Dance Team Going Back To Competition

By Student Reporter Ashley Turnquist

For the past three years the Cedar Grove Dance Team has not been to a competition. Well that is not the case this year; the dance team has been working hard to be able to compete in a competition on January 30th and February 6th. With going to competition the dance team needed to raise a lot of money. Some of the fundraisers they did were a Zumbathon, two Kiddie Clinics, bake sale, and marching in the Belgium Christmas Parade. Coach Mary Beth Desens and Assistant Coach Amanda Salazar have been devoting a lot of their time to this team. All the girls on the team very excited that we raised enough money to be able to by brand new uniforms.

The team consists of 6 members, Ashley Turnquist, CJ Leider, Alex Ford, Jaime Lewis, Emily Eick, and Ashley Tarvas. At competition they will be performing one pom routine to the song “Dollhouse” by Pricilla Reyna. The girls are hoping that they will be able to do well enough to make it to state. Some of the girls are a little nervous though.
“I’m really nervous and excited for this competition. This being my first year on the dance team I’m not sure what to expect,” says Ashley Tarvas.

Even though some of the girls may not know what to expect, they are going to go out there and give it all they got. It will be very exciting to see how the Dance team will do this year.

The Poisonwood Bible

By Student Reporter Janine Lynaugh

If you are currently a junior taking one of Ms. Cazarez’s English classes you are now reading The Poisonwood Bible. The Poisonwood Bible, by Barbara Kingsolver, is being taught for the first time this year. It is a story of a Preacher’s family traveling to the Congo in hopes to ‘westernize’ the natives. The book is told through the eyes of the four girls and mother of the family. Because of this, the book displays many different tones and characters. It also brings up worldly issues many of us were unaware existed. Some of these issues include the fight for diamonds in Africa and the injustice Belgium inflicted on the Congo.
“I find the story very interesting. It was a little hard to read at first, but I really like it now,” says student Ashley Turnquist. As a whole the juniors now reading The Poisonwood Bible seem to enjoy it.

Charlotte's Web

By Student Reporter Ryan Nehmer

Charlottes Webb is a story about a pig named Wilbur who was the runt of the bunch being saved from being slaughtered by a very intelligent little girl named Fern and spider named Charlotte. Wilbur is thought to be praised when the farmer reads the message Charlotte wrote in her web to save Wilbur.

Our school is doing the play of this famous book and movie. We have many students participating in the play this year that it should make for a play to remember. Jim Burton, who plays the part of Templeton says, “The play is a lot of fun and the cast is having a lot of fun doing it.” The directors, Rose Casarez and Chris Nonhof, are doing their best to make sure that the play helps the schools imagination, but also provides entertainment for the school and community. I think everyone including myself cannot wait till the play opens on December 11 at 7pm and December 12 at 2pm.

Santa Paws

By Student Reporter Ryan Nehmer

This year through November 23rd to December 11th Santa Paws dog biscuits are being sold to raise money Best Buddies program. A donation also will be made to the Sheboygan County Humane Society. Santa paws dog biscuits are homemade dog biscuits baked by the students at Cedar Grove Belgium High School.

Please if interested, order from below and send to Bobbi Jo VanDeLoo at Cedar Grove Belgium High School. Biscuits will be sold for $2.00 a bag or 3 bags for $5.00. Orders end December 11th so act fast. Dog biscuits will be delivered the week of December 14th.

Holiday History

By Student Reporter Brenden Lopez

Mrs. Schmidt’s students performed their annual Christmas concert on December eighteenth this year in the Middle School auditorium. This year’s program was titled Holiday History because the kids performed songs that the parents have liked the most over the last twelve concerts. One of these songs is I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas, which the third graders sang. The students had been practicing since November fifteenth and the dancers started practicing after Halloween. The fourth, third, second, and first graders, along with the kindergarteners all performed three songs each. Students that went to the performance said that it brought back memories from when they preformed the same songs with Mrs. Schmidt. They also said that when the third graders who sang Singing by Candle Light held candles, it made a cool affect. Another song they vividly remember is Jingle Bell Rock because all the lights were turned off and a strobe light was on, which was also sung by the third graders. Lastly, they said that all the songs had something added to them that made them livelier and exciting. Once again, Mrs. Schmidt and her students were able to put on a show that everyone enjoyed.

