Category Archives: Schools

February 13, 2014 · 9:47 pm

Five Rocket Wrestlers Earn Conference Championships

Congratulations to the South Milwaukee wrestling team, which took second in the Woodland Conference meet last weekend and saw five of its wrestlers win individual titles. Good luck on the road to state!

From the South Milwaukee School District …

The Rockets took 2nd as a team in the dual match season with a 7-1 record. The Rockets also took 2nd as a team in the Woodland Conference Tournament held last Saturday as well. Great job this season thus far for Rocket Wrestling and Coach Shilling, Coach Sino and Coach Simmons. 

Of special note is the fact that the Rockets took home 5 Conference Championships which is a school record!!! Great work Rockets!

Rocket Conference Champion Wrestlers

  • Tanner Dorangrichia – 160
  • Ben Zbikowski – 170
  • Josh Wilkowski – 182
  • Tom Mitchell – 195
  • Kenny Senner – 285

3rd Place Wrestlers

  • Victor DeLao – 113
  • Calvin Shilling – 152
  • Jeremy Ratka – 220

4th Place Wrestler

  • Conrad Shilling – 106

WIAA REGIONALS

The Rockets next travel to Bay View High School on Saturday, February 15th to wrestle in WIAA Regionals. Matches are scheduled to start at 9:45am. Tickets are $5 for the entire session and $4 for the finals only.

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February 13, 2014 · 9:46 pm

Sports Update: Busy Schedule

Update: Adds cheerleading even for Feb. 15.

From the South Milwaukee School District …

Friday, February 14

Rocket Girls’ Basketball at Cudahy (JV @ 5:45pm and Varsity @ 7:30pm). Huge game for the girls…good luck!

Rocket Boys’ Basketball hosts Cudahy (4:15pm Frosh, JV @ 5:45pm and Varsity @ 7:30pm). Huge game for the boys as well…good luck! This will be South Milwaukee Youth Boys’ Basketball Night as well!

Saturday, February 15

Rocket Wrestling travels to Bay View HS for a 9:45am start for WIAA Regionals. I will update you soon regarding Sectionals as well depending on how Regionals go.

Rocket Boys’ Swimming & Diving travel down to Carthage College for the WIAA Sectional Swim meet at 11:00am on Saturday. Good luck Rockets!

Rocket Cheerleading travels down to Wilmot HS Saturday morning to compete in the WACPC Cheer Regionals. They will be competing in the co-ed competition for the first time in school history and they should perform around 1:30pm. Best of luck Rockets in your quest for State!!!

Monday, February 17th

Rocket Boys’ Basketball travels to Oak Creek (4:00pm Frosh, JV @ 5:30pm and Varsity @ 7:15pm).

Tuesday, February 18

Rocket Girls’ Basketball hosts Shorewood and Oak Creek (frosh only) (4:15pm Frosh v. OC, JV @ 5:45pm and Varsity @ 7:30pm).

Rocket Boys’ Basketball at Shorewood (Frosh at 4:15pm JV @ 5:45pm and Varsity @ 7:30pm). 

Thursday, February 20 – Note the earlier times

Rocket Boys’ Basketball hosts Heritage Christian (JV @ 5:15pm and Varsity @ 7:00pm). 

Friday, February 21

Rocket Girls’ Basketball hosts Greendale (4:15pm Frosh, JV @ 5:45pm and Varsity @ 7:30pm). This will be South Milwaukee Youth Girls’ Basketball Night as well!

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February 10, 2014 · 9:29 pm

South Milwaukee High School Holding Classes On Tuesday Following Water Main Break

Update: Here is video from WISN, which includes an interview with the high school principal and South Milwaukee water superintendent. We’ve already seen around 25 main breaks across the city this year.

South Milwaukee High School will hold classes as normal on Tuesday after shutting down early on Monday due to a water main break.

That’s according to the district’s Twitter feed.

