The History of Western Technical College

The History of
Western Technical College
As compiled by Bert Hoch, 2003

(No photograph available)
The First Director
Thomas G. Sutherland 1912-1916
The Second Director
John B. Coleman
1916-1963
THE DIRECTORS

The Third Director
Arthur F. Jordan
1963-1964
The Fourth Director
Charles G. Richardson
1965-1986

The Fifth Director
Beverly S. Simone
1987-1989
The Sixth Director
Lee Rasch
1989-

Table of Contents
Part I
1912, The Beginning ............................................................................................................................1
Part II
1917-1962-1965 ..................................................................................................................................7
Part III
1965-1967-1968 ..................................................................................................................................48
Part IV
1968-1969-1970 ..................................................................................................................................85
Part V
The 1970s ............................................................................................................................................127
1971-1972 ...........................................................................................................................................146
1972-1973 ...........................................................................................................................................176
1973-1974 ...........................................................................................................................................196
1974-1999 ...........................................................................................................................................205
Page
Although these papers offer a brief insight to the marvels of vocational-technical education,
never will anyone be able to document,
since this vocational education institution came into being,
the names of all the people
the tremendous number of events
and the good that this institution has given to the community, to Wisconsin, and the nation.
Year 2000 . . . the brink of a new millennium . . .
a whole new world awaits us at WWTC. . .

Where did it all begin?
We frequently read the sentence that our vocational-technical school (WWTC) was established in 1912
following legislation that was enacted in 1911. But, what was that legislation all about?
The Beginning
Our School
In the early years of the 20 th Century, education was a scarce commodity. In rural Wisconsin, in 1900, over half
of the students quit by fifth grade - only one in thirty graduated from high school. For most, there was no need
for more education. Wisconsin's agricultural, forestry, and mining economies called for physical labor. Going
back to school was simply not something adults did. However as automation required workers to have more
skills, the 1900's brought out a need for education that had not existed before.
Charles McCarthy, a Massachusetts native, saw that need. He was concerned about the young people who had
left school and who could never better themselves. Although he was not an educator, he held a PhD in History
from the University of Wisconsin. McCarthy educated himself so successfully that he was admitted to the
University of Wisconsin after writing examinations proving that he had attained the equivalent of a high school
diploma. He was head of the State Legislative Reference Library, an agency that drafted legislation. McCarthy
was a strong supporter of the movement called "The Wisconsin Idea", a collection of Progressive ideas, and
spoke out for public education and government reform. "The Wisconsin Idea" produced changes such as
election reforms, regulatory commissions, civil service laws, and conservation laws.
Labor and industry were becoming aware of their responsibilities to help people meet the challenges of the
changing times. Wisconsin State legislators were persuaded by McCarthy to further educational opportunity by
encouraging localities to set up the first vocational schools.
In 1909, McCarthy mobilized legislative support for a study of Wisconsin's educational situation. McCarthy
wrote the study that recommended continuation schools for boys and girls who had quit school. The study also
recommended evening schools for adults, trade schools, and formal education for apprentices since
apprenticeship was unregulated at that time. That study became the nucleus of the 1911 Laws for Industrial
and Continuing Education.
In 1911, legislation was passed providing what McCarthy had recommended. Wisconsin was the first state to
establish a system of state support for vocational, technical and adult education (Chapter 616, Laws of 1911).
The law appropriated state aid for continuation, trade and evening schools; required every community with a
population of 5,000 or more to establish a local Board of Industrial Education comprised of two members
representing industry, two members representing labor, and the local Superintendent of Schools; and
authorized the local boards to levy a property tax up to one-half mill.
The 1911 legislation also created a nine-member State Board of Industrial Education consisting of three
employers, three employees, the dean of the University of Wisconsin Engineering Department, the dean of the

University of Wisconsin Extension Division, and the State Superintendent of Instruction, and related
legislation that required compulsory education for those over 14 to attend continuation school five
hours per day, six months per year, as well as requiring employers to release students for school. It
also required written apprenticeship agreements to be sent to the State Industrial Commission.
The first continuation school opened in October 1911 at Racine, Wisconsin. The La Crosse
Continuation and Adult Schools was established in 1912. The Board was organized in July with classes
beginning in October 1912.
Smith-Hughes Act of 1917
Due in part to the efforts of McCarthy and modeled after Wisconsin's vocational training programs,
the U.S. Congress passed the Smith-Hughes Act in 1917, the first federal legislation specifically
designed to promote vocational education. The act offered financial aid to states to help pay
teachers' and administrators' salaries, and provided funds for teacher training. The money
appropriated annually under the Act was 7.2 million; the appropriation was on a continuing basis.
Home economics was included under the trade and industrial sections of the Act. Passage of the
Smith-Hughes Act and subsequent federal legislation led to public vocational-technical education.
This legislation has supported the concept of providing students with a broad experiential base in
preparation for employment.
The players
Senator Hoke Smith and Representative Dudley M. Hughes from Georgia were the architects of the
passage of the Smith-Hughes Act of 1917. The Act established vocational education as we have known
it over the past years, and is considered as the most important single event in the history of
vocational education in America.
"Continuation Schools" were established
by state legislation under Chapter 616, Wisconsin Laws of 1911,
to require students who did not continue on to high school
to have some other form of compulsory education.
The law also provided for related classes for trade apprentices, and evening classes
in various subjects for adults.
The 1911 law was the first of its kind in the nation and
established the Wisconsin Technical College System as a pioneer and leader in this field.

La Crosse Continuation and Adult Schools - 1912-1916
La Crosse, Wis. July 2, 1912
The first meeting of the Board of Industrial Education of the City of La Crosse was held in the office
of the Board of Education at 7:30 p.m.
Purpose of the Meeting: To perfect organization and to confer with Mr. Warren Hicks, Assistant
State Superintendent, in charge of Industrial Education.
Present: Messrs. L. F. Easton, J. B. Funke, John Rusche, A. A. Schroeder, and L. P. Benezet,
constituting the full board.
Organization was completed by the election of Mr. Funke as president and Mr. Benezet as secretary.
Mr. Hicks addressed the board explaining the scope and nature of the work as intended by the
framers of the law, the conditions upon which financial aid would be given by the state, etc.
Many questions were asked and the discussion was full and free.
Mr. Hicks advised the engagement of two teachers, one man and one woman, with the idea of
opening school in the early fall.
When it was explained to him that no funds would be available from the City Treasury until January
1 st , he showed that the school must be in operation for eight months prior to July 1 st , 1913 in order
to earn the state aid, and advised that the Board borrow the funds necessary to keep the school in
operation for the first few months.
Adjourned
L. P. Benezet, Secretary
The La Crosse Continuation and Adult Schools started in 1912 in two rooms - the kitchen and a shop - in the old
Longfellow (First Ward) school building, then located at Sixth and Vine Streets, the present site of the school.
The rooms were available when not being used for public school classes.
At the August 5, 1912 meeting, the Board set committees to draft bylaws and rules for the Board. Permanent
committees were established for Finance, Instruction, and Buildings and Equipment. The Board also heard from
a Mr. D. C. Faber of the University Extension about a course for apprentices. It was moved that the secretary
was to notify the La Crosse City Council and Comptroller that the new law would make a levy of $6,000 for the
coming school year. The hiring of instructors was deferred to the Instruction Committee, and a motion was
made so that the Chairman of the Buildings Committee could arrange for a suitable place for instruction. Mr. D.
C. Faber of the local University Extension Department explained the courses in drafting and shop mathematics
for apprentices and the permit working boys
At a special Board meeting on August 30, 1912, the Committee on Instruction was authorized to employ a man
as Director of the Industrial School at a salary not to exceed $1,500 and also to employ a woman at the salary
not to exceed $1,000. On October 17, 1912, the Committee on Instruction employed the first two instructors:
Thomas G. Sutherland (at $1,600) and Miss Gertrude L. Brandt (at $600), with Mr. Sutherland also serving as
the first Director of the school. A total of $425 was allocated for equipment: $250 for the boys' department
and $175 for the girls' department. Class sizes were at the discretion of the Director and the Chairman of the
Instruction Committee. It was also voted that when the Director reported a sufficient number of students to
justify a class that the Committee on Instruction would have the power to employ the needed instructors. The
rental of needed facilities was discussed and it was voted to rent the frame building, used as a manual training
shop by the La Crosse High School, located at 16 th and Cass Streets, paying $75 a year rent.

The vocational school offered courses to numerous and varied groups of people, but it primarily catered to the out-of-school
group which included youths leaving school in early adolescence, and to the apprentice for learning a trade. It was required
that youths 14 to 16 years of age must spend half of their time in school. The apprentice, age 16 or over, was given four hours
a week in school and received pay for this time as well as for time on the job. "Free Evening School" was offered for men and
women in the Longfellow School, at the corner of 6 th and Vine Streets, and at the La Crosse High School, at Sixteenth and Cass
Streets, beginning Monday, (October 28, 1912) The brochure indicated, "that the purpose is to assist ambitious persons to a
higher plane of efficiency and so enable them to command higher wages." The evening school was free to those whose homes
were in La Crosse, and a fee of fifty cents was charged to those living outside of the city. The brochure listed the following
possible subjects that could be offered, providing competent instructions could be secured:
Bookkeeping Cabinetmaking Home Decoration
Shorthand Electrical Work Mathematics
Typewriting Plain Sewing Safety Devices
Penmanship Cooking Hygiene
Mechanical Drawing Dressmaking Telegraphy
Pattern making Millinery Practical and Business English
Joinery Sanitation English, Government and Citizenship for
Foreigners
In addition, it was indicated that "Free Industrial and Continuation Day School" was open every school day at the Longfellow
School.
At the November 4 th meeting, salaries were discussed. It was voted to pay Robert Butler, the night school commercial
department principal, $2.50 per evening; and George Frey's salary was set at $1.50 per night for the classes which he taught
in Mr. Sutherland's absence and at $1 per night for the evenings when he merely assisted him.
At the November 5, 1912 Board meeting, Theodore Arenz was employed as a bookkeeper and clerk at a salary of $200 a
year. It was voted to hold school thirty-weeks, not including one week's vacation from December 21 to December 29. The
Finance Committee was authorized to borrow $500 to cover bills and salaries. The following night school teachers were
recommended for employment by Director Sutherland:
• R. H. Butler, Mrs. M. Cavanaugh, and J. R. Stuckert, each employed for two evenings per week, evening = $4 per
two hours per week each (or $1 per hour);
• C. H. Pieper for electrical work one evening for 2 1/2 hours, $2 per evening;
• J. A. Kaeppler (telegraphy) two evenings, two hours per evening - $1 per evening; and
• Two additional teachers for the girls' evening school classes.
In addition, electric lights needed to be installed in the four rooms in the Longfellow School and one room in the Washburn
building that were used for evening classes. The wiring for electric lights was not to exceed $80. A telephone extension was
installed at the Longfellow building. Authorization was given to purchase bookkeeping and office supplies, and the Director
was authorized to purchase two desks, one for himself and one for Miss Brandt at a cost "not to exceed $30".
On December 3, 1912 six night school teachers were employed "at the uniform rate of $1 per hour", and the Finance
Committee was authorized to make a loan of $600 to cover the November expenditures. It was also voted to purchase one
dozen chairs.
Two janitors were employed January 7, 1913 - William Poss, the janitor at the Longfellow school received $7.50 a month for
his services, and Christ Johnson, a janitor of the Washburn School was paid $4 per month. Director Sutherland reported that
437 persons were enrolled in the night school classes - 302 individual persons after deducting for names appearing twice; 74
permit boys; 74 permit girls; 7 apprentices; 10 all day students with permits and 2 without for a grant total of 469 persons.
On March 4, 1913 the Board moved that fifty cents be allowed twice a week to a janitor of the high school for caring for the
building on Tuesday and Thursday evenings, and twenty-five cents extra for mopping the floor of the cooking room. Also, it
was carried that George W. Frey was employed at $2 per week to substitute as an instructor for the Director.

On June 3, 1913 the Board authorized Director Sutherland to attend a "State Convention of Industrial School Teachers" and
to pay his expenses, and the secretary was instructed to invite the convention through the State Superintendent to meet in
La Crosse. Assistant State Superintendent Warren Hicks attended the Board meeting and asked Board members to write
individually to the state representatives "urging passage of a measure before the Assembly calling for needed aid to
industrial schools." Reports on the first year of operation were made.
The First Year - A "balanced budget". . .
RECEIPTS
City Appropriation
Miscellaneous Sales
Total Receipts- 1912-1913
FINANCIAL STATEMENT
YEAR CLOSING JUNE 30, 1912-1913
EXPENDITURES
Instruction
$4,211.00
Other Service
306.55
Books and Supplies
721.46
Rent/Light/Heat
285.05
Equipment
490.38
Incidentals
39.68
Total Expenditures - 1912-1913
Balance On Hand - June 30, 1913 LESS: 10/2/13 -American Express
Charges (Package from Chicago)
Cash On Hand - October 7, 1913
The First Year - Total enrollment. .
ENROLLMENT 1912-1913
Apprentices 6
Day Permit Pupils 212
All Day Pupils 22
Evening School 566
$6,000.00
54.95
6,054.95
6,054.12
$ .83
$____.55
$____.28
In October 7, 1913 Board members were: Mr. L. C. Hirshheimer (replacing Mr. Easton who resigned), J. B.
Funke, John Rusche, A. A. Schroeder, and L. P. Benezet. Mr. Funke was reelected president for the year
1913-1914.
The financial statements were acted upon, and the secretary reminded about presenting the formal
notice of the $6,000 levy to the City of La Crosse Council. Awaiting the arrival of Director Sutherland, the
Board recessed and visited classrooms. After reconvening, the Board voted to pay Andrew Engelhard, the
janitor at the Longfellow building, $7.50 per month, and the Sol Burdick, the Truant Officer was paid $60
for his last year's services, at the rate of $10 per month.
On December 2, 1913 the Board approved a recommendation from Warren Hicks to establish a second
school in La Crosse. The Committees on Instruction and Equipment were authorized to make
arrangements for evening classes to begin on the north side of La Crosse shortly after January 1, 1914. A
drawing desk, designed by Director Sutherland and made under his direction by Board Member
Hirshheimer, was exhibited and the Committee on Equipment was authorized to have 20 similar desks
made at a cost not to exceed $4 each.

At the January 6, 1914 meeting, the Board authorized a bid for installing five lights in the amount of $31.75
for each of the two rooms in the Logan Annex and one in the hall; and that the night school woodworking
class would construct the drawing boards needed there. It was voted that the classes in mathematics and
English would be located permanently at the Jefferson School (north side). It was also voted to pay the
janitor at the Franklin building (north side) at the rate of 75 cents a night. The schedule of classes for the
north side, as arranged by Director Sutherland, was approved.
Expenses listed for payment in the February 3, 1914 minutes, included $6 for advertising in the La Crosse
Tribune.
April 7, 1914 records show that in addition to Director Sutherland and Assistant Gertrude Brandt, staffing
included 18 night school teachers and one substitute teacher, three janitors, and a truant officer. The
Director suggested that a small payment should be required of each pupil enrolling in the night school with
the understanding that it would be paid back provided the pupil has shown a certain percent of attendance,
but the board did not approve the proposal. To promote more visibility of the school, advertising was
approved. Cards were posted in various shops in the city and visits were made to area factories.
At the June 2, 1914 meeting, the Board reelected Thomas G. Sutherland as Director for the year 1914-1915
at a salary of $1,800. Director Sutherland read his report showing the following enrollments:
Night School 892
Day Permit - Boys 95
Day Permit - Girls 133
Total enrollment 1,120
At the October 6, 1914 meeting, the Committee on Finance reported expenditures of $301.77. The
committee was authorized to borrow $350 to meet current bills. The Secretary was instructed to register a
vigorous protest because of the nonpayment of half of the expenditures during the past year exceeding
$6,000 and to remind Messrs. Hicks and Miles of the State Industrial Board that La Crosse had been granted
two schools. It was voted that an initial registration of 12 pupils be required for each class started. It also
voted to assume the expense of equipping the machine shop at the high school with small tools with the
understanding that the Board of Education would later reimburse the Industrial Board for this expense.
On October 5, 1915 the Board discussed the necessity for more room, also what to do with the 16-year-old
children . . . what to teach them, and how to ensure their attendance, etc.
Educational needs were increasing, and at the January 5, 1915 Board meeting, the question of a class for
commercial subjects on the north side was discussed.
Several beautiful pictures decorated the walls of our vocational school in the early years. There were seven
paintings—the pictures were drawn and painted by E. A. Soderburg and 0. J. Oyen who worked together in
the letter's studio. They were originally presented as a bid on the work to be done in the state capitol of
South Dakota at Pierre, and were beautiful hand paintings of the designs submitted for decorating the
assembly and senate chambers, the corridor, governor's private reception room and council chamber,
Supreme Court room and the rotunda and halls. The bid, however, was not accepted. Oyen later arranged
with his wife that the pictures be given to the La Crosse Vocational School, to be hung where they might be
an incentive to those interested in interior decorating.
In 1916, Mr. Sutherland resigned to take a job at the newly completed Gatun Locks of the Panama Canal. A
new director, John B. Coleman, of Milwaukee, was hired in October 1916 to take his place at a salary of
$1,800 per year.

Part II - The Vocational School - 1917-1963
Our School
The Vocational School's purpose is threefold: to give advice, give help, and
give guidance to all people to enable them to meet new occupational
situations. The philosophy held by the La Crosse Vocational and Adult Schools
is that it is never too big to care for individual cases.
Federal legislation (the Smith-Hughes Act of 1917 made available federal funding for state and local
vocational schools authorized by the state functioning under a "state board of vocational and industrial
education." Wisconsin was one of the first states to qualify for aid under the Smith-Hughes Act because it
was organized in 1911.
"Send us your rag-tag and bob-tail, the output and put-out of public schools, and
we'll make a place for them all." The worst punishment that could be thought of in those early days was to
send boys and girls down to the vocational school where someone would attempt to understand them and
make something out of them.
La Crosse Vocational School
It was 1916 and John Coleman was teaching in Milwaukee. On Labor Day, he received a phone call from the
state director of industrial education telling him to apply for the directorship of the school at La Crosse.
Coleman thought the man had made a mistake and ignored the call. He went to his old job the next
morning. His boss was astonished to see him and asked him why he hadn't gone to La Crosse. Then he knew
the call had been a serious one. He finished the day of teaching and caught the night train to La Crosse. The
next morning he had his interview with board members Louis Hirscheimer of the La Crosse Plow Company
(formerly the Allis-Chalmers Manufacturing Company, located at 401 North Third Street in La Crosse) and
Adolph Schroeder, brew master of the Gund Brewery (then located on Mormon Coulee Road between South
9 th and South 10 th Street by Gundersen-Lutheran.) They apparently liked what they saw and hired Coleman.
When John B. Coleman came to La Crosse in September 1916 as director of the Vocational School, the
school had been in existence for only four years. At that time, there were four day school instructors. An
additional room was acquired at Longfellow School (corner of Sixth and Vine Street) on a half-time basis.
Day school students numbered 487 and night students 12,533.
A survey of preferences in work that La Crosse Vocational School pupils wished to take, made in 1916-17,
resulted in additions to the curriculum. Choices of boys ranked in this order: machine shop, electricity,
commercial work and auto mechanics. At that time, no phase of woodworking was chosen. With that
information, the Board of Industrial Education immediately hired a machine shop instructor and obtained
use of the high school shop in the afternoons. A similar survey in the girls department added sewing,
cooking, commercial work, millinery and homemaking.

Apprenticeship - During the latter part of 1917, an experiment was tried with five boys that proved to be successful. They
were allowed to take their shop training in various shops of the city and their academic training at the school. In the early
days, however, apprenticeship training did not have related technical subjects in its curriculum. All of the training was
given by a journeyman, who in many cases was jealous of his knowledge and saw to it that as little as possible was passed
on to the apprentice.
While the majority of schools in La Crosse employ the letter system of grades - A, B, C, D, etc. - the Vocational School was
one major exception. Director Coleman indicated that there are no grades given out at the Vocational School. "Students
either pass or fail or are conditioned. Graduation means a job. Those who do not get a job immediately are given
certificates announcing successful completion of the necessary work."
In 1917, members of the Board of Industrial Education were Messrs. Joseph B. Funke, president; B. E. McCormick,
secretary; Louis C. Hirshheimer, John Rusche, and A. A. Schroeder.
A city conference on education was held January 8, 1917, that included Warren Hicks, the State Director of Industrial
Education. Topics on the program were "Fitting the Pupil to the Course of Study, versus Fitting the Course of Study to the
Pupil," an address given by D. H. Shepardson, and "The Relation of the Evening School Teacher to the Pupil" an address
given by Mrs. C. Cavanaugh. School records were discussed.
During World War I, the school was used as a training station to assist the federal government. In letters from the Federal
Board of Education and the War Department Signal Corps in Washington D.C. to all directors of vocational schools, it was
requested that the buzzer and radio classes for the telegraph battalions of the army signal service be operated
continually throughout the summer, and urged all drafted men eligible for this branch of service to prepare themselves
by joining these evening classes. At the local recruiting office, there was an urgent request for 50 telegraph operators.
"All drafted men who are telegraphers have here another golden opportunity to get into the branch of the service for
which they are best fitted."
Men who left the war training classes of the Vocational School to enter the army and navy were given the chance to
enter the branch of service for which they had prepared. They were able to qualify for the various branches of service by
taking instruction in the evenings. Classes for motor truck drivers, electricians, gas engine repairmen, and radio and
buzzer operators were available every evening in the week. The instruction was furnished free of charge at the request of
the government.
An advertisement of the Free Evening Vocational School classes scheduled to start October 6, 1919, listed the following
courses offered at the Vocational School at Sixth and Vine Streets: English and Americanization, Business English and
Correspondence, Dressmaking, Millinery, Shorthand and Typewriting, Printing, Cooking, and Cabinetmaking. Evening
courses listed at the High School on 16 th and Cass Streets in were: Shorthand and Typewriting, Bookkeeping, Machine
Shop Practice (4 nights a week), Cabinetmaking, Mechanical Drawing, Dressmaking, and Swimming (beginning). Evening
courses held at the Logan School on Logan and Avon Streets were: Business English and Correspondence, Dressmaking,
Millinery, and Cabinetmaking. Four new faculty members were employed to facilitate the Machine Shop Practice,
Woodworking and Printing, and Homemaking courses offered in the evening. Instruction in Printing was being offered for
the first time, with the Board of Industrial Education having purchased "excellent printing" equipment for the school.
In 1919, due to the shortage of fuel, the school day was shortened one hour, and all evening vocational schools were
discontinued until the ban of fuel was lifted.
Vocational Day School had an enrollment of 825 pupils in 1919, and there were 1,760 people enrolled in the Evening
School classes. The Evening Vocational School in La Crosse was the largest in the state, with the exception of the
Milwaukee school.
Legislation had dictated that all youths between 14 and 17 years of age who are not attending other schools in the day
time were required to attend the Vocational School for eight hours a week. By securing child labor permits, they were
allowed to work five days a week, but the other day had to be spent in school.
Four scholarships of $150 each were given to capable and deserving students to enable them to return to the public
school. The State Board of Vocational Education gave the scholarships from a fund, which was set-aside for that purpose
by the state legislature, and the local Board of Industrial Education presented the scholarships to the students. At the
February 3, 1920, Vocational Board Meeting, it was announced that through special dispensation of the State Board of
Vocational Education, La Crosse was awarded one more scholarship for a day vocational school student.

