Green Tree under construction School District breaks ground on addition

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1 Green Tree under construction School District breaks ground on addition By LINDA MCALPINE Daily News Staff Hundreds of students at Green Tree Elementary School wearing bright yellow plastic hard hats celebrated a groundbreaking for an addition to their school Friday afternoon that almost didn t happen. West Bend School Board Vice President Bart Williams said that 19 months ago, he along with then-school Board member Dave Weigand and Director of Facilities Dave Ross looked at Green Tree and Barton elementary school as part of the planning process for the district s longrange facility plan. It wasn t long into the process when we realized that the two schools were going to have very different futures, Williams said. It was determined that 90-year-old Barton needed too many costly repairs to be viable for much longer and should be closed. But what to do about its students? Williams and Weigand drafted a proposal that called for the construction of four classrooms and a cafeteria at Green Tree, which was built in 1968, to accommodate the students who would be displaced by the Barton closure. The project was approved by the school board and it became part of last November s referendum, which voters approved. Most of the $22.8 million approved by the electors will go toward remodeling Silverbrook Middle School, a project that got underway this spring. The addition to Green Tree and the work at Silverbrook will be completed by the fall of Barton will close in June. As the design process for Green Tree commenced, it was decided it would be more costefficient to build a new gymnasium than moving the school s kitchen facilities as part of a new cafeteria, Williams said. It feels good to see this come to fruition. It s a worthwhile project but it almost didn t happen, Weigand said as he watched ceremonial shoving of dirt at the site of the new addition on the east side of the school. Bart and I felt this was a reasonable solution to keeping the Barton students in close proximity to their neighborhood. After the groundbreaking, Williams said it was a very rewarding feeling to know that although one school is closing, its students will be able to attend an updated facility less than a mile away. Not everyone was happy about the project. Madeline Damkot, a Green Tree fifth-grader, said she had mixed feelings, as her class will be the last fifth grade housed at the school. With the building projects completion, the district will be restructuring its grades, with all elementary schools housing kindergarten through fourth grade, Silverbrook will have grades five-six, Badger Middle School, grades seven-eight and the two high schools, will remain nine-12. I wish I could stay because of the good memories here, Damkot said during the groundbreaking ceremony. Karla Correa Sylva, a fourth-grader, told the assembly that Green Tree means a lot to her because of the nice teachers and my nice friends. Mayor Kraig Sadownikow told the students that they should picture thousands of city residents joining them in the groundbreaking celebration. They believe in you, that you are ready to learn and they trust you so much, that they decided that you deserve a bigger and better school, he said. West Bend District Superintendent Ted Neitzke told the students that he was very proud of them and they should be proud of themselves.

Green Tree Principal Katie Weyer said it was a very exciting day for the students, and that they were given a couple of things to remember the occasion.

2 The community is investing in Green Tree because they want you to be successful, he said. Neitzke also reminded them that years from now, when they go past Green Tree, they will remember being a part of something great. Green Tree Principal Katie Weyer said it was a very exciting day for the students, and that they were given a couple of things to remember the occasion. Students and guests received green plastic wristbands with the words Minds under Construction, Project 2014, on them. Sara Lebeck, co-chairwoman of the ABC Parent Group at Green Tree, said the organization gave each student a yellow hard hat to commemorate the day. We wanted them to have something special for the day, she said. John Ehlke/Daily News Staff Green Tree Elementary students wear hard hats during the groundbreaking ceremony Friday afternoon outside of Green Tree Elementary in West Bend. The additions to Green Tree Elementary are as part of the West Bend School District s referendum. John Ehlke/Daily News Staff Green Tree Elementary student Andrew Smerz lays across chairs during the groundbreaking ceremony Friday afternoon outside of Green Tree Elementary in West Bend.

