MMSD Launches “Mad for Reading” App to Spark Student Engagement

MADISON, Wis.—The Madison Metropolitan School District (MMSD) has launched the Mad for Reading App, powered by Beanstack, giving students and families a new way to celebrate and track their reading.

The app makes reading fun and interactive for students of all ages. By logging their reading, students can earn digital badges, participate in challenges, and build streaks by reading and tracking their progress on a personal virtual bookshelf. Any kind of reading counts—fiction, nonfiction, graphic novels, articles, audiobooks, even being read to by a teacher or family member. 

“Our goal is simple: to get students reading more and enjoying it,” said Maegan Heindel, MMSD’s library services coordinator. “By providing all kinds of literacy connections and entry points, we’re helping kids discover and read what they love while building a lifelong habit.”

The district has set a shared goal of 2.6 million minutes read this school year. Every student’s reading contributes toward that total, reinforcing the idea that individual efforts add up to collective success.

“Reading is the foundation of learning, and this app helps us meet students where they are,” Heindel added. “Whether a child is just beginning their literacy journey or already devouring books, the Mad for Reading App makes it easy to recognize their growth and celebrate it with their family and school community.”

Getting started is simple. At school, students are able to log in through their device using Classlink. At home, families can download the Beanstack mobile app from the iOS App Store or Google Play Store, using their student’s Classlink username (ID number) to connect reading minutes between home and school.

The launch of the Mad for Reading App aligns with MMSD’s districtwide literacy priority, building excitement and accountability around reading while engaging families as partners.

For more information about MMSD’s ongoing Mad for Reading initiative, please visit the district’s website.

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About the Madison Metropolitan School District

The Madison Metropolitan School District (MMSD) is the second-largest school district in Wisconsin, serving more than 25,000 students across 52 schools. The district’s vision is that every school will be a thriving school that prepares every student to graduate ready for college, career and community. With more than 6,000 teachers and staff, MMSD is committed to ensuring the district’s goals and core values are held at the center of its efforts, so students can learn, belong and thrive. For more information, visit mmsd.org.

Dupaco’s Commitment to Workplace Excellence Earns Statewide Honor

DUBUQUE, Iowa — Dupaco Credit Union has once again been recognized as a Top Workplace by the Des Moines Register, reaffirming the organization’s commitment to fostering a people-first culture and continuously improving the employee experience.

This Top Workplace recognition is based on results from an employee engagement survey conducted earlier this year from over 550 employees. The survey, administered by Energage, captures authentic feedback from employees and evaluates key aspects of workplace culture including alignment, execution and leadership.

“Being named a Top Workplace is a reflection of our employees’ voices—and we take those voices seriously,” said Joe Hearn, Dupaco President and CEO. “We don’t just participate in these surveys to check a box. We use the insights to grow, to get stronger and to ensure we’re living up to our commitment to be a great place to work.”   

Team Dupaco is part of Dupaco’s strategy and one of the financial cooperative’s four Areas of Focus.  

“We’re proud of this recognition, but even more proud of the intentional work our team puts in every day to make Dupaco a great place where people thrive,” Hearn continued.  

Participation in the Top Workplace survey is a strategic decision for Dupaco. The results are more than just data points—they’re a roadmap for growth. Dupaco uses it to identify areas for improvement, reinforce what’s working and stay accountable. The credit union uses the survey results to measure progress and continuously evolve to better support our employees.   

As a people-centric organization, Hearn said he is proud of how engaged employees are at the financial cooperative. “Every employee lends a hand to make our culture special. This is what helps us work towards our vision of a brighter community for all.”     

Dupaco has earned Top Workplace recognition from the Des Moines Register in multiple years, including 2023, 2021, 2019, 2016, and 2011.

