Hello world, welcome to WFHR's Rapids Report.
Probably brought to you by Crockett Sethik for this Friday, October 17th, 2025.
Have your host James here, and we're joined right now by our good friends from the Port
Edward School District.
We have James Benner with us right now.
James, good to see you.
Oh, Bina.
Did I say it right that time?
Bina?
Okay, that time I did.
All right.
Good morning, James.
Good to have you here, sir.
Thanks a lot for being here representing the Port Edwards School District, as always.
And of course, we have April Nelson with us as well.
I got that one right.
Yes.
Thank you for having it easy to say name, April.
We appreciate you.
April's here to represent the Port Edwards Parents Organization, parent organization,
people.
So we'll talk about that in a little bit as well.
James, want to start off where I think we have to this time of year, I think is an important
place to at least, and school safety.
Let's get right into that.
Sure.
Absolutely.
And thanks again for having us on, James.
In Port Edwards's fall, we are looking at a number of different areas related to school
safety.
We hear about it in the news at a state level and a national level so often.
And the number one priority for our students above anything else is keeping them safe.
On October 8th, I attended a school safety training in Manoa.
It was sponsored by the Department of Justice here in Wisconsin.
There were about 35 law enforcement officers in attendance, along with about 20 school administrators.
There are regular Department of Justice school safety trainings held around the state.
The focus of this safety training was about the most effective ways to reunify children
with their families in case we would need to evacuate school.
Now, of course, we always hope and pray that this never happens, but we have to be prepared
in case there were a situation in which children would have to leave the buildings very rapidly.
Both are elementary and are middle and high school.
They have reunification sites, and once we have all of our children accounted for, then
it becomes a very complicated but important process to reunify them with their parents.
And we learned best practices at this training in Manoa on how to effectively and efficiently
reunify our children with families over 400 children in a place that they're not used
to being picked up at.
So it was a very important training.
Yeah, incredibly.
And great to hear the work, appreciate the details on that and everything.
We certainly wished that this wasn't something that, you know, there's so much put on our
parents, on our kids, on our school staffs, all of the above to have to put this on there
is not fair, to be honest.
But we also understand as adults, that's not really part of the curriculum, fair.
So you know, covering basis is incredibly important.
Let's hope it's a break glass, never have to break the glass, never need it.
But man, it is good to hear it and re, I think it is reassuring to hear, I think.
And my kids are all in their 20s and stuff, they haven't been in school in a long time
and I still care very deeply about this.
I hope I'm not alone on that because it's not enough for parents with kids in school
or people apart of parent teacher organizations or anything like that.
We need literally everybody caring about these topics.
If you haven't had kids in school, if you've never had kids, this counts you too.
You drive, don't you?
You, you pop around town, don't you?
Slow down, keep an eye out for our kids and certainly when it comes to this issue and
what you're talking about, Jim, understanding more about it.
I think that it's not enough for parents and others and people that work in the industry
to care about this.
We need everybody caring about this topic and all hands on deck.
We are talking about the greatest natural resource we will ever have in this universe, our
kids.
All hands on deck.
Absolutely.
I appreciate too, when it's topic comes up, more times than that, it tends to not be very
divisive.
It does on a national level.
I'm not talking about that.
That's their business.
I'm talking about locally.
It tends to be one of those things, hey, what do we need to do to make our kids say?
Absolutely.
Very well said, James.
Thanks very much for that support and yeah, I couldn't agree more.
It takes all of us as a team to look out for our children's safety.
James, I'm going to put you in the same category with me.
We were in school back in the 90s and back then, school safety was our monthly fire drill
and our maybe a couple of times a year tornado drill.
That was school safety.
We live in a different world now, 30, 40 years later and it is kind of reassuring to share
some of these details, I think, with our family and community at a federal level.
The federal Department of Justice puts a lot of resources toward this type of planning
and training and education of school leaders and teachers.
The state of Wisconsin puts a lot of resources to it.
Our local law enforcement puts a lot of time and resources to that.
We do have very specific plans.
