Campbellsport AP Art History Students Share New York City Experience with School Board

Five AP Art History students who participated in a field trip to New York City in February presented their experiences to the Campbellsport School Board during its meeting on Monday, April 27.

During their presentation, the students highlighted the art museums and architectural locations they visited to see “the 250” in person. As part of the AP Art History curriculum, students study 250 specific pieces of artwork from across time periods and cultures in preparation for the exam at the end of the year. Some of the places the students visited included the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), the Seagram Building, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art (the Met).

It was at the Met that the students saw a statue of Hatshepsut, one of the few female pharaohs in ancient Egyptian history.

“It’s one thing when you learn about the works of art, and they’re on this little paper we get with the different identifiers that we learn about throughout the course,” said AP Art History student Jaedyn Burns. “Seeing her in real life and realizing that she’s actually like double our height was pretty awesome.”

When visiting these locations and viewing the artwork, the students took turns recording videos about the pieces and architecture to show their classmates who didn’t attend the trip. Creating the videos also served as a study method to review what students remembered about the artworks, some of which they hadn’t studied since the beginning of the school year.

“I was impressed with how much they remembered and could take away,” said high school art teacher Erin Nelson.

Along with visiting art museums and famous architectural locations, the students also enjoyed exploring New York City staples, such as Times Square, Broadway, and the 9/11 Museum.

Reflecting on the 9/11 Museum, Nelson stated, “We all really broke down what we thought about this, and I think we had some really good meaningful conversations that you can’t always have in your classroom.”

“It was just really cool to see how New York became a community in that time, even though we weren’t alive to see it happen. Just to see the history from that day and how it impacted New York, the country, and the world was really cool,” added student Sawyer Immel. “It wasn’t the most fun part of the trip, but it was my favorite thing and the most important thing I took out of the trip.”

The trip did not come without a few bumps in the road. Inclement weather led to many schedule changes, and a blizzard ultimately left the group grounded in New York City for two extra days until their rescheduled flight.

Over the course of their time in New York City, the students realized that “art history connects everything,” but they also took away lessons and experiences that were not directly related to art. These included travel skills, such as reading maps and navigating airports and subways, cultural exposure through interactions with people and artworks, and increased independence and confidence.

“When you’re always in a stagnant scene, you can’t really grow. When you go out of your comfort zone, it allows you to grow,” said Nelson. “I’ve seen tremendous growth in this whole group.”

School Board Matters:

• New Facility Director Tracy Peterson provided an update on current and upcoming projects. Peterson highlighted replacing the air handler and chiller units at the high school and middle school, which includes getting installation and electrical quotes. She also discussed the need for pest control management per state statute requirements and for building automation integration quotes.
• The election of officers for the 2026-2027 term occurred during the meeting. All of the current officers were reelected to their positions in unanimous motions.
• The school board discussed approving the hiring of Amy Sabel as a high school math teacher and Lilly Diedrich as a first-grade teacher. Vice President Sharon Gazzola made the motion to approve the hires, which passed unanimously.
• The school board accepted the following donations: $500 from the Kiwanis Club for the Color Run, $100 from the EES PTO for prom, a scholarship and T-shirt donation from Roger & Joanne Lange for the trap team, and a $5,000 donation from Drexel for the art club, which recently painted a mural for the company. The motion to accept all the donations was made by Keith Peters and passed unanimously.
• Concerns were raised among school board members during the first read and review of Neola 35-1 updated policies. The Campbellsport School District contracts policy services with Neola, an independent provider. Neola recently announced a partnership with the crowdfunding service Givebacks, which was the cause of concern amongst school board members. When the Policy Committee reviewed the policies at an earlier date, it decided to reject one policy related to crowdfunding. “This policy was funneling you into this company that they were partnering with,” summarized District Administrator Tom Wissink. The committee also proposed revising another crowdfunding-related policy to lower the maximum fee percentage from 15% to 12%, which more closely aligns with the highest end of Wisconsin averages. No policies were approved during this meeting, as they must be read twice. Within its policy consideration, the school board discussed looking into contracting with an alternative policy services provider in the future.