Port Edwards School District June update – Blackhawk Scramble

You are listening to Perspective on WFHR 1320 AM, 97.5 FM.

I'm Melissa Kaye, bringing you news in our community.

During this interview, I'm talking with Port Edwards District Administrator and Ed Hoyer Elementary School Principal, James Beena, on Wednesday, June 10th.

Thank you for joining me, Jim, to bring the community an update from the Port Edwards School District.

Good morning, Melissa.

Thank you for having me once again.

Well, let's kick off with the very most important topic on our agenda today, the 20th Black Hawk scramble.

Yes.

Very excited to talk about our 20th annual Black Hawk scramble.

The Blackhawk Scramble is the primary way that we fundraise for the Port Edwards Education Foundation.

The Port Edwards Education Foundation has been in existence since 1996.

And since that time, it has awarded $412,000 to teachers of the Port Edwards School District for additional educational programming that is beyond the normal scope of our school's budget.

And you said 96, but I believe it's 1998.

96 is when PF was founded and 98 is when we started awarding those scholarships.

Oh, perfect.

Good.

Just what we just got to be factual.

Yeah, yeah, that's right.

That's

right.

So this you said is the primary means of fundraising for do you call it PEEF?

PEEF, yes.

Okay.

And and that's going to be on Monday, June 22nd at Bullseye Golf Club.

How do people get involved?

Absolutely.

We still have openings.

We can take walk-in golfers the day of the event.

Or if you'd like to register in advance, please give me a call at John Edwards High School, 715-887.

9000.

extension 303.

I'd be happy to speak with you and I can get you registered for the Blackhawk scramble.

And it does, it sounds like it's reasonable.

The cost is $100 per golfer.

And I'm, I'm, when I'm saying reasonable, I mean for a golfer speak.

That includes the green fees, cart rental, range balls, prizes and two meals.

I said some things there, James, that I don't even know what they are.

Yes, absolutely.

This is the 20th annual scramble, Melissa.

And we, we are

improving things this year.

We've got some fun things that we're adding.

We are doing some games on the front nine and the back nine.

We have a golf cannon that we are gonna be, as a fundraiser, that's gonna be on hole number one where teams can pay money and they can have an individual use a air pressurized cannon to shoot their drive down the first hole and get as close to the hole as possible.

So yeah, we're really refining and trying to modernize this.

scramble a little bit, make it as appealing as possible to the golfers.

And again, the ultimate idea is to raise funds for the Port Edwards Education Foundation.

100% of the proceeds go back to our teachers and our students.

Oh, wonderful.

And then you also have donation opportunities if people don't want to golf or they aren't golfers.

They can honor a family member, classmate, or friend by sponsoring a whole in their name.

Absolutely.

We still have availability for whole sponsorship.

And again, please contact me.

at John Edwards High School, ask for Jim Bina, 715-887-9000, extension 303, and I would be happy to help anyone in any way to learn more about the Blackhawk Scramble.

Okay, and then the date on that again is June 22nd at Bullseye Golf Club.

Yes, we have registration starts at 9.30 at Bullseye, registration and driving range, and we do have a shotgun start at 11 o'clock a.m.

Okay, I gotta ask, do they actually shoot off a shotgun?

What

does that

mean, Jim?

A shotgun start, the meaning of that, Melissa, is all the golf carts kind of scatter like a shotgun.

Shotgun going off.

So everyone scatters to each of the different golf holes and so you start on all the different holes and then we blow a horn and you know you might start on the fifth hole or the twelfth hole and then you just, yeah, everyone keeps going around.

Move around.

That's

why it's

called a scramble.

A scramble and a shotgun start.

Okay.

Well, you've taught me some things today.

We do our best.

Well, now let's move on to some of the other exciting things you have going on with your eighth and ninth grade students, this Dream Flight STEM Space Shuttle.

I can't wait to hear about this.

Yes, on May 27th, the Dream Flight

STEM Space Shuttle is a mobile learning lab for our middle school students.

It came to John Edwards Middle School on May 27th and this dovetails excellent with our conversation that we just had about PF.

I'd like to say thank you to the Port Edwards Education Foundation for sponsoring the STEM Space Shuttle and their trip to John Edwards Middle School.

And the teacher, Mrs. Kerry Doran.

She's our middle school science teacher.

She organized and led the event.

