The Tosa Compass

01/09/2026

https://thetosacompass.com/16267/media/video/twtoday-january-9-2026/

Join our hosts for TWTODAY! Hosted by our student journalists, this episode features:

ANNOUNCEMENTS: with Brett Burgoyne and Lan Nguyen
CLUB FOCUS: DUNGEONS AND DRAGONS: by Jaiden Lavassor
ON THE STREET: MILWAUKEE PUBLIC MARKET – by Joe Bartleme and Ryan Macsurak
ACT PREP REGISTRATION: Kas Richardson
SPORTS UPDATES: with Ian Butenhoff & Alexa Malett

TWTODAY is the weekly news magazine of Wauwatosa West High School.

TWTODAY is shared with 1st hour teachers each Friday. TWTODAY is produced as part of the extra-curricular and Media Communications class. All student journalism is hosted at www.thetosacompass.com

01/08/2026

BOYS BASKETBALL GAME PREVIEW: Tosa West vs Brookfield East January 9th 2025

Trojans host Brookfield East in pivotal GMC showdown Friday at 7 p.m. both teams eye statement win and possible rematch in conference title race.

Article by Adam Simmert, Photo by Mitchel Schmidt

https://thetosacompass.com/16263/sports/boys-basketball-game-preview-tosa-west-vs-brookfield-east-january-9th-2025/

01/06/2026

In Adventure Pursuits, a class known for climbing walls, archery, and kayaking, student teacher Gio S has quickly become a favorite among students. Adventure Pursuits gives students hands-on experiences—from indoor ropes courses and ultimate frisbee to rafting and yard games. This semester, student teacher Gio Nowotarski has been right alongside them, teaching, encouraging, and learning.

Nowotarski is a senior education major at Concordia University Wisconsin, completing his student teaching at Wauwatosa West. Before arriving here, he worked in a middle school in Hartford. When he stepped into Adventure Pursuits that he says teaching “opened his eyes.”

Read more about his experience in this article by Nolan Krebs, Taylor Kleinhans and Nate Bendict

https://thetosacompass.com/16156/featured/climbing-higher-student-teacher-gio-leaves-his-mark-on-adventure-pursuits/

12/19/2025

The Tosa East Red Raiders Girls’ Basketball continues their winning streak into the new season. They ended as the Division 2 champions for their 2024-2025 season and have continued dominating while adjusting to Divison 1 for the 2025-2026 season.

TE girls basketball has had a great 2025 season so far. The girls are currently undefeated in the 7 games they played, including 3 greater metro conference games. They have pulled out easy wins through: 91-52 against Elkhorn and most recently 86-38 against Brookfield Central. Additionally, East played Tosa West Friday the 12th and pulled out an amazing 90-41 win.

The Tosa East girls team has a stacked roster. Their team of 12 including the 9 seniors is full of talented girls. Many of the players are already committed to continuing their basketball journey in college. Guard, Mika’s Litza is committed to DePaul, guard Emma Close committed to Northern Illinois, and guard and point guard Sadie Kubacki committed to Macalaster.

The Tosa East Girls’ Basketball team will continue to control the court. Be sure to follow their season, which will run through March 2025. The girls’ next game will be 4pm on Saturday 12/20 at Wauwatosa East against Pewaukee. The girls also will continue to play over winter break with a game on Monday 12/29 at 7pm against Providence Academy.

Written by Olivia Stuart

12/19/2025

https://thetosacompass.com/16196/media/video/band-performs-annual-holiday-concert-during-lunch/

The Tosa West Band performed selections of holiday songs during both lunch periods on Thursday, December 18th, 2025.

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

12/19/2025

Ho Ho Ho in the Halls of Tosa West

Santa and his elf made a surprise visit to Tosa West on Friday, December 19th to share some Christmas spirit, candy canes and advice before students leave for a full two week holiday break. Students return to school on Monday, January 5th.

