Gallagher goes back to school

Congressman visits Bonduel classrooms, checks out high school programs
By: 
Lee Pulaski
City Editor

BONDUEL — Bonduel Elementary School had extended an invitation to U.S. Rep. Mike Gallagher to attend its spring patriotic concert in May, hoping to show a member of Congress some of the good things about the school.

Gallagher, R-Wisconsin, was unable to attend due to scheduling conflicts, according to principal Brad Grayvold. But his office indicated that he would still like to visit the school. On Wednesday, Gallagher made good on that promise, visiting two elementary classrooms before traveling to Bonduel High School and seeing the technology education facilities and a new greenhouse for the agriculture program.

Grayvold answered some of Gallagher’s questions about the school’s 4-year-old kindergarten program. He noted the state gives schools the option of having the program meet every other day for a full day or for a half-day every school day. Grayvold said the unusual number of bad weather days and school cancellations prompted the school to go the half-day system.

“If they come on a Thursday, they might not be back for a full week” if wintry weather impacts the schedule, Grayvold said.

Gallagher’s first stop was the first-grade classroom of Lela Schwitzer, who organizes the annual patriotic concert. Schwitzer eagerly welcomed the Congressman, but not as much as one student who jumped out of his seat and gave Gallagher a big hug.

“He represents us. So for our families, if we have a problem or there’s something we need him to know, we write to him or we call him,” Schwitzer said to her students. “He has staff members who can help us, and he goes to the government officials to help solve our problems.”

Schwitzer added that Gallagher represents her in two ways. Besides her role as a teacher, Gallagher represents Schwitzer as a member of the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin.

Gallagher quickly jumped into his role in the government and noted that the students would learn more about it in their social studies classes over the next few years. A student was quick to point out that they weren’t just learning about the United States; they were learning about everything in the universe.

“You’re learning about the whole universe?” Gallagher said. “Wow, that’s a lot of ground to cover. There’s a lot of planets and stuff.”

Gallagher’s mood with the class was upbeat and jovial, and he took every opportunity to make fun of himself. One such opportunity came when he saw a board in the classroom that gave information about Washington, D.C., but did not include details on the Legislative Branch.

“That’s all right,” Gallagher said when Schwitzer apologized. “No one cares about Congress. Less cool than the president, I guess.”

In between the humor, which included students’ claims that Gallagher was a “legend” and that George Washington was a “pirate,” the Congressman gave a basic explanation of the three branches of government and how no one branch has ultimate control.

“What’s unique about our government is that you guys are in charge,” Gallagher said. “All of the people in Wisconsin, even the people in Minnesota and Michigan and Texas … all of the individual citizens in the 50 states that form the United States are who are in charge. Those people elect people like me to serve on their behalf, and those people can also tell people like me to go home and not reelect me.”

Gallagher then engaged in a more in-depth discussion about government with Mark Margelofsky’s sixth-grade class, which had more knowledge of American history than the younger students. He told the students how he represented more than 730,000 people in northeast Wisconsin in the House of Representatives.

Gallagher, at one point, asked Margelofsky if he was crossing the line by telling so much about the U.S. government, but the teacher shrugged it off.

“I’m excited because you’re getting into stuff I was going to be teaching them this year anyway,” Margelofsky said. “We’ll see if they have good memories.”

Gallagher’s last stop was Bonduel High School, where he got to see the school’s greenhouse and the improvements made to its tech ed department. He learned about how the school is able to create different items with computerized numerical control equipment.

Teacher Travis Schindel explained to Gallagher how local businesses donated money to provide much of the equipment used today, even those businesses that are not in the boundaries of the Bonduel School District.

“They can’t get enough of it,” Schindel said of the students’ response to utilizing the new equipment. “They’re used to all of this computerized stuff. They’re seeing how they can take this stuff from the computer side and use it on the manufacturing side.”

Gallagher was pleased with how the district was able to pique students’ interest in manufacturing and building things.

“I think the biggest challenge we have is convincing them that, this isn’t your grandfather’s manufacturing,” Gallagher said. “This is highly advanced, and with advances in automation come opportunities, and you can make a lot of money doing this advanced work.”