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It's not a myth that Jefferson Griffins are grrrrrrreat at communicating. Stay connected
It's not a myth that Jefferson Griffins are grrrrrrreat at communicating. Stay connected with our community! Browse Jefferson's latest newsletters and catch up on past editions to stay informed about upcoming events, important updates, and exciting news. Explore our archives and never miss a beat!
Fresh, Local Food at Summer Markets
Looking for fresh, local, delicious food this summer for your family? Check out these local farmers
Looking for fresh, local, delicious food this summer for your family? Check out these local farmers markets. EBTs (FoodShare, Snap, QUEST cards) are accepted:
Offers seasonal vegetables, eggs, honey, local meats
Veteran owned
MPSD Honors Hmong American Day
MPSD truly values the heritage and culture of our local Hmong students and families, and we love
MPSD truly values the heritage and culture of our local Hmong students and families, and we love highlighting them every year on Hmong American Day. Thanks to all of our students and staff who honored our community.
Taste of the Draft Awards Jefferson
Jefferson Elementary School is getting help combatting student hunger and increasing physical
Jefferson Elementary School is getting help combatting student hunger and increasing physical fitness, thanks to the Taste of the NFL and GENYOUth! Jefferson received donations totaling $5,000 including Grab and Go meal carts, smoothie makers, milk coolers and an entire flag football curriculum and all the supplies including footballs.
The Green Bay Packers' draft-eve event at Schreiber Foods featuring 20 Wisconsin supper clubs raised enough funds to donate nutrition items to 90 schools around the state, in honor of the 90th NFL Draft.
Jefferson students were excited to learn they will be able to play flag football and enjoy smoothies at lunch. They also got a special grill out lunch to celebrate the donation.
We Appreciate Our Food Services Staff
On National School Lunch Heroes Day, we thank all of our Chartwells K12 employees who greet and
On National School Lunch Heroes Day, we thank all of our Chartwells K12 employees who greet and serve our students after preparing their food every morning! We appreciate you!!
Kindergarteners Plant on Earth Day
Happy Earth Day! Mrs. Theel’s Jefferson Elementary School kindergarten
Happy Earth Day! Mrs. Theel’s Jefferson Elementary School kindergarten students learned about plants and planted grass for their houses.
Thennes Hired as MPSD Superintendent
The MPSD Board of Education is pleased to announce that Lee Thennes, a veteran MPSD teacher,
The MPSD Board of Education is pleased to announce that Lee Thennes, a veteran MPSD teacher, principal and administrator, has been selected as the district's next Superintendent.
The Board appointed Thennes as Interim MPSD Superintendent last September, and he was one of three finalists who interviewed with Board members and two panels composed of parents, staff, students and community members. The Board hired Thennes at its April 29 meeting.
Thennes said it is an incredible honor to be selected as superintendent. “I am deeply committed to our students, staff, families, and community, and look forward to building on the district’s strengths while working together to create even greater opportunities for every learner,” Thennes said. “Our future is bright, and I’m excited to lead the district on this continued journey of excellence, innovation, and student success.”
All MPSD elementary schools could have new youth sports programs such as basketball and running
All MPSD elementary schools could have new youth sports programs such as basketball and running clubs next fall, under a proposal approved by the Board of Education.
Expanded youth sports opportunities will not only help strengthen MPSD's middle and high school athletic programs but also increase student engagement in elementary schools, which has shown to increase student attendance and academic achievement.
Supt. Lee Thennes told the Board, "We are thrilled to announce an exciting proposal. This initiative aims to expand our elementary sports programming for the 2025-2026 school year to include all schools and introduce several new sports options.
"We firmly believe that engaging students in sports at an early age fosters a stronger sense of belonging within their school communities, a factor that research consistently links to higher levels of student achievement. Additionally, introducing sports to more students at a younger age has the potential to strengthen participation in interscholastic athletics at the middle and high school levels.
"By broadening access and encouraging greater participation, we also anticipate that this initiative will enhance the overall competitiveness of our athletic programs across all sports in the years to come. We look forward to sharing more details and working together to bring this vision to life for our students."
Student Leaders Prepare Weekend Food Bags
Jefferson Elementary School student leaders Kennedi Chang, Orlando Avila and Lilah Thao help put
Jefferson Elementary School student leaders Kennedi Chang, Orlando Avila and Lilah Thao help put weekend food bags into fellow student backpacks every Friday.
Hundreds of our MPSD students do not have enough food to eat until they return to school Monday. Every Friday, members of Jefferson Elementary School Student Leadership Team stuff bags of food into many of those students' backpacks, thanks to generous community donations to the Grow It Forward Community Food Center Student Backpack program. MPSD is eternally grateful for that support!!
