Booster club donates $105,000

By Angie Landsverk

An upcoming project at Weyauwega-Fremont High School is getting a boost from a local organization.
The Weyauwega-Fremont Athletic Booster Club has donated $105,000 to the school district for fitness center improvements at the high school.

Tim Cullen presented an oversized check to the district during the Monday, Aug. 28 meeting of the school board.

District Administrator Scott Bleck said the “intent will be to further enhance equipment purchased in the weight room/fitness center with the generous donation from the WF Athletic Booster Club.”

Last November, voters in the school district approved spending up to $21 million on a building and improvement program.

The approved referendum includes a $339,432 project at Fremont Elementary School and $20.6 million in improvements and additions at the high school.

The high school portion of the project includes the remodeling of its locker rooms and creation of a new workout area.

Remodeling of the locker rooms is scheduled to begin next March and be completed in July.

The fitness center project will take place when the new multipurpose gym is constructed.

That gym – meant to eventually replace the gym in the district’s old middle school building on Main Street – is being built off the present high school gym area.

The project is scheduled to begin this month and be completed next July.

The improvements at the high school also include the addition of four new classrooms on the back of the school for science, agriscience and the Project Lead the Way curriculum. A new greenhouse will be constructed there as well.

Construction of those classrooms is scheduled to begin this month and be completed in December.

Another aspect of the high school project is the construction of a 400-seat auditorium in front of the high school.

That is set to begin this month and be completed a year from now.

The school district also received a donation related to that space.

This summer, the district received a $25,000 donation to go toward the purchase of a grand piano for the high school’s new auditorium.

The donor wishes to remain anonymous and was described as a “person who appreciates education and music.”

That $25,000 donation will now be the down payment deposit on a used Steinway grand piano.

The school board voted to take that step when it met last week.

The board also approved a vendor bid waiver request, so it may purchase the piano from Steinway & Sons, in Madison.

The cost of the used piano is about $75,000.

The district will raise funds for the rest of that cost, as well as for other equipment needed for the grand piano.

“Utilizing the gracious donation to secure a grand piano will undoubtedly set the stage to fulfill the intent to equip our new auditorium,” Bleck said.

During the board meeting, Elementary Principal Doug Nowak noted the number of donations to the district.

“As a district, we are very appreciative of the recent donations,” Bleck said.

In other business on Aug. 28, the board approved the resignations of Riley Johnson, who was the middle and high school art teacher, as well as of Russell Wohlrabe, who was a bus driver, and Mona Marquardt, who was a food server.

The board also approved hiring Dan Kiedrowski to be the new art teacher at the middle and high schools.