Hello all, welcome to WFHR's Rapids Report for this May 23rd, 2025.
Have your host, James J. Mailov here.
Welcome in to the studio, our good friends from Wisconsin's Rapids Public Schools area.
We have joining us right now, Nicole Kaltow, Principal of Grant Elementary School.
Nicole, thanks for being here.
Thank you for having me.
I get the last name right.
I did, all right.
Well, you helped.
Thank you very much for that.
And we also have joining us, Jennifer Wilhorn, Assistant Director of Curriculum.
Jennifer, thank you very much for being here.
Thank you.
Always appreciate the time.
I do notice that Ron is playing hooky.
We know, I'm kidding.
You send a shout out to Ron and appreciate the time from him as always.
We'll be talking with him very soon.
I'm sure.
I wanted to get right into things with you, Jennifer, if you don't mind, and some of the
graduations that are going on, and some of the details on that.
Sure.
It's an exciting time as we get to the end of the school year just because there's so
many different celebrations on both with our 4K, our elementary classrooms, and then,
of course, our high school graduations.
So next Friday, River City's high school will be celebrating their graduation ceremony
at 6 p.m. at the PAC here in Wisconsin Rapids.
And then on Sunday, June 1st, the Lincoln High School graduation ceremony will be at Wood
Trust Bank Field at Southwood County Stadium at 1 p.m.
So certainly, our congratulations go out to all of our graduates.
Mm-hmm.
There's something so wonderful to hear about that, and just any kind of graduating.
It's wonderful.
Especially when it comes to something like this, and we all kind of think about what's
next for them and some of those things.
It's great to hear.
Yeah, absolutely.
We know that they have some exciting futures ahead of them.
So many of our graduates are going on to the workforce, technical colleges, and four
year universities, so we wish them the best with their future endeavors.
And where do you want to go next with that, though?
So well, we'd also like to take this opportunity at the end of the year to thank the community
for welcoming so many of our students into their places of businesses for field trips,
providing additional information and opportunities for them to learn outside of the classroom.
We know that, of course, we learn a ton in the classroom, but so many of those learning
opportunities in our community are what really makes an impact with our students.
So we're so thankful for those opportunities.
We have such a really strong, wonderful community when it comes to all the activities and
different events that go on through the year two that they attend, and they're a part
of, along with graduation.
So I really do thank this community.
We're very fortunate to have the people that we do around here.
Absolutely.
You know, we're reminded over and over how our community values our students, our families,
and places of priority on their education.
And we're so thankful for that.
Were there other graduation dates you wanted to touch on the Jennifer?
No, I don't think so, but we also wanted to highlight a special event that took place this
past week where our Lincoln High School graduates were able to return back to their elementary
schools and walk the halls, visit with previous teachers, share some memories, share with their
former teachers, some of their plans for the future.
So if you have a chance, I know a lot of those schools put those pictures out on Facebook,
and it was very heartwarming to see those pictures of the graduates with their former,
their former teachers and classmates.
So certainly a special event that we host in the community, and I know it's one that's
very meaningful, not only to those students, but also really to those teachers.
I don't mean to get into a negative area here or anything like that.
I hope you all know how much I appreciate what you do and everything.
Where was this when I was graduating from Lincoln?
Where?
No, it's such a cool idea.
It's such a fun idea.
I was fortunate.
I moved around so much, but being in this area for a while, I went to Washington School and
went on to East and then Lincoln, and I enjoyed my time at all those schools.
I love the idea of being able to go back and do that, certainly for the fun, the nostalgia
and so many of those things, and whatever kind of, you know, for lack of a better word,
inspiration, or what you can be as an older student to younger students, that wonderful
kind of thing that we all get to experience and everything.
But I also feel like it's a great setup for what's next and looking at, you know, they're
going to be spending so much of the next 5, 10, 20 years maybe even looking ahead.
It's a nice chance to be able to look back and really take for them to take a personal
hopefully, like, pat on the back and feel good of like, wow, 12 years, I've been doing
this since grade school.
I've been at this in education.
This is what it comes down to and all this and look what I've accomplished.
It's a confidence builder in its own way, organically in many ways.
And I love the that part of it as much as I do, just the nostalgia, the fun of it and
so many of other things.
It's a really good idea.
Yeah, absolutely.
