Latest Update:

04/10/07: Andrew Napier's film "Keeping the Spirit" was accepted into the Wisconsin Film Festival. Spirit played for a large audience at the Wisconsin Historical Society on Sunday, April 15. Part of the Wisconsin's Own series, Spirit was one of 32 films accepted out of 137 submitted. Read more...

07/09/06: Andrew Napier's documentary, entitled ‘Keeping the Spirit' will be 1 of 25 films playing during the inaugural year of the Door County Student Film Festival this summer. Read more...

06/01/06 - Public debut of "Keeping the Spirit". Andrew Napier presents his documentary of the Panther Spirit Effigy Mound Project to the community of Mauston.

05/15/06 to 05/19/06 - Students complete1/2 scale simulated Panther Effigy Mound on Mauston School grounds.

Archive:

05-01-06 - History Channel - Save Our History Foundation announces inaugural National Student and Teacher Honor Awards for outstanding student and teacher leadership in projects dedicated to preserving history within local communities. Andrew Napier and Margie Hylkema are both recipients of the award this year.

01/16/06 - Olson Middle School teachers take "Archaeology in the Classroom" through UW La Crosse/MVAC to enhance learning for middle school students.

11/15/05 - The Mississippi Valley Archaeology Society presents the 2005 Regional Archaeology Award to the Juneau County Historical Society and partner, Olson Middle School, in recognition of outstanding educational values the project delivered and overall involvement of the Mauston Community with the Panther Spirit Mound Project. Award was presented by Ernie Boszhardt, associate director of MVAC.

11/07/05 - Andrew Napier, student project leader from Mauston High School, receives the Prudential Spirit of Community Award for hundreds of hours of volunteer work he has dedicated to the Panther Spirit Effigy Mound project. Read this story....

10/08/05 - Juneau County Historical Society receives Award of Merit from the Wisconsin State Historical Society for their participation in the restoration and preservation of the Panther Spirit Effigy Mound Project.

10/11/05 - A scale diorama of the Panther Spirit Mound is officially presented to the Juneau County Historical Society (JCHS) by project leader, Margie Hylkema and participating students from Olson Middle School: Matt Brown, Ying Vang, Trevor Reichhoff, Tanner Vodvarka. Creation of the diorama was one of the original objectives of the Panther Spirit Mound project to become part of a permanent exhibit at JCHS highlighting the restoration and preservation project along with Native American culture of the region.

09/19/05 - Gail Boehm of The Juneau County Star Times, Betty Waits of the Messenger, and June Gill of radio station WRJC, Mauston are recognized on the Wisconsin Association of School Boards Media Honor Roll.

08/15/05 - Chloris Lowe receives School Community Service Award presented by Mauston School District for his leadership in the Panther Spirit Effigy Mound

07/05 to 08/05 - 2nd Mound discovered on Kastner property. Read this story....

07/05 to 08/05 - MVAC conducts archaeological testing for purposes of identifying potential village site.

07/05/05 to 07/08/05 - Vegetation maintenance at the Panther Effigy Mound site continues under the direction of Chloris Lowe. Larger plants will be cut to allow smaller plants to become established. Cuttings and treatment of woody growth will continue throughout the summer to help establish balanced native vegetation on the mound.

06/26/05 - The Panther Spirit Effigy Mound Project and Ho-Chunk culture are highlighted in new exhibits debuting at Juneau County Historical Society's annual Ice Cream Social.

06/22//05 - Andrew Napier of Napier Films conducts interviews with Chloris Lowe (Project facilitator), Tom Reisenauer (Principal of Olson Middle School), and Margie Hylkema (Project Leader) for the Panther Spirit Effigy Mound documentary.

06/020/05 to 06/024/05 - Students, teachers, and Juneau County Historical Society volunteers continue work on the diorama of the Panther Spirit Effigy Mound for permanent display at the historical society.

06/15/05 - The Panther Spirit Effigy Mound Project is publicly recognized by Arts & Entertainment/History Channel and Charter Communications at the 1/2 scale Panther Mound at Olson Middle School in Mauston.. Rose Clark of the Juneau County Historical Society is presented with a simulated $10,000 check acknowledging the grant award. Students, teachers and project partners from Mississippi Valley Archaeology Center, the Ho-Chunk Nation and the Wisconsin State Historical Society are all in attendance. More....

06/06/05 to 06/07/05 - 8th grade students bury a 25 year time capsule filled with personal artifacts at the Olson Middle School simulated mound site.

05/31/05 - Permission is granted to proceed with nomination of the Panther Spirit Effigy Mound to the National Registar of Historic Sites.

05/30/05 to 06/03/05 - Under the direction of 7th grade Social Studies Teacher, Adam Heinrich, students construct a 1/2 scale Panther Effigy Mound on Olson Middle School grounds. More...

05/28/05 - Andrew Napier documents completed restoration work with aerial videography.

05/27/05 - The Panther Spirit Mound is over seeded with native plants based on recommendations by Armund Bartz of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.

05/26/05 - Topsoil is installed over repaired sections of the Panther Mound.

