ALUMNI MAGAZINE TAKING A LOOK AT THE TRADITIONS THAT MAKE PRAIRIE, PRAIRIE (P. 10) CREATURE COMFORTS: Meet the Pets of Prairie (P. 4) ALUMNI WEEKEND 2022: Everything You Need to Know Before Coming Home (P. 20) SPRING 2022 FOREVER TIMELESS
P.Contents03LetterFromthe Head of School P. 04 Creature Comforts P. 06 Faculty Notes P. 08 Compelled to Coach: David Reske ’16 Returns the Favor P. 10 Family Traditions P. 14 State of the Art P. 20 A Weekend to Remember: Premiere and Alumni Weekend P. 22 Alumni Notes Campus Happenings P. 26 Cracking the Code P. 28 Prairie Makeover P. 30 Making Waves P. 32 Name That Road Trip! THe LasT Word P. 35 Innovation in the Face of Adversity ConTribuTors Editor:Brendan J. O’Brien Assistant Photographer:Designer:BarbaraEditor:VolbrechtAustinGundlachJeffWilson/Varitay Studios Authors:BarbVolbrechtDr.NatCoffmanBrendanJ.O’Brien
From typewriters and circuit boards to robotics and video game design, technology at Prairie has changed a lot over the years. However, no matter how large the leap in innovation, one thing that has remained the same is how these tools are used – to create, to make connections, to send a small ripple out into the world. To learn more about how Middle School students helped their teacher design a video game, see page 30. To learn more about how Kindergarten has rewired their curriculum to include robotics, see page 26.
– Nat Coffman, Ed.D.
From the Head of School
Dear Prairie Families: Home is usually a word that evokes an array of feelings and memories. It calls to mind familiar locations, sounds, foods, or experiences that connect us to our past and fill our daily lives. There are also people who inspire the feelings of home: family, friends, colleagues, teachers, and mentors who both support and challenge us as we continually grow and evolve into better versions of ourselves. I hope that all of you reading this today recall elements of your Prairie experience that involve positive feelings of home.
This June, we are proud to host a weekend of events designed to bring our alumni, retired faculty, and friends back home to Prairie – and we hope you will join us, not only to see new and familiar spaces, but to rekindle cherished connections. Whether it’s been months or years since you were last on campus, you will see that the school has continued to change and improve. We are proud to have been fully in-person since August 10th, 2020; to have opened the Leipold Johnson Early Childhood Center in the fall of 2021; to have put on amazing performances and won athletic championships throughout the pandemic; and to have continued to welcome interesting new families and faculty to our community. We think that even in our new spaces, you will feel right at home – we can’t wait to celebrate with you the first weekend in June.
While we have a spectacular facility in a beautiful location, it is the people who make Prairie, Prairie, and our commitment to one another is directly reflected in how we approach teaching and learning, how we build community, and how we pursue excellence. We have each taken unique paths through our time at Prairie, but our experiences all share an array of impactful relationships.
“We are all at our best when we are known and valued, and I hope you feel – as I do – that Prairie’s relationshipbased approach to the pursuit of excellence has played a significant role in shaping our lives for the better.”
Although our school has evolved and expanded over the past fifty-seven years, what remains constant is more than the light-filled, red-brick halls and the green fields. It is the values of respect, trust, and community — the relationships and the people that connect our present to our past. You are an important part of Prairie’s past, present, and future, and we look forward to welcoming you back in June.
NathanielSincerely, W. Coffman, Ed.D. Head of School & President
A teacher who challenged you to be your best or supported you through a rough patch. A coach who helped you master a new skill and understand what it means to be part of a team. A classmate who encouraged you to dig deeper into a topic you loved and built a lifelong friendship with you. We are all at our best when we are known and valued, and I hope you feel – as I do –that Prairie’s relationship-based approach to the pursuit of excellence has played a significant role in shaping our lives for the better.
THE BELL FILE Years at Prairie: 5½ Past Life: Prior to arriving at Prairie, Bell lived in a home with autistic boys. When the family felt she was growing too large, she was returned to her trainer and ultimately made her way to Wind Point.
Team Player: Bell is a member of Prairie’s COMPASS team, the interdisciplinary support group that assists with numerous academic, social, and emotional needs.
4 | prairieschool.com
— By Barb Volbrecht, Communication Manager
You’ve Got Mail: Bell has her own mailbox in the Primary School that Prairie’s youngest students can use to send her a note or letter.
Short for Bellamy, Bell is a white doodle that hangs out in the Middle School office a few days per week, passing her time touching the lives of students, faculty, and staff.
Throughout the years a lot of dogs have passed through Prairie’s hallways, but none have been as purposeful or impactful as Bell, our comfort dog.
From sitting patiently with kids who might be having a bad day, to visiting classrooms in an effort to ease test anxiety, to helping students conquer a fear of dogs, wherever there’s a need for comfort, Bell is there.
Any pet owner will tell you that their animals are more than just pets, they’re members of the family. The same goes for Bell – students and faculty from all three divisions routinely stop down to see if Bell is home for a quick head scratch or a “Whatsnuggle.an animal brings out in people can be a bit of an escape from whatever is bothering them,” says Boero. “She meets the needs of a whole variety of ages in a really loving way.”
“She has a habit of when she comes into the room, she’ll lean next to you,” says Kathy Boero, Head of Middle School and Bell’s handler. “When it’s somebody who needs that extra support, that physical connection, she keeps that intact with the person. The body language is indescribable, but you feel it when you see that close connection.”
ComfortsCreature
PRAIRIE IS HOME TO PLENTY OF FURRY, FISHY FRIENDS
The fish are healthy and happy to put on a show whenever students and faculty stop to study the clear waters and variety of species.
I chose the axolotl this fall because it is such an interesting animal - a salamander that spends all of its life in the water, arrested in an adolescent state. That is, the axolotl is neotenous, maintaining its larval form throughout its life and never losing its gills.
BOY, THESE STUDENTS AXOLOTL QUESTIONS
Additionally, we have some aquatic plants beautifying the space, including a healthy blanket of duckweed and some waterweed used in AP Biology labs. I love catching students staring into the tank watching the axolotl…even if it means they’re not fully engaged in my lesson. Observing plant and animal life in the classroom leads to observation in our daily lives. The questions students wonder, the things they Google and excitedly share – I get to witness so many curiosities that come with introducing classroom pets to our space.
In recent years, the watery home was converted into a sustainable, living reef aquarium in an effort to practice true reef conservation.