The STEM shuttle is based in Wasaw and it trails throughout Wisconsin to excite middle schoolers to learn all about outer space.

Yeah,

so they explore stations that include astronaut health robotic arms mapping the stars

the

ozone layer Martian structure design.

What is that?

Yeah, that's a very interactive educational program that the students get to get involved with Yeah, it sounds like a lot of fun.

Yeah Absolutely, absolutely.

Well, this did already happen like you said on May 27th

for the

eighth and ninth grade students because school is out now

school is out.

Yes, but just to say

that you're still you're busy

we've got a lot going on yep in the school district absolutely so yeah the STEM space shuttle that was just one more example of the good things happening in the Port Edward School District

and just recapping the end of the year as well.

On June 1st, we had the annual end of the year carnival, which was led and supported and sponsored by PEO, P-E-P-O, the Port Edwards Parent Organization.

Yeah.

So I would like to say big thanks to people for doing this end of the year carnival, which they do each year, the last week of school.

A big thank you to some of the officers, Sarah Schrader.

Carly Peckham, Stephanie Bennett, and several other parent volunteers.

They spent several dozen hours planning, organizing, communicating with our teaching staff, communicating with me.

They were there bright and early on June 1st.

They got everything set up.

We had outdoor lunch that day.

We had bounce houses.

We had a dunk tank.

We had arts and crafts, obstacle courses, carnival games, yearbook signing.

This all happened the afternoon of June 1st.

And again, it was all organized by the Ed Hoyer Elementary People, P-E-P-O, Port Edwards Parent Organization.

So

who was sitting in the dunk tank?

Yours truly had the first shift.

It was hoping you would say that,

Jim.

Did you

get dunked?

Oh, several times.

Did you?

I'm still shaking water out of my ears.

Yes.

It was a great time.

It was a warm day, so a great day to be in the dunk tank.

We had some other staff in there as well.

We had Port Edwards Village Officer Josiah Mertz was in the dunk tank.

Oh, thank you Josiah for going in Lisa Palowski one of our staff members was in there Thank you to all everyone who went in the dunk tank and every you know again We had parents we had grandparents volunteering.

Thank you to everyone who made our end of the year carnival a big success We couldn't do it without all the volunteers

and how much fun for those for those kiddos to end of their school year was such a fun event.

It really was

people I will read here that you'd like to thank the village of Port Edwards fire department Hoffman's jump for toy

the joy jump for joy, the Home Depot and the Wisconsin Rapids Rafter Baseball Club for contributing to make the event a great day.

That's awesome.

Yes, it was it was an outstanding day.

And then a couple of days later, you followed that up with 4k signing day.

Tell me about this.

Yeah, this was we are always looking for fun new things to do throughout the Port Edward School District.

And for the first time ever, we had a 4k signing day.

People who are familiar with intercollegiate and high school athletics.

day.

They may be familiar with what a signing day is, where high school juniors and seniors.

It's a media event, and they sign with a college where they're going to play their collegiate sports.

OK.

Well, we did a signing day for our four-year-olds.

They were signing up to become full-time students at Ad Hoyer Elementary for next school year.

How exciting.

It was a lot of fun.

Yeah, we took photos of the event.

We had our kindergarten teachers there.

We had each child at the table.

We had our Blackhawk mascot cheering them on.

Nice.

So it was a lot of fun.

Yep, they signed letters of intent to become full members of Ed Hoyer Elementary School.

Hmm and then a couple teachers you want to thank that that led that out

absolutely Mrs. Keisha Moldenhauer is our 4k teacher She was a great help in this event and then our 5k teachers are Mrs. Wendy Henney and Mrs. Mackenzie Reeves they helped with the 4k signing day as well.

Thank you to them

How wonderful.

Well, let's just take a pause here to hear from our sponsors.

I'm Melissa Kay talking with Port Edwards District Administrator Jim Bina, and you're listening to Perspective on 1320 a.m.

97.5 FM WFHR.

Welcome.

You're listening to Perspective on WFHR 1320 a.m.

97.5 FM

I'm Melissa Kaye, bringing you news in our community.

I'm speaking with Port Edwards District Administrator and Ed Hoyer Elementary School Principal, James Beena.

And we've been talking about the end of the school year, the 4K signing day.

That is just, it sounds delightful.

I hope you got a lot of pictures of that.

We did.

Yes, it was a very memorable event for students and families.

Well, and then also you had the last day of school schools out for the summer.