The 1920’s
In 1920, one floor of the Longfellow School at Sixth and Vine Streets collapsed, dropping several thousand feet of
lumber and a number of students to the second floor. During the remodeling, vocational classes were held in various
public buildings such as the Trades and Labor Hall (that was housed in the Tausche Hardware building at 415 Jay Street
in La Crosse.) At that time, business education, home making, woodworking, printing and machine shop were offered.
The first recorded graduate apprentices were: Edward Bock, a baker apprentice employed by the Jackson Street Bakery
(at 1415 Jackson Street) who graduated on May 19, 1920, and Clifford Hawkins, a bread baker employed by the Rupplin
Baking Company (at 412 South Fourth Street) who graduated September 2, 1920. The Chicago, Burlington and Quincy
Railroad Company in La Crosse employed three machine apprentices. They were Earl J. Keizer, who graduated February
28, 1921; William Coughlin, who graduated March 19, 1921; and Harry T. Hammersberg, who graduated August 1,
1921.
On February 17, 1922, a fire alarm in the Vocational School building sounded at 7:55 p.m. followed by a 3-11 alarm at
7:59 p.m. The fire originated in the basement and spread to two floors and into the attic of the building. The fire
department indicated that the fire originated in the boiler room. Both floors in the east section of the building caved in
as a result of the fire and the heavy equipment placed upon them. The flames charred considerable woodwork
throughout the entire building, as was the attic and the west roof. After viewing the damage, the Board of Education
declared that the Longfellow School would be repaired and continued to be used for school purposes.
The La Crosse Tribune coverage on the fire printed, "Oh Skinnay! - The cherished desire of kids for many generations,
the rosy dream that someday the school house would burn down and school would be out indefinitely, is to be realized
for at least a little while .. . there are 575 pupils in the day classes . . . and 1,293 in various evening classes which will
continue to meet at the High School (16 th and Cass Streets)." A temporary office was established in a residence at 610
Pine Street, and it was anticipated that the Hogan (18 th and Winnebago Streets), Lincoln (at 8 th and Division Streets),
Washington (then located at 16 th and Vine Streets) and other schools would accommodate vocational classes. Subjects
taught at that time included business education, homemaking, woodworking, printing and machine shop.
In a communique from Director John B. Coleman, "Beginning Monday, October 9, 1922, the boys were segregated from
the girls in all phases of our day work ... we have at present 161 girls and 122 boys enrolled in our day school, and
through the excellent cooperation of the public school principals, we are enabled to add a few to our list each day . . .
We have at the present time 25 instructors employed and are offering 25 subjects. We are requiring our Evening School
pupils to make a deposit of one dollar, which we call an enrollment fee, and which is returned at the end of the year,
providing the person has been present three-fourths of the time . . . This scheme has not been used before in La
Crosse, and thus far, it has met with no opposition . . .it is going to help us overcome the difficulty that they have had
here in the past of holding their Evening School pupils throughout the entire session."
Following the destruction of the Longfellow School by fire in 1922, plans were laid before the La Crosse Common
Council for the construction of a city vocational education building on the same site. Work was begun on the new
institution late in 1923 following an appropriation of over $200,000 from the La Crosse Common Council and was ready
for occupancy on Tuesday, September 2, 1924. During construction, regular school classes were held in the Central
High School (16* and Cass Streets) and in the barracks on the Washburn school campus (8 th and State Streets) and that
arrangement lasted until September 1924 when construction was completed.
Interest in the La Crosse Vocational School was gaining statewide attention. Vocational directors from Fond du Lac and
Green Bay met with Director Coleman to gain insight about the system and its ways of conducting classes. Nowhere
else in the state was a school being conducted so successfully and at no other place were the directors working under
the disadvantages of the La Crosse Vocational School with its barrack rooms and its work divided into three centers
awaiting the completion of the new building.
The new Vocational School covered one-half square block with a second story portion along Vine Street. A distinct
feature of the new vocational school was the segregation of boys and girls in classrooms and shops arranged in "L"
shape. The girls followed the front of the building on Sixth Street extending to the east doorway on Vine Street. The
boys "L" was on the east and north sides of the building. Boys and girls had separate entrances—the girls' door being
near the corner of Vine Street and the boys' entrance near the alley on Vine Street. The new school opened for the
1924 term with 10 day school teachers and 51 evening school teachers.

Enrollment rose to 626 for the day school and 3,186 for the evening sessions. By 1925, there were 11 day school
teachers and 56 evening school teachers.
'
The La Crosse Vocational School was considered one of the best vocational schools in the United States, and other cities
planning to build schools were modeling them after the La Crosse institution.
In 1927, there were 14 day school teachers and 68 evening school teachers. Crowded to capacity, the Vocational School
Board presented the La Crosse City Council a plan for building an addition to the vocational school in an approximate
cost of $52,500. The original plans for construction called for two complete stories. The first story and part of the second
story were completed in the1923 addition.
On April 22-23, 1927 a large exhibition was held at the Vocational School. Praised as the "finest and most unique exhibit
of its kind ever held in the city," it displayed articles made by men/women, boys/girls who attended the evening school
classes. Enrolled in the classes were lawyers, doctors, merchants, laborers, businessmen and people from every walk of
life in the city. One of the unique features of the exhibits was that classes were in session, and visitors could see the work
actually being done by the pupils. The exhibit included dresses, hats, machines, furniture, paintings, and hundreds of
other articles. Every article on exhibit was marked with the name of the person who made it, the time it took to make it
and the total cost of the article. One item, a fibre-cord sewing cabinet took 13 hours and cost $2.40 to make. Many of
the articles on display were made of fibre cord, which is heavy paper rolled into long strings.
In 1927, "Vocational Notes" printed in the La Crosse Tribune indicated that the girls were "taking a course in marketing.
They have just completed a course in cafeteria canning . . . have canned tomatoes, corn, sauce and jelly, all of which will
be used in preparing the meals they serve at the cafeteria." Boys in the half-time cabinetmaking classes "completed a
number of end tables which they intend to give to their mothers for Christmas." The part-time class of cabinetmakers
that included the older boys refinished and repaired a truckload of chairs and toys for the St. Michael's Orphanage (then
located at 3222 South Avenue in La Crosse.) The printing shop completed making receipt blanks for evening school
deposits. The blanks were composed, printed, perforated and bound in books of 100 each; as well as a job which calls for
requisition blanks for day and evening school teachers. Other department projects included sheet metal classes in which
the boys made the drawings in their drawing classes and then did the work in the shop, and in handcraft where the
students brought items from home and learned how to repair them such as home mechanics, woodworking, metal work,
painting, staining, and finishing. Other projects included the machine shop boys making small-sized hammers used for
cracking nuts. The part-time boys were busy repairing and overhauling a number of toys such as kiddie-karts; push
mobiles, taylor-tots, and wagons for distribution by the Salvation Army at Christmas time.
Other activities included the cabinetmaking department. Under the direction of Erwin L. Schreiber, head of the
department, a desk was made for Chief F. C. McGlachlin of the city fire department. This desk was the second of its kind
made for the fire department and a part of the regular work done by the class. Not only did the cabinetmaking
department make desks for the fire department, it also furnished the police station with a large table, provided the city
clerk with a typewriter desk, and furnished a local charitable hospital with footstools for all of its rooms. In addition, this
department did all the small jobs for the school itself and for other schools in the city. The work included the making of
tables, desks, portable blackboards, shelves, partitions, and other such jobs that could be turned out by the department.
In January 1928, the Printing department received a new 12 x 18 job press, capable of printing three-column paper.
How the city spends each tax dollar has always been of special interest to citizens. In January 1928, a breakdown of a
chart of expenses prepared by W. J. Fries, the city comptroller, showed that 30.24 percent was spent for schools, of
which 24.45 percent was spent for school operation, 3.28 percent for remodeling and equipment, 2.51 percent for
industrial education (Vocational school.) Money for operating the Vocational School was appropriated through the La
Crosse Common Council.
1928 also saw the beginning of a Vocational School Band, organized under the guidance of Beldon E. LaBansky.
There was increasing interest on the part of employers in the apprenticeship program as carried on by the Vocational
School. In 1928, 16 indentured apprentices were taking part-time related instruction at the school including two
bricklayers, three carpenters, three machinists, one sheet metal worker, one core maker, one moulder, two cooks, one
plumber, one meat cutter, and one baker.

In the spring of 1928, an apprenticeship banquet was held at the Vocational School. This first apprenticeship banquet was
an outgrowth of an awakening to apprenticeship possibilities for the community of La Crosse, its industries, and for the
public at large, and was intended to become an annual event. The event was a "stag" affair at which local apprentices,
their fathers and employers together with a few special friends of apprenticeship sat down to dine together. Walter F.
Simon, supervisor of apprenticeship with the Industrial Commission was the principal speaker. He spoke about the
"present day lack of skill and craftsmanship in the trades . . . that no civilized people anywhere will tolerate the inefficient
workmanship that is permitted by the American people . . . that expert European tradesmen reached a high degree of
skill through serving a carefully planned and supervised apprenticeship . . . and since Wisconsin has by statute made
possible a similar method, a number of Wisconsin concerns have supplied themselves with skilled tradesmen."
Members of the Vocational Commercial Club enjoyed a treat when Mrs. Watkins, a guest speaker, gave an interesting
talk on her experiences about living in China for seven years. "We always think of China as a blot upon the map. One has
to really visit the country and mix with its natives to appreciate China at all." Mrs. Watkins described the land, and
provided information about the people and their customs.
Thirteen classes were in session in April, 1928 as visitors viewed the annual Vocational School evening school exhibit. It
was reported that from the time the doors opened in the evening, there was a continual stream of people viewing the
work done by the evening school students and watching them at work in the thirteen classes that were in session. The
most popular of the classes were the cabinetmaking, printing, and reed fibre furniture making class, the applied arts
class, the beauty culture class, and the class in machine shop. In addition, rooms were set aside to display items made by
the students.
In May, 1928 in observance of "Music Week", students of the Vocational School presented Humperdinck's famous opera,
"Hansel and Gretel" in the school's auditorium.
1928 was the most successful year since the start of the school . . . with 50 instructors teaching 33 subjects to 2,712
pupils in the evening school classes, and 17 teachers instructing 32 subjects to 171 students in the day school classes.
A survey conducted in November, 1928 indicated that vocational students were employed in sixty-two factories and
trades in La Crosse compared to 52 that offered employment in the spring; 54.1 percent of the boys were over 17 years
of age; 57.5 percent of the girls were over 17 years of age, and 55.9 percent of the part-time pupils were 17 years of age.
"One of the most outstanding pieces of work of the school during 1928," according to Director Coleman, "was the
inauguration of the Foremen's Safety school. The employers of the city, cooperating with the superintendents, foremen
and supervisors, have made possible the giving of safety instruction to 432 men and women. This instruction ought to do
much to reduce the number of accidents in our local industries." The Foremen's Safety School brought its eight-week
course to a successful close with a banquet in the Vocational School auditorium on Saturday evening, December 29, 1928.
Keynote speaker for the evening was Judge John C. "Ikey" Karel of Milwaukee, a former Wisconsin football star, who paid
tribute to the foremen for their work that made it possible for La Crosse to have the lowest percentage of accidents for a
city of its size in the country.
The Vocational School Blue and Gold Basketball team rose from a position of insignificance to a place that commanded
recognition. The quintet included Earl Dansbury, Ervin Limpert, Oswald Wuest, Paul Hefti, and Maurice Shaller. Manager
of the team was W. F. Oppermann, a faculty member of the school. Lester Wilke and George Gordon, of the La Crosse
Normal School (then located between 17 th and 18 th on State Street) volunteered to coach the Vocational Five. The team
had five victories and three losses.
In 1929, Evening School enrollment was up to 4,169 and until that year most of the students attended school only once a
week.
On January 25, 1929, the Vocational Regulars fought a losing battle in basketball with the La Crosse Tribunes at the
Vocational Gym. The Regulars put up a good fight, but in the end it was 15 to 8 for the Tribunes. The Alumni played the
Blackhawks, winning 21 to 19.
In 1929, the boys Printing class completed an evening school bulletin giving detailed information about every evening
school class and the locations in which the evening school classes were conducted. The school received requests for the
booklet from industrial education heads in Texas, Alabama, Nova Scotia and other distant points.

In 1929, fifty engineers, contractors and concrete workers attended a one-day class in "Design and Control of Concrete
Mixtures." According to lecturer Brevik of the Portland Cement Association, the "three fundamental considerations that
should determine the design of concrete structures are strength, durability and economy."
In February 1929, the Vocational Board leased an entire room from the La Crosse Garment Company for
teaching power sewing machine classes. (La Crosse Garment Company was a major employer in La Crosse from 1914 to
1975 when it declared bankruptcy. It was taken over by Terry Gillette of the Gillette Industries and later called the
Company Store. Originally it produced women's clothing, canvass items for the military during World War II, and
manufactured cloth and similar products for the Department of Defense.)
In March 1929, over 700 interested citizens and meat dealers attended a two-day session at the annual meat cutting
school sponsored by the La Crosse Retail Market Men's Association and the La Crosse Vocational School.
Former students of the Vocational School commercial department met on Friday evening, May 10, 1929, in the school's
gymnasium. The occasion was a reunion of all the people who had taken the work of the commercial department. Since
this was the first time the group had been brought together, it was decided to organize an alumni association for the
purpose of "carrying on" after graduation from the commercial department.
In 1929, the Vocational Board planned the construction of a second story addition to the La Crosse Vocational School to
meet the demands of its increasing enrollments. The new addition contained seven rooms: a general metal shop, a
drafting room, and a five-room commercial department. The library was moved to the second floor. The La Crosse City
Council voted a bond issue of $50,000 for the renovation. The architectural firm of Merman & Skogstad prepared the
preliminary plans. The cost to construct the second story addition was low because when the first unit of the building was
constructed, suitable foundations and a suitable heating and ventilating system were incorporated into the building.
Summer 1929, eight members of the Vocational School faculty continued their studies at five different institutions of
higher learning: the University of Wisconsin, the University of Minnesota, Colorado Agricultural College, Colorado College
at Fort Collins, Colorado, and at Stout Institute.
The Vocational School Band opened its fall 1929 session at Central High School (16 th and Cass Streets), with Ezra HartI as
the conductor and instructor.
Journalism was a class offering in 1929, with special sessions planned for teachers supervising the school publications.
"Usually this subject is taught in the universities, and I feel that we are fortunate in being able to offer journalism in our
Vocational School," said Director Coleman.
In planning for the 1930 Vocational Education Budget, the Board asked the La Crosse Common Council for over $8,000
more in its tentative budget compared to the 1929 budget. The 1930 budget was estimated at $71,266.50 compared to
$62,515.00 in 1929.
The 1930's
April 4, 1930 marked the Grand Opening of the new $50,000 addition of the La Crosse Vocational School in conjunction
with its annual display of exhibits. Approximately 7,500 square feet were added to the floor space of the school building.
The space was developed for seven rooms, two toilets, and new corridors. The new rooms were for the general metal
shop, music department and beauty culture department, and four rooms for the business college or commercial
department. Exhibits of the cabinetmaking classes, the machine shop, and general metals classes, of the fibre cord
classes, art classes, dressmaking, art needlework, cooking and beauty culture classes all were on display. In addition, the
school band and orchestra provided music.
In October 1930, Director Coleman was authorized by the Board to negotiate with La Crosse County authorities for
offering two classes a week in occupational therapy at the Oak Forest Sanatorium (in Onalaska).
As in other years, the Vocational School repaired discarded and broken toys. The toys were repainted and redecorated
for distributing to the needy during the Holiday Season.
In 1931, according to W. F. Opperman of the Vocational School Placement Department, "approximately one hundred
young people seeking to enter the school full time to prepare themselves for trades and business employment, had to be
turned away. The school was unable at this time to take care of any further expansion.

It is fairly evident that the present depression has caused many people to do more thinking about the job future. Many
young people are looking the situation squarely in the face. They see the necessity for being prepared to do something
rather than to just be ready to do anything."
A Homecraft program was begun - The craft programs began at the Oak Forest Sanatorium in 1931. Homecraft consisted
of training in the type of craft the trainee is interested in and capable of doing. The crafts taught included woodcrafts,
metal crafts, hand and loom weaving, ceramics, silkscreen printing, leather craft, machine sewing, needlecraft and some
decorative assembly work. An instructor provided instruction in the home on an average of once every two weeks, with
program trainees progressing at their own speed. No tuition was charged for this training as the Rehabilitation Division of
the State Board of Vocational and Adult Education paid for the cost. The severely handicapped in La Crosse, Vernon,
Monroe and the western part of Juneau County were eligible. The oldest and best develop program of occupational
therapy at a La Crosse County Hospital was that carried on for many years at the Oak Forest Sanatorium in Onalaska,
where the groundwork was laid in 1931. A Miss Cynthia Herbert, who worked afternoons twice a week, conducted
classes for a year. The work was supervised and paid for by the La Crosse Vocational and Adult Schools.
In addition to the variety of annual Evening School exhibits, the Spring 1931 Open House also displayed items made by
the patients of the Oak Forest Sanatorium in their homecraft activities.
In 1931, in the commercial department of the school, 115 persons were enrolled with the typewriting class having 30
students. There were 85 teachers instructing night school. Classes in occupational therapy were conducted at the (Oak
Forest) sanitarium (Onalaska), classes for nurses at the hospital, and other classes at various industrial plants. A new rifle
club activity, sponsored by the American Legion Rifle Club, was started in 1931, and a shooting range was established.
In 1932, the Vocational School in cooperation with the American Red Cross offered a course in home Hygiene and Care of
the Sick.
The 1932 Vocational School art display attracted much interest—oil paintings, water colors, pencil and pen sketches—all
revealed the talent of local artistry. It was estimated that approximately 3,000 people saw the Evening School exhibits. It
was lauded as a "most praiseworthy" exhibition of art and craft.
March 15, 1932, the Vocational Dramatic Guild marked its beginning .. . The Guild was conducted on a nonprofit basis,
with all receipts from the productions utilized in the maintenance of the department of Dramatic Art. "The Vocational
School, recognizing the value of dramatic activity, has thrown open to the Guild all the fine facilities of its various
departments." March 15, 1932 was the first meeting of those interested in dramatic development with classes planned
for beginning and advanced students. This move placed the Vocational School far in advance of many colleges, and gave
it further claim to widespread recognition throughout the United States. Everyone has creative urges and there is no
place where they can be so easily manifested as in dramatics.
"The Cradle Song," chosen for the first public performance by the classes in Dramatic Art at the Vocational School was
presented on November 27-28, 1933 in the Vocational School Auditorium. "The Cradle Song" a comedy in two acts with
an interlude in verse, had a cast of ten women and four men and was directed by Russell Huber (Huber, a well-known
personality in the La Crosse area, worked with both WIZM radio and WKBT television and interviewed many stars of
drama and the theater world.) "You certainly are to be complimented on that wonderful play ... it was a real treat for all
who saw it. I could not help but marvel how perfectly it was carried out in every detail. Director and players must have
credit where credit is due—it was beyond expectation," wrote one who attended the play.
In January 1934, the La Crosse Vocational School sponsored the Emergency Educational Program (EEP) under which 25
unemployed teachers were put to work. The primary objective of the program was to give work to unemployed teachers.
It was a governmental program, with funding through the State Board of Vocational Education in Madison. All salaries of
teachers were paid directly from federal funds allotted to Wisconsin for this extension of its educational activities. Eighty
classes were maintained under the EEP in La Crosse. As the La Crosse State Teachers College was regarded as outstanding
in training teachers for physical education work, by the law of averages there were more unemployed physical education
teachers anticipated than teachers of academic subjects.
April 1934 - Winding up a season whose success might almost be called sensational, the Vocational Dramatic Guild put on
Oscar Wilde's "Lady Windermere's Fan" as its closing production.

May 1934 - "High school graduates with Vocational School shop training have had their pick from among the cream
of positions opening to young men in trade and industry," was a statement by Director Coleman. "The school is not
yet closed for this year and we have already placed practically all boys with a high school education . . . doing work in
ornamental iron, in sheet metal, in drafting, welding, forging, printing, auto mechanics and others."
Fitting the school to the student was a policy of the Vocational School and as such special courses in trade training
were set up to meet the trend of the times. In opening the College of Commerce (1934) it was stated that every
move of the New Deal gave rise to more office work than had ever been necessary before. "Businessmen are
demanding graduates whose training has been thorough," said Director Coleman.
"Oliver Oliver", the Paul Osborn light comedy, opened the season of five plays for the Vocational Dramatic Guild,
with a cast of eight performers for presentation in the Vocational School Auditorium on November 19-20, 1934.
Russell Huber, director of the play, was assisted by a large number of his vocational classes in dramatic art. A number
of departments in the Vocational School cooperated to make the technical end of the production bright and colorful.
In 1934, because of the previously large attendance to view the annual display of exhibits and also to afford
protection to the vast display of workmanship, it was decided that those under 14 years of age were not permitted
in the Vocational School building on those nights. This ruling was made because at times in many of the classrooms,
the crowds became so dense that it was necessary for teachers to suspend operations, and shop teachers also found
it impossible to operate their machines because of the crowds hovering about. "The Vocational School is an adult
school and the projects on display are adult projects . . . (authorities) deem it essential to limit the crowds to persons
of Vocational School age."
In fall 1934, the Evening School program enrollment jumped to 163 classes. Of that number, 129 were on the regular
program and 34 on the Emergency Educational Program (EEP).
In October 1934, interior decorating was a new class opening at the Central High School center (at 16 th and Cass
Streets) of the Vocational evening school. The class was under the instruction of Leighton Oyen, a master in the art
of home furnishing and decorating.
A school mixer was held Friday, November 9, 1934 - included were a snake dance, a toe tap executed to music
furnished by the orchestra, and three skits. The first skit, which had no title, was the old story of the escort who
stayed too late and the girl, who after a boring evening found that her partner could be interesting after all; the
second skit, "Nuts, nuts, nuts", a comedy; and the third, "The Shortest Skit in the World" - the skit only having four
words. The remainder of the evening was spent dancing and for those who did not wish to dance there was bunco
and ping-pong.
At the April 1934 monthly Vocational Board Meeting, communication from Leigh Toland, President of the Wisconsin
Business University (WBU) in La Crosse was presented. A long-standing clash between the WBU and the La Crosse
Vocational School College of Commerce became more intense. Difficulties arose between the two institutions when
the WBU complained that the Vocational School had accepted students from outside the city in its commercial
college department. There were 16 students enrolled, each paying regular tuition. Leigh Toland, then president of
WBU requested "a record of students graduated and placed and complete expense of operating the College of
Commerce." Director Coleman presented a letter from Toland in 1916 that requested much the same information
regarding the commercial course offered in the high school here at that time. Toland's specific requests were:
• A cessation of the attacks, slander, and misstatements directed against the WBU by the Vocational School
director.
• That competition and aggressive advertising of the business course by the Vocational School be discontinued.
• That the Vocational School cease accepting nonresident students in the College of Commerce. That the
Vocational School return to its original purpose - part-time course and night school for workers.
• A record of expenses.
• A list by years, for the past 10 years, of graduates or those who completed the required work of the College of
Commerce - names of students placed in positions, giving names of students, names of employers and date of
placement.
• A list, covering the past 10 years, of those students enrolled in the business course whose parents were not bona
fide residents or taxpayers of La Crosse at the time of the students' attendance.

