Albany School District Newsletter
September 2023
A Message From Mr. Soderberg, Superintendent
September 2023
The 2023 - 2024 school year is off to a solid start. We’ve added some new faces to our staff who are highly qualified and join a returning team that is fully committed to Doing something BIG in a special little place. Our entire staff is working hard to serve all students in academics, arts, and athletics.
We’re also excited to see our overall enrollment increase of over 20 students. At this date, our 4K-12 enrollment has increased from 275 students at the end of last year to nearly 300 students this year. That number includes 13 students who live in Albany but were not enrolled in our schools during the 2022-2023 school year.
Thank you for your continued support of our school district. It's a great day to be a Comet!
Go Comets!
Mr. Soderberg
A Message from Mr. Ritzert, 4K-12 Principal
Greetings, Comet Nation,
It’s hard to believe we are already through the first month of the 2023-24 school year. We are off to another great start and I am honored and proud to continue serving as the Albany School District Principal. I would like to remind you that our 4 core values of Citizenship, Achievement, Respect, and Excellence will be recognized during a quarter of the school year, our first quarter focus is Citizenship. We will continue to promote all the positive behaviors we are seeing throughout the school.
Our goal every school year is to ensure that every student attends school regularly. Attendance has a significant impact on a student’s academic success, starting in kindergarten and continuing through high school. We realize some absences are unavoidable due to health concerns or other circumstances. We also know that when students miss too much school, regardless of the reason, it can cause them to fall behind academically.
Because we care about your child and their success, it is important to continue growing the partnership between home and school. If we work to create opportunities for conversation regarding your child, we can communicate and identify any barriers related to attendance. If you ever have concerns or questions about attendance or in general, please contact the school.
To all the students, parents/guardians, families, and community members, I am excited for an amazing school year. As great as last year was, I know this school year is going to be even better! This school year is going to pass us by way faster than we anticipated, especially for our seniors. Take the time to soak in every moment and enjoy every experience as we continue to do BIG things in this special little place!
Go Comets!
Mr. Ritzert
A Message from Ms. Becher, Spec. Ed./Student Services Director
The Albany School District is required to locate, identify, and evaluate all children with disabilities, including children with disabilities attending private schools in the school district, and homeless children. The process of locating, identifying, and evaluating children with disabilities is known as Child Find. Teachers and parents are encouraged to bring up concerns and work together to develop interventions and plan for assessments as needed. Parents requesting a special education evaluation should submit a written request to the district.
If a parent has a concern or suspects a disability for a student aged 3-5 who is not yet attending school, we will hold Child Find Screenings throughout the year. Our first screening will be held on October 11th. If you would like to sign up for a screening, please contact me at 608-862-3135, extension 2421, or amber.becher@albany.k12.wi.us.
SCHOOL DISTRICT NURSE - RACHEL ARNOLD
Hello from the health office.
On October 4, 2023, the Albany Schools will host a student Flu Vaccine Clinic. Below are buttons to click, download, print, and fill out forms before turning the documents into the school. There are also helpful informational documents to read.
SCIENCE DEPARTMENT - MR. BAKKEN
Advanced Biology- The students in Advanced Biology are currently reviewing the cell cycle and the distribution of chromosomes in somatic cells. The students have been using microscopes to look at onion root tips to see the stages of mitosis. As we finish up this unit, we will discuss cancer as it relates to the cell cycle and what research has been done to deal with its effects.
6th, 7th, and 8th-grade science- The middle school students have been busy learning about cells and the differences between eukaryotic and prokaryotic cells. The students have also been studying the cell's organelles and learning about the different tasks that are carried out in the cell. Soon, the students will be starting their 3D cell projects. The students will use their creativity to build a 3D model of an animal or plant cell. Stay tuned for some awesome cell pictures!