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ABOUT DUPACO COMMUNITY CREDIT UNION 

Dupaco Community Credit Union is a not-for-profit, member-owned financial cooperative headquartered in Dubuque, Iowa. It is dedicated to the financial well-being of its members, and specializes in personalized financial counseling, money advice and education. It offers savings, loans, investments, insurance and wealth management products for individuals and businesses. Dupaco serves residents in 118 counties throughout Iowa, northwest Illinois and southwest Wisconsin. Founded in 1948 by ten Dubuque Packing Company employees, membership has grown to more than 176,000 with assets exceeding $3.6 billion. It has over 600 employees and 23 branch office locations. Learn more at www.dupaco.com.

Weight In Gold Wellness Dietitian Earns Advanced Obesity Training Certificate

Weight In Gold Wellness is proud to celebrate Registered Dietitian Nutritionist Aryn DeGrave, RDN, for earning her Certificate of Training in Obesity for both pediatric and adult patients. This nationally recognized program equips dietitians with advanced skills to support individuals and families through evidence-based obesity care.

At Weight In Gold Wellness, we believe obesity is a complex, chronic disease that requires a compassionate and comprehensive approach. Aryn’s dedication to achieving this additional credential ensures that our patients—children, teens, and adults alike—have access to the highest standard of nutrition care. Her advanced training further strengthens our mission to transform mind and body to find health beyond the scale.

Carnelian Art Gallery’s “Tending the Balance” Closing Reception Happening Oct. 24

Madison, Wisconsin, Sept. 15 – Carnelian Art Gallery, located at 221 King St., Suite 102, in downtown Madison, is pleased to host its fourth art exhibition of the year, titled “Tending the Balance,” whose theme is centered around ongoing care, as well as the intentional effort to maintain equilibrium, whether emotional, relational, internal or in nature. It also touches on connection, transformation and growth.

The exhibition will conclude with a closing reception at 5 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 24, at the gallery. 

As always, admission is free and light refreshments will be served. Tending the Balance is slated to be on display until Halloween, or Friday, Oct. 31.

Participating artists include Amanda Langer, Aaron Laux and Eric Peterson, who all specialize in three-dimensional artworks.

“My work is an exploration into the contrasting and often conflicting natures we hold within us and around us,” Langer writes on her website. “By exploring the dualities within the materials I work with, I seek to similarly expose the variability within ourselves. I enjoy investigating how fiber and metal can be combined in new and surprising ways, and I believe it shows how the multitudes of elements between humans and our societies have infinite potential to combine and work together to find harmony.”

Langer earned her undergraduate degree in fine arts from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point in 2017 and has since worked in ecological restoration while pursuing art on the side. She is currently returning to her art in pursuit of melding her two primary passions into one cohesive whole.

Born in 1972, Laux, according to his website, first understood that his life would be driven by a need to create at the age of five. His individual evolution, growth as a professional artist and commitment to community has largely been shaped by exploring the alternative. After three years of undergraduate studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, he followed his passion and accepted an apprenticeship with artist Steven Spiro. This blossomed into a decade of mentorship and training in wood sculpting technique which grounded Aaron’s technical skills and unique vision.

Throughout the remainder of his 20s and early 30s, Laux eschewed convention by deciding to go off the grid. Building and living in a yurt, he poured his passion and intellect into personally understanding the experiences of the first humans. Art for him at the time was survival, learning long lost skills that connect us to the natural world. This included the process of making stone tools, which is a symbolic element in his current contemporary mosaics. 

Other experiential education including world travel – especially living in South India for a year – contributed to Aaron’s interest in the ways other cultures relate to the natural world. This relationship with our environment is a constant theme that he explores in his work and life. 

From 2016 to 2018, Laux was a Fellow in the Clark Hulings Fund Business Accelerator program. This experience helped Laux bridge the gap between the necessity of creating an income, with the vision and spiritual side of making art. Within Laux’s diverse portfolio, you will find original art, commissions, community-based projects, public art, as well as functional and architectural works.