“I wanted to spread the Christmas spirit. Hand out candy canes, give out gifts and give some word of advice to the people on the naughty list. I just want to make everybody happy. Ho, ho, ho”, said Santa Claus or Junior Johnell Smith.

Juniors Johnell Smith and Ronald Anderer came to school dressed in a full Santa and an elf costume. Although they did not plan together, the two juniors quickly joined forces to spread holiday cheer in the halls and classrooms of Tosa West. They handed out candy canes to students and teachers, asked students what they wanted for Christmas and shared good vibes and positivity with students and staff.

Students and staff welcomed the good cheer and full costumes.

“Santa brought the Christmas spirit to all the classrooms around Tosa West with his jolly spirit and his gifts for all” said Tosa West teacher Padi Kong.

“Once I saw santa and his elf it brought me a lot of happiness and it brought me into a christmas mood.” said sophomore Todrick Williams

Santa’s elf was happy with the reaction and reception of their message.

“Wishing people a happy holiday! I would like for everyone to keep believing in Santa. Holiday spirits here, Christmas is on its way and the presents are coming. Don't forget us elves work our hearts out everyday and every year making toys for all the boys and girls out there. Just keep believing and being good.", said Santa’s elf Ronald Anderer.

Christmas joy is in the air around Wauwatosa West and it was a great way to end the week and last day of school into Christmas break and the new year.

Photos and caption by Ahnalia Vang for Writing for Publication

12/19/2025

Tosa West students in Introduction to Health and Medical Careers participated in a Gingerbread house building activity on December 17th during class.

The hands-on team project was one of the culminating activities in the “Communications Unit” and was designed to help students practice teamwork, active listening, and problem solving while trying to figure out communication skills in a real world setting.

Students were placed in groups of 3 or 4 with each student either unable to hear, see or talk while attempting to build a Gingerbread house.

“What was most challenging about doing this challenge was not being able to fully communicate with our partners Especially with some of them having their mouths taped and not being able to talk and another student with headphones it was hard to know what they were trying to say on not being able to hear.” said Senior Eliana Bauer

Health and Medical Careers teacher Krystal Tonseth designed the activity to be enjoyable but also simulate possible situations students may encounter as they interact with patients or others while working in the medical field.

“The purpose of this lesson is to help them handle future challenges in things such as the medical field, this activity helps them prepare for unexpected situations that they might walk into and practicing the different types of communication from different perspectives and stand points” said Health and Medical Careers teacher Krystal Tonseth

Students found the activity fun and meaningful.

“I didn’t know what I was doing. Something I learned is that I can’t do anything blindfolded. The most difficult thing was not being able to see. I got frosting everywhere.” Said Senior Alana Williams.

Photos and caption by Senior Alana Moore
Produced for the course Writing for Publication

12/19/2025

“Everybody knows who Gordon is,” says senior Roman Long, but at Tosa West, that might be an understatement. Whether he’s directing traffic, supervising study hall, or handing out snacks, student supervisor Darin Gordon has become a central part of the school’s daily rhythm.

Roman has known Mr. Gordon since 2022 when he started at West as a freshman.

“He brightens my day every time I see him in the hallways or in study hall. My favorite memory of Gordon was when I came into study hall one day and he had a bunch of hot dogs set for everybody, and it just lifted everybody's mood.” Said Roman.

In the mornings, he is hard to miss. He's most likely to be seen in his bright neon jacket directing drop off traffic almost every morning.
After helping students, staff and parents navigate the parking lot, "Gordon" continues his duties inside. He can be found in every corner of the building.

Gordon starts the day supervising a study hall, then monitoring the halls by ushering students to be on time to class. When the bell rings for lunch he is the first person in the cafeteria keeping hungry kids in order till lunch is over and he goes back to the halls or wherever else he is needed and he will probably be the last face you see before leaving, as he's clearing kids out after school.

“I like coming to work, seeing the kids. The challenges each day brings. Each day is different.” Said Gordon.

https://thetosacompass.com/16083/featured/behind-the-scenes-how-student-supervisor-darin-gordon-became-the-heart-of-tosa-west/

12/12/2025

Join our hosts for TWTODAY!

