Category Archives: Schools

December 7, 2015 · 8:00 pm

Shopping With A Cop, And Shopping Local

Just a quick shout out to organizers and supporters of two great events on Saturday that showed how our community steps up around the holidays.

First, thanks to Walmart for making Christmas a little merrier for eight local families through the Shop with a Cop program. And thanks to the South Milwaukee Police Department for stepping up to bring this program to our city. Our city workers give back to the community they serve, and that’s inspiring to see.

Also, thanks to everyone who helped put on the South Milwaukee Christmas Market on Saturday, for South Milwaukee High School for serving as welcome hosts. With more than 80 vendors, this was the biggest and best indoor market yet.

Check out more photos from both events on my mayoral Facebook page.

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November 23, 2015 · 10:00 am

The Joes: Meet The Students Behind Painting The Rock

The painting of the rock near the entrance to South Milwaukee High School is a really cool tradition. What two Rocket seniors did with it last week is inspiring.

Meet Joey Kontowski and Joey Chojnacki, aka “The Joes.”

“They are best friends,” write Erik Wolbach, engineering teacher at the high school.

He continued:

“They are both students in our Technology & Engineering Academy. Joey Kontowski just enlisted in the Army Reserve as an engineer. He also works for the city during the summer doing road repairs. Both students serve as mentors to younger students in our machine tools program.

“They are also members of our Veterans Day student volunteers. This year we manufactured freedom pens in the Academy to give as gifts to our Veterans during the celebration on November 11th. Both students spent many extra hours after school to work on making the pens. As a reward for their hard work we were able to tour USS Milwaukee last week down at Veterans Park.”

 (In the picture below, Joey Chojnacki is at the far left, and Joey Kontowski is on the far right.)

 Congratulations to both of these young men, and thank you!

USS Milwaukee Student Picture

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November 3, 2015 · 5:00 pm

Cross County: Rocket Boys Finish 13th At State

Congratulations to the South Milwaukee boys’ cross country team, which finished 13th at last weekend’s WIAA state meet in Wisconsin Rapids.

And a special kudos to Jordan Janusiak, who took 16th individually. Maddie Wood finished 71st for the girls.

Check out the full results here. And go Rockets!

(And thanks to Laura O’Hearn for the photos.)

IMG_1031 IMG_1030

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October 27, 2015 · 5:00 pm

Rocket Runners Ready For State

IMG_0877 IMG_0878 IMG_0879 IMG_0876

The South Milwaukee boys’ cross-country team — following a sectional victory by Jordan Janusiak — placed second in WIAA sectional meet on Saturday, advancing as a team to the state meet for the second straight season.

Congratulations to Coach Stan Druckey and Jordan, Justin Weber, Chris Sobczak, Wyatt Schlager, Max Moran, Sage Leahy, and Andy Gargulak … as well as Maddie Wood, who qualified individually for the girls.

Go Rockets!

Here are boys’ sectional results. Four Rockets finished in the top 17. Maddie took fourth.

The meet is this Saturday in Wisconsin Rapids. Learn more here. And here is how they did last year.

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October 15, 2015 · 10:31 pm

Happy 50th, E.W. Luther!

Luther 50th Luther 50th 2 Luther 50th 3

Luther 50th 5 Luther 50th 4

Celebrating E.W. Luther Elementary’s 50th anniversary with an open house and a proclamation …

South Milwaukee is blessed with terrific local schools that have stood the test of time — and Luther is clearly one of them. It’s an impressive school that we should all be proud of.

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October 7, 2015 · 7:00 am

Investing In Our Schools: School District Plans Presentation Tonight On State Budget Impacts

From the South Milwaukee School District …

On October 7th, at 5:30 p.m., in the SMPAC, there will be a special 15-minute presentation regarding the State Budget that was passed and the impact on public schools.  The presentation will also cover a critical flaw in school funding that we need to communicate to our legislators about so that they can provide a solution to ensure that all students can receive an equitable education throughout Wisconsin. We highly encourage all families to stop in to this brief presentation.