05/22/05 - 6th grade students Kayla Thomas and Tanner Vodvarka assist Chloris Lowe in repairing damage on the back leg of the Panther Mound.

05/10/05 - Olson Middle School hosts its annual Exposition honoring student achievements. This year the Panther Spirit Effigy Mound Project was highlighted.

05/06/05 - Mark Becker's 7th and 8th grade algebra students begin taking measurements of the mound at the site to determine area and volume.

04/26/05 to 05/04/05 - To sustain enthusiasm for the project and increase public outreach, the Student Council of Olson Middle School sponsors a Panther Effigy Mound T-shirt contest. 8th grader, Jessica Schurmann submits the winning design. Save Our Panther buttons are also designed. Click here to view the T-shirts and buttons.

04/20/05 to 04/22/05 - 6th, 7th, and 8th grade students of Mauston Olson Middle School were shuttled to the Panther Effigy Mound Site to begin the restoration process. Click here to read more and see pictures

04/20/05 - The location of the Panther Effigy Mound is announced to the community of Mauston through the media, and to Olson Middle School students through their principal Tom Reisenauer.

04/18/05 - Olson Middle School students successfully petition the Mauston School Board to gain permission to recreate a 1/2 scale effigy mound on school grounds for educational purposes and public outreach.

04/11/05 to 04/15/05 - 7th grade Math Teacher, Kristen Nelson, has students create accurately scaled timelines showing four major prehistoric time periods of Wisconsin.

04/07/05 - Dr. Leslie Eisenberg ( Program Coordinator, Burial Sites Preservation Program, Wisconsin State Historical Society) along with Willard Lonetree (of the Ho-Chunk Nation) presents to Olson Middle School (OMS) students on the topics of cultural respect and state laws protecting mound sites.

04/06/05 - Dr. Leslie Eisenberg, co-author of the award winning book: Indian Mounds of Wisconsin, gives a public presentation at Hatch Public Library in Mauston, WI.

• Read Dr. Eienberg's bio.
• Learn more about Dr. Eisenberg's book.
• Read a preview of Dr. Eisenberg's book.
• Purchase Dr. Eisenberg's book from Amazon.com.
• Purchase Dr. Eisenberg's book from Wisconsin Historical Society.

04/04/05 to 04/08/05 - Following their trip to Effigy Mounds National Monument, 6th grade students create their own personal effigy projects for Social Studies with teacher, Jay Imhoff.

04/04/05 to 04/08/05 - In art classes with Olson Middle School Art Teacher, Margie Hylkema, 6th grade students create rock art based on personal imagery and cave painting motifs found in rock shelters of southwestern Wisconsin.

03/31/05 - Olson Middle School (OMS) of Mauston, Wisconsin takes students on an educational field trip to the Effigy Mounds National Monument in McGregor, Iowa. Click here to see pictures from the trip. They also tour Larsen Cave, a non-commercial cave where the students view deep cave rock art. Click here to see pictures of the cave.

03/14/05 - Under the direction of 8th grade Social Studies Teacher, Lyndsey O'Grady, students study Woodland mound building societies and create 3-dimensional effigies to scale.

03/07/05 - Mississippi Valley Archaeology Center's (MVAC) Education and Graphics Specialist Jean Dowiasch presents to students of OMS. She uses simulated artifacts to help students understand pre-historic time periods. Click here to see more pictures of Jean and the students.

02/28/05 - Olson Middle School Industrial Arts Teacher, Bryon Hoehn, and Rose Clark of the Juneau County Historical Society begin work together on the diorama which will house a scale model of the Panther Effigy Mound and become part of a permanent exhibit for the Historical Society

02/23/05 - Mississippi Valley Archaeology Center's Education and Graphics Specialist, Jean Dowiasch, presents an introduction of archaeology to the students at Mauston Olson Middle School. Click here to see more pictures of Jean and the students.

01/26/05 - The Star Times, The Messenger, and radio station WRJC report that the Juneau County Historical Society and Olson Middle School are awarded a $10,000 grant through the Save Our History Foundation toward the Panther Effigy Mound Project.

01/21/05 - Mr. Tom Reisenauer (OMS Principal, Project Supervisor) presents project to the students of OMS. Click here to see a picture.

1/19/05 - Project leader, Margie Hylkema, lays out the Panther Spirit Effigy Mound Project plan for the faculty of OMS.

01/06/05 - Project presented to Andrew Napier of Napier Films. Pre production begins on the project documentary, "Keeping the Spirit" .

12/03/04 - The Juneau County Historical Society and Olson Middle School partner together and submit an application to Save Our History Foundation for a $10,000 grant to support the project.

10/20/04 - The Panther Spirit Effigy Mound Project is presented to the staff of Olson Middle School. A team of interested teachers volunteers to coordinate the undertaking.

09/07/04 - Mr. Chloris Lowe meets with Olson Middle School Principal, Tom Reisenauer, to propose the possibility of working with middle school students in the restoration and preservation of the recently rediscovered Panther Spirit Effigy Mound in Mauston, Wisconsin.