Previous to hearing the communication, the Board adopted a ruling whereby all full-time students accepted in the
school who are nonresidents must pay $10 a month tuition - up until now, the tuition fee was only for the College of
Commerce.
On December 18, 1934, the Vocational Board met concerning the WBU issue. Attending the meeting were 17
members of the La Crosse Common Council, Mr. Hambrecht, director of Vocational Education of the State of
Wisconsin, some students from the Wisconsin Business University, Mr. Leigh Toland, president of the WBU, and
Hugh Toland, along with a few others. Leigh Toland presented a communication in person in which he stated he
would mail it direct to the Board of Vocational Education. Director Hambrecht presented the history of free public
school education and also the legal side of the operation of vocational schools in the field of free public education.
The Vocational School Board responded to Toland's letter on May 17, 1935. The letter, signed by President Albert P.
Funk, and Secretary G. M. Wiley, read:
"The Board of Vocational Education of the City of La Crosse at its regular meeting under date of May 14, 1935,
considered your letters of March 12 and April 18, 1935.
"This Board is administering vocational education in the City of La Crosse in accordance with the laws of the
State of Wisconsin governing this type of education in regard to students outside of the city. This law provides
that nonresident students may attend vocational school on payment of a fee of fifty cents per day or evening of
actual attendance. The local Board of Vocational Education believes that is operating within the spirit and
purpose of this law by admitting students to any department of the local Vocational School upon payment of
tuition at the rate of fifty cents per day or evening of actual attendance.
"The report of the enrollment in the College of Commerce of the La Crosse Vocational School under date of
January 8, 1935, records 165 pupils. Of this number, 19 were nonresident students. Two of these nonresident
students being included in the enrollment of students by the rehabilitation department of the State of
Wisconsin. The total teacher cost for all of these students is $890.00 annually. The income from tuition is
$1900.00, leaving a net teacher cost of $7050.00.
"The Board of Vocational Education has not broken down the capital outlay and operating costs."
(The WBU, a privately operated business was founded by Frank Toland in 1892. The Toland family founded eleven
business universities in six states. The local Wisconsin Business University, located at 307-309 Main Street, closed in
1940.)
Where the tax dollar goes - a tax mill rate increase was adopted for 1935 by the La Crosse Common Council. The 24
mill rate for 1935 was based upon income and estimated expenditures of $1,633,710.34. A breakdown of a chart of
expenses showed that 25.4 percent was for maintaining the modern public school system and that 2.8 percent was
earmarked for industrial education, the local Vocational School.
On Monday, February 18, 1935, a demonstration in stencil cutting and the appropriate use of the mimeograph was
given at the Vocational School. In the demonstration, a film was presented showing the processes through which
stencil paper passes from the time it is a plant growing in Japan until it is used to reproduce copies of pictures or
typewritten material. "There is no country in the civilized world today that does not know the advantages and uses
of the mimeograph and stencil."
Friday, February 15, 1935 was the date for a Valentine Party. The social committee of the La Crosse Vocational
School decided to offer a gala party for the students and their friends. The committee chose the rhythmic and new
tunes of Don Carr's orchestra. Alumni and friends of the school were invited.
In response to President Franklin Roosevelt's request regarding a survey on what schools are doing for the
unemployed, the La Crosse Vocational School submitted a report to the State Vocational Board indicating that
• 350 high school graduates are being trained for the fields of commerce and industry,
• The Vocational School has been enlarged and there were 4,492 for the first semester. In addition, there were
1,202 enrolled in the EEP classes, and an additional Evening School was opened at Webster School (then located
at 1402 Redfield Street in La Crosse.)
• Classes/activities were conducted to take care of the leisure time of young men.
• Rehabilitation - more handicapped persons are in jobs and positions, and 26 are in training.

• Efforts were made to assist men at a Transient home, and young men in the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC).
• Safety and first aid classes were conducted for groups of WERA (Wisconsin Emergency Relief Association, a state
agency comparable to the WPA) workers.
• Various projects assisted the needs of the times such as the repair of toys/articles for Christmas giving by
organizations to the needy, items for the Red Cross, and garments for the St. Michael's Orphanage.
• Special attention was given to assisting in the solution of some individual problems; special training for young
women in maid service to enable them to remain on a job; employment was secured for 33 teachers and four
janitors on the EEP program.
• The Vocational School is not just a traditional school but a great civic, social and economic service institution
such as the printing of and getting ready for the distribution 10,000 President's Birthday Ball letters, and others.
March 20-21, 1935 "We are holding an Open House," declared Director Coleman. "At that time, we invite the local
taxpayer and the school patron to come in and look us over... we feel the general public which reaps the benefits
and pays the bills should know what it is getting for its money." "I look forward to this event every year," said one.
"It's worth more to me than the World's Fair."
In April 1935, a Miss Lillian Bitzer of the Vocational School staff devised a new one-hand touch system of typewriting
for people with a disability. In order to teach the touch system of typewriting with one hand, a specially manipulated
procedure is necessary. Ms. Bitzer developed a method that enabled students to function at the typewriter. "Miss
Bitzer has taught a number of young men and women with a disability the one hand touch system (method) of
typewriting," said Coleman. "These men and women are now working either in La Crosse or elsewhere, owe her a
debt of gratitude for their ability with their one hand."
In May 1935, the Vocational Dramatic Guild staged a mystery comedy, "Solitaire Man," to an enthusiastic audience
at the Vocational auditorium. The story takes place in an airplane and the chief characters are a band of jewel
thieves, a detective, and a woman just back from a shopping trip in Paris . . .
In December 1935, as its tenth public performance, the Vocational Dramatic Guild presented "Saturday's Children"
by Maxwell Anderson.
In the mid-30's, a bi-weekly publication entitled the" Vocat Brain Throbs" was published by the students of the La
Crosse Vocational School. In 1936, Valerie C. Koops, was added to the staff in charge of the "entire department of
journalism." The paper was a four-page, five column publication, and published every two weeks.
1936 Vocational Board Members included: Albert P. Funk, president; J. G. Becker, vice president;
Superintendent of Schools G. M. Wiley; J. H. Tietz, and Herman Burgechardt.
The January 11, 1936 appointment of Board Members, however, did not go without opposition. Councilman Walter
Bigelow opposed Mr. Burgchardt, and suggested a Mr. Papenfuss. In opposing Burgchardt's nomination, Biglow said
"I have check the minutes of the Vocational Board and found that Mr. Burgchardt attended only three of nine
meetings. He seems to be a busy man, and is unable to attend. If the other members took the same attitude, there
would be no board." Mr. Burgchardt, who was district labor consultant for the Works Progress Administration
(WPA), retained his status as a Board member.
In March 1936, Director Coleman told the La Crosse League of Women Voters that "the College of Commerce alone
is now taking care of some 240 pupils in accommodations that were provided for 180 ... that approximately 900
pupils use this school in the daytime during the year, and enrollment at evening fluctuates between four and six
thousand, with 6,300 the record for last year."
The Vocational Dramatic Guild presented as the first offering of its 1936-1937 season, "The First Legion" by Emmet
Lavery on April 20 and 21, 1936.
On May 19, 1936 the La Crosse Vocational Schools held an "Amateur Night Program" that included a Schottische of
40 girls, two vocal duets, tap dancing, acrobatics, harmonicas, guitars and singing, accordions, and others. Amateur
Hour prizes that were awarded included a scooter, a picnic ham shank, $1.50 in trade at a greenhouse, 1 quart of
varnish, a pencil sharpener, flowers, towel rack, an electric cigar lighter, and others.

La Crosse Vocational and Adult Schools – 1937-1963
At the June 1937 and October 12, 1937 Vocational Board Meeting Minutes, Director Coleman reported “that by statute
law, this Board was designated officially as a Board of Vocational and Adult Education and the La Crosse School would be
known as the La Crosse Vocational and Adult Schools.”
Music was a part of the school. Both the La Crosse Vocational Choir and the La Crosse Symphony Orchestra were a part
of the Vocational School evening program. The choir came into existence in October 1937 because of a demand for a
choral organization “which would be sufficiently advanced to attract the numerous talented singers in the community.”
Membership in the choir was on a try-out basis.
In 1937, one of the most encouraging signs was that industry has come to recognize the need for apprentices. A
government authority stated, “there is a distinct and easily recognizable trend toward a revival of apprenticeship. The
trend is toward a plan under which the public schools will share with labor and industry the responsibilities for seeing
that apprentices are given all-around training for journeyship in their particular trades.”
In 1938, senior students from Stout Institute were involved in practice teaching in the homemaking department. The
Vocational School in cooperation with the State Board and Stout Institute undertook the task of directing the practice
teaching of senior homemaking students from Stout. In doing the work, the Vocational School received additional
federal aid. Forty students from the Stout Institute were given this preparatory teaching at La Crosse in 1938. The
program, a new venture in the State of Wisconsin, was devised to offer the practice teachers well-rounded experiences in
schools and communities that were similar in type to those in which they would be later employed.
La Crosse weathered the depression—during those years hundreds of young people made their way into economic
employment through vocational training. Courses in the evening session continued to increase. Courses included
training for Druggists, Painter and Decorator Apprentice, Welding, and Police Science. In 1938, the need for more
classrooms and shops became evident and the Vocational Board sought the La Crosse Common Council support for
considering a larger building. Director Coleman stated, “enrollment at the Vocational and Adult Schools has reached a
crisis . . . classrooms designed for 24 persons have as many as 50 people crowded into them.” There was a turn in
vocational education. The dominant enrollment at the school is now made up of high school and college graduates.
Students are in attendance five full days instead of one-half day a week. They come voluntarily instead of by force, and
many middle-aged persons who are unemployed are now attending full-time day school. Life may begin at 40,
Coleman said, but at any rate many people see a new life for them at that age through occupational training.”
At the La Crosse Vocational School every pupil belonged to at least one club. There were five clubs for part-time boys
and five for girls, these meeting once a month. One period of the regular class schedule was devoted to their activities.
This was the case with the half-time boys and girls who had a club of their own and who met once a week. Sometimes
the boys and girls clubs met together and had mixers to become better acquainted socially. Then the boys furnished
the money to pay the slight financial cost involved and the girls furnished the “eats”; and with the pleasant music, good
food, jolly companionship, a good time was assured for all and a spirit of cooperation was fostered.
Another group was the Commercial Club, which included all the members of the commercial department. They
presented plays, musical selections, gave dances and mixers for their regular meetings, and also often called upon
prominent people in town to give talks at their meetings on inspiring subjects. The commercial school also had an
alumni association, the president being “Only Johnson”. Although the members became scattered, a large and loyal
number remained in La Crosse and meetings were held at various times during the year.
The day school boys’ basketball team, made up of the best players in the school, played a regular schedule of games
during the season. An Athletic Club was larger in scope and included some of the best players in town. An Alumni
Team was made up of men who formerly attended the school and who enjoyed its athletics so much that they continued
it past their school days. The girls were not neglected—there were two girls’ basketball teams. Teams played other
school teams. A volleyball tournament was also held.
Students of the early years had an active “College of Commerce” Club that participated in many local, area and state
business and service-oriented functions. This strong local group became the foundation on which the local Wisconsin
Office Education Association (WOEA) Chapter was based.
It wasn’t all smooth sailing . . . times were tough and money for the operation of the Vocational School was appropriated
through the La Crosse Common Council. In 1938, a local political aspirant running for Mayor

protested the increased salary of the Vocational School head from $550 to $600 per month. He also introduced a
resolution ordering a referendum to determine whether the people wanted the present appointed board or if they
preferred a school board elected by the people.
The 1939 Coleman Addition
A civic auditorium was proposed in 1938, and it was the plan of Director Coleman to use the original small auditorium
only as a gymnasium. The construction plan that provided for future expansion and an Auditorium for municipal use
was presented to the Buildings and Grounds Committee of the La Crosse Common Council. In a La Crosse Tribune
editorial it was stated, “that a civic auditorium be included in plans for expansion of the Vocational and Adult School
building is worthy of the serious thought of the community.” In July 1938, the
La Crosse Vocational School was awarded a federal grant by the Public Works Administration (PWA) in Washington for
the construction of a three-story addition. Architects for the project were Boyum, Schubert and Sorenson. The total
cost of construction and equipment for this addition was $382,018; with the Federal (PWA) Public Works Administration
paying $171,900 (or 45 percent of that amount) and the City of La Crosse paying $210,110 (or 55 percent). This was
exclusive of land cost.
The total cost of improvement was $382,225. The PWA grant gave the city $172,001 (or 45 percent of the total cost)
and the city’s portion was $210,224. The building was expected to be ready for occupancy by November 1939.
The 1939 addition housed the College of Commerce and the homemaking department. The old building was remodeled
for use by the trades and industrial department. Included in the addition was a spacious school Auditorium that was
used for movies, concerts, lectures, and other educational and entertaining features. In addition, numerous civic
organizations brought world-famous concert artists and stage presentations to the stage. The stage size of the
auditorium Proscenium opening was 40 feet (inside width, 66 feet; depth, 25 feet.) The Auditorium had a capacity of
1,229 seats—928 on the first floor and 301 on the second floor (balcony). The curtains were blue velvet front curtain
and valance; a gold curtain for a shallow stage, and a black velvet cyclorama. In addition to the Auditorium, the new
building also included 12 classrooms, kitchen, cafeteria, a homemaking apartment, beauty shop, director’s offices, and a
conference room.
The remodeled building provided enlarged facilities for the automotive shops, cabinetmaking, woodworking, machine
shop, drafting, printing, general metals, trades and industry assembly, three classrooms for the “College of Commerce”,
general offices and a gymnasium with seating for approximately 100 under the balcony and for 124 in the balcony. The
gymnasium on the main floor had 2,627 square feet of space.
By 1939, most of the students were attending school five days a week. Day school enrollment in 1939 totaled 200 and
the number of students in evening school was over 4,000. There were 23 teachers for day classes and 80 for evening
classes. A housing list was compiled. “Many students will desire to work for room and board. Others will desire light
housekeeping rooms.”
The first public event to be held in the new Auditorium was presented by the La Crosse Community Concert Association
on December 11, 1939. Joseph Knitzer, a noted young violinist, appeared as guest artist in the program, playing before
an audience of 1,300. The audience showed its appreciation for Knitzer by calling him back for five encores. John
Felton, president of the Community Concert Association stated, “with the new Vocational School Auditorium, we have in
the last year been able to increase the association’s membership from 900 to 1,300.”
The 1940’s
On Friday, April 19, 1940, an impressive dedication ceremony was held for the new Vocational and Adult Schools building.
Visiting educators from the state were present as well as representatives from the State Vocational Board, the PWA, and
other local dignitaries. Mayor J. J. Verchota represented the city and presented the school to Board President Albert P.
Funk in the school’s Auditorium. The dedication was part of an extensive “Open House” in which several thousand
people toured all the departments of the school in both the old and new structure. All the departments of the school
were shown in actual operation, which included mechanical department, the business school, and the homemaking
department.
Board members in 1940 were Albert P. Funk, president; J. G. Becker, vice president; Superintendent of Schools G. M.
Wiley, secretary; Raymond A. Bice, and Frank A. Papenfuss.

In 1940, the new Auditorium got off to a healthy start with a variety of civic and musical entertainment
including . . .
January 16 Rubinoff and his Stradivarius, one of the most well known violinists in America at that time, appeared
in concert. He began his career at the age of 5 with a violin that cost in Russian rubles $1.75 and
played his $100,000 genuine Stradivarius when he entertained La Crosse listeners.
February Richard Crooks, a well-known tenor with the Metropolitan Opera Association presented a concert for
1,310 people (101 of them from Winona). On the podium was Dimitri Mitropoulos directing the
90-piece Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra.
February 9 The La Crosse Evening and Adult Schools presented “Big Hearted Herbert”, a comedy in three acts. It
was directed by Raymond Plamadore (known for his “Man On The Street” radio interviews in La Crosse,
along with his affiliation with the WKBH Radio Station, and later manager of the Mary E. Sawyer
Auditorium.)
March The Luther College Concert Band, of Decorah, Iowa, directed by Carlo Sperati presented a concert.
March 8 Charming operatic star Rise Stevens won the hearts of music lovers with her mellow mezzo-soprano
performance of classical songs.
April 15 The Haresfoot Club presented a musical comedy show “Serve It Hot” written by Bill Erin and Clark
Carnes. The show was sponsored by the Elks Club and the La Crosse University of Wisconsin Alumni
Association.
April 17 Dale Carnegie of New York City, founder of the Carnegie Institute gave two lectures, sponsored jointly by
the Vocational School and the Chamber of Commerce.
April 22 The 75-voice La Crosse Vocational Civic Choir under the direction of Harold Youngberg presented their
second annual concert in the new Auditorium.
mid-December Handel’s “The Messiah” inaugurated a new Christmas season, and Yehudi Menuhin, a famed violinist,
carried the Community Concert presentations to a new peak.
A study was conducted in 1940 that revealed that Vocational School students bring large sums to the community. It
was estimated that $172,085.88 was spent in La Crosse on daily living, for schooling, and for amusements, and that their
families added another $72,382.36 to the community pocketbook.
It was wartime . . . and on the home front . . .
The word “Defense” became a daily term, and United States Defense Education classes were begun.
Trained defense workers were sought across the nation. The Defense Education classes at the Vocational School
provided employment in local industrial plants. Director Coleman served in a dual capacity in this
regard – that of a district supervisor as well as a state consultant for the national defense education programs. In this
capacity, he was called to many parts of the state to give assistance to the local boards of education for setting up
programs/facilities for conducting national defense training. A four-man advisory board, per recommendations of the
United States Office of Education, was appointed to advise the Vocational Board in the administration of vocational
education of defense workers.
In 1940, the Vocational School operated on a 24-hour schedule to train workers for war production plants.
In May of that year, plans were made with the National Youth Administration to conduct special pre-employment job
training in metal trades for youths during the summer months. This program barely was under way when the U. S.
Office of Education announced new plans for a nationwide training program called Vocational Education for National
Defense (VE-ND). To meet the demands of local, state and national war production industries for trained machine
operators, welders, auto mechanics, sheet metal workers and engine lathe operators, the Vocational School found it
necessary, even before Pearl Harbor, to put its defense training program on a 24-hour a day schedule. Some
supplementary training was also offered on Saturday.
With people entering the military, women, too, were taking on a new role. Faces smudged, hands covered with grease
and oil, twenty-six young women prepared themselves in a special automobile mechanics class for any emergency they
may be called upon to meet during the war effort. When completing the course, they were equipped not only to drive
an ambulance or truck, but capable of making roadside repairs to the vehicles they operated. Their studies included the
electrical system, cooling system, breaking and steering system, and a general course in the proper care of the
automobile.
It was reported that (in 1940) more than a third (365) of the 1,000 men given brush-up training in the metal trades have
gone from the school into jobs in the fields in which they were trained.

In 1941, the brilliant blue lights from welders’ arc . . . the hum of woodworking equipment . . . the shriek of metal drills. . .
all these and more, indicated that even in La Crosse’s peace and quiet the speed-up was increasing to hurry in the
countries’ efforts to prepare for war. Police officers were taught the latest defense methods in the event of a national
emergency, and the La Crosse Elks sponsored an Aviation Cadet Program called the “Elks’ Keep ‘em Flying School.”
On March 5-6, 1941, the annual spring exhibit drew 10,000. As the trades and industry department was operating on a
16-hour day, in response to the national emergency, the public had the opportunity to view the classes in session. This
year, the National Defense “refresher” course in trade and industry was in session. The Trades and industries
department work was displayed in the school gymnasium; the College of Commerce work in Room 108, and all
homemaking class work displayed on the third floor. A style show set to music and backgrounded by interesting
displays was held in the new Auditorium. The style show featured creations of the students in the school’s dress
designing class, and the garments were modeled by the students who designed them. Two women and one man were
named to judge the show and prizes were awarded for the best casual dresses, coat and suit, afternoon dress, and a
sundry group.
In April 1941, the Director reported that the Logan-Vocational Basketball League showed a very successful year, both in
attendance and financially, and requested that the league be continued the coming year.
On May 22, the Vocational College of Commerce held its annual formal in the school gymnasium, with 54 couples signing
the register.
At the October 14, 1941 the Vocational Board approved the inauguration of a refrigeration course, with the course
dealing primarily with the service end of refrigeration.
In October 1941, enrollment in evening school classes reached a new high during the opening days. More than 1,400
persons enrolled on the first night.
Music lovers welcomed the La Crosse Vocational Civic Orchestra under the direction of Leigh Elder, a cellist. Musical
organizations in La Crosse date back to the 1800’s, and a number of small bands had sprung up in the 1800’s and 1900’s.
The seed for the Vocational Civic Orchestra was planted in 1926. Although for a couple of years, interest in an orchestra
had died out, Director Coleman, at the urgency of musically-inclined people in the city, persuaded the Vocational School
Board to permit the school to sponsor an orchestra as part of its music development program. In addition, the school
also sponsored the La Crosse Civic Choir as part of its music development program.
Holiday Season 1941 – the students at the La Crosse Vocational School repaired toys to give to the less fortunate children.
There also was a Christmas Dance with some 125 students attending. The Club Royal orchestra furnished the music.
Events during 1941 in the new Auditorium included . . .
February 26 The Vocational Civic Band presented a concert with selections chosen from the works of modern as
well as traditional contemporary composers. The lighting facilities of the new auditorium were
used extensively to further depict and enhance the various moods of the music.
April 26 The Lutheran Chorus of Sheboygan appeared under the auspices of the Mt. Calvary Lutheran
Church. The music of Johann Sebastian Bach was featured on the program.
April 28 The 65-voice La Crosse Civic Choir, directed by Harold Youngberg, presented a colorful spring
concert. In contrast to conventional choir appearances, the local choir had no official garb;
everyone was dressed in keeping with the spring season. The ladies wore gowns of pastel shades
and the men were dressed in conventional dark coats and white trousers.
June 5 Central High School held its graduation program in the Auditorium.
October 28 “George Washington Slept Here”, a three act Broadway comedy by Moss Hart and George
Kaufmann had an audience of 1,000+ “laugh until their sides ached.” The play was presented by
the La Crosse Little Theatre and Vocational Guild, a group of young people. The group was started
in 1937 under the leadership of Rev. G. Paul Stowell with the Congregational Church as its
headquarters. The Guild, until 1940, was known as the Congo Players. Season membership for
the five plays (for the 1941-42 season) was $1.00 plus tax. It was noted “because a 10 percent
defense tax was levied on all theater admissions after the membership campaign started, a 10 cent
tax on each season membership will be collected at time of reserving seats.”

