by McKenna Gnas | Apr 23, 2023 | Archive, Community, News
On Saturday, May 6, 2023, 10:00 AM to noon, the Franklin Public Library (FPL) will be hosting two events in the parking lot. The events are an Arbor Day Celebration and a Citywide Cleanup.
The Arbor Day Celebration is the City of Franklin and the Franklin Environmental Commission handing out free tree samplings while supplies last in a first come, first serve manner. Children present will be given drawings and wildflower seed packets if asked.
The Citywide Cleanup is a “Great American Cleanup Day” where participants and the Franklin Public Works Department (FPW) work together to clean up trash around Franklin. Trash bags will be available use, but participants are asked to bring gloves and pre-register by contacting the FPW by calling (414) 425-2592. If you can’t call, you can pre-register at the library on the day of the event. After this event, you will be given a token of appreciation.
by McKenna Gnas | Apr 21, 2023 | Community, Featured, News, School
Relay for Life is a fundraising event for the American Cancer Society. All money raised goes to research, detection, prevention, education, and patient support. This is an FHS student-led event on Friday, May 5, 2023, starting at 5:30 PM and ending at 10:30 PM, at Franklin High School. Watch this website for a final schedule of when events take place.
Anyone can participate in this event ranging from students, staff, and the community. Everyone and anyone is welcome. Relay for Life especially invites and encourages cancer survivors and caregivers to participate so they may honor and celebrate you. There will be water and baked goods available for a small donation to ACS.
Relay for Life encourages you to donate to this cause if you can for the American Cancer Society. You can do that through your own personal donation, asking friends and family to donate, or purchasing raffle tickets or other items on the day of the event.
There have been 7 established teams that have raised an estimated amount of $7,621.12 (April 21). If you sign up through the ACS website with FHS while raising $100 or more, you will receive a 2023 T-Shirt. The goal of this event is to raise $20,000 or more in donations.
This year’s theme is Give Cancer the Boot! Many activities will be present for all ages and planned around the theme. There will be activity stations with games, coloring, a photo booth, and much more.
If you are not able to make it to this event, there are other opportunities to be involved or donate. This weekend, April 22 and April 23, Kendra Scott in Brookfield, will donate a portion of all sales to the FHS Relay for Life! What you have to do is mention FHS Relay at the check out or use the code GIVEBACK-DROLM when shopping online.
Thursday, April 27, Ricardo’s Pizza in the Village of Greendale, will donate 15% of all sales including dine in, carry out, and gift card sales. Just mention FHS Relay for Life at the check out.
If you have any questions about the event, you can contact Diane Gilroy by emailing diane.gilroy@franklin.k12.wi.us or calling (414) 817-5552.
by McKenna Gnas | Apr 19, 2023 | Clubs, Column, Community, News, School
Since June 8, 2022, we haven’t posted anything until this moment. With the web page fully updated and revised by an FHS programming teacher, Mr. Hust, we are able to get back to posting about anything. We’ve come up with more categories that can help inform students, staff, and families of what is going on in our school and community.
The new categories created are academics, art, and creative writing. Soon enough, a google form will be created where students and teachers can submit work that can be featured in the art and creative writing categories.
The Saber Slate was created to provide a way for students to express their opinions, ideas, and creativity, help shape perspectives and identity, and improve writing and vocab. We strive to help students be comfortable with voicing their work and opinions for others to see.
We will be meeting in the Saber Center Commons every Wednesday after school around 2:50 until 3:30. This may change, so please watch for updates. If you are thinking of joining, please fill out this Google Form.
If you have any questions, you can email jessica.kelly@franklin.k12.wi.us or mckenna.gnas@franklinsabers.org
by Saber Slate | Mar 16, 2020 | Athletics & Activities, Community, News, School
On Thursday the 5th, FHS hosted its annual Culture Fest – in the past, it was known as Mini-Juneteenth Day. This time, we celebrated just about every culture there is. Around the main commons you could find different varieties of food and cultural traditions. I had the opportunity of volunteering to man the Japanese booth. With the help of a few of my fellow Japanese classmates we were able to set up a pretty decent booth towards the front of the room. We brought in traditional Japanese onigiri, which are rice balls with soy sauce and some seasonings. Sometimes they contain what are pickled plums inside, but these ones did not. Visitors could have the option of wrapping nori seaweed around the onigiri, but they weren’t required to. Or, they could just have the seaweed on its own. Unfortunately I didn’t have the opportunity to taste test these delicacies because they were for visitors of our stand.