I thank the schools for continuing to tell this story. It needs to be told — and we need the help of fellow South Milwaukeeans to tell it, be it to state lawmakers or anyone else with influence in Madison.

In short, we need a commitment from the state to work toward adequately fund our public schools.

I stand with the district in that fight.

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October 7, 2015 · 6:00 am

A Colorful Addition To Rocketober

Color Run flyer

Saturday, October 24 is shaping up to be a Rocketober day to remember in South Milwaukee.

Already, you have costumed kickball, food and more at noon at South Milwaukee Little League. At 2 p.m., it’s St. Mark’s Trick-or-Treat Zone. At 3, it’s downtown trick-or-treating, at 5 it’s the Mill Pond/South Milwaukee Lions Zombie House, and 6:30 it’s the South Milwaukee Football Boosters Rocktoberfest beer tasting.

But why not start the day with a nice (and colorful) run outside the high school? Learn more in the flyer above.

And check out the Rocketober list of events here.

This will be fun!

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October 5, 2015 · 4:13 pm

Need Help Raking, Or Know Someone Who Does?

The South Milwaukee football team wants to help.

From coach Derek Hoff … this is very cool.

The South Milwaukee Football team will again be volunteering our time to Rake Leaves for families or people who could truly benefit from the service.

This will take place on Sunday October 18th from 12-2:30 PM. 

All 6-12th grade boys will be traveling around South Milwaukee raking, bagging leaves, and removing them from the property.

Please sign up any families or people who may have challenges with cleaning up their yards. 

Sign up using this link. 

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September 28, 2015 · 6:46 am

Big Play, Big Win Sends Rockets To 4-2 Record

It was the kind of play that defines seasons — and might send the South Milwaukee football team to the WIAA playoffs.

The play: A double reverse pass from wide receiver Daijon McCoy to quarterback Jake Simuncak for an 81-yard touchdown in the Rockets’ 35-14 win over Brown Deer on Friday.

Check out the play here. It was beautiful to witness, and the start of a great game for Simuncak and the Rockets. In addition to the reception in the in the opening moments, Jake finished with 188 yards passing, including touchdowns of 75 and 41 yards to Lawrence Turner, as the Rockets moved to 4-2 with the annual rivalry game at Cudahy set for Friday.

The play is also up for Time Warner Cable’s Play of the Week award.

Twitter and Facebook users should use the hashtag #TopPlaysWI and @TWCSportsWI when sharing or retweeting the South Milwaukee play. In doing so, it will increase the chances of it winning the award.

From the TWC website …

The Time Warner Cable SportsChannel Play of the Week promotion recognizes the best plays from our coverage of high school football this fall. We’ll select a winner every week, which will advance to the Play of the Year contest at the end of the regular season. Find out which play comes out on top every week at halftime of the following week’s games on TWC SportsChannel. Along with bragging rights, the Play of the Week winners will have a shot at the $1,000 Play of the Year Grand Prize that will be awarded to the athletic department of the school that executed the winning play. Watch ‘em… Tweet ‘em… Blow ‘em up! Tell us which play you think is best. Who knows, it could end up being our Play of the Year!

Watch the TWC replay of the game here.

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August 28, 2015 · 9:14 am

Rocket Update: Volleyball Success, Football Game Tonight, And More

From the Ante Udovicic and the South Milwaukee School District …

GIRLS’ VOLLEYBALL

The Rockets started off their season with a bang last night by capturing their first ever Rocket Quad championship with a victory over Heritage Christian to clinch it! The Rockets travel to Wauwatosa West tomorrow for a varsity invitational. It was an exciting finish. Way to go Rockets!

FOOTBALL

The Rockets started off the season on August 20th with a 31-0 victory over Milwaukee Morse Marshall. Senior Joey Nelson caught 2 TD passes from sophomore Flynt Kocherer and the Rocket defense only allowed 56 yards of offense in the game. Sophomores Mua Vang and Joel Reyes each had a rushing TD and senior Chuks Ozodi recorded 2 safeties for the Rockets!

