Welcome to KickTime - News of the Kickapoo Valley, WI

A Driftless Regional web space for Kickapoo Valley news, events and local commerce (like recycling, ride sharing, eating from local sources, buying and supporting local entrepreneurs.)

Visit our Kickapedia site for links to local businesses, farms and services. This is a community wiki (like Wikipedia only smaller) that can be updated by anyone who logs in. The more you join in the better the information and quicker the updates. Don't be shy--if you make a mistake an old version can be restored.

Also try the link to the KickTime_Calendar. We try to keep it as complete, up-to-date and accurate as possible. Please forgive any errors and use the contact information provided for events to double check times and dates.

KickTime is a community project--you are encouraged to submit material. The first step is to create a login account. After logging in, submit your story and it will be reviewed and pushed to the front page within a day or two. See the FAQ for more details about posting material here. If you are totally flummoxed, email the story to admins[at]kicktime[dot]org.

So what do we look for? Events notices are common submissions, but a local view on issues would be a nice change of pace.

Please don't submit a reprint of a news story. Instead provide a new perspective or added insight;
Bring several views together to create a new way to imagine an issue;
Be clever, funny, original;
We encourage attitude and self-confidence, but base your writing on facts;
If you wish to pass literary or artistic judgment, or discuss the merits or demerits of someone or something, do it with subtlety and intelligence;
The more voices here the better!

Too much to ask? Well would you want to spend your precious time reading anything less?

School House

Desoto Area Schools 5K Family Fun Walk/Run for Healthy Kids

By borges, Section School House
Posted on Thu Aug 21, 2008 at 09:32:22 PM CST

Kick off the school year with a Healthy Start! Join the De Soto Area School District's Healthy Kids Initiative for a 5K Family Fun Walk/Run.

Saturday, August 23
At Blackhawk Park, De Soto WI
9-11 am Walk/Run
11-Noon Meet and greet the new Superintendent Dave Strudthoff and his wife Denise.

Big surprise is the Healthy Brown Bag Snack for all participants, prepared by Chef Monique Hooker. See what a bag lunch ought to be.

Free T-shirts while they last and carpool to save on the limited parking spaces at the park.

Comments >>

Local Food Effort Coming to Viroqua Area Schools

By borges, Section School House
Posted on Thu Aug 21, 2008 at 09:22:04 PM CST

Hey it is almost time for school to start up again and the kids in Viroqua will not have to face the sameness of cafeteria food because there is a Farm-to-School project kicking off this Fall. It starts next week with the "5th Season Harvest School Lunch "Ratatouille" Cook-off." Adults can work early in the week cutting locally grown vegetables, and packing up the tasty food that will be served throughout the year. This is the spirit of the name 5th season, because food preparation and putting-up has historically been considered the 5th season. And it is a lot of work, so think about coming out to help the community on this new venture.

image from Wikipedia

And then come taste the product Wednesday, August 27th at 5-8 pm in the Viroqua Elementary School and learn about this exciting program to expand the menu and support local farmers.

Comments >>

Kickapoo Homeschool Coop Information Night 8/13

By borges, Section School House
Posted on Mon Aug 11, 2008 at 03:46:42 PM CST

The Kickapoo Homeschool Coop is hosting an information eventing in Viroqua on August 13th at 7 pm. All the details are in the flier below:

KHC information meeting

Comments >>

Kickapoo Homeschool Coop--Sushi Safari 5/17

By borges, Section School House
Posted on Thu May 15, 2008 at 06:42:17 AM CST

The Kickapoo Homeschool Coop is finishing the year with a bit of celebration and fundraising. There will be short plays by the children, food and games. All are welcome. Click on the image below for details...

Kickapoo Homeschoo Cooperative Spring Fundraiser

Comments >>

Yellow Cello Music Camp Registration

By borges, Section School House
Posted on Sun Apr 27, 2008 at 07:50:33 AM CST

The Yellow Cello music camp for strings will be available again this summer. Details are on the flyer below. Click the image to enlarge. Registration form is in the full story...

(94 words in story) Full Story

Non-Sectarian Homeschool Conference

By borges, Section School House
Posted on Fri Feb 01, 2008 at 09:34:29 AM CST

Illinois has an excellent homeschool conference that happens in early March. All the information is available on their website and although the early registration has passed, most sections and activities are still open for registration. The details:

11th Annual InHome Conference March 7 - 8, 2008

Pheasant Run Resort and Spa
4051 East Main St.
St. Charles, Illinois

Our 2008 conference will present 100's of children and adult workshops featuring some of the most talented, knowledgeable, and committed individuals in the homeschooling movement today.

Comments >>

Opting-out of High School Military Recruitment

By borges, Section School House
Posted on Mon Jul 16, 2007 at 06:15:58 AM CST

[This in from VetsForPeace]

What Parents Need to Know About Military Recruiting in High Schools

President Bush's NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND ACT grants military recruiters access to students' private ID information without parents even knowing about it. With this access, recruiters can make unsolicited calls and send direct-mail recruitment literature to a young person. Schools that do not comply with this section risk the loss of federal funding.

However, also written into Section 9528 of the Act is the requirement that schools must notify parents and students of their right to "opt-out". Schools are obligated by law to remove a student's name from lists given to military recruiters if that is requested by a parent or student. The burden is on you to fill out and submit the Opt-Out form [maybe?] included in your registration packet. If you need clarification your high school principal or guidance counselor can explain the details.

Or visit LeaveMyChildAlone.org

Comments >>

Farm School Update--now a homeschool cooperative

By borges, Section School House
Posted on Thu Jun 21, 2007 at 07:57:08 AM CST

The (newly named) Kickapoo Homeschool Cooperative has been in the planning for several months. Meeting announcements have been regularly posted here. The planning has resulted in their decision to have 2 main components. The following is their vision on moving the project forward:

On Tuesdays, we will have Farm Thyme, which consists of visiting a farm one week and then following up the next week with a classroom component that relates to the farm experience. On Wednesdays, we will have the Learning Circle, which is a day of 4 classes. Every semester the cooperative will vote on what these classes are. However, for the first semester it seemed best to already have things in place. So, for this fall we will begin with Yoga, World Cooking, Spanish, and leather/bead work. We will also share sack lunch together, have recess, and end our day with games.
We will be hosting a booth at the Kickapoo Country Fair on July 28, so please feel free to stop by. I will send out the brochure via email as soon as I have them. It is so exciting to see this coming together!

[Please note we now have a School section on KickTime and all these school happenings can be located in one click (right hand column blue buttons.) So if you wonder about contact info/history of this project it can be located there, or here for the confused.]

Comments >>

Next 8 >>