Would you like to have your passport stamped twenty times in one day? Please come to the Menomonie High School Commons on Sunday, February 11 from 1:00-4:00 p.m. to receive your own special "passport" and explore the world.

MHS students working toward their State Global Education Achievement Certificate will be sharing music, crafts, games, interactive stations, videos and displays from around the globe.  All are welcome to this free, family-friendly community event for experiencing the world...right here in Menomonie! Please see the attached poster for more information.

The mission of the School District of the Menomonie Area is to prepare ALL students to become lifelong learners, caring individuals, and responsible citizens. There is a wide variety of academic and co-curricular programs in the school district that allow children in our schools to achieve the school district’s mission, with Menomonie High School’s Global Scholars Program being one of the more recent additions.

In 2016, the SDMA began a global scholars certification program approved by the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction “for graduating high school students who have demonstrated a strong interest in global citizenship by successfully completing a global education curriculum and engaging in co-curricular activities and experiences that foster the development of global competencies”. According to Wisconsin State Superintendent Tony Evers, “We need students who are knowledgeable about the world and who have an understanding of how other cultures work and how other people think.”

Menomonie High School is the only high school in the Big Rivers Conference offering Global Education Achievement Certification, and in 2017, nearly a quarter (24%) of all global scholars recognized in the entire state of Wisconsin came from Menomonie High School.

Global Education Achievement Certification in Menomonie includes curricular requirements, educational opportunities, requirements in global literature and film, various cultural experiences, and a 20-hour community service project. The global scholar's program at MHS is a great example of how students and staff in the SDMA are accomplishing the mission set out by our community.

Should school families or community stakeholders have any questions or concerns related to global scholars program, I invite you to contact the administration and staff at Menomonie High School or visit me at the Administrative Service Center on Pine Avenue. More information about our schools can be found on the school district website (www.sdmaonline.com), and I regularly post school-related information on Twitter (www.twitter.com/sdmaonline) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/menomonie.schools)

*Thank you to MHS teachers Kathy Ruegnitz and Jennifer Smith for contributing to this column.