KM WINS BIG AT EAU CLAIRE JAZZ FEST!!! Last weekend, KMHS Jazz Ensemble 1 won the Class A Division of the Eau Claire Jazz Festival for the first time since 2001. KMHS Jazz 1 finished at the top of a strong field of bands that included jazz powerhouses Badger High School (Lake Geneva, WI) and Waconia High School (Waconia, MN) who finished in 2nd and 3rd place respectively. As the Class A winner of the Festival, KMHS Jazz 1 students had the honor of performing on the Saturday Evening Concert Series for a packed house at the Pablo Center in Eau Claire. In addition to Jazz Ensemble 1 taking 1st place, 13 separate Outstanding Soloist Awards were won by KMHS Jazz students. KMHS Jazz 1 Outstanding Soloist Awards: Ryan Keller, Mak Olson, Aleksei Pollett, and Brady Lammert. KMHS Jazz 2 Outstanding Soloist Awards: Dustin Cowell, Orlando Corchado, Everest Patrick, Henry Ludwig, Lance Westmore, and Reagan Maggio. KMHS Jazz Combo Outstanding Soloist Awards: Ryan Keller, Riley Peil, and Brady Lammert. “Our students work extremely hard, and pour themselves into this great American Art Form” said KMHS Jazz Director, Jim Gornick. “Our 7th & 8th Grade Jazz Directors, Cathe Kuehn and Nate Weiss lay the groundwork for everything that our KMHS Jazz Ensemble 1, Jazz Ensemble 2, and Jazz Combo are able to do as high school jazz musicians and our program is truly on the rise."
KM PERFORM UP CLOSE EVENT, TONIGHT AT THE PRISM ARTS CENTER!!! Join us for an amazing presentation of student work in art, academics, music, STEM, theater, and film. Showtimes are 6:10, 6:45, and 7:20. You will also have the opportunity to view the new film, The Web, from our award-winning Perform film-focused students. Their previous production, Doom Scroll, will be featured at the Milwaukee Film Festival, at the Oriental Theater, Sunday May 4th at 10:30 am.
JOIN THE BOOSTER CLUB BOARD!!! The KMHS Booster Club has upcoming open Board positions and are looking for some high energy individuals to join them. Open Board Positions - Secretary and Social Media Coordinator. Additionally we have 1 year left on many other roles if someone is interested in shadowing a position to learn more about the role. The Booster Club meets the second Wednesday of each month at 7:00pm in the KMHS Library.
STILL ON THE FENCE ABOUT WHERE TO ENROLL? WANT TO LEARN MORE ABOUT KM? SCHEDULE A TOUR!!! We offer custom tours at all of our schools, and they are a great way for potential students and their families to explore the many wonderful options we offer academically, culturally, athletically, and socially! So visit our website at www.kmsd.edu and click the tour button, or if you are ready to commit to KM, click the enroll button at the top and get started. Remember, the open enrollment window closes on 4/30. It is important to apply and secure a spot before it re-opens in summer, as enrollment is first-come, first-served and some choices may not be available!
KMMS MUSICAL WILLY WONKA JR. DEBUTS TOMORROW NIGHT AT KMHS!!! Kettle Moraine Middle School presents Willy Wonka Jr. Friday, April 11 at 7pm and Saturday, April 12 at 2pm at the KMHS Prism Art Center. I had the opportunity of previewing the show today and it is undoubtedly the best middle school performance I've seen! Come out to see it, you will not be disappointed!! There will also be an art show. Get you tickets now at https://cur8.com/26487/project/129797. Stay tuned for interviews with the cast and crew in an upcoming video in Laser Focused!
HOST FAMILIES NEEDED!!! Foreign exchange students need host families for the 25-26 school year. We have two girls: Antonia, 16 from Germany, loves crafts, art, writing, and pets. She participates in dance, field hockey, swimming, and tennis. Anne, also 16, is from Spain. She enjoys concerts, sporting events, music, photography and pets. She participates in acting, soccer, tennis, and gymnastics. We also have a boy, Jonas 16 from Germany, who likes movies, sporting events, and volunteering. He participates in field hockey, skiing, and soccer. The students' families pay all expenses and provide medical insurance. They speak English and want to learn about America. Contact Carrie asap for information at 414-899-3890 or schulzcarr@aol.com.
JAZZ FESTIVAL!!! Kettle Moraine middle and high school students held a jazz festival in the foyer of the new Prism Arts Center. The students did an amazing job. Thank you Mr. Weiss for the photos.
VERTZ TO ATTEND NFL DRAFT!!! Riley Vertz was recently selected as the Green Bay Packers Flag Football Player of the Year for Wisconsin. She recently received an invitation to take part in the 2025 NFL Draft New Era ‘Hand the Cap Moment’ during the first round of the NFL Draft on Thursday, April 24th at Lambeau Field.. Student-athletes will be back stage during the NFL Draft’s First Round to place a New Era Cap on the head of a draftee as they walk out on stage after being selected. Riley and her family will then be able to stay for all of day one. We are incredibly excited for her and her family and look forward to sharing photos after the event.
BEST BUDDIES FRIENDSHIP WALK!!! We are less than a month away from our Best Buddies Friendship walk at the Dockhounds Stadium in Oconomowoc. The Best Buddies Friendship Walk is the leading event in the country supporting inclusion for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD).
