Welcome, everyone, to Midday Magazine for this March 22nd, 2024.
Have your host, James J. Mailov here, welcoming into the studio, Samara, our favorite people.
We have Craig Brewer and Wisconsin Ravix Public School Superintendent with us.
Craig, good to see you as always.
Good to see you.
And you brought in the friend Christine Slattery, Principal of Think Academy, and Rudolph
is with us.
Christine, good to have you with us.
Thanks for being here.
Thanks, it's good to be here.
I want to tell you both right out the gate.
We appreciate you, appreciate everything you do for our community, putting into our community,
and impacting the future like you guys do, like few others do.
We appreciate that so very much and what you guys put in, and really appreciate you
being here, Christine, because I don't think we get to really talk about the Think Academy
very much and dive into what it is.
I think for a lot of people that may not have kids in school, it may be really curious
about what the Think Academy is.
Do you mind if we start right there?
What is the history of Think Academy, how did it begin, and what it exactly is?
Okay, so I can tell you a real easy question to start off right now.
I could talk about Think Academy all day, so a fun fact is I actually, I went there as
a child, and when I went there as a child, it was Rudolph Elementary School.
And then of the course, I want to say about 10 to 12 years ago, it was actually a charter
school, and it became Think Academy, which is really cool.
And then I don't know about seven years or so years ago, the Vesper community merged
with Rudolph, and so we have, we serve Vesper and Rudolph right now, which is really
cool, and it's really nice that it's called Think Academy, because then it's Warren
and Compassine of both of the communities.
I think what's, it is really cool, because we have Rudolph, we're home of Rudolph, the
Red Nose Range here, and we have that prominently on our wall, so as you can imagine, Christmas
is a focus, and it's a deeply embedded tradition at Think, but we also, you know, we serve as
the Vesper community, so having both of them together and merging them is really important.
Our community is, our community is amazing, and they, both, it's one community with both
of our talents, I should say, and they really support us, and so I think if you ask like
what makes us really unique, it's our traditions, and so when I talk about Rudolph and Rudolph
the Red Nose Range here, that's really important, and that's been deeply embedded.
I remember being a child and singing Rudolph the Red Nose Range here in the gym, and then
they were doing the concert at West, and then Rams, and now it's at the Pax Center, and
that's, that's important, and you know, and also how do we, you know, when we have those
community relations, how, how does it go back and forth, because the community serves us,
how do we serve them, so we value our Veterans Day program, and seeing the folks who serve
our country, and it means a lot, it means a lot to think academy community, so it's important.
Clearly, our kids are amazing, and I would tell you that they are like top-notch, and they're
the best kids, and I know every principal says that, but I really say that. I was sharing
with Craig, we've got kids right now participating in state tournaments this weekend, so, you know,
we, we value their academic pieces, but also what they do outside of school, and have been also
talking and pushing somewhat where a staff were attending, kids sporting events, ice skating
shows, plays, and so that we're seeing them as the whole child, you know, and then just, I say,
our staff doesn't want to leave, for the most part, unless you know, sometimes things happen,
and they have to move, but they really believe in the kids and they are in the community, so yeah.
It's a great school, and you really sell it well, Christine, I want to go back to school,
I want to go back now and go to think academy, I don't think I can, but I do.
Which you could visit. I could visit, and I'm glad I'm visiting, I'd love to. One of the things
that I think stood out to what you're talking about there is the joy that you have for this
position, so I want to commend that, and thank you for that. It's nice to have people in these
industries that are passionate about it, and I think the other part of that too, that if you're
paying attention to people out there, that's not uncommon. The majority, if not everybody that we
talk to in the education system has that same passion, that same love for this. But with that,
one of the things that Craig and I, and I think a lot of our teachers and principals that we brought
in want to do with our communities, not only create more of a bridge, but more of an empathy,
and more of an understanding of what it's like to be in that classroom, what it's like to be a
principal, a teacher, these things, what it's like even to be a student. You may say, well, I went to
school, okay, but you didn't go to school in 2024. It's different now. Things are different,
and understanding that, and the way we understand it is with knowledge. You guys know that better than I do.
So, the essence of my question here, what are some of the pros you've kind of gone through some
of those? What are some of the difficulties that you have over there that I think account of me?
Right, well, right, and when you're going back to joy, we work with kids, so you have to have
joy to work with kids, right? Because I think that's just, that's going to be the number one thing.
You know, like, just on a side note, so like, I love going to work. I love going there every single day,
and you walk in the doors, and you see the smiling faces of four-year-olds through 10 and 11-year-olds.
