The following are news snippets from the October e-Newsletter highlighting the Pacelli Catholic School system, individual students, alumni, staff, and members of the PCS community who have recently been highlighted for their accomplishments.

Pacelli alum Mike Elsenrath ’96, a pilot and flight instructor for FedEx, recently volunteered his time to fly one of the FedEx Relief Flights to Haiti following Hurricane Matthew. Elsenrath, along with many others, helped bring crucial supplies to the disaster-stricken area at a time when they needed it most. “This can be a once in a career type of chance – to take the unique skills we have and do something good,” said Elsenrath. “It’s great to be able to make such a positive impact for so many people.”

Elizabeth Cisewski, a Pacelli senior, was highlighted as the CWS Student Athlete Spotlight.

As a team, the Pacelli Cross Country girls won the sectional title advancing to state. The boys respectably placed 10th, sending sole runner Thomas Basala to state for the 2nd year in a row.

Students from every grade participated in the annual Make a Difference Day, raking leaves for our valued neighbors and community members.

Pacelli girls tennis team made school history, appearing in the WIAA Division 2 state team tournament earlier this month. Individual state qualifiers included Alliey Krusa (singles), Anna Koehl & Julia Grygleski (doubles), and Katherine Mueller & Kaitlin Rogers (doubles). The team was celebrated with a special send-off at Community Meeting.

Pacelli Catholic Middle Schools’ 8th grade volleyball team went undefeated on their 2016 season.

Early Childhood Center kids enjoyed Fall Fun Night, putting on their Halloween costumes and enjoying crafts and friends.

PCMS Student Council is hosting a Noodles fundraiser on Nov. 2.

Second graders at St. Bron’s were having fun in coding class with their new Bee-Bots.

PCMS Cross Country team finished with a strong season, as the boys took the Conference Champion title and the girls showed constant improvement and top placement all season long.

Middle and high school band and choir students joined forces for the Fall Fine Arts Festival, showcasing the many talents of our students.

Sign up for the Pacelli blood drive on Wednesday, November 2. By signing up to donate you can help save up to 3 lives AND help provide scholarships to Pacelli seniors.

Fire safety was a hot topic at our elementary schools during Fire Prevention Week. Members of the Plover Fire Department visited St. Bron’s while St. Stan’s 4K students took a trip to the fire station.

8th grade mentors at PCMS ate lunch with their 6th grade mentees a couple weeks back. They also competed in two rounds of rock, paper, scissors. The mentor/mentee program is focused on further welcoming 6th graders to the building with an additional support person.

Pacelli’s homecoming was another one for the books. Activities included dress up days, Power Puff Volleyball for the boys, Powder Puff Football for the girls, the pep rally full of fun games and entertainment and the king & queen announcement, the parade, football game, and concluded with the dance.

Pacelli seniors scattered around the community on September 29 for Senior Service Day. They helped out at schools, parishes, various spots throughout the community, like Operations Bootstrap.

Computer coding new, integral piece of well-rounded learning in K-12 Pacelli Catholic Schools

By: Jeff Bushman, Director of Technology, Pacelli Catholic Schools

“I’m so close to getting it right, I just want to work through it.” Those are the words of a fourth grade student at Pacelli Catholic Elementary School while learning how to code last month.

At Pacelli Catholic Schools, every kindergarten through 8th grade student is taking a coding course. Coding, or computer programming, is an essential element of computer science.

Kids these days are immersed in their phones, tablets, and other technology. However, very few of them know how it all operates. Learning to code gives them an opportunity to have a basic understanding of how the devices we use every day actually work.

Why is it important that we teach our kids programming? Last year there were more than 600,000 high-paying tech jobs across the United States that were unfilled, according to the White House. Beyond that, the Bureau of Labor predicts that there will be over 1 million more jobs than computer science students by 2020.

But this is not just about career development. We do not even know what jobs will exist when our elementary students will be in the workforce 10 or 15 years from now. Introducing our youngest students to coding is teaching them about designing projects, communicating their ideas, and learning strategies for solving problems.

Gone are the days where programming just meant sitting at a computer using a keyboard and mouse to write individual lines of code, by yourself. Now, it is about collaboration, critical thinking, creativity, and communication – all skills that are transferable and sought by most employers.

Our elementary students are programming interactive robots using an iPad. Our middle school students are creating games, solving puzzles, and learning about app development. As one of our fifth graders put it, this is hard to do but fun! They work both individually and in groups, and our often encouraged to showcase their work.

It is also important to not think of coding as a separate subject area, but rather how we can incorporate it into our existing curriculum. While our students are creating games, solving puzzles, and programming robots, they are also meeting curriculum standards in language arts, math, science, and art.

Additionally, coding is about learning how to fail, often over and over again. The beauty of having our students learning code at a young age is that it encourages and supports problem solving and creative expression.

So when a student knows they are so close to getting it right that they simply want to work through it, coding allows them that opportunity until they get it right.

And when they do, they move on to solve the next challenge.