November Rudolph Serkin, a well known pianist in the United States and Canada, was guest artist with the
Community Concert Association.
November 24 Jan Struther, a London author and journalist, and author of Mrs. Miniver, spoke on
“Your Country and Mine.”
December 4 Draper (a tap dancer) and Adler (a harmonica player) gave a joint recital of classic and modern music
and toe tapping finery.
January 1942 began a series of ten weekly Thursday evening forum-lectures on current war problems. Grant C. Haas of
Madison, a lecturer, broadcaster and columnist on world affairs, conducted the series. The topics included:
� Japan’s Desperate Attack � Inside The Axis
� The Battle of Russia � The Strategy of Raw Materials
� War in the Near East � Democracy—What is it?
� Battle of the Atlantic � Western Hemisphere Collaboration
� Europe’s Basic Problems � The President’s Foreign Policy
Night school enrollment in 1942 soared to 8,000.
The City of La Crosse budget for 1942 included 23.3 percent of its revenue for schools, of which 20.4 percent was for the
La Crosse Public Schools and 2.9 percent for the Vocational School.
In March 1942, Director Coleman was named director of the civilian defense countywide training school. Plans were
made for setting up the school to train air raid wardens, fire wardens, drivers, bomb squad members, firewatchers,
auxiliary police and auxiliary firemen. The sub-basement under the Auditorium was a designated portion of the school
building for use as a fall-out shelter in case of an air raid.
“Community Victory Programs” – the theme of the Victory Programs was “Distinguished Service in Our Homes is
Distinguished Service to the Nation – were inaugurated in 1942, and sponsored by the Homemaking Department of the
La Crosse Vocational School along with seven local women’s organizations. A series of free monthly lectures, tuned to
the theme of “victory” were offered and all women in the county were invited. Among the program subjects were
clothing, food and nutrition, home management and family economics, women’s part in defense, and gardening.
In 1942, a unique recruiting and training program, the first of its kind in the United States, as the army, the
La Crosse Vocational School and the U.S. employment officials collaborated to staff Camp McCoy with civilian workers.
Between 400 and 600 civilian workers were needed at the post exchanges or canteens that provided important centers
for social relaxation by the soldiers. The Employment Office supplied the applicants . . . the Vocational School trained
them . . . and the Army hired them.
In 1942, sixty used typewriters, overhauled by the Rowley Office Equipment Company (corner of Third and Main Streets),
were purchased by the U.S. Government and sent to federal government offices throughout the nation.
March 8, 1942, memorial services were held for four men who died on December 7, 1941 (Pearl Harbor), and two others
who died on December 30, 1941 and on February 11, 1942.
In May 1942, housewives and mothers took “refresher” courses for wartime employment. They enrolled in courses such
as shorthand, typewriting, business machines, and others for reentry into the commercial world.
August 1942 – Grim looking welders turned out to be “pretty girls!” Organized in response to the need for women
welders in defense industries, the girls’ class was an experiment. “It’s no harder than doing farm work or working at
home,” said one student.
In September 1942, Director Coleman received a job offer to head a new vocational school in New Jersey, and told the
Vocational Board that he was undecided as to what to do. Board President Raymond Bice spoke the sentiments of the
Board Members when he told Coleman, “If you leave . . . not only the school, but the entire community will feel the loss.”
An article in the November 15, 1942 edition of The La Crosse Tribune, tells a story of the painting “When Parents Fail.”
The article read:

“Because they believe that John B. Coleman, director of the La Crosse Vocational and Adult Schools, has been
a tremendous influence among the youth of the city, Sisters of St. Rose Convent last week presented him with
an enlarged and beautifully oil painted reproduction of his favorite picture. The picture is ‘When Parents
Fail,’ a copy of which has adorned Mr. Coleman’s office for several years.
“Originally it was a present from George P. Hambrecht, state director of Vocational and Adult Education. It
is a simple scene, showing a modest courtroom. A wrinkled, kindly judge is on the bench, apparently
treading the complaint against a boy who stands in front of the desk. Behind the boy are his parents, his
mother pleading and the father stern and unrelenting. The enlarged oil painting of the scene, done by Sister
M. Marietta, head of the Convent’s art department, was a complete surprise to Mr. Coleman. At the request
of the Sisters, George Howe, assistant to
Mr. Coleman, took the picture from the Director’s Office. Sister M. Marietta’s painting is sharp in detail,
clear and vivid in color and remarkably exact in features of the characters.
“In recent years, Father Flanagan, head of Boystown, saw the picture in Mr. Coleman’s office and asked where
he might find a copy. The local Director secured a copy for him, had it framed and sent it to Boystown.”
Time passes, and even though there are several stories about the picture, “When Parents Fail,”
it was recouped in 1995 and hangs on the northwest wall in the Coleman Building.
Courage is not in a soldier’s forte alone . . . there are civilians in ordinary life that need to show more courage than most
can imagine . . . Such was the case in November 1942, when Mrs. Lillian Bergh, who was left blind by an illness, learned to
master the typewriter. Most amazing to Miss Marie H. Peterson, College of Commerce staff member who was giving
the instruction, “is her ability to sense her mistakes.” Although she had not previously used a typewriter, “she
progressed at an unexpected pace.”
The school became so dynamic, that articles about the school were published in the January 9, 1942 issue of the
“Commonweal” and in the February 1942 Reader’s Digest. The articles were entitled, “A City That Goes to School”.
The National Network dramatized the article on NBC’s “Listen America”. In a state known for its fine vocational schools,
the La Crosse Vocational and Adult Schools was selected for serving one-fifth of the total population. The article written
about the school gave numerous examples of job saving training, which the school has given, notably to men more than
50 years old who were trained, and to persons who have rehabilitated. It was reported that Director Coleman received
hundreds of letters from the handicapped after the Reader’s Digest article – and, all of those letters he answered.
In 1942, events in the Auditorium included . . .
January 23 Zino Francescatti, a French violinist, gave a technically brilliant performance.
February 19 “What A Life” – Clifford Goldsmith’s three-act comedy was presented by the Winona Little Theater
group.
February 23 The La Crosse Vocational School Civic Orchestra presented a concert under the direction of Leigh
Elder.
March 3 The Busch quartette gave a very fine exhibition.
March 29 On Passion Sunday, the St. Rose Convent Choir gave its inspiring rendition of “The Seven Last
Words.”
April 8 The Vocational Civic Band under the direction of H. C. Amundson presented a “Rhapsody in Color”
band concert. George Gerschwin’s “Rhapsody In Blue” was included in their selections as was the
Star Spangled Banner. The concert was given as a USO benefit.
April 9 The 30-piece military band from Fort Custer, Michigan presented an evening concert. The band,
composed entirely of Negroes, was temporarily stationed at Fort McCoy. The concert was also
given as a USO benefit.
April 16 Noted Negro contralto Marion Anderson appeared in a recital as part of the series brought to
La Crosse by the Community Concert Association. A Tribune reviewer wrote, “It was magical
. . . the audience took songs and the singer to their hearts.”
April 27 The La Crosse Vocational Civic Choir, under the direction of Harold Youngberg, presented its annual
spring concert. “Formal garb of the choristers lent a formal note to the program itself—a program
that included a mixture of classical and semi-popular numbers.”

May 3-6 Miss Portia Winters, a nationally known lecturer and home economist, conducted a four-day cooking
and homemaking school, sponsored by the La Crosse Tribune and the magnificent foods she prepared
before her audiences were given away. In addition, gifts for the home and baskets of groceries were
given away at each session.
June 3 “Ladies in Retirement”, written by Regional Denham, was presented by the Winona Players.
October 24 The Community Concert Association sponsored the spirited General Platoff Don Cossack chorus in both
sacred as well as folk songs.
Pre-Christmas activities included “The Messiah,” presented by the Vocational Civic Choir under the
direction of Harold Youngberg. A free will offering was taken for the benefit of the Camp McCoy
Hospital Service.
The Vocational Civic Orchestra presented the light operetta “Show Boat” and featured seven members
of the La Crosse Vocational Civic Choir as vocalists for the popular musical.
The war years were grim years, and the community concerts were a morale builder. At several concerts, collections
were taken to benefit the USO (United Service Organizations.)
In 1943, directing the activities of the La Crosse Vocational and Adult Schools were A. P. Funk, president; J. G. Becker, vice
president; Raymond C. Bice, secretary; Frank A. Papenfuss, and Dr. R. W. Bardwell, superintendent of schools.
In 1943, the school records showed that, although the school still held first place in the world for attendance in
proportion to population, enrollment had gone into a big slump. Evening classes, especially, which formerly drew about
one-fifth of the city’s population, became a wartime casualty. Director Coleman attributed the decline to five main
reasons.
1) Many of the older students preparing for higher jobs were working a 3 p.m. to midnight shift and could not attend
evening classes;
2) Workers have taxed their energies to keep up the strenuous pace of war industries and work overtime;
3) As the war has made everyone more mechanically conscious, those who took mechanical courses to develop a second
skill were already established in war jobs;
4) Because of the dire need to employ workers, companies were training them while they learned; and
5) Women who took part in avocational programs were spending their time rolling bandages for the Red Cross, working
in the hospitals as nurse aides or at USO centers.
In the fall semester of 1943, Evening School enrollment was down to 1,034 and was attributed to “right now the necessity
of training is less than ever because there are jobs everywhere.”
Rehabilitation programs were begun. Under the Selective Service Act, employers across the nation promised the
draftees one thing – a job when they came home. As some of the earliest draftees returned home disabled it necessitated
career changes. “Through a planned rehabilitation program, we hope to train young men in crafts and trades that they
are mentally and physically fitted for. We already have trained many of these returned war veterans and they are
embarking happily on professions they had never dreamed of before.”
In 1943, the second wartime year, the Vocational School was a center of community service . . . it was the unplanned
coordinator of various activities of the city . . . it housed the La Crosse Civic Forum . . . it was the practice grounds of the
Civic Choir and the La Crosse Symphony Orchestra.
In January 1943, a tremendous boost was given to the development of music in La Crosse when the entire musical library
accumulated by the state Works Progress Administration (WPA) was placed in custody of the Vocational School. The
library included 264 titles, and its estimated cost was $5,000.
In 1943, a pair of railroad division superintendents and a couple of railroad telegraphers made a class in Morse Code
Telegraphy and Railroad Rules so fascinating that more than 40 people enrolled. After completion of the course, they
were eligible to begin work on the railroad as extra help, filling in during vacation periods.
In January 1943, the Vocational Board voted that the wives of soldiers and officers stationed at Camp McCoy could attend
either day or evening school without paying the usual nonresident tuition of 50 cents a day.
In January 1943, a new training course began for civilian employees of Camp McCoy post exchanges. The three-week
training program taught students how to make change, check cash, use a cash register, care for and arrange stock, take a
check of inventories, arrange stock displays and marking, short order cooking, handling of

food, preparation and serving of fountain orders, problems in personalities, and the philosophy of post exchanges.
Actual merchandise and real money was used in the training to give the students the McCoy way of operating.
Danger! Women at Work! In 1943, women filled the training classes. You heard about “women in white” . . .
“women in gray” . . . but, how about “women in overalls.” More and more women filled the training classes. Girls and
women were trained to operate engine lathes, drill presses, milling machines, grinders and shapers, and to weld. The
instructors reported they turned out work in the same quantity and quality as the men.
Letters received by the school from graduate trainees indicated they were working in shipyards and factories in Sturgeon
Bay, Milwaukee, and Manitowoc, Wisconsin; Minneapolis, Minnesota; and Chicago, Illinois; as well as in cities on both
coasts. Their pay rates were from 50 cents to $1.40 per hour. There were nearly 30 women in the school’s shop
classes, and about half of them were referred to the school for training by the (Works Progress Administration)
WPA-Upwards of 50 Years of Age program and the remainder were referred to the school for training by the U. S.
Employment Service. Most of the older group were previously employed on sewing and on luncheon projects.
Grumbling about their unfortunate destiny that made them learn a new trade (a hated man’s trade), they became more
interested in their training than most men working beside them.
During that time period, WPA activities also included interior painting/repair of the Coleman building and others.
In March 1943, after nearly eight years of service in La Crosse, the sub-area office of WPA closed. The final works
operation ended January 20, 1943 when WPA work on a storm sewer was stopped. Their last project was the training
of war production workers at the Vocational School.
As a special pre-induction service to men of La Crosse entering the armed forces, an intensive training program was
offered in practical Arabic speech. Richard S. Markos (father of Richard E. Markos), an Arabic linguist, taught a working
vocabulary of every-day Arabic words and expressions that could be used by servicemen assigned to North Africa, the
Mediterranean or some parts of the South Pacific regions in cases of necessity for their safety and welfare.
May 19 and 26, 1943, the homemaking department sponsored two pressure cooker canning demonstrations.
The Vocational School had two pressure cookers available for use during the summer by anyone attending the
demonstration on the 19 th .
In May 1943, through the cooperation of the Office of Defense Transportation and the Vocational School, a training
program for automotive mechanics began. Draft deferred men, boys under 17, men over 38 years of age, and women
desiring to learn a trade were urged to enroll. Since no new trucks were built for civilian use for several months,
additional mechanics were needed for repair work on the old vehicles.
Make way, La Crosse . . . The WAACS (Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps) arrived to recruit women interested in joining the
armed forces.
Women wanting to aid the war effort by working in industry were advised by the U. S. Employment Office to enroll in one
of the training courses at the Vocational School. Recommended were courses such as machine shop and welding.
Other courses in office work, and training to work as aides in hospitals were also recommended.
August 1943 – Because a large number of youth 14 to 17 years of age that were employed during the summer months in
stores, factories and on farms, the high school enrollment in La Crosse as well as across the nation began to decline.
Director Coleman made an urgent plea for the youth in the La Crosse area to return to school in September.
In 1943, events in the Auditorium included . . .
January 2 Josef Hofmann, a top-ranking pianist, appeared here on the Community Concert series.
January 27 The well-known St. Olaf College Choir of 60 voices sang here under the auspices of three Lutheran
Churches in La Crosse.
March 7 The Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra conducted by Dimitri Mitropoules marked their third
appearance in La Crosse.
May 2 A concert was presented by the La Crosse Vocational Civic Symphony Orchestra conducted by Leigh
Elder. Harpist Henry J. Williams, a member of the Minneapolis Symphony orchestra, was soloist.
The La Crosse Tribune reported “La Crosse doesn’t have to go outside its own city limits for an A-1
symphony orchestra…from start to finish, the program was entertaining.”

May 10 The La Crosse Vocational Civic Choir, under the direction of Harold Youngberg, presented its annual
concert.
May 12 National Conference of Christians and Jews brought three famous U.S. religious leaders to
La Crosse for an evening round table discussion on “America’s World Task”.
May 15 Rt. Rev. Msgr. Fulton J. Sheen, considered one of the greatest orators in modern history, gave a lecture
on “The Burden on the Western World”. This lecture was presented under the auspices of the La
Crosse Knights of Columbus.
May 19 A “Salute to La Crosse” band recital was presented by the Sixth Service Command Training Center band
from Camp McCoy, on behalf of the entire post, as appreciation for the services to the solders at
McCoy given by La Crosse individuals, firms and organizations. The crowd was the largest on record –
an estimated 1,600 persons attended. “Probably where you are, it doesn’t look as though war has a
brighter side. But it had one last week for the home folks when the Camp McCoy Post Band
presented a musical tribute the La Crosse’s hospitality in a two-hour concert.”
October 15 The Western Wisconsin Education Association held its meeting in La Crosse.
November 17 The Women’s Army Corps (WAC) stationed at Camp McCoy presented a show of music, dancing, and
comedy “drama.”
The morale value of entertainment to the men in service cannot be questioned. In 1943, the Vocational Civic Orchestra
under the direction of Leigh Eldor and the Vocational Civic Choir directed by Harold Youngberg went to Camp McCoy and
gave a couple of entertainments that brought wild cheers and many compliments from the men in khaki.
The war wasn’t over, but planning for a post-war era was begun in 1944 . . . At the annual meeting in February 1944 of
the La Crosse Chamber of Commerce, guest speaker of the evening Frank O. Holt, director of public relations at the
University of Wisconsin, spoke on “Postwar Planning and Business Statesmanship”. Director Coleman presented
certificates of honor signed by President Roosevelt and General Hershey to nonpaid members of the county price and
rationing board. The Chamber members continued their discussion in
March 1944 regarding the rehabilitation of returning soldiers both now and immediately after the war, as well
as general community plans.
The Budget for 1944 submitted to the La Crosse Common Council requested $58,290 for that year. The budget for 1944
was $10,850 less than that requested for 1943. The reason given by the Vocational Board for reducing the budget at a
time when costs were rising included:
� “Our enrollment is smaller than usual. Especially is this true in our day school. This made it possible for us to
release a number of teachers. The teachers, by the way, are all working in defense plants or else are in the service of
our country.
� “For more than two years, we have been carrying on an extensive War Production Training program. During that
time, some of the overhead for the entire school has been paid by the U. S. Government . . . utilities, janitorial, and
others
� “. . . We have worked out a system of management which places our school on an efficient business basis.”
In 1944, the Vocational Board hired a Homebound instructor to teach a variety of crafts to persons who were unable to
leave their homes. The Homebound program began on March 20, and was part of the State Rehabilitation program.
Delilah Nelson was employed at a salary of $175 per month for 12 months (1944-45) and that $175 per month salary also
covered her traveling expenses. Taking training under an unusually qualified teacher, 12 adults unable to leave their
homes, developed an industry that enabled them to become partially self-supporting. Articles made by these people
were placed on sale at the Tiny Tot and Young Folks Toggery shop (then at 309 Main Street), and at Northern States
Power Company (then at 122 Fifth Avenue South).
On March 28, 1944, U.S. Republican presidential candidate Wendell L. Willkie made two appearances in
La Crosse, one being a public meeting in the Vocational School Auditorium. Willkie tried unsuccessfully to unseat
President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1940. He was renominated in 1944, and after his defeat in the Wisconsin primary, he
withdrew from the race.
In March 1944, the doors of the Vocational School were open to Camp McCoy soldiers wanting to study a trade in their
leisure time. A variety of specialized vocational training was available to Camp McCoy personnel at the La Crosse
Vocational School. Two types of courses were available: The first was trade preparatory for learning

a trade to ensure a good job in civilian life. The second was trade extension for relearning trades, improving methods
and to keep up with technological progress.
In 1944, the Red Cross Blood Donor Center was set up in the Vocational School for ten days, with five days beginning
March 27 and five days beginning April 3. The Blood Donor Unit collected 2,101 pints of blood during the two-week
period for processing into plasma for use by the armed forces.
At the May 16, 1944, Vocational Board Meeting, Board Secretary Dr. Bardwell reported that he had made a survey with
Mr. Coleman and Mrs. Bellerue to ascertain the possibilities of opening a nursery school center in the Vocational School.
He stated that there was a waiting list of fifteen 2, 3, and 4-year-old children and a possibility of 20 more to be added to
this number. “A motion was made . . . that the Board of Education be authorized to establish a nursery school center
in our school.”
A new fuel oil tank was installed. In September 1944, the cost of fuel oil was .071¢ per gallon on single deliveries and
.0597¢ per gallon when purchased in carload lots, for a saving of .0113¢ per gallon.
After a year and a half of cooking for the army, George Abbott, the first rehabilitated veteran of World War II, enrolled in
the Foods Department of the La Crosse Vocational and Adult Schools.
The week before Christmas, the children in the Vocational School nursery school got to talk with Santa in the basement of
the Doerflinger Store, at the corner of Fourth and Main Streets in La Crosse.
1944 Auditorium activities included . . .
April 30 The La Crosse Vocational Civic Orchestra, in its third annual spring concert on April 30 th , proved that it
was making a contribution to the musical life of La Crosse. The program opened with the “Merry
Wives of Windsor” directed by Leigh Eldor.
May 2 The La Crosse Vocational Civic Choir presented its sixth annual spring concert. A large crowd heard
the choir perform a varied program of sacred and secular music by both modern and contemporary
composers, under the direction of Harold Youngberg.
December 18 The 60-member La Crosse Vocational Symphony Orchestra, directed by Leigh Elder, presented a
concert. The soloist for the evening concert was clarinetist Alf Modahl.
The La Crosse Vocational Civic Choir presented a concert of Christmas music, living up to its fine
tradition by singing to a capacity crowd. (The concert was repeated at Camp McCoy.)
The La Crosse Vocational Choir participated in “Music in the Air” sponsored by the Junior Chamber of
Commerce.
In 1944, the Music War Council cited the La Crosse Civic Choir for its distinguished service in support of the war effort.
It was one of the first 15 civic and municipal musical organizations to be so cited. This recognition was given not only
for the choir’s performances, but also from its thought in supplying phonographs, records, etc. to the Camp McCoy
service clubs. The choir members participated actively, by gift and talent, at a time when the community was called
upon to maintain morale.
In 1945, Board members were J. G. Becker, president, R. H. Anderegg, vice president, Raymond Bice, Secretary, Frank
Papenfuss, and Dr. R. W. Bardwell, superintendent of schools.
During the period of training for war industries, hundreds of people were enrolled in day and evening classes in welding,
drafting, blueprint reading, machine shop and pattern making. A course for electricians and radiomen was conducted
during the evening session. It consisted of ten lessons, including the “Electronics at Work” slides produced by
Westinghouse Electric Company. A Navy radar refresher course was also conducted. To remedy the situation of the
telegrapher shortage, a special evening class was arranged through the cooperation of the Vocational Board and the
railroad retirement board. In 1945, women took railroad jobs, having taken the major positions left by men called into
various branches of the armed forces. Another outstanding service of the school was assisting and supplying space for
the blood bank. The school’s Auditorium was used for bond drives and other government activities.
1945 - “Preparation for the future” – Following World War II, there was a large enrollment of returning veterans in all
areas of the school. The school was authorized under the G.I. Bill of Rights as a training center for returning veterans,
and, under Public Law 346, an extensive program was set up for training the veteran in industry. Advisory committees
for skilled trades met to cooperate with the school representatives in the apprenticeship indenture. The State Industrial
Commission approved the program, and classes were organized

in accordance with the needs of the individual to be trained along with related training. The commercial department
provided the veteran with well-rounded business training. Space was provided in the Vocational School for the case
supervisor of the State Board of Vocational and Adult Education Rehabilitation Division. A caseload of 450 persons was
handled, with the supervisor providing services throughout La Crosse, Monroe, Vernon, Richland, Crawford and Grant
counties. In addition, the school had a strong commitment to community enrichment, by encouraging appearances of
famous performers, orchestras, and actors, as well as providing a home for the La Crosse Symphony, a Civic Choir, and
other similar groups.
In 1945, the overall enrollment in individual classes as of the end of October was 1,860. Evening school registration for
individual classes as of October 31 was 1,421.
In May 1945, girls in the Vocational School Sewing class made garments for the Russian War Relief project. Pieces for
the garments were sent to the school precut. The Russian War Relief furnished the cloth, thread, buttons, etc. The
sewing class completed 50 children’s flannel nightgowns, 25 little girls’ woolen dresses, 25 women’s wool skirts, and 10
little boys’ overalls. For the past year, the class devoted approximately 2½ hours weekly to the project.
June, 1945 – a new organization, the War Veterans’ Allied Council, was formed. It was composed of veteran’s
organizations throughout the County and City of La Crosse.
The Vocational Nursery School continued its operations for children 2 to 5 years of age. School facilities provided a
variety of socialized training and entertainment for the youngsters while their mothers worked.
May 7, 1945 – VE Day, Germany surrendered; August 6, 1945 – Atomic Bomb Exploded;
September 2, 1945 – Surrender of Japan
The war is over!
“Now that the war is over we again are beginning to have demand for some of the courses we formerly taught.”
In 1945, there were 4,508 persons enrolled – 3,764 in evening school and 744 in day school classes.
In October 1945, the Board voted to employ an auto mechanics instructor at $2,800 per year and that new equipment
would be purchased for the garage. The garage had been closed for three years and much modern equipment was
necessary.
In October 1945, the Vocational Board approved the budget for the 1946 school year in the amount of $117,630.
Enthusiasm for the La Crosse Vocational and Adult Schools brought the Superintendent of Schools in Tuscon, Arizona, the
Assistant Superintendent, and the senior high school principal to visit Director Coleman.
“Your school is exceptionally well planned for the people of this community.”
1945 Auditorium functions included . . .
December 10 The 50-voice La Crosse Civic Choir, directed by Harold Youngberg, presented a concert of Christmas
music.
There were no other concerts by the La Crosse Vocational Civic Choir in 1945 because the number of male participants
had dwindled during the war.
In 1946, the Vocational School Board Members were: J. G. Becker, president; R. H. Anderegg, vice president; Raymond
C. Bice, secretary; Frank Papenfuss, and Dr. R. W. Bardwell, superintendent of schools.
(Two employers, two employees, and one educational consultant.)
As many changes had taken place in all aspects of living during the war years, one of the most extensive jobs of the
school had just begun – that of counseling and giving advice to the returning GI’s and others. Servicemen returning
home found many changes took place since 1941 and 1942 and also soon learned that the jobs they left had changed or
were no longer there. Everyday, dozens of discharged servicemen sought guidance and advice from two veteran La
Crosse Vocational School educators, Erwin L. Schreiber, superintendent of the trades and industry department, and
George Howe, business manager and administrator of the Vocational School since 1941 and for 25 years before the
business manager for the La Crosse Board of Education.