I mean, how can you go wrong, right? Yeah. So, I think that's really important, and yeah, there's
a lot of great things in education right now. You know, I feel like with public education, it's
lovely in the playing field, so all kids have opportunities. And when we see our, you know,
our goal at elementary schools, we want our kids to walk across the stage and determine what path
they want next. You know, challenges is every child learns differently. Every child has ways they
regulate their emotions differently, and a child not textbook. So, we have to really problem-solve
and brainstorm, and I know when I think of the district, and I think of Craig's vision, and how,
how do we support kids through the different processes we have in place, and you know, we're
constantly, it's ever changing, and it's evolving, you know, because a child, we think of a whole
child in his academics, it's social, it's emotional, like I said outside of school, but how,
how do we help them? How, how do we support them with their emotions, and just, you know, if there's
behaviors, or, you know, an academic, so it's really, how do we help that whole child? Yeah.
Craig, same question for you, and that just would think Academy, but in general, when it comes to
super-intending. Well, yeah, it's, it's, well, thankfully, I will say that building-wise,
and what are, I think, principals and classroom teachers and other school staff that are,
you know, really engaged work with kids on a daily basis, that hasn't, they're insulated,
I would argue, to the degree possible from some of the broader, maybe, you know, intensely political
nonsense that apparently is a thing now. I've told a number of people, I went to K-12,
then also went to college, and I have no recollection in that entire time of talking about politics
with anyone, any friends, or even in, you know, like around the dinner table, you didn't talk
about politics or religion back when I was being raised, and, I mean, of course, my family
talked about our religion or on the dinner table, but anyway, my point is that that's not really
the context we operate in, and I think that some of our teachers see that, you know, and hear those
things in their classrooms, but it's not of the same, it's kids, you know, having conversations,
which, of course, happens on a daily basis. But this intense politicization of things is bizarre,
and I'm hoping that there's a time that we can move past, you know, what that looks like.
I will also mention, when you talk about Think Academy, or you go out to Rudolph, the idea,
and I know Christine is speaking very intelligently about this approach, but it's unreal,
and I don't want to rank order our elementary schools either. That would be the last thing I would
want to do, but the environment, the staff, the students, the community, it's unreal, like you just
know it's good, you feel supported, and you feel that there's that commitment, and that people
recognize that being a teacher or being an employee of a school district is not super easy,
and that we serve a bunch of different kids and different viewpoints and so forth.
But like that's not it, and it's highlighted, she mentioned the Christmas program,
the Christmas program gets in the pack, which seats just shy of 800 people to standing room only.
Yeah, it's shocking, like you're talking about basically the entire town,
in a couple of towns, attending, and it's absolutely amazing, and that just shows you kind of what,
you know, how the community comes together around that. And like Christine said to the staff that
work out there, many of them have worked out there for years and years and years, and they,
you know, basically refused to work anywhere else, which tells you a lot about that building.
But that of course doesn't mean that they operate in some, you know, silo, and it's like
Shangri-La on everything's perfect. But that idea and that feel of acceptance and belonging and
support carries its way through so that teachers may not feel attacked out there, as they might in
another potential area of the district or in a, in a different community. You know what I'm saying?
Oh, yeah. I think that support is just like there. You don't really have those sorts of,
those sorts of vibes. Yeah, Christine, one of the things that I was thinking about prepping for
this interview was actually brought back to my, my great school days. I went to Washington school,
and I was part of Intermaryls and a basketball team, and we didn't have enough players. So we brought
on the kids at the time. There was pitch school by us. I don't think that's around anymore. It
actually closed up pretty soon after that, I believe. But I think it was pitch that it was by us.
I'm not, we, one of the other schools we teamed up with. So we would have a full team. And I remember
the, the first practice we had, it was a little rough because it's different kids from different
grade schools and everything. But like within 10, 20 minutes, we were all jelling. We had a good time.
We had a great team. We had a lot of fun. It's some of my favorite memories of being a part of
sports and school and everything. But it got me thinking about the combination of schools and
having the combination of communities and that. It seems like a, like almost super power to have
something like that in the school. Is it a fun thing for the community? Is it fun for the
communities to have a combination like that? Yeah. So I do. I feel like the, our families are
interconnected. I think they enjoy that. You know, you talked about sports. And so we were really
excited that this year we had a third grade girls basketball team. And we actually had a
couple of kiddos on the team that came out from town to practice in the gym because it's an
incredible gym. And, but it's cool to see that because we see, because when I talk about
both towns, that's really just to make sure everybody knows that we're serving both communities.
But if you walked into the building, we're one community. And we, you know, kids, they all,
they get along. They're doing things outside of school. So I share that more just as an informational
piece. But when you walk into think, we're think academy. And that's just who we are. So yeah.
But I do think, you know, when we look at kids participating in other events, I mean,
they come to town. You know, when they come to town and they're in plays and they're in ice
skating, they're building that other, they're connecting with other kids too. So I think that's also
the power of the district is having those opportunities. So not only at think in rural, but coming
out to coming to rapid. So kids have the opportunity to connect with other kiddos their age.