Nolan is an aquatic animal enthusiast and has given generously both of his time and resources. He created the current aquascape, tests the water, does the water changes, and helps me troubleshoot other challenges as they arise.
I previously had (and still have) a hissing cockroach in my classroom, and the response to anything living that the students can watch or handle is always positive. It gave me the idea to add a new animal each year.
I brought the axolotl to the classroom as a six-week-old tiny little guy and it has thrived in its new home, thanks to the help of Nolan Gasser ’25.
Along with the axolotl, the tank started with four adult snails that continually reproduce. It’s neat to see the snail eggs along the corner walls of the tank and the tiniest of snails that occupy the driftwood, rocks and other surfaces.
For years now, ducks have been laying eggs and hatching ducklings in the Giving Garden. However, since you can enter the garden only from inside the building, on more than one occasion the ducklings – unable to fly and under the scrutiny of nearby hawks – have been carefully coaxed out Door #4 by faculty members. DID YOU KNOW?
By Sarah Turek, Upper School Science Teacher
PRAIRIE’S HOME TO SALTWATER FISH, LIVE CORAL, AND INVERTEBRATES
—
The lighting was upgraded to full spectrum marine lighting to support the growth of live coral colonies; as the coral grows, it will be cultivated and relocated to other aquariums, preventing the disruption of our actual planet’s oceans.
Dedicated in memory of student Andrei Rutkowski, the Prairie fish tank is not technically a fish tank. It’s a grow-out tank for live coral and invertebrates.
Corals coming out of Prairie’s tank will be recognized as aqua cultured animals and will receive appreciation for being responsibly raised in captivity. The tank has anemones as well – invertebrates that reproduce on their own in these optimal water conditions.
[B]
Faculty Notes A B
“Through meditation, yoga, workshops and educational sessions C
CHRISTINE HENKE-MUELLER , Middle School Teacher, attended the annual Peace and Justice Studies Association (PJSA) Conference and presented on the role teachers play in fostering Health, Equity and Peacebuilding. The PJSA is a non-profit organization focused on Peace Research, Education and Development, and Peace Studies. Her paper, Empathetic Citizens: The Role of Service-Learning, builds on her research as part of her doctoral dissertation. [D]
In October
DR. JOHN FRENCH , Upper School History Teacher, was chosen to participate in Forward 48, a Milwaukeebased leadership development program that pairs the city’s “most influential professional and civic leaders with today’s rising stars” as a way to share their wisdom, experience, and inspiration. This fall’s faculty included, among others, Barry Alvarez, Director of Athletics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison; Dr. Joan Prince, Vice Chancellor of Global Inclusion and Engagement at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee; and Julia Taylor, President of The Greater Milwaukee Committee. [C]
This fall
SUSAN HOLUM , Head of Primary School, completed the fourth of four classes to earn her Certificate in School Management and Leadership (CSML) through a collaboration between Harvard Business School and Harvard Graduate School of
In February
JAMIE BREIWICK , Instrumental Music Teacher, held a release party for his new coffee table book Sound Museum at The Ivy House in Milwaukee. The evening also served as a release party for the new album from the jazz trio KASE, of which Breiwick is a member with Jordan Lee and John TheChristensen.group’simprovisational album Live At The Opera House is, as The Shepherd Express calls it, “a byproduct of the slew of virtual concerts that were prevalent at the beginning of the pandemic, with a unique experience that was captured while performing at the Stoughton Opera house for a broadcast.” [A]
I learned how to incorporate naturalistic health and wellness practices into all facets of my life: mind, body, and soul,” she says. “This is an ever continuing journey of self care and connection I am always practicing and even enjoy sharing with my students through yoga and mindfulness.”
6 | prairieschool.com
In November KELSEY CASSIDY , 1st Grade Teacher, attended a wellness retreat in Carefree, Arizona, hosted by Deepak Chopra. The focus was developing an understanding of Ayurvedic Healing.
IN MEMORIAM On February 23rd, Maureen Pape, former Prairie School Math Teacher, passed away suddenly at her home in Scottsdale, Arizona. She was 73 years old. Maureen taught at Prairie from 1985 until 1996 when her family relocated to Scottsdale.
BILL REID ’73 , Artist-in-Residence, and one of the custom creations for which he’s known – a pedal car – appear in the new Wisconsin art history book A Creative Place, co-authored by Thomas D. Lidtke and Annemarie Sawkins. Later in the book the reader also finds references to Prairie, “a progressive private preparatory school” in Racine, plus mentions of Imogene P. Johnson, Willie Hilpert, Kent Ipsen, Dave Drewek, and Prairie’s glassblowing studio, art library, and visiting artist series. [E]
Education. Bridging business and education, the CSML program for PreK-12 leaders focuses on the management of teams and providing school leaders with the skills and knowledge to effectively lead and effect change in their institutions. The four classes are Leading Change, Leading School Strategy and Innovation, Leading People, and Leading Learning.
Artsonia strives to provide art educators a platform to inspire one another. We could not thrive without the commitment and ingenuity of teachers like Holly Wolf-Mattick. We applaud your school’s commitment to providing young minds a quality art education.” [F]
HOLLY WOLF-MATTICK , Fine Arts Teacher and Glassblowing Manager, was selected to receive an Art Education Leadership Award from Artsonia, the world’s largest collection of online student art portfolios. Says Artsonia CEO Jim Meyers, “The Art Education Leadership Award honors pioneers in the art education community who continually inspire their peers through their online school gallery on Artsonia. Mrs. Wolf-Mattick’s digital gallery exhibits true innovation, creativity, and dedication. Her students are fortunate to receive such a high-quality art education and her peers look to her for guidance.
D E F
Visit cedarburgartmuseum.org/a-creative-place for more information.
LYNN ZOBEL , Primary School Assistant, is undergoing training to become an Episcopal Deacon. She will be ordained in May.
8 | prairieschool.com
WHIP and wOBA and WAR. More and more baseball is becoming a sport dominated by data.
“Going through middle school and high school sports here I had really good coaches,” says David Reske ’16, Varsity Baseball Assistant. “I had Coach Oakland for soccer and Coach Mallwitz for baseball and they both set really good examples of how you can impact a kid,” Reske says.
Funny that the most important aspect of the game doesn’t have a thing to do with statistics.
Reske’s love for baseball has been lifelong. After graduating from Prairie he attended Marquette University where he played four years for the school’s club team. After graduation from MU, he returned to Prairie to teach 4th grade and wasted little time in finding his way to the dugout.
