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By Lydia Statz Union staff writer

Union regional editor

By Pam Chickering Wilson Union staff writer

JEFFERSON — Five Jefferson High School students and two of their teachers attended the firstever Wisconsin Global Youth Summit in Madison. The event, held Feb. 23 at Union South on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus, attracted more than 80 students from nearly 20 high schools from around Wisconsin. Jefferson participants included students Laura Genett, Cougar Robertson, Olivia Raschig, Conor Yehle and Nathan Poser and

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By Ryan Whisner A downtown Fort Atkinson landmark for nearly a century, the former Creamery Package building has been placed on the market for $3 million. Featuring five floors, each with approximately 15,600 square feet of space, the building is being sold by VyMaC Corp. through Colliers International. It was put up for sale in January. The first floor is home to Verlo Mattress Factory Stores of Fort Atkinson, and the fifth floor, until recently, housed VyMaC’s corporate headquarters. “The reason the building is being sold is we were underutilizing the space at this point,” VyMaC President Richard Wacker said. “We feel it makes sense for the vitality of Fort Atkinson and the building itself to get somebody that can more fully occupy the building than we were able to do.” VyMaC, which no longer has personnel on the fifth floor, moved its corporate offices back to its original home in Whitewater on Feb. 15. Through Colliers International, the property is listed as being two buildings totaling 96,969 square feet. The south building is the more familiar five-floor structure on the corner of North Main Street and Sherman Avenue. The north building, located more directly behind McDonald’s Restaurant, has two floors, of which the lower level is being used for underground parking. The second floor currently is unfinished warehouse space that easily could be converted to retail, office or street level restaurant space. Sale of the property also includes the vacant 0.86-acre lot at (Continued on page 16)

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Foreign-exchange students enjoying year at Fort High By Lydia Statz Union staff writer

Ratchawi “Ply” Thonglim of Thailand would like to set the record straight that she does not ride an elephant to school. William Kwok is from Hong Kong, not Tokyo, as many seem to believe. Paula Lopez does, indeed, speak Spanish in her home country of Spain, just as Leo Jarnoux speaks French when he’s home in France. Jaakko Perttula from Finland knows Wisconsinites don’t know a whole lot about his country, but not everything he does is a Finnish custom. Sometimes he just does things a certain way because he’s Jaakko. Coming from two different continents to spend the school year at Fort Atkinson High School, this year’s foreign-exchange students

teachers Andrew Schwei and Bridget Foerster. Schwei, a Spanish teacher at Jefferson High School, first brought the event to the attention of Cheryl Kilker, who heads up the Jefferson district’s Challenge (gifted and talented and enrichment) program, to see if the summit might come under the Challenge program’s enrichment umbrella. When Kilker heard about the opportunity, a first-ever event that is now slated to become an annual gathering, she felt it fit right in to the kind of enrichment opportunities the Challenge pro-

have faced their share of well-intentioned questions from their peers. But rather than becoming frustrated, they view it as a sign of the city’s openness. “You’re different, so everybody wants to talk to you,” said Leo, a senior who hails from Nantes. “It’s like everybody knows everybody, and it’s friendly. In my country, you go to school to study, not to see your friends. And here, I think, it’s to study, but also seeing your friends and having a good time.” Making friends at a new school can be difficult, but having a cool foreign accent and diving right into after-school activities seems to help the process along. “I was in soccer, so I started two or three days after I came,” said Leo. “So after a week, I already knew a lot of people.” (Continued on page 5)

gram was intended to include. Foerster, the AFS Club adviser. as well as a Spanish teacher at Jefferson High School, also was eager to sign on. Participation was limited for the first-time event, so coordinators swiftly brainstormed a list of students with leadership potential and an interest in other languages and cultures. “We specifically chose underclassmen, people who will be coming back next year, so they can help us build on what we already have as we look at ways to increase global awareness at Jefferson High School,” Kilker said.

She noted that the Jefferson district does more than many its size, with an active AFS club and regular Europe trips. The teachers accompanying the Jefferson “summiteers” attended a separate program just down the hall designed specifically for educators. The goal of the day was to get students talking with each other and to encourage them to share ideas about internationalizing their schools, Kilker said. From there, participants were encouraged to bring their ideas and enthusiasm home to their own districts.

