Town of Middleton residents last week unanimously approved a 2014 property tax levy that is slightly larger than this year’s and a road budget that is a little less than the current year’s. Approximately 15 residents attended the budget hearing and approved a $2.834 million property tax levy, up from the $2.775 million levy they ap- proved in November 2012. They also approved a $1.071 million road budget, which is down from the $1.084 million approved a year ago. The property tax levy is imposed this year and due by Jan. 31. Many property owners pay by the end of the current year to obtain a deduction on their itemized income tax returns. Unlike residents of a city or village, town residents, and not their board of supervisors, are empowered to set the total amount the town can tax property and spend on road maintenance and improvements. State law limits increases in the property tax levy to the net value of new construction and improvements in the town. The town’s portion of the property tax bill is combined with the Middle- ton-Cross Plains Area School District, Madison Area Technical College and Dane County on the bills the county will mail next month. Town residents also approved a 2014 town budget in which revenues increased by 6.3 percent and spending reduced by 5.13 percent compared to the 2013 budget. Next year’s total revenues are bud- geted at $2.962 million, compared to this year’s revenues which are on pace VOL. 121, NO. 47 THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2013 SINGLE COPY PRICE: $1.25 www.MiddletonTimes.com Inside this issue: Local: Music: Sports: Local man named AARP presdident. Page 3 A holiday celebration at the PAC. Page 5 Basketball team has high hopes. Page 10 Dining . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-7 Opinion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Classifieds . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Three school board seats up for election in the spring Residents interested in learning more about becoming a member of the Middleton-Cross Plains Area School District Board of Education are in- vited to attend one of three orientation sessions to be held in the next month. The sessions will be held on Mon- day, Nov. 25, Monday, Dec. 2 and Monday, Dec. 16 at 6:30 p.m. at the District Administrative Center, 7106 South Ave., Middleton, before the reg- ular meeting. Superintendent Don Johnson, Board president Ellen Lind- gren and other BOE members will be available to answer your questions and provide more information. There are nine members who make up the Board of Education and each year three seats are up for election. Citizens residing in the areas are in- vited to run for the Board of Education for a three-year term. This year’s seats up for election are: * Area II, currently held by treas- urer Bob Green. * Area IV, currently held by clerk Annette Ashley. * Area IV, currently held by Bob Hesselbein. Area II includes Cross Plains. Area IV includes the City of Middleton, Town of Westport and the Town of Middleton. Nomination papers and the Decla- ration of Candidacy must be filed no later than 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2014 in the office of the school district clerk at 7106 South Ave., Middleton. Forms can be obtained at the District Administrative Center, 7106 South Ave., Middleton, from 7:30 a.m. to 4:10 p.m. weekdays. The first day to circulate nomination papers is Dec. 1. For information about the election process, please contact Cheryl Janssen at 829-9004. Times-Tribune photo by Matt Geiger ‘Tis the Season Stephanie Goth, left, and Val Steel, right, of the City of Middleton’s Tourism Department, were hard at work last week making the downtown look appropriately festive for the holiday season. Business owners are welcome to decorate the trees, said Steel, but they should be advised that decorations won’t be returned after the holi- days. How should teachers be paid? Following Act 10, school boards across the state have grappled with dif- ferent compensation models for teach- ers. How – and how much – teachers will be compensated in the Middleton- Cross Plains Area School District re- mains a matter of some discussion at the school board level. The most widely-used model prior to Act 10 has been a uniform salary schedule that was negotiated with teachers unions. This model puts steps of automatic pay increases in place for seniority and education attainment. Due to funding shifts under Governor Scott Walker and in light of signifi- cantly weakened unions, boards are coming up with what many call “ad hoc” compensation models. Full time teachers in the Middleton- Cross Plains Area School District have received gross pay increases of approx- imately one percent in each of the past few years, but they have also seen their take-home pay decrease due to health insurance and retirement contributions City wins $266,250 for storm water basin County executive Joe Parisi and county board supervisor Sharon Corri- gan, of Middleton, on Monday an- nounced grant awards for several Dane County water quality projects. The winners include a new storm water basin in the Good Neighbor City, which is in line to receive up to $266,250 toward its total cost of $355,000. The county, in partnership with the City of Madison and the University of Wisconsin – Madison, is also targeting the stormwater pipeline that releases the most sediment and trash into Lake Mendota, Parisi said. The Middleton project is one of seven recommended by the county’s Lakes and Watershed Commission to receive a combined $1.4 million in Urban Water Quality Grant money in 2013. The county’s grant program helps Town of Middleton levy approved Project will be located in Pheasant Branch Conservancy just off Donna Drive, include wet detention pond and infiltration basin by CAMERoN BREN Times-Tribune by KEViN MuRpHY Times-Tribune See LEVY, page 21 See GRANT, page 21 See TEACHERS, page 19
Transcript
Town of Middleton residents lastweek unanimously approved a 2014property tax levy that is slightly largerthan this year’s and a road budget thatis a little less than the current year’s.
Approximately 15 residents attendedthe budget hearing and approved a$2.834 million property tax levy, up
from the $2.775 million levy they ap-proved in November 2012. They alsoapproved a $1.071 million road budget,which is down from the $1.084 millionapproved a year ago.
The property tax levy is imposedthis year and due by Jan. 31. Manyproperty owners pay by the end of thecurrent year to obtain a deduction ontheir itemized income tax returns.
Unlike residents of a city or village,town residents, and not their board of
supervisors, are empowered to set thetotal amount the town can tax propertyand spend on road maintenance andimprovements.
State law limits increases in theproperty tax levy to the net value ofnew construction and improvements inthe town.
The town’s portion of the propertytax bill is combined with the Middle-ton-Cross Plains Area School District,Madison Area Technical College and
Dane County on the bills the countywill mail next month.
Town residents also approved a2014 town budget in which revenuesincreased by 6.3 percent and spendingreduced by 5.13 percent compared tothe 2013 budget.
Next year’s total revenues are bud-geted at $2.962 million, compared tothis year’s revenues which are on pace
VOL. 121, NO. 47 THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2013 SINGLE COPY PRICE: $1.25
www.MiddletonTimes.com
Inside this issue:Local: Music: Sports:Local man named AARP presdident. Page 3
Three schoolboard seats upfor election in the spring
Residents interested in learningmore about becoming a member of theMiddleton-Cross Plains Area SchoolDistrict Board of Education are in-vited to attend one of three orientationsessions to be held in the next month.
The sessions will be held on Mon-day, Nov. 25, Monday, Dec. 2 andMonday, Dec. 16 at 6:30 p.m. at theDistrict Administrative Center, 7106South Ave., Middleton, before the reg-ular meeting. Superintendent DonJohnson, Board president Ellen Lind-gren and other BOE members will beavailable to answer your questionsand provide more information.
There are nine members who makeup the Board of Education and eachyear three seats are up for election.Citizens residing in the areas are in-vited to run for the Board of Educationfor a three-year term.
This year’s seats up for election are:* Area II, currently held by treas-
urer Bob Green.* Area IV, currently held by clerk
Annette Ashley.* Area IV, currently held by Bob
Hesselbein.Area II includes Cross Plains. Area
IV includes the City of Middleton,Town of Westport and the Town ofMiddleton.
Nomination papers and the Decla-ration of Candidacy must be filed nolater than 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 7,2014 in the office of the school districtclerk at 7106 South Ave., Middleton.Forms can be obtained at the DistrictAdministrative Center, 7106 SouthAve., Middleton, from 7:30 a.m. to4:10 p.m. weekdays. The first day tocirculate nomination papers is Dec. 1.
For information about the electionprocess, please contact Cheryl Janssenat 829-9004.
Times-Tribune photo by Matt Geiger‘Tis the SeasonStephanie Goth, left, and Val Steel, right, of the City of Middleton’s Tourism Department, were hard at work
last week making the downtown look appropriately festive for the holiday season. Business owners are welcometo decorate the trees, said Steel, but they should be advised that decorations won’t be returned after the holi-days.
Howshouldteachersbe paid?
Following Act 10, school boardsacross the state have grappled with dif-ferent compensation models for teach-ers.
How – and how much – teacherswill be compensated in the Middleton-Cross Plains Area School District re-mains a matter of some discussion atthe school board level.
The most widely-used model priorto Act 10 has been a uniform salaryschedule that was negotiated withteachers unions. This model puts stepsof automatic pay increases in place forseniority and education attainment.Due to funding shifts under GovernorScott Walker and in light of signifi-cantly weakened unions, boards arecoming up with what many call “adhoc” compensation models.
Full time teachers in the Middleton-Cross Plains Area School District havereceived gross pay increases of approx-imately one percent in each of the pastfew years, but they have also seen theirtake-home pay decrease due to healthinsurance and retirement contributions
City wins $266,250 for storm water basin County executive Joe Parisi and
county board supervisor Sharon Corri-gan, of Middleton, on Monday an-nounced grant awards for several DaneCounty water quality projects. Thewinners include a new storm water
basin in the Good Neighbor City,which is in line to receive up to$266,250 toward its total cost of$355,000.
The county, in partnership with theCity of Madison and the University of
Wisconsin – Madison, is also targetingthe stormwater pipeline that releasesthe most sediment and trash into LakeMendota, Parisi said.
The Middleton project is one ofseven recommended by the county’s
Lakes and Watershed Commission toreceive a combined $1.4 million inUrban Water Quality Grant money in2013.
The county’s grant program helps
Town of Middleton levy approved
Project will be located in Pheasant Branch Conservancy just off Donna Drive, include wet detention pond and infiltration basin
by CAMERoN BREN
Times-Tribune
by KEViN MuRpHY
Times-Tribune
See LEVY, page 21
See GRANT, page 21
See TEACHERS, page 19
The Middleton Town Board inchedcloser Monday to a decision on sellingor developing the 15-acres south oftown hall it calls Pioneer Lands.
Board supervisors Tim Roehl, PaulConnell and Bill Kolar have expressedno opposition to selling the propertythe town acquired several years ago for$1.5 million, of which about $670,000is still owed.
A discussion on the sale boggeddown after board supervisor RichardOberle questioned whether it had beenproperly noticed on the agenda. Roehlsaid the sale was implied by the boardpreviously discussing possible devel-opment of the land the agenda item that
stated, “Approve directing (Town At-torney Tom) Voss to draft Covenantsand Restrictions for Pioneer Lands.”
“We owe it to the public to have thatdiscussion [by the board],” Oberle said.
Roehl asked that a discussion of theland sale and how to spend the pro-ceeds be placed on an upcoming meet-ing agenda.
The land sale is subject to a vote bytown residents. The board cannot sellthe land without a positive vote by res-idents, but the board doesn’t have tosell the land if the residents approve,said town attorney Tom Voss.
The board had previously ordered alot layout of the property by VierbicherAssociates, which resulted in prelimi-nary plans for nine residential lots inthe tract’s interior, two commercial lots
fronting Pioneer Road, south of the firestation, and an 80-stall parking lot westof the station.
On Monday, the board’s majoritysupported Pioneer Land residences re-sembling those to the south in SaukPrairie Estates.
