Local student journalists earn 24 awards
Ten West Bend students have been recognized in a statewide contest for high school journalists. Continue reading
Tag Archives: Justin Scherzer
Tooting Our Own Horn: NEWSPA Awards 2020
Filed under School News and Features
Aw, Snap! She’s Never Seen a Marvel Movie
By Justin Scherzer, Current Staff
While the whole world lined up to see the ever-anticipated “Avengers: Endgame,” one West Bend student opted to save her money.
In the past decade, there have been 22 hit films released in the massively successful Marvel Cinematic Universe, but East High School senior Grace Peplinski has never seen a single one. Below, Peplinski explains how she lives life without superheroes. Continue reading
Filed under Entertainment
Tooting Our Own Horn: NEWSPA Awards 2019
Dietel leads with 11 awards
Members of the West Bend Current set a school record with 28 individual awards in a statewide contest for high school journalists. Continue reading
Filed under School News and Features
West Bend Talent Included in Lake Country Film Festival Lineup
By Justin Scherzer, Current Staff
Three future film directors may currently be walking the halls of the West Bend High Schools. Continue reading
Filed under Entertainment, School News and Features
Decision 2019: Meet the Three Candidates for School Board
The West Bend School Board will soon have two new faces.
With no incumbents on the April 2 ballot, voters will choose among newcomers Paul Fischer, Christopher Bach and Erin Dove to fill two open seats. Leaving the board are Tiffany Larson and Ken Schmidt. Both chose not to seek re-election.
The West Bend Current asked the candidates about their background. That interview material is presented below in the order that the candidates will appear on the ballot. Continue reading
Filed under Community, School News and Features
Decision 2019: Board Candidates on the Referendum
What are your thoughts about the referendum?
Paul Fischer
I am in support of the referendum. I, like most people, don’t enjoy paying more taxes, but at the same time, I recognize that it costs money to operate and maintain buildings. We are a large school district, and there’s a lot to manage here, a lot to maintain. You take a look at the age of the high school specifically—a lot of the mechanicals are at the end of life, they needed to be replaced at some point in the past, most likely. But because of the conservative nature of this community, we’ve done what we can to maintain investments in the classroom, potentially sometimes at the expense on the maintenance things, above the ceiling, below the floor, and so forth that you don’t always see. But the time has come where we need to address those things. Continue reading
Filed under Community, School News and Features
Decision 2019: Board Candidates on Their Vision for the District
What are the unique goals you would seek to achieve while on the school board?
Paul Fischer
My goal is to see the stability of the school district that they’ve attained in the last 12 months, to see that continue for the next 36 months. Beyond that, I really don’t have goals, per se, because I’m not bringing an agenda to the table. I think that’s maybe happened in the past, and that’s been part of our challenges as a community. We all want the same thing: to have well-rounded students coming out that are well-prepared for their post high school experience, whether that’s the workforce or secondary education. And our job is to support that, in the best way possible. Continue reading
Filed under Community, School News and Features
Decision 2019: Board Candidates on the Importance of Education
Why is education important to you and what is your current experience with education?
Paul Fischer
From a priority perspective, education is the foundation that’s going to set our students up for everything else that happens in life, whether it’s formal classroom education, hands-on job experience, whatever the case may be. It’s giving students that opportunity, and then the onus is on the student to make the best of those situations that they possibly can. Continue reading
Filed under Community, School News and Features
No Changes Planned for WBHS Cell Phone Policy
All students will eventually have a Chromebook
By Justin Scherzer, Current Staff
Area schools are implementing cell phone bans, but the West Bend High Schools will not follow suit. Continue reading
Filed under School News and Features
Incentive Program Has a Bumpy Start
By Chloe Kreis, Current Staff
For a program called 5-Star, students at the West Bend High Schools would rate it much lower. Continue reading
Filed under School News and Features
Most West Bend Students Opted Out of Behavior Survey
By Elise Marlett, Current Staff
The West Bend High Schools now have data about unsafe student behaviors, but only from 11% of the student body. Continue reading
Filed under School News and Features
Tooting Our Own Horn: NEWSPA Awards 2018
Student reporters earn 19 total awards
Five West Bend students earned blue ribbon honors in a statewide contest for high school journalists. Continue reading
Filed under School News and Features
Head Start on College and Careers
Programs give high school students access to local college courses and business internships
By Justin Scherzer, Current Staff
Senior Peyton Janto can often be seen wearing business clothing at school because after four class periods at West Bend West High School he rushes to his internship at West Bend Mutual Insurance.
