TASD Paws Newsletter for March 2024

Hello

We’re in the home stretch as we near the end of the 2023-2024 school year! We look forward to wonderful spring events throughout the district as our students continue to enjoy strong academic and co-curricular experiences at all of our building levels! Enjoy this issue of the PAWS highlighting the wonderful achievements of our students and faculty!

CHAMBER OF COMMERCE NAMES EDUCATOR OF THE YEAR AWARD RECIPIENTS

CHAMBER OF COMMERCE NAMES EDUCATOR OF THE YEAR AWARD RECIPIENTS

At the Tomah Chamber of Commerce’s Annual Awards Banquet, three of our teachers shared the honor of earning the Educator of the Year Award: Katie Prihoda (Middle School Instrumental Music Teacher), Alex Knoepker (High School Band Director) and Jennifer Schraufnagel (High School and Middle School Band Director).

Stay up to date on all the latest district news

The trio was nominated by the Tomah Concert Association, who had these kind words to say, “These three teachers work simultaneously to instruct the TMS and THS band members. Currently the middle school has 245 band students. For the last two years over 100 sixth graders have bought or rented instruments and began taking band lessons at TMS THS currently has 113 band members This is a total of 358 band students in our school district To my knowledge this is the largest number of band students in any school district in the state of Wisconsin These Directors go above and beyond to bring wonderful music to Tomah and the surrounding area They often work after school and on weekends with band students, even giving up some of their summer vacation for a weeklong band camp to teach marching in formations. Our band students often take first place at solo ensemble competition. The bands are so large they have outgrown the band rooms and even the auditorium for concerts. The middle school holds more separate concerts (splitting the band in half) to ensure there is enough room in the auditorium for seating parents and friends. Three cheers for these teachers who give so much of their time and talent to our band students!”

Congratulations Katie, Alex, and Jennifer on this well deserved honor!

April 15th

Purple Up! Day

(wear purple to school!)

April is Month of the Military Child, where we come together as a district and community to show support for our young heroes and the sacrifices they make Watch for information on individual school-based celebrations.

-Dr. Mike Hanson District Administrator

Tomah Area School District

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Tomah Area School District Families and Community Members!

The Tomah Area School District honors the accomplishments and humanitarian efforts of alumni through nomination, selection and induction to our Distinguished Alumni program It is hoped that this recognition will provide role models for our current students, instill pride in our community and provide an opportunity to celebrate the successes of these outstanding individuals. We believe distinguished alumni can inspire our students to continue the legacy of excellence which is defined by those whom we are honoring - individuals who have made a difference and have made our world a better place

DO YOU KNOW SOMEONE WHO:

Is a graduate of THS or attended THS for at least two years?

Is a THS Alumni of at least 10 years?

Has a record of outstanding achievement in his/her career field or fulfillment of personal educational potential?

Has a history of outstanding leadership, character and service to his/her community?

2021 Inductee Linda Netsch

2023 Inductees Greg Griffin and Donna Ulteig

SPASSABEND SPASSABEND

Herr Bartz and Frau Pedretti’s German students from the Middle School and High School recently participated in the t h families and communi s student created skits, r to be all for fun, but th

HAPPENING IN OUR DISTRICT

BAND-O-RAMA BAND-O-RAMA

March was Music in Our Schools Month and there was no better way to celebrate than by actually having music in our schools in the form of Band-ORama!

On Friday, March 8th, 358 band students from grades 6th-12th filled the High School gym! (Our largest number of band participation EVER!) Each Middle School grade played together, followed by our THS Concert Band and Wind Ensemble, before all gathering together and playing music from Star Wars to WOW the crowd! Thanks to our band directors Ms. Prihoda, Ms. Schraufnagel, and Mr. Knoepker for all their time and effort, putting together such a magnificent evening of music!

44 middle school students and 23 elementary students participated last month in the District Spelling Bee, held in the High School Auditorium. The spellers spent almost three hours going round after round until they got down to seven winners and one alternate.

Congratulations to all our District Spelling Bee participants and winners! It was a hard competition, and everyone did amazing!

The winners included six Middle School students, one 5th grader from LaGrange and one alternate also from the Middle School:

Addie Garrels, Sophia Tackmann, Ruby Craig, Ben Boyles, Clara Gouty, Rachel Zastoupil, and Dylan Cram

Alternate: Molly White

REGIONAL REGIONAL SPELLING BEE SPELLING BEE

The Mississippi Valley Gifted and Talented Regional Spelling Bee competition was held March 19th in Westby. Four of our students made it to the top six! Congratulations Clara, Sophia, Addie, and Ruby

Two TMS students were in the top three and brought home a trophy! Winning 2nd Place: Clara who went a total of 21 rounds. She spelled words like grebe, chicana, retinitis, pigmentosa, and versailles!

