Former Clintonville Public School District Superintendent Jerald Schoenike has been selected as this year’s recipient of the district’s Alumnus Honoris Award.
The award, given to graduates of Clintonville or Bear Creek high schools who have excelled in their chosen fields on a national or worldwide level, will be presented at the Clintonville High School commencement ceremony in June.
Schoenike graduated from Clintonville High School in 1953 in a class of 100 students. He attended the University of Wisconsin-Stout and earned a Bachelor of Science degree. After teaching in Park Falls for three years, he returned to Stout and earned a Master of Science degree in industrial education in 1960.
He taught industrial education at Sheboygan South High School until 1965, when he was given the responsibility of administrating all vocational technical programs in the Sheboygan district. He was awarded a national congressional scholarship to attend the University of Illinois-Champaign, where he earned a doctorate in vocational technical education in 1974. He returned to the Sheboygan School District as director of administrative services and served in that capacity until 1983, when he accepted the superintendent position in Clintonville.
Schoenike remained as superintendent until his retirement in 1996.
Other highlights of Schoenike’s career include the following:
- He was instrumental in establishing the first fiber-optic distance learning network in Wisconsin and served as its first president.
- He was elected to the Fox Valley Technical College board of trustees and served for more than 10 years, including two years as chairman.
- He was named Technical College Trustee of the Year in Wisconsin and also Board Trustee of the Year in the Central region of the U.S.
- In 2002 he co-authored a book on the history of the Technical College Boards Association in Wisconsin.
- He served on numerous state education committees and commissions for the Wisconsin Department of Instruction and was recognized by former State Superintendent Herbert Grover for work in negotiating agreements with the University of Wisconsin System on advance placement credits and in development of aspiring school superintendents in Wisconsin schools.
- In 1994 he was instrumental in the organization of the Clintonville Area Foundation and was its president for many years.
- He is president of the Clintonville Public Library board of trustees and has been a member of the board for 31 years.
- He is a member of the Clintonville Rotary Club and received the Rotarian of the Year Award on two occasions.
Schoenike and his wife, Julie, have been married 59 years. They live in Clintonville and have three children, Jenny, James and Jonathan, and four grandchildren.
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