2025 valedictorians and salutatorian named by Glenwood City School Board

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By Renee Bettendorf

GLENWOOD CITY — Glenwood City middle/high school principal Marcy Burch introduced a pair of valedictorians, a salutatorian and the technical excellence scholarship recipient for the class of 2025 at the school board meeting held on Monday evening. Alayna LaValley and Ilan Anderson have been named as co-valedictorians, Kyra Dahl is salutatorian and Amara Booth will be awarded the technical excellence scholarship.

“You are all great leaders…you’re setting good examples and making great choices, we’re all so very proud of you,”  Burch said.

Alayna is the daughter of Lee and Deann LaValley and plans to attend Belmont University in Nashville, TN where she will major in sports administration. After completing her undergraduate degree she plans to go to law school with the hopes of becoming a lawyer for a sports team.

Ilan is the son of Craig and Julie Anderson. He is looking at attending either Ripon College or Carthage College to pursue degrees in science and business and plans on entering the field of stem cell research after college. In addition to being co-valedictorian, Ilan is the recipient of the academic excellence scholarship.  

Kyra is the daughter of Lynn Wood and Andy Dahl. She is headed to the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire to major in music education. Amara is the daughter of Wes Booth and plans to attend CVTC for animal science management.

After hearing from the seniors about their post secondary plans the board congratulated the students and held a photoshoot with them.

At their board work session that was held right before the meeting, district administrator Patrick Olson thanked school board members Sally Standaert and Carrie Klatt for their service on the board. Standaert was elected to the board six years ago and Klatt was appointed in August to fill a vacant seat. Both chose not to seek reelection this spring. 

“I want to say thank you to the two of you as the April election comes up,” said Olson.

The board also discussed the 2024/2025 and 2025/2026 district budgets at the work session. Olson told the board he recently went to a meeting organized by CESA 11 where area administrators and state legislators met and spoke about federal impact on school budgets.

The US departments of education and agriculture both provide funding to schools. If either of these departments is dismantled, districts are wondering who would be responsible for the funding that they provide. According to a chart created by the Wisconsin department of education that Olson presented to the board, the Glenwood City school district receives a little over $500,000 in funding from the federal government, about $300,000 from the department of education and roughly $200,000 from the department of agriculture.

The funding from these two departments goes toward; school lunches, special education services for kids with disabilities, learning supports for students experiencing poverty, smaller class sizes, educator professional learning, mental health supports, career and technical education and other services.

Olson said that at the CESA meeting no one knew for sure if either federal department would close. They also don’t know if the state would provide lost federal funding in the event of federal department closure. If the state does not, then the local taxpayers would be asked to. It’s unclear when districts will know if their funding will be affected.

The board approved the first GCMS-HS Community Service Day which will be held on April 21 and is slated to become an annual event. During Community Service Day students will be encouraged to participate in volunteerism, civic engagement and community engagement. 

Some examples of activities students will be doing that day include; neighborhood or park cleanup, volunteering at a food bank, tutoring younger students, helping at an animal shelter and visiting senior centers.

After hearing from elementary principal Jamie Shaffer the board approved her proposal to start scheduling elementary music concerts during the day starting next school year. Shaffer told the board that evening concerts often conclude after the usual bedtime for younger students and can lead to exhaustion, missed attendance and general discomfort for both students and parents.

A second point Shaffer brought up was that many students participate in all the practices leading up to the event, but then their parents are unable to bring them to the evening performance. This results in feelings of exclusion among students and can create a sense of separation, making some students feel left out of the experience, she said.

Shaffer said that the music teachers are on board with the idea and the performances could be recorded and viewed online. Board member Tony Mielzarek pointed out that many grandparents don’t like to drive at night, so holding concerts during the day may increase their attendance. 

In other business the Glenwood City school board:

• Discussed the district’s strategic plan which includes an annual survey that district residents can complete this spring.

• Discussed and approved the purchase of a new human growth and development curriculum.

• Approved the implementation of a new physical education credit substitution policy where participation in a sport will count as phy ed credit.

• Learned from Olson that 13 seniors will receive $1,800 Russell Meyer scholarships.

• Approved applying for the Summer Food Service Program to provide free meals from the USDA to kids during the summer.