By a 4 to 1, Oberle dissenting, theboard authorized Voss to draft concep-tual development plans for the twocommercial lots to address permittedconstruction material and land uses.
Oberle previously cast the only dis-senting vote on a motion to transfer$20,000 from the 2013 Public Worksbudget to the Conservation and Devel-opment budget to fund possible devel-opment of Pioneer Lands.
The Vierbicher design and surveyingcost about $7,000. At one point in thediscussion Voss estimated it could costa few thousand dollars to draft the re-quested conceptual development doc-uments.
Roehl, who is a real estate agent, es-timated the average sale price of resi-dential lots in Pioneer Land couldrange from $13,000 to $140,000.
“It’s next to a park; there may belighting and noise issues. Those areconditions that need to be in [deed] re-strictions,” he said.
PAGE 2 MIDDLETON TIMES-TRIBUNE THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2013
Photo contributedGet the picture?“A Celebration of Trees,” the local art show initially planned for the
weekend of November 22-24, has been extended to include Nov. 29 throughDec. 1. The show will take place at Hubbard Art Center, 7448 HubbardAve. Hours on both weekens will be Friday from 4-9 p.m., Saturday from11 a.m. to 9 p.m., and Sunday from noon to 7 p.m. Both Madison residentKathy Esch, left, and Middleton resident Jeff Martin, right, will have workfeatured in the show. For more information call 235-1121.
Board pushes forward withPioneer Lands development
TTOWNOWN GGOVERNMENTOVERNMENT
by KEViN MuRpHY
Times-Tribune
Wisconsinites will have one morething to be thankful for next week. Thecost of a traditional Thanksgiving din-ner will be slightly lower than last year.
That’s the finding of WisconsinFarm Bureau’s annual Thanksgivingprice survey of traditional items liketurkey, cube stuffing, cranberries andpumpkin pie for a gathering of 10. Thisyear’s average price of $48.40 is 48cents (1 percent) less than last year and$1.77 less (3.5 percent) than two yearsago. The 2011 price of $50.17 was thehighest average since Farm Bureaumembers began their Thanksgivingsurvey in 1992.
“When the survey’s total price is di-vided by 10, it shows that the cost toprepare a nutritious, home-cookedThanksgiving meal for 10 people is$4.84 each,” said Amy Manske, Wis-consin Farm Bureau’s Communica-tions Coordinator. “A wholesomefamily feast remains a better deal thana trip through the drive-thru.”
The American Farm Bureau Federa-tion’s national survey of the same items
(turkey, bread stuffing, sweet potatoes,rolls with butter, peas, cranberries, arelish tray of carrots and celery, pump-kin pie with whipped cream, and bev-erages of milk and coffee, all inquantities sufficient to serve a familyof 10) averaged $49.04 (a 1.3 percentdifference from Wisconsin’s).
“In 2011 the amount of turkey incold storage was at a historic lowwhich drove turkey prices higher andcaused the survey’s total price to rise,”Manske said. “Since then food priceshave generally stabilized.”
Wisconsin’s average price for a 16-pound turkey came in at $22.40. That’sdown 3.45 percent since 2011 when itwas $23.20.
“Turkeys are typically featured inspecial sales and promotions close toThanksgiving,” Manske said. “Whileour survey was conducted in October,those shoppers who wait until the daysbefore Thanksgiving to buy their birdwill likely get a bargain.”
TALKING TURKEYA trend of strong demand for U.S.
turkey both here and abroad has con-tinued over the past decade. Americanswill consume nearly 46 million turkeysthis Thanksgiving, and lead the worldin annual turkey consumption.Turkey’s popularity expands beyondour borders. Mexico buys over half ofits turkeys from the U.S. annually,making it the leading foreign customer.Other top importers of U.S. turkeys areChina, Hong Kong, Canada and theDominican Republic.
FARMER’S SHARE IS JUST $7.74
Over the last three decades retailgrocery prices have gradually in-
creased while the share of the averagedollar spent on food that farm familiesreceive has dropped. In the mid-1970s,farmers received about one-third ofconsumer retail food expenditures ingrocery stores and restaurants. Sincethen that figure has decreased steadilyand is now about 16 percent, accordingto the U.S. Department of Agriculture.Using that percentage across the board,the farmer’s share of this year’s $48.40Thanksgiving meal would be $7.74.
“From the potatoes to turkey to cran-berries, Wisconsin’s farm families areproud to produce much of the food thatis the centerpiece of most Thanksgiv-ing celebrations,” Manske said. “Dur-
On Saturdayat approximately9:55 p.m., Mid-dleton Policewere called tothe 6800 blockof UniversityAvenue for a re-port of a femalewho appeared tobe intoxicatedand fell down inthe parking lot.
A witness tried to convince hernot to drive, but she chose to leavein her vehicle just as officers werearriving, according to a statementreleased by police.
Officers made contact with thedriver, Deborah A. Schwarz, 61, ofMiddleton, about two blocksaway. Schwarz was arrested andtentatively charged with 5th of-fense felony operating while intox-icated. Schwarz was jailedpending her initial court appear-ance.
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2013 MIDDLETON TIMES-TRIBUNE PAGE 3
David Stella named AARP state presidentAARP Wisconsin last week an-
nounced the appointment of David A.Stella of Middleton to the two-year po-sition of State President – the higheststate-level volunteer position withinthe nonprofit, nonpartisan organizationthat has more than 820,000 membersstatewide and nearly 40 million mem-bers nationwide.
Stella, 65, who was appointed to theposition by AARP Midwest RegionalVolunteer Director Dean Clough, will
begin his role immediately.“Dave truly embodies everything
AARP is striving to achieve on a stateand national level,” said AARP Wis-consin State Director Sam Wilson. “Heunderstands the importance of empow-ering people age 50-plus to preparethemselves for what’s next in all phasesof their lives.
“His experience and expertise, par-ticularly in the area of pensions and fi-nancial security, are unparalleled. We
are thrilled andhonored to haveDave on board tolead ourstatewide ef-forts.”
As AARPWisconsin StatePresident, Stellawill work withAARP members, volunteers, staff, leg-islators, and state residents on key is-
sues facing the 50-plus population andall Wisconsinites, such as health care,financial security issues and voter ed-ucation.
“My interests coincide with the mis-sion and vision of AARP – which is tohelp people achieve financial securityas they work toward retirement. Issueslike pensions and health care go handin hand with financial security. I lookforward to working on the many chal-lenges facing our society as we age,”
Stella said.Some of those challenges, he said,
include making sure programs such asMedicare and Social Security remainstrong and solvent for current and fu-ture generations. “I am a strong advo-cate of Medicare and Social Security.AARP has worked hard not only to de-fend and protect these programs, but tomake them better,” he said.
5th OWI for Schwarz
Thanksgiving meals cost less this yearSee STELLA, page 20
See pRiCES, page 20
Schwarz
Stella
The OVK-Bach Festival organizedby Arohana School of Music in Mid-dleton was a first-of-its-kind event thatbrought two all-time-great composersfrom two different parts of the world –Oottukkadu Venkata Kavi (1700-65)and Joanne Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) – onto the same platform.
Vanitha Suresh, one of the event’sorganizers and a performer, said it pro-vided a significant number of Indiansas well as non-Indian listeners a highlyenriching experience for nearly 12hours.
It started off with the traditionalSaptaratna renditions led by ChitravinaN Ravikiran, Akkarai Subhalakshmi,Nandini Sridhar, Vanitha Suresh, Nam-ratha Rajagopal and other localsingers/students in the Midwest region,accompanied by Vijaya Desikan on theviolin, Sriram Natarajan on the Mrdan-gam, Balaji Chandran on the Ghatam,and Arthi Nadhan on the Veena.
This was followed byindividual/group/featured vocal per-formances by students of teachers fromMinnesota, Illinois and Wisconsin.They were kickstarted by a brisk ren-dition of Venkata Kavi by AkkaraiSubhalakshmi. The rest of the sessionincluded rare and popular VenkataKavi compositions in a wide variety ofragas. The morning session concludedwith the recitation competition of
Venkata Kavi’s Sanskit shlokas (rhyth-mic verses). The post noon sessionfeatured individual/group danceBharathanatyam performances bydancers from the Midwest region ofUSA.
The next session was dedicated toBach, whose compositions were inter-preted on Cello/Piano/Saxophone/Vio-lin by students of Eric Miller, KristineBengtson, Pete Ross, Lucinda Marvinand Audrey Frykenberg. It was inter-esting to listen to the Sicillenne & Al-legro from Flute Sonata #2 rearrangedfor the Saxophone. Other pieces playedwere Toccata in D minor, Invention#14, Musette and Minuet, Minuet #2.The featured performer in the Westernsession was Eric Miller who played avery soulful Suite 1 on the Cello.
The evening program started on aunique note with the Middleton HighSchool Orchestra’s rendition of “Bran-denburg Concerto #3” and “A WorldView” - which was Ravikiran’s Mel-
harmonic re-creation of OottukkaduVenkata Kavi’s “Udajagopa sundara”(raga Umabharanam). Ravikiran’s sim-ilar arrangement of Venkata Kavi’s“Swagatam Krishna” (raga Mohanam)was competently interpreted by the Ya-hara String Quartette, who also played“Air on the G String” of Bach.
This was followed by a historicproclamation by the City of Middletonthat the third Saturday of every No-vember henceforth be celebrated as“Melharmony Day,” a unique distinc-tion conferred on Chitravina N Raviki-ran.
The carefully worded proclamationalso made special references to pio-neering melodic composers like Oot-tukkadu Venkata Kavi, Tyagaraja andDikshitar as well as architects of har-mony such as Bach, Mozart andBeethoven.
This was followed by an discussionabout Venkata Kavi and Bach and their
PAGE 4 MIDDLETON TIMES-TRIBUNE THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2013
Photo contributed
West Corporation honors veterans
West Corporation had the Cross Plains Color Guard and Dan Cardy, PostCommander from the Cross Plains VFW, onsite last week to lead the com-pany in a ceremony on Vetarans Day. West’s Britan Grimmer, far right, con-cluded the ceremony with the Star Spangled Banner. “West values thededicated services provided by the armed forces and is proud to offer oppor-tunities to Veterans as well as military spouses and dependents,” said JennyNichols, human resources manager at West Corporation.
OVK-Bach festival a hitCity of Middleton will observe ‘Melharmony Day’ each year
Photo contributedSaturday’s OVK-Bach Festival, above, brought different cultures and
musical styles together in the Middleton Performing Arts Center.
See oVK-BACH, page 21
The Middleton High School ConcertChoir and Cantus will participate in anaction packed holiday celebration withthe world famous Canadian Brass andthe renowned Wisconsin Chamber Or-chestra at Middleton’s Performing ArtsCenter on Saturday, November 25.Performances will be held at 2 pm and8 pm.
Thanksgiving weekend will neverbe the same as the Wisconsin ChamberOrchestra says ‘Happy 50th Anniver-sary’ to the city of Middleton with thisexciting program of seasonal favoritesincluding Gesu Bambino, Winter Won-derland, Christmas Time is Here, andPolonaise from Christmas Eve.
