(Video created by students in West Bend High Schools’ advanced video production class, under the supervision of Michael Bentdahl, East High technology teacher.)
Come for No Nonsense, Stay for Coffee
Student band will perform at the Hub’s ribbon cutting ceremony
By Jessica Steger, Editor in Chief
No Nonsense is making its big break into the community.
The band will help kick off the ribbon cutting ceremony for the Hub Thursday at noon. The Hub is a coffee shop opened by the Washington County Volunteer Center on Water Street in West Bend. There have been several soft openings, and a weekend-long Grand Opening will begin May 17. The ribbon cutting marks the beginning of regular business hours. Continue reading
Filed under Community, Entertainment, School News and Features
Teaching History Through Music
Music scholar visited WBHS to talk about Jewish traditions
By Caitlin Marsch, Current Staff
One way to study the Holocaust is by using your ears.
Amanda Ruppenthal Stein, a doctoral candidate in musicology at Northwestern University, visited band students at the West Bend High Schools Feb. 26 to deliver a presentation about Jewish music. Her presentation was part of the ongoing WBHS project to integrate the art, music, culinary and social studies departments for a Holocaust memorial taking place in April. All three band classes are playing pieces either by a Jewish composer or regarding the Holocaust. Continue reading
Filed under School News and Features
The Secret Rock Life of a Guidance Counselor
By Samantha Dietel, Current Staff
This Friday, Kara Phillips will be stepping away from the typical lifestyle of a high school guidance counselor to pick up a microphone.
Phillips, a counselor at West Bend East High School, is the lead singer of the local rock band Love Handle. She and her band will be performing at 8 p.m. Friday inside Pillars Pub, which will be the group’s first gig since December. Continue reading
Filed under Entertainment, School News and Features
Pencil, Ink and Digital Paint: East Grad Has Ties to Oscar Nominees
Rory Kurtz is an award-winning illustrator
By Jessica Steger, Editor in Chief
West Bend East High School alumnus Rory Kurtz has a personal reason for hoping “Baby Driver” wins an Oscar on Sunday.
Kurtz, an illustrator who graduated from East in 1997, created the official movie poster for “Baby Driver.” He also produced the alternative key art for “I, Tonya,” another Oscar nominee. Kurtz creates art for many clients, including Mondo-Alamo Drafthouse and well-known publications such as the New Yorker and Rolling Stone. Continue reading
Filed under Entertainment
East Swimmer Wins State Title
Fitzgerald takes first in 200 individual medley
By Elise Marlett, Current Staff
West Bend East High School has a state champion swimmer for the first time since 2013.
Bryan Fitzgerald, a senior and member of the West Bend Boys Co-op Swim and Dive team, placed first in his claim-to-fame race, the 200 individual medley, at the WIAA Boys Division 1 state meet on Saturday. His time of 1 minute, 50.15 seconds is the eighth-fastest time in the history of Division 1 boys swimming for this event. He also participated in two relays, placing 14th and 22nd, and received second place in the 500 freestyle. The team placed 14th as a whole. Continue reading
Filed under Sports
Video Announcements 2/23/18
(Video created by students in West Bend High Schools’ advanced video production class, under the supervision of Michael Bentdahl, East High technology teacher.)
Filed under School News and Features
There’s Always Time for Charity
Playoff basketball might interfere with Saturday’s Charity Ball
By Jessica Steger, Editor in Chief
Scheduling Charity Week proved much more difficult this year as compared to the past. Continue reading
Filed under Community, School News and Features
‘It Was Very Inspiring’: Brookfield Violinist Brings His Gift to WBHS
By Samantha Dietel, Current Staff
It’s not every day the West Bend High Schools host a teenage musical prodigy. Continue reading
Filed under School News and Features
Video Announcements 2/16/18
(Video created by students in West Bend High Schools’ advanced video production class, under the supervision of Michael Bentdahl, East High technology teacher.)
Filed under School News and Features
The Current View: Tuesday Schedule
Last week the West Bend High Schools announced that the schedule on Tuesdays will be adjusted to ensure students receive the proper number of instructional minutes. The new schedule starts March 6.
How do you feel about the elimination of early release on Tuesdays?
“Personally I don’t think it makes that big of a difference, it’s only 20 minutes. But I’d like to know how this was overseen, because it’s kind of a big thing, how many minutes you go to school. So how did we not realize this earlier?”
Libby Willkomm, West junior
Filed under School News and Features, Viewpoint
High School Program Prepares Students for the Job Olympics
By Lauren Oppermann, Current Staff
Right now, one can enjoy the thrilling Winter Olympics on TV. However, in the middle of May, students from the West Bend High Schools will be participating in their own Olympics.
