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#PointerNation News

September 19, 2022

#PointerNationNewsSeptember 19, 2022

District Earns DPI Grant

Congratulations to #PointerNation for being named a 2022-23 Transition Readiness Grant recipient from the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction! This program was designed to support Wisconsin’s students with special needs to successfully transition to competitive work and post-secondary education environments after high school. Mineral Point is one of 29 districts in the state to earn this and our dollar amount will be $81,000.

Homecoming Sep. 26 - Oct. 1

#PointerNation is anxiously anticipating celebrating our 2022 Homecoming September 26th through October 1st. This year’s theme is “There’s No Place Like Home.” Read more about the week's festivities (including dress up days) here: https://mineralpointschools.org/2022/09/homecoming-2022/

#PointerNation Welcomes Danielle Miller

Let's give a big #PointerNation welcome to Danielle Miller, new Bookkeeper! Read more about her here: https://mineralpointschools.org/2022/09/pointernation-welcomes-danielle-miller/

#PointerNation Welcomes Angela Bremmer

Let's give a big #PointerNation welcome to Angela Bremmer, new Assistant Bookkeeper! Read more about her here: https://mineralpointschools.org/2022/09/pointernation-welcomes-angela-bremmer/

#PointerNation Welcomes Abbygail Hayes

Let's give a big #PointerNation welcome to Abbygail Hayes, our new Student Teacher in Middle/High School Agriculture!

-- Hometown: Columbus

-- High school graduated from: Columbus

-- College & Field of Study: UW-Platteville (Agricultural Education)

-- Family: I grew up with my mom and dad and 3 siblings, one sister and two brothers. I am also engaged and will be getting married next summer.

-- Hobbies/Free time interests: Kayaking, Snowmobiling, anything outdoors.

-- What has impressed you so far about Mineral Point Schools?: The community atmosphere that Mineral Point Schools have is an amazing thing to be a part of. I have felt so welcomed by students and staff and already feel like a part of the close knit community!

Zippy Zero

It's hard to believe we had the 10th day of school already, but kindergarten students met Zippy Zero the Superhero! Zippy LOVES the number 0 and will visit them each day that ends in 0 until the 100th day! (Zippy looks very familiar...)
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Officer Visit

Officer Dunham (Declan’s dad) stopped by to read a fun new book! Thank you, Officer Dunham!
MPES Garden

Garden Tour

Our elementary school garden is a special place! Check out this video above to see how students interact with this incredible asset to our school.
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Three times the fun

Fun in 3rd grade building multiplication arrays with cubes!
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Mix it up

Kindergarten is learning about colors and what better way to start than with paint?! They read “Mouse Paint” by Ellen Stoll Walsh and then did some color mixing of their own.
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New Hoops Thanks to Box Tops

Check out our new hoops! Our new elementary school basketball hoops were made possible by clipping box tops and saving milk caps. Unfortunately, the milk cap program has ended but you can still collect box tops digitally! Click here to download the Box Tops for Education app: https://www.boxtops4education.com/s/get-the-app
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Yoga Time

Students learned the song “I Am Yoga” and talked about ways to calm their bodies so they can help them learn (being mindful of what their bodies need in order to learn)!

1st Graders "Travel" to NYC

1st graders started their "adventures" by traveling to New York City to learn how the fireboat John J. Harvey was a hero during 9/11!
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Wonder in Nature & Mindful Kids

A big congrats to Keri Radtke who is one of this year's grant recipients from the Mineral Point Excellence in Education Endowment Funds! Keri wrote two successful grants:
1. Wonder in Nature (funded through Don Hawkins EIE): “The grant will be used for supplies and books for second graders who will create ‘Wonder Projects’ about the nature observed in the oak savanna. The entire elementary school population will benefit from acquiring knowledge of Wisconsin wildlife and ecosystems by observing student presentations. This will further motivate MPES to use and learn from our outdoor classroom!”
2. Mindful Kids Kits (Funded through EIE & Roger and Mary Ivey EIE): “This will be used to help students acquire self regulation skills and counter the effects of anxiety as well as promote overall good mental health in the classroom.”
Grants from the Mineral Point EIE support educational programming outside of the boundaries of the school district budget. To learn more about the EIE, visit https://cfsw.org/eie/mineral-point/
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Pointers Go Green

A big congrats to Alison Sauter who is one of this year's grant recipients from the Mineral Point Excellence in Education Endowment Funds! Her proposal for Pointers Go Green, funded through the Don Hawkins Fund, is: "In efforts to minimize the amount of food ending up in garbage, and subsequently landfills, awarded funds will be used to purchase materials needed to accommodate and enforce effective composting practices in our school. The purpose of this project is to create a sustainable, long-lasting system for composting organic waste materials, in order to minimize the amount of garbage the elementary school discards each day.” Grants from the Mineral Point EIE support educational programming outside of the boundaries of the school district budget. To learn more about the EIE, visit https://cfsw.org/eie/mineral-point/
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Flexible Classrooms

A big congrats to Micki Uppena who is one of this year's grant recipients from the Mineral Point Excellence in Education Endowment Funds! Her proposal for Flexible Classrooms is: "The Flexible Classroom grant will be used to purchase a cart, games, and materials that can be used in any of the new flexible spaces in our elementary school. Our remodeled school has so many beautiful new flexible spaces for our students to utilize. Having additional flexible carts would create more teaching moments and individual exploration in these spaces. Materials in the cart can be switched out to keep the learning fresh. This cart could also be used for quiet indoor recess activities for students not wanting to engage in activities in the gym." Grants from the Mineral Point EIE support educational programming outside of the boundaries of the school district budget. To learn more about the EIE, visit https://cfsw.org/eie/mineral-point/

How Do Bees Make Honey?