Ex-servicemen were acquiring new skills at the Vocational School. At that time, the school offered 20 courses of
instruction in trades and industry, foods and business education. Apprenticeship training was offered to returning
veterans. There were 195 apprentices in 30 different trades. A building/construction boom began in 1946 and
accounted for a large number of carpenters interested in that trade.
Under the educational provision of the G.I. Bill of Rights, the government furnished $65 to a single man and $90 a month
to a married man who wished to learn a new trade or a profession. By March 1946, ex-servicemen took advantage of
the chance so enthusiastically that two new instructors were added to the staff along with an assistant director (Norman
Mitby, who several years later became the District Director of the Madison Vocational School) and a secretary.
Two instructors were employed to conduct on-the-farm training for more than 40 young farmers who took advantage of
the G.I. Bill of Rights to learn modern farming methods. On-the-job training instruction was offered in 174 fields of
endeavor to 311 former GI’s. The commercial department put forth every effort to train workers in modern business
practices. The homemaking department carried out specialty courses of instruction for adults such as slip covering, as
well as lessons in culinary skills, sewing, crafts and others.
With changes in the employment situation and with rapid developing changes in the industrial fields came a “Back of To
Vocational School Movement.” The “back to school” movement on the part of people of all ages and from a wide range
of communities left the officials of the Vocational School stunned. The turnout for night school classes was terrific.
Where previously there were two night classes in auto mechanics, in 1946 it was offered four nights a week. A course in
home mechanics was extremely popular and taught housewives how to make their own minor repairs.
Two problems confronted the school, however, that of find rooms for the many students who wanted to enroll, and
locating teachers. With the increased number of veterans in “apprenticeship and on-the-job training required to take
related subjects at the school, an extra demand will be made on the teaching force.” Broken down, by departments,
there were 171 in trades and industry; 130 in commerce; 79 in home economics and 139 apprentices. Special emphasis
was placed on a nationwide effort to hire the handicapped. The week of October 6-12 was officially proclaimed as the
“National Hire the Handicapped Week”.
A Tribune editorial reported that “teachers’ salaries need revising . . . the low rate of remuneration for teachers in this
country had been a tradition and the rising cost of living invokes breaking the tradition.”
The overall enrollment in individual classes in October 1946 was 2,469 (some enrolled in more than one course) and
evening school registration for individual classes as of October 31 increased to 1,849.
On March 19, 1946, the Vocational Board approved a resolution on sick benefits that included all employees “employed
on a regular monthly or yearly basis shall, hereafter, be granted ten (10) days sick leave . . . not to exceed a total of fifty
days, except for additional days granted because of quarantine.”
April 1946, the Vocational Board approved the installation of an on-the-farm training program. Mr. Leland Standiford
was employed as a teacher of agriculture. His salary was based on the number of trainees enrolled as per
recommendations made by the State Board.
In 1946, the first workbooks to be developed in the United States for veterans in apprenticeships and on-the-job training
resulted from a three-week study at Stout Institute in Menomonie, with Director Coleman as one of the three supervisors
of the project. James A. Becker, machine shop teacher, was one of the 14 vocational school instructors in the state
selected to work on the related courses. These men were chosen as the most outstanding in their fields.
In 1946, the Hixon House became home for out of town girls enrolled in the College of Commerce. The Hixon House,
home of a pioneer La Crosse family, was leased to the Vocational School by Mrs. Frank (Alice) Hixon, of Lake Forest,
Illinois, in memory of her husband who was prominent in business and civic life here. The cost of room and breakfast
was $4 a week. In October 1945, an agreement for the use of the property at 429 North Seventh Street was made for
30 out of town girls attending the Vocational School. On May 16, 1946, the Vocational Board employed Mrs. Bessie
Bacon as housemother for the Hixon House, with her duties beginning August 15, 1946. Mrs. Hixon wrote Director
Coleman on January 25, 1949 stating that she wished to resume again “complete control of the property” for personal
reasons.

1946 Auditorium events included . . .
February 19-20 The Central high School concert band presented a Musical Variety Show. The concert band
presented a varied program including an interesting novelty rendition of “Down on the Farm”. The
stage band played, selected from the band and orchestra membership, played in the second portion of
the show. Together with the choir, it presented popular tunes such as
“A Pretty Girl is Like a Melody,” “The Way You Look Tonight,” and others.
May 6 After an absence of one season, the Vocational Civic Orchestra assisted the spring concert of the La
Crosse Vocational Civic Choir. There were 55 singers in this year’s choir. Nearly 50 of its former and
present members served in the armed forces during the war. It had been the policy of the choir to
sing all or parts of a great work at the spring concert. This year, the choir presented Gabriel Faure’s
moving “Requiem”. Harold Youngberg was the director.
May 10 The Young People’s Symphony Orchestra presented a concert under the direction of Leigh Elder. The
orchestra was composed of 80 young musicians from the junior and senior high schools in the city.
December 3 The 60 musicians in the La Crosse Symphony orchestra, directed by Leigh Elder, presented a concert.
Among the selections included in the program were Schubert’s “Rosamunde Overture” and Schubert’s
D Minor Symphony.
In 1947, the Vocational School Board Members were: J. G. Becker, president; R. H. Anderegg, vice president; Raymond
C. Bice, secretary; Frank Papenfuss and Dr. R. W. Bardwell, superintendent of schools.
A Cancer Detection Center -- In January 1947, a free Cancer Detection Center was opened with space furnished by the La
Crosse Vocational School. When opened, 26 persons took advantage of this service. Additional screening was given
to many more persons in subsequent months. The center opened after more than a year of planning by the Cancer
Committee of the La Crosse County Medical Society in cooperation with the American Cancer Society. Director Coleman
was appointed chair of the La Crosse County Cancer Drive.
In an article authored by Director John B. Coleman, he stated, “The faculty of the La Crosse Vocational and Adult Schools
is extremely proud that the school is looked upon as a one-stop service station where people can get information in
almost any type of educational service or advice in their problems.” In the post-war era, counseling and training of
veterans were among the major objectives at the La Crosse Vocational and Adult Schools.
The Vocational School was interested in providing aeronautics training. In February 1947, area teachers defied the
sub-zero temperatures to attend an aviation education program for Wisconsin Teachers, sponsored by the State
Department of Public Instruction and the Vocational School in cooperation with the Wisconsin State Aeronautics
Commission and the Civil Aeronautics Administration. The meeting was one of seven in the state for the purpose of
giving teachers a picture of aviation’s contribution to general education. The new La Crosse Airport was dedicated on
March 1, 1947. In January 10, 1945, the Vocational Board approved a proposal for submission to the La Crosse Common
Council requesting them to “consider placing this postwar aviation program under the supervision of the La Crosse
Vocational and Adult Schools,” instead of private firms when the French Island airport was completed and ready for
aviation traffic. The Vocational Board expressed the hope to Mayor J. J. Verchota and the La Crosse Common Council
that all educational activities there would be under the direction of the Vocational Board.
A special meeting of the Vocational Board was held April 10, 1947. Director Coleman informed the Board “that Mr. John
Emedy, Secretary of the local branch of the communist party, had made request for the use of a room in the Vocational
School building . . . that the local members of the communist party desired to use this room for a meeting at which a
state officer was to speak.” The Board voted to deny the use of a room to the communist party. In response to that
decision, Mr. John Emedy wrote the Board and requested a hearing. The Board ordered Director Coleman “to refer this
matter to the proper authorities for decision.”
In 1947, a new department specializing in the teaching of distributive marketing began. Clair A. Longrie of Green Bay, a
University of Wisconsin commerce major and a navy veteran, was employed to teach the course.
Director Coleman stated “this type of schooling is particularly needed in La Crosse since the city is the center of a large
marketing area . . . the marketing business has expanded vigorously during the past years, and there is a great demand
for training for the personnel who handle the exchange of commodities.”

Apprentice watchmakers received instruction – 67 Wisconsin ex-servicemen were taught the art of watch making and
repairing through the cooperative efforts of the Wisconsin Vocational Education, the State Board Watchmaking
Examiners, and the G.I. Bill of Rights.
Because veterans wanted to continue their training during the summer months, Director Coleman arranged for the
extension of courses for the period June 16 through August 8, 1947.
The Home Economics department offered a series of three classes for overseas brides to learn how to make “American
Desserts”.
Ex-servicemen who were learning the construction and maintenance ends of the electrical trade under the G.I. Bill of
Rights received their 400 hours of related training from William G. Patterson, of Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, the man who
wrote the book. Patterson was a circuit instructor for the State Vocational Board. He set up the training for all
apprentices in this field and wrote the workbook.
To teach Spanish, the Vocational Board obtained the services of Isabel Marie de Para of Havana, Cuba. Dr. de Para was
a resident physician at St. Francis Hospital.
Evening classes brought students from West Salem, Stoddard, Cashton, Coon Valley, Holmen, New Lisbon and from
Houston and La Crescent, Minnesota.
A flood of toys . . . again this year, the students were busy repairing and refinishing broken or unwanted toys, which were
given to needy children by the Family Welfare Association.
1947 Auditorium events included . . .
February 26 After a lapse of several years, the La Crosse Vocational Civic Concert Band presented it annual “Pops”
concert under the baton of Frank Italiano. A 4” x 6” ad appeared in the
La Crosse Tribune congratulating Director Coleman, Frank Italiano, and the La Crosse Civic Concert
Band, for their outstanding performance.
March 5 On a countrywide tour and in thanksgiving for American aid to German people, Cardinal Von Preysing,
of Berlin, Germany, spoke to an audience of Catholic clergy and lay people.
April 1 The La Crosse Community Orchestra, directed by Leigh Elder, presented a concert. A feature of the
program was Elder’s performance of “Hungarian Rhapsody” for cello. Conductor Leigh Elder received
the renewal of a scholarship for a year’s study abroad. It was originally granted in 1939 but
postponed because of the war. Elder was schedule to go to Paris first and then visit other cultural
centers in England, Norway, Belgium and other countries. The scholarship included studying under
Pablo Casals, considered as one of the world’s greatest teachers and virtuosos.
May 5 The 73-member La Crosse Vocational Civic Choir, directed by Harold Youngberg, sang before a near
capacity audience. May 5 marked the 10 th anniversary in the presentation of this concert—the 18 th
in its string of notable performances.
May 13 The Vocational Civic Band, directed by Frank Italiano, featured two solists. Dewey Stortl, a baritone
horn soloist from Houston, Minnesota, performed “Carnival of Venice” and harpist Jimmie Williams, a
prominent virtuoso from Minneapolis, Minnesota, contributed a group of solos “that kept the house in
a rapt silence.”
In 1948, full or part-time instruction was given to 1,050 veterans. More than 452 persons from La Crosse and
surrounding communities were apprentices in 56 different trades and received related instruction in the Vocational
School. A follow-up survey to test the success of veterans on the job showed that practically all of the veterans received
immediate job placement. The average length of their training program was 5.3 months, which was characteristic of the
school’s effective method of instruction. The use of advisory and apprenticeship committees in planning trade
instruction was continued.
Economic conditions improved – business grew from the former small businesses employing one or two people to
corporations employing hundreds of persons, and, with that, business office practices also changed. The commercial
department was geared up to keep step with the most modern methods of business. With the help of local
businessmen, machines were installed, curriculums were revised and courses organized that best fit their requirements.

In the homemaking area many persons created beautiful items for their homes in the line of tailored slipcovers and
accessories along with furniture that was refinished. Food preparation, nutrition, and supper clubs for preparing
well-balanced meals were popular. There was no end for producing charming articles to use around the home.
The agriculture department took steps toward establishing it as a permanent part of the school instead of working as a
temporary agency in training on-the-farm veterans under the G.I. Bill of Rights, and an agricultural advisory committee
was appointed. In 1948, there were 50 men enrolled in this program.
In March 1948, Marshall G. Batho of West Bend, Wisconsin, was appointed to succeed superintendent of
La Crosse Public Schools, Dr. R. W. Bardwell. In this position, Batho automatically served on the Vocational School
Board.
Board President Joseph G. Becker was honored at a joint education and vocational board banquet on Monday, January
26, 1948. Becker who retired from the railroad was no longer eligible to serve in the employer category on the
Vocational Board. Becker served on the Vocational Board from 1925 to 1948, and was succeeded on the Board by
George Hall, AFL organizer. Also retiring from the Board was Dr. R. W. Bardwell, superintendent of schools, an
ex-officio member.
The 1948 Board members were R. H. Anderegg, president; Frank Papenfuss, vice president; Superintendent of Schools
Marshall Batho, secretary; Raymond C. Bice, and George W. Hall.
March 10-11, 1948 – the Vocational Board revived the former custom of holding an Open House for the citizens of La
Crosse and neighboring communities. “The pressures of war-time schedules was the only reason for discontinuing this
pleasant practice,” said Director Coleman. A large display of finished products, and visits to classrooms and shops were
on the agenda.
“Rehabilitation” -- A field that became more prominent in society, particularly after the war, was that of rehabilitation,
not only of veterans who received service disabilities but also of civilians who had a physical handicap of one nature or
another. A typical example of this was a 19-year-old youth from Lancaster, Wisconsin, who, though unable to use the
fingers of his left hand, learned the typewriting system for one hand and mastered the touch system without looking at
the keys. The method, which uses a blank keyboard and special metal “caps” was devised by Marie H. Peterson, teacher
in the College of Commerce school, and enabled her disabled pupils to type one-handed.
A veteran teaches a veteran. This was the case in 1948 for two men from Westby. The teacher, Wesley Ballsrud,
instructed Orville Melby, a disabled veteran, who was wounded in the Philippines, in the intricacies of accounting.
On November 17-18, 1948, about 50 Rural Electrification Association (REA) office managers and bookkeepers attended a
training conference for the purpose of improving office efficiency and management. Speakers and their subjects were
Marie H. Peterson, College of Commerce “Everlasting Your Telephone Technique;” Norman Mitby, assistant director of
the Vocational School (and later director of the Madison Vocational School) the “Importance and Technique of Job
Analysis;” and other topics that were directly associated with the REA.
It’s Christmas time again, and every year around Christmas time, the North Pole moves down to the Vocational School
and several rooms were transformed into a toyshop. It’s the annual Jaycees Christmas toy collection and Jaycette
Christmas doll projects for needy children.
1948 Auditorium events included . . .
February 1 The La Crosse Vocational Civic Band presented its popular “Pops” concert of familiar music, directed by
Frank Italiano. The band, 75 strong, gave the first public concert to commemorate the Wisconsin
Centennial in La Crosse. Bandleaders and players from eight neighboring communities participated.
Two guest conductors appeared with the band: Whitney Nichols, a band organizer of many
neighboring and local bands, and Edgar G. Doudna, of the state board of teachers college regents and
an early Wisconsin band director at Richland Center. Doudna conducted “Ruby Red,” a march that
he had first taught his Richland Center band 40 years ago, and Nichols conducted a march, “Greetings
to Bangor” by R. B. Hall and dedicated it to the neighboring village of Bangor.

March 9 A preview of colorful and carefree spring. There was standing room only for the Tribune-Jaycette
Fantasy fashion show. And, best of all, were the children as they toddled out on the stage in their
“New Looks”. Two performances were held and both audiences received, with enthusiasm, the
spring styles presented by 20 La Crosse merchants.
April 3 The 60-voice Vocational School Civic Choir presented their 11 th annual spring concert. The group,
under the direction of C. Bernard McGhee sang a varied program of musical literature including old
master, modern and folk melodies.
1949 Board members were R. J. Anderegg, president; Frank A. Papenfuss, vice president; Superintendent of Schools
Marshall Batho, secretary; Raymond C. Bice, and George W. Hall.
In January, February and March 1949, the American Red Cross utilized a room in the Vocational School to house their
office during their annual membership drive.
New state attendance laws are no more severe than the system that has been in operation in La Crosse Public Schools.
“Any person having under his control a child between the ages of seven and 16 years shall cause such child to attend
some school regularly to the end of the school term, quarter, semester or other division of the school year in which he is
16 years of age during the full period of hours that the public, parochial or private school; in which such child should be
enrolled may be in session.”
In 1949, students in the Vocational day school came from as far away as Pennsylvania . . . the 130 students in the College
of Commerce came from La Crosse and 33 other towns. In the trades and industries department there were 136
students from 30 communities. James Mailey, of Latrobe, Pennsylvania, heard of the La Crosse school from a friend and
when he read that the Vocational School ranked among the finest in the country in cabinetwork, he enrolled in the
cabinetmaking course.
In 1949, overcrowding was felt in all areas of the school. Enrollments in the Trades and Industry courses were
Cabinetmaking-39; Auto Mechanics-27; General Metals-20; Machine Shop-20; Drafting-16; and Printing-14.
Of the 136 students, 44 were veterans and 92 non-veterans; and 49 of the 136 were nonresident. In the College of
Commerce, 130 enrolled and of that number the nonresident students outnumbered residents,
69 to 61; 16 were veterans and 114 were non-veterans, and there were 89 women and 41 men. “For the first time in
the history of the school, we are pinched for space.” Director Coleman indicated, “For many years, we have been
trying to convince industrial leaders that efficiency is increased through instruction. Now most of the large industries
come to the school for special training.” The general picture, according to Coleman was “that classes are so full that in
many cases they have been divided. But we still are looking for facilities to absorb more of those who now must be
placed on waiting lists because we have no room.”
A veteran on-the-farm machinery and equipment clinic – two veteran classes of 25 each – was held at the municipal
building at the La Crosse Airport. Manufacturers and dealers of four better known makes of agricultural implements
furnished top ranking servicemen, trainers, technicians and engineers to conduct the sessions and teach farm equipment
care. The clinic was the first of its type in the state in the veteran program in cooperation with implement companies
participating in all phases of the clinic: John Deere, conventional tractor; Allis-Chalmers, general design, structural
materials, theory of construction and basic engineering; International Harvester, diesel farm tractor, hay balers and
hydraulics; and Ford, general farm machinery program.
May 1949, a La Crosse doctor’s idea for a new device to correct clubfoot was created. The doctor took his idea to the
Vocational School and explained its principle to Everett Hasse, mechanical drawing instructor. After the drawing was
made in class, it went to James Becker, machine shop instructor. The brace was constructed in the shop and welded in
the department of Harold Hawkins, welding instructor. The correction was for a little
11-month old girl – “some day a little girl will skip and run and play.”
In September 1949, recognizing the need of an adequate skilled labor force as essential to the building requirements of
the public in this area, the Associated Builders of La Crosse adopted and supported the apprenticeship program for the
training of mechanics in all phases of the building industry. On September 26,
at an impressive ceremony, the first postwar class of apprentices in building trades in La Crosse became journeymen. It
was a first-time event in La Crosse and in accordance with a national program, 29 apprentices in eight different AFL
affiliated crafts completed their training and qualified as journeymen. They were honored with a testimonial dinner and
ceremony at the Labor Temple (then located at 423 King Street). Approximately 350 people, including representatives
of organized labor, contractors, education, the press, the Wisconsin State

Employment Service, La Crosse Chamber of Commerce and Junior Chamber of Commerce and the U. S. Department of
Labor gathered to honor the graduates. The apprentices who spent from four to five years learning their crafts under
highly skilled specialists were in the bricklayers, carpenters, painters, electricians, plumbers, steamfitters, plasterers and
glaziers trades. A La Crosse Tribune editorial commented, “La Crosse labor unions are making a distinct contribution to
craftsmanship in various trades . . . the ceremonies in effect become graduation exercises for men in the various
crafts–recognition that they have completed established training and thus are equipped with basic knowledge of the
principles of the trade.”
Polio victims Dorance Gibbs of La Crosse and Gerald Williams of La Crescent . . . their teachers were unanimous in their
agreement that the two are good students. Statements by their teachers Marie Peterson, Genevieve Cox and Wesley
Ballsrud concluded “they are normal people in their work . . . their only handicap is in getting about as easily as some of
the other students.”
Yttrie Brothers. Three brothers enrolled in auto mechanics at the same school – and, at the same time. Formerly of
Viroqua, the trio is Merlin, Harlan and Gerald.
In 1949, the Auditorium was used 110 times by civic organizations requiring janitorial, maintenance and other services.
Some of the 1949 Auditorium events included . . .
January 16 The Vocational Civic Choir of 80+ voices presented the oratorio “Elijah” by
Felix-Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, under the direction of C. Bernard McGhee
March 13
The Vocational Civic Band gave its annual concert under the direction of Frank Italiano. Concluding
selection was the spectacular Tschaikowsky “1812 Overture”. “The climax of a full 75-piece band,
augmented by organ, fairly rocked the rafters and brought round after round of applause.” First of
a kind in this area was the Coulee Region musicianship audition. The judges had their backs to the
participants so that they would be influenced by no qualities except those of musicianship
April 25 The Vocational Civic Choir, under the direction of C. Bernard McGhee, presented a varied program
with two local artists as guest soloists (Ruth Kienholz and Mary Simones) with selections from Bach,
Haydn, and others. Among the folk songs that were performed was “Ezekiel Saw De Wheel.”
November 29 The La Crosse Symphony Orchestra presented a concert with Leigh Elder as the director. The
Singing Kappels, a husband and wife vocal team of Shorewood, Wisconsin augmented the program.
Music ranged from the classics to the tunes of Sigmund Romberg.
December 10-11 The Old Style quartet was one of the four local barbershop quartets featured at the Christmas
Festival of Song sponsored by the La Crosse SPEBSQSA chapter. Three other local quartets also
appeared. They were the Four Hoarsemen, the Nameless Four, and Casey’s Four-Wheelers.
Guest quartets on the program also included the Milwaukee Hi-Los; and the Minneapolis-Moline
Atomic Bums.
The 1950’s
The 1950’s were years of progress in program development, program standards, and a strict program approval process.
While vocational education struggled to survive at the federal level, it grew and took shape in Wisconsin. It was a time
when educators and supporters had to join forces and work hard to save vocational education. The 1950’s saw great
technological and social changes. It was the era of Sputnik, first generation computers, TV dinners, the Salk vaccine for
polio, and rock and roll. The changes were also reflected in the vocational and adult system. Thousands of veterans
enrolled either to finish high school or for vocational training. The 50’s also saw the introduction of the technical
program, which would lead to an associate degree. The two-year associate degree was a response to the increasingly
sophisticated labor market, which needed workers with training that was more rigorous than the traditional vocational
program, and yet, more practically oriented than a four-year degree. The first technical programs were approved in
1956 in electronics, auto technology and mechanical technology.
1950 Board members were: George Hall, president; Raymond Bice, vice president; Superintendent of School Marshall
Batho, secretary; Roy Kumm, and R. H. Anderegg.
Open House – February 13-14, 1950 – while Old Man Winter blew inches of snow into the Coulee Region, the doors of
the Vocational School were swung open for the public to view exhibits and partially finished projects,

along with classes in session. A free concert was there for the listening as the La Crosse Civic Symphony and Choir
practiced.
From February 26 to March 14, all night and weekend activities in La Crosse Public School buildings were suspended by
order of the La Crosse Board of Education. The action was taken to guard against the diminishing coal stocks for
daytime use. The order applied to all school functions, vocational school classes in buildings other than the Vocational
School, and recreation departments, and other outside uses. The Vocational School was able to continue operating
because it used oil heat.
On March 15, 1950 the Vocational Board voted “that it be the policy of the school to discontinue the $1.00 evening
school deposit fee. Hereafter a $1.00 nonrefundable enrollment fee is to be charged each student for each class
attended.”
In May 1950, James Brower and Edward West, both painter apprentices, were the only Wisconsin men placing in the
national painting contest that was held at Palm Beach, Florida. Brower received a second place award and a cash prize
for his marbling wood panel, and West won honorable mention with his entry of imitation walnut.
At the May 17, 1950 Vocational Board Meeting, Director Coleman reminded the Board members of the graduation
exercises that would take place on May 24 at the American Legion Club Rooms (215 South Sixth Street). At that time, 20
on-the-farm program trainees would receive their certificates of graduation from the veterans on-the-farm training
program. This event concluded up to four full years of practical agricultural education work conducted by the school,
with observation and assistance on the various member farms.
More than 100 La Crosse County residents went through the process of donating blood for the national Red Cross
program in accommodations at the Vocational School.
In October 1950, the Vocational Board, in cooperation with the La Crosse group headquarters of the Civil Air Patrol,
offered a basic aviation study course to high school boys and others 16 years of age or over. The course included all
related phases of modern aviation, including theory of flight, navigation, meteorology, communications, and vocational
opportunities in aviation. The cost of the course was $1.00 enrollment fee.
Through a cooperative agreement between Aquinas High School and the Vocational School, ten high school boys
participated in mechanical and vocational training during the 1950-51 school year. Classes were held daily in two-hour
spans.
1950 Auditorium events included . . .
January 21 More than 100 persons participated in the Vocational Civic Choir concert that featured soloists
Kathleen Ferrier, a British contralto, and Doris Phillips Severson, a soprano. C. Bernard McGhee was
the director. The choir opened the concert with the rousing “Gloria in Excelsis Deo,” by Martin Shaw.
March 8 “Brotherhood” was the theme of the La Crosse Civic Concert Band under the direction of Frank
Italiano. “Music never questions the background, color or nationality of a composer. Their only
concern is whether the music is good.” The concert included hymns used by Catholics, Protestants
and Jews.
March 13 The Vocational Civic Choir presented a “Spring Musicale” under the direction of C. Bernard McGhee.
Musical selections conforming to the Lenten season were included, as well as light music from masters
such as Victor Herbert and Sigmund Romberg. Also featured were a mixed ensemble, a women’s
trio, and a group of folk dancers.
In 1951, students from four schools mingled in the Printing class at the Vocational School. Besides the regular
vocational students, boys from Aquinas, Central and Logan were enrolled in the Printing class each afternoon, five days a
week. For the high school student, the part-time course was designed to determine if they have an interest in the
printing trade.
With the delivery of a 1951 dual-control Ford sedan, the driver training class went on the road. Presentation of the keys
to the car was made by Kenneth Dahl, of Dahl Motors. According to Director Coleman, “It is just as important to learn
how to keep alive as it is to learn how to make a living.” (James Bice, former industrial division instructor, was the driver
education instructor.)