Tickets can be purchased from thebox office at 608-258-4141 or atwww.wcoconcerts.org/buy-tickets/. Avideo link to the fabulous CanadianBrass is also available on the site.
The Middleton Performing ArtsCenter is located at 2100 BristolStreet. The Wisconsin Chamber Or-chestra is under the direction of Maes-tro Andrew Sewell; the MiddletonHigh School choral program is directedby Mr. Tom Mielke.
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2013 MIDDLETON TIMES-TRIBUNE PAGE 5
Holiday celebration at the PAC
Photo contributed
The Middleton High School Concert Choir and Cantus will participate in an action packed holiday celebrationwith the world famous Canadian Brass and the renowned Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra on Saturday, November25. Performances will be held at 2 and 8 p.m.
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THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2013 MIDDLETON TIMES-TRIBUNE PAGE 7
Brad KeilMeet Brad Keil, Middleton’s Chief
of Police for the past nine years. A lifelong Wisconsin resident, Brad
was born in Wisconsin Rapids andraised in several communities aroundthe state. He is the second oldest of fivechildren, with two brothers and twosisters.
Shortly after graduating from WestBend West High School, Brad joinedthe army, where he served as a militarypolice officer. He was in the service for
three years, before discharging to at-tend the University of Wisconsin-Mil-waukee to obtain a criminal justicedegree. During his senior year at UW-Milwaukee, Brad was hired to work forthe West Bend Police Department.Throughout his thirteen years at WestBend, Brad held a variety of positions,including SWAT team member, train-ing officer, detective, gang officer, andpatrol sergeant. Brad later worked atthe Monona Police Department, wherehe ascended the career ladder quicklybefore being appointed Chief of Police.While in Monona, Brad completed his
Master’s Degree in Public Administra-tion and attended the prestigious FBINational Academy.
Brad and his wife, Sandra, firstmoved to Middleton in 2004 whenBrad accepted his current position asMiddleton Chief of Police. “I saw agreat opportunity to be a part of alarger, growing community with a re-ally great police department, so it wasan easy decision to make,” Brad re-calls. He also appreciates all of thelarger community amenities that theGood Neighbor City offers, while re-taining a small-town feel.
In addition to serving as a boardmember for the Middleton OptimistClub, Brad is a member of many pro-fessional organizations. He serves onthe Board of Directors for the Wiscon-sin Police Chief’s Association and is amember of the Legislative Committeethat reviews legislation that may havean impact on law enforcement. Bradalso serves as a Law Enforcement Rep-resentative for the Criminal Justice Co-
ordinating Council, which is taskedwith finding more efficient and effec-tive ways for the criminal justice sys-tem to work in Wisconsin.
Currently, Brad has several hugeprojects at work. The Middleton PoliceDepartment is finishing up a newpolicing and staffing plan as part of afive-year strategic plan. The Depart-ment is also in the process of obtainingaccreditation, and hopes to have itcompleted by early 2014. To be accred-ited, a police department must developpolicies and procedures that are consid-ered model policies in the law enforce-ment profession. Accreditation ensurescitizens that the best policies are beingpracticed within the department, in-cluding appropriate use of force andhow citizen complaints are handled.
During his time off, Brad enjoys bik-ing on the Middleton trails, bird hunt-ing with his two English SpringerSpaniel dogs, kayaking and learningSpanish. Brad also enjoys travelingwith his wife, and earlier this year, thecouple took a two-week trip to Englandand Spain.
Stay tuned to meet more of yourGood Neighbors! In the meantime, ifyou know someone who you think is aGood Neighbor and deserves recogni-tion, email me [email protected].
PAGE 8 MIDDLETON TIMES-TRIBUNE THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2013
By Alissa Pfeiffer
Meet Your
Good Neighbor
Photo contributed
Brad Keil has been chief of policein Middleton for nine years.
Vinehout tookon budget‘myths’ atMAT event
To the editor,
The Middleton Action Team spon-sored Democratic Senator KathleenVinehout’s appearance at its monthlyOpen Mic Night on November 12th.Nearly 100 people heard Vinehout’senjoyable and often humorous addresswhich highlighted her concern for thepeople and the future of Wisconsin.
Senator Vinehout is highly respectedby her colleagues in the Senate for herintelligence and particularly her incred-ible work ethic of delving deeply into
the fine points of the budget. Shewarned that Wisconsin must wake upto the forces behind the changes affect-ing our schools. The group was partic-ularly supportive of her condemnationof the new statewide voucher expan-sion which defunds public education.On another issue Kathleen was partic-ularly incensed by the attempt to re-move local government control. Itwould remove any ability of counties,towns, cities or villages to protecthealth and safety with regard to water,air quality, blasting and degradation oflocal roads.
Vinehout took on some of the mythsof the State Budget. Myth number one:the state spending is less and impliesthe size of government is smaller. Butaccording to numbers released by thenonpartisan Wisconsin Taxpayers Al-liance, the 2013-15 budget spends $4billion more than the previous budget.In fact state spending is greater than it
has ever been in Wisconsin’s history.Myth number two: this budget took adeficit and turned it into a surplus. Shestated that the opposite is true. The re-cently passed budget spends more thanit is projected to collect in revenue.That is not balance. Finally she sug-gested that the myth that the only alter-native to spending cuts is tax increasesis short sighted. Vinehout said thatsmarter budget decisions mean smarterspending decisions. One exampleneeded to balance the budget would bewiser administration of Medicaidfunds.
Many questions followed Vine-hout’s presentation and she answeredthem with her enthusiastic and thor-ough responses, often with a touch ofhumor. If you have not had the chanceto hear Kathleen Vinehout speak outfor Wisconsin, I urge you to attend acoffee or gathering and hear her alter-native budget and her common sense
plan for the good of Wisconsin. Visither website kathleenvinehout.org/ tohear of future events, learn of her di-verse background and her vision forWisconsin.
Sincerely,Rose Sime
School boardurged tobargain withlocal teachers
Letter to the Editor,
I am writing to encourage the Mid-dleton Board of Education to open con-
tract negotiations for the MCPASDteachers.
It is astonishing to me that the dis-trict has millions that it and the com-munity are willing to put toward newconstruction and technology but offera paltry $1000 for a pay increase for itsstaff. I give credit to the dedicatedteachers and support staff for being thebackbone of Middleton student suc-cess. Not offering a voice in a contractand full support of their eagerness tobargain should be embarassing.
Please don’t hide behind our regres-sive governor’s partisan politics. I’dlove to see Middleton be a pioneer inoffering full and clearly evident sup-port of its amazing staff as they de-serve.
Molly TormeyMiddleton
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2013 MIDDLETON TIMES-TRIBUNE PAGE 9
Pleasingthe PalateToday as I drove to work, I found
myself behind a beer truck. The backof the truck had images of bottles withpale yellow beer inside.
That was the kind of beer that Idrank as a young adult during the daysbefore micro-breweries offered the ro-bust ales, porters and stouts that Ilearned to love.
It wasn’t love at first taste. I remem-ber my introduction to the heartier fla-vors. I turned up my nose at the smelland barely swallowed a sip before de-claring my dislike and retreating backto the familiar less flavorful variety.
I wanted to like the new beers be-cause I loved the names, like ToadspitStout and Mudpuppy Porter. Drivingbehind the beer truck made me thinkabout developing palates.
I was a really picky eater as a child.
I didn’t like foods that were “all gooedtogether, and I was reticent to try any-thing new. Twice I didn’t go to birthdayparties because the hosts were servingpizza or sloppy joes, aka, “food-all-gooed-together.”
My mother catered to my tentativetaste buds. She worried that I was tooskinny. I was also tall which exagger-ated the skinny and vice-versa. Thecombination set me up for nicknameslike String Bean, Stretch and OliveOyle.
I’m ashamed to remember the din-nertime arguments over what I wassupposed to, but didn’t want to, eat.Going to college expanded my reper-toire of foods and my waistline.
Part my willingness to try new foodswas that I was hungry. I didn’t havemoney to spend beyond my meal planfor the stuff I was “used to.”
A lion’s share of the reason, how-ever, was that I started feeling self-con-scious about my narrow food world. Ididn’t like being left out of trips to thepizza parlor and constantly saying “nothank you” at parties.
After trying and liking more foods,
curiosity spurred me on. I gained thetraditional “freshman ten” plus fivemore for good, or not so good, meas-ure. Gooed-together foods like lasagnaand chop suey became my favorites.
I learned to love a whole array ofother ethnic foods that my parents hadnever even heard of, let alone tasted. Ifthey were still living, they wouldn’t be-lieve that, last week, I tried and likedescargot. (Thanks to my friend, Willfor the suggestion to try them at Mid-dleton’s own Louisianne’s!)
Why we like what we like, or don’tlike, is fascinating to me. I’m not justreferring to food here.
How much of our preferences forfood, pastimes, music, etc. are based onwhat we’ve been exposed to? Howmuch of it is based on a fear of beinguncomfortable to venture into new ter-ritory or the fact that we don’t want tobe disappointed?
Since it’s November and Thanksgiv-ing is around the corner, my mindjumps to the Pilgrims. Preferencesweren’t a consideration during theirfirst winter of 1620. Anything to wardoff starvation and cold was welcomed.
But by 1621, because of their friend-ship with the Wampanoags and theirincreased skills to find, grow and huntfood, they might have been able to in-dulge a preference or two. There’s nospecific list of all the things that wereeaten in their three days of harvest cel-ebration. But, one chronicler, Edward
Winslow, recorded that four of theirmen were sent “fowling” and theWampanoag brought five deer.
Beyond that, it is speculation. Weknow that the Wampanoag ate accord-ing to the seasons. Nuts, mushroomsand perhaps some late berries couldhave been gathered in the woods. Weknow that they had a traditional dishcall nasaump, a thick and hardy foodmade from the corn.
They caught fresh fish like herring,trout, perch and catfish. There wereocean varieties like cod, bass, sea eelsand mackerel, to name a few. Womengathered mussels and quahogs, crabs,lobster and conch.
That thanks were given for the 1621feast, there’s no doubt. To perpetuatethe notion that it was the first Thanks-giving in America, is rewriting history.
The Plimouth Plantation, a Smith-sonian Institution Affiliate Program,offers the following on its website, “Inthe Wampanoag way of life, all Beingson Earth were given gratitude for theirexistence and for their gifts. All of theNations of Animals, Winged Ones,Water Beings, even the tiny insects,were considered to be gifts from Cre-ator to the Humans. Everything had itspurpose. All life was considered sa-cred, and treated that way. Foods notused were given back into MotherEarth. This was 17th-century recy-cling!”
The website further tells us that in
subsequent years, some Pilgrims wroteto family back in England that theirdiets in America were better than whenthey lived in England and Holland.They did miss one thing, though.Beer!
While living in England the drink ofchoice was beer. It was drunk bywhole families, even the children. Thewater in England at that time was notconsidered a healthy beverage. Norwas milk.
