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Thursday, January 18, 2018 • Vol. 133, No. 29 • Oregon, WI • ConnectOregonWI.com • $1
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Oregon Observer The
Oregon School District
Oregon Public Library
Farm to school initiative focuses on growing, eating healthy food
Busch quits, cites ‘hostile’ relations
Taking root
ALEXANDER CRAMER Unified Newspaper Group
Amid the din of 300 11-year-olds eating lunch at Rome Corners Intermediate school, Greg Gatcombe walked from table to table holding sample cups of Brussels sprouts, asking questions and tallying results. The Oregon School District’s nutrition educator and community outreach organizer was trying to answer the age-old question: Do sixth-graders like Brussels sprouts? “I’m pleasantly surprised,” he said, looking at the number of “yes” tallies. “I want kids to be more comfortable trying new things.” This was one of their “try it” days at the school, when staff prepares new, healthy options kids might normally shy away from. Staff handed out samples, wearing T-shirts that say, “Healthy, active kids make better learners.” Many students chose to try the sprouts, maybe out of natural curiosity or maybe because they get a cool stamp if they do. A big part of Gatcombe’s mission for the year he’ll be working for OSD is making school lunches more local and healthier, and connecting kids to the food they eat. And getting kids to try new things is a crucial first step on the path to a healthier diet.
Director’s email singles out issues ‘working with village’ SCOTT DE LARUELLE Unified Newspaper Group
New initiative Gatcombe came to OSD as part of AmeriCorps’ Farm to School initiaPhoto submitted tive, which facilitates programs that help students grow some of the food Caitlyn Bisgrove holds up her sample cup of Brussels sprouts during a try-it day they eat in school lunches. He is one at Rome Corners Intermediate. of 28 AmeriCorps members placed in 16 locations around Wisconsin this year, according to a Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction First-time sprouter Mia Gomez, 11, thought they tasted “good,” and went back for news release. seconds with her friend Krystal Ortega, 11, a fellow first-timer. After a theatrical pre-sprout DPI received a one-year, $402,694 grimace, Marcos Pena-Nelson, 11, reported the sprouts were actually “pretty good.” AmeriCorps grant to fund the program with the goal to “bring locally Nadia Dopart, 12, was in the minority, telling the Observer “they were gross,” but Amy produced foods into schools, offer Miller raised questions about the veracity of that claim, noting that she thought that same sixth-grader was coming up for seconds.
Brussels sprouts taste test
Turn to Healthy/Page 12
‘Dual-credit’ rule brings concerns school is great for students and their families – even if they’re paying hundreds of dollars to do so. That could all change due to a recent change SCOTT DE LARUELLE in state law, as now the school districts, not stuUnified Newspaper Group dents, will have to pick up Being able to earn col- the tab. That, along with a lege credits at their high change in how educators
Officials: State law could prevent program expansion
are certified to teach dual credit classes, is something Oregon School District officials say could threaten the programs themselves. Because OSD has only 33 students enrolled in dual-credit classes through UW-Green Bay, the prop o s a l wo u l d n ’t h ave a large fiscal effect on the
district – around $7,000. But the new funding mandate, included in the state’s 2018-19 biennial budget, could change how similar courses and opportunities are offered in the future. “It is a budgetary constraint and one which does
Community Banking Since 1904
Turn to Credit/Page 10
After two years as director of the Oregon Public Library, Nikki Busch is stepping down as of Jan. 24, citing a “hostile work environment, particularly in working Busch with the village.” The Oregon Public Library Board “reluctantly accepted” her resignation, according to a press release from the board Tuesday. Assistant library director and technical
Inside Read Busch’s email to library staff about her resignation Page 3 services supervisor Mary Davidson, a long-time employee, will serve as interim library director until a permanent successor is found. When contacted Tuesd a y b y t h e O b s e r ve r, Busch said she would be available next week to talk about the situation and forwarded an email she had shared with her staff, which read in part, “This decision is in response to my experience of a
Turn to Busch/Page 3
Village of Oregon
Bonsett-Veal steps down from cable TV leadership Longtime volunteer plans to stay involved BILL LIVICK Unified Newspaper Group
After more than two decades as a leader of Oregon’s cable TV organization, OCAMedia.com, John Bonsett-Veal has decided to step down. He served as chair of the village’s cable TV committee and president of the Cable TV Foundation board of directors since
1995 – 10 years after the village established the operation. Bonsett-Veal, 64, told the Observer he’ll continue to do some playby-play high school sports announcing, a s h e h a s Bonsett-Veal since the early ‘90s, but he won’t be running or attending committee or board meetings in the
Turn to TV/Page 10
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