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Bulletin Board 3/6/2025

Thursday, March 6, 2025

Bulletin Board

Welcome to the ConnectEd Bulletin Board!

This is the place to find opportunities for further professional development, grant and awards opportunities, and much more!

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Upcoming Awareness Events

  • Music, Art, Dance, and Theatre in Our Schools Month
  • National Nutrition Month
  • March 2 - 8, 2025: National School Social Work Week
  • March 3 - 7, 2025: National School Breakfast Week
  • March 16 - 22, 2025: Child and Adult Care Food Program Week

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Thank You School Social Workers!
This National School Social Work Week is a time to recognize and appreciate the profound impact our school social workers have on our school communities throughout Wisconsin. They tirelessly provide emotional support, advocacy, leadership, and resources that enhance our students’ academic and personal growth.

Join us in expressing our deepest gratitude for Wisconsin school social workers and their dedication and commitment. It’s through their efforts that we see the true spirit of Wisconsin shine—supportive, inclusive, and always striving for the best in each student. Thank you, school social workers!

See the DPI National School Social Work Week proclamation. Learn more about the scope and role of school social workers at our School Social Work webpage.

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The Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program (FFVP) application is now open
The FFVP provides an opportunity for elementary students to try unique fresh fruits and vegetables that they might not otherwise get to taste. This exposure increases students’ fruit and vegetable consumption and positively impacts their health. For more information on the program, eligibility, and the application process, please visit https://dpi.wi.gov/school-nutrition/programs/fresh-fruit-vegetable. The application will close on April 11, 2025. 

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Congratulations to KidWind Challenge Winners!
We are so proud of all Wisconsin students who competed in wind and solar challenges during the Wisconsin KidWind Challenge in Madison on March 1. Twenty-eight student teams tested their designs with the winning teams invited to the 2025 World KidWind Challenge in Arizona in May.

  • Best Overall Instant Challenge: Middleton Wind Whiskers
  • Spirit of Wisconsin KidWind: St. Thomas Power of Wind
  • Innovation Award: Onalaska OnaOhms
  • 1st place for Elementary Solar: Driftless Dynamos
  • 1st place for Middle School Solar: Sugar Maple Wildfire
  • 1st place for Elementary Wind: Sugar Maple Wind Whisperers
  • 2nd place for Elementary Wind: Darlington Storm Winds
  • 1st place for Middle School Wind: Darlington TEHK
  • 2nd place for Middle School Wind: Darlington Solar Winds
  • 3rd place for Middle School Wind: Darlington Redbird Ryders
  • 1st place for High School Wind: Mauston Sigma

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Roadmap For School Mental Health Improvement Video Available Now
The Wisconsin DPI Roadmap for School Mental Health Improvement video, features Wisconsin educators describing how they have used a continuous improvement process to build and sustain comprehensive school mental health systems (CSMHS). Share it with your colleagues, administrators, school board members and families.

The Roadmap for School Mental Health Improvement provides a vision for building more equitable, comprehensive, integrated, and formalized systems for promoting well-being in schools. It is designed to help Wisconsin schools improve their CSMHS, regardless of a school or district’s current school mental health infrastructure. Aligned with the Wisconsin School Mental Health Framework, the Roadmap provides a structured, continuous improvement process that moves schools from understanding key building blocks of a CSMHS to taking meaningful action. The Roadmap’s five stages – Commitment, Assessment, Planning, Implementation, and Reflection – guide teams in making small, sustainable changes that lead to system-wide improvements. Visit the Roadmap for School Mental Health Improvement webpage to learn more about the Roadmap and related tools.

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Environmental Education Opportunities
Thursday, March 6, 4-5 PM learn about how the Green Schools Consortium of Milwaukee transforms schoolyards from asphalt to ecosystems. Register

Sign up for the Midwest Outdoor Heritage Education Expo (MOHEE)
May 8th, 2025 at Havenwoods State Forest; Milwaukee
May 14 & May 15, 2025 at the MacKenzie Center; Poynette

The Midwest Outdoor Heritage Education Expo presented by The Outdoor Heritage Education Center is an annual FREE field trip for grades 4-7th. It is a perfect opportunity to extend learning and help students Connect, Explore, and Engage in the outdoors before the school year comes to an end. Students can explore mentored programs so they can develop outdoor skills and enjoy lifelong outdoor activities. Connect with educators, trained safety instructors and other volunteer mentors who provide an enriching and engaging experience connecting students to Wisconsin’s natural resources, outdoor heritage and lifelong skills.