We have best practices in place.
There's a lot of education.
A lot of time and effort is put into educating our children in a safe way in a way that
doesn't scare them, training our teachers in a safe and effective way in case of an emergency,
in case of an intruder, making sure that we know what to do, not to scare, but to do
it most effectively and the most safely way possible.
There's a lot of time that we put into that and as you said, there is no resource we
should value more than our children, so we do put a lot of time into it.
There's another lesson in this too for kids, which everything is about that in school
and everything.
Certainly having fun, after curricular activities, all those things.
It's so much of this is helping them learn to fly so they can get out of the nest and
preparing for what it is to be an adult and all that.
Again, hopefully none of these practices are ever needed or anything like that, but
that's a part of life is planning for things and hey, maybe they happen, maybe they
don't, but that's something that's important about.
While we all want kids to remain kids as long as humanly possible, that's also part of
the job of preparing them for what is the difference of being a kid and being an adult.
Some of this stuff for better or worse is a lesson in itself when it comes to this stuff.
Absolutely.
Children and young adults to plan, to plan for worst case scenario, plan for the worst,
hope for the best, and that's teaching them responsibility.
So it's a life lesson in school.
October 5th through the Eleventh was National Fire Prevention Week in our schools.
How did you guys, I don't want to say celebrate, but how'd you guys talk about that?
Yeah, absolutely.
We acknowledge fire safety week.
That's a national recognition, national fire prevention week in schools across the country.
Here in Port Edwards, we have a great partnership with the Village of Port Edwards,
Fire and Safety Department.
We talked about it on our morning announcements throughout the week.
We had a lot of conversations in small groups at our elementary school.
And then last Thursday, October 9th, Fire Chief Lease, as well as firefighters Tanya,
Justin and Josh. They came to our elementary school. They did a presentation.
They showed the fire truck there. They had a lot of the fire clothing, the fire equipment.
They showed the children. One of their big themes was not to be afraid.
If there is a fire, again, we want to teach you and educate you on what you need to do to stay safe.
So they had some great conversations. They handed out some fun prizes.
And some of our older children at the elementary, they had the opportunity to practice putting out a
fire on, I call it like a video game, on like a digital board. They could shoot like a laser
at a digital fire and put out the fire and practice it that way. So pretty cool technology, I thought.
Yeah. My youngest, Izzy, just got married over last weekend. Her new husband is a firefighter.
And talking to him a little bit about them going to schools and these things,
it's easily one of their favorite things they get to do is doing this stuff.
And certainly, you know, fire awareness, fire prevention, all that to be known.
But also, again, one of these things that I appreciate about our school systems and everything,
these kind of added things that kids get out of this.
For every kid that enjoys this and think it's really cool and stuff, one out of five,
one out of four, whatever it is, maybe they end up wanting to be a firefighter.
Maybe they grow up and they want to do something like that.
And we need more firefighters. We need more people in that industry.
So it's a win-win kind of situation when it comes to not only getting the awareness out there
and these kids being more up to date on it, but maybe even being firefighters one day.
And with all of the safety issues we're talking about under any level,
I think there's another lesson there that whether it's taught or it's just in
body, you just embrace it and stuff of, one of the things that can create fear in life
is not knowing, is the unknown. And them understanding this stuff a little bit better,
no matter what their age is, it takes away a little of the fear.
I'm not saying they're not going to be afraid at all of any of these things we've talked about here,
but the more they hear adults talking about it rationally, the more they hear
adults talking about this stuff, the more human it gets, the more it just becomes,
okay, this is something I have to worry about in life, no different than falling or something else
and everything. It becomes, it's not as scary. And because to your point,
I really appreciate you saying that. We're not trying to scare kids,
just trying to keep them informed, trying to update them and stuff.
It's a navigation that we're all trying to figure out while we're doing this.
This is a brand new world and so many things that we're doing here are very new and different.