We also brought traditional Japanese clothes from class, which were the kimono and yukata. We didn’t wear the kimono because there were too many different pieces and there is a certain traditional way of putting on these clothes. Kids could come by as well and play with the kendama, which is the Japanese version of the cup game. Basically, a ball is attached to the wooden part by a string, and you need to flick the ball to get it on a small point. It’s more frustrating than it sounds, trust me. But it was a good way to keep people entertained.
I had the opportunity to ask a fellow volunteer and friend, Nadia Estrada(who was working on the Bolivia stand near me with her sister Jiana) about her experiences and thoughts about the Culture Fest. Bolded are my questions, and italicized are Nadia’s responses.
Overall what did you think of the event?
I was really surprised by how many people attended and was really pleased with how legitimately interested they seemed about all the cultures presented. It was really cool to see everyone come together to create an event that brought students and the community together.
Is there anything you’d want different for next year?
I would want to somehow make the passports for the kids so that they actually had to listen to the presentations instead of just a stamp and go, because then they aren’t learning anything.
What was your favorite part?
My favorite part was the dancing performances, Senor Mac’s friend’s guitar performance, and the fashion show was groovy too.
Can you describe some of the things you did volunteering?
So I helped in the planning and organization of the event (I mean so did almost everyone else) by giving my input on possible ideas and how we would run them and possible solutions to issues we would encounter. I also ran the Bolivia booth with Jiana where we had a poster board that had a bunch of information about Bolivia (the indigenous culture, music, etc) and brought artifacts that we had from our relatives in Bolivia. We also brought some Bolivian food – alfajores (like a shortbread cookie with caramel cream in the middle (cajeta)) and cocads (a coconut candy with sweetened condensed milk).
Any thing else you would like to add?
It was really nice to see all the hard work that everyone, especially Mrs. DeClark, put into the event and how much it paid off for everything there because of how well it turned out. I was super impressed and I hope we can make it even better for next year.
I’d like to thank all of the volunteers who came along with me and everyone who came to attend our Culture Fest! Also a big thanks for Nadia once again for the interview! I’m looking forward to coming next year as an alumni.
by Saber Slate | Sep 17, 2019 | Community, News, Opinion & Reviews
For the whole summer, the major Franklin intersection of Drexel Avenue and 51st Street has been under construction due to the creation of a new roundabout. I’m sure many were annoyed of the long detours they had to take, and the delays caused. But on August 30, the new roundabout officially opened, in time for the home football game against Appleton North.
I went in the roundabout for the first time that night while I was heading home after the marching band’s halftime show. For me, personally, it was really nice because I didn’t have to be stressed out about waiting until it’s whoever’s turn at a stop sign. They even had helpful little street signs pointing in the direction of whichever road you want to go to.
This isn’t Franklin’s first roundabout. The first one was built about 10 years ago during the construction of the Shoppes at Wyndham Village (think where Target is). That one only has 3 ways, primarily to get into the parking lot of the shopping center. It isn’t a major intersection either. There’s a larger roundabout a bit further away in Hales Corners, at the busy intersection of Forest Home and Janesville Road. It has two lanes and was completed last summer.
The city of Franklin decided to change the four-way stop into a one lane roundabout because of large backups each morning and evening, and a roundabout was thought of as the best solution to that problem. However, some controversy was created because many adults and new drivers are not familiar with the concept of a four-way roundabout and how it works. Whether you like it or not, the roundabout is here to stay, and it’s important to know the long-term benefits of one and how it works, instead of being frustrated every time you need to pass through it.
