Random Lake School District had the privilege of welcoming Wisconsin State Superintendent Dr. Jill Underly this week as she helped cap off our opening staff inservice for the 2026–27 school year. Her visit came at an exciting time for our district and for public education across Wisconsin as the state prepares to launch its Portrait of a Graduate work this fall.
For the past several years, Random Lake has been developing our own PreK–12 Portrait of a Leader-From Lamb to Rambo, designed around a simple but increasingly important question: What do we want our students to know, be able to do, and ultimately become by the time they leave us? Our answer goes beyond academics. We want students who are prepared for learning, life, and their future careers, with the durable skills and experiences necessary to thrive in a world that will continue to change.
That alignment was one of the reasons Dr. Underly's visit was so meaningful. The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction highlighted Random Lake's work connecting academics with the “durable skills, experiences, and community connections students need to thrive” as Wisconsin develops its own Portrait of a Graduate. During her visit, Dr. Underly shared that Random Lake recognizes the importance of meeting students where they are, building relationships, and creating an environment where they can grow academically while developing skills that will serve them throughout their lives.
Our Portrait of a Leader begins with our youngest learners and grows developmentally with them. In elementary school, Sprout represents building the foundations of life, learning, and career readiness through honesty, empathy, responsibility, perseverance, curiosity, communication, and problem-solving. In middle school, Luna represents students' growing independence as they develop identity, confidence, critical thinking, collaboration, goal setting, and begin discovering their purpose. By high school, Rambo represents young adults increasingly applying those skills through authentic problems, mentors, work-based learning, Youth Apprenticeships, college-level coursework, and experiences throughout the community.
The goal is not to determine a child's pathway. It is to develop young people with the skills, confidence, and experiences necessary to walk whatever pathway they eventually choose.
Our opening in-service gave our staff an opportunity to experience that philosophy themselves. Before Dr. Underly's visit, our staff spent time at Nourish Farms in Sheboygan Falls, rotating through experiential learning activities. Some harvested vegetables and learned about growing food; others prepared biscuits using fresh ingredients while learning about healthy eating; another group planted native species in the prairie; and staff also learned about the many educational opportunities Nourish provides for students and adults. Rather than sitting in an inservice talking about experiential learning, our educators experienced what happens when learning standards are connected to authentic places, people, and experiences.
That is an important part of what we call Community Connected Education. We believe strong public schools are built through Strong Classrooms, Strong Culture, and Strong Community Connections. The businesses, nonprofits, mentors, professionals, tradespeople, families, and organizations surrounding our schools possess an incredible amount of knowledge and experience. When educators intentionally connect those resources to what happens in our classrooms, the community itself becomes part of the learning environment.
None of this work happens because of one program or one person. It happens because a lot of adults in the Random Lake community have been willing to look at education differently. Our teachers and staff have continued to rethink instruction, our community partners have opened their doors, our businesses have shared their people and expertise, our board has supported innovation, and our families have trusted us to keep asking what more we can do for kids.
Dr. Underly's visit was a wonderful way to celebrate that work, but perhaps even more importantly, it reminded us that the conversation happening in Random Lake is becoming part of a much larger conversation across Wisconsin. We certainly do not have every answer, but we are proud that work developed right here in our small laboratory of excellence aligns so closely with where our state is headed.