It's important for all of us as a community to work together on that and help because it's
again about the kids. Absolutely. Educating them, teaching them a plan, talking about it in a
calm, rational way, like you said, normalizing it. Again, hoping that it never happens, hoping
that it's just educational information, they can store in the back of their minds and never
have to use it. But in case they do, we hope that those ideas and that plan comes into their
mind and they're able to, you know, use that information. I appreciate the information, Jim.
Thank you so much for that. Sure. April, I haven't put you on the spot yet. I mean, ask you
questions. I mean, thank you for being here, April. And real quick, before we kind of get in the
parent teacher conferences or anything like that, could you tell us a little bit about what the
Port Edwards parent organization is? What is people? Sure. What we do is it's a group of parents,
a couple teachers, school personnel, Mr. Bina as well. We meet once a month to discuss activities
with the school fundraising opportunities and how we can give back to the families that are
supporting us and to give back to the kids, make them involved in the school. Like I said, we do
a lot of fundraising. And part of that is besides involving the families so that when we put on
events like fall fast tonight for the families, it's all free of charge for our community and our
students. You know, I was thinking about this a little bit this morning every once in a while
of pops in my head. I feel like it was yesterday. I was I took my youngest Izzy that I was just
mentioning to a kindergarten. And you know, all the things you think about as a parent, all the
things you prepare for. And then there's that walk. The walk away from the the classroom door.
And I was lucky. Izzy, she was doing okay. She was starting to meet people and talking and
everything. I wasn't ready to go. I did not want to leave. And a lot of parents can be a rack.
I would have been there and done that. She was she was fine. I was a wreck. I did not want to leave.
And I think about that with, you know, organizations like this with parent teacher conferences and
all of these things, any opportunity for parents to be a little bit more involved or understand or
learn a little bit more. Because guess what? Kids aren't the only ones that get afraid. Kids aren't
the only ones that, you know, once they know something, it's a little less afraid. And I think that
parents being able to be involved with their kids with the school is I got to be a real gift to be
not just a community and to, of course, the teachers and the staff and everything before the parents.
Absolutely. This is actually only my third year in the school district. We just moved in over
here and joined right away. It was a way to meet other parents, start recognizing people at
pick up parent teacher conference, get to know teachers. Now we see them out in public. They say,
hi, the kids engaged. They're in summer sports together. It's just another way to bring
all of the families together and kids of different ages that might not otherwise meet up in school
to see each other at events and get to know who each other are. You mentioned the, oh, sorry.
I was just going to share you mentioned about the importance of our families and
getting them involved and engaged. I've always felt James that a really successful school.
This is kind of a simplistic analogy, but it's like a strong three-legged stool.
And if you don't have all three legs strong, the stool, the stool will not be successful.
It's going to tip over. We have to have, do everything we can to have successful children.
Our students have to be successful. We want our staff to feel empowered and confident and
successful. And we have to have great relationships with our families. We want our families to be
informed. We want them to feel involved. We want them to feel like they're a part of the school
and have ownership. So, family, staff and students, if all three are feeling good and strong and
we have our ores going the same direction, we'll have a strong school.
Speaking with Jim and April from the Port Edward School District right now,
in April, you mentioned an event coming up. Can we touch on that for a little bit?
Absolutely. Tonight we have our annual fall fest, which we hold for the students.
And it is for elementary students and their families. They are welcome to come in costume,
have fun. Treats provided. I believe tonight we have nachos. They can play different games,
acknowledge each other's costumes. You know, get attention for that. Go through our pumpkin
patch, pick a pumpkin. We have enough for everybody. And just again, it's another way for the families
to engage with one another. But it's going to be a lot of fun for the kiddos too. It sounds like
they're pretty excited for it. Yeah, I mean, any opportunity to show off that costume. I mean,
you have right there. You got them right there. And it's so fun. Like with all the things that
grow and change and adapt. And then you were kind of touching on this a little bit earlier, Jim,
even for when we were kids, but even going before that, Halloween is so very different than it
used to be. But it's still here. It's still got its essence. It's still, you know, the parts of
it that I think were always the best parts of Halloween. They're still there and still here.
