The final meeting of School Board of Fennimore Community School before the start of the 2026-27 school year started off with presentations from the four representatives from this year’s Badger Boys and Girls State this summer.
Logan Koestler and Josiah King were the Badgers Boys reps and Sitlalli Acatzihua Rodriguez and Julianne Washa were this year’s Badger Girls reps.
The American Legion and American Legion Auxiliary sponsor the boys and girls programs, which have been each running for over 80 years.
While introducing the students to the board, Fennimore Middle/High School Principal Boone Tollefson referred to the opportunity as a “big responsibility with a week long commitment.”
Badger Boys was held at UW-Eau Claire June 14 to 20, while Badgers Girls was held June 21 to 26 at UW-Oshkosh.
Both Badgers Boys and Girls are open to students entering their senior year of high school in which high school students learn how our government system works by creating their own city, county, and state level governments.
The four students all said they were split into two political parties and then went through government meetings, party platforms, commissions, ran for elections, and voted for candidates.
They did have some free time to meet fellow students and were able to participate in either the programs’s band or choir for the week.
All four expressed how much they enjoyed their experience and definitely would encourage other students to attend if given the opportunity.
Robotic field painting
Joe Grimme of the Fennimore Grid Iron and Fennimore Football Head Coach Tyrell Rosemeyer spoke to the board on the possibility of using a robotic field painter for the football field.
The robot, which Grimme described as “Something out of The Jetsons,” would paint the field on its own, laying out and marking the field, and only take one person to operate and be done in a couple of hours.
Rosemeyer stated that currently it takes four hours and two people doing the field. The thicker paint used by the robotic painter would also last for the varsity and JV games for the week.
Grimme and Rosemeyer asked the board to approve a “pay as paint” trial for this football season and then decide in November if the district would continue with the robotic painter.
Rosemeyer stated that both River Ridge and Boscobel use them and “with all the recent investments into the field, this would be another to make the field look sharp.”
Should the district continue with the robotic painting after this season, Rosemeyer stated the Grid Iron would look into additional sponsorships to offset costs.
The board approved the Grid Iron’s request for the trial season, which Rosemeyer and Grimme thanked them for. Grimme added, “You’ll see a very pretty field.”
Summer school recap
Kelly Ahnen, Library Media Specialist at Fennimore Elementary School, gave a recap of this past summer’s 11 week summer school program.
It was back to normal this summer school season as last summer the district buildings were unavailable due to the district wide remodeling project.
The 11 weeks were filled with classes that ranged from one day to one week and field trips. Some classes this year included woodworking, tie dyeing, and geogaching—an outdoor treasure hunting game.
There were also field trips that included Camp Randall Stadium, Henry Villas Zoo, La Crosse Queen boat cruise, and climbing the “M” in Platteville.
Other highlights included tubing, weekly hiking trips, a reading club, and a mini Taste of Fennimore.
During her slide show presentation to the board, Ahnen estimated that there was a grand total of 1,172,956 total minutes of summer school this year, up from last year’s impressive 822,380.
Ahnen thanked the many teachers and others who helped with the summer school program this year, as well as the businesses that sponsored and/or participated.
She also thanked the high school students who volunteered as part of earning their silver cords. Ahnen stated, “They (the high school students) may not admit it, but I think they had fun helping out.”
Ahnen gave one more presentation to the board last Wednesday evening, as she presented the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction’s (DPI) required “five year district library plan” to the board.
Some of the highlights mentioned by Ahnen included keeping technology up to date, arranging fiction by genre at the high school “like a book store,” safeguarding data and privacy, keeping an updated book collection, and having digital resources and tools for students and staff.
The board unanimously approved her “library plan” to submit back to the DPI.
Bids and other business
A number of bids were also approved at the Aug. 19 school board meeting including:
- Lange Sign Group: Digital sign $24,472
- MH Equipment: Aerial lift $13,678.07
- Kavanaugh: Gas griddle and pot range $15,617.53
- Carey’s: District wide garage doors and openers $11,205
- Main Stage: Stage curtains $12,802
- Downing Concrete: district wide concrete work $42,100
- AAA Glass Tint: Security window film $15,563.33
The board accepted the resignation of Lisa Bowers as food service director effective Aug. 21. District Administrator Jane Wonderling stated the first two weeks of the school year meals are set, and that the position has been posted and some applicants are already lined up for interviews.
One hiring was approved, Rick Friesen as the elementary school building and grounds-night shift.
And lastly, the board approved the Fennimore Volleyball Club’s donation of pink jerseys for the varsity and JV teams to be worn during the annual “Pink Night.”
The next meeting of the School Board of Fennimore Community Schools is scheduled for Wednesday, Sept. 16 in the cafeteria of Fennimore Elementary School.
