GHS Newsletter

Greetings and welcome to all guardians/parents, students, staff and other supporters within the Germantown High School Community. As we enter March and hopefully closer to Spring, we are pleased to offer forth the GHS monthly newsletter for February.

As noted in the January version of the newsletter, important information regarding March 19, 2024 was planned to be shared with families after that newsletter was posted. Please review the following documents regarding ACT and Pre-ACT, which were sent via Skyward Family Access and Skyward email:

• February 2, 2024: 3-19-24 ACT/PreACT Information for all GHS Families
• February 27, 2024: 3-19-24 ACT/PreACT Letter #2-Grades 9, 10 and 11.

There will be one more additional reminder letter in advance of March 19, but the most recent has the student class assignments and locations for your review.

On Monday, February 5, 2024, Germantown High School hosted the Wisconsin State Superintendent, Dr. Jill Underly. She and members of her team requested to visit GHS for Career and Technical Education (CTE) Month. Here is a link to a summary of that event: GHS State Superintendent Visit. Special thanks to Mrs. Fischer, Dean of Students/Academic and Career Planning Coordinator at GHS for facilitating and planning out this visit, which garnered very positive feedback from our visitors!

The February version our GHS newsletter is sponsored by the Business Education, English and World Languages Departments. We hope you enjoy the information provided by three of our departments, along with the various reminders, important dates and additional information. Our next installment will be sent out on or about April 2, 2024; shortly after we return from Spring Break.

Sincerely,

Mr. Joel R. Farren

Principal

We are pleased to offer our third online school store window for the 2023-24 school year. This most likely will be the last one until we are able to open one in advance of the 2024-25 school year.

Orders for this window will close at 11:59 PM on March 17. Master Printwear will deliver the spirit wear to GHS the week of April 8 and they will personally email customers when the items have been delivered. When that occurs, orders can be picked up at GHS Main Office between 8:00 AM-2:00 PM. Thank you for your support and the website for our school store appears HERE.

• GHS ATHLETICS & ACTIVITIES CALENDAR

• 2023-24 SCHOOL YEAR CALENDAR

• 2024-25 SCHOOL YEAR CALENDAR

• March 7: Parent Teacher Conferences (4:00-8:00)

• March 7-8: Teacher In-Service (No Students)

• March 19: Testing for Freshman, Sophmore, Juniors only - ACT/PreACT INFORMATION

• March 25-April 1: Spring Break

• April 3: End of Quarter Three

ALBERT ALLEN-JONES, JASON BAUMANN, KEN EZROW, STEVE MARTIN

This has been an exciting time in the business and marketing education department. This fall and winter, over 130 students have joined Germantown FBLA/DECA and have worked to help supplement their in class experiences with activities ranging from community service to competitive based activities.

One example was our annual “Trick-or-Can” event. The students helped to organize a can collection drive both within the school and the community. Before making the donation to the local St. Boniface Food Pantry, they had the opportunity to create a design to showcase the team’s accomplishments.

At this year’s DECA District 5 Competition, 20 students qualified for State Competition to be held in Lake Geneva, WI for the right to represent our state chapter at the National Competition later this spring.

Pictured: Francine Buor, Principles of Business Management and Administration; Ruben Mendes, Business Finance; Shay Nelson, Marketing Communications.

Our Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) team brought home a second place overall finish in Region 5 and qualified over 55 students to compete at State Competition this March in Green Bay, WI. In fact, 30 students finished in 1st place in their respective categories!

Pictured below: Ben Martin in Personal Finance, Kaylin Zomboracz in Accounting I, and Aarjav Bhavsar and Jack Wanezek in Entrepreneurship.

With the second semester well under way, students are also working hard to refine their business and marketing skills. For information on course offerings or how to join DECA and FBLA, reach out to a member of the business and marketing department

ERIN DEDERICH, JORDAN ELY, PAUL ERICKSON, ANDY KAVANAUGH, CAITLYN MIKULA, JOHN PLASKI, SAM RICHTER, JENIFER SROKA, STEPHANIE VON HADEN,

ANNIE WILBANKS, HEATHER ZVITKOVITS

The sophomores in English 10 began a mini-unit on sentence diagramming this semester. This visual style of teaching grammar was first introduced in 1877 in a text called “Higher Lessons in English” by Alonzo Reed and Brainerd Kellogg. It was wildly popular and a standard part of the English curriculum up until the early 1970’s when it suddenly became old fashioned and fell out of favor.The puzzle solving element of this method appeals to the students who otherwise see grammar as a tedious exercise in useless rote memorization.

The Alt American Literature students have been studying “Rascal” by Sterling North. This charming classic about a boy and his pet racoon during World War I, is set in nearby Edgerton WI and was written by a Wisconsin Native. The book has been adapted as a cartoon in Japan, where it is credited with the introduction of racoons to the island. The racoons have since taken over and become an official nusiance. The original home in the book has been preserved as a museum and still attracts thousands of Japanese tourists to Wisconsin every year.

English 10 is also currently reading “To Kill a Mocking Bird” by Harper Lee. They have been learning to read between the lines of her droll southern humor to discover that the story is a lot more interesting than it initially seems

BRANDON EDWARDS, PAULINA FOTE, MARCUS HARRIS, JESSICA JOHNSEN,

MICHAEL KNOX, TORREY LAUER

In December, a former GHS student (and a former member of the War Chix) turned professional dance instructor, Amanda Derus, came to teach the Spanish students some Bachata. Over two days, students went down to the Multipurpose Room and she taught them some basic steps. Even the teachers got in on the action. The kids had a great time and it was fun to see them all engrossed in a more culturally- focused activity!

On February 23, Herr Knox took the German students to the Milwaukee County Zoo for World Language Day. Students in German 3 and 4 presented to attendees about the various species that they had spent time researching. They created engaging presentations to show off to the public, all in German. Students in German 1 and 2 also attended and conducted a research project of their choosing, learning from their peers. Germantown was one of five metro area schools to present at this public event.

March 16th for GHS Choir Programs at the Germantown Performing Arts Center. Tickets online at gsdwi.org/pac

April 13 for the GHS Warhawk Band Boosters at the Germantown American Legion. Tickets online at https://feast-and-follies-2024-april-13th.cheddarup.com.

Medication Administration Policy

Administration of Non-Prescription Medication Form
Administration of Prescription Medication Form
Self Administration of Prescription Form

Principal: Joel R. Farren

Assistant Principal (A–L): Andrew Rooney

Assistant Principal (M–Z): David Smith

Dean of Students: Alexzandra Fischer

Activities Director: Sara Unertl

Location: W180N11501 North River Lane, Germantown, WI, USA
Phone: 262-253-3400