For more information or to register, visit the OHEC website.

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Save the Date: Summer Institute Transforming Systems for Innovation
June 23-26, 2025 - Lowenwood Education Center in Land O' Lakes, WI

The DPI is sponsoring our second Summer Innovation Institute to provide guidance and support to districts. Hands-on activities, sessions, discussions, and networking will be provided to discover and develop pathways to innovation.
Continuous support for implementation will be provided throughout the 2025-26 school year via online sessions.

Share the Save the Date or the webpage with your networks!

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FAFSA Student Filing Status Available in WISEdash for Districts
Access to the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) completion status for 12th graders is now available in WISEdash for Districts. The U.S. Department of Education gives states limited access to student level FAFSA application status data which allows designated staff (e.g., school counselors) and homeless liaisons to support students with filing the FAFSA. District FAFSA Data Sharing Agreements are required to access the data. An agreement needs to be submitted once to DPI and does not need to be resubmitted each year.

Below are resources to assist with submitting a Data Sharing Agreement and accessing the FAFSA filing status data.

District FAFSA Data Sharing Agreement
FAFSA Data Sharing Agreement for Districts Module
FAFSA Data Sharing Agreement Quick Guide
FAFSA Data Sharing Agreement PowerPoint
WISEdash FAFSA How to Guide

As of mid-January, 22% of Wisconsin seniors filed a FAFSA, down from the same time last year and below the national average of 23%. Additional resources to support students with completing the FAFSA and realizing their post-secondary plans, can be found on the DPI FAFSA webpage. The FAFSA Student Assistance Resources provides support to students as they navigate the FAFSA application and filing process. College Goal Wisconsin FAFSA Completion Events are being hosted on site and virtually. Students are encouraged to attend an event being hosted at their school or in a neighboring district.

Please reach out to Andréa Donegan, School Counseling Consultant at andrea.donegan@dpi.wi.gov, with questions about the Data Sharing Agreement or available FAFSA resource.

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PBS Wisconsin Education Series Features Dungeons and Dragons
PBS Wisconsin Education is thrilled to share season two of The Look Back, a digital series that explores eras from Wisconsin history through artifacts—including a Dungeons and Dragons booklet from the role-playing game’s Wisconsin birthplace!

The collection, created for students in grades 4-6, features short episodes hosted by Wisconsin-based historians who share artifacts, ask questions, visit Wisconsin archives and museums, and make connections to our lives today. The most recent episode, Dice in the Dairyland: The History of Dungeons & Dragons, examines the origin story of Dungeons & Dragons right here in Wisconsin. From the first printing of the Dungeons & Dragons booklet in January 1974 to the beloved game played around the world, the hosts in this episode take educators and learners to Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, as they learn about the history of the game, with plenty of role-play along the way.

Other artifacts featured so far this season include an airway beacon tower from the Kelch Aviation Museum; the Pottawatomie Lighthouse in Door County; tall-tale postcards that made the Midwest look plentiful; and circus artifacts from Circus World in Baraboo.

Explore The Look Back for free online at pbswisconsineducation.org/lookback/about/.

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Update: Support and Resources for Navigating Recent Executive Orders on Immigration
Information shared via the DPI EdLeaders Dispatch on January 24, 2025

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Wisconsin Title 1 Association Spring Conference 2025
April 3 · 8am - April 4 · 2:30pm CDT
45 Hillman Road, Wisconsin Dells

The Wisconsin Title 1 Association (WT1A) is a dedicated group of educators committed to promoting and enhancing the quality of  Title 1 programs throughout the state of Wisconsin.  The group is comprised of educational professionals from all corners of the state who are concerned with children who have learning difficulties. A conference is held each spring to keep members current on developments in the field and to share the latest state and federal updates.

For more information and to register, click here. 

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Act 20 Model Promotion Policy Released
Under Wisconsin Act 20, local education agencies must adopt a third- to fourth-grade promotion policy that takes into account students’ reading proficiency. DPI was required to provide districts with a model policy by January 31, 2024. Representatives from L&M team collaborated with members of a cross divisional workgroup to develop the model policy by the statutorily-set deadline.

The model promotion policy, which can be accessed on the WI Reads, Promotion Policy webpage, encourages districts to work with families to make decisions about promotion on a case-by-case basis and to emphasize reading supports rather than retention. It also provides guidance related to the good cause exception that the law allows to the retention policy for students who are multilingual learners and students with IEPs.

