Hush please folks - we're in the presence of royalty. My friend Mike is famous!! You can check out his photos here: http://public.fotki.com/LesTension/


Read on:

"Elkhart Lake-Glenbeulah High School earns national recognition for excellence

Modest resources no barrier to first-rate education

By Doug Carroll
Sheboygan Press staff


ELKHART LAKE — With 161 students and 18 teachers --- and only a half-dozen of those teachers on campus full time — Elkhart Lake-Glenbeulah High School is like the small-market sports franchise that somehow finds a way to win.


Take Bill Rathman and Mike McGill. For years, the two of them were the science department at the school. And now, in retirement, they have stayed on to teach morning classes because, frankly, they love it and can't imagine doing anything else.


"When I was in high school and had older teachers, I thought, 'When are these guys going to get out of here?'" Rathman, 68, said with a laugh. "We tell the students that if they don't think we're doing a good job, let us know."


But what's not to like about the "nature of science" class co-taught by Rathman and McGill, 64, for the last four years? Students might find themselves on bikes, heading out to do tree identification or sailing kites as part of a lesson on the principles of flight. It's a practical-application class for juniors and seniors, and there's a waiting list to get in.


"It's meant to be as outdoors as we can make it," said Rathman, who also teaches physics. McGill also teaches advanced biology.


The two teachers are an example of what a small, dedicated staff can accomplish without the resources of larger schools and districts. Elkhart Lake-Glenbeulah's success was noted earlier this month when a dozen New North high schools were recognized with a bronze medal for educational excellence by U.S. News & World Report magazine.


New North Inc. is a collaboration of 18 counties, including Sheboygan County, focused on economic development in northeast Wisconsin.


"Northeast Wisconsin is known for its great schools, and this provides further evidence of that," Jerry Murphy, New North's executive director, said of the recognition.


Elkhart Lake-Glenbeulah High is the little school that could.


It's small enough that its second-year principal, John Quella, also teaches business and a number of its teachers split time between the high school and the elementary school next door.


The school choir has only 17 members – all girls – and director Barb Zirwes sometimes has to rewrite music accordingly.


"With the smaller numbers, kids don't get lost in the shuffle," said Zirwes, in her 22nd year of teaching at the school. "I can give them the instruction I really want to give them. I tell them, 'You can sound like 17 members or you can sound like 40.'"


The school has benefited from a mix of veteran teachers and former students who have returned to teach.


"When I first started teaching in 1963, schools were expanding because of the baby boom," Rathman said. "Within a seven-year span, a faculty was hired here that stayed in place for almost 40 years. That closeness built the core curriculum."


Quella acknowledged that the school, which peaked at almost 300 students in the early 1980s, is at a disadvantage in the amount of elective courses (such as Advanced Placement) that it can offer. Yet its one-subject, one-teacher structure has turned out to be a blessing in disguise.


"We have to say, 'For this subject, this is the teacher,'" Quella said. "But we're fortunate that that teacher does a really nice job."


Nancy Raeder, a 1968 graduate who came back in 1990 to teach math after raising a family, said close contact with students is part of the allure for her.


"It helps you keep track of them," Raeder said. "The educational opportunities are here. We just have to do things differently sometimes."


Tom Wagner, the principal at the elementary school, has worked for the district for 33 years and said the personal touch can't be overstated.


"Everybody knows everybody," he said. "A student is less apt to fall through the cracks. There's a sense of ownership, that these are everybody's schools. I think we even have less vandalism because of that."


Parents and businesses routinely step up to supply support. At the high school, donations from the community have included a computer lab and a gymnasium renovation. A local judge visited recently to oversee a mock trial, and a police officer and pilot also have lent their expertise to the classroom.


"We have doctors and lawyers and engineers all over the country who are from this school," Rathman said. "I think we do a beautiful job of preparing students for college. I love to brag about our school."


A leisurely life of tee times in Florida or Arizona apparently isn't for him.


"Working with youth keeps your mind young," Rathman said. "Teachers who've retired don't have the broad interests of those who are still in it.


"One thing you give up here is getting away from the winters. But I love the winters. They don't bother me at all. This is a really cool area to live in. The summertime activity picks up and then the winter gives you time to relax."

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