Latest news with #WaunakeeHighSchool
CBS News
8 hours ago
- General
- CBS News
How a quiet Wisconsin high school senior used her art to connect with her classmates
Waunakee, Wisconsin — According to many of her senior classmates at Waunakee High School in Waunakee, Wisconsin, 18-year-old Molly Schafer was a loner. "I haven't talked to her in years," one student told CBS News. "Not a lot of kids did hang out with her," another said. That wasn't always the case. Back in elementary and middle school, before her social anxiety kicked in, Schafer said she was much more engaging. "There was a connection there, at some point," Schafer said. "...And, I don't know, I really wanted to just talk to them again, or be seen again." That longing for connection, is a common high school lament. But what is really interesting is that Schafer didn't blame her peers. She didn't sulk. Instead, she took it upon herself to reconnect in a most unusual way. Just about every day, for hours a day, Schafer would climb to a loft in her garage and try to paint her way out of her isolation by creating portraits of all those students she used to know. She made 44 such paintings. She put about 13 hours into each one, for 600 total hours of work. She then presented them to the students to keep. "The time and effort that she put into that is incredible," one student said of the painting she made for them. Although the reviews were rave, the paintings also evoked some of remorse. "All of us feel a little regret for not paying more attention," one student said. Said another: "I wish I would have made more relationships with some kids that I didn't talk with." Molly said the feeling is mutual, and hopes other students, and adults, learn from her experience and actions. "You can't go through life thinking that you don't have friends because they don't like you," Schafer said. 'Because that's not the case, people aren't thinking that hard about you. It's all in your head. You just have to try."
USA Today
11-06-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Wisconsin football extends a walk-on offer to an in-state fullback
Wisconsin football extends a walk-on offer to an in-state fullback Wisconsin football has extended a preferred walk-on offer to in-state class of 2026 recruit McCoy Smith. The offer followed his participation in the program's development camp on Tuesday. Smith, who plays defensive linemen at Waunakee High School, noted that the Badgers offered him to play fullback at the collegiate level -- the position he played during Tuesday's camp. That last note should be music to the ears of Wisconsin football fans, especially after Phil Longo's air raid scheme mostly eliminated the position. 247Sports lists five programs interested in Smith: Minnesota Duluth, Minnesota State Mankato, Northern Iowa, Sioux Falls and Winona State. However, it does not list scholarship offers from any of those programs. Wisconsin's walk-on offer is his only one from a Football Bowl Subdivision program. The 5-foot-9, 214-pound athlete totaled 11 sacks at defensive line as a junior in 2024. His output earned a First-Team All-Conference honor and the title of Defensive Lineman of the Year. Whether the in-state recruit accepts Wisconsin's walk-on offer or chooses to play elsewhere, it is good news that the Badgers are again prioritizing the fullback position. Contact/Follow @TheBadgersWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Wisconsin Badgers news, notes and opinion
