Monday, November 30, 2009

Cedar Grove-Belgium Middle School Recognized as an Admirable School

For the third year in a row, Cedar Grove-Belgium Middle School has been recognized as an outstanding middle school by the Association of Wisconsin School Administrators. While staff and students can name a variety of reasons why the middle school should be commended, the specific areas recognized by the AWSA include rapid improvement in reading and math in the past school year; reading and math scores in the top 10% of the state; and improvement in scores in reading and/or math with special designation for rapid improvement in schools comprised of a high poverty population.
Cedar Grove-Belgium was also recognized for its reading scores in the top 10% of all middle schools in the state. Congratulations to the students and the staff for this outstanding academic achievement!

By: Taylor Ansay

Smugmug

While the students enrolled in the Publications class have always taken photos, this year they are being made accessible to people outside of class. Having recently purchased two new cameras, students have been taking photos since the beginning of the year of every sport that has gone on so far and activities such as the homecoming pep rally, spirit week, the powder puff game, and student life. The class then uploads the pictures onto Smugmug, which is a site that allows people to buy these pictures for their own use. The pictures, which will be mailed directly to the buyers’ houses, are available in a variety of sizes.
All profits made from this fundraiser helps to keep the yearbook affordable for students. New photos will keep being posted throughout the year on smugmug, so people are encouraged to look every once and a while and see if they are interested in buying any. People can get to the pictures on Smugmug by either going on the school website and clicking on Rocket Photos or following the link below.

By: Brenden Lopez

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Mrs. Sandee

By Student Reporter Sasha Lane

In late October Mrs. Sandee had the honor of getting the game football that was signed by the freshman and sophomore football players. She received the game football for being supportive of the football team since 1966. The football was presented to her after the last JV home game, which the team finished 8 to 0. The football was given to her by Coach Dan Schreurs, Coach Josiah Pledl and grandson TJ Obbink. It was a huge surprise to Mrs. Sandee she had no idea that the teams were going to do this for her.

A+ Grading Scale

By Student Reporter Michael O’Donnell

The talk around the water bubbler in the Cedar Grove-Belgium school district consists of an interesting yet controversial topic. This topic is whether or not to give our A+ grading scale the boot and lower it to a mediocre A grading scale.

So what does this exactly entail? The concept is exactly as it seems. Instead of students being able to achieve a 4.34 for an A+, the highest one could get would be a 4.0 for an A. Simple enough.

Many students are not thrilled with this change. “Students want to strive for an A+ rather than a plain A because it makes report cards look better,” states senior Leyla Berlik. James O’Donnell, a junior, says, “It’s dumb. What is going to make people want to work hard for just an A?” The A+ thought process makes sense to the students of CG-B High. It seems many students feel hard work deserves a sufficient reward, and rightly so.

Several departments at CG-B High are already making efforts to create a more distinguished line between an A and A+ in an attempt to keep A+s a reality for students.

Physical Education teachers, for example, have instituted a new form of grading into gym class. This new grading system takes form in Heart Rate Monitors.

Heart rate monitors are monitoring the pulse of a touchy subject in the world of Physical Education at Cedar Grove High school. As of this year, students in gym class are required to wear a heart rate monitor to, well, monitor their hearts. These monitors consist of a strap that is positioned right in the center of the chest with a wrist watch that computes the beats of the heart.

The monitors are used by the gym teachers to keep an eye on the students, making sure they are working out hard enough during class. Although it may seem like a good idea, a lot of the student body is not fond of them. Many students say that they are more of an inconvenience then a help. “It makes no sense” says Nicole Kluck a sophomore “They’re uncomfortable and pointless.” Others, like Ashley Turnquist, indicate that wearing heart rate monitors is a small price to pay if it keeps A+s in the mix.

What is it that makes these monitors so hated? Just the fact they are uncomfortable? Or is it that students actually have to work to get that ever so elusive A+ in Physical education? All in all, what’s done is done. No student can change the new way of grading with a heart monitor.

