Fall Sports@USM

We had a great fall sports season! The field hockey team, with our nine seniors, was undefeated conference champions and made it to state! Unfortunately, after a well fought out game and two overtimes, we lost in strokes. Tennis also had a great season! They got second in team state, and our first doubles team won individual state! The boy’s cross country team made it to sectionals and one of our girl runners qualified for state! Football had an impressive season and even made it to the playoffs! It was really fun going to their games. Lastly, boys soccer, with their sixteen seniors, won the division four state championship game! We had an amazing time supporting our boys throughout their spectacular season and playoff games! It has been so much fun dressing in theme and cheering on our classmates at each game!

- Harriette '14


Today we had our fall sports assembly to start the day, and it started out with a great video of pictures from the fall season for every sport. It was a great opportunity to see the great experiences that each team had, along with a lot of funny pictures! After the video, each team and specific players were recognized with awards and new captain were announced. When you think of high school sports, most people think of an individual sport and how it can be a great experience, but USM has an amazing athletic department. From the state soccer championship in the pouring rain to the homecoming themed football game, its so much fun to dress up and support USM. As for individual sports teams, I loved playing volleyball for University School and it was definitely the highlight of my first semester. 


- Margaret '15

Operation Dream

Becoming mentors. Learning professional skills. Meeting Aaron Rodgers. These are just a few of the things that students from Operation DREAM have been up to. You may have heard of Operation DREAM on this season’s first itsAaron.com commercial, where Aaron surprises two of its members. Operation DREAM is a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing mentoring and support to Milwaukee’s at-risk youth, and every Sunday, about 20 students in the program come to University School, where USM students provide tutoring. I have been very fortunate to participate in this amazing program, and I have enjoyed both meeting and learning from the students. Whether we bonded over our shared interest in the Packers or the pizza brought as a snack, students from both sides have had a lot of fun!

- Ben'14

Soccer Wins State!

I didn't really pay attention to the soccer team early in the season, but they started to catch my attention later on as they continue to have success on the field. When playoffs came, I became a huge fan and started going to all their games. These guys have more skill than I thought they would. I got really into their games and started to do what I do best...show my spirit!

They had themed games like "pink out" and blue and gold and our dedicated and growing student section got more into it every game. The soccer boys had some close wins in overtime that ended with the student section going crazy. At state, our number of fans was bigger than it had ever been for soccer games. Losing our voices for the boys was totally worth it for our Boys Soccer State Champs.

From the Goalie (Jack):

I wasn't ready for my high school soccer career to be over. But since it had to come to an end, we made sure we came out on top. The energy in the USM community following our birth to the state tournament was palpable and it was only heightened during our two state games. It was an incredible experience to play in front of the school community and it is something I will never forget. It was an incredible honor to bring home the state title for the team and for the school!

Chris '15 and Jack '14

Cutting Costs for Celiacs

This blog highlights something one of our bloggers did over the summer:

Over the summer I started a nonprofit organization called “Cutting Costs for Celiacs.” The mission of my organization is to give monetary assistance to low-income families in Wisconsin who have celiac disease. Celiac Disease is an autoimmune disorder that does not allow its patients to eat gluten, which is found in wheat, barley, and rye. The reason they need assistance is because food share (called food stamps in other states) does not give extra money out to people with dietary restrictions, even though eating gluten free can cost 2 to 3 times more than a diet containing gluten. 

I heard a story about a 7-year-old girl whose parents could not afford her gluten-free diet and therefore made her live every day with stomachaches and diarrhea. So I decided to start a nonprofit so people would not have to live their life with the pains of eating food they cannot digest. 

The mission of Cutting Costs for Celiacs is to provide grocery assistance to medically diagnosed celiac children in low-income families in Wisconsin. Cutting Costs for Celiacs is dedicated to providing children with Celiac disease the nutrition they need to maintain a healthy gluten free diet. I recently turned in my articles of incorporation and hope to be incorporated soon! The support of the USM community has been amazing. My spanish teacher started an incorporation and many USM teachers volunteer a lot. The whole community has been trying to help in any way that they can.

Lexie

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