Monday evening the Racine Unified School District (RUSD) school board celebrated the exceptional achievements of its students in fine arts, academic competitions and STEM activities.
The evening began on a high note with a captivating performance by the Gilmore Fine Arts Madrigal Choir, a group that recently clinched Gold at the WorldStrides Heritage Festival in New Orleans. Their outstanding performance didn’t just end with a trophy—they were also invited to the prestigious Festival of Gold in New York. A special thank you went out to this ensemble for sharing their talents with the audience.
Following their performance, the spotlight moved on to other Gilmore ensembles:
Gilmore Jazz Ensemble: Earned Gold in New Orleans. Special recognition went to Bella Caira, recipient of the Maestro Award for her standout vocal solo.
Titan Strings: Another Gold-winning ensemble at the Heritage Festival.
Swing Choir & Junior Choir: Both choirs received the Adjudicator Award for scoring 95 or higher, and their combined excellence earned Gilmore the coveted Choral Sweepstakes Award.
Incredibly, every Gilmore Fine Arts group that competed this year brought home Gold—a testament to the school's outstanding music program.
In the visual arts, Aleanna Fournier, a fourth grader from Wadewitz Elementary, was honored with a Creative Power Award from Arts for All Wisconsin. Out of 210 submissions statewide, only two children in the 5–10 age range received this distinction. Aleanna’s artwork is now part of a traveling state exhibition titled the Creative Power Showcase.
Students from across RUSD made waves at the SkillsUSA State Conference, excelling in a wide range of technical and leadership events. These students were also recognized by the board Monday evening:
Case High School
Katelyn Womack – Bronze, Facilithon
Isela Sandoval-Luis, Makaya McEwen, Skrikar Munagavalasa – Silver, Entrepreneurship
Kayla Winston (Criminal Justice), Makaya McEwen (Job Interview), Charles Griese (IT Services) – Gold & National qualifiers
Horlick High School
Adrianna Gehrke, Brooks Jackson – Bronze, Commercial Drones
Seth Bergman, Garrick Stahl – Silver, Commercial Drones
Jasmine Prezkurat, Kennedy Robison, Garrick Stahl – Gold, Community Service & National qualifiers
Gifford School
Jay Heineman – Bronze, Engineering Technology Design (team event)
Mitchell Middle School
Eva Lopez – Silver, Pin Design
Avery Casso – Gold, Pin Design & National qualifier
Next the Board honored students’ talents that won big at the 2025 HOSA State Leadership Competition, where students compete in health-related career challenges:
Gifford
Kamrynn Baumgardt & Aila Johnson – 4th Place, Health Career Display
Jessica Garity – 1st Place, Public Health & International qualifier
Mitchell
Nadilee Gissell – 4th Place, Veterinary Science
Morrighan Wagner – 1st Place, Health Career Preparation & International qualifier
Horlick
Tressa Wisniewski – Recognition, HOSA Happenings ILC Qualifier; 1st Place, Healthy Living & International qualifier
Case
Mia Young – 4th Place, Sports Medicine
Dameon Hill – 1st Place, Medical Math & International qualifier
Finally, the evening concluded with an exciting demonstration from Trial N Error, the joint robotics team from Case High School and the REAL School. Team members Steve Kennedy, Wyatt Sadowski, and Emily Struck earned the Imagery Award in Honor of Jack Kamen at the Wisconsin Regionals. Their robot, Dreadnaught, also made a live appearance.