The feeling that students have toward this whole change is outwardly visible. The new forms of grading at CG-B are not warmly welcomed. The students do not seem to have the drive to back this up. The thing is, the students have little to say in the overall decision, so it’s left to the big guys in suits and ties to decide the fate of upcoming school years.

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Spanish Student of the Quarter


By Student Reporter Carina Deppiesse

The new student chosen for the Spanish student of the quarter is Cole Prinsen, he is in Spanish III, it is one of his favorite classes along with band and theater arts. Cole participates in Football in the fall. On his free time he loves to hang out with his friends and study Spanish, Cole as spends some of his free time working at Rathjen Gardens which is right outside of Oostburg. When asked how he felt about being announced as Spanish student of the month he replied, “It’s Boss”.

Sheboygan County Fair Artwork

By Student Reporter Janine Lynaugh

Cedar Grove-Belgium Schools were well represented at the Sheboygan County Fair this summer. Mrs. Linse, the middle school and elementary art teacher, sent forty three 3-D pieces and one hundred and sixty four 2-D pieces to the fair. That made a grand total of two hundred and seven entries! Out of all the entries, there were 70 first places, 61 second places, 45 third places, and 31 fourth places. A special congratulation to eighth graders Logan Peterson, Shania Long, Sarah Parker, Jacob Bednarek, Brian Muller, seventh grader Diana Mueller, sixth grader Hannah Harmon, and forth grader Jessica Rose. These students received special merits for their artwork. Keep up the good work!

Friday, November 20, 2009

Rocket Boys Basketball

By Student Reporter Matthew Clark

The boys basketball team started their season on Monday, November 16, with high hopes of making a great run like they did last year. Although some of the key players to last year’s success have graduated, they still have a great team. The first practice was mostly fundamental things to get everyone back on track with basketball, as many of the players on the team are in fall sports.

With some of the starters gone from last year, people will have to step up and assume roles that they may not be familiar with. The coach, Jim Meinen, is trying to get players to practice numerous positions so they can jump into them at any given time during a game. Although players may have some new positions, no one has complained or had any problems with the changes. With a scrimmage against St. Mary Springs and Port Washington next Tuesday, we will get a good look at what this season will bring.

Everyone is excited to see if the boys can make another playoff appearance this year. With the dedication and hard work the players put in, it is very possible to see the boys having another great season.

Rocket Girls Basketball

By Student Reporter Brittni Emperley

The 2009-2010 season of girls basketball started on Wednesday November 18th. After two successful practices all girls participating are starting to get into the routine. With a team of over thirty, the girls this year will have to work hard to earn a spot on JV, Varsity, or the new freshman team. This is the first year in a while Cedar Grove-Belgium has had enough girls to fill a freshman team’s roster. The freshman team, as of now, has 6 games on their schedule and is expecting more.

Varsity still has a full bench with ten players, nine returning from last year. The team also has a new player, Hannah Kaul, coming from Ozaukee. All ten players are returning letter winners. Varsity has started to learn plays from their new offensive coach, Mr.Coopman, and is getting ready for their upcoming scrimmage. Mr.Coopman is new to the coaching staff and will be helping Mr.Ketterhagen this year on the offensive side.

The varsity team will be hosting their first scrimmage next Tuesday in the high school gym starting at 5:30. All the players and coaches are very excited for this upcoming year and are ready to play to their full exponential. We wish luck to the girls basketball teams and hope for a winning season. Go Rockets!

Bada Bing's Student of the Month

By Student Reporter Carina Deppiesse

A new month is here and a different student has been chosen for Bada-Bing’s student of the month. Each person is nominated and chosen by the high school staff members according to their academic achievements and their involvement in school. Congratulations to Tyler Weavers, who was the chosen student for the month of November.

Tyler is a senior and is among the top of his class. He is the vice president of student council, vice president of the National Honor Society, and also participates in sports including football and golf. Most of his hobbies consist of outdoor activities such as water skiing, tubing, and ultimate Frisbee. Tyler’s two favorite classes include physics and Spanish 4. With his last year left of high school, Tyler hopes to attend UW Madison and major in civil engineering. When asked how he felt about achieving this award he replied, “It is truly a great honor to have received the award of Bada-Bing’s student of the month, thanks to all who have nominated me.”

