Fifth grade students from Sacred Heart Catholic School went to Camp Tekakwitha for an overnight adventure on April 25 to focus on outdoor education and team building.
Throughout the two-day adventure they focused on team building by participating in a magic carpet activity and a spider web activity. Both activities focused on trust and working as one team. They also enjoyed a canoeing trip on Loon Lake, followed by archery, shaving cream wiffle ball, a rosary meditation, delicious s’mores, and even a night hike into the woods to learn how their eyes work in the dark.
Their outdoor lessons kicked off with reflective time around the camp where students wrote down what they were hearing and seeing. They then turned their observations into poetry. Students had the opportunity to walk around in groups to identify food chain producers and consumers, then put that information into energy webs. They were challenged to use GPS devices to find food around camp before cooking a pudgie pie lunch.
“What I really enjoyed about this trip is that students made real life connections to the classroom,” said Kaitlynn Kupsky, fifth grade teacher. “They experienced how people use latitude and longitude. They saw energy webs in action.
They wrapped up their trip with an activity where students recognized their peers for their kindness and leadership.
BID coordinator tapped to run awards ceremony
Lindsay Johnson, coordinator for the Shawano Business Improvement District, will serve as the master of ceremonies for the Shawano Area Writers 2023 George Putz Memorial Student Writing Contest awards program on May 21 at the Mielke Arts Center, N5649 Airport Road, Shawano.
Johnson coordinates events, promotes local shopping, and serves as a resource to Shawano’s downtown businesses in her role as coordinator. She and her husband, Brad, along with their two children also operate Johnson Family Cattle where they raise angus and red angus cattle. They market their beef direct to customers throughout the year. Johnson also helps her children raise chickens and grow pumpkins. She graduated from University of Wisconsin-River Falls with a degree in agricultural marketing communications.
The 17th annual awards program will recognize more than 40 young writers from Shawano and Menominee counties for their skills in writing poetry, fiction, and nonfiction. The program begins at 1 p.m. and will feature Larry Wilson, author of Catching Chickens, as the keynote speaker. Admission is free. Rosin Woodworks of Bonduel is a corporate sponsor of the 2023 program.
For more information, visit www.shawanoareawriters.org or call John J. Mutter Jr. at 715-524-4520.
Bike rides Wednesdays on Mountain Bay Trail
Shawano County Friends of the Mountain Bay Trail is hosting weekly bike rides of varying distances this year on Wednesdays.
The Friends will put out monthly schedules, but except for just a few Wednesdays, rides are planned for every week. Riders will meet at 5:30 p.m. Plans include going for a cold beverage and food afterward. These are casual rides for all ability levels. Check out the Friends’ Facebook page for updates at https://www.facebook.com/MountainBayTrailShawanoCounty.
Tibetan terrier brings home dog show awards
Nikkie Kinziger, of Oconto Falls, has announced that her canine companion Grand Champion Ri Lee’s Diamond of Faith, better known as Ivy, has won two Bests in Show in the National Owner Handler Series at the annual Northeast Wisconsin Dog Show Classic, held March 30 through April 2.
Ivy is a top-ranked 2-year-old Tibetan terrier. Ivy won Best of Breed each day. Those wins allowed her to compete in the regular non-sporting group competition, where she earned a group second, third and fourth.
With a total entry of 3,293 over four days, dogs from all over the United States came to participate.
For information, visit www.rileekennels.com or find Ri Lee Kennels on Facebook.
Libraries have Wisconsin State Park passes to give
Shawano County Library has a limited supply of state park passes at all of its branches available to checkout to patrons on a first come, first served basis.
Library cardholders are eligible to check out a one-day vehicle pass good at all Wisconsin state parks and forests at no cost. The pass can be used through Dec. 31. At the time of checkout, the patron will need to specify the date that the pass will be used.
For information, call 715-526-3829.
Mountain bar to host gunless poultry shoot
The next American Legion gunless poultry shoot will be at 1 p.m. May 13, at O’Neil Halfway Bar, 15409 State Highway 32, Mountain.
The Legion will be raffling off packages of meat, poultry, sausages, bacon, beverages and items donated by local businesses. There will also be 50/50 raffles.
AROUND THE COMMUNITY: Sacred Heart students visit Camp Tekakwitha
