In Our Schools: May 17

Brookfield Academy

Four Brookfield Academy students were honored nationally for their work as part of the 2011 National French Exam. Those receiving national recognition are Gigi Gastevich and Clare Urbanski, tied for third nationally in the Level 2 exam; Philip Steigerwald, fourth nationally in the Level 2 exam; and Kirsten Norderhaug, eighth nationally in the Level 5 exam. Statewide, Jenna Sportiello placed first in Level 1, Gastevich and Urbanski tied for first in Level 2 and Norderhaug placed first in Level 5. In the National Spanish Exam, nine Brookfield Academy students earned gold medals. Norderhaug (Level 1), Morgan Malatesta (Level 2), Justin Zhu (Level 2), Regine Torres (Level 3), Nicole Bray (Level 4), Safeeyah Quereshi (Level 4), Melody Stier (Level 4) Catherine Courchaine (Level 5) and Morgan Tadych (Level 5) each won the top prize in their level.

Brookfield Central

Sophomore Hayley Gray-Hoehn and junior Natalie Mathes make up one of two teams that will represent Wisconsin in the documentary category in the National History Day Competition, to be held June 12 to 16 at the University of Maryland. The girls finished as state finalists in Madison on May 7, when more than 470 students representing more than 80 schools competed for a spot on the state's national entry slate. Their documentary entry, "The Apollo-Soyuz Test Project: A Mission in Diplomacy," addressed this year's theme of debate and diplomacy. The documentary focused on the joint U.S.-Soviet space flight, which took place in July 1975. Their research included interviews with two of the astronauts on the flight, Vance Brand and Tom Stafford. Their entry, a 10-minute documentary film, represents the Elmbrook School District's first state winner in the program.

Brookfield Christian School

The sixth-grade science class is working through a chapter on fresh water resources. As a chapter project, teams of three or four students have to create a two-step water filtration system that will take muddy water and make it cleaner. The idea is to make the water as clean as possible without losing any. The eighth-grade science class is spending its time creating art out of polymer products. Students are shrinking recyclable plastics and painting with special paper. The artwork will be on display at the middle school concert May 24.

Brookfield Elementary

May 12 was a proud day for Brookfield Elementary. The school's 450 students participated in a diabetes walk to raise funds for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. Each grade level walked for one hour on a route around the school building and playground. Students recruited donors to sponsor the walk and raised more than $9,000, which the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation said was the most raised by a school walk in southeastern Wisconsin.

Brookfield East

The National Spanish Examinations are administered each year in grades six through 12 and are sponsored by the American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese. Students compete on a national and on a state level. More than 2,400 students took the state exam this year, and Brookfield East had eight winners: Aditya Trivedi, fifth in Level 4; Sophie Carr, seventh in Level 4; Melinda Mastel, seventh in Level 4; Robert Szabo, ninth in Level 3; Maddie Janick, third in Level 2; Katie Horneffer, eighth in Level 2; Jenelle Myers, 10th in Level 2; and Rebecca Fronberry, 10th in Level 1.

Burleigh Elementary

Officer Denise Carroll from the Brookfield Police Department presented a bike safety lesson to Burleigh's kindergarten, first-, second- and third-grade students this week. Students learned about wearing helmets, using bike paths, looking both ways before leaving a driveway, crossing streets safely and using the correct hand signals when making turns.

Dixon Elementary

Dixon students participated in High Interest Day. Students took part in three sessions that included sports, food and a craft activity. Students could choose from sub-making, pizza-making, basketball, knitting, rock climbing and much more. Dixon families want to say thank you to several members from the community who volunteered their time to help make this event so successful.

Hillside Elementary

The PTO sponsored High Interest Day on May 13. Students had the opportunity to select three workshops from the 30 offered, including "Bubble-ology" and "Mummies Unwrapped."

Immanuel Lutheran

Track and field day was May 10. The students participated in running, jumping and throwing events, an obstacle course, an exercise station, rope jumping and soccer and basketball skills stations. The upper-grade students will go on to participate in a track and field day against other Lutheran schools May 24 at Martin Luther High School.

Pilgrim Park Middle School

The Pilgrim Park track team recently swept its invitational, taking first place in all divisions at the Panther Invite. The track team wraps up a successful season with meets May 19 and May 23. In other news, sixth-grade students recently participated in the school's annual lung health run/walk. Activities included a healthy living presentation by a representative from the Chest Foundation and members of the Brookfield East Students Against Drunk Driving chapter.

St. Dominic

The 5-year-old kindergarten children showcased their reading skills with a program for family and friends that included songs and stories with illustrations created by the children. The second-graders celebrated their First Communion last weekend.

St. John Vianney

St. John Vianney recognized the dedication of its teachers and staff with a weeklong celebration. The staff had special gifts and events daily, including a breakfast and a spring salad lunch. Students also wrote down their favorite recipes to give to their teachers. A May crowning and living rosary took place at the church May 11 and involved the entire student body. The Home and School Association sponsors the weeklong celebration.

St. Mary's Visitation

St. Mary's Visitation's quiz bowl team recently competed in the Middle School National Championship Tournament in Chicago. The tournament features the top quiz bowl teams from across the U.S., and the St. Mary's "Gold" team was invited to participate based on performances at tournaments held throughout the year. Quiz Bowl is an academic competition in which teams answer questions in a game-show fashion on subjects ranging from history and geography to fine arts and pop culture. The team placed 19th overall in the tournament and included eighth-graders Piper Brown, Alana Parey, Nick Peters, Eddie Steigerwald and Allen Witkowski, along with their coaches, St. Mary's junior high teachers Michael Falk and Burke Seeberg.

Swanson Elementary

In February and March, fifth-grade students Cameron Rao, Zach Sekaran, Bradley Moon, Max Milkert, Sabrina Zhong and Abby Mauermann were given a special assignment. They were asked to create a video on John Adams for Law Day, an event created by the Wisconsin State Bar Association. These students researched the topic and created a video based on the theme "The Legacy of John Adams: From Boston to Guantanamo." The students competed against other fifth- and sixth-grade groups from across the state, and their video won first place.

Tonawanda Elementary

Tonawanda's annual fine arts fair will take place from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. May 26. Families will enjoy performances by the school's band, chorus and orchestra and will have the opportunity to view student artwork displayed throughout the building. Community members are welcome. 

Wisconsin Hills Middle School

The seventh- and eighth-grade choirs performed a variety of choral music during a performance at the Sharon Lynne Wilson Center for the Arts on May 16. Pieces included the Japanese folk song "Sakura," a madrigal and a traditional spiritual, as well as selections from the Broadway award-winning musical "Wicked." Eighth-graders also featured an arrangement of the hit 1980s song "Africa," which was first record by the band Toto.

To submit information about what's going on in local classrooms, send an e-mail to education reporter Alan Hamari at ahamari@cninow.com.