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Wisconsin Chili Lunch
Celebrate Wisconsin-grown foods and farm to institution efforts by joining the 2025 Wisconsin Chili Lunch. Join K-12 schools, early care and education programs, hospitals, colleges, and more by cooking and serving a chili recipe made with local ingredients on National Chili Day—Thursday, February 27, 2025!

The goal of the Wisconsin Chili Lunch is to create strong connections between Wisconsin farmers and eaters and demonstrate how organizations can serve Wisconsin-grown foods - even in winter. This statewide chili lunch event inspires nutritious school and early care meals and supports farm to institution initiatives throughout the state while encouraging year-round purchases of local foods.

Participation is simple: Prepare and serve your Wisconsin Chili Lunch using as many locally grown ingredients as possible! Add local meats, cheese, or yogurt! Serve it in a bowl, on a baked potato, or with a cinnamon roll! Use a recipe listed on the Wisconsin Chili Lunch website or cook up your own favorite recipe. Register today to get the Chili Lunch Guide, supply chain help, more recipes and get connected to other farm to institution efforts in the state.

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Save the Date: Cultivating Connections: A Wellness and Farm to School Summit
The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction-School Nutrition Team is excited to announce Cultivating Connections: A Wellness and Farm to School Summit.

Who: Anyone interested in school wellness and farm to school, such as school wellness leaders, school nutrition staff, farmers, educators, and farm to school advocates.
What: Two-day summit featuring a local foods vendor show and educational sessions on innovative strategies that promote student health and knowledge of local food systems through educator engagement, policy implementation, and partnership opportunities.
When: August 5 and 6, 2025
Where: Chula Vista Resort, Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin

More information and registration links to come! 

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Apply for a Homegrown Grant from Herb Kohl Philanthropies
Homegrown Grant proposals should focus on helping children and youth achieve their potential through education, building family well-being, helping families and individuals become financially stable and self-sufficient, or providing a direct, safety net resource or basic need. Collaboration with local partners is encouraged. The proposal or organization must:

  • Invest in people - increase skills, abilities, knowledge, and/or well-being
  • Engage people it serves
  • Strengthen community connections and/or resources

Homegrown Grants of up to $5,000/year should be considered one-time grants. The Homegrown Grant Committee accepts and reviews applications on a rolling basis from July 1 - March 31. Each application is evaluated with emphasis placed on efforts that create the greatest positive impact through innovation and collaboration. For more information, please visit the Kohl Philanthropies Homegrown Grant web site.

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Wisconsin Farm to School Recognition Program Launch
The DPI Farm to School (F2S) team would like to share about an exciting new program, the Wisconsin Farm to School Recognition Program! The purpose of the program is to help schools promote and celebrate their F2S accomplishments. Schools that sign-up complete activities in the three core elements of F2S (local procurement, nutrition and agriculture education, and school gardens) and the number of activities they complete determines their broccoli-pun recognition level. Many of these activities can be seamlessly incorporated into existing programming.

There are four levels of recognition (with an additional bonus level), Broccoli Seedling, Broccoli Sprout, Broccoli Floret, and Broccoli Crown (Bonus: Broccoli Flowering School). Participation is by school (versus district) but there is no limit to the number of schools within a district that can participate. Prize incentives will be given for each completed level. The program officially launched on October 1, but schools can join at any point in the school year. Awards will be given at the end of May 2025.

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News from Around the State
Press Releases from the Wisconsin DPI:

In the news:

Underly warns federal funding overhaul could impact $1 billion for Wisconsin schools via WKOW
"This isn’t a game for our kids and their families," said Underly in a statement on Tuesday. "Funding, programming and guidance from the federal government supports all Wisconsin students."

Top Wisconsin educators meet to discuss workforce retention issue addressed in new report via WMTV
A new report by Department of Public Instruction found around 55% of first-time teachers stayed in Wisconsin or in the profession after seven years. State Superintendent Dr. Jill Underly described the current situation as a crisis and offered several solutions. Additional coverage can be found in HNG News, WBAY, and Wisconsin Public Radio.

Partisan infighting taking a toll on Wisconsin kids' ability to learn to read via Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
If the battle between Republicans and Democrats cannot be resolved before June 30, the $49 million will be returned unspent to state coffers, with growing chances that no comparable amount will be approved for the two-year budget cycle that will begin July 1.

Two Wisconsin school counseling programs receive Program of Excellence awards via WEAU
Counselors from Little Chute, Elk Mound named inaugural recipients of award.

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