Colfax school district appreciates student assistance donations
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By LeAnn R. Ralph
COLFAX — Sometimes help arrives at the most opportune of times.
Since the October Colfax Board of Education meeting, the school district has received several donations for the student assistance fund, said William C. Yingst Jr., district administrator, at the Colfax school board’s November 13 meeting.
The student assistance fund provides financial assistance for students in a variety of ways, such as those who cannot afford the fee to go on a field trip, or those who do not have the money to purchase clothing needed to participate in a sport or for the athletic fees, or for those who need help now and again to pay for school lunches.
The Menomonie Lions Club sent a donation of $312 for the student assistance fund, along with four $25 Shoe Sensation gift cards, Yingst said.
Shoe Sensations is located in Menomonie on state Highway 25.
In addition, WestCAP sent a $110 donation for student assistance, Yingst said.
But the one that was the most serendipitous was the donation of $300 from a local organization.
The donation could not have arrived at a better moment.
A family in the school district is having a hard time making ends meet due to some recent developments and has not been able to pay for school lunches, Yingst said.
The family owed $300, and just when it was determined that the amount was $300, a donation for $300 for the student assistance fund showed up, he said.
“I’ve never quite had it happen that way before,” Yingst said.
The free or reduced lunch program has strict income guidelines, and according to online sources, exceeding the income maximum by $5 can disqualify a family.
In 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic started, the federal government provided assistance to all schools nationwide so that lunch was free for all students at schools which had chosen to participate in the federal assistance program.
When the 2022-2023 school year began, the federal assistance ended.
Additional federal funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) ended in February of this year. Families in Dunn County that qualify now receive less than half per month of what they received when the additional funding was available.
According to Feeding America, more than 427,000 Wisconsin residents are facing hunger, and of that number, over 142,000 of them are children.
Food dollars amounting to $778 million distributed through SNAP in Wisconsin generated $1.3 billion in economic activity, according to Feeding America.
Spooktacular
The Spooktacular Family Learning Night on October 26 was a spectacular success, said Trevor Hovde, principal at Colfax Elementary.
Junior kindergarten through sixth grade students and their families were invited.
There were 97 students, and all together 300 people were at Colfax Elementary, Hovde said.
The Spooktacular Family Learning Night was scheduled from 5:30 p.m. to 6:45 p.m. and included a free meal, which parents really appreciated, he said.
“It was a positive experience for our school,” Hovde said, noting that another similar event is being planned for after the first of the year.
Busy time
The last few weeks have been exceptionally busy, Yingst said.
Toward the end of October was the fall high school concert, he said.
The first weekend in November was the performance of “Beauty and the Beast” by the Colfax High School Drama club, Yingst said.
Usually the school musical has three performances, but this year, there were four performances, and all four performances were sold out, he said.
During the Sunday matinee performance of “Beauty and the Beast,” 150 chairs needed to be added to the Martin Anderson gymnasium, Yingst said.
Also on November 3, the Stoughton Norwegian Dancers performed at 10:30 a.m. in the high school gymnasium.
Then on Friday, November 10, there was the annual Veterans’ Day program.
The Veterans’ Day program was well attended, as it always is, Yingst said, adding that Colfax is a patriotic town.
Yingst also noted that he is not quite sure how the school district’s music teachers — Carrie Christenson, Derek Westholm and Jim Woodford — manage to get it all done with the bands and choirs and students in the musicals all doing a stellar job.
Open enrollment
At the October meeting, the Colfax Board of Education learned Colfax had 69 students transferring into the school district under open enrollment, and 123 students transferring out of the district.
The school district is currently working on formulating another survey to send out to open enrollment families to see if the district can do anything differently or do something better to encourage students to stay in the district, Yingst said at the November meeting.
Colfax will be receiving $601,667 for students who transferred into the school district for the 2023-2024 school year.
Colfax will pay $1,006,415 for students who transferred out of the school district for the 2023- 2024 school year.
A survey conducted several years ago revealed that students who transferred out of the district tended to transfer out because of convenience.
The students either lived on the edge of the Colfax school district and were actually closer to the schools in the adjoining district, or their parent(s) worked somewhere that it made it more convenient to drop the student off at the school where they had open enrolled.
Other business
In other business, the Colfax Board of Education:
• Learned that the Colfax Student Council will be sponsoring a blood drive on Wednesday, November 29, from 12 noon to 6 p.m. in the lobby of the Martin Anderson gymnasium.
• Learned that Don Knutson, director of the Colfax Rescue Squad, had conducted Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) training the day of the school board meeting for all 58 staff members in the school district.
• Learned that the boys’ basketball team will have their first game on Tuesday, November 21, at home against Somerset. The wrestling team will have their first match on Saturday, December 2, at Glenwood City.
• Learned that the Colfax Middle School concert will be held on Thursday, December 7, and that the Colfax High School concert will be held on Monday, December 11.
• Learned that the Menomonie Optimist Club had once again purchased and donated dictionaries to all of the third graders at Colfax Elementary. Marilyn Fanetti presented the dictionaries to the students.
• Learned that the staff recognition awards banquet has been scheduled for Wednesday, May 29, at the Whitetail Golf Course.
• Received a reminder that the school board positions currently held by Kyle Knutson and Kenneth Neuburg will be up for election next April. The first day to circulate nomination papers is December 1, and the final day for filing nomination papers is 5 p.m. on Tuesday, January 2. The spring election is on Tuesday, April 2.
The Colfax Board of Education meets next on Monday, December 18, at 6 p.m.