Janto is among the numerous WBHS students whose daily schedules differ from the traditional school day. Upperclassmen have the option to enroll in programs called Youth Options, Course Options and Co-op Youth Apprenticeships. These allow students to accept internships with local businesses or register for classes and programs not offered at the high school by traveling to locations such as the University of Wisconsin-Washington County and Moraine Park Technical College. Continue reading
Filed under 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
House of the Three-Quarter Round
The crew builds the set for “House of the Seven Gables.” The set was designed to give audiences a unique experience close to the action. Photo by Justin Scherzer, Current Staff.
By Justin Scherzer, Current Staff
The West Bend High Schools’ fall theatrical production will be a significant deviation from their usual shows as the audience will be seated directly on stage for a tale of greed, love and murder.
Director Tonya Fordham and her theatrical cast and crew will put on Vin Morreale Jr.’s play “House of the Seven Gables” Nov. 16-18 at the Silver Lining Arts Center. However, contrary to the majority of productions they put on, this play will be in black box style, meaning the audience will be seated on stage with the performers. Continue reading
Filed under Entertainment
Tooting Our Own Horn: NEWSPA Awards 2017
Bensen leads with four awards
The West Bend Current set a school record with 21 individual awards from the Northeastern Wisconsin Scholastic Press Association in a statewide contest for high school journalists. Continue reading
Filed under School News and Features
New Principal Visits WBHS Campus
Jeridon Clark
By Justin Scherzer, Current Staff
A new leader has been welcomed into the building to prepare for his new role as principal of the West Bend High Schools.
Jeridon Clark won’t officially become principal until July 1, but he visited the school Monday and Wednesday as a way of getting to know the staff, students and environment.
“The school seems very exciting,” Clark said. “I got to meet quite a few staff members as well as several students, and I really like the energy.” Continue reading
Filed under School News and Features
The Current View: AP Testing 2017
How prepared are you for the Advanced Placement tests?
“I feel pretty prepared. Our teachers all did a really good job at balancing things out over the year so we’re not cramming much in at the last second. And we have some time to review so overall I feel pretty good. Mostly I like to look at the review material that the teacher gives out, I don’t like going back in the textbook myself. The teachers usually do a pretty good job at giving us stuff that we could go over in order to be successful.”
Justin Scherzer, East sophomore
Filed under School News and Features, Viewpoint
A Bittersweet End to the Wisconsin Little Ten
By Justin Scherzer, Current Staff
The eight Wisconsin Little Ten conference teams are being sent their separate ways.
When the current spring athletic season ends, the WLT will dissolve due to conference realignments by the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association in order to improve competition throughout the state. Both West Bend East and West High Schools will join the North Shore Conference. Continue reading
Filed under Sports
Area Students Traveled for President Trump’s Inauguration
The entire Wisconsin 4-H delegation on Inauguration Day in front of the Capitol.
By Justin Scherzer, Current Staff
Two West Bend students not only witnessed President Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20, they also took part in their own election with hundreds of other 4-H members.
Libby Willkomm, a West High sophomore, Luke Schowalter, an East senior, and nine other 4-H students from Washington County joined up with 500 members from across the country for the Citizenship Washington Focus Presidential Inauguration experience. Starting Jan. 17, these students spent five days attending both the inauguration and the protest march while taking part in a multitude of other activities around D.C. Continue reading
Filed under Community, School News and Features
Forensic Scientist: Sexton Begins 45th Season
Hall of Fame coach has guided generations of local talent
By Justin Scherzer, Current Staff
Not many NFL coaches can claim a 45-year tenure, but there’s one living in West Bend.
Of course, the NFL in question is the National Forensics League, and the coach is Doris Sexton, who has served as a forensics and debate coach for East High School since 1971. Continue reading
Filed under School News and Features
Field of Dreams
By Justin Scherzer, Current Staff
Not one, not two, but three West athletes will realize their dreams of playing Division I baseball. Continue reading
Filed under Sports
Natural Resource
Online tool FlexiSched will roll out in April
By Justin Scherzer, Current Staff
Resource time is about to have a sudden jump in technology and efficiency with the implementation of the new FlexiSched program. Continue reading
Filed under School News and Features
Wipe It Out of Mind
How nasty are the bathroom passes?
By Justin Scherzer, Current Staff
Everything you touch in the school is filthy.
This is the finding of a December experiment conducted by The Current and biology teacher Daniel Millin. The goal of the experiment was to determine whether the school’s bathroom passes are really as gross as students suspect them to be. Continue reading
Filed under School News and Features
Gaining Yards on 1989
East freshmen are ready to blitz the legend of the last undefeated West Bend varsity team
By Justin Scherzer, Current Staff
The East freshman football team has local fans excited about the future.
The freshman team completed an undefeated season in late October, finishing with a 7-0 record. The team averaged 48 points per game, and allowed an average of eight points per game. This is the first time since 1989 that any West Bend football team has had a perfect record. Continue reading
Filed under Sports
The West Bend Current 