WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 1, 2018
Serving Polk County’s St. Croix Valley since 1897
VOL. 121 NO. 01 www.osceolasun.com $1.00
SPORTS: Osceola Braves miss out on playoffs. PAGE 10
Keeping up with tech, crime, kids BY APRIL ZIEMER EDITOR@THEAMERYFREEPRESS.COM
Harassment laws have always existed, but times have changed and so has the way that these crimes are carried out. People are now able to hide behind a screen and threaten or intimidate others. The justice system has struggled with fitting old language to new behaviors. But Polk County staff are spreading the word that anyone who sends a digital message intending to frighten, intimidate, threaten, or abuse another, can be charged with a SEE MESSAGING, PAGE 19
SUBMITTED
Steven Kicker at his home at Community Homestead.
Osceola man helps team win silver BY CHRISTINE ELMQUIST CONTRIBUTING WRITER
“Let me win, but if I cannot win, let me be brave in the attempt.” Osceola resident Steven Kicker has good reason to appreciate this Special Olympics oath. Fresh from the USA Special Olympic Games in Seattle, Wash. after helping to bring back a silver medal for Wisconsin in basketball, Kicker feels on top of the world. “I never thought I’d be the one to be so lucky,” he said. “I feel so honored.” Although Kicker, 25, is glowing with his recent success, he has not always felt like the lucky one. When he moved to Osceola in his early teens he struggled with many issues, both academically and socially. He credits his new family, father Dale Kicker and brothers Kevin and Adam, and his teachers at Osceola High School for encouraging him to learn to respect himself and others. “I struggled big time with respect for others in high school.” He remembers how Jeff Hahn, the power lifting coach pushed him. “At the time I thought I couldn’t do it but he made me believe I could.” He learned from Mr. Stevens, his gym teacher, “ the goal is to never to give up.” And from football coach Scott Newton “ to be positive and never quit.” Most importantly, Mike MacMartin, Kicker’s high school principal, “saw me for who I could be, and helped me in a lot of ways.” Although Kicker is a gifted athlete and participated in high school competition he was always left behind when it came to the intricacies of basketball and football strategy. “The plays were so difficult for me to understand, and it went so fast.” When he graduated high school in 2011 he welcomed the opportunity to join Polk County Special Olympics where, “they take things slower and the pace works for everyone.” Kicker is an all around athlete participating in Special Olympics softball, track and field, and basketball. In 2017 he was nominated to participate in the naSEE KICKER, PAGE 19
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JESSICA DE LA CRUZ | FILE PHOTO
Brooke Whitley, a juvenile justice caseworker, talked with Amery Middle School students in 2017 about how to tell when texting has become inappropriate.
Osceola teacher retires after 36 years BY MARA MARTINSON CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Roxann Nelson was hired in 1982 to teach sixth grade and coach the high school girls varsity basketball team. Little did she know that almost four decades later, she would have left a strong impact on the Osceola School District. Superintendent Mark Luebker, whom Nelson has worked with for the past seven years, notes her “commitment to young learners will be
Roxann Nelson
greatly missed.” Nelson explains this commitment as being truly and wholly “impressed with the community and the beauty of the river valley” and treasuring
the relationships she has established with students and their families. Nelson officially retired June 30, a 36year career with the Osceola School District behind her. Her career comprised of one year in grades five and six and 34 years in grade one. Some of Nelson’s favorite moments working in the district were her working relationships and friendships with colleagues. She stresses that they became her Osceola family because they supported each other in all aspects of their teaching careers and lives. Luebker validates this closeness by describing
Nelson as “someone you could rely on to listen to you, laugh with you, and share the love of school and family.” Being awarded the Kohl’s Teacher Fellowship Award in 2010 was a peak in Nelson’s career, and an affirmation of the feeling she was doing her best with students and staff. She appreciated that others could see her efforts for the district, examples of which were leading the Responsive Classroom Approach to Learning with Renee Gothmann and launching the first All School Morning Meeting. SEE NELSON, PAGE 8
School district awarded funds for security upgrades BY SUZANNE LINDGREN EDITOR@OSCEOLASUN.COM
Students and staff in the Osceola School District will be more secure in school buildings after the installment of $98,491 in locks and other security features. The upgrades will be funded by a state grant, part of $100 million being distributed statewide. Wisconsin Attorney Brad Schimel announced Osceola’s award last week. In March, the Wisconsin ADVERTISING 715-294-2314 ads@osceolasun.com
State Legislature and Governor Scott Walker established the Department of Justice’s Office of School Safety, accompanied by $100 million for safety upgrades. Statewide, 735 schools and school districts applied for the first round of funds, representing 97 percent of public schools and approximately 40 percent of private schools. All are expected to receive grant funding. According to the district’s superintendent, Mark Luebker, most of the money awarded to the Osceola School District will
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go toward deadbolts for classroom doors. The district had already outlined a plan for the locks, but put them on hold as part of “deferred maintenance” cuts after voters rejected increased school funding in 2017. “The $74,800 was part of our deferred maintenance to update classroom door locks,” he told the Sun. “We’ll use that to buy advanced ADA door locks that allow dead bolting while complying with fire codes. They can SEE FUNDS, PAGE 8
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