The School District of Rhinelander celebrated the completion of its technical education renovation project Sept. 21 with a ribbon cutting ceremony at Rhinelander High School. Speakers credited voters, donors, industry partners and the construction team for delivering facilities the superintendent called among the best in the country.
“These facilities represent an investment in our students, our schools, and our Northwoods workforce,” district superintendent Eric Burke said. “We cannot wait to see what our students do with these opportunities.”
Representatives of general contractor C.D. Smith and Bray Architects said the 15-month construction project was finished on time and under budget.
Figures presented at the school board’s regular meeting later that evening back that up. As of Sept. 15, the district had spent $24,748,000 on the $26 million project, the district’s business manager Bob Thom reported.
“There should be some money left over,” he said. “So we’ll pay the final bills and see where we sit.”
Voters approved the $26 million referendum in April 2024 with a two-thirds majority. The project covered renovations and additions to technical education spaces at both RHS and James Williams Middle School. The referendum came out of more than two years of study and planning that began with a needs assessment in 2021.
School officials had cited growing student interest in traditional technical education classes and a demand in the Northwoods for workers in the trades, manufacturing and service industries. The RHS facilities dated to the 1950s and the JWMS facilities to the 1970s. A ceremony celebrating the additions to JWMS was held last fall.
Donors recognized
Burke recognized donors whose names now appear on the Lee Swank Wall of Honor. At the top of the list is Dr. Lee Swank, who gave $500,000 toward the project. Swank, who attended the ceremony, told the Star Journal he’s happy to be in a position to help the community.
Kris Krause and Scott Patulski donated $100,000. Their gift is associated with the fab lab, which is named for Mike Wojtusik, a technical education teacher who retired this past year.
Other donors included:
Charter Next Generation, $5,000
Luke Durkee. $1,500
The RHS Class of 1977, $1,500
Frasier’s Plumbing & Heating, $1,250
Mary King and Jess Gaedtke, $1,000
Merlin and Ann Van Buren, $1,000
Burke said the donations did not pay for construction. Instead, they are held in a separate account set aside for future technical education equipment and training.
“That money is for the future of facilities and equipment because those things cost dollars, and we want to make sure it stays in a really good place for years to come,” he said, adding that the wall has room for more names.
‘A launchpad for innovation’
RHS principal Shane Dornfeld thanked the community for its “unwavering support.”
“Your votes, your investment in our schools have made this dream a reality,” Dornfeld said. “You looked at our future and said our students deserve the absolute best, and because of your generosity, they now have it.”
He described the new spaces as “a true launchpad for innovation right here in the Northwoods.”
School board president Ron Counter said the facilities would help strengthen the connection between local schools and “the employers who need skilled workers right here in our community.”
Burke also thanked several groups and people:
The district’s community employer partners and Hodag Partners in Education (PIE)
Nicolet College, for creating pathways to college credentials
The school board
Pat Kegley and the maintenance team
The RHS technical education teachers who helped design the spaces
Construction challenges
Dave Mertens of C.D. Smith said the project included several additions and extensive remodeling. That brought disruptions and surprises for staff and students.
As one example, crews found a badly cracked existing wall in the tech ed area. Work in that area had been planned for summer. Instead, staff moved out early so crews could replace the wall and stay on schedule.
Mertens called the result “a state-of-the-art facility,” one of the top in Wisconsin.
He pointed to several spaces:
An automotive area with lineman racks and vehicle lifts
A metals area with welding booths, CNC machines and plasma cutters
A woodshop
He also recognized the site superintendent, who lives in the La Crosse area and “made Rhinelander his home for 15 months.”
One student helped build the spaces he now uses. RHS senior Jonathan Campbell began working for C.D. Smith as a youth apprentice in June 2025. He worked through that summer, a couple of hours a day during the school year, and again this past summer. His work included forming the concrete pads outside the tech ed doors.
“I learned a lot of great workplace skills and life skills with my time at C.D. Smith,” Campbell said.
Six months, thousands of decisions
Nate Considine of Bray Architects said the project was in design for about six months before it went out to bid. He estimated that district administrators, staff and user groups made “somewhere between 6,000 and 10,000 decisions” in that time, from paint colors to equipment placement.
Considine said technical education projects hold a special place for him because hands-on learning shaped his own path in high school.
“Reading and spelling and some of those things ... that was not my favorite,” he said. “But it was the hands-on learning. It was drawing. It was building. It was constructing and doing something with your hands.”
Burke also thanked Bray’s Clint Selly.
Open to the community
School board members toured the new spaces before their meeting. During the meeting, a board member Merlin Van Buren asked whether the public would be able to use the facilities.
Burke said it would work “just like it was prior.” Community members can use the spaces through community education classes run by Mike Cheslock. Burke said the new fab lab would likely see the most community use.
Burke also pointed to the influence of staff such as Sophie Cook. A 2021 RHS alumna, Cook teaches at both the high school and middle school, and Burke said she is helping inspire girls interested in engineering and the trades.
“You need someone to help inspire you, and she and others on our staff are going to be able to do that,” Burke said. “That’s going to have an even bigger impact on our community down the road.”
Board member Judy Conlin said she had spoken with Cook. According to Conlin, Cook said she was often the only girl in her classes when she was in school, and girls now make up just under 50% of them.
The ceremony
The ceremony opened with the school song, performed by the RHS band. The RHS choir, directed by Chloe Shepard, followed with an autumn-themed piece.
The ribbon cutting included school board members, representatives of the Rhinelander Area Chamber of Commerce as well as members of the Bray and C.D. Smith teams. Guests then toured the new spaces, where students demonstrated the equipment.
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