We're speaking with Craig Roy and Wisconsin Rapids Public Schools Superintendent and Christine
Slattery, Principal of Think Academy in Rudolph. And again, thank you both for being here.
Christine, I was looking at your newsletter, which I encourage people to sign up for. It's
great way to keep up the date on things that think academy. You guys got an exciting week going
out with Read Across America week going on. That's a fun one. How was that? Or how was that?
Yeah. So that was earlier this month.
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And time is a flat circle.
You know, I got so many things going on. I apologize.
Nope. And time flies, right? So that was a week we kicked it off with a sock hop that are
PTSD sponsored. Yes. And it was lots of fun. And it's, so kids are literally in socks dancing
in the gym. And they had a blast. Our school counselor actually was the the DJ for that and played
music. I think she was doing more dancing with them. And so that was a lot of fun. And
great opportunity again for kids to, you know, kick off the joy of reading. And then throughout
the week, we had an opportunity, we had a committee plan the week. And we had a battle like a,
you know, like you have the March Man is bracket. Yeah. So we had that for books. So every day,
it was fun. So every day the kids had to read the books. And then kids and staff voted.
And then the winner was the legend of rock paper scissors, which is very important. Yes.
Because we're very excited about that because we play a lot of rock paper scissors, right?
And then throughout the week, we had a school wide read in where everybody stopped what they
were doing and read. And just to see the power of that is incredible. And that reading means
different things to different people. But what was the company, what was I guess the culminating
piece was that it was joyful. And they selected what they wanted to read. So that was really cool.
And we had trivia questions about books. And they, I don't remember those off the top of my head,
but those are pretty cool about a variety of genres of books. And so it was, it was a lot of fun.
And then of course, we had theme dress up days. So every day the, oh my gosh, we had
wore wacky socks, we had different hairdos, you know, and just different things. It makes it fun.
You know, they're still learning going on and making it fun. Today ironically is Hawaiian day.
So when I go, very ironic, very honest with the snow, what irony is they are, they are.
So when I go back, I'll be back in kind of more of a Hawaiian form. But anyway, I do. Yeah.
So I think it's just having fun because we work hard in school, but we also need to have fun in
school. Having that balance is I think one of the not just on teachers, but in parents, but adults
to set that example to kids. And especially as we go forward here, we're a work for society.
I think it's important to remind kids that that's not everything. You know, and that work is
important, keeping lights on is important. But, you know, enjoying life and the education can
be fun and learning can be fun. It's nice to see those reminders, those little, whether they
realize it or not, those things going on for them all the time. I didn't also want to ask about
the Wisconsin State forward exam. What is that exactly? Oh, and just one more thought it was going
to add on to the last one. Two, I think it's important for kids to see adults having fun.
Well said. That's important. Yes. So yes, so we are in the state forward exam. And that's
so all of us across the state right now in grades three, four, and five. And then I know grades
in the middle and upper or the high school, too, I believe are we're doing our state assessments.
So so this week we started and, you know, it's intense. We are, you know, we're assessing kids.
Getting nervous. Just thinking about it. I don't even have to take a test. I know. And I am,
so I have some small groups that test with me and, you know, and you you see the kids are so focused
and they're working so hard because they've learned a lot, you know, and it's that snapshot that,
you know, we're, you know, we're getting an assessment. We're assessing them on. I think what's
really important though for people to know is even though we're assessing third, fourth,
and fifth at the elementary level, it starts in kindergarten. It starts in 4k. So it's all of our
kids and with everything they learned, it's culminating on these tests. So I just, I think that's
important for people to know. Yeah. Christine, I appreciate you so much being with us today. I wanted
to talk to Craig about a couple of things, but is there anything you wanted to touch on before we,
you know, let you go as far as I think Academy or anything? We cover everything. We, like I said,
I could go on all day, but I know it's Craig's turn. So, but no, just thank you for having me
and being able to highlight because we have an amazing community out of thing. Yeah. And thanks
for highlighting it for us and chilling, you know, spreading the light on so many things that we
may not know about. Thank you for that. Craig, spring break is happening. How is that going for
our area? What should we know? And around just reminding everybody with the weather we got today.
Yeah. It's ironic, as you mentioned, that we have a couple inches of snow the day before spring
break, initially, start. So our spring break is next week. Let it never be said Mother Nature
doesn't have a sense of humor. Yeah. And there's, of course, it depends on what district
folks attend, but summer off this week, summer off this coming week like we are, and then summer off
the following week. So, yeah, it were, I think, kind of, you know, wrapping things up this week,
and hope that everybody enjoys a little bit of downtime, our staff, and our students included,
and for those that are leaving for sunnier and warmer areas, fantastic and safe travels to them.