Winning 3rd Place: Sophia who went a total of 17 rounds. She spelled words like sufactant, moira, bureaucrats, and lymphoma. Wonderful job to everyone involved!

NIGHT NIGHT

TOMAH HIGH SCHOOL’S MUSICAL PRODUCTION OF TOMAH HIGH SCHOOL’S MUSICAL PRODUCTION OF Come and Support Come and Support Fundraiser!

SUNDAY, APRIL 7th, 2024

TOMAH AREA COMMUNITY THEATER

12:00-2:00pm (Doors open at 11:3

$20 PER CARD / $50 FOR THREE

50/50 RAFFLE, BINGO COOKIE RA NACHO BAR & CONCESSIONS

HAPPENING IN OUR DISTRICT

March was

Tomah Middle School students David, Eva, Rachel, and Lynn participated in the Science Olympiad and did an excellent job!

2nd place Write it, Do It: Lynn and David

4th place Optics: David

5th place Anatomy and Physiology: Rachel and Eva

8th place Code Busters: Rachel and David

10th place Forestry: Lynn and Eva

12th place Crime Busters: Lynn and Eva

12th place Fast Facts: Eva and Rachel

Wonderful job Wolf Pack!

ACROSS DISTRICT the

HAPPENING IN OUR DISTRICT

ACADEMIC DECATHLON MAKES APPEARANCE AT STATE

ACADEMIC DECATHLON MAKES APPEARANCE AT STATE

Tomah High School’s Academic Decathlon team led by captain Adam Johnson participated in the Statewide competition held in Green Bay on March 14th and 15th.

Tomah's team, consisting of Adam Johnson, Joanna Stryker, Ross Killgo, Nick Salzwedel, Lucy Jankowski, Ian Thompson, Danielle Ludke, Katie Andrus, and Elius Hennegan were one of 25 teams invited to the state event.

Tomah had an extraordinary competition, and the team finished 8th in the state and 3rd in their division, which earned the team a state trophy for only the second time in Tomah history.

Leading the way in scoring was Joanna Stryker with the 10th highest individual score statewide and the 2nd highest state score in Tomah history at 7912 points. Joanna scored three medals at state, including bronze in mathematics, bronze in social science, and gold for a perfect score in the Super Quiz.

Also scoring medals were Elius Hennegan with a silver in Social Science, Katie Andrus with a silver in Literature, and Nick Salzwedel with a gold medal in speech, receiving a school record 990 out of a possible 1000 points.

Overall, it was one of the most successful competitions and seasons in Tomah’s Academic Decathlon history. Way to go, Tomah! Howl On!

Save the date!

All student, staff, parents, and community members are welcome to come and spectate. Cheer your classmates to victory in a tournament against other classes. Admission is free for all!

THS THS FORENSICS FORENSICS

Our Forensics Team competed at Districts and REPRESENTED! Eighteen of them qualified for STATE and will be moving on, to compete on April 6th at UW Madison! Ava Mckie scored three 25s, a perfect score, and Lauren Kline was close behind with two 25s

Congratulations to all those who competed at Districts:

Aubrey Jungmeyer

Lily Deyooconnel

Bree Turner

Lauren Kline

Elius Hennegan

Manraj Grewal

Kendra Seering

Kush Patel

Wyatt Gerber

Nizhu Doddridge-Hornett

Cesar Gonzalez

Dylan Stickney

Nicholas Salzwedel

Ava Mckie

Kai Garvin

Ethan Wildes

Andrew Lindberg

POWDERBUFF

MONDAY, APRIL 15TH

A LOOK AT HIGH SCHOOL Sports

Powerlifting Season Recap

There were 57 lifters who completed the season (33 boys and 24 girls) under the direction of Head Coach Allan Thompson and Assistant Coach Mike Krause The season started on a high note, with both the Boys and Girls Teams taking 1st place at their first meet in Adams-Friendship Senior Jack Thompson was also awarded Best Lifter At the West Coast Regional in Holmen, the Boys Team took 2nd place, and the Girls Team took 3rd Place Then at the Mauston Regional, both teams took home 2nd place wins After such a tremendous season, 15 lifters went on to compete at the State Meet in Appleton: Mae Boyles, Morgan Iverson, Brenna Reynolds, Makenzie Kohn, Jaidyn Addison, Madonna Shroeder, Shon Abbas, Jack Thompson, Jakob Baumgartner, Sawyer Reinart, Jeffrey Baumgartner, Atlin Steinhoff, Jayden Brieske, Nolan Arch and Ayden Jackson

Three lifters finished in the Top 5 and made the podium and are now on to Nationals!