And it's fun from the elementary perspective as the principal and being able to think
through how we can highlight these seniors and make their time with us of fun and allow
them to get together with their classmates that they went through their elementary years
with and how they can take the time to talk about their experiences and in our case specifically
grant.
It was so much fun to have them just waiting in the office and they were talking about
all the changes that they could see within the school building right from the time that
they entered it.
But then, you know, being able to walk through the halls and have the little kindergarteners
looking at them and saying, they're so tall, that's what they kept saying the entire
time.
It was so fun to see that.
But then we also had different activities for them to do.
They got to meet with their old art teacher, Mr. Anderson and he had some plans for them.
They three three D printed some key chains for them and they they painted them and it was
just a great time for them to leave their lasting mark on grant and one last thought as a
graduating class.
And so all of the elementary schools now do that and we plan it out.
So it is offered to everyone at Lincoln and we were fortunate enough at grant to have
other students from other schools who have moved away and they've reached out as well.
Can we come back to grant to?
And so the word is spreading and it is just a joyous occasion for everyone.
I appreciate all the focus being on the kids and parents and even young and old and all
that.
I hope that while these things are going on, you and you two individually, all your staff,
your crew, the fellow people that you work with are also able to take a moment of pride,
a moment of smiles and enjoying this and everything.
I don't think that there's enough wins for people in education when it comes to this
stuff.
And this is a great accomplishment for everybody involved and I hope you guys can feel some
of that too.
If not, I will remind you any chance you want.
Just reach out to me.
I'll remind you every time.
Did you have anything else for us, Jennifer?
I don't think so.
Okay.
I thought so.
Thank you very much for that.
I appreciate all the, especially the graduation information.
It's really great.
And I got to look, I got to press Ron about this whole thing.
I want to be a part of that.
Can we do it for old people that don't, you know, I graduated in 1996, guys?
Nicole, I know you and I had some things to talk about as well.
And one of the ones, I really appreciate you bringing up because I hadn't thought much
about this, honestly, until you just said it in our pre-game.
I teach, and I say that word loosely, I teach actors and comedians and stuff.
I don't do anything what you guys do.
But one of the things that I've been really proud of is something that I and another teacher
did.
We kind of spawned off and did our own thing where we have a class that if you, when
you graduate from second city or some of these acting improv schools, there's not really
a, well, what do I do next?
How do I get an agent?
What monologues do I use?
Some of those things.
So him and I created a class specifically for that to help people bridge from one to the
next thing.
But you guys are doing over there with your fifth grade graduating class and going from
fifth to sixth grade and the transition of that.
I find that really interesting.
You're putting some focus on that to help kids.
We definitely are.
And that's something that we take very seriously at the middle school to try to get them ready
for, you know, the change that they've always been with us at grant and this is going
to be a very big change in their, in their life.
And I know it makes students very nervous.
And so we're trying to relieve some of those nerves and they always come back to us saying,
okay, we were ready.
We were ready for middle school.
And so some of the things that we do with our students to get them ready is we do take
them over to Rams to, so they load the bus.
And they did this on Tuesday at grant and they went over and had a tour of the middle
school just to get them ready.
But then we also had their counselor come on out and they brought some sixth graders
with who previously attended grants.
So it was some grant alumni coming back to grant to talk about the different opportunities
that they have at the middle school but also to answer those questions that are burning
for our fifth graders.
And of course, their number one question is always, what about the lockers?
They're very worried about their locks and how to do the combinations and all of that.
So we definitely practice with them on all of those pieces just to try to, to ease their
mind as they get ready for the middle school.
And I know that the middle school has worked very hard on creating web leaders and different
opportunities for families to get into the middle school to see, you know, what it's about
to end, how to ease the transition for our kiddos at the fifth grade level.
So one of the things that I've noticed, especially in doing this job, that what makes a good
educator, no matter what the job or position they do, principal, superintendent or, you
know, teacher or any of these things, there's an overall theme of being able to not only
care for these kids, but put yourself in their shoes sometimes or remember what it was
like to be that age.
This is no, it's just the way age and time works and stuff, the older we get, the more
we forget what it was like to be in fifth grade and that, that scariness of transitioning.
Just the idea of this is already, I think, amazing, let alone what you've been mentioning
there in the call.
And I can't speak for anybody else, but I know for me, I did this twice because I moved
schools and everything because we moved around so much.
And both times I, I can think of a few kids that had a more adult upbringing than I did.