According to the Washington State Department of Transportation, roundabouts help to reduce the likelihood and severity of collisions. This is because of the low travel speeds required, where drivers must slow down and yield to traffic before entering a roundabout. This creates a continuous and circular flow of traffic where neither side is required to stop completely, as opposed to traffic lights where backups will still be created. Since there is less stop and go, traffic will move more quickly overall, and reduce delays. Also, the one-way travel required in a roundabout helps eliminate the possibility for t-bone and head-on collisions.
Roundabouts being “safer” does not mean accident-free and there are many ways accidents can occur within roundabouts. Additionally, there will always be “that guy” on the road who doesn’t know or refuses to learn the proper way around roundabouts. As long as you’re focused while driving, which you always should be, roundabouts should be a piece of cake, and it is much better than sitting and waiting at the backed up stop sign for what feels like an eternity. Regardless if you hate it or love it, roundabouts are a big part of modern driving and we might as well learn the right way to use them.
Resources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roundabout
https://www.wsdot.wa.gov/Safety/roundabouts/benefits.htm
http://blog.aisinsurance.com/2015/02/02/benefits-of-roundabouts/
by Saber Slate | Mar 31, 2019 | Community, News
The City of Franklin will soon be undergoing various changes in the near future, some of which are very controversial. City and state architects and planners have deemed it necessary to construct an additional interstate highway through the City of Franklin, dubbed the Franklin Megahighway. The planned highway will replace the antiquated Interstate 94. It will connect the cities of southeastern Wisconsin to Milwaukee and Chicago.
Due to the construction of this highway, the City of Franklin is required to demolish half of its neighborhoods and businesses to make way. This includes the development underway at the Rock ski slope, and the ski slope itself. City planners plan to demolish the site in order to make way for a major interchange. This is a necessary loss for the city, but will contribute majorly to the economy and future development around the new highway.
The proposed highway will have 12 lanes both sides with dedicated lanes for bus lines and carpools. Parts of the highway will be double-deckered as well: the first highway of its kind in Wisconsin. This will allow for better traffic flow and distribution along the highway, and allow motorists to reach their destinations faster and more efficiently around the state. With this fortunate new development soon to be underway, Franklin will see a new future. However, there have been protests of opposition by the organization People Opposing Odd Planning. There has been about $65,000 in damages to City of Franklin construction vehicles and concrete factories. Thus, groundbreaking of the Franklin Megahighway has been delayed to 2020.
Due to the construction of this new major highway, city planners and government officials have deemed it necessary for the City of Franklin to be annexed by Oak Creek, an effort for continued prosperity and happiness. Because of this, it will be easier for the city to support the new highway. It will also boost our economy. The school districts will also combine, making a total of two high schools and middle schools, and a lot of elementary schools.
The combining of our two great cities will make the expanded City of Oak Creek a major powerhouse of Wisconsin. It will even become the home to a new major sports team, according to the Journal Sentinel. The planned “Sports District” of Oak Creek will be built where Franklin High School currently is. It will contain a standard size football and baseball field, and a multi-use arena for basketball, indoor soccer, or hockey.
Final closure of Franklin High School will be in 2020. Remaining Franklin High School students will be redistributed to brand new high schools, Oak Creek East and Oak Creek West High Schools, which are to be constructed in the months before Franklin High School’s closure. OC East High School will be a renovated version of the existing Oak Creek High School. OC West will be constructed at the intersection of Drexel Avenue and Lover’s Lane Road. The already constructed Target and Pick n’ Save buildings will be repurposed as the high school, and surrounding businesses will be converted into administrative offices. The Franklin Sabers will effectively become a part of the Oak Creek East Knights and Oak Creek West Knights, respectively.
All in all, the future of Franklin is looking very bright. There will be lots of major changes happening and it all might be strange at first. However, this is a new beginning for our town. Plus, with becoming a part of Oak Creek, our economy will prosper, and our children will have an amazing new place to live, play, and learn.
Please note this article is part of Saber Slate’s Satire Week and is not meant to be taken seriously. If you are confused by this, we suggest you look up the definition of satire.