Mrs. Radtke's 2nd grade class wondered, "How do bees make honey?" Luckily they have an in-class expert with first hand experience. Camden shared how he helps harvest honey from his family's hives and even brought in a sample of their honey to taste!
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Homecoming Parade Entry Info


Get your parade entries ready! This year’s Mineral Point Homecoming Parade will be Thursday, September 29 at 6:15 pm. Anyone may enter a unit in the parade by calling and leaving a message with Mr. Matt Nevers at 608-987-0739, Ext. 472 or emailing matt.nevers@mp.k12.wi.us. You can also sign up using this Google Form: forms.gle/hyfuSuHAnA7RnCgg6


Entries should be in no later than Wednesday, September 28 to allow enough time to distribute the parade line-up to all involved. The parade order will be made public on the day of the parade, as last-minute changes do occur.


Floats may be pulled by a car or truck, and the driver must have a valid WI driver’s license. Written permission from the owner must be registered with Mr. Nevers. No three or four-wheelers will be allowed in the parade and we ask that you refrain from throwing candy as it creates a hazardous situation for youngsters. Class floats can have 6-8 students riding and drivers of floats must have a valid regular driver's license (19 years old and older) and proof of insurance turned into the high school office a week before the parade.


Line-up will begin between 5:30 and 6:00 pm in front of the Mineral Point Care Center. Please look for the person in the bright fluorescent vest to help you. At 6:15 pm the parade will proceed down High Street. The theme this year is "There's No Place Like Home" and the Belleville Wildcats will be the opposing team. The Spirit Rally will begin immediately following the parade at the football field. The Homecoming Football Game will be Friday, September 30 at 7:00 pm.

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Kohl Nominations Accepted

#PointerNation is a great place to be, largely because of our amazing staff. Please consider making a nomination for the prestigious Herb Kohl Educational Foundation awards! These honors are some of the top an educator in the state can receive and we have been fortunate to have a state winner five of the last six years, which is very impressive. Read more: https://mineralpointschools.org/2022/08/kohl-nominations-sought-5/
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Athletic Halls of Fame

We are excited to announce the online publication of our #PointerNation Athletic Halls of Fame! They debuted Friday, September 9 at pointermedia.org

Support these updates through the Pointer Media/MPTV Streaming Fundraiser!

-- Grand Prize: '22 Kawasaki Mule Pro-MX EPS UTV OR $10k

-- 2nd-3rd Prize: $500

-- 4th-5th Prize: $250

-- 6th-10th Prize $100

Help our media program and livestream services purchase a video display board for the gym and streaming equipment, pay for part of the streaming subscriptions, and keep event streaming FREE.

Tickets are $50 each with only 600 to be sold. They can be purchased at all MP home events or in the high school office. Tickets can be reserved by emailing High School Principal Matt Austin at matt.austin@mp.k12.wi.us

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Alumni Alert!

Alumni Alert! A reminder -- we love to feature the newsworthy accomplishments of our alumni! If you have something to share about a friend, family member, or yourself, please email joelle.doye@mp.k12.wi.us.
Did you know our first graduating class was in 1879? Our Alumni Directory from the past to the present is now online! You can find it on our mineralpointschools.org website -- About -- Alumni, or a direct link here: https://mineralpointschools.org/wp-content/uploads/MineralPointHighSchoolGraduates-1879-2022.pdf
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Week of 9/19/22

#PointerNation events coming up this week: (Please note these schedules are always subject to change)


Monday, September 19
-- JV Football at Fennimore 5 pm
-- MS Cross Country at Prairie du Chien 4:30 pm

Tuesday, September 20
-- Boys Soccer at River Valley (JV 5 pm, Varsity to follow). Livestream: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUCAKU8zpZQjHj2vP37BNMg
-- MS Volleyball vs. Lancaster 4 pm

Wednesday, September 21
-- Early Release 2 pm (every Wednesday)

Thursday, September 22
-- Volleyball vs. Iowa-Grant (JV & Frosh 5:45 pm, Varsity to follow). Livestream: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkK8qbOedyJlHnN89x527nw
-- Freshman Football at Cuba City 5 pm
-- MS Cross Country at Dodgeville 4:30 pm
-- MS Volleyball at Platteville 4 pm

Friday, September 23
-- FFA Judging Contest at River Ridge 9 am
-- Boys Soccer vs. Platteville/Lancaster (JV 5 pm, Varsity to follow). Livestream: https://www.youtube.com/c/DodgevilleSchoolDistrict
-- Varsity Football at Darlington 7 pm. Radio: 93.7 fm. Livestream: https://www.youtube.com/c/DarlingtonRedbirds

Saturday, September 24
-- Cross Country at Janesville 9 am


Please be aware of other companies claiming to livestream our games, especially if there are links different than posted above and ask for credit card and personal information -- these are scams. We will update this pinned post as available livestream information is relayed to us.

9/12 Board Meeting Notes
Board Hears Goals for New School Year
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Mineral Point Unified School District

Est. 1829

"Grounded by our history as one of the oldest publicly supported schools in Wisconsin, Mineral Point Unified School District is the heart of a small community that educates and inspires our students for a bright future in a big world."

Email: joelle.doye@mp.k12.wi.us
Website: mineralpointschools.org
Location: 705 Ross Street, Mineral Point, WI, USA
Phone: (608) 987-0740
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MineralPointSchoolDistrict