7 September 2023
MAPLE Northwestern High School students took a visit Thursday, Sept. 7 from Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers in stride discussing career plans, sharing enthusiasm for the technical education program and even in the case of one enterprising freshman getting the governor to sign nomination papers.
The visit was part of Evers’ statewide Back to School tour.
“Any time the governor comes to your school it’s a good day,” said District Administrator Karl Morrin.
Evers chatted with seniors Beau Sipsas and Canyon Mohr next to a plasma cutting machine in the technical education department. They talked about their student-run business, Tiger Manufacturing.
“It’s like our business we run here at school. We get to interact with people in the community and figure out if they want stuff, make cool signs … give back. It’s awesome,” Sipsas said.
The teen was elected president of the business the day before.
“Like a governor, almost,” he told Evers with a laugh.
The governor sat down at a lunch table to quiz seniors Lily Mickus, Grace Udeen, Jalynn Tuura, Ava Anderson and Jade Stillson about their career plans.
“That was cool,” Mickus said.
Each of them said they plan to enter the medical field.
Freshman Kamden Kroll flagged Evers down in the lunchroom and asked for his signature on a class officer petition. Kroll is stumping to be freshman class treasurer. Evers added his name under the 20 required signatures, offering some extra political clout for the teen.
Morrin said it was a big day for the district.
“We’ve never had a governor come to Maple,” he said. “So when I got the word that he was coming out it was just like, ‘This is going to be great.’ We have a great district here, and there’s a lot of pride here. Just to see him in our halls, stopping and visiting with kids either in the classroom or in the lunchroom. What a great day.”
He was also impressed with the student response.
“Some of our kids are so articulate and they just, they know what they want to do and they’re so passionate about what they want to do … you just, you can’t have a better day than that and have that interaction with the governor. I think the kids really probably think that’s pretty cool,” Morrin said.
During last year’s tour, which included a stop at Northern Lights Elementary School in Superior, the governor felt a return to normalcy following the COVID-19 pandemic. This year, he said, there’s been “a lot of good energy, no matter where I’ve been, small towns, big towns, small districts, big districts.”
The former educator and state superintendent made it a point to stop by classrooms. Along with handshakes, Evers peppered the teachers with questions. He learned that many had a long legacy in the Maple School District. He found a similar situation earlier in the day during a trip to Rib Lake Elementary School.
“You will find, and this is a good example, the two places I’ve been today, is that a lot of smaller or rural schools, a lot of people that graduate from here want to come back. And so it’s somewhat of a built-in advantage,” Evers said.
He was asked how the state can address the current teacher shortage.
“We’re not going to be able to replace teachers with widgets, and so it is important that we continue to encourage people, and one of the ways to do that is to provide teachers with the respect they deserve,” Evers said.
He also talked about the need to support and grow child care in the state. Access to child care, Evers said, gets kids ready for school and the future while providing more workers for the workforce at the same time.
“I have a proposal out there for $17 million dollars and we can afford it, and we should be using that to prop up and support our child care industry in the state of Wisconsin,” Evers said.
Evers called for a special session later this month focused on child care.
Republicans in the Legislature rejected Evers’ plan to spend $340 million on the Child Care Counts program. Instead, they have introduced a set of bills aimed at expanding child care access by loosening restrictions on child care providers. A public hearing for the bills was held Wednesday, Sept. 6, Wisconsin Public Radio reported.
The tour ended with smiles and a few posed pictures in the school board meeting room before Evers headed out.
“I know he loves to come to schools and see what’s going on,” Morrin said. “But after he leaves here he knows that the School District of Maple is a great place to be. He sees the kind of kids we have, the staff we have. People keep coming back, and a lot of our staff have been here 20, 30 years … they love being here because it’s a great district. I think that says a lot about the community,” Morrin said.
“What a way to start the school year.”
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