achievement in the area of college bound course work

The Beaver Dam Unified School District is excited to receive this recognition on behalf of its hardworking and dedicated students, families, and staff.  

“Our school district is excited to offer a robust list of Advanced-Placement courses in all areas of study at our high school.  An expanding number of students are taking advantage of these rigorous opportunities and are achieving at unprecedented levels,”  stated Steve Vessey, Superintendent of Beaver Dam Schools.

This past year, 197 high school students took 342 Advanced-Placement courses, with a pass rate of 80%.  This pass rate was substantially above the State and National benchmarks and a 14% increase from the previous year.

“The commitment of staff across all grades in our school district to expand advanced-learning opportunities for a growing number of students is to be commended.  Our students and staff are performing at a very high level, and we could not be more proud of them,” said Vessey.

Mark DiStefano, Principal of Beaver Dam High School stated; “Our students and families understand and appreciate the benefit that rigorous opportunities have on the educational experience as a whole.  Whether it be AP courses in core curricular areas or capstone courses in Career and Technical Education, our students are working hard to stretch themselves and our performance as a school reflects that.”

Beaver Dam School District’s inclusion on the College Board’s AP School District Honor Roll joins a growing list of accomplishments for Beaver Dam Schools.  Earlier this year, Beaver Dam High School was recognized by U.S. News and World Report as one of the best high schools in the nation, in 2014, Beaver Dam High School was identified as an AP Pacesetter School in the State of Wisconsin, and most recently, Beaver Dam students scored the highest recorded average ACT score the school has seen in recent history at 23.4.

Beaver Dam Schools will continue to strive every day to guide students and  empower their futures by leading the way in student growth and achievement.