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Viking Elementary principal reports show-choir visit, library construction and $4,000 in teacher grants
Summary
Principal Nina Swanson told the Holmen Board of Education on March 10 that Viking Elementary students recently participated in the high-school show-choir event, the school is preparing a library expansion that will temporarily change book-checkout routines, and the PTO awarded more than $4,000 in grants to teachers.
Principal Nina Swanson told the Holmen Board of Education on March 10 that Viking Elementary students recently participated in the high-school show-choir event, the school is managing a library expansion and will shift some book-checkout routines during construction, and the PTO awarded more than $4,000 in grants to teachers.
"They got to go and participate in the show choir at the high school on Saturday," Swanson said, describing the elementary program’s appearance as a bridge for students seeing secondary school activities. Swanson said staff have worked with maintenance and the construction crew to protect library materials while packing and preparing the space for expansion.
Swanson said families and community donors have helped the school manage temporary limits on checking out books; students have used the local library for book access and staff have arranged alternate routes to the cafeteria while work is underway. She said the PTO has averaged 15 to 20 members at meetings this year and "were also able to... give over $4,000, in grant money to our teachers," with 19 grant submissions focused on instructional materials.
On curriculum, Swanson said Viking is piloting math tasks intended to build critical thinking rather than rote calculation, and that the school has a University of Wisconsin–La Crosse (UWL) partnership supporting math instruction. She also said about 14 preservice teachers are coming twice weekly during the current and following month to teach literacy lessons and gain early classroom experience.
Swanson highlighted other student activities — a choir concert, spring sports and forensics — and said Viking had been welcoming visitors from West Salem Elementary to observe new literacy instruction the district is using. The principal closed by thanking the board and the community for support.
The presentation was a report-only item; no board action was requested or taken on March 10.
