USA Today journalist, Wildcat alumni inspires, educates students on police power

Past and present recently intersected as investigative journalism and AP Government students collided for the edification of all. With the current Black Lives Matter protests and controversies about police funding, 2006 West graduate Nick Penzenstadler took the opportunity to investigate the matter of police militarization, and more specifically, police equipment. As a reporter who has risen from his days as a writer for the Index to national prominence, Penzenstadler investigates and analyzes data about national stories with local ties.  

Photo courtesy of Nick Penzenstadler

Former Indexer, Nick Penzenstadler, met with Mr. Stellpflug’s AP Government class to talk about his article about police militarization. They meet over Google Meet where students could watch from their home, in class, or in the library.

“I work for Gannett which owns a lot of papers around the country and more recently The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel,” he said. “I am an investigative reporter for USA Today and I’m based up here in Milwaukee, while most of our team works remotely from around the country.”

Penzenstadler and co-author Daphne Chen wrote the article “Protests against police put $454 million in military gear under spotlight,” which was read by social studies teacher Paul Stellpflug and his AP Government class. 

“I remembered Nick as a student,” Stellpflug said. “I found the article one night while I was mowing, and it popped into my head - I should have my kids read this. This all came together within a half hour.” 

After quick preparation, Penzenstadler and Stellpflug set up a Google Meet to discuss more with students about the article he wrote. 

“The class read one of the pieces I worked on this summer about military equipment transfers to local police departments and I think that class was asking questions about the militarization of police in general,” Penzenstadler said. “So we discussed some of the forces that are driving that perception of police, where we think modern policing is going and what different political administrations have to do with it.” 

Stellpflug’s class read the article before the meeting and discussed a little about it in preparation for their call with Penzenstadler.

“The gist of the article is that when the military was done with a lot of its equipment from the war on terrism in Afghanistan and Iraq, the military had to decide what to do with this equipment,” Stellpflug said. “So Congress passed a law saying that the military could give this equipment to law enforcement, county sheriffs as well across the country basically for free, all the police departments or sheriff departments had to do was pay for shipping cost in most instances.” 

Most of this may not be so controversial. A lot of the free materials police receive are blankets, flashlights, filing cabinets, and office equipment. However, some of the things that police departments receive need to be discussed further. 

“On the other hand police departments are getting some pretty heavy duty military equipment. Like these assault vehicles that were used on the streets of Baghdad and Iraq that are bulletproof and the crowd control instruments and devices that emit a sound that’s just ear piercing and will nearly paralyze a person because it’s so loud,” Stellpflug said. “Even grenade launchers and bayonets and pretty high power rifles. Now most people would agree police need some rifles but how many assault rifles, how many machine guns does a small police department need? And it raises the question should our police departments have military grade equipment?”  

Although this is a sensitive topic in today’s society, Stellpflug believes that Penzenstadler’s article did an excellent job at objectively sharing the facts to the public. 

“I thought the article was really well done because I had heard about this phenomenon for a couple of years and I have read other articles about it, but this article in particular was really nicely balanced because it pointed out that there was a lot of spending that is not controversial,” he said. “I had never seen thorough coverage of that side of the issue and I just thought it was jammed packed with information and condensed enough that it would hold students' attention.” 

With the various protests and movements occurring in recent weeks, junior Ashlyn Grota feels the article helped spread awareness on the topic, which she believes is especially important because of its prevalence in today’s society.

“I think it was clarifying for kids that have heard of police brutality and the riots and this article made them more knowledgeable on the topic,” she said. 

Understanding of current events leads to a more educated voting group and society. Senior Kennedy Benesh elaborated on how students should be more aware about this topic.

“This is a lot of relevance to us during these times and we are growing closer to the age where you do have a voice in your country and it is really important to stay educated about the things going on in your country,” she said. 

Despite the communication barrier of the Google Meet, Penzenstadler was impressed at how the students took interest and participated at the meeting.

from Fox 13 News Facebook page

Congress passed a law allowing police departments to receive military equipment which was used in wars across seas. Penzenstadler’s article investigated each administration's role in the militarization of equipment and how much of those supplies are going to police departments.

“There were a lot of good questions from students about why things are the way they are,” he said. “I think a lot of the students realized that a lot of these questions aren’t so clear cut; there is a lot of nuance, grey area, room for disagreement, and negotiating.”