TONIGHT the Rockets are at home to take on West Allis Hale at 7:00pm at Spaltholz Field. You can see some more information at the following link to a great JS article. 

http://www.jsonline.com/sports/preps/south-milwaukee-football-player-battling-cancer-to-take-the-field-b99565357z1-323173941.html?page=1

PREPS PLUS TEAM OF THE WEEK

The Rocket Football team will be featured as the Preps Plus Team of the Week on Sunday night! The program is scheduled to air on TMJ4 at 11:00pm on Sunday, August 30 so set your DVR’s or watch the program live. Congratulations Rockets!

GIRLS’ TENNIS

The Rockets started off the Woodland Conference season with a 5-2 dual meet victory at Whitnall! This avenged a tight 3-4 loss a week earlier in the Rocket Invitational. Nice work ladies!

BOYS’ SOCCER

In their first match, the Rockets faced a good Franklin team and matched them evenly and finished with a 2-2 tie. Senior Burim Huseini and junior Sam Nunez scored the 2 goals for the Rockets and new goalkeeper senior Alec Randow started his first soccer match in goal and did a great job. The Rockets compete in the Cudahy Invitational on Saturday with their first match at 10:30am against Whitnall and second match at noon against Greenfield.

Good luck this weekend Rockets!

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June 16, 2015 · 4:49 pm

School District Offers Summer Lunch Program

The South Milwaukee School District will be offering free lunches for children 18 and under Mondays through Fridays from June 22 through August 7.

Lunches will be served from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the High School Commons. Enter at door 29, the field house entrance.

Adults can eat for $3.25, which includes a milk.

Check out the full menu here.

Thanks to the schools for offering this!

These lunches are available to all kids and families, regardless of income level. That said, there are plenty of struggling families in South Milwaukee — and this program is a way to ensure kids are getting a healthy meal throughout the week even when school is out.

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June 3, 2015 · 4:10 pm

Be On The Lookout: Strangers And Kids

A message from the South Milwaukee Police Department … please be vigilant.

Please be advised that the police department has received several complaints this week involving a man in his 50’s to 60’s, with long gray hair, dressed in “Cowboy” garb, walking around in the area of Lakeview School and speaking to young boys. A parent recalled seeing a subject matching the description a few days earlier at a local gas station and driving a red pickup truck. It is unknown if this is the same person. The SMPD has located and spoken with two individuals matching the general physical description and have determined neither one to be involved. Based upon the information that we have received no crime has been committed, but please take the time to educate your children. Please reinforce with them not engage in conversations with strangers, to tell an adult ASAP if approached, and to call the police. Should a person matching that description be seen again, please do not make contact with the subject, but instead contact the SMPD at 768-8060. If driving a vehicle, a detailed description along with a license plate would be helpful.

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May 29, 2015 · 8:50 am

Go Rockets! Softball Regional Final, Track Sectional Today

Softball, track and more … our Rockets are really taking off.

From the South Milwaukee School District …

SOFTBALL

The Rockets take on Oak Creek today at 4:30pm at Oak Creek East Middle School in the WIAA Regional Final. The Rockets advanced to the game by virtue of their 6-0 WIAA Regional Semifinal win on Wednesday v. Racine Park. A special note is included down below about Senior Abby Mahsem who was not only named the Journal Sentinel Softball Player of the Week, she was also selected as a Senior All-Star and will be playing in the Dells on June 16th in the Wisconsin Fastpitch Softball Coaches Association Senior All-Star Game! Congratulations Abby and GO ROCKETS!

http://www.wfsca.org/page/show/1198016-rosters 

PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Abby Mahsem, South Milwaukee. The Rockets senior pitcher/shortstop played a large role in the team’s strong finish to the regular season.

