The students in the metal fabrication class made rocket stoves from scratch. They also built grill and pizza oven attachments. We fired them all up on Friday and made lunch. Participating builders were Isaac Nelson, Bairen Lhost and Gio Mercier. “Guest chefs” were Sean Neal and Jacob Virlee.
This winter, Gibraltar has been piloting its very own Esports Club! The Wisconsin High School Esports Association offers three seasons (Fall, Winter, Spring) and two games or titles per season. Our students are currently competing in Fortnite and Rocket League. Fortnite is a 3rd person battle royale style game in which players attempt to eliminate other players from the map until one player or team is remaining. Rocket League is a 3v3 soccer game with vehicles instead of players. Cars have the ability to use rocket boosts to hit the ball into their opponent's goal and score points over the match.
The goals of esports are to redefine athletic culture by fostering inclusivity and teamwork while diversifying opportunities for student participation beyond traditional sports. Esports aims to increase collegiate and career pathways by developing valuable skills in STEM and Media/Broadcasting, promote good mental and physical health through balanced routines, and honor the importance of play as a means of personal growth and social connection.
All students interested in participating should seek Mr. Winker in the Technology Dept. Any parents or community members interested in volunteering and working with the club can reach out to Mr. DeBroux!
8th Graders went to NWTC to learn about Youth Apprenticeships and Registered Apprenticeships, including hands-on activities with local businesses.
The sixth-grade English classes spoke with the first grade about their current book "The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind". They showed the children’s version to the first graders and talked about inventions and changing the world by designing solutions to critical problems.
On January 8, Mr. Scoville took students on an unforgettable journey through the universe from the comfort and security of the mural gym. The portable, inflatable planetarium dazzled our budding astronomers as they were taken on a tour of the solar system.
Students entered the dome and were introduced to a "star-filled" sky. The navigator, with the use of a digital planetarium projector and a laser pointer, guided students through the stars of the Northern Hemisphere exactly as they appeared on the day of the presentation.
Students learned how to identify every planet in our solar system in dramatic "flights" towards each world. They were introduced to Greek mythological characters and saw how these heroes of the past can be found in the stars. Students witnessed the night sky in different seasons and from different global perspectives.
Mr. Scoville reports, "Big smiles and thumbs up is what I got as kids exited. I think it was a success."
THESE ARE SO COOL!
Volumetric Fabrication AKA “The Cardboard Sculpture Project”
Form and Design w/ Mr. Hatch
Participating Builders
Aaronn Greene - Screwdriver
Bella Jones - Staple Remover
Tommy Macias- 3 Prong Plug
Bobby Opper - Lego Figure
McCartney Schwab - Hair Clip
Yahir Valdivia- 2 Prong Plug
Project Description
As we have seen, things in our 3-Dimensional world occupy space. This space is defined by mass and volume, but not all closed forms are solid and dense. Many structural forms are skinned by various materials. This allows for a lighter, hollow form. The integrity of such structures are dependent on an armature to achieve their form and strength. These structural elements may be as simple as curved planes or ribs, and as complicated as reinforced gussets or bridgework.
Using this building technique you will create a, proportionally correct, reproduction of a small, complex hand held object. The object should possess interesting characteristics of mass, plane, contour and void. You must fabricate the form in corrugated cardboard to a scale of 60" minimum in one dimension. As needed, create the form by developing an inner structure, or armature, to achieve convex / concave planes and complicated volumes. Pay close attention to subtle angles, contours and linear changes.
Learning Objectives
1. Gain a better understanding of Scale, Structure,Mass, Plane, Void, Contour.
2. Demonstrated mathematical ratios to proportionally and correctly “scale up” your objects.
3. Demonstrate a high degree of craftsmanship.
4. Become proficient in creating (hollow) volumetric forms. In other words, take a planar (flat), material and transform it into a 3-D object.
5. Learn how this sculptural technique can be applied to other materials and used in advanced projects.
This project is designed to be a springboard into the sculptural welding project in Metals 1.
To expand our efforts and recognize middle school students for kind acts, staff members are given the opportunity to nominate a student for “Middle School Student Caught Being Kind” recognition each month. Our Secondary PBIS Team reviews the nominations and selects one student act of kindness witnessed each month. Our November “Caught Being Kind” student is Jacksun Penchoff!
#gibraltarsecondaryschools #kindness #gibraltarpeerleaders
On Wednesday, December 18, some recent Gibraltar Grads came back to share about their experience so far after high school. Seniors submitted their questions ahead of time and the panel of graduates answered them! Big thanks to the grads for giving their time to the seniors!
A few pictures from the Elementary Music Concert!
Bowling News! Meet #3
Gibraltar was defeated by Algoma 5 to 4. The team had some high games of 120 and 119. 6 out of 9 games were lost by 10 pins or less! their match was very close all day.
Top performer for the day was Alex Shepit. He had 9 strikes, 5 spares and 4 opens.
Alex Shepit and Elizabeth Shepit are both leading the conference in individual stats.