Milk was made into butter andcheese. Or, it was used for cookinggrainy porridges.
Water quality in America was a dif-ferent story for the Pilgrims. Manywere surprised that their children werehealthier when, for lack of the grainsneeded for brewing their traditionalbeer, they drank water. It became thebeverage of choice for parents to giveto their children.
When it comes to beverages thesedays, my preference has turned towater, too. I admit that my palatemight still prefer the tastes of the greatmicro-brews, but the rest of me prefersthe healthier body and clarity of mindthat I get from drinking water.
Whatever your preferences are, Ihope that you have bounty enough toshare and that you have the means toindulge your favorite palate pleasersthis Thanksgiving.
Veterans Day has come and gone butwe should be supporting veteransevery day in Wisconsin. Challengeyourself to make choices every daythat support the veterans living in yourcommunity. Our veterans are not justolder men and women who served andcame home, dealing with pain andstruggles mostly in their own homes.Our veterans are also young, strong,ready to be hired, but many times withstruggles that are difficult to under-stand. They also may be battling PostTraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD),drug addiction, alcoholism and othermental health disorders.
In our communities we can make adifference every day by reaching out toour veterans, sometimes even with just
a “hello.” As taxpayers we have chosento support our veterans with state as-sisted medical care, tuition assistance,help purchasing a home, employment,and retraining opportunities. These areall good endeavors, but they fall shorton addressing some of the biggest chal-lenges in coming home.
A RAND corporation study foundthat nearly 1 in 5 soldiers who haveserved in Iraq or Afghanistan havepost-traumatic stress disorder or de-pression; only about a half of these sol-diers have sought treatment. TheCongressional Research Service foundin 2012 that 14 percent of veteranswere diagnosed with affective psy-chosis, a class of mental illness that in-cludes bipolar disorder. Another 22percent were diagnosed with a depres-sive disorder and 29 percent withPTSD. Alcohol dependence was also a
problem for 6 percent, and 5 percentstruggled with drug abuse.
In the Legislature we can makechoices that support the men andwomen that served our country. In gen-eral, Wisconsin has made treatmentand support of veterans a top priority.I seek through Legislation to correcttwo shortcomings in our support whichwere enacted with the 2013-2015budget that I opposed.
First, the state budget specificallyremoved the requirement in law thatVeterans Homes (short term or longterm facilities) run by the WisconsinDepartment of Veterans Affairs acceptveterans suffering from psychosis anddrug and alcohol addiction. Thischange is just wrong. There may be acost savings for abandoning those thatstruggle the most with their return tothe U.S., but that will never be worth
it. If you look at the RAND study, thispolicy change justifies the state turningaway as many as 20-30 percent of ourreturning veterans from care in stateVeterans Homes. If we lack the expert-ise or facilities to treat veterans withhigh needs, then we need to find the re-sources to close the gap and meet thoseneeds. Closing the door to veteransshould not be an option. I am co-authorof a bill to right this wrong. That bill isSenate Bill 403.
Second, the state budget included aprovision to create a task force to studywhether a private company should runour veterans care facilities. That taskforce did not include a seat at the tablefor even one person from our manyveterans organizations in the state. Thatis just ridiculous. It is crucial whenmaking decisions about the future ofservices to veterans that a representa-
tive of the veterans community be atthe table. I am also a co-author of Sen-ate Bill 405 to add representatives fromthe veterans community to this taskforce.
It is deliberate choices every daythat determine the quality of life wehave in our communities. That meansmaking things right when they havebeen made wrong. I sincerely hope thatthe Legislature and the Governor willthrow their full support behind thesesimple proposals to do what is right forthe veterans in Wisconsin.
If you have questions or commentson this or any other Legislative issue,please contact my office at 608-266-6670 or 888-549-0027 or via email [email protected]
Support Wisconsin’s veterans every day
LLETTERSETTERS TOTO THETHE EEDITORDITOR
by SEN. JoN ERpENBACH
Guest Column
Middleton’s girls swimming teamhad just the recipe for success. TheCardinals talked about things like sac-rificing for the team and encouragingand pushing one another.
It all added up to a stunning thirdplace finish at the WIAA Division 1state swimming and diving champi-onships at the UW Natatorium lastSaturday.
“Our goal was top five and weknew if we swam at our best we couldget there,” Middleton coach LaurenCabalka said. “To come out with thatjust shows that we swam our best. It’sjust really exciting.
“Our girls really stepped up. Theywanted it really bad and it showed.”
Waukesha South/Mukwonagoedged Hartland Arrowhead 337-333 towin its third consecutive state title.Middleton finished with 176 points tobeat out fourth-place Verona (162points) and fifth-place Appleton North(148).
The top-three finish was actuallybetter than last year’s fourth-place fin-ish and the final point total wasMiddleton’s best in six years. The per-formance seemed unlikely given thatthe Cardinals had many holes to fill
and looked vulnerable entering theseason.
“Even with 16 girls it’s hard to fig-ure out how you’re going to fill thoseholes,” Cabalka said. “It took us abouthalf the season to realize that, not onlyhad we filled them, but we had founda few stars on the team and they kindof stepped out of some of the shadowsthey were in last season. They justreally stepped up and took leadershiproles.”
Teammates spoke about what
helped them succeed.“This is probably the best season of
my career because I just love my teamso much and we always pump eachother up and help each other along,”said an emotional Ashley Aegerter.“We’re way strong. I think that itplayed a huge role in my success.
“It’s the best team that I could everask for.”
“That just comes from how closewe are on this team,” said teammateKarley Licking. “We want to do it for
each other. That’s more important tous than individual races. It’s just that ateam effort is the most important thingto us.”
Said teammate Victoria Lin: “I wascloser with the girls this year so we alljust pushed each other to do better. Itclearly worked because we all did somuch better so it was really good.”
Aegerter and Lin responded withschool records in each of their individ-ual events and Licking dropped a sig-nificant amount of time in her individ-
ual events as well.Aegerter, who will swim for the
University of Illinois next season, fin-ished second in the 100-yard breast-stroke in 1 minute, 3.30 seconds andtook third in the 200 individual med-ley in 2:05.42. Lin, only a sophomore,took sixth in the 100 backstroke in57.18 and eighth in the 100 butterflyin 57.78. Licking, a senior, was eighthin the 200 IM in 2:08.27 and eighth inthe 100 backstroke in 58.51.
In the 200 IM, Aegerter finishedbehind Hartland Arrowhead’s LindsayAdamski and Cedarburg’s KatieDrabot, who won the event in a state-record 1:59.09.
“Knowing that Drabot was in myheat was really cool and got mepumped up for the race,” Aegertersaid. “She’s really good competition.”
Aegerter actually got off to a slowstart in the race and was back in sixthplace after the first turn.
“Usually it takes me a little bit towarm up,” Aegerter said. “I just tookthe first 25 (yards) out. Every 25 mademe more pumped up and excited and Iknew I could just keep going faster. Ijust kept getting faster each 25.”
Aegerter trailed only Adamski(1:01.95) at the finish of the 100breaststroke.
“Ashley knew that if she wanted tobeat (Adamski) she would have to goout with her and she didn’t quite getout with her, but she caught her at theend,” Cabalka said. “If she had anoth-
PAGE 10 MIDDLETON TIMES-TRIBUNE THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2013
The thoughts first went throughtheir minds when they were back inthe fourth grade.
Luke Schafer, Derek Rongstadand several of their pals were basket-ball teammates as early as 2005. Andeven back then, they realized theirgroup was pretty special.
“We always thought about oursenior year and thought it could bepretty special,” Rongstad said.
Well, that year is here. And thisgroup fully plans to make it a memo-rable year for Middleton’s boys bas-ketball team.
The Cardinals went 14-11 lastseason, but heated up late in the sea-son when their young talent began toblossom. Middleton stunned top-seeded Sun Prairie in the regionalfinals, then advanced to the sectionalsemifinals where it fell to Madison
Memorial.Middleton now brings back its top
three scorers and six of its top eightplayers. And when the Cardinals hostMadison La Follette Tuesday in theirseason-opener, expectations will besky high.
“Yeah there's a lot of excitementespecially with us players,” saidSchafer, a senior guard. “I've beenplaying with some of these guyssince fourth grade and without adoubt we all have a goal to make thisa season to remember.
“But we know we can't get aheadof ourselves with a conference asgood as the Big Eight. You can't takeanyone lightly because anyone canbeat anyone on any given night.Even as cliché as it sounds I thinkour main goal is 1-0 and that mental-ity will hopefully take us to wherewe want to go.”
Middleton head coach KevinBavery is beginning his eighth sea-son with the Cardinals. In that time,Bavery has guided Middleton tothree sectional appearances and twosectional finals.
But Bavery — who often special-izes in “coach-speak” — admits this
EnormousexpectationsBoys basketballteam gunningfor big seasonby RoB REiSCHEL
Times-Tribune
Swimmers shine at stateMiddleton rolls tothird place finishby GREGG HAMMiLL
For the Times-Tribune
Times-Tribune photo by Mary Langenfeld
Derek Rongstad and Middleton’s boys basketball team have great expectations this winter.
Times-Tribune photo by Mary Langenfeld
Paige Prestigiacomo and Middleton’s girls swimming team finished third at the state meet last Saturday.
See BoYS BB, page 16
See SWiMMERS, page 13
Follow RobReischel onTwitter at@robreischel
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2013 MIDDLETON TIMES-TRIBUNE PAGE 11
A valiant effortBoys volleyballteam falls shortat state tourneyby RoB REiSCHEL
Times-TribuneMILWAUKEE — Defense,
defense, defense.That plan was hatched early last
week. And it certainly wasn’t an easysell.
But Middleton boys volleyballcoach Ben White knew it was proba-bly the only way his Cardinals couldupset Germantown in the WIAAstate quarterfinals last Friday.
Instead of entering a slugfest withthe bigger, more physically imposingWarhawks, Middleton believed itcould outlast Germantown and forcea stream of unforced errors.
And for the first two games insideWisconsin Lutheran College, every-thing went right for the upstartCardinals.
But Germantown eventuallyadjusted, cleaned up its play, and ral-lied for a thrilling 26-28, 25-27, 25-18, 25-15, 15-11 win.
Middleton finished the year with a19-6 record, while Germantownwent on to reach the state finals,where it lost to MilwaukeeMarquette.
“I told our kids I’ve never had ateam execute a game plan that well,”said White, who just concluded his13th season. “It wasn’t easy to con-vince them that this was the way toplay.
“These are aggressive kids thathave played a certain way all seasonlong. But as good as Germantownwas, I knew this was our best chance.We just couldn’t quite get it done.”
It certainly wasn’t from a lack ofeffort or smarts.
Middleton played with terrificpassion and never lost its composure.And that led to one of the better per-formances of the Cardinals’ season.
Middleton senior setter ConnorZimmick had a memorable night,finishing with 22 assists and six digs.Zimmick also had nine kills, threeblock assists and had a team-high killpercentage of .296.
Senior outside hitter Andy Keelerhad a team-high 14 kills and a .225attack percentage. Senior setterRobbie Drachenberg had 14 assists,senior libero Colin Gloudemans had16 digs and junior outside hitterJames Caldwell had nine digs.