3 Get ready for Shrek By JILL BADZINSKI For the Daily News A veteran community theater group is less than a month away from opening what members say could be a once-in-a-lifetime run. Spotlight Productions will present Shrek: The Musical in the West Bend High School Auditorium. It will be the first time, and possibly the last time that the 33-year-old theater group will perform in the venue. This is a great opportunity for us to perform a big show on a very large stage, said Jackie Maynard, director and founder. The cast will be larger, the sets will be better; everything will be bigger and that will be great for Shrek. The back story of how Spotlight Productions wound up in an auditorium that seats twice as many and has a stage about three times larger than its traditional venue is not without dramatic twists. In February, Spotlight Productions bought the rights to perform Shrek as a fall musical in its usual venue, Cedar Theatre at Cedar Community. We love performing there, Maynard said, so we started planning for the show. However, several Spotlight members are working with the West Bend Public Schools Foundation, which has raised more than half of its $3 million goal to upgrade and renovate the 42-year-old auditorium. In summer, someone suggested moving Shrek to the auditorium, and the suggestion gained momentum. By July, plans were rapidly advancing with no time to spare, Maynard said. Just before auditions were to be held, the final decision was made to move the musical. The cast was expanded from 40 to 60 and all of the scenery needed to be rebuilt to accommodate a larger scale. The cast is practicing four nights a week plus all day on Sundays to ready the show, which opens Oct. 11. More than just memorizing lines and dance steps, the cast and crew are committed to making this a performance to remember. This is an important show for many reasons, Maynard said. First, Spotlight wants all of our shows to be as close to professional as possible so we always work hard. But this will be put on before a larger audience including many who might not be familiar with us so we have the potential to build an audience and participants for the future. Plus, we are showing support and a need for a new performing arts facility at the school. We might never get to perform here again because this facility really should be for the children, but we appreciate the opportunity we have and we want to make the most of it. Spotlight Productions in 16 days away from completing a $5,000 fund drive to help pay for a better sound system and other expenses associated with the larger-scale show, said cast member Laura Mitchell. Mitchell is also assisting with the fundraiser. We are a volunteer group and we've always been able to cover our expenses, but we are turning to the community for help with this one, Mitchell said. Any donation, as little as five dollars, will make a difference so we hope this is an affordable way for people to support the arts. While the fundraiser is about one kind of green, the show is about an entirely different kind: Shrek s swampy, slimy color. This is such a great show for people of all ages, said Carl Lockrem, who plays the title role. It s very funny and the music is wonderful, but the story is great, too. It s about an outsider who doesn t fit in and is trying to find his place in the world. Everyone can relate to that.

Jill Badzinski/For the Daily News Monica Hafenbreadl, left, works with Abby Lockrem on a scene from Shrek: The Musical on Tuesday at the Mutual Mall. The performance opens Oct.

4 Jill Badzinski/For the Daily News Monica Hafenbreadl, left, works with Abby Lockrem on a scene from Shrek: The Musical on Tuesday at the Mutual Mall. The performance opens Oct. 11at the West Bend High School Auditorium. Groth kicks Spartans to W West rolls dice with final play By PAT NEUMUTH Daily News Staff Making a game-winning kick is usually all mental for the kicker. The anticipation of watching the team from the sideline and practicing into a net as the offense drives only makes a person think more about the kick. West Bend West s Justin Groth didn t have any of that. Spartans coach Aaron Paulin told Groth he d attempt a 37-yard game-winning kick after an incompletion in the end zone that forced fourth down with nine seconds left. He hadn t worked on it with him much, just kicking off, Paulin said. He said he never felt good kicking extra points or field goals, but we knew he had a leg. On Wednesday, he was practicing field goals on a whim. By Friday night, Groth s first career kick was a 37-yard field goal to give the Spartans a victory over Beaver Dam. I played soccer until freshman year of high school, Groth said. I was 50 percent, probably (in practice). So how does a coach put in a player who s never kicked in a game, making 50 percent in practice from 37 yards to win the game? He had the leg and hey, he s in the weight room all summer. We are going to roll the dice with a winner, Paulin said. West started its final drive on its own 45-yard line with 1:45 left in the game. After 11 plays 10 passes and one run the Spartans managed to push the ball to Beaver Dam s (1-3, 0-2) 21. The drive also included converting on a fourth-and-6. One of the coaches started to talk about kicking and I told him, Don t say anything yet, Paulin said. I didn t want him to press or over-think. I wanted him to go out and make a play. I knew we were in the middle and had a good angle. A kid like Justin who is invested and committed, works hard in the weight room, pushes himself. He does all the things in the off-

5 season to put faith in him. Groth was so inexperienced, the Spartans (1-3, 1-1) ran onto the field with the kicking block. Luckily, West had a time out to use to make sure the play went off without a hitch. It was a perfect snap. A perfect hold. And the kick was perfectly down the middle and had about 5-10 yards in extra distance. I was just focused, Groth said. All these people came to see a win and it was all on me. I felt good and I felt loose. I was just through what I had to do. The kick erases the four fumbles one that went for a Beaver Dam touchdown the West committed. Three of those fumbles came in the second quarter. Beaver Dam s 34-yard fumble recovery for a touchdown put the Golden Beavers up 14-6 on the first play of the second half. West also failed to score twice when it had goal to go in the fourth quarter. We are always our biggest problem, Paulin said. Penalties. Bad penalties. Bad turnovers. Simple things like that that shoot ourselves in the foot. What gave Groth even the opportunity to make the game-winning kick was when Parker Gawlick forced a fumble while sacking Beaver Dam quarterback Matt Berg and Noah Barnes scooped it up in the end zone. It s the best feeling in the world, Groth said. I couldn t have done it without the team though. They got us there and kept it this close. I couldn t play with a better bunch of guys. WEST 15, BEAVER DAM 14 Beaver Dam West First quarter WBW Patrick Baumann 2 run (kick failed) 2:22, WBW 6-0 Second quarter BD Josh Rhea 26 pass from Matt Berg (Berg kick) :47, BD 7-6 Third quarter BD Rhea 34 fumble recovery (Berg kick) 11:40, BD 14-6 Fourth quarter WBW Noah Barnes 1 fumble recovery (2point pass failed) 7:27, BD WBW Justin Groth 37 field goal, :00, WBW BD WBW First downs 9 15 Total yards Pass yards Rush yards Turnovers 1 4INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS Passing WBW: Jake Lenz ; BD: Matt Berg Rushing WBW: Patrick Baumann , Jake Fischer , Austin Thiessen 955-0, Jake Lenz 4-(-1)-0; BD: Ronnie Craft , Dakota Johnson , Chris Castle , Sam Wiersma 1-(-2)-0, Matt Berg 3-(-12)-0 Receiving WBW: Jake Fischer , Patrick Baumann , Austin Thiessen 16-0; BD: Josh Rhea , Laine Yagodinski , Sam Wiersna Nicholas Dettmann/Daily News Staff West Bend West s Noah Barnes, left, is congratulated by his teammates after recovering a fumble against Beaver Dam in Friday s game in West Bend.