Next meet is Thursday, December 12th, 4:30 PM at Apple Valley Lanes. Come cheer on your fellow Vikings.
Gibraltar Bowlers are 1-2.
Trisha Heldmann
In a world where students with outstanding academic achievements or success in athletics are consistently recognized through awards such as honor roll or conference/team awards, we often hear people say, “What about the kind students?” At Gibraltar, we certainly value kindness and believe that it is one of our core values as a secondary school. As such, our HS Peer Leaders and PBIS committee nominate a "Kind Student of the Month" who has access to a pristine parking spot in our lot for one month. This year, we thank our friends at The Thirsty Cow who are offering a free burger to our Kind Student of the Month! Juniors and seniors are considered for nomination. Our December Kind Student of the Month is Delaney Fitzgerald!
Instructor Hatch shares: Woods 1 has finished its first two projects, Cutting Board and Box with Lid. This intro group has focused on demonstrating
1. safe and efficient use of all woodshop equipment.
2. ability to transform raw materials into finished products that can be assessed
based on accepted utilitarian or esthetic standards
3. problem-solving and revision to improve project quality.
Participating students. Ethan Becker, Aaron Brey, Ryan DeMeuse, Nolan
Gieseler, Kaleb Hummel , Richard Marvin, Halyn Rasmusson, Yahir
Valdivia
Saturday night Gibraltar’s Varsity Letter Club made their annual trip to a Bucks game. They really are a great group of kids who work hard to manage academics and athletics, so this was a deserved outing. We even had a few kids from Washington Island, Sevastopol, Sturgeon Bay, and De Pere join us.
GIBRALTAR ONE ACT MAINTAINS WINNING STREAK!
Even though they performed at 8:00am, and had to be there at 7am, the cast of Almost Maine showed an almost full audience an amazing show! They received the Ensemble Award, the Technical A,ward the Director’s Award and the Critics Choice Award. In addition, two Acting Awards were awarded to B Salmi-Klotz and Kai Nordahl! Congratulations to the entire cast and directors Lizz and Kurt Thomas!
BOWLING GETS ROLLING!
The Gibraltar Bowling Team is back and they got to don their cool new uniforms in their first competition! We'll check in with them on how the first event went, so stay tuned!
Packerland Leadership and Sportsmanship Summit
Twelve Gibraltar students attended a renewal of the Packerland Conference Sportsmanship Summit at NEW Lutheran on Wednesday of this week with Mrs. Tanck and Principal DeBroux. They heard speakers who spoke about building a community of Sportsmanship and Mental Health as it relates to athletic competition. Our kids are on the lower right... hard to miss Sean and Gio staring at each other!
Every year, over 1,000 of the most talented middle school musicians in Wisconsin audition for the 313 limited positions in the Wisconsin School Music Association’s (WSMA) Middle Level State Honors Music Project. This year, four of the students selected came from Gibraltar Middle School in Fish Creek. “I’ve got less than 40 kids in the high school band, and being able to say four of them are going to state honors is an incredibly rare and really special thing,” said Alexandrea Zwiefelhofer, the new Gibraltar band director who began this school year. French horn player Olive Wisnewski, trombone player Blake Ouradnik and trumpet player Mia Glocke all were selected for the state honors orchestra. Clarinet player Katja Nelson was selected for the state honors band.
The Middle Level State Honors Project brings students from across the state together to perform with guest conductors at the Wisconsin State Music Conference. There is both an honors band and an honors orchestra, and the program has existed the entire three decades that Charlie Eckhart – former Gibraltar Band Director who retired at the end of last year – worked as director. On average, one or two students from Gibraltar make it into the program each year, he said, but this year stands out with four of the six Gibraltar students who auditioned making it in.
4th grade is starting Pen Pals with Kaija Johnson’s class in Appleton! To practice letter writing the students received a gift from a fictional Great Aunt Gertrude. We tied in our character trait for the month ‘gratitude’ and students had to express how grateful they were for the unusual gifts and explain how they would use them in a thank-you letter.
GIBRALTAR ONE ACT ON TO STATE!
Director Thomas Announces, "Gibraltar’s amazing One Act troupe is making the 19th Trip to The State Theatre Festival at UW Milwaukee November 21-23. The judges gave them great feedback. They said our actors were very impressive and the best seen both days!"
Come for the 6:30pm send-off and see ALMOST MAINE on Tuesday, November 19th at the Door Community Auditorium.
Gibraltar 8th Graders have been in Washington DC all week! Their travels have taken them to the Iwo Jima Memorial, the gravesite of an Ephraim resident, (the 30' obelisk light at Anderson Dock is a memorial to him) the Nations Capital preparing the inaugural stage, and Ford's Theatre where Lincoln was shot. The students presented a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington and one of the student's great, great, great grandpa's wood carvings is on display in DC! It is from Albert Zahn, the Baileys Harbor Birdman, Bird Park, on Highway 57. We always appreciate the all the hard work that goes into this annual learning experience by Advisor Mike Scoville.
