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Oregon Observer The
Right next to a1 FuRnituRe
Oregon School District
‘Snow days’ adding up
Oregon Middle School Madrigal Dinner draws hundreds It was a night of etiquette, royalty and food Feb. 8 and 9. Though the Oregon Middle School Madrigal Dinner king was turned into a duck and court and audience members alike broke the etiquette rules, the evening was a success. Hundreds turned out to observe an interactive medieval performance by seventh- and eighth-graders. They performed songs, rhymes and made the audience laugh with their antics.
Six canceled days means more school in June SCOTT DE LARUELLE Unified Newspaper Group
After the sixth school day out of the last 18 was canceled Tuesday, Oregon School District officials are figuring out how to adjust a schedule that will now extend past the original end of the 2018-19 school year. S c h o o l wa s c a n c e l e d due to snow or low temperatures on four days last month – Jan. 23, 28, 30, 31 — and two so far in February, burning through the district’s allotted three “ s n ow d a y ” m a ke - u p s . It’s started to eat into the planned summer break in June, and could affect professional development days
– Emilie Heidemann
Inside More Madrigal Dinner photos Page 2
for staff. While Friday, June 7, is the last day for seniors, the rest of the students are scheduled through a halfday on Wednesday, June 12, that will now likely be extended to a full day, with classes also on Thursday and Friday. “The week after graduation, we likely will be in session for all of those days,” Busler said. Despite the wishes of some Dane County public school superintendents who sent Gov. Tony Evers a letter, there will be no reprieve from him on waiving a pair of “cold days” in January when schools were closed. “It looks like that’s not going to carry the day,” district superintendent Brian Busler told school board members Monday night.
Turn to Weather/Page 13
Village of Brooklyn
Photo by Emilie Heidemann
Eighth-grader Ezekiel Jeske plays the Oregon Middle School Madrigal Dinner jester as he reads dinner etiquette rules to the audience Feb. 8. The court behind him is not following the rules.
Primary Feb. 19 for Brooklyn president ALEXANDER CRAMER
Inside
Unified Newspaper Group
Oregon School District
OASIS continues to evolve in 2-year-old space EMILIE HEIDEMANN Unified Newspaper Group
Since the Oregon Alternative School and Integrated Studies program got a space inside Oregon High School two years ago, OASIS students and staff have made it their home. While the space already has a kitchen, staff recently added a own food pantry after teaming up with the Oregon Area Food Pantry. OASIS, which the Oregon School
we are in a unique position to be able to cook, eat have meals together and teach kitchen techniques,” he wrote the Observer in an email. Tynan said after a tour and a couple of meetings with food pantry officials, “We realized we could meet multiple needs if we offered pantry resources at OASIS.” “The pantry could offer food to families with children and we could offer a larger array of food throughout the day,” he said. “It was an immediate win-win and our students have been able to access pantry resources throughout the day, bring
Turn to OASIS/Page 7
Interim president appointed Page 3 Candidate questionnaires Page 14 community building, 102 North Rutland Ave. Bakken is a project manager with a bachelor’s of business administration in operations and supply chain management, according to a questionnaire he returned
Turn to Primary/Page 3
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Alternative high school adds food pantry
District started in 2008 to better suit students who don’t benefit from the traditional classroom model, was housed in the community sports arena before the fall of 2017, when it moved inside the high school during the year-long renovation. It’s an open space equipped with small-group instructional rooms, computers, a kitchen, a community gathering room, media center and now a food pantry. Last year, teacher Tim Tynan started a partnership with the Oregon Area Food Pantry, which he said fits right into the district’s “whole child” approach to learning “Because (OASIS) has a kitchen,
The primary election for the next Brooklyn Village President is Tuesday, Feb. 19. Voters will have the chance to choose a single candidate with the top two vote-getters advancing to the April 2 general election. Jim Bakken, Brit Springer and Kyle Smith are candidates on the ballot, though the last elected president successfully waged a write-in campaign in 2017. Clayton Schulz resigned the presidency Jan. 31, and the winner of the April election will succeed Todd Klahn, who was named president at the Feb. 11 Village Board meeting. The polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. at the