JEFFERSON — The Wisconsin College of Osteopathic Medicine earned another vote of confidence Wednesday as the Jefferson County Board of Health cautiously approved a resolution supporting the development. The resolution of support, the same one passed by the Jefferson County Economic Development Consortium and the Human Services Board, will come before the Jefferson County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday, March 12. It requests that the board take the steps necessary to assist the college with any future planning, feasibility and logistical issues in order to bring the project to eventual completion. On Feb. 1, the Wisconsin College of Osteopathic Medicine announced it will develop a new medical school on the Sanctuary Ridge site, formerly St. Coletta of Wisconsin’s main campus on the east side of Jefferson. Since then, the project has received enthusiastic support from many county committees and the Jefferson Common Council. However, several members of the county Board of Health were more cautious in providing their endorsement Wednesday, as some members questioned the project’s community impact. Dr. Gregg Silberg, dean and executive vice president of the college, maintained that he believes the osteopathic school will have a net positive impact on the area’s healthcare system. “We feel we have a lot to offer in the situation,” said Silberg. “We’re going to be building a state-of-the-art simulation lab which is useful for training physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, for emergency medicine training. Those

“We need students who are knowledgeable about the world and who have an understanding of how other cultures work and how other people think,” said Tony Evers, Wisconsin’s state superintendent of schools. Organizers said that the young participants represent the next wave of what pollster John Zogby calls the “First Globals” generation. They are part of a global economy and a global culture which is increasingly linked and interactive. Evers said that today’s high school students have more inter(Continued on page 5)

will be able to be run through the simulator, as we won’t be using it 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and we would like to see it being used.” Other partnerships that could benefit the county include technology initiatives such as use of the college’s data processing and library resources. “Why I’m here today is because I’m really looking for partnerships within the health community,” said Silberg. “I’m looking for the abilities to be able to work with the hospital systems in the area, the community health systems in the area ... and partner(Continued on page 3)

) /). # + 1* (,$)( MADISON (AP) — Senate Republicans won’t back Gov. Scott Walker’s proposal to expand private school voucher programs or freeze public school spending, GOP leaders told The Associated Press on Wednesday. The dissention within his party over key elements of Walker’s budget comes as a blow to the Republican governor less than two weeks after he released a plan intended to serve as the cornerstone of his legislative agenda for the next two years. Senators remain committed to a voucher school expansion but are working on alternatives to what Walker proposed, Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald told AP in an interview. He also said there is “no doubt at all” that public schools will be allowed to increase per-pupil spending even though Walker called for a freeze to help keep property taxes in check. Most Republican senators won’t back Walker’s voucher plan, his proposal to give charter schools more autonomy or to give vouchers to special needs students, said Senate President Mike Ellis. He said Walker’s proposals will need to be “drastically changed.” “They have to be rewritten,” Ellis said. “What’s there is not going to work. It’s got to be redone.” Republicans hold an 18-15 majority in the Senate, and it would only take a couple of them to cause trouble for Walker’s proposals. An identical version of the budget must pass both the Senate and the Republican-con(Continued on page 7)

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,* & +).( , ).- $(- +/$ 0, 0$-# )+- ,.* +$(- ( (- !$( &$,-, By Randall Dullum Union news editor

Fort Atkinson High School principal Jeff Zaspel says that after having worked his way up the ranks in the district, he is ready to become the next superintendent in the School District of Fort Atkinson. “And I’m here to tell you today: I’m the right person for this position,” Zaspel stated, emphatically. “I want it with my whole heart and soul. My life is here, my home is here. And I want to be the steward of this district and be a steward of the community of Fort Atkinson.” Moreover, he stressed he is “ready for this job. I’m really ready for it.”

Zaspel, who has been principal at Fort Atkinson High School for the past 13 years, was the third of three finalists for the district administrator position being introduced to the community during a final round of interviews this week. James “Jamie” Benson, superintendent at River Valley School District in Spring Green; Paul Mielke, principal at West Allis Central High School; and Zaspel are being considered to succeed District Administrator Dr. James Fitzpatrick, who is retiring this June after 14 years. “I think there are some people out there that say, ‘well, we don’t want you to leave the high school,’” Zaspel acknowledged during Wednesday’s “meet and

greet” in the Fort Atkinson High School IMC. “There was a part of me that said ‘I don’t want to leave the high school,’ and there’s always going to be a part of me that is going to say that.” He noted that he expressed the same doubt while serving as principal both at the Rockwell Elementary and Fort Atkinson Middle schools, and when he left the classroom setting as a teacher. “But it’s the right thing for me to do and I’m the right guy for the job — I am,” Zaspel stated matter-of-factly. “I’m a capable, professional leader. My focus is learning.” He said he hopes the community can support him because as(Continued on page 7)

JEFFERSON 507 S. Main St., Jefferson

920-674-5727

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