Germantown senior outside hitterJon Averkamp led the Warhawkswith 22 kills, while senior outsidehitter Jake Showalter and junior mid-dle blocker Luke Deubler both had15 kills. Warhawks senior setterJacob Reynolds had 60 assists.
Germantown finished with animpressive .311 attack percentage,while Middleton hit at a .170 clip.
“I’m really proud of our guys,”Keeler said afterwards. “Coach toldus, ‘They’re definitely a bigger teamthan us,’ but we thought we couldstay with them if we played smart.We just couldn’t finish it.”
Zimmick agreed.“A slugfest probably wasn’t in our
best interests,” said Zimmick, whoWhite declared had the best match ofhis life. “But we did a great job play-ing a different style.”
See BoYS VB, page 14
Times-Tribune photo by Mary Langenfeld
Middleton’s Connor Zimmick was sensational in Middleton’s five-set loss toGermantown at the boys state volleyball tournament last Friday.
PAGE 12 MIDDLETON TIMES-TRIBUNE THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2013
Their year was both surprising andsatisfying.
Middleton’s girls volleyball teamexceeded the expectations of many,won the Big Eight Conference tour-nament and came within one win ofreaching the state tournament.
And when their thrilling seasoncame to a close, five Cardinals werenamed to the all-Big EightConference team.
Senior outside hitter ManeBobadilla and senior libero LeiaPeterman were named first team all-Big Eight Conference. Sophomoreoutside hitter Logan Welti and seniorsetter Bre Schlueter were named sec-ond-team all-league, while senioroutside hitter Arissa Milton wasnamed honorable-mention all-confer-ence.
Bobadilla was a three-year starter
who saved her best for last.Bobadilla was named the
Cardinals’ MVP after leading theteam with 585 kills and finishingfourth with 231 digs. Nicknamed“Hammer Time”, Bobadilla was alsonamed honorable-mention all-state.
“Mane will be greatly missed,”Middleton coach Franco Marcos said.“She started out as a sophomore hit-ting right side and made the switchthis year to outside hitter. This posi-tion required more defense besidesthe hitting. Mane was able to adjustand carried the team.”
Peterman was a four-year starterand a tri-captain who was one of theCardinals’ top leaders. Peterman ledMiddleton with 785 receptions and566 digs. She was also voted by herteammates as the player who bestexemplified sportsmanship.
“She was our defensive guru in theback row,” Marcos said. “Very fewvolleyballs got past her
“Leia will be leaving big shoes tofill. Leia will be missed more thananyone.”
Schleuter was Middleton’s No. 1setter and finished the year with 799assists.
Fab fiveGirls volleyballteam lands fiveon all-Big teamby RoB REiSCHEL
Times-Tribune
See GiRLS VB, page 15
Times-Tribune photo by Mary Langenfeld
Middleton’s Mane Bobadilla was named first-team all-Big Eight.
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2013 MIDDLETON TIMES-TRIBUNE PAGE 13
er 25, I think she would have wonthat race.”
Aegerter was happy with the result.“That’s exactly the time I was
wanting to get, so I accomplished thatgoal and I got the Middleton recordfor the breaststroke, which was also agoal of mine,” Aegerter said. “Thatwas really cool and I think it reallyhelped that all of my teammatespumped me up before the race.”
With just three events remaining,the Cardinals were actually in fifthplace with 105 points. Middletontrailed third-place Appleton North(110) and fourth-place Cedarburg(108) and led Verona by a point.
However, the Cardinals amassed47 points in the next two events, the100 backstroke and 100 breast-stroke. Lin and Licking placed sixthand eighth, respectively, in the 100backstroke. Aegerter and EmmaKarbusicky followed with second and11th-place finishes, respectively, inthe 100 breaststroke to cement thirdplace.
“I’m so proud of this entire team,”Licking said. “It was just a teameffort.”
Middleton had several other out-standing individual performances atthe state meet.
Junior Paige Prestigiacomo was11th in the 200 freestyle (1:55.30) and16th in the 100 freestyle (53.59), sen-ior Samantha Andryk was 11th in the100 butterfly (58.89), sophomoreSamantha Roll was 15th in the 200freestyle (1:56.79), and seniorMadeline Mack was 22nd in the 100breaststroke (1:09.84).
Karbusicky, a sophomore, was dis-qualified for coming out of her pulloutduring the 200 IM, but reboundedwith an 11th-place finish in the 100breaststroke (1:06.74).
The Cardinals’ 200 medley relay ofLin, Aegerter, Andryk and Lickingtook fourth in 1:47.82. The 400 relayof Roll, Licking, Aegerter andPrestigiacomo placed seventh in3:34.04. Middleton’s 200 freestylerelay of senior Olivia Kossel, Lin,Roll and Prestigiacomo took eighth in1:38.39.
“We really wanted to get in the topthree coming into this, but we thoughtit might have been a little bit of astretch,” Licking said. “I’m so amazedby everyone’s performance. Everyonemoved up. It was just amazing to seethat today.”
Team scores — 1, Waukesha South/Mukwonago 337; 2, Arrowhead 333; 3, Middleton176; 4, Verona 162; 5, Appleton North 148; 6,Cedarburg 141; 7, Madison West 119; 8, MadisonMemorial 103; 9, Germantown 90; 10, Badger/ BigFoot/ Williams Bay 68; 11, Sun Prairie 65; 12,Pulaski 60; 13, Neenah 59; 14, Hudson 46; 15,Nicolet 43; 16, Homestead 39; 17, Divine SaviorHoly Angels 33; 18 (tie), West Bend West andMuskego 28; 20, Waunakee 23; 21 (tie), WauwatosaEast and Oshkosh North/ Oshkosh Lourdes 21; 23,Holmen/ Aquinas/ Onalaska 20; 24 (tie), MadisonEast and Racine Case 17; 26 (tie), Menomonee
Falls/ Sussex Hamilton and Shawano/ Bonduel 15;28 (tie), Franklin, Waukesha North/ Kettle Moraineand Eau Claire Memorial 14; 31, Racine Park 12;32, Burlington/ Catholic Central/ East Troy/Wilmot/ Waterford 10; 33, Kenosha Tremper 9; 34,Edgerton/ Evansville 6; 35 (tie), Oshkosh West andWausau East 5; 37, Chippewa Falls/ McDonell 4;38, Sheboygan North 2; 39 (tie), Greenfield, GreenBay East/ Preble and Kenosha Bradford 1.
E m m aKarbusickya n dMiddleton’sgirls swim-ming teamhad a terrif-ic perform-ance at thestate meet.
That’s for sure.Middleton’s strategy was to keep
points alive, play mistake free, andtry winning on guile and astuteness.
For the first two games, it workedlike a charm.
Gloudemans had five straightservice points in Game 1 asMiddleton raced to a 13-7 lead. TheCardinals maintained a 22-17 leadthanks to terrific blocks from juniorNoah Kern and Zimmick, as well assix service errors from Germantown.
The Warhawks battled back totake a 25-24 lead. But with the gametied at 26, Zimmick had back-to-back kills and Middleton capturedthe opening game.
“That was great for our confi-dence to win the first one,” Zimmicksaid. “It was a great start.”
It got even better.There were 10 ties in Game 2,
although Germantown led most ofthe way. The Warhawks held advan-tages of 24-23 and 25-24, but could-n’t put the Cardinals away.
With Germantown serving for thegame, Zimmick had a kill to knotthings at 25. Then with Caldwellserving for the Cardinals, Zimmickhad a tip kill, and followed that witha block kill of Averkamp, one of thestate’s best players.
That gave Middleton a stunning27-25 win and a 2-0 lead in thematch.
“We were a little scared,” saidGermantown’s Deubler. “I’m notgoing to lie.”
Middleton, on the other hand,loved its position.
“We were feeling really good,”Keeler said. “We knew they wouldmake some adjustments, but wethought we were in really goodshape.”
The Warhawks certainly adjusted.Beginning in Game 3,
Germantown brought its middleblockers into the offense, stoppedmissing serves and adjusted toMiddleton’s plan of attack.
Both junior libero Cullen Liberskiand junior middle hitter Ben Walterhad four straight service points earlyin the third game as Germantownraced to a 12-6 lead. The Cardinalsnever came closer than four pointsthe rest of that game.
The fourth game was allGermantown. The Warhawks racedto a 9-3 lead, stretched that to 21-9and never looked back.
“I still felt like we could comeback,” Keeler said. “It’s state. Wewere all so fired up and played sohard. I was loving it.”
Middleton put up a much tougherfight in the fifth and decisive game.The Cardinals took a quick 4-2 lead,and the game was tied six times, thelast coming at 8-8.
Germantown was clinging to a12-11 lead late, when Middleton had
consecutive hitting errors. ThenShowalter finished the Cardinalswith a kill that sent his team into thestate semifinals — and endedMiddleton’s year.
“Give Middleton a lot of credit,”Germantown coach Brian Rushmersaid. “They played us the way theyshould have. But our guys have a lotof heart and did a great job fightingback.”
Despite the loss, White andCardinals left with their heads heldhigh.
“It was a great year, no doubtabout it,” White said. “Our goal allalong was to make it to state and wedid that. It would have been great towin a match, but I couldn’t be moreproud of these guys.”
There was a lot to be proud of.Middleton went a perfect 10-0 in
the Big Eight Conference and wonthe league for the seventh time ineight years. The Cardinals reachedthe state tournament for the first time
since 2009.And Middleton put a remarkable
scare into a team that nearly went onto win the state championship.
“For my senior year, this was def-initely the best year,” Zimmick said.“It was the most enjoyable. This wasa great team to be part of … and I’mreally proud of everything weaccomplished.”
PAGE 14 MIDDLETON TIMES-TRIBUNE THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2013
BoYS VB continued from page 11n
Times-Tribune photo by Mary Langenfeld
Ben White led Middleton’s boys volleyball team to the state quarterfinals.
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2013 MIDDLETON TIMES-TRIBUNE PAGE 15
All-Big Eight Girls VolleyballFirst Team
Player SchoolAnna Brereton Sun PrairieMolly Livingston Sun PrairieMane Bobadilla MiddletonAmelia Grahn Madison LaFolletteVictoria Brisack VeronaEmily Chaussee Sun PrairieLeia Peterman MiddletonAmara Listenbee Beloit MemorialMaddie Vogel VeronaMegan Meiller Madison LaFollette
Second TeamLiz Brown Madison WestMcKenzie Bertagnoli Janesville CraigDani Stroud Madison MemorialSydney Stroud Madison MemorialLogan Welti MiddletonSamantha Kolpek VeronaBre Schlueter MiddletonTierney Lindner Sun PrairieClaire Fox Janesville ParkerTyra Grady Madison LaFollette
Honorable MentionArissa Milton, Middleton; Kylie Schmaltz, Verona; Kelly Austin,
Madison East; Ava Lombardino, Sun Prairie; Gaby Loveland, JanesvilleCraig; Jessica Coyne, Verona; Ellie Woodman, Beloit Memorial; EmmaHetzel, Madison East; Anna Chastain, Madison East; Lauren Wentland,Madison West; Allie Peterson, Sun Prairie.