Stevens Point City Times: Programming Their Futures

Pacelli senior Katherine Mueller was named a semifinalist in the 2017 National Merit Scholarship Program.

Pacelli students won the “Fan Face Off” in a head-to-head match up against Loyal.

Panacea 2016 was a huge success, thanks to the many volunteers, attendees, and donors. We can’t wait for next year’s event!

Pacelli seniors Hannah Frane, Katherine Mueller, and Anna Koehl planned and hosted the first annual Cardinal Career Fair with nearly 40 area professionals and higher education institutions present.

Students at St. Stan’s checking out how they measure up to their new neighbor – UWSP’s new science building. We can’t wait to see how you’ve grown at the end of the year!

Pacelli ACT scores soar above state and national averages yet again.

Pacelli’s Andrea Pisarski was featured in the Stevens Point Journal’s “Prep Profile” for her leadership on and off the volleyball court.

Pacelli junior Thomas Basala was named as one of the Stevens Point Journal’s athletes of the week.

Pacelli Catholic Middle Schools’ 8th grade volleyball team recently finished first place in a tournament.

Join the Pacelli Catholic Schools family of students for tailgating after the homecoming parade on Friday, October 7 in the high school parking lot.

Technology, small class sizes, national awards, test scores, Christian values ensure life-changing educational environment for students, community

By Gregg Hansel, Director of Education, Pacelli Catholic Schools

I have been with Pacelli Catholic Schools (PCS) for 33 years. Over that time, some things have really changed.
When I started, there were no computers in the schools.

Our first foray into computers was a bus that would drive up and plug into the school with about twenty Atari computers; many of you may have never heard of that brand! In PC’s today, every classroom has a SMART board for interactive learning. Every student in grades 1-12 has an iPad or Chromebook.

We are one of the first school systems in the state of Wisconsin to teach computer programming in every grade, beginning in kindergarten. Integrating technology into our classrooms enhances the learning tremendously for our students.

Class sizes were large 33 years ago, and students learned together as a whole class. Today, our students have an individual learning plan, based on their gifts and needs. Specialists and programs help students who struggle, to ensure they have the support they need, and students who excel, ensuring they’re continually challenged academically.

Our smaller class sizes allow for individual attention and the ability to educate all children at their level.

Some things, though, I am glad to report, have stayed the same. When I came to Stevens Point in the early 1980s, the academic performance of students in Catholic schools was amazing. Still today, our test scores are some of the highest in the state, as evidenced by the many United States Department of Education National Blue Ribbon School Awards we have earned.

Additionally, ACT scores, which are down in many schools around the state and country, continue to go up at Pacelli High School with an average score of 24.4 last year. Our commitment to ensuring that all students learn and grow as quickly as possible makes a huge difference.

When I came to Stevens Point, it amazed me how affordable Catholic schools were. Today, they are still that way, costing only a few dollars a day. Scholarships and tuition assistance provide tens of thousands of dollars to support families.

The Wisconsin Parental Choice Program, or school choice program, gives families who qualify the opportunity to attend at no cost to them. A summer work-study program helps high school students earn money for tuition. Just as it was 33 years ago, if someone wants to attend Catholic schools, there are many, many ways to make it happen.

The cornerstone of Catholic education, as always, is making sure that our students grow in their faith and love of God. Teaching Christian values and helping our students become strong, active citizens, continues to be a strength of our schools. Students perform thousands of hours of community service each year, making sure that their faith is not just knowledge, but put into action as well.

I am sure that over the next 33 years, education will certainly evolve, probably in ways none of us can imagine.

What we can imagine, and know for sure, is that Pacelli Catholic Schools will continue to provide a strong, faith and values based education with tremendously high academic standards, individualized learning, and cutting-edge techniques and technology.

Some things will change and those changes will ensure that our students will be ready to have many opportunities in life, and be ready to change our community and world for the better.

Stevens Point City Times: A Look at Pacelli Catholic Schools 33 Years Later

Pacelli Catholic High School’s composite ACT scores continue to beat both state and national averages for yet another year. Pacelli’s scores beat the national composite score of 20.8 by 3.6 points and the state composite score of 20.5 by 3.9 points.

Posting a composite ACT score of 24.4 for the 2015-2016 school year, Pacelli students add their high scores to a longstanding tradition of academic excellence, achieving one of the highest scores in the school’s history. Over the past three years, the school’s ACT scores have continued to steadily increase, a sign of continued success in the coming years.

PCHS students and faculty have their sights set on reaching a composite score of 25.0, a score rarely reached by high schools.

 Despite their push for continued academic rigor, Larry Theiss, PCHS Principal, states that the success of Pacelli is so much more than high ACT scores, it is about having a close knit, relational learning environment.

“Our goal at Pacelli isn’t just to score high ACT scores, rather we want to make sure every single student who graduates is ready to be successful,” said Theiss. “As a staff, we focus on the individual needs of each and every student. We pride ourselves on the academic, social, and personal attention we can provide all of our students.”