Cedar Grove-Belgium Middle School Recognized as an Admirable School

By Student Reporter Taylor Ansay

For the third year in a row, Cedar Grove-Belgium Middle School has been recognized as an outstanding middle school by the Association of Wisconsin School Administrators. While staff and students can name a variety of reasons why the middle school should be commended, the specific areas recognized by the AWSA include rapid improvement in reading and math in the past school year; reading and math scores in the top 10% of the state; and improvement in scores in reading and/or math with special designation for rapid improvement in schools comprised of a high poverty population.

Cedar Grove-Belgium was also recognized for its reading scores in the top 10% of all middle schools in the state. Congratulations to the students and the staff for this outstanding academic achievement!

Veteran's Day Ceremony

By Student Reporter Nicole Kluck

This year, at the Cedar Grove-Belgium High School annual Veteran’s Day program, the keynote speaker was Vern Arndt. His speech, which described his personal experiences in World War II, touched many of the students such as Michael O’Donnell, who turned to a his friends and said “that guy was an incredible, decorated war hero, that had plenty to say of his military life.” A 7th grade teacher, Mrs. Mersberger and two of her students, Mariah Navis and Ben Shroeder gave an interesting speech on the Pledge of Allegiance. At this program there were veterans from the Army, Marine, Navy, Air Force, and Coast Guard. One thing that also had a response from many people was a recording of a mother writing a letter to her son as he was being shipped out to Iraq. The letter shows that when you pray for men in the army, do not just pray for the man in the uniform, but the man also behind it. As the Veteran’s Day program was ending the men who served in the army held a rifle salute. This year’s Veteran’s Day was a true success!

Wednesday, November 04, 2009

Dance Fundraiser

Amanda Salazar, the new dance team coach, has brought many new ideas to the table. The dance team plans to go to competition in the upcoming months. Unfortunately dance competitions are costly. Ms. Salazar has many fundraising ideas, to make money for new uniforms and poms. One of which is a Zumba Clinic. Ms. Salazar works at the Sheboygan YMCA teaching Zumba classes to all ages. Zumba is a defined as a Latin dance inspired work-out. The steps are easy to follow and fun to do. The dance team has used Zumba in several practices as warm ups. “Zumba is a really unique and fun to do!” says one of the dancers.
The Zumba clinic is scheduled for November 21st, 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. It will be held in the CGB Middle School Gym. A bake sale will immediately follow the clinic. Tickets are $10; if interested please contact any girl from the dance team, or either of the coaches.

Archeological Dig


On October 16th the sixth grade class participated in the yearly Archeological Dig. This was a great opportunity for the students to learn about Egyptians and hieroglyphics in a fun way.
The groups of students put a lot of work into this dig. They had to write stories and put it into their own hieroglyphic writing. The story was about the mummy that was going to be buried in their tomb, and then they figured out what they wanted to have in their tomb. Some of the things they put in the tombs were pots, jewelry, coins, and the mummy. These artifacts were supposed to resemble the mummy’s most sacred possessions. A Map of the tomb was made so the kids would know exactly where to place their artifacts. After all of this work was done they began to dig out there tombs and place the artifacts in it.
The most fun part of this whole experience for the kids was to dig up their friends tombs and find out what each held inside. Some of the groups found all the artifacts but some were missing some, which are still in the ground somewhere over by the baseball fields, and will most likely be dug up next year. There were messages written on cloth in hieroglyphics, the kids had a key to follow to figure out what it said. The stories were about the life of the buried mummy in the tomb.
The students this year really enjoyed this activity. A lot of them said that I it probably going to be the best thing they do all year. Tommy Lynaugh said, “I had so much fun at the dig this year, I couldn’t wait to go to English class so we could work on our tomb.” As you can see the Archeological Dig was a joy to all the students, it is definitely one of the highlights to the sixth grade.