Boyceville School Board accepts generous $65,000 donation for middle / high school band programs
PROTECTED CONTENT
If you’re a current subscriber, log in below. If you would like to subscribe, please click the subscribe tab above.
Username and Password Help
Please enter your email and we will send you a password reset link.
GENEROUS GIFT — Tim Sempf (left), Boyceville school board president, and high school/middle school music teacher Jessica Borchardt displayed a check for $65,534.43 donated by Boyceville Class of 1965 alum Norman Danielson. The donation will be used by the district’s band program. —photo by Renee Bettendorf
By Renee Bettendorf
BOYCEVILLE — At their meeting held on September 18 the Boyceville School Board accepted a donation of $65,534.43 to the band program from 1965 BHS graduate Norman Danielson. Danielson has ties to Boyceville and Eau Claire and has donated money to BHS students who attended UW-Eau Claire in the past.
District Administrator Nick Kaiser said that Danielson contacted him about a year ago and told him he was planning on donating money from an investment he had set aside for the band program. Recently Danielson reached out to the district and donated the money.
“I couldn’t be more excited, he’s a tremendous gentleman,” said Kaiser.
Kaiser told the board that he visited Danielson at his home in the southern part of the state. Kaiser said Danielson was employed in the financial world and has a big heart and soft spots for northern Wisconsin and instrumental music.
Kaiser went on to say that the music department will work together to come up with the best way to utilize the donation.
The board welcomed six new district staff members who were all present at the meeting. Each of the new staff told the board a little about themselves and how their experience at the district has been so far. The board then introduced themselves to the new staff members.
“We hope you have a great year,” said Kaiser.
The new hires were: Jessica Borchardt, general music and HS/MS music teacher; Kait Webster, ag teacher and FFA advisor; Monica Miranda, HS/MS business teacher; Laurie Mumm, MS special ed; Joanie Kronebusch, kindergarten teacher; Jenny Link, early childhood education.
All of them had positive things to say about the students, their fellow staff members and the community as a whole.
“This is the place that made me want to be a teacher,” said Miranda, who is a 2020 BHS graduate.
Reports
In his report to the board HS/MS Principal Pat Gretzlock said that the new staff members are ambitious and have brought some new energy to the school.
“The fact that we have some brand new people here that are willing to jump in and take things on and provide great experiences for our students is awesome,” said Gretzlock.
He pointed out that Borchardt is getting the marching band ready for the homecoming parade. The marching band has not marched in a parade since homecoming 2023. He also said that Miranda is offering three dual credit classes through Chippewa Valley Technical College this semester. And Webster is working on offering some dual credit classes through the tech college next semester.
According to Gretzlock, dual credit courses provide students an opportunity to earn credit that can be used at CVTC which minimizes costs for students who may enroll after high school graduation. He said teachers are exploring additional options that may be implemented during the 2025-2026 school year.
He went on to say that these types of classes keep students on the BHS campus and provide them with a comprehensive high school experience. He thanked family and consumer education teacher Laura Debee and Miranda for taking on the responsibilities associated with offering dual credit courses.
Gretzlock also reported on another program that allows high school students to earn post secondary credits called University of Minnesota’s College in Schools (CIS). He said there are currently 25 students enrolled in CIS courses which are taught by HS science and math teacher Andy Hamm. Eighteen students are in Hamm’s CIS physics class and seven are in his CIS calculus class.
Also in his report, Gretzlock told the board that the Boyceville athletic department is proud to announce that Boyceville High School has been awarded a Dunn-St. Croix Conference Sportsmanship award for their efforts during the 2023-2024 school year.
He said the award is based on rankings provided by game officials and coaching staffs from competitors across the conference.
“To have that recognition from your peers, I think is excellent,” he said of the sportsmanship award.
Lastly, Gretzlock reported that head football coach Michael Roemhild was named the Green Bay Packers high school coach of the week. The Packers only name one coach per week during the football season. Along with the award comes a $1,000 grant for the football program.
Elementary school principal Jerim DesJarlais was absent from the meeting so special education director Rebecca Hanestad read his report to the board. The report stated that fastbridge reading assessments are being completed and that the ELA committee meetings have been focused on creating curriculum and assessments to use and assisting with Act 20 planning.
His report also stated that the Be Team assisted staff with an assembly and are also helping in a variety of areas including breakfast, inventorying playground equipment and assisting in kindergarten and 4K.
In Hanestad’s report she talked about the results of a survey that was sent out to parents of children who have Individualized Education Programs (IEPs). Overall the parents were happy with their childrens’ IEPs.
Hanestad thanked reading specialist Shannon Bignell for all her work connected to Act 20 planning, everyone involved in administering the Fastbridge assessment and HS special ed teachers Jennifer Bignell and Sarah Stone for completing the Indicator 14 surveys.
In his report to the board, Kaiser said that transition days which happened on August 27 and 28 were well attended and that students and staff have been doing a great job getting settled in.
Kaiser also said that the district is continuing to live stream some events this year. The new streaming platform called Hudl is going well, with some work to yet be completed in the MS gym and some bugs to be worked out.
He also updated the board on referendum work and planning. A couple of items that were on the list to be replaced by referendum money ended up needing to be replaced sooner rather than later. He said the water heater at the HS/MS building broke down and then three days later the water heater at TCE also did.
“Things that are on our list are definitely on the list for the right reasons,” said Kaiser.
In other business the Boyceville school board:
• Approved Miranda as the new prom advisor and the new yearbook advisor.
• Learned from Gretzlock that about 50 BHS students attended an education fair in Eau Claire.
•Learned from Kaiser that there is a teacher inservice day on September 30.
•Approved the resignation of Ashlee Morse as bus driver.
• Approved the resignation of Troy Kuhn and Austin Sandow as middle school boys basketball coaches.
• Accepted an anonymous donation of $250 to both the HS football and volleyball programs.
