Verona Press The
Thursday, December 20, 2018 • Vol. 54, No. 31 • Verona, WI • Hometown USA • ConnectVerona.com • $1.25
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Verona Area School District
Boundary plan can get ‘creative’ SCOTT GIRARD Unified Newspaper Group
The committee recommending new school attendance areas will have “flexibility” to consider possibilities that were initially out of its purview. The school board declined Monday to rule out a trio of ideas proposed by consultant Mark Roffers – one that would have one elementary with grades K-2 and the other grades 3-5, another that would house the entire Two Way Immersion program at a single site and a plan to intentionally send two schools toward exceeding their enrollment
Future meetings All meetings are from 6-8:30 p.m. at the administration building, 700 N. Main St. Tuesday, Jan. 8 Tuesday, Jan. 29 Tuesday, Feb. 12 Monday, Feb. 25 Tuesday, March 12 Tuesday, March 19
capacity. Previously, the board had indicated such work as proposing programming changes and planning around referendums was not part of the job of the 29-member Attendance Area Advisory Committee. But Roffers told the board
Turn to Boundary/Page 16
Building ‘real-world’ business skills in the classroom VAHS social media marketing class connects students, businesses SCOTT GIRARD Unified Newspaper Group
I f y o u ’r e s c r o l l i n g through your Facebook feed this spring and see an ad for the Rhapsody Arts Center’s sensory friendly concert, you’re probably seeing the work of a Verona Area High School student. The Social Media and Advertising class, taught by Nate Wilkinson, has
spent this month working with clients to create social media advertisements the businesses will later use for various initiatives or expansion. The students broke into groups – or “agencies” – to work with the partnering businesses. Having their creations go out for anyone to see is a lot of pressure for some of the students. VAHS student Lauren Ramsey, whose group is working with the school district on its “Grow Your Own” program, said she was “kind of nervous” about the class, project, as it put
Turn to Class/Page 18 The
Verona Press
Photo by Kimberly Wethal
New Century School first grader Jeannette Rice, a Make-A-Wish recipient, steps out of her classroom with her mother, Desiree Daugherty, right, as fellow first-graders, teacher Emily Utzig (third from right) and other parents cheer her on Wednesday, Dec. 12.
Granting a wish
NCS students cheer on first-grader taking Disney trip KIMBERLY WETHAL Unified Newspaper Group
Just like any other day, New Century School first-grader Jeannette Rice gathered her belongings at 1:15 p.m., Wednesday, Dec. 12, to head home from school more than an hour before the final bell. But it wasn’t like any other school day. Rice’s classmates, from kindergarten to sixth grade, lined the hallways with signs and formed a crowd on the sidewalk in front of
the building for her, chanting “Go, Jeannette!” to send her off as she left school for the last time in 2018. The 7-year-old was allotted a whole week off for a trip to Florida from Dec. 13-20 with her father, Zebanya Rice, and her mother, Desiree Daugherty, for a Make-A-Wish trip to see Disney World and other parks and attractions. “She was bouncing between Disney World and hanging out with Clay Matthews and some of the Packers,” Daugherty said. “She decided Disney
World because she realized Disney World was a few days long, while meeting the Packers was two hours.” Jeannette has Noonan Syndrome, a lifelong genetic condition that limits her growth, creates facial characteristics like low-set ears and wide-set eyes and can be the cause of heart defects. One of those heart defects includes hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, in which the heart muscle is enlarged,
Turn to Wish/Page 8
An unexpected gift from her new community Friend raises money to buy car for Verona woman with cancer SCOTT GIRARD Unified Newspaper Group
Theresa Langton Graewin thought Dec. 13 was just a pizza night with her friend Jessica Popp and their children — they’d eat, exchange presents and enjoy an early holiday celebration.
So when Popp arrived at her Verona apartment for the evening, she didn’t think much of it that Popp asked her to come outside. Within seconds, though, a giant bow on top of a 2010 Mazda made it clear. Popp was giving her a car for Christmas, replacing a seemingly endless line of clunkers she and her family had to deal with. “This is absolutely incredible,” Langton
Turn to Car/Page 9
Jessica Popp, left, raised money in the community to buy a car for Theresa Langton Graewin, who was diagnosed with cancer in October 2017. The pair met earlier this year after Langton Graewin and her family moved to Verona, and became close friends quickly. Photo by Scott Girard
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Single-site TWI, split K-2 and 3-5 sites among potential options