Shawano parochial schools’ partnership results in grant

GREEN BAY — Parochial schools in rural Wisconsin face many challenges to their existence. Thanks to two businessmen with backgrounds in grant writing and two principals open to new ideas, the future seems a lot brighter for Shawano’s Catholic and Lutheran parochial schools.

Elisha Wagenson, left, principal of Sacred Heart School in Shawano, watches as students try out new Chromebook laptops during the school’s open house Aug. 21. The laptops were purchased with grant money the school received through a partnership with St. James Lutheran School in Shawano. Pictured with Wagenson are Jonah Zuiches, left, Paul Meisner, Dakota Miller and Isabella Martens. (Sue Simoens | For The Compass)

On Sept. 2, when teachers and students at Sacred Heart Catholic School and St. James Lutheran School return to school, they will be greeted with new Chromebook laptops and Google Nexus tablets. Their schools, enrolled in the Google Apps for Education Program, will feature new wireless networks to accommodate the laptops and tablets.

Parochial School Partnership

The technology boost at both schools resulted from a $150,000 grant received through a partnership aimed at strengthening the future of Christian education in Shawano. Formally known as the Parochial School Partnership, the collaborative campaign was launched after discussions with Green Light Associates, a consulting firm headed by Jeffrey Bentz and Michael Thielke.

Sacred Heart principal Elisha Wagenson and St. James principal Susan Longmire were contacted by Bentz and Thielke last fall with a proposal to help procure grants for their schools. Wagenson and Longmire said they were leery about the proposal.

“When we started, neither one of us had any idea how this was going to benefit our schools the way it has,” Longmire told The Compass.

“They came to us to share their humanitarian mission, which is to make a difference in the rural faith-based organizations in northeast Wisconsin,” said Wagenson. “They suggested that we come together in partnership for the betterment of both schools and the betterment of Christian education in the Shawano community.”

Thielke, who previously directed the Upward Bound program for Shawano and Oconto counties, said Green Light’s mission “is to help rural communities and nonprofit organizations.”

Experience writing grants

He and Bentz, who was director of healthy schools and communities for CESA 8, a Gillett-based agency that provides programs and services to 27 school districts in northeast Wisconsin, wanted to use their skills to benefit others. “We put our heads together and tried to figure out what we could do to have a wider impact on northeast Wisconsin,” he said. “We both had a lot of experience in writing grants.”

Bentz, a Shawano native, learned from a friend about funding needs of St. James School. “We got to talking to both schools and realized they had similar needs in technology,” said Thielke.

“We approached them with the idea that maybe they can partner with each other and share costs and staff,” he added. “Many private foundations are moving toward community partnerships, regional partnerships. They want to make sure the funds they give have the biggest bang for their buck.”

They also felt that two private schools “traditionally seen as competitors or rivals and working together … would be a good selling point to foundations,” he said.

It turned out to be a difference maker.

Partnership breaks stereotype

Sacred Heart principal Elisha Wagenson, left, and St. James principal Susan Longmire are pictured with Chromebook laptops their schools purchased with grant funds. (Sue Simoens | For The Compass)

“We were able to put together a narrative that sold the idea of traditionally competitive schools in small town working together,” said Thielke. “There is a stereotype that Catholics and Lutherans just don’t get along.”

Fr. Luke Ferris, pastor of Sacred Heart Parish, agreed. “There is something attractive about Lutherans and Catholics getting together.”

He said he received a rejection letter from a foundation praising the schools’ grant application. “They said, ‘Wow, we think this is neat you are doing this. We are sorry you don’t fit our mission, but we think it’s great.’

“Even in rejection,” the partnership was praised, he said.

After forming the partnership, Longmire and Wagenson were told to draft a five-year plan. “You guys are school leaders,” the principals were told. “Come up with a budget and we will find the funds.”

“We entertained a number of ideas,” said Wagenson, including tuition assistance, an admissions department for both schools, shared recreational facilities and new technology and professional development “for 21st century teaching and learning.”

Five-year plan with $900,000 budget

Their proposal led to a five-year plan with a budget of nearly $900,000, said Wagenson. “So we turned it back over to the grant writers and said, ‘This is what we want to do, what we want foundations to fund.’”

An anonymous Catholic foundation in Wisconsin was the first to respond to their request.

“The foundation was very interested in what we were doing, especially in an ecumenical sense of doing it together for the betterment of both schools and the vitality of Christian schools in Shawano,” said Wagenson. “After listening to our proposal and reviewing it with their board, they decided to fund what we considered to be some of the first steps in the project.”

Thielke said he is optimistic the schools will receive funding for their remaining projects. “The fact that they’ve had success with funding now is a good indicator that foundations are buying into the idea and the concept. They believe in it,” he said. “We are in active conversations with three foundations right now about additional funding,” added Wagenson.

The principals also like the outlook of their schools’ future and they see their partnership as a key to continued success.

Longmire, now in her 10th year as St. James principal, said the school’s K-8 enrollment is 167.

Wagenson, in her third year at Sacred Heart, said enrollment at the 3K-8 school is up this fall, from 61 to 85.

Logo for the Sacred Heart, St. James Parochial School Partnership.

School partnership beyond grant

“We’ve not only partnered in this (grant project) but other things,” said Longmire, listing a joint teacher inservice as an example. “We’re really hoping that our teachers will collaborate more together.”

“I think we’ve been able to dispel some of those myths about what parochial schools can accomplish, especially with what we can accomplish together,” added Wagenson. “Our end goal is to raise student achievement. We believe the technology that we’ve purchased and the training our teachers receive … will lead to increased learning.”

Both stressed that each school’s faith traditions will not be compromised by the partnership.

“We are a school that wants to talk about our faith and faith experiences,” said Fr. Ferris. “Since we want to do that, it makes sense that we partner with another institution that has a similar goal. We are not talking about doing religion classes together.”

The final piece in the project, participants said, is sharing their experiences with other schools.

“One of the things that Susan and Elisha have been excited about is the idea of paying it forward,” said Thielke. “That always goes well with foundations — that you are using their funds to not only fund projects but doing good things in return.”

Wagenson added that while she did not imagine the project’s outcome, “it’s something now we wouldn’t trade for anything — both in the benefit that has come to our schools and the relationship that we’ve developed.”

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