In 2015, Aaron was selected to participate in GLEAM, an exhibition at the Olbrich Botanical Gardens in Madison. GLEAM celebrates the symbiosis of art and nature with installations of predominantly light sculptures throughout the outdoor gardens, Aaron’s entitled “Luminous Grass.” In 2018, Laux was invited to exhibit his functional art with the Handmade Craft Invitational at the Dubuque Museum of Art. This exhibition featured a selected group of regional artists whose work is influencing the current functional art movement. 

Both of these exhibitions exemplify Aaron’s innovative approach and commitment to helping us understand how we connect to the natural world.Laux has become increasingly vocal – and with a young daughter increasingly worried – about the impact of human caused climate change. He was recently selected to participate in “The Phoenix from the Ashes,“ an exhibit of public art organized by the Madison Arts Commission which explores climate change issues, including deforestation.

Peterson is the purveyor of Mobius Frame Art, located at 5000 Turner Ave., in Madison. He has, according to his website, over 20 years of fine art experience, and his works are strongly influenced by the movements of contemporary art and mid-century modern minimalism, as well as Japanese motifs.Peterson’s aesthetic takes from the aforementioned styles with strong crisp lines, bold fields of color and shimmering accents of metallic ripples that can be observed in his artworks.

“Tending the Balance is an exhibition that I hope encourages people to examine how they can bring steadiness into their lives and retain it,” said Carnelian Art Gallery marketing director Emilie Heidemann. “Through stillness, we find clarity and truth. We discover, once again, who we are.”

“We are so unbelievably excited to showcase the works of local talents like Amanda, Aaron and Eric,” said Carnelian Art Gallery owner and head curator Evan Bradbury. “Not only that, but this is the first exhibition in the Carnelian Art Gallery’s history that will feature exclusively three-dimensional artworks. Please join us to both celebrate fine art, and invest in Madison’s broader art community.”

WisDOT Invites You To Attend US18/151 Public Involvement Meetings

The Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT) invites you to attend one of our two upcoming public involvement meetings (one in-person and one virtual) to present and gather feedback on the US 18/151 Corridor Study between the US 18/151 interchange in the town of Dodgeville and County PD (McKee Road) in the city of Fitchburg. The study corridor is approximately 35 miles long and travels through Iowa and Dane counties.

The purpose of the meeting is to:

• Introduce the study
• Present draft study purpose and corridor needs
• Gather feedback

Both meetings will include a prerecorded presentation and the chance to ask questions of study team staff. The in-person meeting will also include informational exhibits. You can choose which meeting works best for your schedule. The input received from these meetings will help shape the future of the corridor.

In-Person Meeting

Date: Wednesday, October 8, 2025, 5:30 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.

Location: Mount Horeb High School, West Commons/Cafeteria, 305 S. 8^th Street, Mount Horeb, WI 53572

Virtual Meeting

Date: Thursday, October 9, 2025, 5:30 p.m.

Link: https://app.pima.wisconsindot.gov/public/event-registration/search?project_id=14587&pe_guid=2078cbdf-c6b7-4569-93d5-d843dff00a97

The materials WisDOT presents at the meetings will be available on the public involvement page of the US 18/151 Corridor Study website following the meetings. The website can be found at https://wisconsindot.gov/Pages/projects/by-region/sw/18151study/default.aspx.

The hearing facility is ADA-compliant and wheelchair accessible. Persons who are deaf or hard of hearing may request an interpreter by contacting the Wisconsin Telecommunications Relay System (dial 711) at least seven working days prior to the hearing date. If you require a Spanish- or Hmong-speaking interpreter at the meeting, please contact WisDOT Southwest Region Communications Manager Michael Bie (email michael.bie@dot.wi.gov or call 608-246-7928) at least seven working days prior to the meeting.

If you have any questions, or if you’re unable to attend the meeting and would like to find out more about the study, please feel contact Jeff Berens (email jeff.berens@dot.wi.gov or call 608-245-2656).