MS/HS TECHNOLOGY EDUCATION DEPARMENT - MR. BROUGHTON
We're thrilled to kick off a new school year in the Technology Education Department, thanks to the Wisconsin Fab Lab Grant. Our workshop is now equipped with top-notch tools, including a table saw with Saw Stop technology, a Miller MIG welder, an Ultimaker 3D printer, and a new drill press. Currently, students are diving into the world of Onshape CAD, while upcoming projects range from crafting gun cabinets and gravel graders to motorcycle motor replacements, speaker box builds, and automotive work. We're excited about the learning opportunities and creativity that lie ahead. Stay connected with us through our website and social media for updates, and let's make this year a memorable one!
SOCIAL STUDIES DEPARTMENT- MRS. BROWN
6th Grade Geography: Students have been working on geography skills these first few weeks, reviewing types of maps and getting practice in analyzing different types of maps. We will continue to develop geographical skills as we begin our first unit centered around North America.
7th Grade Ancient History: Students have been learning the tools of historians as they practice historical methods. Students have done really well with our first unit as they distinguish Paleolithic humans from Neolithic humans.
10th Grade World History: Students started the year reviewing historical methods and ancient empires that they covered in Ancient History. Recently, we have begun our first unit, studying the Islamic World. Students will focus on the militaristic power of the Umayyad and Abbasid dynasties, trade and scholarship that sparked the European Renaissance, and how the Islam changed the Middle East.
Modern US History: Students have recently finished discussing the Cold War, with a focus on political approaches/policies to foreign issues, and domestic policies to combat the Red Scare. Students will soon begin our next unit, investigating the causes & effects of the Civil Rights movement.
SOCIAL STUDIES DEPARTMENT- MR.CAMPBELL
8th U.S. History:
The eighth-grade students started the first couple weeks of the year by working on a research project. For this project, they were tasked with finding more information about a Native American tribe in Wisconsin. After doing research, they put this information together in a presentation, which they presented to the rest of their peers. For the remainder of September and into October, we will discuss European settlement of the Americas and the establishment of the thirteen American colonies.
9th U.S. History:
So far this year we have done a quick review on the American Civil War and Reconstruction, the time period right after the war. This review will help set the stage for our next few units that deal with a similar time period, but a different context. Towards the end of September into early October, we will discuss American industrialization and the role of notable Americans in that time period.
Civics:
We have kicked off the year with a review of our founding documents and a review of the formation of our country. Through this time we discussed different types of governments and the responsibilities and rights of American citizens. In the next couple of weeks, we will wrap up our discussion on the foundations of our government with a unit assessment. In early October, we will begin planning for our annual veterans assembly and also start our unit on voting and political campaigns.
Psychology:
The Psych class has spent the past couple of weeks with an introduction to psychology. We have briefly covered the history of psychology, careers in psychology, and more modern concepts. We will look further into those modern concepts as the year progresses. We will end September and start October by discussing the way that psychologists use research and data in the field of psychology, with students participating in their own field research.
HS/MS SCHOOL COUNSELOR - MRS. DOYLE
Hi! My name is Mrs. Doyle and I feel incredibly happy and privileged to serve as Albany’s new Middle and High School Counselor for the 23-24 school year. I have enjoyed slowly meeting staff, students and families. I look forward to continuing the process of meeting and getting to know everyone over the course of the next few months. Students, if we haven’t connected yet, please feel free to say hi when you get the chance! I am in the commons during the lunch period most days. Parents, students and staff feel free to reach out via email at any point in time to express interest in connecting! I will be taking maternity leave sometime in December but will update everyone on those plans as it comes closer. I will be working on a plan that ensures students have support and resources available to them during my absence.
A little bit about my past work experience:
I have worked in multiple school districts in the area and surrounding areas in various capacities over the last decade. Prior to my employment at Albany, I spent two years working at a 4K-3 grade school in Milton, WI. I have enjoyed a diverse work experience where I have gained knowledge and perspective working with students of all ages and stages in life. I have discovered through my experiences that I have a passion for helping young adult students identify and navigate their short-term and long-term goals.