Senior Jack Thompson 2nd Place 181 lb weight class Squat - 463 Bench Press - 292 Deadlift - 557

Junior Brenna Reynolds 3rd Place 242 lb weight class Squat - 325 Bench Press - 149 Deadlift - 336

Senior Morgan Iverson 4th Place 181 lb weight class Squat - 259 Bench Press - 138 Deadlift - 347

Whatbroughtyouintopowerlifting?

Jack:Ihavealwayscompetedinsportsandoftentimesthesport itselfwouldinvolvesomelifting,andovertimemyloveforlifting outgrewmylovefortheothersports.I’dratherliveknowingItried somethingnewasopposedtolivingwithregretknowingthatInever triedit.Ihavepowerliftedforthreeyears,andIknowthatinthe futureIwillkeeplifting

AsaSenior,whatwillyoumissmostaboutpowerlifting?

Brenna:Thepositiveatmospherespreadbyeveryoneandthefriends IhavemadeatmeetsThereisnonegativityinsidethissportI woulddefinitelyrecommendthissporttoanyoneandtellthemto usetheirfearstopowerthemon.

Whatbroughtyouintopowerlifting?

Morgan:MyfriendaskedmetojoinwithherandIsaidyestotryingit Iendeduplovingit!Imadenewfriendsandjustlovedlifting weightsIendedupgoingallthewaythroughtoNationalsmy Sophomoreyear.Ikeptwithitallthroughtherestofhighschool, pushingmyselfandsettinggoals

Morgan Iverson 4th Place

Jack Thompson 2nd Place

Brenna Reynolds 3rd Place

Spring Sports

Boys Tennis and Boys Golf practices have gotten up and running, the Girls Softball team had their first games postponed due to finicky spring weather in Wisconsin but Boys Baseball had their season opener March 28th against Black River Falls The Timberwolves pulled in 12 runs but just missed taking home the win with a final score of 12-16. Highlights of the game include Jacob Squires (Sr.) who had two hits and led the team with 3 RBI. Two players collected their first Varsity hits, Cameron Finch (Jr.) led for Tomah and singled in his first at bat and Tucker Frandsen (Jr.) had a 2 RBI single in the 2nd inning. Breckin Sheldon (So.) pitched 2 innings without allowing an earned run and striking out three batters Own Laudon (Fr ) pitched the top of the 7th inning striking out two batters

Girls Soccer kicked off their season (pun intended!) with a home matchup against Menomonie JV girls celebrated a 6-0 win! Players of the game were Glynnis Fleming (Defensive), Isabella Hilt (Midfielder) and Madi McCabe (Attacker). Varsity girls played hard and made a comeback to tie up the game 3-3. Howl On!

The 4x400 Relay team of Lily Joyce, Aisha Fritsche, Cadence Scholze, and Ruby Joyce finished 2nd with a time of 4:26 23 at UW-Stout

First Track meet of the season at UW-Stout Eli Brown won first place and Alex Boyko took third in the 200m dash

Lily Joyce took 2nd place in the 55m Hurdles and set a new school record of 8 59! She also placed 3rd in the 200m dash, setting the new indoor school record with a time of 26.79!

Photo Credit: Nate Beier/GX3 Media (Full album here)

Opening pitcher Owen Gerke Coach Brookman with Jackson Steffel, Connor Granahan, Tucker Frandsen, and Jacob Squires between innings

Aidan Klema takes off from firs base

Tucker Frandsen at bat

A call for Nominations!

The Tomah Athletic Hall of Fame program was established to recognize and celebrate the substantial and exceptional contributions made by student athletes, coaches, and other chosen individuals to sports and our Tomah athletics. The program is structured on the nomination, selection, and induction of elite individuals.

NOMINEES MUST BE:

IDEALNOMINEESMAY:

OR

out of high school for at least five years and a graduate of Tomah High School a Coach or individual may be nominated for accomplishments within their sport, or contributions made in support of Tomah Athletics

•haveachievedanindividualstatechampion orbeaplaceholderinanindividualsport

•havereceivedrecognitionasall-state,or all-state honorablementioninhisorhersport

•havebeenamultiplesportall-conference selection

•havebeenamultipleletterrecipient

•havegoneontosucceedinathleticsin somecapacityfollowinghighschool To

APRIL

dates to remember

4/9 LaGrange k-2 Elementary Concert

4/11 Warrens Elementary Concert

4/15 Board of Education Meeting

4/15 PowderBuff Games (THS Gymnasium)

High School and Middle School Sports Schedules for April:

www.tomah.education/athletics/schedules

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