Join more than 50,000 participants at 80 events across the globe to support the Best Buddies programs in schools, workplaces, and communities. You’ll be making the world more welcoming to people with IDD — one friendship, one job, and one life-changing connection at a time. We hope that many of you will be able to join us on May 3rd at 9:00. Sign Up at https://www.bestbuddiesfriendshipwalk.org/wisconsin/supporting/#KMHS
KMHS BLOOD DRIVE!!! Please consider supporting the Student Government by donating blood at our upcoming Red Cross Drive on April 11th. We partner with the Red Cross for blood drives to help raise scholarship money. Based on the total number of pints collected each year, the Red Cross gives our club scholarship funds. Added bonus if you have KM insurance you can upload your donation into Vitality for extra points! Schedule an appointment at https://www.redcrossblood.org/give.html/drive-results?zipSponsor=KMHS. Come to give blood April 1-13 and get a $15 Amazon.com Gift Card by email. PLUS, get a chance to win a $5,000 prize! There will be three lucky winners. Terms apply: rcblood.org/hope.
All presenting donors will receive a free Sky Zone 30-minute jump pass and a coupon for a FREE Bundtlet from Nothing Bundt Cakes, while supplies last!
KM BASEBALL YOUTH NIGHT!!! Tuesday Aprill 22nd at 7pm, the Lasers will take on Arrowhead at Dockhounds Park. Join us for some great youth baseball and wear your KM jersey!
KM PERFORM STUDENT WINS PRESTIGIOUS ART AWARD!!! Sadie Groskruetz is an American Vision Medal Winner in the 2025 Scholastic Art Competition. To be nominated for the American Visions Award, participants must first earn a Gold Key in their region. Jurors from each region then select up to five works to be American Visions Award Nominees. The nominees are reviewed by national judges and one nominee from each region is selected to receive a National American Visions Medal. Only 150 students out of 120,000 entrants, or .125% (1/10th of 1 percent) are awarded Medals. The Medal honors works that display originality, skill, and the emergence of a personal voice and vision. Previous winners include: Andy Warhol, Stephen King, Joyce Carol Oates, Sylvia Plath, Paul Newman and Ken Burns. What was rewarded here was a unique and distinct understanding of 'art', questioning why we just look at art rather than interact and have fun with it. Great work Sophie!
TWO KMMS EDUCATORS RECEIVE HERB KOHL TEACHER FELLOWSHIP!!! JoEllen Dickert-Sturtz and Shelly Weber have been selected as 2025 Herb Kohl Educational Foundation Teacher Fellows. They were chosen for this $6,000 grant from among many fine candidates because of their skill as leaders and agents for positive change, and superior abilities to inspire love of learning. Each will receive an individual grant, and matching grant to the middle school.
SHOOT FOR THE CURE SUCCESS!!! KM's annual fundraiser for Leukemia and Lymphoma drew a tremendous response from our elementary and middle school students. This year, a number of players from the Marquette University mens team helped run the camp, adding a great deal of excitement for students as they went head-to-head with future stars. Stay tuned for a Capturing KM video Friday in Laser Focused highlighting this event.
RUBE GOLDBERG COMPETITION!!! Perform is in the 2nd week of building our Rube Golberg machine for the annual online contest. Our students have finalized blueprints and are starting to build their machines. This will continue through the rest of this week; on Monday, they are planning to run it during the day to get it to work. It will be featured at Up Close Monday evening. When it's constructed, it will be approx. 80 feet long! Oh, and Perform is the defending Rube Goldberg online champion! To learn more about the competition, visit https://www.rubegoldberg.org/rube-goldberg-contests/rube-goldberg-machine-contest-online .
DOOM SCROLL AT MILWAUKEE FILM FESTIVAL!!! Doom Scroll, a KM Perform student film production, will play during the "Milwaukee Youth Show" on Sunday, May 4 at 10:30 at the Oriental Theater. If you haven't been to that beautiful theater before, you are in for a treat! The program is expected to last about an hour and will feature the top short films from the Milwaukee area. For more information, visit https://mkefilm.org/MKEFilm/media/PDFs/MFF25_Program_Book_Full_Res.pdf
KM PERFORM GRAD ON BROADWAY!!! Sophia Tzougros is thoroughly enjoying her experience on Broadway in Good Night and Good Luck. We are incredibly proud of Sophia's accomplishments, and interviewed her a month ago for the Communicator magazine which will be delivered to district households this week and can be viewed online at https://core-docs.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/documents/asset/uploaded_file/4009/KMSD/5457223/KMSD_SPRING25_COMLR.pdf. The Waukesha Freeman also published a piece on her work on Saturday https://www.gmtoday.com/the_freeman/news/km-grad-on-broadway-with-george-clooney/article_12ea7e40-be52-5e8a-9fb2-27ff82c69d3b.html
ALL FREEMAN AWARDS FOR BASKETBALL!!! Zack Froemming and Roman Thompson were awarded 1st Team All Freeman. Emily Gomez earned 2nd Team All Freeman and Ben Bestor made 3rd Team. Brian Richert was awarded Coach of the Year. You can get more information at GM Today at https://www.gmtoday.com/the_freeman/sports/the-2024-2025-all-freeman-boys-basketball-team/article_6828e24b-e5a6-511a-af08-e497ec431e1c.html and https://www.gmtoday.com/the_freeman/sports/the-all-freeman-girls-team/article_8cd82f8c-f94a-57a1-88f6-d86f458edd1d.html
CELEBRATING OUR ASSISTANT PRINCIPALS!!! Our APs are a critical part of our building leadership, and most have several roles within our district. Thank you for all that you do!
SHOOT FOR A CURE THIS SUNDAY WITH KMHS/MARQUETTE BASKETBALL!!!!! Join Coach Richert and the Boys Varsity Team for this annual skills and drills clinic for 3rd-8th grade boys and girls on Sunday April 6th from 12-1:30 pm at KMHS. The Marquette University Men's team will also help out this year and sign autographs. The event raises money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society to fund critical research. Sign up NOW https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScmC2jb0m5KivIeI7KrERfiBtj53Re1Trk1laqzjfzhXAPLnA/viewform !!! We encourage a $25 donation to benefit LLS.