5 Fun Facts:
I love reading and writing. I have started writing a couple of books and have aspirations to someday have them published.
I have collected cool rocks, minerals, gems, and crystals since I was a little kid and still do to this day.
My favorite holiday is Christmas. Although it can be a challenging time of year, I love that it is also a time when people give and come together to help others. I love the music, the lights/decorations, the smells, and the food and I LOVE wrapping presents.
I have wanted to be a Counselor since I was in Elementary School and I love the career I chose. But if I had to choose an alternative career, I would want to be a Family Lawyer, Criminal Investigator, or Novelist.
I do NOT like sushi at all but I have tried it multiple times because it looks cool and I’m a little embarrassed that my children like it and I don’t.
MIDDLE SCHOOL UPDATES:
I will be checking in with all middle school students over the next couple of months to help students identify their strengths, and learning styles and start introducing them to career readiness information that is available through XELLO.
HIGH SCHOOL UPDATES:
High School Students with the exception of Seniors will be taking the Pre-ACT test on October 18th. Seniors will not have classes that day and can either work from home or participate in a campus tour to Blackhawk Technical College or UW Whitewater. Students must sign up in Mrs. Doescher’s office by October 6th. Parents are welcome to accompany their students on these tours and should email questions or interest to Mrs. Doyle at signe.doyle@albany.k12.wi.us by October 6th.
SENIOR SPECIFIC INFORMATION:
By Friday, September 29th, I will be finishing up meeting each Senior individually to go over Graduation requirements including; Community service hours, Senior Presentations, and current post-high school plans. I will continue to encourage Seniors to work with me throughout the year on an individual needs basis to best prepare them for their post-high school plans. Whether interested in college, joining the workforce, or taking a GAP year, students will be encouraged to learn more about best practices to make their transition from High School as successful as possible. Seniors should continue to meet with Mrs. Doyle as needed for any questions related to graduation requirements, post-graduation plans, or assistance needed in relation to any of these topics.
FAFSA Update: (College Financial Aid Application)
The college financial aid process is being updated. Usually, the FAFSA is available in October. This year the FAFSA will not be made available until December. More information will be provided as it becomes available.
Scholarships:
I love that I have students asking about scholarships already! Below is a list of scholarships that are currently available. Be on the lookout in future newsletters for more opportunities. I will post them as they become available.
Scholarship Name
Application due by:
Link to scholarship and Info
Herb Kohl
November 7, 2023, by 5pm
National Honor Society Scholarship
November 30th, 2023 by 5 pm
https://www.nationalhonorsociety.org/advisers/the-nhs-scholarship/
Hagan Scholarship
December 1st, 2023 by 5 pm
https://haganscholarships.org/application/
Green County Extension Office Scholarship (multiple scholarships, multiple areas, multiple deadlines)
(multiple scholarships, multiple areas, multiple deadlines)
https://green.extension.wisc.edu/4-h-youth-development/scholarships/
HS ELA DEPARTMENT - MR. EVANS
We are off to a great start in English! Students have been actively reading, writing, and speaking every day without exception. Here are the highlights by class!
In English 9, we engaged with multiple short texts and focused on skills of claim, evidence, and paragraph writing. Plus, they just started To Kill a Mockingbird!
In Adventure Lit, students just completed their personal narratives about life experiences that changed their lives or their outlook.
Sci-Fi/Dystopia students have been analyzing science fiction as a genre and are wrapping up their reading of Fahrenheit 451 by writing an argumentative essay on its prescience.
English 10 reviewed and expanded their toolbox of literary analysis skills and are preparing for a Socratic seminar on a series of Ray Bradbury stories.
American Literature has been learning and practicing rhetorical analysis as they have read seminal American speeches and documents throughout our history including Patrick Henry’s “Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death” and the Declaration of Independence.
MUSIC DEPARTMENT - MR. KAROLEK
5th Grade Band: This month the 5th grade band got their instruments and started working on the building blocks of music. They learned their first notes and played their first song, Hot Cross Buns!