A Telegrapher Operator training program, similar to that run in 1943, was implemented to relieve the shortage of
workers in that field.
Governor Walter J. Kohler, Jr. proclaimed May 6-12, 1951 as Vocational and Adult Education Week. “It is gratifying to
note that the governor recognizes the contribution that vocational schools throughout the state have made in offering
training opportunities to enable citizens to become self-sustaining.” Director Coleman listed the objectives of the
school as to help people “get a job . . . hold a job . . . and, advance on the job.”
May 23, 1951, the La Crosse Vocational and Adult Schools showed appreciation to local merchants cooperating in the
school’s retail training program. A combination appreciation banquet and graduation exercise for the first class to
complete the course was held in the Vocational Cafeteria. Toastmaster of the program was Everett Woehrmann,
secretary of the La Crosse County Chamber or Commerce. The Distributive Education Retail cooperative program was
started in September 1950 and it was the only such program in operation on a post-high school level in Wisconsin.
Director Coleman stated, “recognizing that approximately 80 percent of our high school graduates do not go on to college
. . . it is essential that the Vocational School offer a program that will provide high school graduates with an opportunity
to learn while they earn.”
Vocational testing and guidance was meeting the increased demand for this service in our community. Director
Coleman stated that the La Crosse Vocational and Adult Schools offer this aid to students on all levels of its student body .
. . each student is given the opportunity to receive counseling and guidance from the department heads . . . the student’s
previous training and experience is considered as well as their purpose for enrolling in the Vocational School.”
At the June 1951 Vocational Board Meeting, Director Coleman read a letter from Terminix Chicago Company in which it
was reported “that they found no visible evidence of termite infestation in the La Crosse Vocational and Adult Schools
building.”
Cost of Living bonuses approved by the Vocational Board for the calendar year 1951 were: Director - $300; Teachers,
Assistant Director and Coordinators - $200; Janitors - $240; and Clerks - $100.
September 1951 – The Vocational Board voted the salary of evening school teachers: 1 st year teachers - $5.50 per
evening; 2 nd year teachers - $5.75 per evening; and 3 rd year and thereafter - $6.00 per evening.
September 25 – An apprenticeship completion banquet was held at the AFL Labor Temple Hall (then located at 423 King
Street). Fifty-six apprentices received their journeyman certificate. Wisconsin Attorney General Vernon W. Thompson
delivered the main address at the banquet, “Labor-Management Cooperation.” Nine building trades were represented:
Bricklayers, electricians, carpenters, painters and decorators, plasterers and cement masons, plumbers, sheet metal
workers, steamfitters, and glaziers.
1951 Auditorium events included . . .
March 11 “The Beatitudes,” an oratorio, a musical setting of the Sermon on the Mount, by Cesar Franck was
presented by the La Crosse Vocational Civic Choir, directed by C. Bernard McGhee.
March 18 The 70-piece La Crosse Vocational Civic Concert Band presented a spring concert that featured Easter,
modern, classical and operatic selections. The director of the band was
Frank Italiano.
April 2-3 Starring in concert with the La Crosse Symphony was Gladys Swarthout, mezzo-soprano.
The audience enthusiastically recalled Ms. Swarthout for several encores. Conductor of the
La Crosse Symphony Orchestra was Leigh Elder.
At the February 12, 1952 Vocational Board Meeting, Director Coleman reported that all of the faculty members had made
excellent improvement toward their certification. It was reported that with the exception of three of the newer
teachers, all faculty members were holders of Senior A Life Certificates, the highest type obtainable.
In February 1952, a workshop entitled, “Mechanical Institute for Publishers and Printers” was conducted at the
Vocational School. It was described by Director Coleman as “high successful.” The institute was sponsored by the La
Crosse Vocational School, the State Board of Vocational and Adult Education in cooperation with the Wisconsin Press
Association. It was the first such program to be offered in La Crosse and the second in Wisconsin.

A February 10, 1952 ad in the La Crosse Tribune read: “CUSTODIAN WANTED BY Board of Vocational and Adult
Education. Apply by letter giving data concerning your age, health, personal qualifications, references, and previous
employment. Qualifications desired are: Young married man, mechanically inclined, able to learn to operate steam
heating plant with automatic controls. Pleasing personality with ability to carry on good public relations. No personal
interviews or phone calls until contacted. Address letter to John B. Coleman, Director, La Crosse Vocational and Adult
Schools.”
What happens to a girl or woman who is taken to Taycheedah? The Vocational Homemakers Club was given an insight
into life at the Wisconsin Women’s Prison through its guest social worker speaker. “Unless she has a health problem,
she is placed in a basic homemaking project, meaning such courses as home and child care, running a power sewing
machine, cooking, nursing, laundering, nurse aid dental assistant work . . . she may take any studies available from the
University of Wisconsin-Extension . . . or finish high school – all with guidance and the hope toward a better life after
release.”
1952 Auditorium events included . . .
February “The Voice of the Turtle,” presented by the Civic Drama Guild of New York, brought criticism from local
clergy stating that the play is “rightfully classed as totally objectionable and condemned . . . besides
being nasty and vicious, in a suave and sophisticated manner, it is incredibly dull.”
February 18 In commemoration of its 15 th anniversary, the La Crosse Vocational Civic Choir performed a concert
version of the grand opera “Carmen” by George Bizet, directed by C. Bernard McGhee. The Orchesis,
a dance group from the La Crosse State College was also featured.
March 17 As part of his Wisconsin campaign, Ohio Senator Robert A. Taft stopped in La Crosse to make a major
address.
March 26-27 Pianist Artur Rubinstein appeared in concert with the La Crosse Symphony Orchestra. Leigh Elder
was the conductor.
November 10 Joseph Szigeti was guest violinist with the La Crosse Symphony Orchestra directed by Leigh Elder.
1953 Board Members included: Raymond Bice, president; Roy Kumm, vice president; Superintendent of Schools Arthur
F. Jordan, secretary; Theron Cartwright, and Edward M. Beissel.
February 1953 – In a cherry pie baking contest at the Vocational School, Eileen Brenegen, a Trempealeau High School Girl,
scored 955 points out of a possible 1,000 to pass the first hurdle in an attempt to capture the state title. The Wisconsin
Red Cherry Commission sponsored the contest. In presenting the prize checks for first, second and third prizes, it was
stated “the quality of the pies baked were the highest in the several years the event has been held here.” Each of the
girls admitted to practicing for some time by baking up to a dozen pies before the bake-off and added that their families
are ready to try a different dessert.
Better meetings through better program planning and leadership were among the aims of a leadership-training institute
for La Crosse area residents by the Junior Chamber of Commerce in cooperation with the La Crosse Vocational and Adult
Schools and assisted by the University of Wisconsin Extension Division. The purpose of the institute was to acquaint
leaders of business and industrial groups with the techniques and materials of program planning, effective group
leadership discussion techniques, and other pertinent meeting aspects.
In May 1953, the Vocational Board approved a Salary Determining Policy that included:
� Master craftsmen with a high school education, and who have served a bona fide four years apprenticeship and
worked as a journeyman for three years or any combination totaling 7 years shall have that background evaluated as
a maximum equivalent of three years of college credit and placed on the salary schedule column of ‘Less than a
Bachelor’s Degree’ and shall receive two hundred dollars ($200) a year in addition to the schedule.
� Trade and Industrial teachers, or other special teachers, who have special occupational experience consisting of not
less than an apprenticeship and having worked as a journeyman or five years of trade experience and having a
Bachelor’s Degree shall receive two hundred dollars ($200) a year in addition.
� Trade and Industrial teachers, who have special occupational experience qualifications and possessing a Senior “A”
Certificate in the area of work in which they are teaching, shall receive two hundred dollars ($200) in addition to the
schedule.
� New appointees shall be given credit for each year of approved experience up to and including five years.
� Married men shall be paid $300 in excess.

1953 Auditorium events included . . .
January 19 The La Crosse Vocational Civic Choir presented its 16 th annual concert. The “Six Love Song Waltzes”
of Brahms for chorus with fourhanded piano accompaniment and the “Three Fuguing Tunes” by
William Billings were presented. C. Bernard McGhee was the director. Following the performance,
a surprise farewell party was held for Director and Mrs. C. Bernard McGhee.
January 26 Famous singer James Melton appeared in concert with the La Crosse Symphony Orchestra under the
direction of Leigh Elder, conductor.
March 30 Operatic star Roberta Peters was guest artist with the La Crosse Symphony Orchestra. Conductor
was Leigh Elder.
October 26 Famed opera singer Helen Taubel appeared in concert with the La Crosse Symphony Orchestra under
the direction of conductor Leigh Elder and guest conductor Richard C. Church.
1954 Board members were: Raymond C. Bice president; Edward M. Beissel, vice president; Superintendent of Schools
Arthur F. Jordan, secretary; Theron I. Cartwright and Roy E. Kumm.
In 1954, three local Vocational School instructors were honored at the general session of the State Vocational and Adult
Education Association: Genevieve H. Cox – business education for 30 years; Harold Hawkins – 26 years and Alph
Sorenson – 34 years, both in the trade and industry department. They were presented with certificates and specially
designed pins. Director Coleman expressed his congratulations by stating “they have contributed immeasurably to the
growth and progress of the La Crosse School.”
On February 4, 1954, a workshop was held in the school’s gymnasium for office workers in cooperation with The Badger
Chapter National Secretaries Association, with the theme “Attaining Efficiency on the Job.” Guest speakers included the
Office Manager of Dairyland Power Cooperative; and representatives from legal and public accounting firms.
In 1954, a clinic was held for school custodians. Fifty area school administrators and custodians attended an Institute
which included topics covering the Importance of Building Service Work and Good Human Relations, General Cleaning
and Cleaning Materials, Safety and Fire Prevention, Floor Treatment, Fuel Economy, and Control System Service. A
similar program was conducted for employees of the La Crosse Board of Education and the Board of Vocational and Adult
Education.
A workshop of four sessions entitled, “Park and Recreation Institute” was held in April and covered talks by
representatives from the College of Agriculture in Madison, and Park and Recreation Superintendents at Sheboygan and
Rochester, Minnesota. Topics included park maintenance; transplanting shrubs, evergreens and trees; lawn care and
others.
1954 Auditorium events included . . .
March 1 The La Crosse Vocational Civic Choir of 65 voices, directed by Harmer Root, presented their 17 th annual
concert. “The motivating force which has made this organization successful over the past 17 years is
a genuine love of music . . .”
March 25 In concert with the La Crosse Symphony Orchestra was Leon Fleisher.
Leigh Elder was the conductor.
November 15 Miss Lily Pons, famed star of the Metropolitan Opera in New York City, was guest soloist with the La
Crosse Symphony Orchestra. Miss Pons, an American coloratura soprano, was known for her vocal
range and musical skill. Leigh Elder was the conductor.
1955 Board Members were: Raymond Bice, president; E. M. Beissel, vice president; Superintendent of Schools Arthur F.
Jordan, secretary; Roy Kumm, and Theron Cartwright.
On February 15, 1955, the Vocational Board approved “that all employees of the Board of Vocational and Adult
Education, with the exclusion of the administrative staff, be automatically retired at the end of the contract year in which
they become 65 years of age.”
Three new teachers were added to the day school staff: Gladys Bethurem – commercial; Kenneth Follman –
woodworking; and James Hessel – home craft instructor, serving severely handicapped people in La Crosse, Vernon and
Monroe Counties. In the fall of 1955, staff in addition to Director Coleman consisted of 14 full-time teachers, 4 circuit
teachers, 3 office personnel, and 5 custodians.

November 17 – A seven-county School Health Conference was held at the Vocational School, under the auspices of the
State Medical Society in cooperation with the State Board of health, the State School Health Council, public and parochial
schools of the area, the Vocational School, La Crosse State College and the La Crosse County Medical Society. Some 200
physicians, dentists, nurses, parents and school personnel attended. At the general session, the major speaker was Dr.
Edgar S. Gordon of the University of Wisconsin medical school who spoke on “The Integrated Physical and Emotional
Growth of Children,” followed by workshop sessions that included talks on:
� Health Examination of Pupils and School Personnel,
� Nutrition, Dental Health and Other Special Health Problems,
� Health Aspects of Physical Education,
� Applications of Prevention of Mental Health Concepts in the Community,
� Putting Preventive Mental Health Concepts to Work in the School, and
� Referral and Treatment of Pupils with Emotional Problems.
November 1955 – The annual La Crosse Jaycees toy pickup took place. The Marine Corps collected the toys, and the
Vocational School did the renovating. The trades and industry department, including the machine shop, general metal,
welding, auto mechanics, spray painting and general woodworking including cabinetmaking – all were called into Santa’s
service to fix and renew the hundreds of mechanical toys. The numerous dolls were in the home economics
department and all were completely dressed in new clothing – all doll clothing was designed and sewed by girls in the
Vocational classes.
1955 Auditorium events included . . .
February 7 Robert McDowell, noted opera star, was in concert with the La Crosse Symphony Orchestra under
the direction of conductor Leigh Elder.
March 7 The Vocational Civic Choir, directed by Harmer Root, climaxed its 1954-55 season with the
presentation of the Franz Lehar “Merry Widow.” .
October 24 Famous opera star Leontyne Price was guest artist with the La Crosse Symphony Orchestra. Leigh
Elder was conductor and guest conductor was Richard C. Church.
1956 Board Members were: Raymond Bice, president; Theron Cartwright, vice president; Superintendent of Schools A.
F. Jordan, secretary; Roy Kumm, and Clifford Gates.
In 1956, the Newburg Motor Company (then at 212 South Sixth Street) presented the keys of a 1956 Oldsmobile “88”
2-door Sedan to the school for the Driver Education course. Driver Education instructors were Neal Stromstad and
George Kinsler.
On January 12, 1956 the following petition was signed by Director Coleman plus 18 staff:
“We, the undersigned, members of the professional staff . . . do hereby request our Director . . . to petition the governor
so that the professional staff may vote whether or not to be included under the Old Age and Survivors Insurance Act
(Social Security).”
On January 21, the Wisconsin Red Cherry Commission sponsored the La Crosse District Red Cherry Pie Baking Contest.
Seven participated in the bake-off. Dolores Fradette, Seneca High School, won with a score of 918 and two thirds out of
a possible 1,000 points.
February 1956, a Mary E. Sawyer Auditorium issue was brought before the Vocational Board. Mayor Milo J. Knudson
asked the Vocational Board two questions:
1. Would it be feasible for the Vocational School personnel and board to take over the operation and management of
the Mary E. Sawyer Auditorium without in any way endangering your present excellent educational system?
2. If the above could be accomplished, what additional manpower would you require?
After lengthy discussion, the Vocational Board concluded that “in the best interest of the community” the management
of the Sawyer Auditorium and the Vocational School should be separate.
A “Cardiac in Industry” conference, sponsored by the Wisconsin Heart Association, featured specialists from a number of
fields: industrial medicine, industrial nursing, vocational rehabilitation, organized labor, the State Industrial
Commission, and industrial personnel. The group explored readjustments to new jobs, and better

placement of the cardiac in industry. The conference discussion brought out that a good job was being done here for
the placement of cardiac employees in work that they can do but that more could be “accomplished through the
cooperation of medical, vocational, social workers and others for thorough evaluation of a patient’s condition and
capabilities.”
In April 1956, H. C. Potthast, supervising instructor for the La Crosse Vocational School in the Wisconsin Rural Electric Job
Training and Safety program, was invited by President Eisenhower to attend the President’s Conference on Occupational
Safety in Washington, D. C., on May 14-16. Potthast presented his safety lesson before many groups in Wisconsin and
nearby states, as well as at a National Safety Congress in Chicago that brought requests for his appearance all over the
nation.
On September 13, 1956, the Vocational Board authorized Director Coleman to proceed with plans and arrangements for
the establishing a practical nurses training program.
Locating teachers was sometimes a problem . . .
WANTED
Day School
MACHINE SHOP
TEACHER
Must have machine shop experience.
Teaching experience not necessary.
Contact
LA CROSSE VOCATIONAL and
ADULT SCHOOLS
Phone 2-6238
November 11-17 – American Education Week with the theme “Schools for a Strong America” had daily displays by the La
Crosse schools in local business windows. The Vocational School’s exhibits were on display Wednesday, November 14.
To coincide with the national theme, the Vocational School’s theme was “Education for Trained Manpower.”
Emphasized by the trade and industry department in the window of the Tausche Hardware Company (then located at 201
South Fourth Street) were the Machine Shop – a flying vise to appeal to the skilled hobbyist, layout equipment for tool
and die workers, and a screw jacket for the machinists; Welding – both gas and arc for the beginner and advanced
tradesman; Homecraft – projects in leather, weaving and art metal for homebound students). The business education
department chose the title, “We Show You How to Be Successful in Your Office Position” for its display at the Swartz
Office Supply Company (then at Sixth and State Streets). In that display, the “rights/wrongs” and the “goods/bads” of
office procedures were shown.
November 1956 – A ribbon cutting took place to formally open a new typewriting classroom at the Vocational School. The
all-electric typewriter classroom was the first of its kind in the area. The classroom was equipped with 32 electric typewriters.
1956 Auditorium events included . . .
January 29 The famed University of Wisconsin Concert Band appeared in concert, under the baton of
“Mr. Wisconsin” better known as Professor Ray Dvorak. The band gave its usual spirited
performance of “On Wisconsin.” When it was originally written in1909, composer, William T.
Purdy, intended “On Wisconsin” as a song for Minnesota.
February 12 Entertainment in great variety was promised at the “Quiz Concert” presented by the La Crosse Civic
Band, under the direction of La Crosse’s popular radio-TV announcer, Bill Joseph, in a skit entitled,
“A Trio Grows in Brooklyn.” Robert Gaumer (father of the late EMT instructor Bob Gaumer) was
master of ceremonies. Lindy Shannon, popular disc jockey and authority on recorded music played
the quiz selections.
February 27 Opera star Robert Merrill was in concert with the La Crosse Symphony Orchestra, conducted by
Leigh Elder.
April 16 Famed singer Richard Gregor appeared with the La Crosse Symphony Orchestra under the direction
of Leigh Elder.
November 19 Opera singer Eileen Farrell was guest artist with the La Crosse Symphony Orchestra under the
direction of Peter J. Michelsen, conductor.

