Crunch Time

Student Reporter: Nick Bornheimer


Students feeling stressed out and overwhelmed, frantically working to finish a semester’s worth of work in a few days, it must be exam time. It happens every year, students working tirelessly, attempting to make their last minute preparations for the grueling three days of testing. “If it weren’t for the last minute, nothing would get done,” said Jason Croatt. “I just hope my procrastination won’t come back to bite me this year.” The stakes are high, and students know they must be on their “A” game because of the impact exams have on semester grades. An exam can be worth anywhere from 10% to 20% a students semester grade, meaning it is crucial to study hard and not let your laziness get the best of you.


This year though, circumstances are a bit unusual. School was canceled on Thursday the 15th and Friday the 16th due to the frigid temperatures, which meant the students had two less days of review for their exams, and the teachers had two less days to prepare. There was a meeting called on Monday morning before school to discuss the best course of action in dealing with exams, and it was decided to keep exams on their original days. This means that teachers had to crunch to determine what was fair game for their exams, and students are required to do a lot more work outside of the classroom. Most teachers have decided to shorten their exams, and allow for more perks. Teachers allowing students to use their books for a particular amount of time would be one example. In some cases, wishful thinking can come back and complicate things significantly.


It is important not to let the stress from exams get to you, because stressing out about them will only make them worse. If you study properly and you paid attention throughout the semester, exams are basically only a review of what you know. So think positively and don’t get filled with disparity, exams aren’t terrible if you prepare yourself accordingly.

Winter Band Concert

Student Reporter: Lyndsey Weyker


On Monday, December 15th, there was the annual winter band Concert that took place in the High school gym. The 6th grade band started off the concert. They were directed by Thomas Paulson. Then the rest of the middle school bands performed, which were directed by Lori MacRae. After the middle school bands were done, it was time for the high school bands to show their skills. The freshman/sophomore band performed and was then followed by the junior/senior band. Both of these bands were also directed by Thomas Paulson. All five bands did an amazing job and got everyone at the concert in the Christmas spirit.


After the concert there was a cookie sale that was held to help fund-raise money for the next Florida trip that will be taking place in 2012. All the cookies that were being sold were made by the very own parents of the high school bands.


There was also a collection of gloves, hats, and scarves at the entrance doors of the concert. All the donations of the winter articles were going to be donated to the Ozaukee County Salvation Army and Saint Vincent to Paul. Since we have two counties in our district, we switch off on donating winter wear to Sheboygan and Ozaukee County.

Spanish Student of the Quarter

Student Reporter: Brittany Anzia


The Spanish student for the first quarter is senior Jennifer Schmidt. Daughter of Jim and Debbie Schmidt, Jennifer’s favorite classes are Spanish II and Street Law. Her favorite things about school are that she gets to see her friends and her teachers are awesome. When asked about how she felt when Sr. Flynn first told her that she was Spanish student of the quarter she said, “At first I was surprised, but then after he explained it, it made sense and I agreed that I have changed my attitude towards Spanish.” Jennifer’s future plans include going to Wartburg College in Waverly, Iowa and majoring in social work.

Bada Bing Student of the Month

Student Reporter: Ariel Beutel


Each month the high school teachers of Cedar Grove-Belgium High School vote for a student, usually a senior, who shows outstanding ability in school and is well rounded. This month senior Jordan Dykstra, daughter of Linda and Rich Dykstra, was chosen.


Jordan is involved in many activities such as soccer, basketball, cross country, band, choir, National Honor Society, and Student Council. Not only is Jordan involved in each of these activities, she also shows leadership in many. Jordan was chosen to be team captain for both the basketball and cross country teams. She also was voted to be the secretary of the Student Council. Aside from these activities, Jordan also excels in school.


After high school, Jordan plans to attend Marian University where she will study Elementary Education. Jordan has already been accepted to Marian University and she also has a received a scholarship. While attending college, Jordan will not only have her studies to focus on, but she will also be participating on the basketball and soccer teams.


When asked about receiving the Bada Bing Student of the Month award, Jordan said, “Being Bada Bing Student of the Month is an honor. What Bada Bing is doing for the students is really great. Thank you for supporting our school.”
Keep up the great work Jordan and good luck in the future!

Holiday Concert

Student Reporter: Megan Villa


Finally after two tries on Friday January 9th the middle school auditorium was filled with moms and dads, Grandparents, and many other family and friends, all coming to watch the Elementary schools production of “A Country and Western Christmas.”


Each class separately sang at least 3 songs that either were traditional Christmas songs or new country and western Christmas songs that went along with the play the kids put on. In between each class singing was a story about the evil bubble gum blaster who was going to ruin everyone’s Christmas by placing bubblegum all over the town, but luckily Rudolph, Santa and the rest of the reindeer came to the rescue and talked the bubble gum blaster out of ruining Christmas. At the end of the concert when the kindergarteners were done singing all the kids in the elementary school filled the auditorium finishing with their final song.


The holiday concert was put on by the Elementary school music teacher Mrs. Schmidt, along with help from the principal Mrs. Wolf and many other helpers as well.
Thank you to all the students and teachers and helpers that made this wonderful concert happen, it was an awesome concert to watch.

Update: Art Club

Student Reporter: Becky Lemmermann


As we enter our second semester, we will get an update from the Art Club at Cedar Grove-Belgium High School. About 30 students are involved in art club this year which is a dramatic increase from previous year. Courtney Schmidt, the previous President of the art club passed down her duties to senior Racheal Pampel when she graduated last year. Rachael, along with her fellow officers, Danielle Deblaey (Vice President), Grace Nicora (Secretary) and Stephanie Norman (Treasurer) help decide which projects the art club will participate in this school year.


The art club started their busy year with a project named Pinwheels for Peace. This project consisted of elementary, middle and high school students constructing their own personal pinwheel and delivering it to Don Urness, the advisor of the art club, where the art club members planted them in the grass to send the message of peace.


During the past few months the art club has been working on their paper piece which is a project that they do annually. Art club members all work together with Mr. Urness to construct an art piece made from recyclable litter. Lately, the art club has been designing t-shirts and sweatshirts to represent their hard work throughout the year. The art club apparel will be available for everyone to purchase once they have finished designing and ordering the tops.


Within the next few weeks the art club will be gathering in groups which will compete in an Ice Carving Contest in Kohler. This is an event which many of the members look forward to each year. During an interview with the President of the art club, I asked her on her feelings about being the president of the art club and the activities they are participating in this year. She replied, “This year is going very good. It’s been a good experience being the president of the group. I’ll miss it next year when I graduate.”


The art club takes pride in preserving the earth and the environment. Annually, the art club puts together a project which is called the Earth Day Postcard Art show. Don Urness invites residential students and schools from far and near to send in their homemade post cards to show their concern for the earth and environment. Another project associated with the environment is the Earth Day Trash Pickup. Each April art club members invited their friends and family to participate in a local trash pickup. Once the group has collected enough recyclable trash they use their findings to create a recycled paper piece. Many of these pieces from previous years can be viewed in the high school commons area.


So, if you share environmental concerns with the art club, then don’t hesitate to get involved with the Earth day Pickup! They are always welcoming more participates and truly appreciate your time and effort to help save the environment one small area of the world at a time.