Sorry for all of you that whose song just popped.

and you had to apologize.

But you had your last day of school here on Friday, June 5th.

Tell me about how that went.

How were how was the excitement for the kids getting out of school and being ready for the summer?

Yeah, absolutely Melissa last Friday June 5th was our last day for Teaching staff to check out of the buildings the day prior Thursday June 4th was a half day for our students So we it was a great time.

It was a morning of saying goodbyes and wrapping up things for the school year We always have a nice celebration and a goodbye at our elementary school

Our teachers like to dress up as different characters, a lot of inflatable characters.

And we do a high five line as kids come down the sidewalk to their buses or to their parents.

So that's always a very, very neat time and a lot of fun on that last day.

I suppose it's almost a little bittersweet too because a lot of these kids are moving, like you said, they're moving from the elementary school to the next school.

Yes.

They're not going to be in the same building anymore with the same teachers.

So

there's a lot of goodbye.

There's

a lot of a lot of smiles and laughs combined with a lot of tears.

It is bittersweet Yeah, it is bittersweet for students and staff alike our staff have poured their heart and soul into children for the last nine months and Yeah, it's all of a sudden they're gone for the summer.

So it's definitely bittersweet It's a day of celebration, but we certainly will miss them over the

summer

For sure.

Well, tell us about some of the staff you'd like to recognize for years of service here as you've wrapped up the learning time

for students.

The academic

year.

The learning time for teachers never stops.

Yeah, the academic year has ended.

Absolutely.

Each year, of course, we reach some milestones with certain members of our staff.

And I'd like to recognize some of our staff for their years of dedicated service.

We are a smaller district.

and we do form really close bonds with our staff members.

We become like a working family, and each of our staff members contribute so much to make Port Edward School District the great place that it is.

Celebrating five years of service this year, we're Bonnie Thomas, Kim Scott, and Kelly Kalinsky, 10 years of service to the Port Edward School District, Max Ayers, Wendy Hennie, and Shane Steltenpole, 30 years of service,

Lisa Miller and we do have one retiree this year Mr. John Buchholz our second shift custodian at the middle school and high school John is an alumnus of Port Edwards.

He's a local historian He has been such a reliable employee and such a great employee He is retiring after 38 years of service to the Port Edwards school district.

So congratulations, and we wish you

all the best in retirement, John.

Wow, that is wonderful.

For people who haven't worked in a school district or aren't familiar with the inner workings of a school, the custodian really is so vital.

To the functioning of the school and to the kids

absolutely

they bond with custodians.

It's it's an amazing thing to see

no question

and so Congratulations, John.

I hope you enjoy your retirement, and I'm sure you're gonna miss the kiddos

absolutely it is so much more than and just their job description that shows up on a sheet of paper we talk about that often how certain students will bond or connect with

Different adults and it's not necessarily your teacher not necessarily a classroom aid the principal Sometimes it's the cook who's serving you each day and they really look forward to that smile from that cook or the bus

driver that picks you up

in the

morning and takes you home at night

Getting that fist bump or that high five from the custodian as you meet them in the hallway

can really make a big difference in a student's day.

Your office staff,

they interact

with students on a different level than the educators as well.

Absolutely.

So you know what, so well.

So we say that everyone is a teacher and we truly are in Port Edwards.

We all truly value the children

there.

Well, you do have some things coming up this summer, so let's talk about the Port Edwards Community Picnic that's going to be happening at Alexander Park that's on Tuesday, July 21st.

Yes, absolutely, Melissa.

Well, in Port Edwards...

You know that the school district is it's so deeply ingrained in the community that a lot of times things kind of cross over and this is one of those events where We have some members of our school district who participate in the community picnic So the annual Port Edwards community picnic is sponsored and hosted by the Lions Club in Port Edwards As you said it happens Tuesday, July 21st from 4 30 till 7 30 We want to see as many people as possible.

It's just a great way to get

out of the house.

There's so many things happening in the summer, but this is a way that our village can come together.

We can see our neighbors.

We can see our crosstown neighbors.

Maybe see somebody we haven't seen in a few years and reconnect.

Some of those things that are happening at the community picnic on July 21st, it's at Alexander Park.

We have a classic car show.

That's

a summer favorite.

That is.

That is.

It is always cool to see all those classic cars lined up.

And honestly, at last year, I got to see them all drive down the street.

