May 30, 2017

Page 1

FREE PRESS AMERY

1892 - 2017

TUESDAY, MAY 30, 2017

125 YEARS STRONG

VOL. 121 NO. 49 www.theameryfrepress.com $1.00

SPORTS: Amery track sends 4 events to States PAGE 14A

Williamson leaves lasting legacy BY TOM STANGL TSTANGL@THEAMERYFREEPRESS.COM

JESSICA DE LA CRUZ | AMERY FREE PRESS

A Community Salutes

Eagle Scout Mason Henke leads the Pledge of Allegiance during Amery’s Memorial Day Ceremony. Memorial programs were held throughout the area this week. More photos on page 12B.

Give a kid a hammer… BY JESSICA DE LA CRUZ EDITOR@THEAMERYFREEPRESS.COM

“Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.” –Proverb When it comes to shaping the future of young men, Amery Middle School has been on the front lines of a difficult nationwide trend. At a December school board meeting, Principal Tom Bensen noted, “There was one nine week period where one-hundred percent of the discipline slips went to boys. That really got our attention, and we wanted to make some changes.” Tech Ed. instructor Allen Carlson has witnessed the problems first hand.

“There’s a big maturity gap at this middle school age,” says Carlson. “And in a conventional class, boys in particular, may be feeling left behind.” There’s no argument that kids thrive in different types of learning environments, and it’s not always the traditional classroom. In trying to find a solution to the problem, Carlson and school administration devised a pilot program that began this spring called CREATE class—an acronym for Culturally Responsive Essential-based Achieving Excellence in Technology Education. That’s a really long-winded way of describing what simply began as a few students who wanted to build some old-fashioned scooters during study

SEE BOB PAGE 8A

hall. When Carlson volunteered his time to help a dozen or so kids build scooters for fun last year, the outcome was a hit. And Bensen took notice. “For those kids we saw their attendance and their attitude just skyrocket. So that’s what really turned us on to trying this,” he says. CREATE began as a pilot program this semester, devised as a project-based class with a construction focus—something that not only boys could benefit from, but girls too. “We wanted to try and get some kids that aren’t very connected to school, and get some of those students working toward a project that they can take a lot SEE CREATE PAGE 2A

“It’s been a great life. If I had it all to do over again, I’d do it the same way.” That’s the way Bob Williamson described his time in Amery during a 2016 interview about the Amery Fire Department. Williamson, the personification of community service who was a central player in many organizations, passed away May 24 at the age of 89. Born in Frederic, Bob lived in Milltown, Menomonie, Sauk Center and Jackson, Minn. before coming to Amery in 1943. Even though he and his future wife, Marie Stenberg, were delivered by the same doctor and baptized at the same church in Milltown, they didn’t meet until they were sophomores in high school in Amery. After serving in the Navy in World War II, Williamson returned home to Amery and married Marie in 1948. The wedding occurred at 8:30 p.m. because Bob and his brother had to milk 90 cows before the service. While Williamson attended Mortuary School at the University of Minnesota, Marie worked as a

Bob Williamson, longtime businessman and community promoter, passed away this week at the age of 89.

I don’t need my bladder to act its age. Find care at amerymedicalcenter.org.

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