Students with special needs have the chance to participate in the Job Olympics. Though it is comparable to the Special Olympics, the event focuses on career-related competitions rather than sports. Ten different local schools participate in this event. Continue reading
Filed under Community, School News and Features
It’s in Their Blood
When the Blood Center of Wisconsin asked for help, WBHS anatomy students answered the call
By Priyanka Trivedi, Current Staff
As southeastern Wisconsin is running low on blood, the West Bend High Schools’ anatomy classes are coming to the rescue.
After Slinger High School dropped out of their annual blood drive due to construction at their school, West Bend science teachers David Clark and Kara Petzold decided to create a blood drive revolving around the anatomy classes they teach. Each student in anatomy class is responsible for bringing at least one person to donate blood, taking over Slinger High School’s obligation of donating at least 100 pints of blood to the Blood Center of Wisconsin. Continue reading
Filed under Community, School News and Features
Science at the South Pole
By Grace Peplinski, Current Staff
The recent cold snap won’t bother Elizabeth Widen. After all, she spends much of her time in Antarctica.
Widen, a research scientist, gave a presentation to students in Paul DeLain’s Advanced Placement Environmental classes Jan. 30 in the Silver Lining Arts Center. Students learned about the research going on at the bottom of the planet. Continue reading
Filed under School News and Features
Video Announcements 2/9/18
(Video produced by the West Bend High Schools media team, under the supervision of Michael Bentdahl, East High technology teacher.)
Filed under School News and Features
International Musicians Visit Orchestra Students
By Samantha Dietel, Current Staff
It has been a tradition for West Bend High Schools orchestra students to travel to Scotland, but this time, Scotland came to them. Continue reading
Filed under School News and Features
Senior Wants WBHS Volunteers Recognized at Graduation
By Caitlin Marsch, Current Staff
For Serenity Krueger, trying to make a change went beyond volunteering.
Last week the West Bend West High School senior created an online petition directed at the WBHS administration asking that students who have 100 or more documented volunteer hours be honored with cords of recognition at graduation. So far, the petition has garnered over 800 signatures and the online response has been overwhelmingly positive. Continue reading
Filed under School News and Features
‘They Have Been Through the Worst’: Two WBHS Seniors Help Refugees
By Samantha Dietel, Current Staff
Not long ago, local student Olivia McClain was reading picture books with Syrian refugees. Continue reading
Filed under Community, School News and Features
‘Keep the Crowd Rocking’: West Bend Bands Bring the Rock and Jazz
By Rachel Gergetz, Current Staff
The No Nonsense Brass Band thinks its new song will wow the crowd Wednesday at the third annual Rock & Jazz Fest. Continue reading
Filed under Entertainment, School News and Features
Wellness Wednesdays
Students can sign up for sessions about reducing stress
By Justin Scherzer, Current Staff
For a short time, students can put aside the stresses of a traditional school day and prioritize their personal wellness.
Several teachers at the West Bend High Schools are leading a new Wellness Wednesday program that allows students to sign up for sessions focused on relaxation, fun and the betterment of their mental health. Through the use of the online tool FlexiSched, students can opt to participate during their normal Wednesday resource time. Over the last two months, eight courses have been offered by teachers from both East and West High. Continue reading
Filed under School News and Features
The Hallway Brigade
Testing center closed to allow for more hallway supervision
By Lily Mottet and Lauren Chamberlain, Current Staff
Tiffany Gitter, a West English teacher, is optimistic about the closing of West Bend High Schools’ testing center.
On Dec. 7, WBHS administration officially closed the testing center to all students. Instead, the teachers who monitored the center now patrol the hallways in an attempt to quell the number of students wandering the halls. Gitter, for example, used to supervise the testing center during sixth period but now spends that time in the hallways. Continue reading
Filed under School News and Features
Classroom Showers
English classroom at WBHS was flooded last week
By Jessica Steger, Editor in Chief
The weather has been quite ambitious this winter, what with the cold snaps and heat flashes, not to mention the indoor rain.
West Bend West High School English teacher Tiffany Gitter encountered a surprise Jan. 22 when she walked into her classroom and found a pool of water, due to a leak in the middle of the ceiling. She experienced a similar leak during her first year of teaching, but the leak had remained dormant since 2014. Continue reading
Filed under School News and Features
WBHS Will Celebrate Black History
February is Black History Month
By Kaitlyn Von Behren, Current Staff
Black History Month will be celebrated at the West Bend High Schools for the first time this year.
About 20 WBHS students will perform Feb. 8 in a Black History Month Celebration in the Silver Lining Arts Center. Continue reading
Filed under Entertainment, School News and Features
West Bend Prepares to Host State Debaters
WBHS will host state debate tourney for fourth consecutive year
By Caitlin Marsch, Current Staff
Days before the state debate tournament, coach Doris Sexton was deliberating with custodians rather than her speakers.