“Coach Mallwitz was great with relationships,” he says. “We stayed in touch after high school. Just how much love he showed his players not only as athletes, but as people off the field. That’s something I’ve tried to emulate. Not just ‘I’m your coach,’ but ‘do you need help with school?’ ‘Do you need help looking at colleges?’ ‘Do you need help with whatever it might be?’”
“I’ve grown up loving baseball my entire life. I’m doing what I can to help kids feel the same so they become the ones passing that love down in the future,” he says. “I want to be the reason that even if a kid doesn’t necessarily have a ton of success, they’re still considering coming back out next year just because they enjoyed playing and being on the team.”
And while numbers in baseball aren’t going away, the reasons David Reske fell in love with our national pastime – the beauty, the camaraderie, the relationships – will remain his priority as long as he puts on a jersey.
TOCOMPELLEDCOACH
DAVID RESKE ’16 RETURNS THE FAVOR — By Brendan J. O’Brien, Director of Communication
C E L E B R A T I N G W I T H A L U M N I I N 2 0 2 2 ! 5 prairieschool.com/premiere for more information visit: Contact Austin Gundlach, Assistant Director of Advancement: 262.752.2524 // agundlach@prairieschool.com QUESTIONS? WANT TO GET INVOLVED?
Prairie
2022 Join us for Premiere 2022:
Some
Your
Premie re Thrive, an evening to support the Scholarship Program. fifty years ago, in 1971, the very first Prairie fundraiser – a rummage sale – took shape from a desire to make Prairie more accessible. Today that blueprint has morphed into Prairie Premiere, and that dream continues as more and more deserving students are able to experience the benefits of a Prairie education. support of Premiere makes Prairie possible.
“Back in the old days, the furnace was breaking down all the time,” remembers Bill Reid ’73, Prairie’s Artist-In-Residence. “We had problems with the mechanics of it. There were so few, probably nobody knew how to put it together.”
TRADITION: GLASSBLOWING
— By Barb Volbrecht, Communication Manager
You’re probably well aware of the role glassblowing has played in Prairie’s artistic evolution. However, you might not know the medium’s start here was anything but smooth.
— By The Prairie School Faculty
10 | prairieschool.com
“We used to get glass from Uncle Hurricane in West Virginia or something. It was pretty crummy,” Reid says. “…where you had to get (out) the cigarette butts,” adds InWolf-Mattick.thoseearlydays it was common for Drewek to repurpose materials like floor sweepings from local factories for classroom projects. The teachers weren’t picky...just innovative. And from those humble beginnings, fueled by determination and dirty glass, Drewek and fellow art stalwart Kevin Pearson turned Prairie into a hotbed of creativity, a place where expression is encouraged and individuality is Today,embraced.Prairie students have any number of mediums with which to create – drawing, painting, printmaking, fiber, metal relief, ceramics, sculpture, mixed media, photography, digital design, 3D printing and laser Glowforge – but The Prairie community is close. To some, it even feels like a family. And like any family, Prairie has its share of customs that have been passed down over the years, habits that have formed into institutional markers, traditions that have brought us closer together. From glassblowing to graduation, members of the school’s faculty share a few of their favorites in the pages that follow.
“They basically started glass here when the movement was just beginning. It was trial and error, self-taught,” says Holly WolfMattick, Glassblowing Studio
America’s Studio Glass movement began in Madison in the 1960’s and Dave Drewek, legendary TPS art teacher, brought the activity to Prairie shortly thereafter. [A]
tfamilyraditions
AndManager.thematerials students used back then weren’t the greatest.
Students in 3rd and 4th Grade use the studio to create a glass fossil project where molten glass is dripped onto nature items they’ve gathered; in Middle School students use the studio to create everything from sun catchers to blown ornaments, learning about techniques like hot casting, solid working, glassblowing, and coldworking; students in Upper School can enroll in a dedicated Glassblowing Studio elective, which many do. Several times.
MULTICULTURAL FAIR
the magic unfolding inside the Dave M. Drewek Glassblowing Studio continues to captivate everyone on campus.
BUDDY PROGRAM
— By McKenzie Weaver, Director of the SRC/Librarian
“It’s a nice, small class so students get a lot of hands-on time,” says WolfEvenMattick.inthis day and age of cell phones and waning attention spans, it’s common, Wolf-Mattick says, for students to catch the “glass bug,” an affliction many students cure by spending their free time fusing, slumping, and kilncasting, furthering a legacy started nearly sixty years ago.
Buddy activities bring our diverse student body and learning together. Big and little, young and old(er), buddy activities at Prairie unite students in a singular purpose to benefit not only the Prairie community but the larger Racine area. By reading together, carving pumpkin, making cards for veterans and seniors, and playing games, student buddies create bonds across divisions that increase feelings of being known and valued. There are few things more heartwarming than seeing a third-grade student’s beaming smile when acting as an older buddy for the first time or watching an Upper School student listen to the creative ideas of their sixth-grade buddy. Our warm, understanding, mission-driven community is what makes Prairie unique, and buddy activities are special examples.
— By Austin Gundlach, Assistant Director of Advancement Community is a cornerstone of Prairie’s mission. The Multicultural Fair is a true celebration of diversity that makes Prairie such a unique home. Walking through the library, you will visit dozens of different countries, learning about their cultures, holidays, and best of all...their cuisine.
Students and families come to proudly share their rich heritage with eager students and faculty alike.
A
— By Amber Hearn, Assistant Director of Annual Giving
By Brendan J. O’Brien, Director of Communication
12 | prairieschool.com
All traditions have to start somewhere, and I’m hopeful the new trend of graduates choosing a family member to present their diploma sticks around for a while. You can feel the intensity of the emotion – the joy, the pride, the happiness, the connection – passing between graduate and presenter as the student marks the end of one chapter and the beginning of another. \ tr -’di-sh n \
—
PRESENTING DIPLOMAS
An inherited, established, or customary pattern of thought, action, or behavior.
Laughing children, happy parents; crying children, nervous parents –emotions run deep on Opening Day! Regardless of the specific family, excitement in the school is palpable. It’s almost as though the building has been holding its breath over the summer months. From the crisp, colorful bulletin boards in the Primary School, to the sounds of wooden lockers banging shut in the Middle School, to Upper School students claiming space in their grade-specific “coves,” Opening Day is by far my favorite tradition!