But there is a dwindling amount of food stocked at the pantry, which has seen a 40% increase in attendance. Grow It Forward volunteers used to put 10 ready-to-eat or easy-to-heat items in a plastic weekend bag, but lately they only have enough to provide 6-7 items.
Did you know that up to 1,200 children in our county don't have enough food to eat? Grow It Forward's Backpack program supports about about 400 MPSD students across 5 schools - Jefferson, Madison, Monroe and Riverview elementaries plus a few of the students in need at McKinley Academy. Other MPSD schools, including our middle schools, want to join the program to serve their students who are struggling with food insecurity, but Grow it Forward had to turn them down because there is not enough food to share with additional MPSD schools - or with other districts in the county.
Jefferson fifth graders who serve on the student leadership team thanked all who donate. "Hi familias - gracias for the donated food to help our people of Manitowoc so they can eat," Orlando Avila said. "Keep on donating."
"This donated food can help struggling families if they don't have enough money to buy food at the moment," Kennedi Chang added. "That's why I joined Jefferson Leadership Team to help kids get food so they can do good in school."
Lilah Thao said, "I think this program can help because the people who need food for their families will get some for their self and family whenever they need it on the weekends."
How You Can Help:
Volunteer: Help assemble and distribute food bags at Grow It Forward.
Organize a food drive: Collect donations at your business or organization.
Donate food or funds: Your contributions go directly to purchasing food for children in need.
Donations can be dropped off Monday-Friday 9am-5pm at 1501 Marshall St., Manitowoc.
Checks can be mailed to:
Grow It Forward Inc. c/o Student Backpack Program PO Box 562 Manitowoc, WI 54221-0562
What was your favorite book series growing up? Did you ever get to meet the author? MPSD 4th and 5th
What was your favorite book series growing up? Did you ever get to meet the author? MPSD 4th and 5th graders had a treat Monday when they got to hear from Raina Telgemeier, the award-winning author and illustrator of graphic novels such as Smile, Drama, Sisters and Ghosts.
Telgemeier was 9 years old when she started drawing her own comic strips, inspired by her love for Calvin & Hobbes and others. She followed her passion and her books are #1 New York Times best sellers that have won many awards.
THANKS to the Manitowoc Public Library and the library's Foundation for organizing this wonderful event!
Manitowoc Lincoln High School phy ed teacher and strengths and conditioning coach Michael Longmeyer
Manitowoc Lincoln High School phy ed teacher and strengths and conditioning coach Michael Longmeyer donated white blood cells for a matched man with stage-four leukemia.
Longmeyer got a call out of the blue in August, asking if he remembered that nine years ago, when he was a student at UW-Stevens Point, he stopped at a college rec center table and gave a cheek swab for the NMDP "Be The Match" national bone marrow registry. Now, all these years later, he was a match. Longmeyer didn't hesitate to help, and went through various tests, paperwork and ultimately drove to Milwaukee to do the donation, which was swiftly flown to the recipient. Longmeyer's students were impressed and inspired, with some saying they want to be like him and join the national registry once they turn 18.
THANKS to Preston Stober at NBC26 for this great story! And thanks, Coach Longmeyer, for being such a great role model for your students and athletes!
District phone service will be down beginning at 1pm on Thursday June 19th and ending on June 20th. Please contact us using the contact us form on our website during this planned outage found here.
720 Quay St, Manitowoc, WI, 54220
Saturdays, 8am-1pm — May to October
920-686-6930
EBT Double Bucks Program
Happy Earth Day! 
Mrs. Theel’s Jefferson Elementary School kindergarten students learned about plants and planted grass for their houses.
Every Friday, members of 
MPSD is eternally grateful for that support!!
But there is a dwindling amount of food stocked at the pantry, which has seen a 40% increase in attendance. Grow It Forward volunteers used to put 
Did you know that up to 1,200 children in our county don't have enough food to eat? Grow It Forward's Backpack program supports about about 400 MPSD students across 5 schools - Jefferson, Madison, Monroe and Riverview elementaries plus a few of the students in need at 
Jefferson fifth graders who serve on the student leadership team thanked all who donate. "Hi familias - gracias for the donated food to help our people of Manitowoc so they can eat," Orlando Avila said. "Keep on donating."
Volunteer: Help assemble and distribute food bags at Grow It Forward.
Organize a food drive: Collect donations at your business or organization.
Donate food or funds: Your contributions go directly to purchasing food for children in need.
Donations can be dropped off Monday-Friday 9am-5pm at 1501 Marshall St., Manitowoc.
Checks can be mailed to:
Donations can be made 
Shop from this 
