Borna@USM

As part of the Global Scholars program, I was given the opportunity to host a German exchange student from Borna, Germany for two weeks. My family hosted one of the twelve students who made the long trek to Milwaukee. All the hosts met the Germans at the train station and gave them an awesome welcome. At first, it was a little bit difficult to adjust for them and it was a little bit difficult to converse with them. Patrick, the student who stayed with me, easily warmed up, however, and fit right in with my family. He was able to shadow classes during the day and spend time with his German friends as well. When not at school, he got the full Milwaukee experience.

My family learned a lot about German culture, geography, customs. He even taught us some German and supplied us with some German gifts! The experience was one I will never forget and will forever cherish. I enjoyed spending time with the Germans so much I will most likely be partaking in the return trip to Borna in June of this year!

- Jack

Maine@USM (Almost)

Me (left) performing one of my scenes

This past week was extremely eventful. In addition to the pressure of the first quarter closing, I performed in the Upper School fall play, "Almost, Maine." "Almost, Maine" is a romantic comedy set in the small, fictional town of Almost in the northernmost part of Maine. In the show, a series of vignettes tell the story of the everyday citizens of Maine falling in and out of love. There are both happy and sad moments, but there is humor in all of the scenes, making the play really fun to act in. I was lucky enough to play two characters. In my first scene, I played Lendall, a man who gets woken up by his girlfriend demanding that he return all the love she ever gave him, and in my second scene, I played Daniel, a man who deals with an ex-girlfriend’s return to his doorstep years after not answering his marriage proposal. Although it was challenging to perform as ordinary people, it was a change that I enjoyed. Often times, the characters actors portray are overdramatized, so it was a nice departure to perform as a real person. Overall, it was a great experience. 

Theater has played an integral role in my USM experience. During tech week, I realized that the Thursday night performance of "Almost, Maine" would be my 30th performance in the Virginia Henes Young Theater since the fall of fifth grade. From that year on, I have been so fortunate to have had the opportunity to be in every fall play and winter/spring musical. I’ve always been an extrovert, but theater has been a great way for me to channel my creativity and stay involved within the USM community. Because of the opportunities I have had through my participation in the USM Drama Department, I have been able to express myself and have gotten to know people who I would not have otherwise gotten to know. For those reasons, I will always be grateful and proud to be a performer.

- Adam

Morning Skate@USM

Morning skate is probably one of the best things about USM hockey. The doors of the rink are open almost everyday around 6 a.m. with a generous coach supervising. Having a big group of guys to skate with is always a great way to start the day, and sometimes it is nice to just work on your skills by yourself on days when not many people are there. I have always taken advantage of morning skates because USM gives so much ice time to hockey players and it's still the off-season. I always enjoy morning skates and I think it is one of the awesome things USM and the hockey coaches offer.

Getting ready to take the ice!

- Chris

Homecoming@USM - Part 3

Chris - Well it’s not surprising to me that I lost my voice over Homecoming Weekend, but I’ll say, it was worth it. All of our Wildcats really brought it to the table this week and got the rest of us pumped. I don’t remember a moment where I wasn’t shouting and enjoying myself at the football game and dance. At my homecoming dinner, my group had the unfortunate luck of running to our restaurant in the pouring rain and we just got absolutely drenched in our fancy gear, but it made homecoming that much more fun and hilarious.

                                       

 


Margaret - After a week filled with dress-up themes and sports games to watch, my favorite part about Homecoming Week was the preparations before we got to the dance. I took pictures with a very large group, which made it even more fun to be surrounded by all my friends. It was so much fun dressing up and my group ate dinner at a friend's house rather than going out to dinner. We sat at a very long table and had amazing food. This made it easier to not have to drive such a large group of people to a restaurant, but one of the most fun parts about homecoming is the dinner plans!

Homecoming@USM - Part 2

Starting with an exciting victory by the football team on Friday night, all homecoming games were a success for the athletes and fans involved. We braved the fog on Saturday morning to support the soccer and field hockey teams in their homecoming games and both responded to the energy we brought in the stands to continue the winning trend. We had to wish the swim team and cross country teams luck as their homecoming events were not at School, but they made us proud with excellent performances!

Football game!