Water service was restored to the school Monday evening after the district installed a valve isolating the broken main from the rest of the system, according to the South Milwaukee Fire Department, which also reports that the school will be without one nearby fire hydrant for the time being. Alternate water options for fire suppression have been identified and will be used, if necessary. 

I’ll keep you posted.

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February 10, 2014 · 3:58 pm

Evening Activities Go On Despite Main Break — Without Water

That’s the message from South Milwaukee High School officials, following today’s water main break that forced the early closure of the school.

From the activities and athletics website …

All Recreation & High School after school activities will be held tonight as planned. Due to the water main break no restrooms will be available for use in the High School this evening. Please bring your own water to drink and plan ahead for no restrooms to be available in the High School.

Here are the exceptions: Power Lifting practice and JV Girls Basketball practice was cancelled. High School Wrestling practice was already held today. 

 

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February 10, 2014 · 11:04 am

Water Main Break Sends South Milwaukee High School Students Home

Update: Check out coverage from Fox 6 and WISN. And from the South Milwaukee Schools Twitter page: “The high school will not have to make up the lost time for today as we are still within the required number of minutes.”

The break happened this morning.

The district website has a notice posted. It says the high school closed at 9:45 a.m. The middle school remains open.

WTMJ has more.

I’ll keep you posted.

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February 4, 2014 · 4:08 pm

Seeing Red At Friday’s South Milwaukee Basketball Games

Just got this from Darla Wack … good times for a good cause.

The South Milwaukee and Whitnall School Districts proudly announce RED OUT on Friday, February 7th. RED OUT is an annual local and national fundraising event sponsored by the American Heart Association and American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance. 

 Join us at SMHS Jerry Sullivan Gymnasium this Friday, February 7th at the Girls or at Whitnall for Boys Varsity Basketball Games at 7:30 p.m.  There will be cool t-shirt sales, an opportunity to win Free Milwaukee Buck’s Tickets, an autographed Caron Butler basketball give-a-way and many other fantastic events.  Please help support Heart Awareness locally.  Questions feel free to contact Team Leader/Physical Education Teacher, Darla Wack, 414-766-5241 or dwack@sdsm.k12.wi.us

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February 3, 2014 · 10:18 pm

Adding Minutes And Days: South Milwaukee’s Plan To Make Up For Snow Days

The South Milwaukee School District has detailed its plan to make up for classroom time lost due to four cold-weather cancellations in January.

Here is the memo. The plan includes …

  • The addition of a full day of school on May 23, the Friday before Memorial Day, for all students;
  • The addition of full days on June 12 for elementary and middle schoolers and June 13 for middle schoolers (elementary students will have a half day on June 13);
  • The addition of longer school days for elementary and middle school students — one minute longer for grade school students and 15 minutes for middle school students. The middle school day will now run from 7:45 a.m. to 3 p.m., as district officials have discovered “passing time at the lunch hour was inadvertently counted as instructional time.”

Also, the district is looking at starting future bad weather days two hours late vs. cancelling an entire day. And it’s telling parents to keep June 16 and 17 open on calendars in case of additional full-day cancellations.

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January 27, 2014 · 7:35 am

Actually, No School In South Milwaukee Monday And Tuesday

Update: Of course, Divine Mercy and Zion Lutheran students are off the next two days too. And the senior center is closed too.

That’s according to the updated message on the South Milwaukee School District website.

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January 26, 2014 · 9:56 pm

School On In South Milwaukee

South Milwaukee students will have school on Monday, according to the district website.

The message from the district: “All South Milwaukee Schools will be OPEN on Monday January 27th, 2014.  Please check back in the morning for any new developments but at this point we plan on holding classes on Monday.”

I’ll keep you posted, and we’ll see about Tuesday. With a predicted low of minus-18 and a wind chill of minus-50 possible overnight Monday, leading to a wind chill warning, it’s hard for me to see schools being in session Tuesday morning.

Monday has obviously been a tougher call. Some large districts like Milwaukee and Racine are closed. Others are open, including, from the looks of it, all of the Milwaukee County suburban districts. Many local private schools are closed, including local high schools like St. Thomas More, but not all (including Divine Mercy and Zion Lutheran).