And kids getting a dress up and getting a show off that costume. Got to have as many moments of
like that if we can. That's a fun part of this, along with all the other great parts of it and
everything. April, let's talk a little bit about the calendar here of events that you guys got
coming up with people and some really nice events coming up in November. You had me at donuts.
All I saw was donuts, April. There's something else. There's some other words there, though,
isn't there? Donuts with grownups. We have November 14th again for elementary students and their
families. Anybody, you know, important in their household, they want to bring in before school
starts. We will have free donuts, coffee, juice, milk, provided. And again, this is something that
we're able to do to the numerous families that participate in our fundraisers. We're able to put
these events on. So we have been doing this one ever every November. This year it is Friday,
November 14th, 645 to 730 again, elementary students and their parents, their grownups and
their siblings. Is this an event that people need to RSVP for or register for anything?
Absolutely. We do have notes going home. I believe they did go home already and they're due back
today. We do obviously accept a few trickling in early next week. Just want to make sure we have
enough treats for everybody and off donuts. We don't want anybody to go empty handed and we also
don't need the grownups to be taking them all home after. We definitely don't need them.
Don't need that. Yeah, don't need that. That's going to be a fun one. We'll be sure to mention
these events on our morning shows and everything. Make sure people are aware of them. You got some
other stuff coming up next year. Do you want to touch on those a little bit? Sure. And actually,
there's one more in November. We have a community bingo with the Lions Bingo and actually,
Mr. Bina is part of the Lions. So if you want to talk about that one a little bit more. Sure,
community bingo. It is and I don't have the date in front of me. Is it November 6th?
6th. Thank you. Yep. It's a Thursday night. I believe November 6th and that is 530 to 7 in the
Edhoyer Elementary Gym. It's community bingo. So the bingo games are run by the Lions Club,
but it's open to the whole community. There's a very minimal fee to play. There are prizes
and all funds go to people. And again, 537 on November 6th in the gym at Edhoyer Elementary.
It's a family-friendly event. There's going to be snacks there, a lot of fun. Everybody likes to
get out on a winter night. So encourage you to come out on November 6th to our Lions Community Bingo
Get a trivia night coming up in January, April. Yes. And that one again is something for our
elementary students and their families. That one went over pretty well last year. We usually have
books and candy for prizes. So it's kind of a mix best of both worlds. Everybody goes home a
winter. We also will be selling concessions. Again, it's free to get in small price for the
bingo cards or trivia cards if we do them. And then we get to walk away with a lot of good
prizes. That's pretty cool. And people love trivia in this area. That's going to be well-attended.
That's a great one. In February, you got an elementary school dance. What are your mind about
parents about? And again, that is one more event we're able to put on free of charge for the students
due to all of the participation at our concessions, etc. We have been using the same DJ for a while
on that one. It's always a huge hit. The kids I don't think they even use the chairs that we provide.
They are moving the whole night picture opportunities, glow sticks, candies, all sorts of accessories
for them. Very cool. And the family movie night that's coming up in April, one of their mind
about that and mark that on their calendars. Wednesday, April 8th, we will be having a family
movie night sponsored by Roger Sinema. We are able to rent out the entire theater room there to watch
a movie. That is another one. I don't have the price in front of me, but I know a lot of it is
offset again by the people organization. I am not for certain on the movie, so I don't want to
list it yet in case you haven't finalized it. We got a lot of time between now and then I'm sure
whether you guys will have you guys back and maybe talk about some of these things as we get
closer to them and we'll certainly on our shows make sure to everybody knows. April, I've been doing
this job for a long time and there are a lot of, I get really humbled in this job. There's a lot of
cool things I get to talk about and a lot of great people I get to talk to about their passions
and different things. Not very often, I could say muffins with mom. And I am so happy to be able to
say that phrase any time I can say that going forward. That sounds like a lot of fun.
Absolutely. And again, that's like the donuts with grown ups. We invite the elementary students,
their moms in addition, you know, dads, grandparents, anybody important to them, they're able to
send out an invite to their immediate family and RSVP with whoever they'd like to join us.
