Northern Waters Environmental School

05/22/2026

Congratulations to Ms. Wondergem for being nominated for teacher of the year!! A well deserved recognition!!

🍎 The Northern Waters Environmental School nominee for Teacher of the Year is Christina Wondergem. She was on the board of the charter school for several years and then became the Middle School Advisor and Lead Teacher four years ago. Her innovative thinking and work on projects such as the Climate Youth Labs Grant provides students with hands-on activities and unique learning experiences.

It has been an honor to recognize the nominees from schools across the Hayward area. Our students are truly fortunate to be supported by so many outstanding educators!

05/08/2026

Sugarbush pt. 4 - Learning from the Experts!

As part of our sugarbush project this year, we were fortunate enough to be invited to Mader's Maple. We learned about their reverse osmosis method, how they harvest and transport sap, their woodfired boiling and filtering process, and we even got to enjoy maple sugar ice cream sundaes!

Thank you to Becky and Jeff for inviting us to your home and business!

05/08/2026

Sugarbush pt. 3 - Honoring the Harvest!

This year we kicked off our Sugarbush project by enjoying the fruits of our labor from the previous year, and giving thanks to the resource we had been provided.

Students worked together in teams/pairs to make themselves a pancake lunch featuring syrup we had made the previous year. It was a great way to connect, practice our camp stove cooking skills, and celebrate maple syrup!

05/08/2026

Sugarbush pt. 2 - Collecting & Boiling Sap!

Harvest & boiling sap at NWES becomes a team effort! and because we don't have the benefits of a commercial facility, that often means we have to get creative!

Students collect sap in teams using 5 gallon pails and coolers in the back of pick up trucks. Then, it gets stored in large barrels at NWES before we boil it down over an open fire in our outdoor classroom (before finishing it inside over the stove).

Boiling over an open fire also means lots of firewood prep! Thanks to any families (especially the Walter family) who have donated firewood!

05/07/2026

Sugarbush Part 1.

Sugarbush at Northern Waters was short and sweet this year! We tapped trees near Bean Lake just outside of town and got our fill in a matter of days!

Students worked in teams to map out our sugarbush plot, ID healthy trees, tap them, and harvest sap. Check out sugarbush parts 2 & 3 plus a video of students tapping trees!

05/06/2026

My name is Victoria Tilden, and I'm a junior at Northern Waters Environmental School. For a school project on grassroots organization, I want to help people in my community. According to Alliance for Period Supplies, "1 in 3 low-income women reports missing work, school, or similar commitments due to lack of access to period supplies."

I wanted to help change that, so I decided to focus on providing menstrual products to people in need in my community, Hayward, Wisconsin. According to Data USA, 22.1% of the people living in Hayward Wisconsin live below the poverty line; that's nearly double the national average of 12.5%. So, to provide menstrual products to those in need, I decided to make period kits. Each kit is in a plain, discreet brown bag and contains 10 pads, 10 tampons, and a small pack of wet wipes. I will be distributing the kits by setting up a table and offering them to anyone who may need it, completely free, and no questions asked. If I am able to reach my goal of $300, I'll be able to create and provide nearly 50 period kits!

Please consider donating any amount you are able to help support those in need in Hayward, WI!

Link in comments!

05/05/2026

Our Community Dinner & Nature Hike was a huge success! While didn't have the public turnout that we were hoping for, students still worked hard to present the learning they have done as part of this project!

Middle school students staged along the nature trail gave engaging presentations and led activities related to climate resiliency in our community from their perspective! And high school students served a delicious meal with homemade challah and sourdough bread as the highlight. They also led an exciting basket raffle featuring donations from local businesses!

Thank you to all the family and community members who made this night possible and came out to the Rec. Forest to support our students and our school!

Thank you especially to Kathy Moe who maintains the Rec. Forest, and Coops, Birkie, Anglers, Lynne Marie's Candies, and Tremblays Sweet Shop for your generous donations to our Basket Raffle!

05/04/2026

Sugarbush part 1a - tapping!

Take a look at this high quality video featuring our students tapping trees for Sugarbush 2026. Thank you to Kevin Cram for generously sharing your footage from the day - we can't wait to invite you back for more field days!!

05/04/2026

We are excited to announce that we have officially launched a capital campaign to support a transformative building expansion designed to meet the needs of our rapidly growing student population and innovative, project-based learning model!

The capital campaign will be funded through philanthropic support. Upon completion of fundraising efforts, detailed design work will be finalized, and the project will move to public bidding, with construction anticipated to begin in Spring 2027.

NWES supports the Hayward Community School District’s mission to help every
student achieve; NWES will develop thriving, critical thinking citizens who understand the interconnectedness of our world and value our natural environment.

To learn more about the NWES Building Expansion Plan, or to contribute to the campaign, visit nwes.hayward.k12.wi.us.

12/15/2025

This fall, Northern Waters students and families participated in the Sawyer County food drive. We ended up donating over 500 lbs. of food!

And, in true Northern Waters fashion, we even tied it into our seminar project - survival! The MS advisory worked together to hiked all of our food donations down to the Sawyer County building in portage packs! They practiced teamwork, perseverance, and maintaining a positive mindset in challenging situations.

We are proud to be part of such a generous community!!