Oh, fun.

I

didn't get to go to the picnic, but I saw them all pass by.

I was like, oh, wow.

Oh, oh.

Yeah, that's always a hint.

Those

cars are so pretty.

They are, yeah.

And thank you to everyone who brings out their...

brings out their pride and joy and shows her classic cars.

So that begins at four o'clock.

Yeah.

We have a performance by the Port Edwards Community Band at 530.

That is led by John Edwards High School band instructor Emily Anderson.

She runs a community band.

So there'll be a performance in the band shell at 530.

A monarch presentation by a retired educator and school board member, Mrs. Kathy McGrath.

Mr. and Mrs. McGrath, a big passion of theirs are all things monarch butterflies.

They are educators.

logged hundreds of hours working with monarchs and educating the area about monarchs.

So they're doing a presentation in Alexander Park at six o'clock and other things we have at the picnic.

We have bingo from six till seven.

50-50 drawings.

We have great food, brats, hot dogs, hamburgers, raffle prizes, and all kinds of community fun and events.

Wonderful.

Yeah.

That sounds like a great time.

So mark your calendars for Tuesday, July 21st.

Come on out to the Port Edwards Community Picnic at Alexander Park for food, fun, and a great time.

It is.

Absolutely.

Well, now let's talk about some of the construction updates that are happening in the school district.

Sure.

You know, Melissa, one of the comments I made a few minutes ago is our academic year has ended.

But we certainly stay busy year round in Port Edward School District in all of our school districts.

We do

so much that happens in the summer that has to happen in the summer

because

that's the only time it can happen.

Absolutely.

Absolutely.

With our students out of the buildings, we've got a lot of construction happening this summer, summer of 2026.

We're putting a lot of time and effort into our elementary school next summer of 20.

and we're gonna be putting more time and effort into our middle and high school.

Some of the things happening at the elementary right now is we're doing asbestos abatement throughout the entire building.

We're replacing all of the heating and air conditioning, the registers, the duct work, all of the controls.

Almost all of that is original from when the building was built in 1968.

Certainly not working as it was intended to.

It's just beyond its useful life.

Don't want to disparage anything that's from 1968.

Not at all.

But HVAC systems do need to be updated from time to time

and we

absolutely want to get the asbestos out of

there.

Absolutely.

Absolutely.

It was a safe environment.

The asbestos was completely sealed within concrete or it was sealed so it was never

a danger, but now that we're removing the ductwork and removing those things, it's now been exposed.

Right.

So we're taking it out in a very safe manner.

So yeah, when people come back to the, on September, in September to Ed Hoyer Elementary School, things might not look a lot different, but they're going to feel different.

We're going to have a much, we're going to have a 21st century heating and air conditioning system and much needed.

You

won't have that.

Oh, do I really have to have this classroom principal?

It's always so cold in here

or that's right.

It's

always so hot in

here Absolutely

much better temperature control throughout the building

absolutely absolutely and as I mentioned next summer we are looking at doing that in our high school building we

in working with our local CSO we chose to do the elementary work first because the building has a much simpler design and quite frankly we could do the engineering in a shorter amount of time for the elementary so we were able to do that building first.

We'll give

you more time for planning for

the high school building.

Absolutely.

So the heating and air conditioning

that work will be done at our high school, as I said, in the summer of 27.

OK.

So are those the biggest projects you have for the summer?

Those are the major projects.

Yep.

We are also doing some planning for some new public address system work, some new cabling at the high school, some new clocks, some new telephones.

We are still in the planning stages for all of those types of things.

Also currently at the high school, we are doing the remaining tuck pointing work primarily on the south side of the building where we're upgrading the brick and the mortar.

Portions of the building are close to 100 years old and portions of the building just they just need that update.

They

just had that worn down.

You want to preserve them.

That

building is just beautiful.

It's a beautiful historic building and we're doing everything we can as cost effectively as we can to maintain that beautiful, beautiful structure.

Well, I really appreciate you taking the time to talk with me today, Jim.

Thank you very much, Melissa.

I appreciate the time.

I'm Melissa K speaking with Port Edwards District Administrator and Ed Hoyer Elementary School Principal James Beena.

And again, I'm so glad to get this update on what's happening during the summer at Port Edwards.

Thank you so much for the time, Melissa.

And thank you to listeners joining us for news in our community on Perspective 1320 AM, 97.5 FM WFHR.