By Hasti Ghasemi Vaghar, Current Staff
The mystery of the disappearing water fountains has been solved.
Continue readingReview: New Season of ‘Love, Death + Robots’ is Satisfying Smorgasbord
By Brandon Labecki, Current Staff
The third season of “Love, Death + Robots” offers more of the eye-dropping visual wonders of the previous seasons, with as many odd, compellingly quick-witted and grim stories as the episodes preceding it.
Continue readingFiled under Entertainment
Milwaukee Film Festival Review: ‘Memoria’ Creates Special Experience
The latest polarizing film from Apichatpong Weerasethakul was a unique highlight of the Milwaukee Film Festival
By Collin Chesak, Current Staff
I fell in love with film over the pandemic, and finally, after two and a half years of attempting to become a cinephile, I was able to visit my first film festival. The 2022 Milwaukee Film Festival was the first in two years to have in-person showings, and being a high schooler in Wisconsin, it was my first real opportunity to visit a festival.
Continue readingFiled under Entertainment
West Bend Teacher Has His Head in the Clouds
By Hasti Ghasemi Vaghar, Current Staff
Two years ago, Michael Blaskowski had an idea that would literally take off.
Continue readingFiled under School News and Features
‘I Felt Like I Should Choose the Scarier Option’: Williams Commits to Harvard
By Kayla Lemens, Editor in Chief
Alexis Williams and her friends couldn’t help it. Despite being in a restaurant, they all started screaming.
Continue readingFiled under School News and Features
Review: ‘The Northman’ Builds a Mythical World
By Brandon Labecki, Current Staff
“The Northman” is another great addition to what is best described as a collection of modern myths behind Robert Eggers’ filmography.
Continue readingFiled under Entertainment
Rivals No More
East and West soccer teams merged due to low turnout
By Kayla Lemens, Editor in Chief
Despite being rivals in the past, West Bend East and West girls soccer combined this spring to form one co-op team.
Continue readingFiled under School News and Features, Sports
Review: “Secrets of Dumbledore” Revives the Magic
By Amy Daniels, Current Staff
After a large amount of hype and advertising, the third installment of the “Fantastic Beasts” franchise was released April 15, to surprisingly weak box-office numbers.
That’s a shame.
Continue readingFiled under Entertainment
The Impact of Reduced Days
How do early release and late arrival programs affect students?
By Austin Hunn, Current Staff
There are hundreds of students permitted to have shorter school days on a day-to-day basis, but not much is known about its effects on students.
Continue readingFiled under School News and Features
Review: ‘The Batman’ Has More Heart Than Brains
By Collin Chesak, Current Staff
With “The Batman,” Matt Reeves delivers a brutal bat noir that is more emotionally potent than intellectually challenging. The movie seeks to be more of an elaborate epic than the intimate character drama of Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight Trilogy. Instead of giving him the arbitrary origin story, Reeves introduces Batman like a stoic western character, down a long hall out of the darkness.
Continue readingFiled under Entertainment, Viewpoint
Teacher Starts Spring Break by Donating Kidney
By Hasti Ghasemi Vaghar, Current Staff
Michael Rahlf, a social studies teacher at West Bend West High School, might be the friend of the year.
Continue readingFiled under School News and Features
Nifty Nibble Flooded with Changes
By Brandon Labecki, Current Staff
The Nifty Nibble, the campus restaurant at the West Bend High Schools, has had dramatic changes since being flooded twice due to problems in a bathroom across the hall.
Continue readingFiled under School News and Features
NAMI Recognizes Longtime Volunteer
By Nicole Walters, Current Staff
Even though she retired from the West Bend School District in 2007, Sheryl Smith never stopped teaching at an award-worthy level.
Continue readingFiled under Community
Dance the Night Away
By Rhys Chesick, Current Staff
After being postponed, the West Bend High Schools charity week and dance are back on.
Continue readingFiled under Community, School News and Features
Ninth Grade Gymnast Keeps Breaking Records
By Sydney Neuser, Current Staff
Gymnast McKennah Orth, a ninth grader at West Bend East High School, is heading to state in vault, floor, beam and all-around competitions.
This honor follows a season with many highlights, including a single meet where Orth was part of breaking three school records while ending in a tie for another.
Continue readingFiled under Sports
Review: Netflix’s Climate Satire Not Worth a Look
Adam McKay’s “Don’t Look Up” lacks comedy and depth
By Collin Chesak, Current Staff
The Academy recently gave “Don’t Look Up” four Oscar nominations including Best Picture. However, if audiences are looking for an award-worthy film, they should look elsewhere.
Continue readingFiled under Entertainment
‘Keep Getting Up’: Area Trainer Sets World Record to Raise Mental Health Awareness
By Cassidy Scherzer, Current Staff
There was a personal reason why Jackie Vazquez wanted to set a new world record in weightlifting.