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January 23, 2014 · 10:33 pm

Early Graduation For South Milwaukee Students And Other Headlines

South Milwaukee was the focus of a WUWM story on area schools allowing January graduations.

Check it out here. From it:

South Milwaukee High School is among those in metro Milwaukee that allow January graduations, and it has seen the numbers grow since changing its credit requirements and class scheduling a few years ago.

All we spoke with, Rachel Rosploch, Serena Hinojosa, Lois Applegate, Susan Yang, Amberae Northrop, Nicholas Hofmann and Olivia Oddis, plan to attend college, and most say they need to save money beforehand because of the expense of higher ed.

Their concerns include missing friends and final semester activities – such as spirit week, though a few say high school traditions never meant much to them.

Guidance Counselor George Cleveland says January graduates who are mature and have a well-constructed plan for themselves can succeed – even if college begins just a day or two after high school ends. However, he says others return for the ceremony in June and tell him they wish they had remained in high school until then. Some are not ready for the unstructured life college abruptly delivers.

For those who want to graduate a semester early, Cleveland says there’s no slumping. They must stay on top of their academics.  Some seniors say high schools that allow early graduation should inform freshmen, so they can plan accordingly and not ‘slide’, their first few semesters. 

And check out these other South Shore headlines.

Also, NOW has published a new police blotter.

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January 16, 2014 · 9:46 pm

Sports Update: Packed Schedule

Lots happening the next few weeks. From the school district …

UPCOMING VARSITY HOME EVENTS

  • Friday, January 17 – Girls’ Basketball v. St. Francis 7:30pm at SMHS Sullivan Gymnasium
  • Saturday, January 18 – Dave Van Duser Duals & JV wrestling tourney 9:00am at SMHS Sullivan Gymnasium & SMMS Teff Gymnasium

If anyone (staff or non-staff) is interested in volunteering to help at the wrestling meet in working concessions, we can always use a few more volunteers to make sure parents can watch their kids wrestle, so just email me if you are interested.

  • Monday, January 20 – Girls’ Basketball v. Brown Deer 7:30pm at SMMS Teff Gymnasium
  • Tuesday, January 21 – Boys’ Basketball v. Franklin 7:30pm at SMHS Sullivan Gymnasium
  • Wednesday, January 22 – Boys Swim v. Shorewood 5:00pm at SMMS Pool
  • Wednesday, January 22 – Wrestling v. Whitnall 7:00pm at SMMS Teff Gymnasium
  • Friday, January 24 – GIRLS’ Basketball v. Cudahy 7:30pm at SMHS Sullivan Gymnasium

ROCKET GIRLS’ BASKETBALL

Congratulations to the Rockets on their come-from-behind win at Brown Deer last night. Trailing by 11 pts with 3 min to play they came back to beat Brown Deer by a point!

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January 14, 2014 · 12:33 pm

Former South Milwaukee Football Coach Knoche Headed To Hall Of Fame

Here’s a well-deserved honor …

Longtime South Milwaukee educator and coach Brad Knoche is being inducted into the Wisconsin Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame on March 29.

Knoche passed away in 2011, but his legacy obviously lives on.

Also, former South Milwaukee boys’ track coach Gregg Dufek (1999 WFCA inductee) is being honored as the recipient of the Dave McClain Distinguished Service Award. Congratulations Coach Dufek!

Check out the WFCA press release here.

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January 13, 2014 · 11:07 am

South Milwaukee Activities Update: Wrestling, Power Lifting, Blood Drive

From Ante Udovicic and the South Milwaukee School District …

The Rocket Wrestling team has been having one their finest seasons this year. We have 3 opportunities for you to catch them in action at home coming up. We would especially love to see the Teff Gymnasium (Middle School Gym) fill up with Rocket fans on Wednesday, 1/22 and Wednesday, 1/29 as the Rockets close out their Woodland Conference dual meet season at home with those 2 meets (7:00pm start for each).