We all know going to Prairie is awesome. However, the last day of school is still the last day of school and summer is still summer. Every Field Day, the excitement of that glorious freedom – just hours away – manifests itself in the form of giggles and screams and you-can’t-catch-me’s as students streak across campus. Home run derby, relay races, tag, water balloons, popsicles. It’s all here. A sweet reward for an awesome year mixed together with the mystery and allure of what summer has in store, all of it experienced with a community that is so good at finding ways to grow closer.
OPENING DAY
—
By Molly Lofquist Johnson, Sr. Director of Admission
e e
FIELD DAY
tradition
The icing on the cake is when one of our graduates stops and thanks a former teacher from Primary or Middle School, someone who shaped them or helped them or challenged them years ago. Senior Send-Off epitomizes some of the best things about TPS: care for those around us, the importance of celebrating one another, the power of long-standing relationships, and the excitement of taking the next big leap with your community cheering you on.
HALLOWEEN PARADE
SENIOR SEND-OFF
— By Aliya Pitts, Chief Advancement Officer
All of the events that bring our entire student body together are special, but my favorite is, hands down, Senior Send-Off. I love seeing our graduates decked out in their college gear, and hearing their friends - many of whom have known one another for fifteen years - talk about them during the slideshow afterwards is equal parts funny and touching. There’s so much joy in watching our younger students high-five the big kids walking down the path that symbolizes their launch from Prairie into the real world.
— By Callie Atanasoff, Director of External Relations
You hear the drum before you see it. A rhythmic thump-thump-thump, sometimes joined by the shake of a tambourine. And then, around the corner comes a wisp of iridescent fabric from a princess gown. Or the fuzzy paws of a teddy bear. Or the hollow eyes of a ghost. Prairie’s Halloween Parade is one of my favorite traditions - a time for every student, particularly those in Primary School, to pull out their inner superhero or fairytale character and traipse through the hallways for all to admire. They are always met with “oohs” and “ahhs” and nothing could be sweeter than the Early School students bringing up the rear. It doesn’t get better than a four-year-old asking if you like their Tinkerbell wings or Avengers shield. The answer, of course, is always “yes.”
Recently, we sat down with Schmitz in her favorite space, the Upper School art room, as she looked at the aforementioned pieces and provided us with some background on their creation.
Students across all three divisions recently placed an impressive 10 pieces in the Wisconsin State Art Show held in Madison from March 12th-25th, and three Upper School artists also earned Silver Key recognition in the national Scholastic Art competition. These are just the latest accomplishments for a Visual Arts Department that continues to produce.
Even as Mother Nature has continued to tinker with her drizzles and her snow flurries this spring, creativity is blooming in the art room. And the blossoms are as beautiful as ever.
— By Brendan J. O’Brien, Director of Communication Warmth and comfort and safety. A little sanity, perhaps. Peace of mind. Some inspiration. These are things we look for in our favorite, most sought-out spaces. For decades, the Prairie art room has served as a sanctuary for students seeking a refuge where they can decompress and create.
14 | prairieschool.com
“I always feel incredibly motivated to make sure our program is at the highest standard,” says Vicki Schmitz, Art Department Chair. “Whenever I talk to people who knew Dave [Drewek] or Kevin [Pearson] they have such wonderful things to say about who they were as people and teachers. So, to me, it’s important we have a strong, well-rounded program that – even if we’re not doing the exact same things they did – it’s trying to reach that caliber and the standard they set.”
“One of the things that’s really important to us is that the students feel at home in this space,” said Vicki Schmitz, Art Department Chair. “They should feel they can come over here and be themselves.”
ofstatetheART
STUDENTS GET CREATIVE – AND COMFORTABLE – IN THE ART ROOM
TH e arT room offiCe by TyLer sTaHL ’22: Tyler has been applying to different art schools and, one day last fall, said, “I need a drawing of an interior space. And I need it tomorrow.” So I told him to just sit down in the office and draw the office. This one is super special to me because there’s my desk and there are some pots and pans that were hung from the ceiling by some advisees a few years ago and that’s my lunch box. All of this stuff has a little story to it and I think people appreciate this piece because it just looks very lived in. It’s a spectacular drawing.
sunfLoWer by georgia pi TTs, 1sT grade: This is one of my favorite lessons Katie White does with the 1st grade students. She talks about Van Gogh and they use his sunflower paintings as a starting point. She gives them some parameters with the inspiration, but then really lets them have a lot of choice and voice when it comes to things like patterns and colors.
sH rimp by simon Tro Cke ’22: This is from another AP student and stemmed from an assignment last fall when I brought in a bunch of gourds and pumpkins and we did some still life work. The student was really pleased with it and I was as well. This student’s work tends to be really conceptual so the fact they can balance the technical with the ideas, I think they are really coming into their own. It’s really pretty and the colors are spot on and the little bits of brushwork make you want to keep looking.
16 | prairieschool.com
sLumped boWL Wi TH CoLor sWaTCH es by emma degrooT ’22: For this, students cut apart sheets of different colored glass and lay out their design before a two-step process in the kiln. One thing about glass – there’s a lot of behind-the-scenes work. I’m looking at this and thinking, man, that took a lot of time. Hopefully one thing students are walking away with is an appreciation for what goes into making a piece of art. fLoWer by giuLiana farbo, 2nd grade: Another thing I love about the Primary School program is Holly [Wolf-Mattick] and Katie work with the kids using a variety of materials. They don’t do just drawing or just painting. This is a nice example of really putting a lot of things together to show kids art doesn’t have to be just one thing. It can be multimedia. sgraffi To boWL by saraH koker ’23: This was one of my favorite pieces from ceramics first semester. It’s called sgraffito: you paint a layer of glaze onto an object you’ve made and then scratch through it to create an image. This is a bowl and she’s created the image of the bear inside.
meTaL reLief animaL porT rai T by Juana raimondi, 4TH grade: This is a 4th grade project where they take this thick metal foil and do these textural relief images of animals. And that’s a neat way of bridging drawing and painting into sculpture because the material is a little three-dimensional and it’s something the kids don’t really work with until 4th grade. It’s this special new introduction, a little more sophisticated, as they get towards the end of Primary School.
bLue Café pain T ing by eLLie JossarT ’22: AP Studio is our most advanced visual arts course and this year there are eight kids in the class. It’s where you spend a year building a portfolio, say twenty pieces, and then send it out.
Candy Cane Vase by madeLine neLson ’22: Because I’ve watched Holly demo and work with the kids I really get the feel for when they’re turning the pipe – like that swirl you see. They turn the pipe to keep it hot, but the way the swirl goes in there it just has this dynamic feel. Even though it’s a solid, static piece, it has a sort of chasm energy to it.