6 GIRLS SWIMMING AND DIVING West Spartans closing on Hartford in WLT race By ADAM LINDEMER Daily News Staff West Bend West has been looking up at Hartford Union in the pool for a while now. Coach Dave Bloomier hopes this season could just be the year in which the Spartans catch the seven-time defending Wisconsin Little Ten Conference champions. We were second last year, and it feels like we ve been second forever, Bloomier said. I would like a shot at Hartford. I m pretty optimistic, but it s going to be tough. West returned a good core of swimmers this season who are seniors. Bailey Wagner is a two-time state qualifier as a diver. Freshman Brandy Prange and sophomore Jenna Heimark could also help the Spartans score points in Invitational s throughout the season behind Wagner. We have three solid divers, Bloomier said. And I believe they could be competitive even in the Classic 8 Conference Cassidy Holbrook, Hannah Koerner and Mariah Cook also returned for their senior years. The Spartans will have a new senior in the pool this year in Kathryn Herzfeld. She had to sit out her last season after transferring to West from Dominican before her junior year. Bloomier said Herzfeld will help the Spartans score points this season. Juniors Annika Engstrom, Olivia Krueger and Rachel Vorderbruggen, and sophomores Kylie Engstrom and Jenna Heimark also returned this season. The Engstrom sisters will be relied on this year. Those two will be the backbone of the team, Bloomier said. Kylie swims distance and freestyle and Annika can swim anything. Bloomier expects key contributions from Krueger and Vorderbruggen. They did a nice job last year and I m looking for good things again this year, Bloomier said. Freshman Madeline Kaphingst has been able to help the Spartans score points early on, too. I think we ll be better than last year, Bloomier said. With the girls we have back and the addition of some others, it gives us a shot at Hartford. It starts with trying to replicate Hartford s workout routine in and out of the pool. The girls have to buy into what we do, Bloomier said. They have to work hard in the pool and do dry land training hard. Hartford is very good at that. REMAINING SCHEDULE Today; at Wauwatosa East Invitational, 8:45 a.m.; Sept. 20: WLT Conference Relays at West Bend, 4:30 p.m.; Sept. 21: at Port Washington Invitational, 8 a.m.; Sept. 26: at Beaver Dam, 4 p.m.; Oct. 3: at Hartford Union, 6 p.m.; Oct. 10: at Watertown (at Riverside MS), 6 p.m.; at Homestead Invitational, 9 a.m.; Oct. 17: vs. Oconomowoc, 6 p.m.; Oct. 24: vs. West Bend East, 6 p.m.; Oct. 26: at Neenah Diving Invitational, 9 a.m.; Oct. 30: WLT Conference Diving Meet, 6 p.m.; Nov. 2: WLT Conference Meet, 2 p.m. Wagner

7 West Bend West s Kyra Gudex West Bend West senior Kyra Gudex is off to a good start in the 2013 cross-country season and has helped the Spartans reach No. 4 in the latest state coaches poll. Gudex has been the top runner for the Spartans in each of the team s first three Invitational s this season, including the Jamie Block Memorial Invitational on Aug. 31 in West Bend. She was ninth overall in that race with a time of 15: The team took fifth in the team standings. At the Racine Horlick Rebel Invitational on Sept. 7, she finished fifth with a time of 15:46.5. It was the second year in a row West won the meet after winning it for the first time in program history last year. Then, on Thursday, Gudex was at the top of the chart again for the Spartans. Competing at the Arrowhead Invitational, Gudex finished in 11th place overall with a time of 15: The Spartans took third in the event, which featured the state s top-ranked team, Arrowhead. Last year, Gudex was first-team All-Wisconsin Little Ten and was among four girls back for the Spartans who were All-WLT last season. The team s next race is Sept. 21 in the Waukesha South Invitational at Minooka Park. Nicholas Dettmann Gudex

Syracuse at Boston College November 29, 2014 Boston College Quotes. Head Coach Steve Addazio

Syracuse at Boston College November 29, 2014 Boston College Quotes. Head Coach Steve Addazio Boston College Quotes Head Coach Steve Addazio Opening statement Obviously we were in a tough-fought game. Rival games are like that. We knew it would be that kind of game. We knew [Syracuse was] pretty