And that one is Friday, May 22nd. Again, it is before the breakfast time at the school,
so 645 to 730 and muffins will be provided as well as coffee, juice, milk, and there are some
pretty big muffins. That one is always a hit. Oh, I bet. Is that another one that people should
RSVP for? Absolutely. And again, we just want to make sure we have enough muffins for the families
and that nobody, you know, has turned away or goes without. We want to make sure we have a good
variety. We've slowly picked up on what the favorites are and anything with chocolate seems
to be a hit, so we want to make sure we have enough. Right on. And the, of course, the end of the year
school carnival is going on and June will talk more about that. I'm sure later in the year with
your gym when you join us and stuff, but appreciate all this and I really appreciate the details,
the background on all that April. And especially as you were talking and mentioning how important
people is and how so many of these events if you could say almost all of them might not happen
without this great organization. James, if I could, I want to give a take a moment and give a
shout out to some of our members that are in people. I'm going to start with our faculty member,
Mrs. Wilhorn. Mrs. Wilhorn attends every meeting. She takes notes. She's kind of the communication
conduit back to our faculty and our support staff in the school. She sends out emails. She tells
her staff what's going on. She encourages staff to be there. So thanks a lot. Mrs. Wilhorn for
coming to all those meetings. You know, just some of the people and I apologize to the rest of people,
but you know, people like April and Sarah and Carly and Amanda and Stephanie and the rest of our
parents that take time out of their busy, busy lives of work and raising a family to come in and
volunteer and James, I see these families bring in things that take time at home. They're making
things for our fall fest tonight and they are going and soliciting donations from businesses.
They are spending a lot of time for the children of Ed Hoyer Elementary School and they do so much
for our school. So we've always had a strong PTO, a strong people at Ed Hoyer Elementary. The last
three or four years, it's gotten like this huge shot of adrenaline. You can see from our calendar,
there is a great event every month of the school year. So hats off to our people, our parents,
like all the work, the time, the energy they put in. It's just making our school that much better.
Here, here. The second, everything you said there, sir. Parent teacher conferences coming up,
want to remind everybody about those? Absolutely. Another excellent way for our family
to stay in communication with our school. We have middle and high school parent teacher conferences
on October 29th. That's a Wednesday coming up in just a couple of weeks, 430 to 7 o'clock. There is
a online link on the Port Edward School District website for signing up for middle and high school
parent teacher conferences. We really would like to see as many families as possible to come in for
these. Ed Hoyer Elementary Parent Teacher conferences are on Wednesday, November 12th and that's from
4 o'clock until 8 o'clock. Details for signing up for the elementary conferences will be going
home in Friday folders to our families very soon. And we just wrapping up here, Jim. I had a
couple of other dates. One of the remind families in the Port Edward School District about.
Absolutely. We've got kind of a brief fall recess coming up here at the end of the month.
There is no school on Thursday and Friday for students. October 30th and 31st. That's a
four day fall weekend for our families on the 30th and 31st. And that Thursday, the 30th, we do
have all of our staff in the building. We have professional development that day.
Excellent. Jim, if people want to know more about some of what we talked about today, what's
the best way to get in touch with you? Absolutely. We have so much information on our school
district website P-E-S-D dot K-12 dot W-I dot U-S. My phone number and my email is on the website
and Mr. Stelton Poll, our middle school high school principal, his email and phone numbers on
the website as well. We welcome calls, we welcome visitors every day of the week.
And if people would like to know more about P-PO, reach out to you, is that the best way to do that?
They certainly can do that. And I can relay that information over to the P-PO officers.
Fantastic. April and Jim, great to have you guys here. Thank you so much for everything. You
put into the community and to the Port Edward's area. April, you did too good of a job. You're
going to have to come back. That's the catch. That's the catch. And Jim, I will see you soon.
Thanks a lot for being here. Thank you, James. Appreciate you both and appreciate all of you
joining us over here for another edition of WFHR's Rapids Report.