Soccer game

Field Hockey

- Jack

Homecoming@USM - Part 1

During Homecoming Week we had our annual All-School Pep Rally. This is when all the divisions in the school (Lower, Middle, and Upper) get together on the bleachers of Don Forti Stadium and we do cheers, have competitions, and come together as a school. The racing sausages from the Milwaukee Brewers team even came! Here is a video of their race:

                          

On Friday of Homecoming Week, we had our annual Upper School Pep Rally- it was super fun! We have eight fall sports teams who all do something to get the school excited for Homecoming Weekend and to come to their games. The Varsity football team did a hysterical and entertaining dance that was a huge crowd pleaser. Soccer had a short soccer game between the teachers and students. It is always super funny to watch your teachers get really intense in a game of soccer. Also, we all received candy, which was the cherry on top!

Head of Upper School Mr. Cushman after winning the surprise pie eating contest at the All-School Pep Rally!

Retreats, Service, College Trips

It was a busy time in the Upper School last Monday and Tuesday. Usually during the last week of September students have the opportunity to be away from campus with their class for some special activities. The freshmen and seniors were on retreats, the sophomores did service with the Urban Ecology Center, and the Juniors went on several college trips to regional universities. Here are some comments about those experiences from our ambassadors:

SOPHOMORE SERVICE DAYS

Lexie - Last week the sophomores went to the Urban Ecology Center for our annual sophomore humanities day. This year we went canoeing, rock climbing, we did community service, and tested the water quality in nearby rivers and streams. We split up the class in four groups and got to relax in our two days off from school, it was a really nice break at the start of the year from homework and tests. My favorite part was canoeing. When we were canoeing a few boys were going around splashing people with water and they tipped their canoe too much and all fell in! That was definitely the highlight of my trip.

         

JUNIOR COLLEGE TRIP

Adam - I had a great time on the junior college trip! The main objective of the two-part outing is to give students a sense of different types of college campuses. Over the course of these two days, we saw private and public universities, rural and urban universities, research universities, and religiously affiliated universities. Everyone has different tastes when it comes to selecting a school, and this trip allowed us to hone in on what kind of school we may want to attend. When we arrived at a university, we all gathered for a group presentation. Then, we split up and took part in student-led campus tours. Lunch on the college campuses was really good, too! I especially appreciated bonding with some of the chaperones on the trip. From this experience, I was able to get to know teachers and members of the college guidance department much better. I’ve heard that the college application process can be very stressful, but if this trip is any indication of what’s to come, I know that USM will help tremendously in making this task as easy and enjoyable as possible.

Sydney - The college trips were super fun. It was great to go on four official college tours all in a span of two days. I got to ask real college students their views on each of the campuses. I learned about different college application processes while also getting to discuss different aspects of the colleges with my friends. Overall it was a productive trip and one of my favorite events so far this school year.

Chris - I didn’t know much about the college trips going into them nor did I know that much about the colleges we were visiting. All the colleges were very different from one another. It really gave me a sense of what kind of college I should be looking for and how hard I need to work to get to where I want to go. Besides all the serious stuff, my friends and I had a ton of fun on the bus rides to and from the colleges. Being hockey players, we of course watched the hockey movie, Miracle, and we probably knew the whole script to it. The college trips were a great time with my friends and a great benefit for myself.

Margaret - The junior college trip gave a great opportunity to everyone to help them decide what type of college they want to go to. My favorite college that we visited was Northwestern University, and it gave me great excitement for the prospect of college. Now I know and have confirmed that I want to go to a college medium in size with a suburban feel. The long bus rides also gave everyone a chance to bond and have fun.

SENIOR RETREAT

Ben -The senior retreat was both fun and exhausting. The small group activities and events with the whole grade really helped us get to know our classmates better, and it was great to see our grade's actors, dancers, and musicians perform at the talent show. The three days together helped form an amazing bond within our senior class. And, who could ask for a more beautiful destination than the shores of Boulder Lake.

Harriette - Over the three days of the senior retreat I bonded with eleven other classmates, the infamous Area Code 111, as we worked together to complete challenging games and cheered each other on through the high ropes courses. By the end of the trip we became really close friends and performed a hilarious skit for the talent show, in which a few of us had to step out of our comfort zones. The senior retreated united my grade, eliminated past tensions, and got everyone excited for our final year together. 

Jack - The magic of Camp Manitowish brought us together as a class and as people. The camaraderie was heightened by the group discussions. In these discussions, personal stories and intimate experiences were shared and this was not only good for the student sharing their story, but it made our group, a collection of people who weren’t friends outside of the retreat, feel like a family.