1957 Board Members were: Raymond Bice, president; Clifford Gates, vice president; Superintendent of School J. A.
Jordan, secretary; Roy Kumm, and Theron Cartwright.
1957 brought changes in automobiles, too. And, to promote safe driving the reduce traffic accidents, the Vocational
School expanded its driver education program. Students now had a choicer of learning to drive a car with an automatic
shift or one with a regular shift. To aid in the instruction, a 1957 Oldsmobile and Chevrolet were made available by the
Newburg Motor Company, 212 South Sixth Street, and Don Hutson Chevrolet, Inc. at 213-215 North Third Street. George
Kinsler, Carl J. Stori and Harold Motschenbacher were the instructors.
In January 1957, the La Crosse Education Association sponsored a series of five television programs, on Station WKBT at
6:30 p.m. on the theme, “Does Our Educational system Meet the Needs of the Community?” Howard Fredricks (a
former University of Wisconsin-La Crosse history professor) served as moderator. Six civic leaders were on the panel for
the January 6 session; on February 5, six parents of students in the public school system; on February 12, six students,
including Marilyn Stokke of the Vocational School; on February 19, five teachers, including E. L. Schreiber of the
Vocational School; and on February 26, four local educational experts, including Director Coleman. Among the points
suggested to be addressed by the panel members was “Do the products of our Vocational School make satisfactory
workers?”
In February 1957, Director Coleman was honored as one of the vocational education leaders in the nation.
Representatives of the American Vocational Association, Inc. came to La Crosse and presented Coleman with a plaque
from the association. Coleman was cited as being one of the 50 educators in the nation with the longest records of
attendance at AVA national conventions and for his general interest, leadership and devotion to vocational education.
As of that year, he attended the conventions for 35 years.
In February 1957, it was reported that the Vocational School building had been selected as a polling place for the 12 th
Ward, but that the order was rescinded and the polling place moved (across the street) to the Mary E. Sawyer
Auditorium.
Staffing in 1957, in addition to the Director, included 21 day school teachers, 4 circuit teachers, 5 office personnel, and 6
custodians.
In 1957, following a structural analysis of the general metals shop and adjacent printing department area by Architects
Schubert, Sorensen and Associates, Inc., it was reported that the general metals shop and the area for storage was
severely overloaded. With the overload, along with vibrations of machinery, moving loads, or shock loads as developed
by the impact and unloading of materials, scrap, etc., and the general fatigue of structural materials there was an
“increase of danger over and above its present unsafe condition, and a hastening of an eventual structural failure.” It
was recommended that temporary bracing be employed immediately in order to avert any possible danger to life or
property. As a result, Peter Nelson & Son, Inc. (then located at 115 South Fourth Street, was employed to do the
necessary shoring in the basement and first floor of the shop areas. Work was completed by fall of 1957 and at the
October 11, 1957 Board Meeting, it was reported “Peter Nelson & Son has just completed the replacing of a crumbling
pillar in the basement. This pillar was being crushed by the weight which it was supporting . . .”
1957 Auditorium events included . . .
February 4 The La Crosse Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Peter J. Michelson, featured Leonard Pennario, a
sensational pianist, as the guest soloist.
June 2 Commencement exercises for the La Crosse State College were held at the Vocational School
auditorium. The class of 190 students was the largest class in the history of the school and
marked the first time that commencement exercises were held off the college campus.
April 8 The La Crosse Symphony Orchestra featured Yi-Kwei Sze as guest artist. Peter J. Michelsen was the
conductor.
November 11 Veterans Day was observed by the students in the Auditorium. The program started with organ
music. Harold Erickson, a student of the school (and former General Education Chairperson and
WWTC administrator) gave a reading on the purposes of Veterans Day and then at 11 a.m. called for
a minute of silence after which taps were blown by buglers Allen Stankey and Walter Boisvert, also
students. Director Coleman then introduced Judge Lincoln Neprud, a veteran of World War I, who
gave the address for the day. After his address, Judge Neprud led the student body in singing “God
Bless America.” And, students then had the rest of the day off.
November 11 Philippe Entremont, pianist, appeared in concert with the La Crosse Symphony Orchestra under the
direction of Peter J. Michelsen, conductor.

In 1958, the Vocational School building was used by a number of organizations and groups. Three parochial schools
used the gymnasium at various times for their basketball practice. The La Crosse police department used the gym for
physical exercises and the training of police officers and, periodically, the FBI conducted enforcement officers’ training
courses. A number of civil defense organizations used the facilities continuously, such as the La Crosse Auxiliary Police
and the Civil Air Patrol. The Vocational Board also authorized space to the Veterans’ Administration and to the District
Rehabilitation Division.
A little humor . . . Frank Garcia, a production line worker at The Trane Company worked hard all day, and worked equally
hard at teaching an evening class in Spanish at the Vocational School. Sometimes things are serious; sometimes they
are not. But, the ice was broken in the south-of-the border speech class when someone in the class sneezed and Garcia
responded “Gesundheit!”
In May 1958, there was no joblessness among welders—the big demand for trained welders in La Crosse made both the
day and the evening classes most popular. “The sudden demand for welders has depleted the present supply of trainees”
according to the welding instructors, Harold Hawkins and George Hinkley. During the months of May and June, 54
welders were hired by La Crosse industries.
September 1958 – Clerical and custodial salary classifications were adopted by the Vocational Board. Six custodial
personnel and five office workers received a total of $122.50 per month in increases.
At the February 1958 Board Meeting, it was “agreed to pay one-half of the premium cost of Health and Hospitalization
Insurance beginning as of September, 1958. The amount of premium and type of policy to be determined through
Staff-Board understanding . . .”
1958 Auditorium events included . . .
February 24 Jon Crain, a leading tenor with the New York City Center Opera, was guest singer with the
La Crosse Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Peter J. Michelsen, conductor.
March 10 The La Crosse Vocational Civic Choir, directed by Elvin Saterbak, featured seven soloists.
April 28 South America came to La Crosse -- The La Crosse Symphony Orchestra featured vivacious Rosina da
Rimini of Brazil in a concert. She had performed on the Arthur Godfrey Talent Scouts and the
Arthur Godfrey Time television shows.
November 17 Joan Marie Moynagh appeared in concert with the La Crosse Symphony Orchestra under the
direction of Peter J. Michelsen.
December 7 A large crowd braved the biting zero weather to attend Handel’s “Messiah” sung by 124 voices of
the La Crosse Vocational Civic Choir and the La Crosse State College Choir. Four soloists were
featured. The director of the combined choirs was Elvin Saterbak.
In the fall of 1959, three new teachers were added to the daytime staff bringing the number up to 30. An enrollment of
850 was expected.
The Evening School teacher’s salary schedule was readjusted: As of May 12, 1959, the instructors for the first year of
service would receive $7.00 per evening; $7.50 per evening or the second year; and $8.00 per evening for the third and
each following year.
At the September 15, 1959 Vocational Board Meeting, the Board authorized Director Coleman to enter into an
agreement with the St. Joseph Cathedral Parish for the rental of the school’s Auditorium at a cost of $100 per Sunday,
from 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., for the purpose of conducting Masses while the new Cathedral was being constructed. The
question of liability insurance came into focus and was discussed at a subsequent meeting. It was determined that
liability insurance was provided not only through the Board of Vocational and Adult Education but also that a similar
coverage was provided by the Dioceses.
In September 1959, Circuit Judge Lincoln Neprud commended the La Crosse Vocational School for offering a course on
Americanization. He was pleased to see “that a course on Americanization had been arranged so that those
participating will be offered a study of our country’s history, its form of government and instruction in reading, writing
and speaking English . . . the course should be most helpful to all citizens wishing to learn about our form of government
and to appreciate its privileges . . . especially persons planning to become naturalized citizens.”

At the November 10, 1959 Vocational Board Meeting, Director Coleman called attention to some of the new offerings at
the school. Specifically, it related to courses in outboard motor maintenance, and two courses in digital computer
programming.
In late November 1959, four classes began repairing “Toys for Tots” at the school. The reconditioning of the toys
rotates each year between the Vocational School, Central and Logan High Schools. The four classes that participated in
the repairing of the toys were the cabinetmaking class, the junior woodworking class, the general metals class, and the
homemaking class. Some toys come in ragged and broken, but when they’ve been reconditioned, they look like new.
1959 Auditorium events included . . .
February 16 Anton Kuerti was guest singer with the La Crosse Symphony Orchestra conducted by Peter J.
Michelsen, and the La Crosse Civic Choir directed by David Mewaldt.
March 9 “Schubert’s “Mass in G” was sung in Latin by the La Crosse Vocational Civic Choir, directed by Elvin
Saterbak. The choir had 45 singers in its organization for the spring concert. In a
La Crosse Tribune review of the performance, it was stated, “Let it be written in the city’s musical
annals that the Schubert Mass had a memorable reading the night of March 9 in
La Crosse. As a technical footnote, may we add that the choir’s Latin diction was admirably
precise.”
April 20 A concert by the La Crosse Symphony Orchestra featured Giorgio Tozzi as guest artist. Peter J.
Michelsen was conductor.
August 12 Music flooded the Auditorium -- The Music for Recreation group, sponsored by the La Crosse
Recreation Department, presented its annual summer concert. The concert climaxed eight weeks
of instruction conducted throughout the city during the months of June, July and August by Leigh
Elder, William Baker and Kenneth Storandt. Approximately 400 boys and girls took an active part
in the program. Musical arrangements included classics, light classics and popular numbers.
November 11 Veterans Day. Speaker was Patrick J. Whelan, a veteran of World War II and the News
Reporter/Editor of the Times Review publication. He stated, “our veterans, especially those who
died, proved that freedom comes at a price—the price of sacrifice. Sacrifice and all it involves
should always be the central message of any Veterans Day program.”
December 13 Forty-eight members of the La Crosse Vocational Civic Choir joined with members of the
La Crosse State College Choir under the direction of David Merwaldt to present portions
of “The Messiah”. The combination of the two choirs numbered nearly 120 singers.
The 1960’s
1960 Board Members included: Raymond Bice, president; Clifford Gates, vice president; Superintendent of Schools
Arthur Jordan, secretary; Clifford Gates, and Theron Cartwright.
Remember the Meter Maids? Meter Maid applicants were given a battery of tests in Room 224 of the Vocational
School. The Parking Utility Board selected three meter maids from about 30 applicants who were screened and
qualified for the tests.
On February 11, 1960, a resolution was adopted by the Common Council of the City of La Crosse, which called for
“uniformity in hiring practices.” The resolution applied to all Boards except the Police and Fire Commission, Board of
Education, Library Board and the Vocational and Adult Schools. It was established that a series of diagnostic tests would
be given to all applicants and that the decision on which tests to be administered would be in cooperation the Vocational
School.
In February 1960, Director Coleman was authorized to establish an electronics department that would become effective
upon the employment of a qualified instructor. In May 1960 James P. Christoffel was employed to fill that position.
In June 1960, a $2.00 enrollment fee was charged for attending evening school. And, in November, it was noted that
this year’s evening school enrollment was larger than during the preceding year – proving that the $2.00 enrollment fee
that was charged for the first time had not kept people from enrolling.
In 1960, Shirley Amunrud, a student in the homemaking department, was a winner of a wristwatch in the $100,000
Kroger-Westinghouse search for the 1960 Junior Cook of the Year. Her favorite recipe was selected

as the most outstanding here. In addition, her award also brought the homemaking department an electric mixer, and
her instructor, Mrs. Kathryn Schomberg, received a transistor radio.
Effective with school year 1960-61, a $2.00 registration fee was affixed for day school students who are not compelled by
law to attend the day classes.
In November 1960, an apprenticeship conference was held that stressed the importance of apprenticeship. The
conference drew 125 persons from seven counties.
1960 Auditorium events included . . .
February 8 The La Crosse Symphony Orchestra presented a concert that featured Christian Ferras, a violinist.
The concert was under the direction of Peter J. Michelsen.
April 4 Lee Luvisi was guest artist with the La Crosse Symphony Orchestra. Peter J. Michelsen was the
conductor.
November 7 David Abel, a renowned violinist, was guest artist with the La Crosse Symphony Orchestra.
Peter J. Michelsen was the conductor.
December 4 La Crosse’s traditional Christmas holiday musical event, “The Messiah,” was presented. The
oratorio of G. F. Handel was under the direction of Elvin Saterbak, and had more than 100 singers,
piano and organ accompaniment. Since 1958, the Vocational Choir and the State College group
together sang “The Messiah.” The college choir had 70 voices in its group.
In September 1961, at an apprenticeship meeting of 35 master barbers, including shop owners and one apprentice from
the nine-county La Crosse area, it was announced by a Wisconsin State Board of Health Official that after October 1,
barber school graduates from Illinois “will not be recognized for employment in Wisconsin.” The reason for the action
was the “decreased quality of practice and theory of Illinois barber training.” There were 27 barber schools in Illinois,
compared with 10 a few years ago, which have been “flooding” Wisconsin with apprentices while Wisconsin men found it
hard to get jobs.
“Fallout” . . . “radioactive fallout” – These were words much in the news in 1961. A model fallout shelter, built by the
Vocational shop class, was on display for six months in the basement of the Vocational School for the public to view. It
was the first model shelter completed in Wisconsin and one of the first in the nation. The shelter had everything needed:
food, cooking utensils, sanitation supplies, bedding and first aid supplies in case one needed to live in the shelter for
several weeks.
Unemployment in the community was becoming evident. Enrollment at the Vocational School began to increase. In
normal times, when most people are employed, vocational and adult school enrollment remains quite stable – but during
periods of unemployment and depression in industry, increased enrollments soon result in all departments of the school.
In January 1961, the layoffs in neighboring cities resulted in La Crosse residents returning to the city from employment in
out-of-town industries. “Evening school enrollment has been gratifying,” said Coleman, “the trades classes have all been
filled and there are large waiting lists . . . most homemaking classes have openings and there are a few in business
education.”
1961 saw an addition to the Coleman facilities at the corner of Seventh and Vine Streets. Several new programs were offered
that year, including Auto Body and Electronics. Hackner, Schroeder and Associates were the architects for $470,000
construction project.
1961 Auditorium events included . . .
February 6 The La Crosse Symphony Orchestra, directed by Peter J. Michelsen, and the La Crosse Vocational
Civic Choir, directed by David Mewaldt, presented a joint concert. Guest artist was Lorin
Hollander, a pianist. Hollander was a guest with the Detroit Symphony in New York, as well and as
a guest on the Perry Como, Ed Sullivan and other television shows.
March 21 The La Crosse Vocational School Civic Choir presented its annual concert. The opening section of
the program was Gabriel Faure’s “Requiem.” Faure is noted for his beautiful melodies and “it was
clearly evident in this great and solemn work . . . It is a credit to the group and the conductor that
the choir was able to perform the music with the ability that it displayed.” Elvin Saterbak was the
director.
April 10 The La Crosse Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of Peter J. Michelsen, presented its spring
concert. Lucille Kailer, who studied at the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music after graduation from
Marquette University, was guest soloist.

August 9 150 Instrumentalists who took advantage of the La Crosse Summer Music Program were on stage
to present a two-hour concert. Leigh Elder, conductor and director of music for the
La Crosse Public Schools, had 230 young students in the group this summer.
October 30 The La Crosse Symphony Orchestra, directed by Peter J. Michelsen, and the La Crosse Vocational
Civic Choir, directed by William V. Estes, presented a concert that featured pianist Don Iverson.
December 10 The true meaning of Christmas was brought forth as the combined choirs presented again the work
of Handel’s “The Messiah.” William Estes directed the combined 100-voice, robed choir – the La
Crosse Vocational Civic Choir and the La Crosse College Choir.
1962 Vocational Board Members were: Raymond Bice, president; Clifford Gates, vice president; Theron I. Cartwright,
secretary; Roy Kumm, and Superintendent of Schools Conan S. Edwards.
“Family Magazine,” an insert in the Sunday, December 9, 1962 edition of the La Crosse Tribune, ran a centerfold article
about the Vocational School Braille class. Braille was taught by a former teacher who lost his eyesight. The main purposes
of the class were to teach blind and others to read enough Braille to meet their needs; and to read enough Braille to
acquaint the sighted public with the problems of the blind so they are more willing to accept the blind. The instructor,
Emmett Walsh, a 1930 La Crosse State College graduate, made up his mind to help others blinded and to educate the
public about the abilities and capabilities of those who are blind. There were twenty-four sightless and sighted people in
the class. The Lions Club sponsored the Braille course.
1962 Auditorium functions included . . .
April 9 Mary McMurray was guest soloist with the La Crosse Symphony Orchestra. Conductor was Peter J.
Michelsen.
November 11 Guest artist with the 80-piece La Crosse Symphony was Gary Graffman, a pianist.
Also appearing with the Symphony was the La Crosse State College Choir directed by
William V. Estes.
December 20 The La Crosse Vocational School Choir presented a special program of Christmas music over Radio
Station WKBH from 8:30 to 9:00 p.m. Among the selections performed on the Christmas broadcast
was “Bethlehem Night” by Arthur Warrell, and “Lullabye for Christmas”
by Norman Lockwood.
A publication called “Voice of Vocational” was printed and published by the students of the Coleman Vocational and
Adult School in 1963-64.
In 1963, the Wisconsin Business Education Club was formed, and in 1964 the club became a charter member of the state
association. (In the 1940’s, this club was known as the “College of Commerce” club, and its name was changed in 1971 to
the Wisconsin Office Education Association (WOEA).
September 1963 enrollment in fall full-time programs was 375.
At the federal level, the Vocational Education Act of 1963 provided the Wisconsin Vocational System dollars for building
of facilities. While other VTAE Districts chose to relocate or build extensive new campuses, the campus of the Vocational
School was able to stay in exactly the same location as the original school’s site at Sixth and Vine Streets in Downtown La
Crosse without sacrificing a first-class facility or its image.
In 1963, sixty-five La Crosse area residents were retrained for new employment or were in the process of being retrained
through the Manpower Development and Training Act (MDTA), and the Area Redevelopment Act (ARA). The retraining
programs were for persons unemployed or considered underemployed. The Wisconsin State Employment Services did
testing and interviewing for the program. Education was provided in nurses aide, stenography, auto mechanics and auto
body. The steno and nurses aide programs were held through the ARA, an act passed by Congress in 1961 to stimulate
the expansion of employment opportunities in an economically distressed area through federal assistance. The
mechanics and auto body courses were part of the MDTA program. This MDTA Act became law in 1962, and was
designed to improve skills and adaptability of workers by surveying manpower needs. In both federal programs, those
being trained received an allotment each week. Women in the steno and nurses aide classes received $40 a week while
training. Men in the mechanics and the auto body repair course received $42 a week.

In March 1963, the Commercial team was the basketball champion of the Vocational School league. Players were Dave
Bussian, Henry Hoier, Dennis Lenth, Jerry Hoch, Jon Leveraus, Bernie Schwarzhoff and Bob Self. Team manager was Milt
Tyler.
In 1963, there were 146 persons enrolled in the evening high school course, an increase of 25 more students than the
previous year. The increase was attributed to the public’s realization that a high school diploma is necessary in the work
world—“there are very few jobs available to those who don’t have a high school diploma,” said Director Jordan.
1963 Auditorium functions included . . .
February 10 Richard Cross, a tenor, appeared in concert with the La Crosse Symphony Orchestra.
Peter J. Michelsen was the conductor.
February 23 The 60-voice St. Olaf College Choir sang in the Auditorium under the sponsorship of St. Paul’s
Lutheran Church, 420 West Avenue South, La Crosse. The choir was conducted by Dr. Olaf C.
Christiansen, carrying on the a cappella choral tradition of his father, Dr. F. Mellitus Christiansen,
who founded the choir in 1903. This was the choir’s only appearance in Wisconsin during its 1963
tour of 12 states.
March 24 The La Crosse Vocational Civic Choir sang its 25 th annual concert under the direction of Elvin
Saterbak. Parts I and II of the program the choir sang sacred music, and Parts III and IV were
semi-classical. The program featured two local artists, Mrs. James Klund and Ms. Betty Mielke.
“With this concert, the Civic Choir completes its twenty-fifth season under the sponsorship of the
Vocational School. Selections . . . are favorites chosen from the repertoire of the past twenty-five
years. We wish to extend our appreciation to Mr. John B. Coleman for his interest and
encouragement during these years . . .”
November 3 James Mathis was guest soloist with the combined La Crosse Symphony Orchestra, conducted by
Peter J. Michelson, and the La Crosse State College Choir, conducted by William V. Estes. The
program included a flute solo by Cynthia Foss.
December 8 The La Crosse Community Chorus, in cooperation with the Wisconsin State College of
La Crosse and the Vocational School presented “The Messiah.” Elvin Saterbak directed the
105-voice combined choir.
Coleman Recognition
John B. Coleman retired on January 31, 1963 after 47 years of service. On March 18, 1963, a resolution was adopted by
the Vocational Board which read: “In appreciation of the effective and efficient educational leadership that John B.
Coleman has provided for over 50 years, 47 of them as director of the La Crosse Vocational and Adult Schools; be it
resolved by the La Crosse Vocational and Adult School Board that the school be named in his honor and from this date be
known as the Coleman Vocational and Adult Schools.”
May 20 marked the day to pay tribute to John B. Coleman. There was an Open House was from 1:30 to 3:00 p.m.,
followed by a civic recognition banquet at the Mary E. Sawyer Auditorium. More than 600 representatives of
government, labor, industry, business, religion, welfare agencies, school alumni, faculty and citizens of the community
paid tribute to him. The Open House showed the latest addition to the school. The Room Directory for the Open House
included the following for the 1961-62 Addition – First Floor: three classrooms, a General Shop, Assembly, Welding,
General Metals, Auto Mechanics and an Auto Body Shop. In addition, Floor 1 space was occupied by 4 Classrooms, the
Auditorium, the Director’s and other offices, two Printing and Allied Subject rooms, Cabinet Shop, the Gymnasium,
Drafting, and Machine Shop. Floor 2 space was occupied by: The Gymnasium Balcony, seven Classrooms, Electronics
Supply, 3 Electronics rooms, a Shop, Business Machines, Commercial Office, Typing, Auditorium Balcony, and Typing.
Floor 3 space was occupied by: 2 Classrooms, an Apartment Living room, Clothing, Foods, Cafeteria, and an Apartment
Kitchen.
Among those present was 98-year-old Warren Hicks, of Madison, who was responsible for Coleman taking the La Crosse
school position in 1916. Hicks, state director of industrial education, recommended Coleman for the La Crosse job and
urged him to accept it. Coleman and Hicks had met earlier when Coleman was teaching at the Milwaukee Vocational
School.

For most of his 47 years, during summer months Coleman lectured at such institutions as Yale University, where he gave
classes in human relations, financial organization and management; at Colorado A & M, Fort Collins, where he taught
various classes; at Stout Institute, and the Jacksonville, Florida School of Technology where he lectured on human
relations and trade analysis. “Coleman was primarily a teacher,” said John E. TePoorten, former extension coordinator
of the Wisconsin Vocational Schools, “there never was a Coleman class that didn’t have at least 35 to 40 students in it . . .
they knew he had something to offer.”
At one time or another in those 47 years, Coleman was president of many local organizations, including the Chamber of
Commerce, the La Crosse Tuberculosis Association, Red Cross, Community Chest, the La Crosse County Unit of the
Wisconsin Division of the American Cancer Society, the Wisconsin Vocational School Directors’ Association, Child
Guidance Clinic Board and many others.
Coleman died July 11, 1976 at the age of 86.
“No brick, nor steel, nor mortar can build a monument such as that
which John B. Coleman has built in the city and in the State of Wisconsin,”
was the statement made by the speaker at a civic recognition banquet for Coleman following his retirement in 1963 as
director of La Crosse Vocational and Adult Schools.
Arthur F. Jordan -- 1963-1965
On February 1, 1963, Arthur F. Jordan became the director of the La Crosse Vocational and Adult Schools succeeding John
B. Coleman. Jordan had previously been employed as a public school teacher and administrator, and served on the
Vocational School Board during his tenure as Superintendent of La Crosse Public Schools. Jordan was a business
education major at Whitewater State University where he received his bachelor degree, and continued his education at
the University of Wisconsin and Northwestern University. He received a master’s degree from Tufts University in 1952.
During 1963, the school’s guiding policymakers were board members, Raymond C. Bice, president; Theron I. Cartwright,
secretary; city school superintendent John Bjorge, secretary; Roy E. Kumm and Clifford Gates.
Raymond Bice, an employ member of the Board, resigned his position on the Board that year. With the selling of the
Bice-Olsen Lumber Company, on 1649 Kane Street, Bice no longer qualified as an employer member.
Bice, who also was a State Senator, served on the Vocational Board for 27 years, from 1952 to 1964. He said the
“biggest improvement in the school during his years on the board was an expanded curriculum . . . that the school had
been identified as a school for dropouts . . . and now it’s known for training in specific fields, particularly technical and
trade skills.”
In July 1963, the vocational school received a letter from the state supervisor of guidance and general adult education
which read “I have been reviewing your annual descriptive report . . . especially in the efforts of high school credit course.
Your school is one of few which has really taken initiative in the development of this very successful activity.” At the
Vocational School in 1964, there were 22 compulsory part-time dropout boy and girl students and 50 full-time dropout
boy and girl students, with ages ranging from 14 to 18. Jordan stated, “that nationally and statewide we are groping for
a good program to assist the dropout student” as the unskilled labor field was dwindling.” The number of high school
dropouts was not considered numerous in La Crosse.
The Vocational School’s role was changing . . . On June 4, 1964, more than 80 persons received certificates and diplomas
in the school’s first formal graduation. Friends and relatives of the school’s graduating class gathered in the Main
Auditorium for the school’s for the first commencement. The graduation exercises took place at 1:30 p.m. The
program included a musical interlude by Catherine Senn; invocation by the Rev. Melvin Frank of the First Congregational
Church; a vocal solo, “On Graduation Day,” by Mary Nawrocke; the graduation address by Roy E. Kumm, president of the
Vocational School Board; the presentation of graduates and diplomas by Director A. J. Jordan assisted by Victor Larsen,
Harry Hutchison, and William Welch; and the benediction by the Rev. Frank.