Yeah. Then we come back, of course, a bit reinvigorated to do a strong finish through the end of
the school year. Yeah. I want to remind everybody that whispering break means more kids out and about
be alone to look out, keep an eye out for them, and be aware of that for certain. And Craig,
we have the April 2nd election coming up right around the corner. We've been very fortunate here at
WFHR 80 plus years. We have welcomed down candidates, given them equal amount of time and equal
part of the day. And we've really enjoyed having all these candidates join us and talking about
this. Keep in mind, keep in mind people that, with the April 2nd election, we want you to vote,
we want you to be informed. Yeah, absolutely. So, we have a school board election. There wasn't a
primary for school board this year. There are, oh, now I'm going to forget. Five candidates
vying for three seats, I think. I believe so, yeah. And so, that is very clearly an important
aspect of the election to the school district. And then, of course, there's City Council seats and
a mayoral seat and other county board seats and so forth. So, yeah. And I think in that regard,
I'll say what I always like to say, which is the most important politics or local politics.
I know that that's not how, you know, the media treats it, but I think that's very true.
And that would encourage anybody to do the work to ensure that they're, you know, researching
and identifying who the candidates are, who they may, or maybe not be tied to, and what that
might mean for what they will do if they do get elected to office. And, and, you know,
and absolutely show up and vote on Tuesday, April 2nd. Yeah, it's important. We sent a big thank you
to League of Women Voters, Wisconsin Service Community Media, so many great organizations
getting you that information, along with, of course, our staff here. And I do want to say a big
thank you to Pam Hilke who does our scheduling and is the heart of this station getting all these
candidates on with us, getting both of you on the air with us, so I really appreciate that.
That information's out there, be informed, get out there, vote, keep democracy alive,
understand what these candidates are and what they are going to do if they are in position
and get out there and vote everybody. Craig, I don't know, this, this isn't our last conversation,
isn't it? We got you back at least one more time. Oh, yes. We'll be back in May and then in June
as well. We have a couple more kicks at the can. We got plenty of time for that. I got a big
long speech lined up for you, so I did want to give you time if there was anything else you wanted
to touch on as we're wrapping up though. Well, I would think I, something to bring it back around
would be the fact that we're now wrapping up into the spring sports season. And I always look
forward to the, well, odd, but the weather, getting back to what it was like a month ago.
I don't think I've ever said that. Yeah, right. Yeah, so like, you know, hopefully the 70s
are not too far off. 60s and 70s because of, it's awesome when you can get track and girl's
soccer, softball, baseball, and so forth. The other spring sports that are going on, you know,
kids outside and the smells and just getting back to, it feels more normal when you can do stuff
outside. And when we did all winter, do stuff outside, I guess it's just, it dictates the time
of year in your mind. Yeah. It's one of my favorite times of year. I like fall and spring, I think
the best. Yeah, you're getting kids engaged. Personally, I also have, I have two boys that are
graduating this year. And graduation, of course, is right around the corner. Not too far off
here towards the end of May. And so looking forward to the graduation ceremony and all of that,
that that entails and then the next challenges for these kids. I'll mention that the graduating
class has a number of cool scholarship winners, high achieving group in terms of academics.
So I know that there is I think five or six of our students that have maintained a 4.0 for their
entire high school career, things around these lines. Yeah. And as I've said before, the things
that kids do now as shocking, the opportunities that are offered at Lincoln and in our school
district and River Cities are unbelievable. And hearing, you know, what these graduates have done
and then what they're intending to do would make anybody just in awe. Because it's awesome. And I
know, of course, too, in my own horn a little bit, but this group of seniors is going to do
great things. I have no question. Yeah, we're seeing it all around the country. Young people
getting more and more involved, young people doing more and more in our area. It's it's the same
thing where we're seeing that and I cannot wait to see. I feel good about the future when it comes
to talking about talking to these kids, having them on the air with us, talking to people like
yourselves and everything. I feel very strongly about our education system going forward and where
these kids are going to go going forward. So it's positive. Very positive. People have followed
questions. They went on the more Christine about Think Academy. How can they get in touch with you?
via email or, you know, call the main office and they are main offices great and they will
find me, but but I would happy to talk about the school with anybody that wants to chat.
Excellent. Thank you again for the time, Christine. And keep up the great work. Have a great weekend.
Well, thank you. Craig, same question. Yeah. Well, I'm not hard to find. You can google my name and
you'll get my email address, 715-424-6700. It's been the school district's telephone line for a very
long time and they'll be able to get a hold of me from there. Appreciate the time, Craig. As always,
always good to see you. You guys have a great weekend. You too, thank you. Thank you, thank you.
And a big thank you to Pam Hilke and the great work she does for us. We appreciate you, Pam.
We'll have more Midday Magazine for you next week right here on WFHR, locally grown radio.
