Your dedication to the enrichment of our community is an invaluable resource to Douglas County, and we appreciate your participation. We extend a thank you to ten $200 field-trip grant winners, who made the last month of the school year extra special for our students:

Sarah Hanhan
Bryant Elementary School

Camp Miller Team Adventure

Each year, fifth grade students at Bryant Elementary School look forward to attending Camp Miller, a day camp in Sturgeon Lake, Minn. The students participate in a variety of team building activities including canoeing as well as a ropes course that requires effective communication and cooperation between team members to accomplish a set goal. The students learn a great deal from this trip to Camp Miller, and teacher Sarah Hanhan does her best to make sure there is enough funding for the students to attend. Thanks to Class Acts!, the fifth graders this year will be attending the annual trip, participating in activities that will prepare them for lifelong skills in communication, cooperation and networking.

Shawn Leith
Northwestern Elementary School

Journey to Split Rock Lighthouse

Shawn Leith teaches a unit on lighthouses in his fifth grade science class at Northwestern Elementary School. To apply what they have learned, students create their own lighthouse and present reports on various lighthouses around the nation. In the past, classes from Northwestern and Iron River have taken a field trip to the nearby historical landmark Split Rock Lighthouse. Due to budget cuts, Shawn and his fellow teachers have had to find alternate funding for the trip that involves more than 100 students. Last year, Class Acts! enabled Shawn’s class to experience this trip, and thanks again to Class Acts!, the fifth graders this year will be able to travel to a working lighthouse, while learning about local history.

Patrick O'Connell
Superior Middle School

Field Experience at Jay Cook State Park

Sixth grade students at Superior Middle School have been studying environmental issues throughout the entire school year, including a study of landforms and wetlands. As a culminating field experience, Patrick O’Connell and his fellow teachers would like to take the students to Jay Cook State Park in Minnesota. Here, students will have the opportunity to observe landforms they studied, such as the Douglas fault line, other landforms unique to the area, varies types of vegetation and wetlands. Thanks to Class Acts!, all sixth grade green wing students will be participating in this exciting, outdoor learning experience.

Scott Raaflaub
Superior Middle School

Superior Community Service Day

This year, eighth grade students at Superior Middle School have been working on sponsoring a service day in the Superior community. Their largest project will be to visit local cemeteries to mark gravestones of veterans with small flags in time for Memorial Day weekend. In addition, they are also working with local organizations, such as the Salvation Army, Animal Rescue Foundation, city of Superior Parks and Recreation Department and local museums for the service day. The goal is to have more than 300 students volunteering in the community on the days May 24 or 25. Thanks to Class Acts!, transportation to the volunteer sites will be available for students, so they can fully experience this educational and spirited day.

Diane Rasmussen
Solon Springs Elementary School

Learning Walk with Animals

Diane Rasmussen teaches a section on animal mothers and their babies to her kindergarten students at Solon Springs Elementary School. To reinforce her teachings, she would like her students to experience the Wilderness Walk in Hayward. Through this field trip the students will develop the background knowledge of how baby animals may look different from their parents and how the babies are raised. Building this background knowledge and having this hands-on experience is very vital to future learning in the subjects of reading and social studies. Thanks to Class Acts!, these young and impressionable students will be able to visit this nature walk, giving them an advantage in their learning future.

Kara Hargrove
Superior High School

Live Shakespeare Experience

Many of the students Kara Hargrove teaches as a part of the Alternative Education program at Superior High School come from challenging backgrounds. In an effort to encourage her students to succeed, she would like to take a portion of her students down to the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis for a once-in-a-life-time opportunity this fall. The Royal Shakespeare Company from England will be performing Shakespeare's "King Lear." The students will read the play before they go, and when they return, will be required to write a response paper on how viewing the play compared to reading it. Kara hopes that an opportunity such as this will bring Shakespeare to life for her students, creating a positive educational experience. Thanks to the help of Class Acts!, these students will be able experience this exciting trip and give them an opportunity that they might not have had otherwise.

Paula Daube
Bryant Elementary School

Wilderness Exploration

First grade students at Bryant Elementary School would like to travel to the Wilderness Walk in Hayward. Teacher Paula Daube feels it is a wonderful educational experience for her students, reinforcing several themes taught throughout the curriculum. At the Wilderness Walk, children are allowed to interact with animals, walk nature trails and explore a city from long ago. Although it provides an unforgettable experience for the students, it is a costly field trip. Thanks to the help of Class Acts!, expenses will be more manageable and the students will be able to travel to this unique learning environment.

Rose Ranthum
Cathedral School

History Comes to Life

Rose Ranthum teaches her first grade students at Cathedral school the importance of local history. Experiencing history can be a beneficial and educational tool, and Rose would like for two first grade classes to visit Fort Folle Avoine Historical Park in Danbury, Wis. The park is a living history site where reconstructed fur trade posts occupy the actual sites where they once operated from 1802 to 1805, alongside an authentic Woodland Indian Village. The children would experience first hand what life was like as a Native American in the 1800s, and learn to appreciate how the contributions of the Woodland Indian's culture and customs enrich our world today. Thanks to Class Acts!, the students will be able to participate in this adventure where they will learn about the Native American culture, to value the earth and how to use its resources wisely.

Amy Frane
Cooper Elementary School

Changing the City One Song at a Time

Cooper Elementary School offers chorus for dedicated fourth and fifth grade students who choose to sing. Each spring, the choir goes out into the community on a one-day "mini-tour." Their slogan is "Changing the city one song at a time," and the focus of the tour is to make the community a better place through the musical organization. Amy Frane and her students typically perform at a nursing home and sometimes participate in a "choir exchange" with another school to meet peers who share an interest in singing. In addition, for the past two years, students have also raised money to help others, and voted to donate money to the Animal Rescue Federation. Thanks to Class Acts!, approximately 75 students will be able to sing out proud, travel on the tour and make a difference in the community.

Melissa Isabella
Northern Lights Elementary School

Examining Nature at BruleRiver

Melissa Isabella would like her second grade class at Northern Lights Elementary School to experience a field trip to the Brule River Ranger Station in Brule, Wis. This trip will enhance and expand on the current science curriculum, covering flora, fauna as well as the natural and cultural history of the Brule River State Forest. The naturalist guide at the ranger station will provide hands-on experience to the students while teaching them how to use a dichotomous key—a tool that allows the user to determine the identity of items in the natural world, such as trees, wildflowers, mammals, reptiles, rocks and fish. Thanks to Class Acts!, students will be able to attend this educational wilderness adventure in Brule.