#PointerNation News

Thursday, elementary school students received a visit from the Mineral Point Fire Department to learn fire prevention techniques and what to do if faced with a fire. Thank you to our volunteer firefighters for taking their time to teach our children about the importance of fire safety and for all you do to keep our community safe!

We have the need -- the need for speed! A big congrats to the Dodge-Point Girls & Boys Cross Country Teams for claiming the SWC Conference Championships Wednesday at home!

-- The girls (2nd ranked in D2) won their 3rd conference title in a row, finishing with 23 points ahead of 2nd place Lancaster (2nd ranked in D3) with 52.

-- The boys (5th ranked in D2) finished with 27 points ahead of 2nd place Richland Center/Ithaca with 32.

-- Ellie Robinson (3rd year in a row) and Layne Aurit (2nd year in a row) were the individual champs as well!

Fantastic job, everyone!

(Graphic uses photos taken by Ann Gorgen)

Three cheers for the Conference Champs! For the first time since 1998 and 1999, our #PointerNation Volleyball team has won back to back SWAL titles! Thursday, the Pointers took down Southwestern to end the regular season undefeated in league play. Great job! (Graphic uses a photo taken by Ann Gorgen)

Congratulations to our #PointerNation Communications Director Joëlle Doye for being honored at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville's Homecoming as the College of Liberal Arts and Education Distinguished Alumna of the Year! She is pictured with UW-Platteville Communications Director Paul Erickson. Joëlle graduated from UW-Platteville in 2006 with a degree in Secondary Education: Social Studies. She spent more than a decade as a sports reporter for the Dodgeville Chronicle and eight years as editor of the Democrat Tribune in Mineral Point, winning several photography and writing awards from the Wisconsin Newspaper Association, including being named a Future Headliner. In 2014, she became Communications Director for the Mineral Point Unified School District, trailblazing rural school public relations at a time when few others were doing this work full-time in small schools. To date, the district has been honored with 20 awards from the Wisconsin School Public Relations Association under her guidance and she is a recipient of the WSPRA Past President’s Award. In 2023, she was honored as one of only four National School Public Relations Association Front Runners in the nation. She is also a previous recipient of the NSPRA 35 Under 35 Award. She volunteers her time serving professional and community organizations, including speaking at various educational conferences and writing articles for education publications. She is currently in her second year as President of the Wisconsin School Public Relations Association.

Our High School English Department enjoyed a couple recent trips to American Players Theatre in Spring Green! Productions seen include "Romeo and Juliet" and "Our Town." Students even got to meet some of the actors!

1st graders have been learning about plant and animal life cycles! Recently, they looked for signs of life cycles in our oak savanna. They used their explorer observation skills to document evidence of life and stages of plant life cycles. They used their new notebooks that were purchased with funds from a grant by the Mineral Point Excellence in Education Endowment Funds!

A big congratulations to our Dodge-Point Cross Country runners who earned SWC All-Conference honors, especially our Pointers pictured!

GIRLS

-- First Team: Ellie Robinson (Most Valuable Runner), Annie Robinson, Payton Christopher, Lilly Houtakker

-- Second Team: Grace Wersal, Regan Schuette, Abbey Ludwig

BOYS

-- First Team: Layne Aurit (Most Valuable Runner), Gabe Engel, Cody Yoder, Ethan Hook

-- Second Team: Parker Owens, Jesse Yoder

Congrats to our vocalists who participated in the UW-Platteville Choral Festival Tuesday!

-- Sopranos: Julianna Cool, Libby Dunn, Brooke Paynter, Lila Thousand

-- Altos: Josie Dunn, Lilly Murn, Morgan Palzkill, Madelyn Steffes

-- Tenors: Anthony Luu, Taitin Riley

-- Basses: Finn Renwick, Tobin Shea

Our kindergarten friends played “Who Picked the Pumpkin from the Pumpkin Patch?” -- spooky season is in full swing!

Thank you to everyone who supported our Mineral Point FFA Chapter donation auction at the Fairgrounds! Special shout out to Sammy Springer for his outstanding auctioneering skills!

5th grade has been practicing mindfulness, even during Homecoming the other week!

High school phy ed had some beautiful weather recently to go canoeing at Ludden Lake!

Mrs. Gorgen's 2nd grade students are explaining how the Kind Kids Cart works throughout the year! They will be on the hunt for students who are showing kindness and those students will get to choose something off the cart.

Article and video from Monday's School Board meeting is now available. There was a very full agenda, including approval of the 2023-24 budget: https://mineralpointschools.org/2023/10/october-school-board-notes-votes/

The #PointerNation Volleyball Team earned the #1 seed in its WIAA Division 3 Postseason bracket! Mineral Point will host #16 Iowa-Grant Tuesday, October 17 in the Regional Quarterfinal. Check out the bracket here: https://halftime.wiaawi.org/CustomApps/Tournaments/Brackets/HTML/2023_Volleyball_Girls_Div3_Sec1_2.html

The Dodge-Point Boys Soccer Team earned the #10 seed and a first round bye in its WIAA Division 3 Postseason bracket! Dodge-Point will travel to #7 McFarland Thursday, October 19 in the Regional Semifinal. Check out the bracket here: https://halftime.wiaawi.org/CustomApps/Tournaments/Brackets/HTML/2023_Soccer_Boys_Div3_Sec3_4.html