She tossed a complete game with five strikeouts and scored two runs as South Milwaukee (15-7) beat Greenfield, 3-1, May 18 to hand the Hawks their first loss of the season. The next day she pitched two innings of relief and went 2 for 3 with three runs in an 8-6 victory over Cudahy. On Wednesday she struck out 10 in a 4-3 victory over Greendale.

Entering the Rockets’ game with Oak Creek on Friday, Mahsem led South Milwaukee with a .533 batting average and 34 RBI and shared the team lead with six home runs.

Here’s the link – http://www.jsonline.com/sports/preps/softrail26-b99506773z1-304958481.html 

BOYS’ & GIRLS’ TRACK

At Tuesday’s WIAA Regionals at Spaltholz Field, the Rockets qualified 15 girls and 19 boys for the WIAA Sectionals which are being held today. The top 3 placewinners in each event and the top 8 performances out of all 8 sectionals in the state will qualify for WIAA State next weekend. 

WIAA SECTIONALS

Wisconsin Lutheran HS

4:00pm – Field Events

4:45pm – Running Events

Admission – $5 adults & $3 for seniors and kids age 1-12 

GIRLS’ SECTIONAL QUALIFIERS

  • Chenoa Stuhr (12) – (200m)
  • Bristine Fowler (12) – (800m)
  • Maddie Wood (10) – (3200m)
  • Kelsey Tehan (9) – (300m hurdles)
  • Chenoa Stuhr (12)/Chidimma Ozodi (12)/Natalie Swanson (12)/Maddie Kendall (10) – (4x100m)
  • Clarice Michalski (10)/Maddie Kendall (10)/Haley Slusar (10)/Abby Kettinger (11) – (4x200m)
  • Sam Meszaros (12)/Capri Fowler (12)/Becca Heller (11)/Clarice Michalski (10) – (4x400m)
  • Sam Meszaros (12)/Becca Heller (11)/Maddie Wood (10)/Capri Fowler (12) – (4x800m)
  • Marissa Stanley (12) – (Pole Vault)
  • Natalie Swanson (12) – (Pole Vault)
  • Clarice Michalski (10) – (Triple Jump)
  • Olivia Osunkwo (11) – (Shot Put)
  • Olivia Osunkwo (11) – (Discus) 

BOYS’ SECTIONAL QUALIFIERS

  • Justin Weber (11) – (1600m)
  • Jordan Janusiak (9) – (1600m)
  • Josh Janusiak (12) – (3200m)
  • Jacob Hochschild (10) – (300m Hurdles)
  • Mua Vang (9)/Clayton Westrum (10)/Jalen Haack (12)/Evan Koronkowski (12) – (4x100m)
  • Mua Vang (9)/Calvin Shilling (12)/McCoy Swanson (12)/Colin Wilson (12) – (4x200m)
  • Colin Wilson (12)/Victor DeLao (10)/McCoy Swanson (12)/Calvin Shilling (12) – (4x400m)
  • Damon Dettman (12)/Chris Sobczak (10)/Wyatt Schlager (9)/Andrew Wimmer (12) – (4x800m)
  • Ian Pribyl (12) – (High Jump)
  • Nick Honerlaw (10) – (Shot Put)
  • Ian Pribyl (12) – (Shot Put)
  • Joey Nelson (11) – (Discus) 

http://67.23.19.61/system/files/14232/original/REGIONAL.htm?1432689480

BOYS’ TENNIS

Joel Rodriguez (11) qualified for WIAA Sectional play this week and fell in straight sets to the #1 singles player from Marquette HS but finished with a solid season by getting to Sectionals.

GOLF

On Tuesday at WIAA Regionals at Oakwood, Matthew Boyle (11) & Ryan Graber (11) qualified for WIAA Sectional play next Tuesday at Ives Grove. Good luck gentlemen!