Through proper organization, the Google Meet was utilized as a learning opportunity, and Penzenstadler was able to communicate not only with students in the classroom, but also with others who were working from home. 

“The call went pretty smoothly,” junior Joe Gonzalez said. “Mr. Stellpflug had his class as one in the call, and those who did not have his second hour were in the library. B group kids also joined the call from home so they could participate just as much as we could. If I had a question that I wanted to ask Mr. Penzenstadler, I would Google chat my teacher to ask him, and those who were at home could directly speak to him.” 

Penzenstadler’s discussion with students was able to improve overall understanding of the class and was insightful for many students.

“I did a poll before you read this article and spoke to Penzenstadler, ‘give me a thumbs down if you knew nothing about it, thumbs up if you knew a ton, and thumbs sideways if you knew a little bit,’” Stellpflug said. “Most students were thumbs down they didn’t know that this was going on and once we were done I asked them to show their thumbs to where were they now, and the vast majority of students were big thumbs up like they had really taken in a lot of information in a short time.” 

Students not only learned about police militarization, but also its origins. One of the students who grew a deeper understanding was Gonzalez. 

“I thought the article was very insightful as to why police have militarized equipment,” he said. “It not only described why, but how it happened. His presentation dived deeper into what happened because of police militarization. Penzenstadler was really friendly in answering students if they had any questions. These questions were not just regarding the article, but expanded into the broader political atmosphere and what it was like to be a journalist.” 

Penzenstadler was excited to help out, but was even more glad to see that his teachers were still having an impact on their students. 

“It is fun to see teachers who I had that are still shaping another generation,” he said. “I think Mr. Stellpflug and Mr. Scott are some of the best teachers that I have ever had, and they left an impression on me; I can see that they’re still teaching in that same vein of pushing students to achieve their best and to learn at a higher level than the average.”

While Penzenstadler gives praise to his former teachers for helping him become the person he is today, Stellpflug is proud of his student and how much he has done for his community and the public. 

Photo courtesy of Trent Scott

Penznestadler was a part of the West Index staff when he was in highschool. Now he is an investigative journalist for USA Today and Gannett.

“It was an immense pleasure, one of those moments in a career as a teacher that you long for, that it was really cool to see a kid who has gone that far in life,” he said. “He’s an investigative journalist who is on the frontier of doing what the media is supposed to do in government, to hold our politicians accountable and to expose to America how public policies are working. So it was really just a great thing to see on so many levels, personally because it’s fun to see Nick and how far he has gone, but also just appreciation for the press and the jobs they do, that it is neat to have a former student out there helping America hold its government accountable.” 

Looking back on the impact his former teachers had on his life, this West alumni hoped that this interaction could inspire current students as well. Many of the students that participated in the discussion expressed their admiration for Penzenstadler.

Photo courtesy of Nick Penzenstadler

 “I thought it was very intriguing and inspiring to see that he was a former Oshkosh West student,” Gonzalez said. “To see someone who has walked these very halls be in a high journalist position motivates me as a student to succeed as he has.”

Benesh also thought talking with Penzenstadler was a unique and inspiring experience.

“It is cool for a lot of reasons, not only is it cool what he does, but that it gives us a lot of motivation just to know how far you can actually go just if you’re from a small town like Oshkosh,” she said.

With Penzenstadler leaving an imprint on students as well as informing the public about issues that affect them, Stellpflug believes that this alumni should be considered for West’s alumni award. 

“I hope that this young man is to be considered a potential distinguished alumni winner for Oshkosh West High School and I think he has done a great service for his community not only in Oshkosh, but he worked for a paper in Appleton, and now he is writing for USA Today,” he said. “He is helping educate Americans; that is phenomenal, hats off to him. He has done well for himself and I would love to see him win that award.”

With the meeting now over, Penzenstadler hopes that students remember that critical thinking and utilization of factual articles will help them make informed decisions in the future.  

“This issue is a great example of these thorny issues that aren’t easy,” he said. “This type of critical thinking and examination of an issue is exactly what students in these higher level courses do in high school, and that is exactly what college is like; it’s exactly what I do for my job. It’s taking really tricky issues and trying to shine light on them and expose some fact based reporting in the news that can help you make an informed decision.” 

By Emma Olson and Grace Weber

Oshkosh West Index Volume 117 Issue I

October 2nd, 2020