6th Grade Band: This month the 6th grade band started working on their newest piece of music that they will play in concert.
Middle School Choir: This month the 6th, 7th, and 8th grade choir students started working on the music they will be performing for the Middle School Conference Choir in November.
7/8th Grade Band: This month the 7th and 8th-grade band started to look at the music they will be performing with the high school band at the Veterans assembly
High School Choir and Band: This month the High School Choir and Band worked on their music for the veterans assembly as well as their skills with sight singing and rhythm reading.
Jimmy Karolek
Albany 6-12 Instrumental & Choral Music Director
MS MATH DEPARTMENT - MR. KOPLIN
In Geometry, students have been exploring rigid transformations: reflections, rotations, and translations. As we are closing up Chapter 1, students are using these rigid transformations to create new shapes and then organize the shapes by their attributes.
8th Grade Math started the year learning how to work in teams and what good teamwork means. We just started Chapter 1 and have been exploring scatter plots and how to use trend lines to make predictions.
7th Grade Math started the year by learning how to work in teams and what good teamwork means. We just started Chapter 1 and used proportional reasoning to determine the height of giants based on the size of their pencils and how tall a stack of one million pennies would be.
6th Grade Math started the year learning how to work in teams and what good teamwork means. We just started Chapter 1 and are using double number lines to determine the price for different amounts of a product.
MS ELA DEPARTMENT - MS. MCDONALD
6th Grade- The sixth-grade class has been working on reading the short story Eleven from our first unit which focuses on getting through difficult times. While reading this story, students discussed how Rachel, the main character, might have felt during different parts of the story and created a poster to represent the character
7th Grade- Seventh graders have been working through our unit about conflicts and clashes. After studying the plot diagram and characterization, students will begin reading “The Most Dangerous Game.
8th Graders- The first eight grade unit focuses on the mysterious. Students are reading classics such as The Tell Tale Heart and Lamb to the Slaughter to study why people are drawn to the mysterious or uncanny.
Speech- Speech students are currently working on learning about verbal and nonverbal communication. We are studying what it takes to be a good speaker and watching examples of both what (and what not) to do.
HS PHYSICAL EDUCATION - MR. OLSEN
HS Physical Education: The PE department is very excited to have students back and is ready to dive into a wonderful fall semester. The fall sports class has started the year with a fun and simple unit called “invasion games”. These activities allowed the students to learn strategies on how to extract objectives from other teams zones without being tagged. In addition, the students have finished performing fitness assessments and learning about the importance of setting goals.
MS/HS FACE DEPARTMENT - MRS. RUSSELL
Intro to Culinary Skills just finished a unit on Six Essential Nutrients and are now reviewing kitchen and food safety.
-Parent and Child students have been learning about the costs and rewards of parenting. We just started a discussion of Teenage Parenting.
-The International Foods class has been filling the halls with many different aromas! So far, we have learned about Italy and Greece and enjoyed a variety of dishes from each of those countries.
-Seniors in Adulting 101 researched and shared stress relief techniques to handle the stress that they might encounter as adults.
- Confectionery Arts class
is composed of
A group of talented juniors and seniors who passed their piping skills tests and just finished a
Cheesecake unit!
HS SCIENCE DEPARTMENT - MRS. RYAN
Physics - Students are working on motion, speed, and velocity. Up next are acceleration calculations.
Biology 10 - Students are working on cell differentiation and cell structure.
Chemistry II - Students are learning about oxidation numbers
Biology 9 - Students are learning about Prokaryotic and Eukaryotic cells
Physical Science - Students are learning about motion, speed, and acceleration.
AG DEPARTMENT - MS. RYAN
Email: hala.ryan@albany.k12.wi.us
Website: https://sites.google.com/albany.k12.wi.us/albanyffa/home
Location: 309 Vinton St. Albany, WI, USA
Phone: 608-862-3135
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100028611086344
BUSINESS EDUCATION - MR. WACHHOLZ
Personal Finance - During this month we are covering two topics, (1) behaviors and cognitive biases that influence our spending habits, and (2) banking accounts and strategies to help us save our money.