Christmas Band Concert

Tuesday night students from 6th grade through 12th grade performed for the public, their annual holiday band concert directed Tom Paulson and Lori MacRae. A wide variety of Christmas pieces to Classical songs were on the agenda, a total of 17. In all over 270 students performed from the three middle school bands and two high school groups. The annual holiday band Concert is a great way to get out and see for yourself the great talents of students in our school district.

Numerous members from both middle and high school levels were chosen to perform for Honors Band. Morgan Bohachek, Hannah Dirkse, Jon Meerdink and William Kotts were recognized as UWM Middle Level Honors Band Festival participants from Mrs. MacRae’s 8th grade band. From the Junior/Senior band, Kelly Del Ponte, Alex Ford, Erika Kirst, Rachel Slotman, Nate Drewry, Cole Prinsen, Nic Vrubley, Scott Dahm, Kristen Slotman, Jesse Anderson and Wayne Paulus were picked for the Central Lakeshore Honors Band.

Upcoming events include the High School Band Parents Fish Fry will be held on March 6th from 4:30pm-7:00pm and on March 13th the WSMA District Solo an Ensemble will be held at Random Lake. On May 10th the High School Spring Band Concert/Choir Concert/Art Show will take place at 7:00pm.

By: Jackson Holle

Charlotte’s Web

Last weekend the Cedar Grove-Belgium High School students held the play called Charlotte’s Web. “It was very creative and better than I expected,” says Janine Lynaugh. The play showed the students acting abilities on a whole new level. Many people said that this was one of the best plays yet. Liz Winker and Cole Prinsen also gave the audience a laugh not only in their goose and gander costumes, but also when they were in their second act costumes. Cole was dressed as a little farm girl and Liz was dressed as a middle aged man, it was definitely one of the highlights of the play. Jim Burton also gave many people a laugh when playing the rat Templeton. “Jim is one of the funniest rats I have ever seen,” says Andrea Burnett. One character that cannot be forgotten is Macy Villa playing Edith Zuckerman. Macy brought energy to the stage when playing a middle aged woman. These actors and actresses brought a lot to the stage but they were only a few of the talented students. Next year’s program we hope will be as good as this year’s so hope to see you there!

Written By: Nicole Kluck

First snow day of the year

On December 9th, the Cedar Grove-Belgium school district, along with many other surrounding schools, experienced the first snow day of this school year. A large snowstorm struck most of the state of Wisconsin, causing many closures of both schools and businesses. While the decision to close the school was made the night before, the snowstorm ended up not being as bad as predicted in our area. The roads were not the greatest throughout the day, so many were happy about the day off.
Last year, the unusually high number of snow days caused Cedar Grove-Belgium to end their school year significantly later than expected. As of right now the school is still undecided on how this day will be made up. It can be made up in two half days or at the end of the year. It all depends on how many snow days we have this year.

By: Matt Clark

Rodger Sandee Memorial Concession Stnad

By Student Reporter

Jeffrey Sandee, Joel Sandee, and Shelli Obbink, all children of Roger Sandee, wanted to build something special in memory of their dad, who was a great father and a great supporter of the football team. They decided to build the Roger Sandee Memorial Concession Stand. The children of Mr. Sandee brought it up to the board at the end of October. The concession stand is going to include concessions, tickets, apparel, storage, and both a men’s and a women’s bathroom. This memorial concession stand is going to be near the ticket booth we have now. Coach Zablocki suggested including a path with previous and upcoming football players’ names on the bricks, and when Joel and Shelli brought it up to the school board, this was approved as well. You can purchase the bricks by going to the link and filling out a sheet or you can go to the second link and pay with pay pal. Ways to help fundraise is to buy blankets; you can receive them from the high school office and basketball games whenever rocket apparel is being sold.