Starting Saturday, the West Bend High Schools will host the Wisconsin State Debate Tournament. Around 300 high school students from all over Wisconsin will come to West Bend for two days of competition. For those who host the tournament, it’s a lot more than just a weekend competition. Much work and preparation goes into hosting this tournament, and everybody, from coaches to custodians, gets involved. Continue reading
Filed under School News and Features
No Return for Exam Exemptions
By Jessica Steger, Editor in Chief
Exam exemptions will not be back this school year.
With the removal of Galileo testing, an opportunity arose to restore an old West Bend High Schools policy regarding semester exams. Continue reading
Filed under School News and Features
Big Week for East vs. West Basketball
“Keep It Riehl Night” gives spectators a chance to win airfare tickets
By Auburn Larson, Current Staff
The traditional rivalry between West Bend East and West High Schools has just become more intense.
Games between East and West, which share a campus, have always meant athletes compete against their biggest rivals: Their classmates and friends. For the current basketball season, scheduling changes mean that these big games are going to happen on back-to-back nights with an exciting varsity doubleheader on Friday. Continue reading
Filed under Sports
A Musical Mural
By Samantha Dietel, Current Staff
Two orchestra students are leaving their mark—an enormous, colorful mark. Continue reading
Filed under School News and Features
The Button Man
By Mattie Zautner, Current Staff
How many buttons can one student fit on a backpack?
That is the question Cooper Holbrook, a senior at West Bend West High School, is trying to answer. Starting this past summer, Holbrook has been collecting athletic buttons featuring the faces of his friends and classmates. He walks around the hallways of the high school showing off both schools’ amazing athletes and is always looking for opportunities to expand his collection. Continue reading
Filed under School News and Features
Why the OG Grinch is the Best Grinch
Chuck Jones’ “How the Grinch Stole Christmas!” brings the iconic art and rhymey dialogue of Dr. Seuss to life, while adding plenty of its own flavor to the fife.
While there are many a Christmas cartoon made in the West, let me tell you why the original “Grinch” is the best. Continue reading
Filed under Entertainment, Viewpoint
Feliz Navidad
PHOTO ESSAY
Students in Brenda Henschel’s Spanish classes went Christmas caroling today throughout the West Bend High Schools. The songs were, of course, in Spanish!
Filed under School News and Features
Surprise Christmas Reunion
By Jessica Steger, Editor in Chief
An early Christmas surprise was delivered today to Cheryl Johnson, a lunch aide at the West Bend High Schools. Continue reading
Filed under School News and Features
‘We Are Citizens of the World’: WBHS Teachers Emphasize Global Issues
By Samantha Dietel, Current Staff
In a high school history class, one might not expect to hear about the current threat of North Korea’s nuclear weapons.
Social studies teachers at the West Bend High Schools have been educating students about current global events in subjects such as U.S. history, global studies, and world affairs. In recent weeks, topics such as North Korea’s missile testings and the investigations into Russia’s possible interference in the last U.S. presidential election have both been discussed, with an emphasis placed on the importance for students to be aware of and understand global issues. Continue reading
Filed under School News and Features
Exchange Student Is All Business
By Elise Marlett, Current Staff
It’s always important to stay focused in school, but Eleonora Madmarova pays particular attention to her business classes.
Madmarova, an exchange student from Kyrgyzstan in Central Asia, is spending this school year at West Bend East High School. Madmarova arrived Aug. 2 and is living with the Strassburg family in West Bend. She has come to not only experience American culture, but to explore her passions by learning business skills through the classes offered at the high school. Madmarova aspires to be a successful business woman in her adult life and believes that this experience can get her there. Continue reading
Filed under School News and Features
West Staff Gives Back to the Community
Book-giving event is just one of many planned service projects
By Jessica Steger, Editor in Chief
For the West Bend West High School staff, the ‘giving season’ began before a single Christmas ornament was prematurely sold.
On Tuesday the West staff hosted a book-giving event in the West Library. Prior to the event the school ran a book drive lasting from October to November. During this time over 2,000 books were collected, which were then offered at the book-giving event. Local organizations Family Promise, Boys and Girls Club, Friends Incorporated, Youth Treatment Center, and the Youth and Family Project attended the event, with an open invitation to their clients. Continue reading
Filed under Community, School News and Features
Which Makes Thee Startle: A Story of Mice and Men
WBHS takes steps to combat vermin after mice sightings
By Kaitlyn Von Behren and Gabrielle Diaz, Current Staff
The East Library has a new mascot: The Sun, a small mouse often seen scurrying for a crumb or in between book aisles.
Mice have been seen roaming the West Bend High Schools since early August, most commonly found in the West science area, the East Library and the Nifty Nibble, which is the student-run campus restaurant. The mice are sometimes dead and sometimes alive. The most recent sighting of mouse droppings was today in the West social studies area. Continue reading
Filed under School News and Features
