#PointerNation News

There's a buzz in the air! For the second year in a row, Ella Horsfall is our Mineral Point Middle School Spelling Bee Champion! Carter Finley is Runner-Up!

Congrats to all participants: Ella Horsfall, Carter Finley, Jude Langreck, Ellie Busch, Avalee Langreck, Ezra Wilson, Audrey Coyier, Ella Runde, Kylie Knauer, Eli Bergstrom, Holden Smith, Ted Schwartz, Parker Wilson, EJ Chapman, Eli James, Arrow Greenwood, Calum Brunson, Jaden Cassidy, and Ivan Hohler.

Ella will compete at the East Sectional Spelling scheduled for Wednesday, February 5 at the Southwest Technical College Auditorium in Fennimore. Carter will be the alternate. Best wishes!

“I think I have discovered the highest good. It is love.” Monday marks the observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day and our students have been busy learning about Dr. King and his legacy!

“The greatest birthday gift my husband could receive is if people of all racial and ethnic backgrounds celebrated the holiday by performing individual acts of kindness through service to others.” - Coretta Scott King

Congratulations to Mineral Point FFA Chapter Secretary Payton Heins who has been named a recipient of a National FFA Supervised Agricultural Experience grant! Payton will use the grant to help expand her Boer Goat operation.

(Photo by Madisyn Heim)

Congrats to our musicians selected for the Wisconsin Concert Band Association's Senior High All-State Band -- Josie Dunn, Nolen Fox, and Finn Renwick -- along with Colette Dunn in the Junior High All-State Band! Membership in the band signifies a level of achievement that places these student musicians in the top percentile among all student musicians in our state. The concert was held Saturday, January 18 at UW-Whitewater.

Congrats and good luck to our musicians participating in the SWAL Conference Honors Choir this Saturday, January 25 at Iowa-Grant! The concert will begin at 4 pm and you are welcome to attend. Cost is $5.

-- High School: Emilee Birchall, Addison Christopher, Keyara Collins, Miley Coniber, Emily Heisner, Beth Jewell, Eli Klein, Anthony Luu, Lilly Murn, Emme Oellerich, Finn Renwick, Taitin Riley, Madelyn Steffes, Lila Thousand.

-- Middle School: Isaiah Birchall, Colette Dunn, Freya Grettie-Belling, Lilly Heisner, Rachel Heisner, Ella Horsfall, Avalee Langreck, Scarlett Raab.

Please take a few minutes to view our latest Measures that Matter report card for the high school! We have many things to take pride in as we continue to prepare our Pointers for whatever path they choose following graduation: https://mineralpointschools.org/wp-content/uploads/Mineral-Point-Measures-that-Matter-Report-Card-2024-Updated.pdf

Mrs. McGuire's Kindergarten class read a few versions of the Ukrainian folktale, "The Mitten." As a little boy loses his mitten, the animals decide to take refuge from the cold in the mitten. We were lucky to borrow the big mitten from the Mineral Point Public Library so students could act out the story and have fun!

4K also had fun reading "The Mitten!" They pretended the mitten was the tunnel and the children were the animals climbing inside to stay warm -- that is until the mouse landed on the bear's nose and tickled him with his whiskers causing him to sneeze. After that, all of the animals went flying!

1st Graders traveled to Antarctica in the South Pole! They learned about the adaptations penguins have to survive the even colder temperatures down there.

Our high school artists are seeing stars! Color me Celebrity: Students selected a celebrity, traced their main facial features, and then chose to work with warm or cool color values and tones.

One of our amazing volunteers, Mrs. Terrill, celebrated her special 70th Birthday this week with some of her favorite kiddos in Mrs. McDonald's Kindergarten Class!

History made! At Monday night's Dodgeville/Mineral Point/Iowa-Grant/Highland Gymnastics meet at Platteville/Belmont/Lancaster, our co-op team set two new school/program records:

-- Varsity Team Score 138.95 (previous record set last season at 137.475)

-- Maddy Klein (Iowa-Grant) Uneven Bars 9.225

You can check out the high-flying action for yourself this coming Monday, January 20 in Dodgeville vs. Southwestern/Cuba City/Benton/Darlington at 6 pm.

Keep it up!

Article and video from Monday's School Board meeting is now available here: https://mineralpointschools.org/2025/01/january-school-board-notes-votes/

Last week was Winter Sports Officials Appreciation Week! Let’s give a big hand to those WIAA licensed officials who have, or yet will, officiate our home Mineral Point and Dodge-Point high school athletic contests this winter. We are grateful!

BOYS & GIRLS BASKETBALL

Tom Ackerman, Aaron Bender, Ryan Bochardt, Curtis Calnin, Chris Carr, Taylor Devalk, Shelley Dietz, Jeffrey Fellenzer, Everett Fenwick, Rob Ferraro, Devin Feryance, John Fullerton, Scott Garthwaite, Adam Haas, Jon Hegge, Addison Hensler, Craig Hodgson, Nate Hottmann, Bill Ingram, Brian James, Dave Jameson, Noah Johnson, Kevin Kitelinger, Brandon Klein, Blaine Krantz, Ted Lawinger, Ryan McGranahan, Pat McIntyre, Kent Miehe, Randy Montgomery, James Muller, Nicholas Neds, Trevor Nichols, Dean Oscar, Michael Pfeil, Nathan Ranguette, Andrew Riechers, Rob Schultz, Jeff Simmons, Tyler Simmons, Mitchell Tordoff, Larry Tranel, Alexander Vitanye, Mike Wagner, Zack Watson.

