Young Citizens in Action

We need your support! For the past four years, the 7th and 8th graders at St. Joseph School in Wauwatosa have been working on a project to make Wisconsin cheese our state snack. The bill, known as SB 327, was introduced on September 29, 2009. A tentative date for a hearing is February 10, 2010 at 10:00 A.M. To help the bill move forward, please send emails to the committee representatives below and urge them to vote yes to bill # SB 327.
Senator Kathleen Vinehout (Chair)
(608) 266-8546 Or
(877) 763-6636
Sen.Vinehout@legis.wisconsin.gov

Senator Pat Kreitlow
(608) 266-7511 Or
(888) 437-9436
Sen.Kreitlow@legis.wisconsin.gov

Senator Jeffrey Plale
(608) 266-7505
Sen.Plale@legis.wisconsin.gov

Senator Sheila Harsdorf
(608) 266-7745
Sen.Harsdorf@legis.wisconsin.gov

Senator Dan Kapanke
(608) 266-5490 Or
(800) 385-3385
Sen.Kapanke@legis.wisconsin.gov

Here's a short history of our project.
The idea to make Wisconsin cheese our state snack was started during the 4th quarter of the 2005-06 school year. At that time, my 4th grade Wisconsin History class at St. Joseph School in Wauwatosa was studying the state symbols. After reading about the symbols in the Blue Book, the students thought that it'd be a great idea to try to get a state snack passed by Congress. Since we had recently studied Wisconsin government, I decided this would be a good project for the students to experience the law making process.


We started with a discussion of what would be a good and nutritious snack. We had just finished our unit on Wisconsin agriculture, and the students had many ideas, such as apples, sausage, honey, cheese, etc. The decision was made to go with cheese because of a number of reasons. The top three were, Wisconsin cheese is very important to our state's economy, Wisconsin produces over 600 varieties of cheese, and Wisconsin produces more cheese than any other state in our nation. After the choice was made, the students did more research and wrote to eighty-one cheese makers asking for their support. We also visited Arena Cheese, a family owned cheese plant in Arena,WI. Then the class wrote to Sen. Tom Renolds to start the bill process. Since we started this project at the end of May, there was no further progress till the following school year.


During 2006-07, the 5th graders continued their enthusiasm, but in a more inactive role. The present 4th graders took over as active participators. They updated the previous year's research on Wisconsin cheese and then designed and produced a map of Wisconsin illustrating the facts they had learned. They also, contacted Sen. Jim Sullivan, our new district senator. Later that year, Sen. Sullivan visited our school to speak on Wisconsin government and discuss the importance of getting involved. Since we needed to gather more support, the students wrote letters to people suggested by Laura Wilford, Wisconsin Dairy Council director. As in the previous year, these 4th graders also enjoyed a tour of Arena Cheese.


Since I retired in 2007, Mrs. Sue Newell assisted the students and me in keeping the project alive. Today, those 4th and 5th graders are 7th and 8th graders. The present Social Studies teacher, Mrs. Karen Ammerman, the Technician teacher, Mrs. Denise Coleman, and I are continuing to work with the students to make Wisconsin cheese our state snack. This past September, during Tech class, the 7th and 8th graders sent emails to Sen. Sullivan and various cheese factories confirming their continued effort to make Wisconsin cheese our state snack. In October, the Cheese Bill was referred to Sen. Vinehout, the chair of the Agricultural committee. Since then, the word has spread. In October, I was interviewed about our project by John Hovert of WIBA radio in Madison. The interview was aired during news breaks on Oct. 20. The first annual festival of Wisconsin Cheese Originals was held in Madison on November 6-7. At this festival, I handed out flyers asking for support from the participating cheese makers. Also this year, some of the children and I had the opportunity to express our enthusiasm about the Cheese Bill on the Wisconsin Dairy News, a program produced by the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board. The interviews were aired during the week of January 11. If you're interesting in blogging and spreading the news to your friends, Jeanne Carpenter has a blog about our cheese bill. You can log on at http://cheeseunderground.blogspot.com/2009_11_01_archive.html
and scroll down to "Wisconsin Cheese: State Snack?"


Now, we wait for the hearing. When it's held (hopefully on Feb. 10), the 7th and 8th graders will be present to give testimony on why they think Wisconsin cheese should be our state snack.


Thanks for supporting bill SB 327!


Thanks, Mary Hartl