Pair running for Manawa School Board

By Holly Neumann

Two candidates – Susan Cate and Craig Fietzer – are running for a chance to represent Zone 6 on the Manawa School Board.

Zone 6 includes the towns of Lebanon and Bear Creek and the election will be held Tuesday, April 5.

Susan Cate

Cate said her voice for traditional values make her the most qualified candidate for the job.

“I would like to be a member of the school board so that I can serve my community by being a voice for those parents that want to instill those same traditional values in their own children’s lives,” she said.

She said her past experience working as a school secretary and a willingness to listen to parents’ concerns are her greatest assets that she would bring to the position.

The biggest challenge in many school districts is that parents’ input into board policies are not always being heard, Cate said.

“I also think that focusing on literacy in the classroom is very important,” she said. “Some children are left behind or pushed through the system and that is not acceptable. The childrens’ math and reading skills need to be brought up to where they should be.”

Cate has worked in health care for the past 13 years at the Wisconsin Veterans Home in King and at St. Joseph Residence in New London. She currently works at Synergy Home Healthcare and has lived in the Manawa Community for 33 years.

“I have four children and eight grandchildren,” she said. “They all enjoy the small town, country living, traditional values that they were brought up with and are trying to instill those values into their own children. I am very proud of all of them and the fact that they have all married spouses that have those same traditional values is truly a blessing.”

Craig Fietzer

A lifelong resident of Manawa and a graduate of Little Wolf High School, Fietzer said he values small-town education and opportunities.

“I have four children currently enrolled in the district, two in Little Wolf High School and two in St. Paul’s Lutheran School,” he said. “With Russ Johnson retiring, I felt it was my responsibility to step forward and represent our zone.”

Common sense and a great work ethic are the assets that Fietzer said he would bring to the board.

“I am a problem solver,” he said. “The staff strives to help each student succeed in their own way.”

Fietzer said he does not have an agenda or the insight to major problems currently facing the district.

“I feel confident I can be a common-sense asset for the board and the community,” he said.

Fietzer is self-employed as a dairy farmer on Fietzer Dairy Farms Inc.

“I have owned the farm with my first cousin since 2006,” he said. “I have worked on the farm for 39 years, since I was 8 years old.”

He believes people are called to volunteer and be active in civic and community organizations.

“I am a member of Trinity Lutheran Church and have served in the offices of trustee and elder,” he said. “I just completed a four-year term as elder, with the last three years being head elder.”

Fietzer is also an avid snowmobiler and currently serves as president and director for Symco Trailblazers Inc.
He has also served for 25 years as treasurer and director for North Central Snowmobile Club Inc.; 15 years as

treasurer and director for Waupaca County Snowmobile Association Inc.; is a project leader in the Friendly Valley 4-H Club; and serves as president of the Waupaca County Large Market Animal Committee.