“Bre was a great field general,”Marcos said. “The hitters would nothave been able to accomplished theirfeats had it not for the accuracy andsmart setting of Bre.
“Bre worked hard to polish hersetting skills and ended up one of thepremiere setters in the Big 8Conference. We will missed the dedi-cation and care and hard work ofBre.”
Welti led Middleton with 74 aces,was second in kills with 354 and wassecond in digs at 342. Welti was a tri-captain as a sophomore and will becounted on for even more in 2014.
“Logan Welti will be back and willhave to carry the load that she sharedwith Mane and Leia,” Marcossaid. “We are hoping for great leader-ship and performance from Logannext season.”
Milton was another tri-captain anda three-year varsity player.
“Arissa will be missed for herability to sky effortlessly and poundthe ball,” Marcos said. “She willmake a great play and you did notknow it was her because there wasnot much bragging about it. She is avery coachable player and hasimproved a lot. We are going to missher.”
Marcos also wanted to thank someof his team’s lesser known players.
“We would like to thank a numberof players that do not show up in thestats every week because they are notin the game a lot,” Marcos said.“However, these are the players thatpush the starters every practice inorder to make the team better.
They are seniors Kelli Robson,Grace McMurray, Kelsey Murphyand Reed Espie. And juniors MorganSchmitt, Cole Jordee, GabieBuechner, Rachel Severson, AudreyHinshaw and Amber Karn. Also aspecial shoutout to Molly Zeinemannand Elizabeth Keller from the JVteam for their contributions in someof the matches.”
GiRLS VBcontinued from page 12
n
could be his best team atMiddleton.
“We return a lot of quality kids,”Bavery said. “Our skill level is prettyhigh. We have a lot of experience.Our expectations are certainly high.”
It’s easy to see why.Rongstad, who will be a preferred
walk-on at UW-Milwaukee next sea-son, was a first-team all-Big EightConference selection last year.Schafer was a third-team all-leagueplayer, while senior forward MaxOelerich was an honorable-mentionall-conference pick.
Senior forwards Derek Rongstadand Chris Little, and senior guardDemond Hill were all key contribu-tors a year ago and will have expand-ed roles this season. Junior center IanHokanson is currently sidelined witha knee injury, but should be a keycog when he returns next month.Senior guards Nick Revord and ColeZillner will likely be part of the rota-tion, as well.
Middleton figures to have the tal-ent, athleticism and depth to play at arapid pace and cause fits for every-one on its schedule.
“One goal we have is to be a teamthat no one wants to play due to ourintensity and tempo,” Schafer said.“So what we have to do is focus onwhat we have to do better to furtherimprove our schemes and be suc-cessful. We caught some people’seye last year, and hopefully now wecan show people what we're madeof.”
Middleton was picked for thirdplace in the Big Eight byWissports.net. And in the statewidepoll, the Cardinals were in the‘Others Receiving Votes’ category.
They certainly expect more.“No one expected very much from
us last year and we probably sur-prised some people,” Rongstad said.“This year will be a lot different andthere will probably be a little morepressure.
“But our goal is to make a run atthe conference and a deep run in theplayoffs.”
Rongstad is a big reason whythose goals seem attainable.
Last season, Rongstad averaged ateam-high 16.3 points per game inBig Eight play. He also averaged 5.0rebounds, 3.0 steals, shot 44.8% onthree-pointers and 74.1% from thefoul line.
Rongstad scored more points thanany junior in the history ofMiddleton boys basketball (360),despite missing three games. AndRongstad set team records for mostthree-pointers in a game (seven) anda season (56).
“And he should be better thisyear,” Bavery said of Rongstad. “Ifyou look at him, he’s a lot thicker, alot stronger.
“His one goal is to be the bestteammate you can be. Everythingelse is there.”
Schafer was arguably the mostimproved player in the Big Eight ayear ago.
He finished second on theCardinals in scoring (11.7) and ledthe team with 5.2 rebounds pergame. Schafer was also second onthe team in assists (3.0) and steals(2.7).
Schafer led Middleton in freethrow attempts (134), free throwsmade (99) and free throw percentage(.739). Schafer also led Middleton incharges taken (eight) and emerged asa dynamic complement to Rongstad.
“At the start of last year, his shotreally wasn’t a strength,” Baverysaid of Schafer. “By the end of theyear, it clearly was. He just does somany things for us, and he’s so soundacross the board.”
Oelerich also emerged last yearand finished third on the Cardinals in
scoring (8.6) and rebounding (4.6).The 6-foot-3 Oelerich was a force inthe paint thanks to his long arms andleaping ability.
“He should be a beast on theoffensive glass,” Bavery said ofOelerich. “But he can also take hisgame farther out on the perimeternow. He should have a great year.”
Hill is an extremely athletic play-er who averaged 6.4 points per gamelast year. Little (5.1 ppg) andRogeberg (4.9) are both solid all-around players looking to make thenext step.
Middleton will also anxiouslyawait the return of Hokanson, whohas the size and bulk to match-upwith some of the bigger centers theCardinals will face.
“Ian is one of the most explosiveplayers we have with critical mass,”Bavery said. “We’ll be very excitedto have him healthy.”
Madison Memorial, which has
won or shared the Big EightConference title for 10 straight years,is the league favorite again. SunPrairie, led by Marquette recruitNick Noskowiak, should be solid.Madison West could also be a factor.
But Middleton expects to be rightin the mix.
The Cardinals haven't won theBig Eight since 2000-‘01, when thiscurrent crop of seniors was still inpreschool. And Middleton hasn'treached the state tournament since1998.
This, of course, could be a yearwhere those lengthy streaks come toan end.
“We’ve always said we can’t waitfor this year,” Rongstad said. “Well,it’s here now and we’re ready.
“We’ve got eight seniors who areready for this and some good juniorsto help us out. We definitely learneda lot last year and had a good year.But no one is content. We’re ready to
PAGE 16 MIDDLETON TIMES-TRIBUNE THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2013
Middleton Boys Basketball RosterNo. Name Yr. Pos. Ht.0 Demond Hill 12 F 6-11 Tyler Ballweg 11 G 5-92 Brett Joers 11 F 6-13 Jordan Smith 11 G 6-05 Ian Hokanson 11 F 6-4
10 Luke Schafer 12 G 6-011 Derek Rogeberg 12 F 6-312 Max Oelerich 12 F 6-315 Mitchell Herl 11 F 6-321 Cole Zillner 12 G 5-1122 Chris Little 12 F 6-123 Derek Rongstad 12 G 6-524 Cody Markel 10 F 6-531 Nick Revord 12 G 5-1033 Andrew Gardner 11 F 6-2
BoYS BB continued from page 10n
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2013 MIDDLETON TIMES-TRIBUNE PAGE 17
PAGE 18 MIDDLETON TIMES-TRIBUNE THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2013
Seven Middleton-Cross Plains AreaSchool District (MCPASD) studentshave designed an innovative survivalraft to be used in the event of atsunami. They competed at the Bad-gerland Regional Tournament held atMadison College on Saturday, Nov. 9.
Out of 40 teams competing, theteam, ‘Flames of the Laser RobotEvolving’ was awarded top project
presentation, and is one of nine teamsadvancing to the State Championshipat Appleton East High School on De-cember 8.
Team “Flames of the Laser RobotEvolving” includes Arber Jonuzi,Calvin Slinde, Edwin Zhang, JuliaZhang, and Sam Svendsen (5th gradeSunset Ridge); Nate Burkard (7thgrade Glacier Creek); and Samantha
Burkard (5th grade West Middle-ton). Derren Slinde is the team’scoach.
They named their raft “The TsunamiEcoRaft 5000” and have chosen BandaAceh, Indonesia because of its vulner-ability to earthquakes andtsunamis. Their design incorporatesenvironmentally friendly materials andfeatures such as a graphene water pu-
rifier which filters saltwater into cleandrinking water.
Each year over 20,000 teams world-wide participate in First LegoLeague(FLL), a robotics program de-signed to get children excited aboutscience and technology. Teams have tocreate a solution to problems faced bytoday’s scientists. The theme for thisyear is natural disasters. Teams must
also build and program a robot to solvemissions on an obstacle course. Theywill present their solution and competein the robot matches at regional tour-naments. Qualifying teams move on tostate and global tournaments.
BadgerBOTS Robotics, located at7615 Discovery Drive in Middleton, isthe local FLL chapter for Dane County.
Students design tsunami raft in Badgerland competition
Art project winsgrant from American Girl
A new art project for fourth-gradersat Sauk Trail Elementary School haswon a funding grant from the Ameri-can Girl Fund for Children.
Students’ Inter-generational Art toPreserve Nature is a unique art expe-rience engaging students, their fami-lies, and senior citizens. The projectwill focus on the need to preservelocal nature, conveyed through worksof art.
Tom Kobinsky, who works for theDistrict in Facilities Support and is aMCPASD Education Foundationboard member, along with Sauk Trailart teacher Anne Gustafson drafted theproposal, with input from the Friendsof Pheasant Branch Conservancy.Their proposal was awarded an$8,000 grant by the American GirlFund for Children during its recentgrant cycle.
The project will begin with fourth-graders interviewing senior citizens attwo local residential facilities. Theywill ask questions about environmen-tal changes the seniors have seen intheir lifetime. They’ll seek personalstories and have the seniors talk aboutthe importance of nature conservationfor future generations.
The children will then visit Pheas-ant Branch Conservancy to explore,sketch, and take photos of examplesof what they learned from their inter-views.
“Then, let the creativity begin,’’Kobinsky said.
Children will chose from a varietyof media to create art reflecting theirnewly discovered passion for protect-ing nature. Family members, Friendsof Pheasant Branch, and senior citi-zens will be invited into the art roomto help.
A key project component will bebooklets containing narratives thechildren compose that will bring depthto their artwork and help convey themessage of conservation.
The finished art will be mounted orframed for display, then taken forshowings at libraries, senior centers,and other public facilities throughoutDane County. Booklets will be offeredat no charge.
“I am excited that the arts are an in-tegral part of this inter-generationalproject,” Gustafson said. “This willtruly be a memorable learning experi-ence for everyone involved.’’
MCPASD Education FoundationChair Courtney Ward-Reichard notedthat “this grant will provide a wonder-ful opportunity for students in our Dis-trict, and we are very hopeful that wecan expand this program throughoutour schools in coming years.”
The American Girl Fund for Chil-dren provides grants for philanthropicprograms throughout Dane County
that enhance children’s education inthe arts and environment. AmericanGirl was founded, and is still based, inMiddleton, and is devoted to celebrat-ing girls ages 3 to 12 through age-ap-propriate, high-quality dolls andaccessories, books, clothes, movies,and unforgettable experiences. It is awholly owned subsidiary of MattelInc., the world’s leading toy company.