WRESTLING FUNDRAISER – Today

Today, South Milwaukee’s Paisano’s Restaurant is generously holding a fundraiser for the South Milwaukee Wrestling Club from 4:00pm to 9:00pm. I have attached the flyer for the fundraiser as well.

They have 5 meals you can buy for $10 and they will very generously donate 100% of all the proceeds to the South Milwaukee Wrestling Club. Please try to stop by between 4:00pm and 9:00pm today if you can.

Paisano’s is located at 113 North Chicago Avenue in South Milwaukee.

WRESTLING TOURNAMENT – This Saturday

The Rocket wrestlers are hosting the 6th Annual Dave Van Duser Duals in the Sullivan Gymnasium (HS), and the 5th Annual Round Robin JV Tournament in the Teff Gymnasium (MS) on Saturday, 1/18! If you have never gotten to see wrestling in action, this is a great way to catch some fantastic wrestling! Lots of action in 2 gyms, and the Rockets have a really solid team. The matches should start at approximately 9:00am.

Adult tickets are $5 and students/seniors are $3.

UPCOMING WRESTLING MEETS

  • Wednesday, January 15th 7:00pm @ Greendale HS
  • Saturday, January 18th 9:00am Van Duser Duals & JV Tournaments at SMHS & SMMS
  • Wednesday, January 22nd 7:00pm Whitnall @ South Milwaukee (in the MS Gym)
  • Saturday, January 25th 9:00am JV @ Ozaukee & Varsity @ Tosa West tourneys
  • Wednesday, January 29th 7:00pm Pewaukee @ South Milwaukee (in the MS Gym)

POWER LIFTING RESULTS

The Rocket Boys’ team took 2nd place overall and the Rocket Girls’ team took 3rd place overall. Great job by Coach Barrett Danz & Asst. Coach Dylan Stefanek and all the lifters. A special thanks to the dozens of students, parents and teacher volunteers!

Almost everyone who competed from SM placed at least in the top 5 in their weight class! 

We had 11 individuals qualify for state already!!! Please congratulate the following athletes:

  • Cody Gassert-DeBoer
  • Chuks Ozodi
  • Zach Simuncak
  • Allen Walter
  • Nate Berg
  • Serena Christoffersen
  • Sofia Terranova
  • Sam Sankey
  • Alyssa Crnkovich
  • Jordan Barnes 
  • Maryna Pajewski

BLOOD DRIVE

Last Thursday, South Milwaukee HS hosted a Blood Drive for the Blood Centers of Wisconsin. Due to the extreme cold, many area blood drives were cancelled last week causing an even larger than usual shortage. This made our blood drive even more important than it usually is for our local hospitals.

The SM Way was clearly in effect though on Thursday as 119 students and staff donated blood. That’s an estimated 315 patients whose lives were potentially saved with their generosity. Thanks to all who donated and a special thanks to Mary Kokan and her HOSA (Health Occupations Students of America) students for running yet another great and much-needed blood drive!

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January 6, 2014 · 1:45 pm

No School On Tuesday, Either

Add another day to Christmas vacation for South Milwaukee students.

The South Milwaukee School District has cancelled classes again due to the extreme cold.

Check out their website for more.

Other cold notes:

Do you know of any other are businesses closed today or Tuesday? Pass them along.

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January 3, 2014 · 4:39 pm

Dangerous Cold: South Milwaukee Public Schools Closed On Monday

Update: Divine Mercy School is closed, too. So is Zion Lutheran. And the city is still picking up garbage on Monday, Jan. 6. Recycling, however, is not being picked up. Check out the city’s Facebook page for more.

South Milwaukee public schools will be closed on Monday, as the bitter cold sets in.

Here is the announcement from the South Milwaukee School District. I haven’t heard officially about local private schools.

The announcement came after Milwaukee Public Schools announced they would close — and news that Gov. Scott Walker was considering ordering a statewide school closure, similar to what’s happening in Minnesota.

The state has some tips in dealing with the cold weather here.

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