Parents, too, can see the results of Pacelli’s push for academic success beyond high school.

“The Pacelli students are well prepared for their next move whether it be college or the world of work,” says Terri Kroening, parent of 4 PCHS students. “The teachers have high expectations for each of the students. Everyone is held to a high bar and supported to reach it.”

Over the past three years, the high school staff has developed a curriculum that focus on ACT College Career Readiness Standards.

“As teachers develop their lesson plans, they make sure to align their teaching to what students need after high school,” said Theiss. “Skills that include critical thinking, analysis of information, and ability to apply their learning to complex problems.”

As a result of this culture, Pacelli was recently recognized by ACT as one a top 10% high school in the state for college success.

“Pacelli students are leaving better prepared and ultimately more successful than their peers from other schools,” said Theiss.

Stevens Point City Times: Pacelli ACT Scores Soar Above State, National Averages

Pacelli Catholic Schools (PCS) will expand their computer science program to all students, kindergarten to 12th grade, in the 2016-2017 school year with an emphasis on teaching kids how to code.

“There is a clear need for schools to teach computer science, and, in particular, programming,” said PCS Director of Education Gregg Hansel. “Whatever field our students choose to go into, technology and computational skills will be the foundation of every industry. Our commitment to teaching computer science to our students will ensure our graduates that they can compete for jobs of the future.”

Last year, there were more than 600,000 high-paying tech jobs across the United States that were unfilled, according to the White House. Beyond that, the Bureau of Labor predicts that there will be over 1 million more jobs than computer science students by 2020. Building a foundation at an early age is vital to fulfilling the job needs of the future.

The new program will make Pacelli Catholic Schools a leader in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education. Pacelli Catholic Elementary students in grades K-5 will be introduced to computer science fundamentals involving programming, interactive robots, and unplugged activities.

Pacelli Catholic Middle School will be expanding on their existing 6th grade Computer Science First course by adding additional courses for grades 7 and 8. The middle school currently offers Design & Modeling and Automation & Robotics as well, part of the Project Lead the Way engineering program.

New options at Pacelli Catholic High School will be Introduction to Computer Science and AP Computer Science A (Java). The high school currently offers Computer Science Principles and various other specialized STEM courses in the areas of engineering and biomedical science. A senior capstone course in Computer Science is still in development, which will be aimed at giving students a real-world experience in a professional setting.

“In addition to the student coursework, we have formed partnerships with local businesses, the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, and Mid-State Technical College, to develop and support our Computer Science program,” said PCS Director of Technology Jeff Bushman. “It is an opportunity for our students to connect with industry leaders and higher education institutions, to help shape a path for their future.”

The computer science curriculum is supported by a 1:1 iPad initiative in grades 1 through 8 and a 1:1 Chromebook program for grades 9-12. High-tech computer labs and other classroom technology, such as interactive whiteboards and robots, will also be used in support of the program and have been funded through a grant from the Sentry Insurance Foundation.

Earlier this year, Jeff Bushman was featured as one of Skyward’s 2016 Leaders in Excellence for his leadership in advancing the technology curriculum. A short video, produced by Skyward, further highlighting PCS technology and computer science initiatives, can be found here.

This is an exciting time at Pacelli Catholic Schools as we celebrate our strong past and look forward to our even brighter future. Last summer, we launched a study to gather thoughts and feedback from our parents, alumni, and other community members on the best path for ensuring a successful future for Pacelli Catholic Schools. To those of you that participated, thank you for your thoughtful and meaningful responses. Through that study, we learned of two key areas of importance: 1) the need to enhance our teacher and staff salaries and 2) the importance of renovating and restoring the infrastructure of our schools.

This fall, we launched the silent phase of our Pride in Our Past…Faith in Our Future capital campaign to achieve those two key goals. Through the sacrifices and generosity of many, I’m happy to report that we’ve currently raised over $1.8 million towards our overall goal of $3.2 million.

In the coming weeks, you’ll be receiving more information about our projects and goals, but most importantly, you’ll have the opportunity to make your own sacrificial and meaningful gift to Pacelli Catholic Schools.

We are excited to announce that we have a tremendous challenge opportunity from a very generous donor who will match 50 cents on every dollar up to $1 million. If we’re successful in meeting this challenge, we will have added $1.5 million to our campaign total. This is a great time to make a gift with maximum, lasting impact as it will be increased by 50%.

If you’re looking for additional information before it arrives in the mail, click here to review our campaign case statement or call the central office at 715.341.2445 and we’re happy to answer any questions you might have about the projects or making a gift.

I encourage you to take some time reading through the materials that you’ll receive, and prayerfully consider supporting this crucial campaign to ensure that Pacelli Catholic Schools will continue to remain strong for generations of students to come. Your sacrificial gift, in any amount, will make an important difference in this campaign and will leave a lasting legacy.

Thank you for your consideration of our gift request and may God continue to bless you and your family.

Gratefully,

Gregg Hansel
Director of Education