Accounting - We are building our background in business accounting. We are learning and using the accounting equation and understanding the difference between credits and debits within the accounting equation.
Entrepreneurship - This group has learned about what entrepreneurship is and how to think like an entrepreneur. We are now beginning our journey to understanding how to start a business and the hurdles that entrepreneurs face.
Sports Business - We've studied the basics of marketing and how marketing differs between sports and entertainment. Now we are learning how to find different ways to appeal to customers with our marketing plans for sporting events.
If you have any questions, please let me know
Rich Wachholz
SPANISH DEPARTMENT - MS. WICHITA
¡Hola! My name is Jen Wichita and I am delighted to be teaching Spanish in Albany. The students and staff are very friendly and welcoming.
We begin each Spanish class with a bell ringer. Mondays we reflect on the past weekend and share what we are looking forward to in the upcoming week. Tuesdays are Newsdays. Depending on the level and the week we might look for current events in Spanish or read an article. Wednesdays are "Mapa Miércoles" and we learn about a Spanish-speaking country. "Ja ja Jueves" on Thursdays begins with a joke, and "Just Dance Friday" gets us out of our seats and dancing to a song by a Hispanic singer.
The 8th Grade Exploratory class has been busy learning how to say the Pledge of Allegiance in Spanish, telling the date and weather, practicing an introductory conversation, and expressing likes and dislikes. We will also be learning about families, how to describe people, and how to tell time. We will be ending our time together by collaborating with the Exploratory Art class. Students from both classes will be learning about the Spanish artist Salvador Dalí and will create a surrealistic work of art.
The high school classes have impressed me not only with their desire to learn, but also with their patience with a new teacher and a new curriculum.
Please reach out with any questions or concerns.
Comet Sports Corner
JV/Varsity Cross Country
Saturday, September 30th ~ @ Platteville (UW Platteville Campus) 8:00am
Saturday, October 7th ~ (HOME) Baertschi Invite (Baertschi Farm) 9:00am
Thursday, October 12th ~ @ Iowa-Grant HS (SWAL Conference Meet) 4:00pm
Friday, October 20th (Sectionals) ~ @ Poynette (Shepherds Meadow Golf Course) 4:00pm
Saturday, October 28th (State) ~ @ Wisconsin Rapids (Ridges Golf Course) 10:00am
MS Cross Country
Saturday, September 30th ~ @ Platteville HS 8:00am
Saturday, October 7th ~ (HOME) Baertschi Invite (Baertschi Farm) 9:00am
Varsity Football
Friday, October 6th ~ @ Mineral Point HS 7:00pm
Friday, October 13th ~ (HOME) vs. Belleville HS 7:00pm
WIAA Playoffs ~ October 20th, October 27th, November 3rd, November 10th
WIAA State ~ November 16th & November 17th
JV Football
Monday, October 2nd ~ @ Fennimore HS 5:00pm
Monday, October 9th ~ (HOME) vs. Mineral Point HS 5:00pm
MS Football
Tuesday, October 3rd ~ (HOME) vs. Edgerton MS 5:00pm
Tuesday, October 10th ~ @ Clinton MS (Clinton HS) 5:15pm
Tuesday, October 17th ~ @ Janesville MS (Parker HS) 5:00pm
JV/Varsity Volleyball
Thursday, September 28th @ Barneveld HS 6:00pm
Tuesday, October 3rd (HOME) vs. Argyle 6:00pm (Senior Night)
Thursday, October 5th @ Juda HS 6:00pm
Tuesday, October 10th (HOME) vs. Black Hawk 6:00pm (Parent’s Night)
Thursday, October 12th (HOME) vs. Monticello 6:00pm
WIAA Regionals ~ October 17th, October 19th, October 21st
WIAA Sectionals ~ October 26th, October 28th
WIAA State ~ November 3rd & November 4th
