KATIE LOUCKS Is a graduate from Kettle Moraine High School. Katie was accepted into the Thespian Society, which is the “varsity” level of the school’s drama club. For the 2008 fall play, she was the Assistant Stage Manager. Currently she is attending UW-Stevens Point for an English Major and a Web and Digital Media Development minor and hoping that she can get into a program for her Masters of Library Science in the future. Her favorite memory was the “St. Nick book”, a book where St. Nick (the class teacher in lieu of him) would right something about each student. The most useful thing she learned at PHWS was how to speak up more, as well as how 8th grade prepared her for highschool.
ERIN CASSIDY Went to DSHA high school where she was an honor-roll student. Erin was also a member of the school newspaper staff and captain of the tennis team, which won the conference title in 2009.
RYANNE OLSON Was selected to be a US Senate Page and is living in Washington DC for the semester to serve the US Senate. She recently finished leading a Modern Day Slavery Awareness Week at her high school. Ryanne is President, Captain, and 1st Board of Arrowhead’s chess team, is the Co-President and Secretary of Junior Statesmen of America and also is in the National Honors Society.
JULIA KRUSENBAUM “After graduating from Prairie Hill in 2007, I entered a public high school in the small town of East Troy. I went from a class of 14 to 140 and from one teacher to eight. I went from a colorful, friendly learning environment to a quite different one–with few windows, brick walls, and tile floors. It was quite the culture shock to say the least. I remember asking a classmate to show me how to make a PowerPoint presentation, and how to double-space on a word document. But after a mere couple of weeks, I adjusted to the new setting. The unique qualities I developed at Prairie Hill have helped me tremendously in a public school setting, and have often, even put me at an advantage.
I am often asked by current Waldorf parents if I felt like I was academically behind when entering high school. At times there were certain facts of knowledge that I had not learned beforehand as the rest of my classmates had. But this did not in any way put me behind them. While my classmates were memorizing facts in grade school, I was learning how to think and understand concepts on my own. Knowing how to think and learn on my own, before entering high school, has given me the ability to understand the context of my school courses. And because of Prairie Hill’s unique approach to educating each individual and supporting unique ideas, I entered peer settings and classrooms with an open mind. Just the other day in a Student Cabinet meeting, I presented an idea that had not come up yet and a classmate sitting next to me said, “That is a really great idea. You always have great ideas that most people never think of, how did you learn to think this way?” I immediately thought of Prairie Hill, and how it had opened a doorway for creative thinking in my mind.
From the first day of first grade, Prairie Hill instilled in me the importance of being a team leader. I was taught from the begin¬ning to listen with patience to what other classmates had to say, and throughout our eight years together, we learned how to convey our ideas clearly while still being able to listen to others and compromise. These skills have helped me incredibly in high school, from class discussions, group work, Student Cabinet, Multi – Cultural Club and Leadership Club. My sophomore year I was selected to represent East Troy High School at a leadership seminar and this year at a leadership conference. I have Prairie Hill to thank for that.
At Prairie Hill, I learned and worked in a world where every individual was respected for who they were, where diversity was celebrated, where creativity was innovated, where a passion to learn was cultivated, where compassion for all life was instilled. Growing up in this kind of world has made me want to create a similar one wherever I go.” – Julia Krusenbaum
JOHN BAZZETTA
PATRIK BRITT (GRAHAM)
ADELINE CELENZA
RACHEL GERRY
KIERAN KANE
KELSEY MCCLURG
JOSEPH NAPOLI
MEGAYN RAY (KUHLMAN)
EMMA SHEAHAN (MITTLESTEADT)
ANNA VOLLBRECHT
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