12 Global grants are awarded
Twelve grants across all levels wererecently funded through the District’sGlobal Initiative Program for 2013-14, Assistant Superintendent for Edu-cational Services George Mavroulissaid.
About $12,000 will be handed outthis year school through the grants, hesaid.
Three grants were handed out at theelementary level:
Sauk Trail: Music, Dance, Art, andCulture of Cuba, Puerto Rico, andWest Africa (John Becker)
Park: Project Based Global Liter-acy and 21st Century Skills (BrendaAutz)
Park: Getting’ Buggy! (NicoleKartman)
The Sauk Trail project will bring to-gether students and communitythrough dancing, playing, and singingAfro-Cuban salsa music, Becker said.This will happen through learning inmusic classes throughout the schoolyear, with a culminating eveningevent later in school year.
In addition, Sauk Trail’s physicaleducation teachers plan to work onsalsa dance and movement with all oftheir classes. In art class, students willbe doing art projects that will be dis-played that tie in directly with the cul-tures of this region of the world.
Autz’s grant involves two projectsthat will take place in three class-rooms, more than doubling the num-ber of students who were involved ayear ago. The grant provides for im-proved literacy instruction, greater useof technology, and global collabora-tion and sharing.
One project is “Global ReadAloud,’’ which was developed byWest Middleton fifth-grade teacherPernille Ripp. Park students will con-nect with other students from aroundthe world “to show them that they arepart of something bigger than them,’’Autz said. The second project, “CubanArt Exchange,” allows students fromWisconsin and Cuba to share art andideas, along with building elationshipsbetween two cultures divided more byideology than distance.
All three Park fourth-grade class-rooms are involved in the exchangethis year through an organizationcalled Children Are the Hope(CATH). The project is highlighted inthe short documentary “Global Wis-consin.”
“Our classes are very fortunate tobe invited to participate,” Autz said.
The Getting Buggy! grant allowsfirst-graders to learn more about in-sects. They watch mealworms turninto beetlesand magggots turn intoflies. This yar there are also plans toview luna moths, one of the largestmoths in the world with a wingspan of4.5 inches, painted lady butterflies anda praying mantis.
“The kids become so excited whenthe life cycle change happens,’’ Kart-man said.
Two grants were handed out at themiddle school level:
Kromrey and Glacier Creek:Teaching 21st Century Skills with Fu-ture Problem Solving (Ruth Frawley)
Glacier Creek: Building GlobalAwareness in a 21st Century Class-room (Holly Reardon)
Frawley said the FPS program willhelp improve literacy due to the em-phasis on research, writing and read-ing. In addition, a number of the topicsstudents will explore include socialisolation, desertification, surveillancesociety and land transportation.
Reardon’s project involves buildinginternational school partnerships, aproject blog and a global awarenessproject. She hopes to have her stu-dents blog more, participate in class-room chats and use interactive apps torespond and reflect.
“I have a vision,’’ she said. “I see aclassroom where every student isworking on a device, and where stu-dents are engaged in interactive les-sons, collaborating and creating. ... Isee a classroom where students areconnecting with kids all over theworld to share experiences, buildawareness, and learn.’’
Six grants were handed out at thehigh school level:
MHS: Human Rights Week (TimDavis)
MHS: The Memory Project (BobElland)
CSCS: Career Readiness Program(Jason Pertzborn)
MHS: Felting: An InternationalTradition (Robin Kourakis)
MHS: Global Education CertificateDevelopment (Laura Love)
MHS: Global Guest Speakers(Janel Anderson)
Human Rights Week is a week-longevent focusing on human rights re-lated themes, where all high schoolstudents and community membershave the opportunity to hear and seespeakers, presentations and films on avariety of human rights relatedthemes. The event will be held in Feb-ruary 2014.
Elland said MHS art students havecreated 125 portraits of children wholive in orphanages all around theworld over the past three years. Eachspring the portraits are exhibited atMHS in Gallery 2000.
The artists receive pictures of chil-dren who are waiting for portraits. Theartists create the portraits, and the fin-
ished products are delivered to thechildren.
“This is an opportunity for (our artstudents) to open their hearts to chil-dren who have endured many hard-ships, and to promote the value ofsharing kindness with others,’’ he said.
Pertzborn’s students will develop aportfolio and teach Junior Achieve-ment classes to elementary students aspart of his proram. They will also part-ner with local businesses to do real-life simulations, such as preparing toapply for a job and doing a mock in-terview with a local human resoucesdepartment.
Kourakis said her students willlearn about the history of felting andits utilitarian purposes and applicationas a fine art throughout cultures andtime as they learn the science behinddifferent types of fibers includingwool. They will use traditional toolsand techniques to create felted art thatis both culturally and contextually rel-evant as well as personal. The grantfunds iwll be used to purchase a felt-ing machine.
The grant proposed by Love willhelp staff review the DPI’s Global Ed-ucation Certificate and modify it forMHS students so that it can be part ofthe 2014-15 curriculum.
MHS hopes to bring in expertsfrom around the world to bridge thegap and enrich 21st Century globalcompetencies for all students, Ander-son said. MHS plans to use Skype andScopia to bring those guest speakersinto classrooms, she said. This kind ofwork is already being piloted byschools in our area, including at Lodi.
Finally, one grant will impact ele-mentary and middle school students.“We Are One: A Global Art Ex-change” was developed by Claire Sta-ley and will benefit Northside andKromrey students.
Last year students at Northside andKromrey were paired with students atJyotidaya Cooperative School in Cha-pagoan, Nepal. Nearly 600 MCPASDstudents completed a project, while heentire student population at JyotidayaCooperative School (298 from gradesK-8) also completed a project.
The plan this year is to incorporateadd an elementary school in Burma.
“This will give MCPASD studentsan opportunity to further expand theircultural horizons, by learning aboutanother country in addition to Nepal,and ensure that each and every studentreceives a piece of artwork to takehome,’’ she said.
MHS students studyChinese culture
Students in a new course at MHSvisited the University of Wisconsin-Madison College of Human Ecologyon Tuesday as part of their studey ofmodern Chinese history, society andculture.
The 24 students in Area Studies:
East Asia toured the Ruth Davis De-sign Gallery, which was showing anexhibit called, “Evolving Landscapes:100 Years of Change in WesternChina.” The Evolving Landscapesphotography exhibit features century-old images captured in western Chinaby early 20th century British explorerand photographer Ernest Henry Wil-son, alongside comparative modernphotographs by Professor Yin Kaipuof the Chinese Academy of Sciences.This is the first-ever public exhibit ofthese photographs.
This was a unique opportunity forstudents at MHS to meet and talk withLaurie Dennis, an expert on Chinesehistory and culture, MHS social stud-ies teacher Andy Hartman said. Den-nis, an associate director of theWisconsin China Initiative, took stu-dents on a tour of the re-photograpyexhibit and pointed out importantchanges, both positive and negative,that China has gone through in thepast century.
“I was impressed with students’abilities to ask creative and thoughtfulquestions that made important con-nections between the history, culture,and society of China’s past, presentand future,’’ Hartman said. “I thinkstudents were shocked and fascinatedby the drastic amounts of man-madechange and mother-nature createdchallenges that have helped to defineChina today.’’
The Area Studies:East Asia courseis in its first semester at MHS and willfocus on an interdisciplinary approachto looking a the political, social, andeconomic changes, challenges, andcontinuity of the history of China,Korea, and Japan, aAmong other na-tions, Hartman said.
“Evolving Landscapes: 100 Yearsof Change in Western China” providesan accessible platform for students toview multiple forms of change in thiscritically important region, one of richcultural traditions and extraordinarybiological diversity. The paired im-ages capture the environmental, eco-nomic and social changes that aretransforming western China, illustrat-ing the impacts of human decisionsand development on the environmentsin which del live. Students will useimages and information from the ex-hibit as a launching pad for their tran-sition from the study of dynasticChinese history to an examination ofthe successes and challenges of mod-ern China and an inquiry into what thefuture may hold.
The exhibit, hosted by the NelsonInstitute for the Environmental Stud-ies, the School of Human Ecology andthe Wisconsin China Initiative, for-mally opened on Nov. 7, and will re-main on display until Nov. 23. Thegallery is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursdayand from noon to 5 p.m. on Sunday.
S C H o o L D i S T R i C T R o u N D - u p
mandated by the state. Full time teachers in Middleton-
Cross Plains are expected to receive agross increase of $1,078 in 2013-14.
Walker announced an infusion ofmoney into public education recently,but the dollars are intended for tax re-lief and can’t easily be utilized to in-crease teachers’ pay.
Not surprisingly, though, lowertake-home pay for teachers has ledteachers unions to prioritize across-the-board pay increases. This has in-creased tension between school boardsand unions, particularly here in Mid-dleton-Cross Plains where the twowere already at odds of past disciplineof teachers.
Bob Butler, associate executive di-rector for the Wisconsin Association ofSchool Boards, points to long-term im-plications.
He says it creates “an arbitrarysalary schedule/pay system where itbecomes increasingly difficult to ex-plain why teachers are paid what they
are paid.” He went on to say it could lead to
“teachers in similar positions with sim-ilar education and years of servicebeing paid different amounts.”
“Teacher morale will suffer, staffwill leave, usually the best teachers asthey have the most options, and dis-crimination suits over compensationwill become a possibility,” Butlerstated.
Post Act 10, school boards may haveto look to other systems for determin-ing pay increases. Butler recently toldthe Middleton-Cross Plains AreaSchool Board it can consider a systemthat looks at a teacher’s knowledge andskills, a professional evaluation, mar-ket incentives, and student learning ob-jectives in order to determine payincreases.
The knowledge and skills approachis straightforward: The principle is themore degrees or more certificationsteachers earn, the more they are worth.This also is beneficial for teachers who
have skills that are in high demand orhard to find.
The professional evaluation oftencomes from the school principal or ad-ditional staff hired specifically forevaluations. An argument basing com-pensation on evaluations is supportedby some poll data.
“When Gallup do their annualpolling on the status of public educa-tion,” Butler explained, “the princi-pals’ evaluation consistently is rankednumber one as for what decides teacherpay and who should be retained.”
Market incentives involve a sup-ply-and-demand model.
Teachers can earn more in hard-to-staff classes or schools. Teachers canalso earn more for winning awards.Unfortunately, schools have limitedknowledge of the supply and demandfor teachers is certain subjects.
“In the past the Wisconsin Depart-ment of Public Instruction used to putout a supply and demand report,” But-
ler pointed out. “They did this until2008, but then money from that grantran out.”
Without this knowledge, manyschool boards cannot adopt the model,he argued.
Schools can also look to studentlearning objective for determiningteacher pay. This is done by measuringstudent test scores, attendance, parentparticipation, and graduation rates.
“Value-added formulae are exceed-ingly complicated and are often propri-etary,” Butler cautioned, saying thepractice could come with its own ad-ministrative costs. Another criticism isthe classroom time that is lost to stu-dents taking tests.
Whatever the Middleton-CrossPlains Area Board of Education de-cides to do, its members said they willhave to consider all of the pros andcons at hand.
