Whitney Drewsen ’06 helps bring younger members to local Habitat for Humanity

You can also find Whitney on LinkedIn

Most people are familiar with Habitat for Humanity and the great work the organization does in helping the less fortunate become home owners. EHS alumna Whitney Drewsen, who works for CUNA Mutual in Madison, heads up the Dane County Habitat Young Professionals. 

Dane County HYP is a diverse group of young professionals who share resources, time and talents to improve the world around them and make a difference by helping families in the Madison community. HYP is building the next generation of Habitat volunteers, donors, and leaders through monthly social hours, fundraising and volunteer opportunities to support Habitat for Humanity of Dane County.

Whitney first became involved in Habitat for Humanity when she volunteered for 4 months on a Dane County build site after graduating in 2010 from the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota, with a double BA degree in finance and economics. Since then she has taken an active role in the growth and promotion of Dane County HYP, including holding several elected positions before becoming chair of the group’s Board of Directors.

Mike O’Malley ’70 helps those with brain injuries

The UW Health site recently posted a story about a newly trained group of volunteers, including EHS alumnus Mike O’Malley. He is among those who are now working with patients recovering from strokes and other brain injuries and in need of rebuilding their lives as they relearn daily tasks and regain cognitive and neuromotor functions.

UW Health Brain Injury Peer Visitor volunteers: Steve Mintz, Neurosciences case manager Jodi Atwell, volunteer Michael O'Malley, peer visitor founder Ann Boriske, and volunteer Rodney Noll

During the two-day training, Mike and his fellow volunteers learned how to make visits and fill out paperwork and practiced visiting patients under supervision. When they make their official visits, they'll wear the association's blue vest and hand out information from the American Stroke Association, as well as resource lists, websites, helpful books and news articles and information on local support groups such as Fresh Start.

Link to the full story above to read more about how the program was started and the services it provides.

Laughing Stock and Edgetones take the stage

If you’re looking for an evening of laughs and great music, featuring three student-arranged tunes, come to the Edgetones/Laughing Stock performance tomorrow evening, Thursday, December 10.

Laughing Stock, Edgewood’s improvisational comedy troupe, takes the stage at 7:00 p.m. in the Sr. Kathleen O’Connell Auditorium.

The Edgetones, the contemporary a cappella group, follows at about 7:30 p.m.

Eric Pantano and all the students (area alumni probably know most of them!) who have been rehearsing for this show this semester would love to see you there. Best of all, the show is FREE!!!

Visit the YouTube “Edgewood Extra” channel for featurettes on both groups:

Laughing Stock
The Edgetones

Austin Arians back on the court

Photo from UW-Milwaukee Panthers site

The Wisconsin State Journal’s Jim Polzin wrote a cover feature on Austin Arians ’12 who is on the UW-Milwaukee men’s Panthers basketball team. Austin sustained a severe high ankle sprain about two weeks before the start of the regular season a year ago and ended up taking a redshirt, but this year the junior forward is averaging 13.2 points for the Panthers who will try to end a 22-game losing streak to the Badgers on Wednesday, Dec 9 at the Kohl Center.

You did it! MT has his chair!

Thanks go to all of you who participated in Edgewood High School’s first Giving Tuesday fundraising event. Your generous contributions meant that we were able to dedicate a chair to Mark Thering for his 40+ years as an art teacher and set construction chief.

We surprised Mark today with the gift in his honor, along with the names of all those who contributed.

MT takes his seat of honor with an enlarged version of the brass plaque that will be affixed to the seat. (The chair immediately in front of his belongs to PH!)

Joe Curtin ’09 quickly finding success with Bust A Move slo-mo video

The Wisconsin State Journal for November 28 ran a feature story on one of the latest party must-haves, now co-owned by Joe Curtin after he and his UW-La Crosse roommates helped a bride plan for an interactive wedding reception. Called Bust A Move, the company films partygoers dancing or just having fun with props and costumes. The camera crew projects the footage in slow motion on television screens at the event and then later sets the video to music for a keepsake of the event. 

According to the company’s Yelp profile, “Forget the photo booths you’ve seen. This is completely different and much better. We provide a backdrop, professional lighting, music (we take requests all night long)…live social media coverage, and final productions using the best and most hilarious scenes from the whole night. All you need to do is Bust A Move.

Joe says, “My favorite part of this job is seeing people’s reactions when they watch on the TV. It makes me smile and laugh every time knowing that they’re having so much fun. That’s what we’re all about, because that’s what life is all about: sharing fun moments with friends and family.”

A batch of more sample images are posted on the Yelp site, and also at Bust A Move’s Instagram site and Facebook page.

Bust A Move is only a part of a much larger venture, Chromatic Media Group (CMG), which the guys hope to grow into a large video production house. For more info on the big picture, visit the CMG website.

Even Mr. Waters is bustin' moves!

We’ve Got a Donor Match for Your Giving Tuesday Contribution!

Thank you!  

Contributions toward a dedicated seat for Mark Thering in the EHS Kathleen O’Connell Auditorium have already been coming in. If enough of us contribute just $10, $20 or more, we can fund this special gift for a person who has touched the lives of virtually all students who have attended EHS in the past 40+ years!

Today is Giving Tuesday and a donor has offered to match all gifts received in order to double your gift and reach our $1,000 goal! That amount will “buy” the seat for MT, and any additional money raised will go to support ENCORE, a fund that supports all Edgewood’s Fine Arts Programs.

Previous initiatives made possible through ENCORE funding include…

• Cross-curriculum projects with NY Times best-selling author Michael Perry (2015) and Jazz at Lincoln Center (2014)
• Commissioning composers to write new music with EHS students
• New tables and chairs for the Art Room
• Production of color pages in The Wayfarer
• Critical improvements to the Auditorium stage
• Transportation expenses for a donated grand piano
• Participation fees for the Young Playwrights Program with CTM
• …and so much more!

Please follow this link to the Edgewood High School “Make a Donation” page. Scroll to the bottom and click on the “Donate” button for “specify an amount for another purpose.” If you use Paypal, include “Thering Auditorium Seat” in the comments box. If you pay by credit card, any gifts received online on December 1 will be credited to the purchase of the seat.