GIRLS SOCCER

The Rockets won last night 10-3 over Brown Deer as Megan Hilbelink (12) scored 4 goals, Hannah Fryer (12) scored 3 goals, Emily Grunert (10) scored 2 goals and Sofia Ladewig scored 1 goal. IN the tough Woodland Conference, the Rockets improved their conference record to 5-6. The JV plays today at 4:30pm at home against Franklin. Then the Rockets take on Oak Creek on Tuesday at Oak Creek High School (5:00pm JV & 7:00pm Varsity).

The Rockets earned the #6 seed in the WIAA Regionals that begin on Thursday, June 4th. They will travel to Greendale to take on the Panthers at 6:30pm on Thursday night.

BASEBALL

The Rockets won last night at Whitnall 4-0. Junior Matt McCarty led the way by pitching a complete game shutout and throwing 10 strikeouts. The Rockets host Whitnall tonight at 5:00pm and SWCHA tomorrow at 3:30pm (the freshman are at home at 9:30am and the JV play at home at 12:30pm as well).

 GOOD LUCK ROCKETS!

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April 15, 2015 · 9:38 pm

Support Three Former Rocket Football Stars, And Children’s Hospital

The accolades keep pouring for the 2014 South Milwaukee football team … and they also need your help.

Here is a note from Rockets Coach Derek Hoff …

On behalf of the South Milwaukee Football Program I want to again congratulate Mitchell Dess and Calvin Shilling on their selection to the All-Star game.  As previously noted only 2 players from each school are allowed to be nominated… HOWEVER, I had nominated 3 knowing that many D1 scholarship players aren’t allowed to play in the game.  So, now I am VERY VERY proud to announce that South Milwaukee Football will have 3 representatives as IAN PRIBYL has also been selected to the South All-Star Team!  

 With this selection to the All-Star team these athletes are required to raise $money$ for the Children’s Hospital.  The athletes are not raising any money for themselves, they are simply representing the Children’s Hospital.  I’m sure all of you have had some experience at Children’s Hospital that means a great deal to you or someone close to you.  Personally my family has been positively impacted by Children’s as my younger sister was born with a hole in her heart and had surgery and care there when she was just 8 months old. 

Calvin and Mitchell are having a fundraiser at Mulligan’s Pub and Grill in Franklin, WI on 27th Street on Tuesday April 21st from 11AM-10PM.  Upon arrival there will be representatives handing out Mini-Football signs supporting children’s hospital.  If you turn one of those footballs in with your bill 10% will go towards children’s on behalf of Calvin and Mitchell.  There will also be some raffle prizes available as well.  

There is also a Dual Track meet that evening at Oak Creek High if you want to come support the boys as they compete in their spring sport.  

If you wish to make a direct contribution to anyone of these 3 athletes please contact:

 Congratulations again to these 3 athletes as they will represent the ROCKETS on TV Saturday July 18th @ 5:00 in Oshkosh, WI at TITAN STADIUM.  

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March 23, 2015 · 4:28 pm

In-Person Absentee Voting Underway

Update: Here is a voter guide on the local candidates, including bio information and stances on issues.

You can now cast a vote in the April 7 election.

In-person absentee voting is open, meaning you can vote at South Milwaukee City Hall each business day between now and Thursday, April 2, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. City Hall will be closed on Good Friday, April 3. However, appointments can be made in advance with the city clerk to vote absentee on that day between 3 and 5 p.m. by calling 768-7499.

You don’t need a reason to vote this way — you can simply show up and request a ballot and cast it right there.

Learn more on the city’s elections web page, and you can also see sample ballots on the main page of the city website.

There are contested aldermanic races in the First and Second Districts and a contested school board race.

  • In the First District, incumbents Craig Maass and Frank Van Dusen III face challenger Frank Disco Gratke.
  • In the Second District, incumbents R. Patrick Stoner and Ramon Navarro face challengers Michael Johnson and Larry Pagelsdorf for two seats.
  • For school board, incumbent David Maass faces challengers Jon Shelenske and Jeff Dess for two seats.

And keep in mind that an ID is not required to vote for this election.

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