GYMNASTICS

Kimberly Adams, Olga Beer, Gabrielle Brosius, Teri Creighton, Karen Doll, Kristin Galle, Kari Gornik, Becky Grilley, Carrie Anne Kraus, Brenna Lutter, Brooke Von Glahn.

WRESTLING

Jason Benrud, Riley Cade, Don Dilaura, Adam Guthrie, Wayne Keenan, John Kjos, Robert Lindeman, Caden Lindner, Mason McCauley, Mark Parrott, Bradley Raasch, Logan Schmitz, Gary Sullivan, Neal Stake, Cord Yager.

This week's Throwback Thursday #TBT -- this photo was taken 10 years ago this week in the Elementary School's Don Hawkins Oak Savanna. How lucky we are to have this space. Beautiful in all seasons!

The sixth annual Mineral Point Basketball Hall of Fame induction will take place this Saturday, January 25 during the home boys game vs. Belleville!

JV will begin at 1 pm and the ceremony will take place between the JV and Varsity contests.

Kudos to our inductees -- Carolyn (Kinch) Bossert, Matt Lindsey, Bill Mitchell, Claire Poad, and Scott Terrill: https://mineralpointschools.org/2024/04/sixth-basketball-hall-of-fame-class-selected/

Dinner is served! Join the Music Boosters Tuesday, January 28 for a delicious spaghetti supper! Serving goes from 4:30-7:30 pm in the middle/high school cafeteria. Fill up before the home Boys Basketball game vs. Dodgeville. Cost is $10 for adults, $5 for children 11 and under.

Pointer grads! Check out the Edwin E. and Janet L. Bryant Foundation, Inc. Scholarship Program, which will be accepting applications online.

Eligible applicants must:

- Be current postsecondary undergraduates or high school graduates. Applicants must have at least a high school diploma or GED certificate. Current high school students are not eligible to apply.

- Planning to enroll or currently enrolled in part-time or full-time undergraduate study at an accredited two-year or four-year college, university or vocational-technical school for the entire academic year.

- Be a student who previously attended or graduated from one of the following Wisconsin high schools: Arcadia, Black River Falls, Bloomer, Mineral Point, Montello, Neillsville, Riverdale, Stoughton, Viroqua, Wautoma.

To learn more about the scholarship program and access the online application visit, https://learnmore.scholarsapply.org/bryantfoundation/

Application deadline is April 15, 2025 3 pm CT

#PointerNation events coming up this week -- join us! (Please note these schedules are always subject to change)

Monday, January 20
-- No classes: Staff Professional Development/Work Day
-- Gymnastics vs. Southwestern/Cuba City/Benton/Darlington 6 pm. Livestream: https://www.youtube.com/@DodgevilleSchoolDistrict

Tuesday, January 21

-- No classes: Extreme Cold
-- Girls Basketball at Cuba City (JV 6 pm, Varsity to follow). Radio: 93.7 fm and 106.1 fm. Livestream: https://www.youtube.com/@queenbradiosports and https://fan.hudl.com/usa/wi/cuba-city/organization/17560/cuba-city-high-school
-- POSTPONED TBA: MS Girls Basketball vs. Cuba City
-- CANCELED: MS Wrestling at Dodgeville 4:30 pm

Wednesday, January 22
-- Early Release 2 pm (every Wednesday)

Thursday, January 23
-- JV & Varsity Wrestling at Lodi vs. Middleton & Sugar River 5 pm. Livestream: https://www.nfhsnetwork.com/schools/lodi-high-school-lodi-wi/Wrestling
-- Boys Basketball at Boscobel (JV 6 pm, Varsity to follow). Livestream: https://fan.hudl.com/usa/wi/boscobel/organization/19663/boscobel-high-school
-- MS Girls Basketball at Platteville 4 pm

Friday, January 24
-- Girls Basketball vs. Riverdale (JV 6 pm, Varsity to follow). Livestream: https://www.youtube.com/@mptvpointers
Digital tickets (cash still accepted at door): https://gofan.co/app/school/WI13618
Digital program: bit.ly/mpdigitalprogram

Saturday, January 25
-- Boys Basketball vs. Belleville (JV 1 pm, Varsity to follow) -- Hall of Fame ceremony (Carolyn Kinch Bossert, Matt Lindsey, Bill Mitchell, Claire Poad, Scott Terrill). Livestream: https://www.youtube.com/@mptvpointers
Digital tickets (cash still accepted at door): https://gofan.co/app/school/WI13618
Digital program: bit.ly/mpdigitalprogram
-- Middle/High School SWAL Honors Choir concert at Iowa-Grant 4 pm
-- JV State Wrestling at Wausau West 9 am
-- Varsity Wrestling at Wausau East 9:30 am

Please be aware of other companies claiming to livestream our games, especially if there are links different than posted above and ask for credit card and personal information -- these are scams. We will update this pinned post as available livestream information is relayed to us.

"Grounded by our history as one of the oldest publicly supported schools in Wisconsin, Mineral Point Unified School District is the heart of a small community that educates and inspires our students for a bright future in a big world."

Email: joelle.doye@mp.k12.wi.us
Website: mineralpointschools.org
Location: 705 Ross Street, Mineral Point, WI, USA
Phone: (608) 987-0740
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MineralPointSchoolDistrict