Continue readingFiled under Community, School News and Features
Local Teen’s MasterChef Memories Have Marinated for Five Years
Former contestant Sydney Neuser talks about her time on TV and whether she still wants to be a professional chef
By Kayla Lemens, Editor in Chief
Five years ago today, West Bend’s Sydney “Syd” Neuser made her network television debut as a contestant on “MasterChef Junior.”
Continue readingFiled under Entertainment
Heading to the Big Dance
By Sarah Schmidt, Current Staff
Despite many obstacles, the varsity dance teams for West Bend East and West High have earned trips to a state competition.
Continue readingFiled under Sports
Trailblazing Fifth Graders Are Now Seniors
District restructuring presented new world language and music opportunities
By Kayla Lemens, Editor in Chief
Eight years ago, the class of 2022 entered Silverbrook Intermediate School as the first fifth grade class in the building.
Continue readingFiled under School News and Features
Chess Club Growing Fast
First in-person tournament will take place Saturday
By Austin Hunn, Current Staff
The West Bend High Schools chess club, which has been in operation for over a year, is finally starting to take off. With an estimated 85 members and plans for an in-person tournament, it can now be considered an official club.
Continue readingFiled under School News and Features
West Bend Graduate Honored at Film Festival
Amber DeRuyter stars in the independent film ‘Lonesome’
By Hasti Ghasemi Vaghar, Current Staff
After decades performing on area stages, Amber DeRuyter has now been recognized for a performance on the silver screen.
Continue readingFiled under Community, Entertainment
Brickner Sets School Math Record
By Cassidy Scherzer, Current Staff
Let’s do the math: When Cullen Brickner scored a perfect 200 on the General Educational Development Option II math exam, it was the highest score by a West Bend School District student in the 13 years the program has existed.
Continue readingFiled under School News and Features
No Worries About ‘No Way Home’
By Brandon Labecki, Current Staff
“Spider-Man: No Way Home” overcame the worries of many, using past characters and ultimately leading to a fulfilling conclusion in Marvel’s Spider-Man trilogy.
Continue readingFiled under Entertainment
Goodbye Green, Hello Blue
By Leah Schmidt, Current Staff
Students and staff returned from Thanksgiving break to a subtle but noticeable change to the West Bend High Schools campus.
Continue readingFiled under School News and Features
Review: ‘The French Dispatch” Ranks Among Anderson’s Best
By Amy Daniels, Current Staff
After the release date was changed multiple times within a year, Wes Anderson finally released this fascinating film for us.
Continue readingFiled under Entertainment
Review: ‘Cowboy Bebop’ Bucks the Original Too Much
By Brandon Labecki, Current Staff
Netflix’s “Cowboy Bebop” takes many liberties in the live-action adaptation of the original anime series of the same name.
Continue readingFiled under Entertainment
Juniors Still Waiting for Traditional High School Experience
By Caroline Peplinski, Current Staff
The coronavirus pandemic forever changed the lives of nearly every human on the planet. Current juniors at the West Bend High Schools, for example, have never had a normal year of high school.
Continue readingFiled under School News and Features
How Denis Villeneuve Sold the ‘Unfilmable’
VIEWPOINT
By Collin Chesak, Current Staff
“Dune” director Denis Villeneuve dazzled the doubters by overshadowing a risky $165 million price tag with a box office run that now nears the $400 million mark.
Continue readingFiled under Entertainment
West Senior Hired to Promote Historic Theatre
By Cassidy Scherzer, Current Staff
One area student has gained behind-the-scenes experience at the Bend, West Bend’s historic theater that survived the Great Depression and now a global pandemic.
Continue readingFiled under Community, Entertainment
Local Journalist Interviews Rock Legend for ‘Guitar World’ Cover Story
Former East student finds success as a freelance music journalist
By Nicole Walters, Current Staff
A music writer with local ties has finally reached the Edge.
Continue readingFiled under Entertainment
The Current View: Pandemic Reading
How has COVID-19 affected your reading habits?
“I have always been a very avid reader, and I can honestly say it only increased over Covid, especially over the spring break. I checked out 42 books from the library.”
Dana Timmermon, West senior
Continue reading
Filed under Viewpoint
The Sky Isn’t Falling
Temporary supporting columns are needed until a structural flaw can be repaired
By Hasti Ghasemi Vaghar, Current Staff
When concrete falls through the ceiling, the clean-up needs more than a dustpan.
Continue readingFiled under School News and Features
All-In: The Recent Success of Milwaukee Sports
VIEWPOINT
By Collin Chesak, Current Staff
The city of Milwaukee has overcome the challenges of small market sports and become an example for the entire country.
Continue readingFiled under Sports
Musical Auditions are Back
By Leah Schmidt, Current Staff
If the pandemic era has felt a little like being isolated in a swamp, Tess Breit believes area audiences are ready for a fairy tale experience.
Continue readingFiled under Entertainment, School News and Features
The West Bend Current 