Hosted by our student journalists, this episode features:

ANNOUNCEMENTS: with Brett Burgoyne and Lan Nguyen
TOSA CARES FOOD PANTRY: — by Kiera Ihm, Lan Nguyen and Elle Kresge
CLUB CONNECT: SKI AND SNOWBOARD CLUB – Ben Wooster and Jude Dunlop
SPORTS UPDATES: with Alexa Mallet and Ian Butenhoff
FEAR THE BEAR: Freshman Bring Energy to Varsity – by Ashija Wilborn
Crew support by Sarah Burns, Jatiyah Robinson, Cecilia Ellifson and Ginnen Ortiz Rodriguez

TWTODAY is the weekly news magazine of Wauwatosa West High School. TWTODAY is shared with 1st hour teachers each Friday. TWTODAY is produced as part of the extra-curricular and Media Communications class. All student journalism is hosted at www.thetosacompass.com

12/12/2025

Tosa East vs. Tosa West: Rivalry Renewed on the Court
A showdown of defending champions, rising stars, and hometown pride hits Tosa East this Friday.

The long-anticipated rivalry game between Tosa West and Tosa East will take place on the court at Tosa East High School on Friday, December 12th.

The boys’ tip off will be at 5:30pm followed by the girls 7:00pm.

“I’m excited for my first ever East vs.West game,” said Tosa West Freshman varsity basketball player Bear Collins. “I believe that we’ll have the Tosa West community behind us. I know our team is going to put a lot of effort into the game.”

The Tosa West boys defending state champions have a record of 3 wins and 1 loss this season. They had a strong victory over Germantown at home on Tuesday 75 to 50. Junior Jalen Brown finished two assists away from a triple double, finishing with 22pts, 13 rebounds, and 8 assists. Senior Matthew Kloskey finished right behind him with 21 points. And Freshman Logan “Bear” Collins scored significant points as well, already having scored 45 points this season with an impressive 38.1 3 point average.

Tosa East boys basketball has won both of their games this season and is coming off of a decisive victory over Milwaukee Bradly Tech with a 62 to 48 win. Senior Tommie Muskgrow scored 18 points and had 8 rebounds to go along with 3 steals.

The Tosa West girls are starting their season with a record of 3 wins and 2 losses and some decisive wins. Unfortunately, they came up short this week with a tough loss at Germantown on Tuesday 89 to 45.

The Tosa East girls defending state champions have 4 wins and 0 losses and some very strong wins, most recently beating Germantown 100 to 57 last Friday at Germantown. Tosa East Senior Emma Close had 19 points and Senior Ellie Deprey had 19 points.

Collins’ words reflect the determination and the spirit driving both teams as they prepare for their game on Friday. With school pride on the line, and a gym sure to be buzzing with anticipation, the stage is set for an unforgettable rivalry show down.

Caption by Nelia Moesch

11/25/2025

https://thetosacompass.com/16035/featured/district-to-replace-black-literature-with-multicultural-course-sparking-debate-among-students/

Senior Alessandria Gaston says no English class has impacted her like Black Literature.

“I’ve taken many English classes, but Black Literature taught me the importance of history within literature,” Gaston said.

But next year will be the last year students can take the course.

The Wauwatosa School District plans to consolidate Black Literature, Contemporary Novels, and World Literature into one new course: Multicultural Literature. The change is part of a larger curriculum revision set to take effect in the 2025–26 school year.

Black Literature was originally introduced in 2019 after students advocated for more equitable and diverse representation in the English curriculum. According to a June 2018 Tosa Compass article, students met with district administrators multiple times to push for the creation of the course.

Kathryn Crivello, the district’s 6–12 Humanities Curriculum Coordinator, says the updated course structure will strengthen consistency and equity.

“The shift to a single Multicultural Literature course ensures equity, consistency, and alignment with ELA standards across both high schools while providing all students access to diverse, high-quality learning experiences,” Crivello said.