And this freaked me out, like there were things that I didn't mind walking down a dark
alley or something like that, but God help me, I had to walk into sixth grade class.
That was, it was freaky for me.
But the thing that I remember the most about this with my brother and sister when they
were concerned and worried about it was the questions that you mentioned there and most
things in life, the fear comes from just not knowing.
And when you can answer those questions or take them to Rams, physically taking them
over there or something, not to say that, oh, they'll be perfectly fine going forward,
but it takes away so much more of that anxiety.
And that's another thing, whether educators or adults in society that I think is on our
shoulders, that we need to take a focus on and think of, what can we do to help kids take
a little less anxiety off of them?
Because that's another thing we forget.
Kids have anxieties, kids have stresses and everything.
We look back and like, oh, God, that was easy back then.
But at the time, we're having our own stresses and our own concerns and everything.
This eases some of that so much.
It's a great, a great program, great idea.
Yeah, yeah.
And it's worked really well for our fifth graders, for sure.
And we've been focusing the last several years on transitioning our students and helping
the parents and the families feel more comfortable, but this year we added another level.
We realized that some of our fifth grade teachers hadn't seen what the middle school model
looks like.
And so their students were asking questions that they couldn't answer.
So this spring, we took our fifth grade teachers and they met with the sixth grade team
over at Rams.
And we were able to have them be there for about an hour to an hour and a half and be able
to watch what it looks like, where the students get off the bus, where they meet in the cafeteria,
how they transition to their classrooms.
They were able to see some of their former students, which was, of course, a big highlight.
But now we feel like our fifth grade teachers are even more prepared to ask some of those
questions that their students have.
So adding the teacher element was new for us this year, and it was very well received.
Thank you for telling us that.
That's really great.
The sharing of information, the being able to help each other, it's really what makes
all of this work.
That's great.
I want a great program.
Speaking of those fifth graders, their graduations coming up.
Yes.
So this afternoon, we do a small intimate gathering with family and friends.
We will have just a good time remembering them as in their year at grant this last year.
We have a highlight video and that type of thing.
And it's just a fun little gathering for our fifth graders to celebrate their hard work.
I can empathize with those fifth graders, because as much as they might be excited about
the next step in everything, I know when I was at Washington School the year after I left,
they put in all this new playground equipment and everything.
And I really wanted to play with that stuff.
So they are going to be going through a little bit of that as you guys have a really cool
new playground over there.
Yes.
So we were fortunate enough to work with the Legacy Foundation to begin our process of
putting in the new playground that is at grant.
And of course, we worked with other donors as well, and we appreciate every single one
of the donations that we received.
The grant was fortunate enough to get two basically playgrounds because of the way our
playground is shaped.
We have a K2 side and a three five side.
So they are separated out.
But if you have the opportunity this summer to come on out and take a peek at it, last
summer was under construction all summer.
And so I know we had a lot of kids wondering when is it going to open, when is it going
to open?
And of course, it opened the first day of school this year.
And so now it is open for anyone to come and play.
It is a wonderful playground and I know it's been enjoyed during the school day, but also
outside of school hours.
I pass it every day.
And just when there's view sounds better, especially this time of year, then just rolling
your window down and hearing kids just having fun and celebrating and enjoying stuff and
everything.
It's really great to hear.
This has been great, you too.
Thank you so much for the time.
Really do appreciate you.
If people have follow questions, want to know more about some of the things we talked
about.
Encourage you to go to the city's website, wrps.org.
It's a great way to reach out to not only our guests here, but Ron and so many other people
with the Wisconsin Rapids Public School system.
Is there a specific way people can reach you if they want to or anything if you guys want
to go ahead with them?
Sure.
Both of us have our email addresses and phone numbers available on the district website
so that either of those ways work well for contacting us.
Again, wrps.org is the website, you should have bookmarked that, keep up to date on all
the great things that they are doing over there.
We don't know if I'll talk with you beforehand, so have a great summer.
Enjoy your summer, you too.
And please spread that to all the crew and team and everybody that are part of our public
school system around here.
Appreciate them.
I just had the idea, the image of my head now of you guys going around literally to
every interview, but you don't have to do that.
Do appreciate the time and thank you again for all you do all your long.
Appreciate you guys.
Thank you.
Thank you.
We have a conversation here at WFHR's Rapids Report.