Ellie’s portfolio is really investigating architectural spaces, both interior and exterior. So you can see this one looks like it’s a sort of rainy, cool outdoor scene with the cooler colors contrasted with a really warm indoor color scheme to make the café appear very inviting.
18 | prairieschool.com
generaT ionaL inspiraT ion by emmeTT san TaLuCia ’24: Prairie used to have a darkroom which we’ve reconstructed into a screen printing area. We didn’t want to let go of photo, we just wanted to bring it into the present with a focus on digital photography. The photography class has four main units and one of them is portraiture which you see here. This really does look like a genuine interaction, as if they’re almost getting ready to pose, but instead of showing the posed picture, the student chose this moment either right before or right after, which is far more authentic capture.
CoW ink WasH by CLara baT es ’22: We open the semester with an ink wash, which is basically a simplified version of painting where you take ink and water it down to different levels to make it darker and lighter. In classic overachieving Prairie student form, Clara did three cows instead of just one. But this one was her favorite.
unsound TeaL door by CaLLaHan poLzin ’23: I really love the title of this one. I have no idea where this place is, but it’s a cool photograph. I saw this picture and I know who took it and I thought, “Okay, where did he find this thing? What was he doing when he came across this?” To know kids are outside of the building thinking about art, it’s like, “okay, that’s cool.’”
sH ip draWing by mason san TaLuCia ’22: This is from another one of our AP students. I think he’s going into some sort of video game design, and he has these drawings where in each one he can explain to you who the characters are, where they’re at in the game, who’s battling who and why – behind each work is a story. And it’s a long one. His drawing skills have improved so much this year. The level of detail and contrast just gets better every time. This one I like because the longer you look, the more surprises you come across.
TexT ure box by aLex marek, 8TH grade: This is a slab box that Izzi [Buikus] does with the kids. It’s really focused on texture and a few of the technical skills of slab building. I think in some schools it’s easy to do a pinch pot a hundred times and that’s as far as they go with clay. This is a nice advanced project for the Middle School level that gives them a taste of what they might experience in Upper School.
T
his is an adulT s only even T
When: Friday, June 3rd from 4:00 - 6:00 PM Where: Wingspread Cost: $35/person Alumni Ambassadors: Dick Coates ’72 and Bill Keland ’73 When you combine the rich history, architecture, and scenery of Wingspread with Prairie School alumni from the 1970’s and 80’s, it is certain to be a reunion for the books! Come to reminisce with your classmates, take a tour, partake in food and drink, and listen to live music: the perfect way to kick off Alumni Weekend.
T aking f Lig HT : a C e LebraT ion of TH e 1970’ s & 1980’ s
C L ass of 1985 a f T er p ar T y
When: Friday, June 3rd from 6:00 - 8:30 PM Where: Hot Shop Glass Cost: $5/adult Alumni Ambassador: Amanda Paffrath ’85 Glassblowing is iconically Prairie, which makes Hot Shop Glass – owned by Amanda Paffrath ’85 – a fitting addition to the weekend lineup. ’85 grads and their families are invited for drinks and appetizers at a private reception, but all TPS alumni are more than welcome to stop by for glassblowing demonstrations as part of Downtown Racine’s
his is a family friendly even T
First Friday. k e V in W i LL C e LebraT ion
T his is a family friendly even T When: Friday, June 3rd from 7:00 - 9:00 PM (Rain or Shine) Where: River Bend Nature Center
T
Alumni Ambassador: Pat Wagner ’87 He tried to retire during the pandemic with as little fanfare as possible. Obviously, we couldn’t let that happen. Join us under the pavilion for a special tribute to one of the most beloved and down-to-earth educators in TPS history. Enjoy cocktails (adult and kiddie) and late-night snacks by a blazing campfire as we honor our colleague, coach, and friend...Kevin-style. Friday
T his is an adulT s only even T
For friendly competition or to keep the kids busy, discounted rounds of mini golf can be purchased for any TPS guest!SaturdaySundayo pen H ouse & a L umni / f aC u LT y b run CH T his is a family friendly even T
Familiar faces and spaces: they are the reasons for returning, the reasons Prairie feels like home. Saturday morning begins by reconnecting you with the people who make Prairie, Prairie. Current and former TPS faculty and all of our alumni are invited to stop by, grab one of Carol’s cinnamon rolls at a continental brunch, and make your way through the halls on a self-guided tour. Visit with the people that bring back all those memories in spaces both familiar and new. p remiere 2022
Alumni Ambassadors: Heather Morris ’97, Shannon Watt ’01, Megan McGuire ’02 and Austin Schultz ’04 Wrap up your weekend with a family celebration at Buddy’s Sports Bar and Grill/Mulligan’s Mini Golf. A lunch spread will be provided, and you won’t want to miss the chance to sip on Buddy’s famous Bloody Marys (available at the cash bar).
When: Saturday, June 4th from 5:00 PM - Late Where: The Prairie School’s Johnson Athletic Center Cost (alumni rate): $125/person Come celebrate with the entire Prairie community at Premiere, a gala featuring silent and live auctions, a gallery of student artwork, games, a fabulous meal, and live music. Every dollar raised the night of Premiere supports Prairie’s scholarship program, creating opportunities for more students to experience a TPS prairieschool.comeducation.
alumni-weekend REGISTER ONLINE:
f ore V er L inked : a C e LebraT ion of TH e 1990’ s & 2000’ s
When: Saturday, June 4th from 9:30 - 11:30 AM
Where: The Prairie Campus Faculty Ambassadors: Pat Badger and Everett McKinney
When: Sunday, June 5th from 11:00 AM - 1:00 PM (Rain or Shine) Where: Buddy’s Sports Bar and Grill/Mulligan’s Mini Golf
T his is a family friendly even T
/
Jacob Ansari ’96 serves on the Executive Leadership team at Schellman, a worldwide leader in IT attestation and compliance services. Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, he was quoted in the March 21st Forbes story “Biden Reiterates Importance for Companies To Immediately Protect Themselves Against Potential Russian Cyberattacks.”
Dr. Stephen Schmidt ’85 has been Professor of Economics at Union College in Schenectady, New York, since 1994. He earned his Ph.D. from Stanford University. He is currently the chair of the Faculty Executive Committee, and has served as chair of the Economics Department, the Social Sciences Division, and the Student Affairs Council, and as the college’s Director of Assessment.