http://www.cedargrovebelgium.k12.wi.us/coachsandee/concession_stand_flyer.pdf

http://www.cedargrovebelgium.k12.wi.us/coachsandee/form.html

Basketball Scrimmage

There was a high school basketball scrimmage last week Tuesday. The Rocket boys played against both Port Washington’s boys team and St. Mary Spring’s boys team. Although Port Washington is a division 1 school, the Rocket boys held their own. When they played against St. Mary Springs the team did great. It was a back and forth game that was very entertaining to watch. Every player got a chance to get some minutes on the floor. The team this year is fun to watch and should have a great year. Although there was not a huge crowd, as the season progresses the number of fans should increase.
The girls team played after the boys finished. They played both the
Port Washington girls team and Kettle Moraine girls team. During their games, they did not keep score but it was apparent that the Rocket girls still did well. This is probably due to the fact that the Rockets only lost two girls from last year and acquired Hannah Kaul, who played with Ozaukee last season.
Good luck to both the Rocket girls and boys this season!

by: Matt Clark

Charlotte's Web the School Play

By Student Reporter Erika Meinen

When a little pig named Wilbur comes to live at the Arable’s farm, he quickly befriends a girl named Fern and a barn full of crazy creatures. Life is great until winter comes, along with the threat of being turned into bacon. Wilbur and his eight-legged friend Charlotte have to act fast to come up with a plan to save Wilbur’s life.

You can find out if Charlotte’s plan to save Wilbur succeeds in the Cedar Grove-Belgium production on Friday, December 11th (7:00 pm—doors open at 6:30) and Saturday, December 12th (2:00 pm—doors open at 1:30). Tickets are $5 each, and advance tickets can be purchased in the High School office, Middle School office, or the Elementary School office. Hope to see you there!

Cross Country State 2009

At the Wisconsin Rapids State Cross Country meet, both the CG-B boys and girls teams did excellent. Josh Mulloy took home his second individual State Champion medal for Division 3, and Joel Merritt was second on the team with an eighth place finish. The boys team brought home CG-B’s first ever championship trophy at a state event. They won with The Prairie School in second place. Marina Paul led the girls team with a seventh place finish, one away from the medal stand, and Kiera Depies was eleventh overall. The girls team was the Division 3 runner-up behind Edgar, only one point away from taking first. At the end of the season Mr. Wood said, “It was an unbelievable season in many ways, but with quite believable state results. Combining a load of talent with hard work will make things happens. And they did happen with CG-B’s first team State championship coming from the men, and, within a fraction of a second, the ladies matching that accomplishment.” The Rockets had a great season this year and hope for many more to come!

By: Jessica Meinen

Basketball Scrimmage

There was a high school basketball scrimmage last week Tuesday. The Rocket boys played against both Port Washington’s boys team and St. Mary Spring’s boys team. Although Port Washington is a division 1 school, the Rocket boys held their own. Against St. Mary Springs the team did great. It was a back and forth game that was very entertaining to watch. Every player got a chance to get some minutes on the floor. The team this year is fun to watch and should have a great year. Although there was not a huge crowd, as the season progresses the number of fans should increase.
The girl’s team played after the boys had finished. They played both the
Port Washington girls team and Kettle Moraine girls team. During their games they did not keep score but you could tell that the Rocket girls still did well. This is probably due to the fact that the Rockets only lost two girls from last year, and acquired Hannah Kaul who played with Ozaukee last season. The small amount of Rocket supporters was as apparent as it had been during the boys, but as with them it should increase throughout the year.
Good luck to both the Rocket girls and boys this season.

By: Matt Clark