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2013 MIDDLETON TIMES-TRIBUNE PAGE 19
Chance Stine wasawarded a four-yeartuition scholarshipfrom University ofWisconsin-Madisonthrough the UW Sum-mer MusicClinic. Each year thisaward is given to 10high school juniorsfrom around the state of Wisconsin. Toreceive this award, the students mustperform a solo, scales and sight readingon their instrument or voice. Chanceauditioned and won on the alto saxo-phone.
Chance is currently a senior at Mid-dleton High School and is active in theschool band program as well as foot-ball and Model UN. He credits hishigh school band instructors, BradSchneider, Anne Vanderbloemen, andMichael Ver Voort, Kromrey instruc-tors Nancy Riesch, Darlayne Coughlin,and Keith Leinert, as well as his privatesaxophone teacher, Brad Carman.
Chance Stine wins UW music scholarship
Stine
TEACHERS continued from page 1
PAGE 20 MIDDLETON TIMES-TRIBUNE THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2013
Additionally, Stella said he wouldlike to see AARP work on public pol-icy issues that focus on consumer pro-tections, particularly to help the elderlyliving in rural areas of the state.“Everyone deserves to live in dignityin their own homes. We need to makesure they are provided with thestrongest safety net possible to makethat happen.”
Stella comes to AARP with a strongstate and national reputation aroundpension and retirement issues. He iscurrently the President of PensionManagement Advisors, a company thatprovides consulting to employers andindividuals on pension and retirementmatters.
Stella is the former Secretary of theWisconsin Department of EmployeeTrust Funds, the state agency that ad-ministers pension, health insurance andother employee benefits that provide fi-nancial security for more than 570,000active and retired public employees.He also served as a Trustee of the Stateof Wisconsin Investment Board andwas President of the National Councilon Teacher Retirement.
Stella also served as the ExecutiveDirector of the Denver Public SchoolsRetirement System. He has 40 years’experience in public administration,having served in state and local gov-ernment in Wisconsin and Colorado.
He holds a bachelor’s and master’sdegree from the University of Wiscon-sin-Madison and earned the designa-tion of Certified Employee BenefitSpecialist through a program spon-sored by the International Foundationof Employee Benefit Plans and theWharton School of the University ofPennsylvania.
“Dave is committed to being astrong and capable voice for carryingout AARP’s mission here in Wiscon-sin, which is to make life better for allWisconsinites as they age,” Wilsonsaid.
ing this holiday season, Farm Bureauis encouraging farmers to reach out toconsumers in-person or through socialmedia, to answer questions about thefood they grow or the livestock andpoultry they raise.”
The U.S. Department of Agriculturesays Americans will spend approxi-mately 10 percent of their disposableannual income on food this year, thelowest average in the world.
ABOUT THE SURVEYThe Thanksgiving price survey is an
annual look at the trends in food pricesin Wisconsin in relation to changingfarm prices, weather and wholesale andretail food marketing. Members of theWisconsin Farm Bureau collected pricesamples of 12 Thanksgiving food itemsin 21 communities in October.
Farm Bureau volunteer shoppers inMiddleton and other communities areasked to look for the best possibleprices, without taking advantage ofspecial promotional coupons or pur-chase deals. While Farm Bureau doesnot make any scientific claims aboutthe data, it is an informal gauge ofprice trends.
Prices were collected for this surveyin the communities of Appleton, Ash-land, Beloit, Boscobel, Cross Plains,Eau Claire, Ellsworth, Fond du Lac,Hillsboro, Manitowoc, Marshfield,Middleton, New London, OcontoFalls, Platteville, Plover, RichlandCenter, Shawano, Sparta, West Bendand West Salem.
oVK-BACH continued from page 4
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20-20-20 (Previously Holiday Boot Camp) (Ages 15+)Holiday Boot Camp is a 6 class session class guaranteed to help you burn off those festive calories! This class will be a total body workout includ-ing core, aerobic, and strength activities. Location Day Code Register By Dates TimeDAC M & Th 2014.131 11/25 12/2-12/19 5:45-6:45pm
Tae Kwon Do (Ages 5-17) This is an introductory class to the Korean Martial Art of Tae Kwon Do. Students will learn basic kicking and punching combinations, as well as in-crease strength and flexibility. Tae Kwon Do promotes self-esteem and confidence, along with improvement of focus and concentration. Allclasses are taught by Master Miles Varichak, 4th Dan Master Instructor with the World Tae Kwon Do Federation. Belt testing will be held 3 timesper year, which is an additional fee. Location Day Code Register By Dates TimeHubbard Art Center Sat 2014.102 11/22 11/30- 12/21 9:30-10:30am
Young Rembrandts Pre-School Drawing Classes (Ages 3.5- 5.5)Your pre-schooler’s mind is hard at work building the knowledge and skills it will use for a lifetime. Now, more than ever, it’s important to chal-lenge their curious minds with activities that will keep them engaged and eager to learn! The Young Rembrandts pre-school program is specifi-cally designed with the needs of our youngest learners in mind. We use subjects they’re familiar with such as animals and toys, as well as theirfavorite learning tools - pictures, stories, touching, and doing - to enhance social and conflict resolution skills while improving listening, fine-motor skills, and time-on-task. Give your pre-schooler the information they’re hungry for and be amazed by what they’ll create! Location Day Code Register By Dates TimeHubbard Art Center Tues 2014.108 11/22 11/26- 12/17 9-9:45amHubbard Art Center Tues 2014.109 11/22 11/26- 12/17 1-1:45pm
Young Rembrandts Elementary Drawing Classes (Ages 6-12)Our elementary learners are at the crucial time of development when they decide whether they’re good at something or not. This decision willaffect not only the rest of their academic career, but their lifetime learning as well. The Young Rembrandts elementary program provides thetools this age-group needs to succeed at drawing - a teaching tool from which the majority of learners prefer and ALL learners benefit! Our pro-gram works because it’s not only hands-on and visual...it’s simply fun. Add to this our innovative guided instruction, topics that kids love and re-late to, and instructors that know how to reach this group; we take kids from thinking they’re not ‘artists’ to knowing they can achieve this, andeverything else, they put their minds to. LocationDay Code Register By Dates TimeNorthside Tues 2014.112 11/22 11/26- 1/14 3:10-4:10pm
(skip: 12/24, 12/31)
Young Rembrandts Cartoon Drawing Classes (Ages 6-12)For all kids who need to stay engaged and laughing, our cartooning classes are surely the most fun you can have while learning! This entertain-ing program combines Young Rembrandts’ innovative, hands-on teaching method with light-hearted subject matter that engages children, theirsense of humor and their vivid imaginations. Maintaining a quick pace and drawings that tell a story also help kids to stay on-task, learn fromtheir mistakes, find new solutions to a problem and communicate ideas and concepts through pictures - skills with lifetime benefits! Location Day Code Register By Dates TimeHubbard Art Center Tuesday 2014.115 11/22 11/26- 1/14 5:00-6:15pm
respective contributions to melody andharmony by Trevor Stephenson (Madi-son Bach Musicians) and Ravikiran.
The last part of the festival was avocal performance by Chitravina N
Ravikiran.The OVK-Bach festival was viewed
live in many parts of the world, thanksto iCarnatic.com.
to top $2.923 million and up from the$2.786 million projected in the 2013budget.
The projected revenue increase isbased on more construction activity,which is expected to boost incomefrom charges for services, and morestate aid.
Meanwhile, total expenditures areprojected to decrease from $2.985 mil-lion budgeted in 2013 to $2.832 mil-lion in 2014. This year’s actualexpenditures are expected to onlyreach $2.673 million.
Spending decreases are budgeted ingeneral government and public workscategories.
Town Administration David Shawsaid the general government’s budgetwas decreased by the $37,000 cut fromthe town assessor’s contract. Lastyear’s contract was increased to coverthe expense of the first town-wideproperty re-evaluation in 20 years.That work has been completed.
build stormwater sediment basins tocapture this sediment, trash, and phos-phorus-laden debris such as yard or petwaste from urban areas that otherwisewash directly into lakes and streamswhen it rains.
The basins capture the debris by giv-ing it an area to ‘settle out,’ preventingit from entering the water, and allowingfor safe disposal at a later time. Phos-phorus is the main culprit that leads tosmelly, unsightly lakes.
“The urbanized area that drains toWillow Creek was developed decadesprior to modern water quality practices,leaving us with few options for retro-fitting storm water treatment systems.Providing treatment at this location isa perfect opportunity to capture trashand dirt from storm water before itreaches Lake Mendota, preventing fur-ther contributions to the “island” form-ing at the outlet of Willow Creek,” saidMadison Mayor Paul Soglin. “The citylooks forward to partnering with DaneCounty, UW, and WDNR to help fund,design, permit, and build this project.”
“The State of Wisconsin includingthe Dept. of Administration, the UWSystem and UW-Madison have beenworking hard with our regional part-ners to help provide solutions to helpimprove the water quality of LakeMendota,” said William Elvey, Associ-ate Vice Chancellor for UW-MadisonFacilities Planning and Management.“The latest example includes an on-going, phased project consisting ofnew bio-retention facilities includingswales and a large retention pond, allof which will significantly improve thequality of stormwater runoff into LakeMendota. This project alone representsa nearly $4 million investment offunds.”
In addition to building a sedimentbasin for Willow Creek, the project in-cludes dredging the sediment island inthe bay, and restoration of the WillowCreek shoreline into a native and stablecondition.
This year’s recommended projectswill help prevent more than 70,500pounds of debris and 1,000 pounds ofphosphorus from entering the lakes an-nually. In addition to the Willow Creekoutfall, the county will partner withMiddleton, Monona, and Fitchburg toreduce urban runoff pollution withprojects in those municipalities.
For the first time ever in this year’sgrant cycle, municipalities that con-
tained one of the county’s top ten dis-charging pipelines, such as the WillowCreek outfall in Madison, were eligibleto receive a 75% cost share from thecounty to address their runoff.
Since 2005, the county’s UrbanWater Quality grants have helped fund
projects totaling more than $5.3 mil-lion dollars that are estimated to haveremoved more than 400,000 pounds ofdebris since that time, and more than760 pounds of phosphorus annually.
One pound of phosphorus removedfrom the county’s watershed prevents
500 pounds of algae growth in arealakes.
The recommended projects are sub-ject to final approval by the DaneCounty Board. A resolution recom-
mending the projects will be intro-duced at this Thursday’s meeting of theDane County Board, and could be ap-proved as early as the board’s Decem-ber 5th meeting.
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2013 MIDDLETON TIMES-TRIBUNE PAGE 21
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PAGE 22 MIDDLETON TIMES-TRIBUNE THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2013
RENTALS
HELP WANTED
SERVICES
REAL ESTATE
COMMERCIALRENTALS
RENTALS
FOR SALEVEHICLES
FOR SALE
GARAGE/CRAFTSALE
S U B S C R I B E T O D A Y !
When the going gets tough...the tough ADVERTISETHURSDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2013 MIDDLETON TIMES-TRIBUNE PAGE 23
PAGE 24 MIDDLETON TIMES-TRIBUNE THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2013