Janice Martin ’85 starred as Kat in the Skylight Music Theatre’s recent run of Ernest Shackleton Loves Me. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel called the show “a buoyant musical romance on ice.” Per her bio in the show program, “[Martin] tours the country with her award-winning A Janice Martin Cirque Show, showcasing her multi-talents as violinist, pianist, singer and acrobatic aerialist. She performs as a symphony orchestra soloist with classical repertoire, as well as her pops shows, An Evening with Janice Martin, Dear Mr. Gershwin and Paganini Mania.”
2000 s Angeline Gragasian ’03 is busy. The writer and filmmaker is a professor at The Parsons School of Design, The New School in New York City. She is also the founder and director of Happy Family Night Market, a celebration of Asian food, education, and art. The nonprofit organization is sponsored by the New York Foundation for the Arts.
Per the website, “Happy Family celebrates
Further, other compliance, governance, or guidance efforts have recommended or required these practices for years.”
22 | prairieschool.com
1990 s Michael Stohler, Ph.D., ’92, became Chief Investment Officer of the Wisconsin Foundation and Alumni Association in September 2021. Prior to this role, he was a managing director of investments at Washington University (St. Louis) Investment Management Company (WUIMC). Stohler received his Ph.D. in Physics from Purdue University (2002), MBA from New York University’s Stern School of Business (2006), and BA from St. Olaf College (1996). He and his wife, Rachel, along with their three children, are excited to be back in Wisconsin.
Alumni Notes
Said Ansari, “All of the recommendations made by the White House are good, even if none are revolutionary. Security professionals have been advocating for these sorts of practices as key business priorities for decades and consistently play catch up against things like reducing cost or improving time to market.
1970 s Fred Bultman ’72 is retired. He earned his Bachelor of Arts from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and his Certificate in Government Management from the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia. He also attended the United States Army Command and General Staff College. Joel Kamerman ’74 is the retired founder and president of LaCie, an American-French computer hardware company. Per the company’s Wikipedia page, Kamerman founded the company on three principles: profit was more important than revenue; product differentiation would create profit; and vertical integration was key to La Cie’s long-term viability. He earned his Bachelor’s and Master’s Degree in Computer Science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
1980 s Teresa Bakken-Knox ’81 is a software engineer at Trimble. She earned her Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. Michelle Harn ’81 recently moved to Tennessee. She was previously employed as an Orthopedist with University of Wisconsin Health in Pediatric Ophthalmology and Adult Strabismus in Madison. She earned her Bachelor of Science from the University of Wisconsin-River Falls. She also earned her Master of Science from the University of Florida. Peter Pavalko ’83 is a Property Risk Consultant at Northwestern Mutual. He earned his Bachelor of Science Degree in Environmental Science from St. Norbert College and his Master of Science in Biology from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
Neil Bergquist ’97 is a qualitative market research consultant for Ipsos North America. He earned a joint Bachelor’s Degree (Geography and French) from Middlebury College.
Erin both played the female lead (Victoria Lutz) and served as an Executive Producer on the film.
the Asian diaspora and deepens cross-cultural exchange through food, art, and education. We plan to grow into an arts & cultural cooperative (a co-op) that challenges colonial notions of Asia, and supports emerging Asian and Pacific Islander artists, educators, chefs and social Sinceentrepreneurs.”HappyFamily’s founding in 2018, the organization has hosted 300+ artists, 80 speakers and educators, and 30 chefs and restaurateurs. In 2020 they launched Happy Family Radio, a monthly mixtape series showcasing music of the diaspora.
Gragasian earned a Bachelor of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies from the University of Chicago and her Master of Fine Arts in Screenwriting from the Feirstein Graduate School of Cinema at Brooklyn CollegeToCUNY.learn more about Happy Family, visit www.happyfamilymkt.com.
Logan Ketterer ’05 has signed to play with CF Montréal of the MLS. A fourth-round selection of the Columbus Crew in the 2017 MLS Super Draft, he made three appearances – with two shutouts – last year for the Portland Timbers under the MLS Extreme Hardship waiver in a short-term loan from USL Champion El Paso Locomotive.
“We were looking for another goalkeeper and Logan has the profile we were looking for with experience in MLS and USL,” CF Montréal sporting director Olivier Renard said following the acquisition.
Care, a short film by Erin Ann MacDonald ’04, was named an official selection at the First Glance Film Festival Los Angeles, Malibu International Film Festival, the Austin After Dark Film Festival, and the Idyllwild International Festival of Cinema. The film follows the fictional story of an ICU nurse falsely accused of manslaughter due to negligence in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.
B C A
On March 15th, Mia Pinero ’12 released her debut album Growing Up on all major streaming platforms. The album is the latest accomplishment in a career that has already seen her perform on Broadway (West Side Story, 2020), appear in an episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, and serve as a guest on The Today Show. Her career was profiled by the Racine Journal Times in the March 27th story, “A ‘voice from the gods:’ Racine-area native releases album, stars on ForBroadway.”moreinformation about Mia, visit www.mia-pinero.com. [A] Megan Wolf ’14 will graduate from UVA’s Darden School of Business this May. In January, she was profiled by Darden’s Career Center Blog for a story on how she used the Batten Venture Internship Program to figure out what she’s going to do next. [B] Per the blog, “With the help of Darden’s Batten Venture Internship Program, Megan found a summer experience that did exactly that. She pitched, designed, and ultimately excelled in a brand strategy internship with [solidcore], the boutique fitness company with over 70 studios and expanding across the United States.”
Learn more at www.health.ucdavis.edu. Anne (MacDonald) Azmani ’09 and her husband Youssef opened Anne’s Acres in May. The neighborhood greenhouse resides in the city of Greenfield. Per the company’s website: “It started as a dream. Back when we got married, we had a goal of starting our own business. After five years of marriage and nearly a decade of growing experience, Anne’s Acres came to life. We spent years learning, saving, searching for the right location, and in 2021 we were welcomed by the City of Greenfield. We are a husband and wife team committed to growing flowers of the highest quality. It’s our pleasure to be your neighborhood greenhouse.”
Ashley Woelbing ’09 is a Research and Design Project Manager at Carma Laboratories in Franklin, Wisconsin. She most recently earned her Masters of Business Management with a focus in Organizational Leadership and Development from Alverno College. 2010 s Dr. Terah Hennick ’10 is a resident in Orthopedic Surgery at the UWHospital in Madison. After earning her Bachelor of Science Degree from UW, she attended the University of Central Florida College of Medicine where she earned her Doctor of Medicine before returning to Madison.
