Education Notes: ‘Why Can’t They Just Get Along?’

Sevastopol – Sevastopol High School freshmen take an annual trip to the theater to see authors’ works come to life, but that didn’t happen last year. So this winter, ninth-graders, as well as the sophomores who missed out on the field trip last year, all watched the most recent version of West Side Story at the cinema in Sturgeon Bay.

Freshman Addison Schauske said she looked forward to seeing how scenes and themes from Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet relate to the film.

English teacher Sarah Muraski said the sophomores delve more into cinematic themes than her class will, but her ninth-graders should learn about race, family, neighborhood strife and other timeless themes of real life. 

“We’ve pulled all kinds of themes out of this, like the impetuousness of teenagers and how if you make decisions without really thinking about things, things can go horribly wrong,” Muraski said. “The other thing they’re going to get out of it is, when you have two groups of people who are fighting over something, it permeates everything. One of the things the kids kept saying throughout Romeo and Juliet is, ‘Why do these families keep fighting? Why are they at each other’s throats? Why can’t they just get along?’”

Firm Gets to Work on Search for Gibraltar Superintendent

Gibraltar – The Gibraltar School District’s board voted this week to increase the number of school administrators from three to four next year and named Hazard Young Attea Associates as the search firm to find a new superintendent. Current Superintendent Tina Van Meer is retiring effective June 30.

The district will have a superintendent and high school principal/activities director – the same as this year – but will have separate positions for elementary school principal and pupil services director.

Pat Neudecker, a Gibraltar High School graduate, Door County resident and longtime superintendent in Wisconsin; and Sarah Jerome, who compiled 23 years of experience as a superintendent and 46 in total as an educator, will lead the superintendent search for the Schaumburg, Illinois-based firm. 

During the next few weeks, the search firm will begin compiling information from the community, board members, board candidates and focus groups, then create a posting, come up with a slate of candidate names and provide board members with information on all candidates. The firm will also schedule interviews and conduct background checks on the finalists before the board completes the hiring of its superintendent in mid-May.