The #PointerNation Football Team earned a WIAA Playoff berth for the 10th straight year! The #5 Pointers will travel to #4 Racine Lutheran Friday, October 20 for Level 1 action. Check out the full bracket here: https://halftime.wiaawi.org/CustomApps/Tournaments/Brackets/HTML/2023_Football_Boys_Div6_Sec1_2.html

Dodge-Point Cross Country will travel to La Crosse Logan (Maple Grove in West Salem) at 11:30 am Saturday, October 21 for Sectional action. Check out more info here: https://www.wiaawi.org/Portals/0/PDF/Sports/Cross_Country/2023-CC-TimeSchedule.pdf

On Tuesday, October 17 from 5-7pm, your middle/high school child has the opportunity to take place in the Mineral Point Science Night! They can explore a topic that they are interested in and create a project that shows what was learned from their research and/or experimentation! Students can get a packet from Mrs. McCoy (grades 9-12) or Mrs. Brown (grades 6-8) that can help walk them through steps to be successful with their project. This will have to be done outside of school time or during a study hall and materials are not provided from the school. If your child plans to do this project, our hope is that they will be able to attend the Science Night to show off their work and answer any questions they may get from attendees. If you or your child has any questions, please let Mrs. Brown or Mrs. McCoy know! We are looking forward to a fun Science Night!

Due Dates for your child:

-- Final Product/Presentation ready by Mon, Oct 16

-- Attend Science Night from 5-7pm to show off project on Tues, Oct 17

Any questions? Contact Mrs. McCoy and Mrs. Brown

(kris.mccoy@mp.k12.wi.us)

(mckenzy.brown@mp.k12.wi.us)

Test your knowledge at the 5th Annual Trivia Night (hosted by Mineral Point Boys & Girls Basketball) Sunday, October 22 in the MPHS Gym from 6:30-8:30 pm! Cost is $10 per person with tables consisting of 4 to 8 people. Pre-registration is preferred (pay at door) -- email dan.burreson@mp.k12.wi.us or nick.jelle@mp.k12.wi.us to sign up. There will also be a silent auction, 50/50 raffle, bucket raffles, heads or tails, and sit down bingo. Join the fun!

A reminder photo retake day is set for Thursday, October 26. Retakes are for all interested. You should have received an email from Empire Photography with the link to order school pictures. If you did not receive one, please check all emails, as well as your spam folder. If you have any questions you can direct them to customerservice@empirephotos.com.

#PointerNation would like to invite businesses to our upcoming Career Fair on Wednesday, November 15 from 9 am to 2 pm at Mineral Point High School! Please RSVP to School Counselor Erika Brunson at erika.brunson@mp.k12.wi.us if interested in attending.

The #PointerNation Class of 1983 gathered at Midway Lanes Homecoming weekend for its 40 year reunion and had a fantastic time! (Send your class reunion photos to joelle.doye@mp.k12.wi.us)

The #PointerNation Class of 1988 gathered at Midway Lanes for its 35 year reunion and had a fantastic time! (Send your class reunion photos to joelle.doye@mp.k12.wi.us)

#PointerNation events coming up this week -- join us! (Please note these schedules are always subject to change)

Monday, October 16

-- HS Fall Concert 7 pm in gym

Tuesday, October 17

-- MS/HS Science Night 5-7 pm

-- WIAA Volleyball Regional Quarterfinal vs. Iowa-Grant 7 pm. Livestream: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkK8qbOedyJlHnN89x527nw

Wednesday, October 18

-- Early release 2 pm (every Wednesday)

Thursday, October 19

-- WIAA Volleyball Regional Semifinal vs. Lancaster 7 pm. Radio: 97.7 fm. Livestream: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkK8qbOedyJlHnN89x527nw

-- WIAA Boys Soccer Regional Semifinal at McFarland 7 pm. Livestream: https://www.youtube.com/@McFarlandHighActivities/

Friday, October 20

-- WIAA Football Level 1 Playoff at Racine Lutheran 7 pm (Listeners can hear the stream in any of several convenient ways:

1. On the free Mixlr app (open the menu click on Search and enter DGSports) or on the free Civic Media app (scroll to select the game).

2. Online on Mixlr at: https://dgsports.mixlr.com/events/2820604

3. Online at WRJN.com (click Listen Now)

4. On WRJN radio, AM 1400 or FM 99.9 in Racine or FM 98.1 in Kenosha

5. The game will also be recorded at https://dgsports.mixlr.com/recordings)

6. Video livestream (subscription required): https://www.nfhsnetwork.com/schools/racine-lutheran-high-school-racine-wi

Saturday, October 21

-- WIAA Cross Country Sectional at La Crosse Logan (Maple Grove in West Salem) 11:30 am. Tickets must be purchased online (no cash sales onsite): https://gofan.co/event/1143055?schoolId=WI18311

-- WIAA Volleyball Regional Final vs. Darlington 7 pm. Radio: 93.7 fm and 97.7 fm. Livestream: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkK8qbOedyJlHnN89x527nw

Sunday, October 22

-- Trivia Night (hosted by MP Basketball) 6:30 pm, $10 per person

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.

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