Sarah Nelson Potter ’08 is a postdoctoral researcher at MIND Institute at University of California-Davis, where she also completed her doctorate degree.
As stated on MIND’s website, “The UC Davis MIND Institute is a collaborative international research center, committed to the awareness, understanding, prevention, and treatment of the challenges associated with neurodevelopmental disabilities.”
Lauren Rabidoux ’11 is a Senior Recruiter for the Danaher Corporation. She earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Corporate Communication and Sociology from Marquette University.
Kyra Schiele ’11 lives in Chandler, Arizona, and works as a Senior Regional REI Planning Manager for Amazon Logistics. She earned her Bachelor of Science in Operations and Supply Chain Management from Marquette University.
Trista Deuster ’16 works for the Milwaukee Bucks in Live Programming and Entertainment. Sammie Woodward ’16 returned to Prairie this fall as Assistant Coach for the Boys’ Varsity Basketball team. Her appointment was profiled in the January 31st Racine Journal Times story, “Sammie Woodward takes on the challenge of coaching boys.” She also served Prairie’s Admission Office as an Admission Associate this school year, and this spring was hired as a fulltime Middle School physical education teacher for 2022-23. 2020 s Joe Orlowski ’21 graduated from basic military training with the United States Air Force in March. Up next is technical school as a crew chief aboard F35 fighter jets.
To learn more, www.annesacresgreenhouse.com.visit
Paige Steed ’11 is a Project Specialist at Plunkett Raysich Architects in Milwaukee. She earned her Bachelor of Science in Architecture from the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities. Madeline Henderson ’12 will graduate with her Master of Business Administration from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth in June. She was selected as a Consortium Fellow and a Forte Fellow and received a full-tuition scholarship for her studies. Post-MBA, Madeline will start as a Senior Brand Manager for Proctor & Gamble on the Gillette brand in Boston, Massachusetts. Prior to Dartmouth, she attended Abilene Christian University where she earned her Bachelor Degree in Business Administration, Accounting (2015) and a Master of Accountancy (2016). In April, Zane Navratil ’14 became the No. 1 ranked pickleball player in the world. “It’s a nice milestone along the way, but the goal is to become the best pickleball player that I can,” he told the Racine Journal Times. “If I don’t continue to get better, I’m not going to keep this No. 1 ranking. So I’m still on my path to becoming the best pickleball player I can be.” Navratil is currently ranked No. 1 among the 182 ranked players by the Pro Pickleball Association. [C]
SHARE YOUR NEWS AND STAY IN TOUCH You, our Prairie School alumni, are an inspiration to all of us. We would love to hear from you! Please take a minute to fill us in on what is happening in your life so we can print it in the Class Notes section of our alumni publication. Items of interest include: • A degree earned • An honor received • Your volunteer work • A move to a new city • A marriage (please include exact wedding date and the full name of your spouse) • A new family member (please include child’s full name and date of birth) • Other news about you or your life Class notes are published as space permits. The editors of this magazine reserve the right to revise and rewrite items for content and length. Update your address, phone number, email address, profession, family information and anything else you would like to share. To do so, email Brendan O’Brien, Director of Communication, at bobrien@prairieschool.com or use the Update Your Information form in the Alumni section of our website.
As is customary here on campus, Prairie honored its teachers during National Teacher Appreciation Week during the first week of May. From extra coffee to frosting-covered treats to notes of gratitude from grateful parents, it was a week of saying “Thank You” to our faculty, very simply the best educators in the Didbusiness.oneofPrairie’s teachers impact you in a meaningful way? Let them know today. Visit prairieschool.com/thank to send a note of gratitude or make an honorarium gift.
26 | prairieschool.com theCrackingCode
UNIT
In addition to kindness, the unit also stresses collaboration. Students work with peers and adults – every Primary School classroom has a lead teacher and an assistant – to identify problems, brainstorm solutions, and create plans.
For example: Mia the Robot helps Mrs. White distribute paint during art; Rusty the safety-patrol bot whizzes around the playground at recess; PJ, a three-eyed droid helps Mr. Schafer spot missing balls after gym. These are just a few of the creations conceived from Kindergarten minds this Andsemester.while
building the bots is still everyone’s favorite part, the introduction of coding through apps like Bee-Bot and Kodable has become a crowd favorite as well.
and coding, all before recess. Just another day’s work for these talented Kindergarten programmers.
unit is one of those time-honored Primary School traditions,” says Joe Manley, Kindergarten Teacher. “It’s structured around empathy and understanding the needs of those around us. Rather than being self-driven and thinking, ‘I want to make a robot to be my friend,’ kids think of others and identify people to help in the Prairie community.”
“We have the imaginative piece – building the bots out of soda cans and boxes – but then what?” says Manley. “How do robots communicate? How do computers work? Just seeing how capable these kids are, we’ve been able to push real Empathyrobotics.”
— By Brendan J. O’Brien, Director of Communication Kindergarten. That treasured time between the simplicity of preschool and the serious business of 1st Grade. Everyone loves Kindergarten. The shapes, the colors, the Teddy Grahams...the coding. Okay, so maybe things have changed a bit over the years. The robot unit here at TPS has been a part of the Kindergarten curriculum for well over a decade. And while the project has always been hardwired for kindness and collaboration, the past few years have seen actual coding –things like sequencing, looping, and functions – added into the “Themix.robot
The results are as sweet as they are brilliant.
ROBOT TEACHES YOUNG LEARNERS EVERYTHING FROM EMPATHY TO PROBLEM SOLVING
This story originally appeared in the April 4th edition of The Racine Journal Times.
“The rooms are big, clean, and absolutely beautiful,” Hoffman says. “The space allows children to extend their learning and creativity outside the smaller borders of our defined centers, and gives us the flexibility to come together as a whole grade to practice a song or learn new sign language for one of our units.”
The robot unit provides an important foundation for students before they progress through Primary, Middle, and Upper School where co-curriculars like Coding Club and classes like Robotic Design become options. However, the prep for success begins even before Kindergarten, in Early School, where lessons rooted in kindness and creativity impact student
28 | prairieschool.com
“Havingreadiness.somany of our kids start in Early School at Prairie is always great because they come in prepared to do something like robotics,” says Shay Borzynski ’00, Kindergarten Teacher. This year that preparation is happening inside the Leipold Johnson Early Childhood Center, the 10,500 square foot building that opened this fall. Unsurprisingly, the space is a hit with Early School teachers like Stephanie Hoffman.
