By Hasti Ghasemi Vaghar, Current Staff
Two years ago, Michael Blaskowski had an idea that would literally take off.
Continue readingCategory Archives: 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
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
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
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
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
‘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
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
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
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
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
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
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
Crew of Juniors and Seniors Mentor Ninth Graders
By Hasti Ghasemi Vaghar, Current Staff
Incoming ninth graders at the West Bend High Schools were surprised in September to discover that their first-day activities were being led by juniors and seniors rather than teachers.
Continue readingFiled under School News and Features
Farewell, 10-Minute Passing Period
By Kayla Lemens, Editor in Chief
Thanks to a schedule change, students at the West Bend High Schools are struggling to manage their time in between classes.
Continue readingFiled under School News and Features
Racing to Save Lives
By Stephanie Snyder, Staff Writer
A race against suffering, hosted for the people by the people.
Continue readingFiled under School News and Features
Welcome, Editor!
Kayla Lemens, West junior, will serve as the West Bend Current’s Editor in Chief for the 2021-22 school year. She replaces graduating senior Elise Marlett. Congrats, Kayla!
Photo courtesy of Kayla Lemens.
Filed under School News and Features
The Resiliency of the Music Department
COVID-19 presented challenges for choir, band and orchestra
By Kayla Lemens, Current Staff
After eight long months, the music department is finally returning to normal.
Continue readingFiled under School News and Features
Exams Done, Advanced Placement Students Keep Learning
Students were surprised to learn of changes to exam week
By Elise Marlett, Editor in Chief
This year’s final exam week will look different for Advanced Placement students at the West Bend High Schools.
Continue readingFiled under School News and Features
A Towering Gift
By Norah Johnstone, Current Staff
This year the graduation committees of the West Bend East and West High Schools chose updating the tower stairwells and adding window decals as their gift to the school.
Continue readingFiled under School News and Features
‘Would You Make It By 4:30?’: Graduation Speaker Must Race to Muskego
By Elena Chamberlain, Current Staff
Directly after giving her graduation speech, Danielle Schumacher has to bolt.
Continue readingFiled under School News and Features
Water for All People
By Amber Georgenson, Current Staff
After graduating from West Bend East High School, Laura Burns didn’t know what she wanted to do when she grew up. Now she works for a global non-profit organization, and students at her former school are trying to help.
Continue readingFiled under School News and Features
An Oldie But a Goodie
WBHS senior helps revive old baseball tune with local ties
By Megan Landvatter, Current Staff
As the baseball season starts up again, a lost piece of Brewers history has been found and restored.
Continue readingFiled under Community, Entertainment, School News and Features, Sports
Student Lounge Brings Fresh Look, Crowds to Second Floor
By Kayla Lemens, Current Staff
A new lounge at the West Bend High Schools has created new opportunities for students and, according to some staff members, new headaches.
Continue readingFiled under School News and Features
The Courtyard: Past and Present
Students once were allowed to smoke in “the pit”
By Caroline Peplinski, Current Staff
Most days, the West Bend High Schools’ courtyard sits empty and silent. However, that wasn’t always the case.
Continue readingFiled under School News and Features
Decision 2021: Meet Board Candidate Kurt Rebholz
By Noelle Mentch, Current Staff
Kurt Rebholz believes that his financial background and openness to different ideas are some of his strengths that make him a great member of the school board.
Continue readingFiled under Community, School News and Features
Decision 2021: Meet Board Candidate Chris Zwygart
By Megan Landvatter, Current Staff
After serving on the school board for the past three years, Chris Zwygart believes that he is ready for a second term.
Continue readingFiled under Community, School News and Features
Decision 2021: Meet Board Candidate Jody Geenen
By Megan Landvatter, Current Staff
After watching her three daughters graduate from West Bend West High School, Jody Geenen hopes to give back to her community once more.
Continue readingFiled under Community, School News and Features
Teen Employees Affected by COVID-19
By Megan Landvatter, Current Staff
A year ago, Chris Meyers spent his Friday nights seating customers at Texas Roadhouse. Now, he spends his Friday nights wiping down menus.
Continue readingFiled under School News and Features
Natalie White Is Going Places
By Amber Georgenson, Current Staff
West Bend East High School senior Natalie White was recently chosen to receive a scholarship to the Peck School of the Arts in Milwaukee. Continue reading
Filed under School News and Features
Color Out of Space
By Elena Chamberlain, Current Staff
Ceiling tiles or blank canvases? The white, removable ceiling tiles have sprouted student-led creativity at West Bend West High School. Continue reading
Filed under School News and Features
Masks On, Sleeves Up
By Elise Marlett, Editor in Chief
The COVID-19 pandemic couldn’t cancel this decades-old tradition. Continue reading
Filed under Community, School News and Features
Teachers Adapt to New Cohort Schedule
By Elise Marlett, Editor in Chief
The West Bend High Schools have a new approach to limiting the spread of COVID-19. Continue reading
Filed under School News and Features
The West Bend Current 