A unique partnership between two Shawano parochial schools—Sacred Heart Catholic and St. James Lutheran-intends to bring learning into the 21st century with a five-year technology plan expected to cost $900,000.
Both schools learned in May that Microsoft had ended its technical support for its XP operating system, which debuted 12 years ago and was utilized by both schools.
A few months earlier, they had been approached by Greenlight Grants of Shawano, a firm started by two retirees who want to use their professional skills to find funds to benefit rural communities.
“There have been moments of divine intervention,” said Elisha Wagenson, principal at Sacred Heart. “We were in a precarious situation. … “We didn’t know how timely a windfall it was at the time it occurred.”
Greenlight Grants said it could find funds to help the schools.
“We were hesitant at first,” said Susan Longmire, principal at St. James. “They were looking for a place to start. It’s one of those things that sounded too good to be true.”
That hesitation soon turned into a full-fledged plan. The parochial school partnership meant better stewardship of sparse resources.
“We started dreaming and dreaming big,” Wagenson said.
Both schools have many needs, but they decided to focus initially on their most expensive need — technology.
“We did a lot of research ourselves,” Longmire added. “We felt it would benefit both of our schools. The bottom line is we will have a great learning environment that is technologically advanced.”
To begin the schools received an anonymous donation of $150,000, which is being used to install a robust wireless network this summer.
Google Nexus Tablets and Chromebooks have been purchased for use by staff and students. CESA 8 will provide professional development.
The next steps of the plan depend on whether Greenlight is able to secure grants from the many requests sent to various foundations.
“They recognized our commonalities before we did,” Wagenson said. “It could be a first of its kind of partnership in northeast Wisconsin. The long-term goal is that it is replicated in other communities.”
Greenlight Grants founders Jeff Bentz and Michael Thielke are both retired educators who help nonprofit organizations that can’t afford grant writer fees.
“My passion, as is Mr. Thielke’s, is to help rural schools wherever we can help out,” Bentz said.
Bentz said they wanted to help the two schools have the same advantages that public school students have and proposed that the two schools work together.
Longmire and Wagenson have been contacted by other interested parties, and their partnership has drawn the interest of foundations and boards of directors across the nation.
But, for now, the school leaders are focused on their teachers and students.
“It’s about the learning, not the technology,” Wagenson emphasized. “This is a big deal. We want to maintain our quality programs.”
“Our goal is to serve as many children as we can and give them a Christian education,” Longmire said. “It’s a different way of learning today. It’s a partnership all the way through.”
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