MAKING WAVES 30 | prairieschool.com
Currently, students in her 6th Grade science classes are beta testing a maritime experiment game that’s being developed.
Field Day is a research lab and design studio based at the Wisconsin Center for Educational Research at UW-Madison. The lab partners with education to make games that bring contemporary research to the public. To learn more about Lost Emerald, www.pbswisconsineducation.org/emerald.visit
STUDENTS SUPPORT JOY ARAGONES, MIDDLE SCHOOL SCIENCE TEACHER, AS SHE DEVELOPS VIDEO GAME
— By Barb Volbrecht, Communication Manager
Prairie’s 6th Grade students are beta testing video games in their classroom that can be used to educate students across the globe. Earlier this spring, one of those games was released to the public: the point-and-click adventure game The Legend of the Lost Emerald. Middle School Science Teacher Joy Aragones was a project consultant on the game and had two of her classes playtest it twice last year. “It’s been really, really fun. The kids really like seeing it,” said Aragones. “They like of course that it’s a game. They love that they get to see it before anyone else.”
In the game, students step into the shoes of Jules, a maritime archeologist, and gather clues to discover hidden treasure in shipwrecks that are inspired by Great Lakes history. Students take pictures, talk to experts, read documents and examine artifacts. They connect the primary source clues on their evidence board to identify the ship and its story. Students share their discoveries and why it matters.
The Legend of the Lost Emerald was designed by Field Day Lab, PBS Wisconsin Education, Wisconsin Sea Grant, and Wisconsin educators. Aragones was one of 15 Field Day Educator Fellows on the project.
“It is getting kids to collect information and problem solve, because the point of the game is to figure out where the lost treasure is from her (Jule’s) grandfather’s ship. So as the kids go along they collect information from different places. It talks about coordinates, and it talks about a little history of Wisconsin, so you can use it in a lot of different places in your curriculum. It doesn’t have to be science; it doesn’t have to be social studies. It can kind of be a mix of things,” Aragones said. This was Aragones’s first experience creating an educational game. Prior to this, she spent a couple of years in fellowships, discussing game ideas and teaming up with game designers, content producers, and marine archeologists.
32 | prairieschool.com Ah, road trips. One of those time-honored aspects of growing up. From Manito-wish to the pumpkin farm, Prairie’s students have ventured out of Wind Point to participate in their fair share of adventures over the years. HELP US CREATE THE ANSWER KEY Do these places look familiar? Do the people look familiar? Are YOU one of the people? Send an email to communication@prairieschool.com and help us identify these trips of Prairie’s past! ThatNameRoadTrip! 1 3 2 4
5 7 9 6 8 10
our
or even business Youinterests.win, too:
Thank you for supporting Prairie! Growth in Giving TAKE STOCK OF YOUR PHILANTHROPY Friday, September 9th, www.PrairieSchool.com/Golf2022SavetheDate:GOLFCLASSIC &Dinner ANNUALTH26
Let us break it down: Your
you. Questions? Contact
you
is unique. Please
Donating stock directly to a non-profit organization like Prairie is one of the most tax-savvy ways to give — yet it is often not well understood or widely used. gift is worth more: Donating long-term appreciated assets (those you have owned for more than one year) as charitable gifts allows you to avoid capital gains tax. That means you are actually giving 20% more than if you sold the stock and then made a cash donation. Appreciated assets include stocks, bonds, mutual funds, real estate, With this type of charitable donation, are eligible to deduct the full fair-market value of the gift from income taxes. donor’s financial situation contact office or speak with your tax professional to determine if this giving option is right for Aliya Pitts, Chief Advancement Officer, at (262) 752-2520 or via email at apitts@prairieschool.com.
Each
You have options:
your
Glen Kinkeade, graduate of Milton Academy and Radcliffe College, wrote in the Harvard Bulletin of December 1974: Question – Can independent schools survive the 70s? Answer – only by rocking their own boats. We feel that Prairie School had done a good job of continually rocking its own boat in order to stay alive, vibrant and relevant over the years. Whereas boat rocking over the years has shown us that you and your parents have made, quite simply, an investment of time and money in personal growth, mental training, and the extension of future options at a time when college graduates face an inhospitable job market, the fire of January 17, 1975 – the event which marked your senior year at Prairie – has really proven to us all that you and your parents chose wisely.
We had planned well for this anniversary of the founding of the school. September of 1974 found us with a record enrollment in all levels, as well as minor campus issues. You had given assistance to faculty in determining, for instance, the ways and means of diminishing operating expenses to help live within a reasonable budget as well as in other issues that demonstrated your genuine concern.
If there had ever been any doubt in the minds of our larger community in Racine as to the ability of Prairie students to jump in to fight for a common cause, that doubt was dispelled on the night of January 17th and in the days which followed. I could not have been prouder of your efforts and your attitudes. You will always be pleased that you suffered through those hours on the 17th and the inconveniences which followed.
INNOVATION
The Last Word and bonding together we would enjoy to satisfy a common cause that would result from the fire.
IN THE FACE OF ADVERSITY
— John Mitchell, Former Head of School Banding together to overcome obstacles. These are things that can define a family, a school, a community. For this special “Home” issue of Prairie, we take a look back to 1975, the year of the fire, the year Prairie had to decide, “Are we going to band together to overcome this obstacle?’”
The following letter appeared in the 1975 Et Cetera yearbook.
The choice of courses at Prairie was broader than ever before and freedom mingled well with responsibility. Interim attained a high degree of sophistication and college placement moved more smoothly and successfully than ever Thebefore.Fund Drive had brought in more resources than at any time in the history of the school from parents, alumni, and friends at Prairie. A well-spaced list of Tenth Anniversary Events was published and organized – again with student involvement. All was well.
No matter how hard we will all try to think otherwise, the Tenth Anniversary Year at Prairie will always be remembered as “The Year of the Fire.”
While the devastating flames roared through our school on the night of January 17, 1975, several of you tearfully confessed to me that you felt that this was the end of Prairie – the school you had learned to love during your years here. I can tell you now that I never had any doubts as to the continuing spirit of Prairie students and families but I will always confess that I had no idea the degree of cooperation
4050 Lighthouse Drive Wind Point, WI 53402 DISCLAIMER: As always, we appreciate hearing from you and welcome your input, contributions, comments and suggestions. Information in this publication is presented in good faith. Please email the school or send your feedback to us at bobrien@prairieschool.com. To guarantee delivery, update your mailing information by contacting us at ahearn@prairieschool.com. Please call 262.752.2532 if you no longer wish to receive this publication.