A New Statewide Movement: From Vocational to Technical — the Coleman Vocational School “was being established
on national and state criteria as a technical school to make it quite comparable to a two-year junior college,” Jordan told
the La Crosse Common Council Finance and Purchase Committee In October 1963. Graduates of accredited programs
would get associate degrees and technical credits comparable to a junior college; however, the credits “won’t be
transferable.”
In 1964, a team appointed by the Wisconsin Board of Vocational and Adult Education, visited the Coleman Vocational and
Adult Schools as a first step in determining if the school could assume accredited technical status for its electronics and
mechanical drafting programs. According to the State Board Evaluating Committee, the Coleman Vocational
shortcomings included “no guidance counselor or business manager, no central library and (during the evaluation) no
curriculum and school development program.”
Jordan indicated they were recruiting for the guidance counselor position, and that although there were libraries in every
department, the school did not have a central library; and that program development includes hiring an instructor to
teach technical mathematics and science for all departments and a business education teacher to develop sales and
marketing courses. In order to qualify for authority to grant associate degrees, four specially trained instructors were
added to the staff: O. Ray Ihle to teach general shop; Ralph Hermann to teach mechanical drafting and design
technology; Lowell Dean Morton to teach distributive education and business education; and Robert F. Maas to teach
mechanical drafting and design technology.
At the time of his Jordan’s resignation in 1965, he was working with the District Board in developing the “new concept” of
vocational education (the school was in the process of meeting the requirements for authorization to issue “associate
degrees” after specific course evaluations) as well as in developing standards for an “all school evaluation” that would
qualify the Coleman Vocational and Adult School as a technical school.
During his tenure, the facilities and teaching staff were expanded in the technical course of mechanical drafting and
design technology, a complete staffing in the fields of mathematics, science and communication skills together with
developing new subject sequences for one- and two-year high school courses. New courses that were added with the
approval of the State Board were Practical Nursing, Sales-Marketing, and Data Processing. Jordan retired on July 1,
1965 because of health reasons.
Copyright © 2000 by B. Hoch

Our School
Part III - A Vocational Revolution: The Formative Years
A new vocational era dawned with new Wisconsin legislation,
which made all territory in the state
a part of a vocational high school district.
Perhaps the most significant state legislation since 1911 was passed in 1965. It was called the Area
Redistricting Bill. Under act of the1965 Wisconsin Legislature, the entire state would be put into
vocational-technical districts, getting away from the city-based and city-supported schools that went back a
half-century. The new system, with a wider tax base and upgraded curricula, was to be in full operation by
mid-1970. Under the new law, anyone in the six-county area (Buffalo, Jackson, La Crosse, Monroe,
Trempealeau and Vernon) would be able to attend Coleman tuition-free, including those enrolled in the adult
education program. The concept of redistricting was that vocational schools would no longer be limited to
cities. They would also include rural and suburban residents, and that would broaden each school’s tax base.
The action by the State Legislature of dividing Wisconsin into vocational districts eliminated the
“city school concept” for vocational schools.
The Governor (then Governor Warren Knowles) signed the bill, which said that by 1970, everyone in Wisconsin
would be in a vocational education district. Dividing the state into districts was a numbers game, up to 20
districts were being considered. The Wisconsin Board favored 19 districts; the Vocational School Board favored
15. After many discussions between the state legislative body, the State Board of Vocational, Technical and
Adult Education, the Coordinating Committee for Higher Education, and a full schedule of public hearings,
Wisconsin was divided into districts, and the district campuses were called technical institutes or
vocational-technical schools.
When the redistricting was finalized, a seven-member board, with district county representation that included
two employers, two employees, two from at-large, and a school superintendent would supervise the district.
What is an Associate Degree?
The Associate Degree is the standard form of recognition for satisfactory completion of a full-time, two-year
organized, state approved technical course of post-high school study.

Coleman Technical Institute – 1965-1968
Charles G. Richardson, of Willmar, Minnesota, was named the fourth director of the Coleman Vocational,
Technical and Adult Education, in June, 1965, replacing Arthur Jordan on his retirement. Richardson had
served as director of the Vocational School at Willmar, and prior to that was director of the Port Washington,
Wisconsin Vocational School. Richardson’s aim was to upgrade the school’s professional and technical
image at a time when the nation was placing high emphasis on the space program, and related career fields
in data processing, engineering technologies, marketing, communications, and the service industries.
In 1965-1966 . . .
Five members comprised the board team: Roy Kumm, president; Theron Cartwright, vice president; Louis
Youngman, secretary; John Kennedy, and Superintendent of La Crosse Public Schools Henry Schwandt.
Following the resignation of Arthur F. Jordan, a search was underway for his replacement, and on June 21, 1965, the
Vocational Board approved the employment of Charles G. Richardson for the 1965-66 school year. Mr. Richardson
signed the contract and presented the same to the Board stating that he would be available to start official duties as
director beginning August 1, 1965. Mr. Jordan continued to serve the Vocational School in an effort to
accommodate a smooth transition for the new director.
In September 1965, a major bill was signed by Governor Warren P. Knowles, which gave Wisconsin a statewide
system of vocational and technical schools and revamped the State Coordinating Committee for Higher Education.
(The committee, established in 1955, was the policy-making agency for the state’s vast system of higher education.
The reorganization cut its membership from 19 to 17 and placed control in the hands of nine citizen members.
Other provisions of the reorganization gave the committee an executive director and a staff independent from the
state university and vocational school.) It was reported that Knowles called the vocational and technical school bill
the piece of 1965 legislation that “pleased him most.”
This legislation put all areas of Wisconsin into vocational, technical and adult education districts by July 1, 1970.
A seven-member school board, appointed by either governmental or school officials from within the district would
administer the school.
The new law of carving the State of Wisconsin into comparatively few districts was not without its difficulties.
It was anticipated that among them would be the resistance of some rural localities to the idea of becoming liable,
for the first time, to the vocational school tax of up to two mills on equalized valuation. Another was rivalry among
communities for selection as the central location for the major vocational school programs, or
the desire of some regions to be organized into a district in spite of the view of the professional educators that
another alignment, and possibly a larger district, would be preferable.
State Director Clarence L. Greiber asked for clarification of a law enacted during the 1965 legislative session. Two
questions posed by Greiber, and the corresponding opinions of Attorney General Bronson La Follette, were:
QUESTIONS OPINION
1. What is the minimum age for enrollment in
vocational schools?
2. What is the significance of the minimum age in
relation to the districts’ ability to get state aids
and to levy local taxes?
Wisconsin vocational schools must offer enrollment to all
persons residing in their districts who are 16 years of age
or over and who are not required by law to attend another
school.
Schools offering enrollment to persons under 16 years of
age would still be able to levy a local tax and also be
entitled to state aid.
Historically, the Wisconsin vocational school system was one of the pioneers in the country. But, for the most part,
it had been an urban-oriented program, supported by cities on their own local tax bases.
To further complicate the redistricting process, a resolution endorsing community college development in Wisconsin
was presented to the State Coordinating Committee for Higher Education (CCHE) on March 10, 1966. The resolution,
offered by former Governor Walter J. Kohler, asked that the Coordinating Committee

“reaffirm its existing policy relative to the creation” of two-year higher educational institutions offering both
technical and liberal arts courses. The Coordinating Committee had previously recommended that community
colleges be built at Rice Lake, Wisconsin Rapids, and Rhinelander. Wisconsin. Board President Philip E. Lerman told
the subcommittee “the resolution was a pleasant surprise to him . . . this document, whether adopted now or later,
will be the basis of how the Coordinating Committee and the Systems (UW and Vocational) look at needs for two
year post-high-school education . . . if it’s today or if it’s tomorrow, we have
to face this question in the very near future.”
In a meeting on August 14, 1966, at the La Crosse State University, closer cooperation between Coleman Technical
Institute and the university was proposed to the State Coordinating Committee on Higher Education. La Crosse
State University President Samuel Gates made the proposal at an informal meeting of the University Board of
Regents and other interested persons. Gates made his suggestion while discussing “course(s)” for persons
interested in more than technical training, but not interested in a liberal arts degree. He pointed out that the
proximity of the two institutions to one another would make the program a convenient one for students of both
schools. Those attending the meeting agreed that the proposal was not aimed at taking over the functions of the
vocational institute, but that the program would be designed for the university to offer courses to complement a
technical training course. The Vice President of Business Affairs at the La Crosse State University also indicated
that Coleman Technical Institute officials had already asked the university to aid in housing students, and that this
was another area where the schools could cooperate and avoid duplication in constructing dormitories. In
November 1967, cooperation between the two school systems was explored. Top administrators of nine Wisconsin
state universities and of vocational-technical schools in Wisconsin planned to work together to meet the needs of
Wisconsin high school graduates. Some of the questions that officials from the two systems would explore were:
� Can vocational-technical school students take some courses as part of their programs at state universities, such
as an electronics student taking basic English at a near-by university?
� Can state university students take some courses as part of their programs at vocational-technical schools, such as
a business administration student taking a course in data processing and computers at a vocational-technical
school?
� How can state universities quickly prepare teachers with the necessary qualifications and work experience for
vocational-technical schools?
With a state vocational school districting bill enacted and the probabilities of Coleman Vocational School becoming a
technical school, both the recently retired Director Jordan and new Director Richardson saw big things for the
school:
� Bigger campus;
� Greater enrollment; and
� More complex program offerings.
Noting that technical education would be more important as American society becomes more complex, former
Director Arthur A. Jordan said, “We’ll need space for laboratories and facilities to accommodate our expanding
enrollment and new programs – some of which may not even be known today . . . 95 percent of the materials that
will be used in the year 2000 don’t even exist today . . . we need to start building a library of 20,000 volumes to meet
certification criteria . . . we can’t teach the needs of the modern world with less than the latest of all types of
laboratory equipment.”
Director Charles Richardson envisioned a significant increase in enrollment in a matter of years. The school’s
enrollment in 1964-65 was 520 and was expected to increase in 1965-66. “All of us know that persons need some
type of specialized training to be employed now,” said Richardson. “It’ll be more so in the future. Vocational
schools will be responsible for that training.”
A Civic Center was proposed in mid-September of 1965. The plan, intended as a guide, was prepared by the city’s
planning consultants, Candeub, Fleissig, Adley and Associates. The project area, just northwest of the downtown
area, is bounded by La Crosse, State, Fourth and Seventh Streets. The architect’s sketch showed both the existing
and proposed buildings from Seventh to Fourth Streets and from State Street to La Crosse Street. On the sketch
between Seventh and Sixth Street were First Federal, the Ivy Motel (corner of Sixth and Vine Streets that became the
WWTC Residence Hall in 1998); the Vocational School, the Hixon House and the triangular grass plot from Badger to
La Crosse Streets. The west side of Sixth Street indicated space for Commercial or Federal Offices on State Street
(later the Post Office); the former Mary E. Sawyer Auditorium and an adjacent space for a Public Plaza between Vine
and Pine; and north of Pine Street the Courthouse and the City Hall site. The Redevelopment Authority had
earmarked the block (except for the Hixon House) for the Vocational School.

“Developing a modern vocational, technical and adult school on a piece of land this small would take some real planning,”
State Vocational School Director Clarence L. Greiber said in a letter to Jordan. “We’ll just have to build higher structures,”
said Director Richardson. The State Vocational Director Greiber, however, suggested, “that if Coleman Vocational can’t
get Civic Center space, it should consider a campus type school with 100 acres or so on the outskirts of the city, as have
Kenosha and Eau Claire.”
So that the school could expand, the Coleman Vocational Board sought to obtain two additional blocks in the Civic
Center that was proposed for development in downtown La Crosse, and which would have given the school about
nine acres of ground.
In 1965, new technical programs were coming into focus along with the employment of staff. It was planned that the
Vocational School would continue to offer its vocational, evening, extension and retraining courses – and the technical
program was something new that would be offered. The Wisconsin Board of VTAE held ad hoc committee meetings in
several of the technical education areas. One of the purposes of these meetings was to advise the Wisconsin Board on
the need for, and suggested location of any new associate degree programs.
At Coleman Vocational School, programs in Electronics, Business Education (Accounting and Secretarial training) and
Mechanical Drafting and Technical Design were being upgraded in efforts to qualify for accreditation. The
programs planned to be added were Data Processing and Auto Mechanics. Other areas of focus were: Air
Conditioning and Refrigeration Technology, the remodeling of the Coleman Building for starting the Health
Occupations programs of Dental Assistant and Medical Assistant; Building Construction Technology; General
Education, as well as Automotive Technology.
Coleman Vocational School was just a step away from satisfying the “all-school requirements” to be certified as a technical
school by the Wisconsin Board of Vocational, Technical and Adult Education (VTAE). Accreditation by the Wisconsin
Board of VTAE is to state vocational schools what accreditation by the North Central Association is to colleges and high
schools.
Part of the requirements of program development were fulfilled in school year 1964 with the hiring of an instructor to
teach Technical Mathematics for all departments (Harry Hutchison), and a Business Education teacher to develop Sales and
Marketing courses (Dean Morton). Following other recommendations, the
school hired more teachers to reduce teaching loads and allow more preparation and equipment maintenance time; and a
teacher (Germain Davison) was named to develop, supervise and coordinate the evening school. In-service training for
teachers, another shortcoming, became the job of staff committees who called upon outside specialists. The State
certification process and new program offerings required more teachers. In the fall 1965-66 school year, the number of
staff increased to 45 administrators and instructors; 7 clerical; and 7 custodians.
Staffing included:
Administrators/Instructors
Charles G. Richardson, Director
Leota Archer, Communication Skills
James Becker, Machine Shop
Gladys Bethurem, Business Education
James Bice, Electronics
James Boots, Data Processing and
Business Math
Donald C. Branson, Plumbing
Richard Butkiewicz, Machine Shop
Florence Campbell, Practical Nursing
William Campbell, Guidance and
Counseling
Nancy Clayton, Home Economics
Germain A. Davison, General Subject and
Evening School Supervisor
Joseph DeMeulenaere, Rural Electrification
Administration
Robert C. Fritz, Printing Products
Assistant
Paul Garness, Business Education
Assistant
Clifford Gunderson, Auto Body
Leander Hammerla, Electrical
Harold Hawkins, General Metal
Ansel Heram, Cabinetmaking
Ralph Hermann, Mechanical Design
Technology
George Hinkley, Welding
Harry Hutchison, Business Education
Coordinator
O. Ray Ihle, General Shop
Meta Jonas, Remedial Subjects
Victor E. Larsen, Trades and Industry
Coordinator
Robert Maas, Mechanical Design
Technology
Richard Maki, Auto Mechanics
Dallas S. Moser, Barber Science
Dean Morton, Distributive and Business
Education
Marie Peterson, Business Education
Richard Post, Homecraft
Hedwig Rekow, Business Education
John Roecker, Technical Math and
Science
Joyce Rosso, Business Math
Ronald Russell, Data Processing,
Communication Skills and
Accounting
Maddeline Schuldes, Coordinator of
Practical Nursing
Eugene Schumann, Steamfitting
Alph M. Sorenson, Printing
Carl J. Stori, Business Education
Neal Stromstad Auto Mechanics
Joyce A. Stroup, Psychology and Human
Relations and American
Institutions
William Temte, Technical Science
Dale Tessmer, Business Manager
Barbara Walter, Teacher-Coordinator,
Homemaking
William Welch, Electronics
Clerical Personnel
Marion Baler
Mary Boardman
Eileen Johnson
Elsie McDowell
Marian Meinert
Patricia Peyton
Dorothy Stromstad
Custodians
Clifford Dansberry
James Kellicutt
Glen Kircheis
Raymond Myers
Carl Panke
Russell Rick
Harry Sweet

A drawback in the planning and promoting of technical programs was that of teacher salaries. The low salary
schedule, which the state evaluation committee stated should be higher, posed a problem. To qualify for
accreditation, the Vocational School teachers in accredited programs must be college graduates with teaching and
technical experience. Until now, the Vocational School had offered the same salaries as the La Crosse School
District -- $7,200 for a teacher with a bachelors degree and 13 years experience, and $7,900 for one with a masters
and 13 years of experience. And, it was expressed that “we might be able to start our teachers at that rate . . .
but with those qualifications, teachers either don’t come to vocational at all or leave after a few years for industry.
The school could hire high school graduates, but they become vocational instructors, not technical instructors.”
Once the all-school shortcomings were resolved, the specific programs would be evaluated for subject content,
selection of students, staff qualification, facilities, and placement record.
At that time, Practical Nurse training had been approved so graduates could be certified; and, in cooperation with
the La Crosse Dental Association, the school conducted a 104-hour pilot course for dental assistants. After three
years of experience, the Dental Assistant graduates could be certified. It was in the planning that both the
Practical Nursing and the Dental Assistant programs would become permanent programs of the school. It was just
a matter of staffing an instructor and an assistant instructor before the programs would be offered.
Wisconsin high school graduates who resided in the Vocational School district were entitled to attend the school
with no tuition charge. Nonresident students of the district and resident students who found that the local school
did not offer the course of their choice were entitled to attend a vocational school that did offer such a course with
the tuition paid by the resident district if the student was a Wisconsin resident under 21.
On September 8, 1965, the opening day of school, Director Richardson greeted the new students at a general
assembly. The following courses were offered that school year:
Trades and Industry Auto body, auto mechanics, cabinetmaking, mechanical design technology,
electronics, general metals, general shop, machine shop, printing, sheet metal and
welding
Business Education Accounting, secretarial science, business machines, data processing, key punch
operator, tabulating machine operator, general clerical and stenographic
Distributive Education Marketing, salesmanship and advertising
The new courses in the fall of 1965 were: Data Processing, Keypunch Operator, Tabulating Machine Operator and
Distributive Education.
Monday – September 20, 1965 – The Wisconsin Board of Vocational and Adult Education certified that the Coleman
Vocational School, La Crosse met all evaluation requirements of the board. A five-man committee appointed by the
board recommended in February 1964, after reviewing the school’s activities, that such certification be delayed until the
administrative staff at Coleman could be augmented with personnel assigned to certain areas. Those areas included
business functions, evening school programs, student services, program development and work service training.
Members of the evaluating team included Sam Lavine, Director of Wisconsin VTAE; Ray Van Der Weele, Office Education
Supervisor at Sheboygan VTAE; William Mitchell of Eau Claire State University; Lance M. Hooper of Manitowoc; Edward
Kochevar, Superior; Oscar LaBude, Eau Claire; Jack W. Smythe, Business and Distributive Education at the Wisconsin Board
of VTAE; and Walter A. Chojnowski, Supervisor of Business Education for the Wisconsin VTAE Board.
The accreditation permitted the school to confer associate degrees in applied arts and applied science for the
technical curriculum approved by the state. To become classified as a technical institute, the La Crosse school had
to offer at least four programming areas. The programs had to be approved by the Coordinating Committee for
Higher Education and accredited by the Wisconsin Board of Vocational, Technical and Adult Education. The four
programs, which were offered at La Crosse during the 1965-66 school year, were Business Administration
(Accounting), Business Administration (Secretarial) Electronic Technology, and Mechanical Drafting. The two
business administration programs conferred degrees in applied arts, while the electronic technology and mechanical
design programs led to an associate degree in applied science.
A business education advisory committee was formed in October of 1965. Its purpose … to get recommendations
and suggestions from employers and employees on the Accounting associate degree program and
the prospective degree program in Secretarial Science. The committee could also be asked to assist in the selection,
purchase and installation of equipment, in the preparation of lessons, and in developing methods of instruction.

The four persons comprising the Accounting Advisory Committee were James O. Ash, certified public accountant,
Hawkins, Ash and Baptie Company; A. B. Clark, division accountant, La Crosse Telephone Company; Oliver T. Mann,
manager of general accounting and data processing, Trane Company; and Warner Schueppel, controller, Gateway
Grocery Co. (1637 St. James Street.) Members of the committee for the secretarial program were Elmer Berg,
administrator, Gundersen Clinic; Joan Davis, secretary to the controller, Trane Company; Mrs. Claude Harris, certified
professional secretary, WKBT-TV; Lynden Gjerde, office manager, Heileman Brewing Company, and George Sarazin,
manager, employee and community relations at Allis-Chalmers (501 North Third Street.)
In 1965, day school enrollment at Coleman Technical Institute numbered about 390 students. In the fall of 1965,
enrollment in the evening school program numbered 2,203. There were 123 adults enrolled who were taking
credits in the hopes of obtaining a high school diploma in the spring. Courses of study included fundamentals of
receivers and transistors, television theory, industrial electronics, slide rule, machine shop, blueprint reading for
carpenters, mechanical drafting, conversational French, millwork for carpenters, cash register training, photography,
advanced accounting, automotive care for women, aviator instrument training, and citizenship training for aliens.
Day and evening homemaking classes included baking; general, beginning and casual clothing; psychology of dress;
fur remodeling; costume millinery; and home mechanics.
September 1965 marked the date of the first La Crosse Chapter of DECA at Coleman, with membership of the entire
Marketing department, which consisted of 12 students. The chapter was chartered at the annual state leadership
conference in March 1966. Dean Morton was the advisor of the first year of the chapter’s operation.
In October 1965, a braille flag was presented to the Coulee Region White Cane Club of La Crosse, an organization
devoted to aiding the blind. The flag, three by five feet in size, was the work of a La Crosse housewife, Mrs. Harold
Strong, inspired by a retired schoolteacher, Mrs. Mae Morgan. The 50 white stars were hand embroidered and
padded to stand out from the blue cotton field, and the 13 stripes were divided into seven of red velvet and six of
white satin. The net result was a braille flag for the visually handicapped -- having a flag they can recognize is
another way in which Club members try to lead a normal life. Ray Plamadore, manager of the Mary E. Sawyer
Auditorium and president of the White Cane Club, said, “nine members (of the Club) were in their second year of
typing class at the Coleman Vocational School.” Instructor Lillian Obriecht, taught the blind to type by dictation.
“More Cars, Not Enough Mechanics” was the caption of a full-page photo in the Sunday, October 17, 1965 “Family
Magazine” section of the La Crosse Tribune. A shortage of automobile mechanics was plaguing dealers and service
garages throughout the nation, and La Crosse was no exception to the rule. The number of automobiles on the
road had increased rapidly, but the problem of maintaining them mechanically was of concern to garage owners who
needed good mechanics. Shown in that picture working on a universal joint was Dave Woodworth of Sparta, and
Steve Kemmitzer of Fennimore, who were in a class learning the auto mechanics trade at Coleman.
Oktoberfest U.S.A. -- This year (1965) John B. Coleman presided as Festmaster. Coleman retired in 1963 after 47
years as director of the Vocational School which bears his name.
In November 1965, the Coleman Vocational Homemaking Club met in the small auditorium. Everett Goli presented
a program on “Travel Made Easy.”
In November 1965, the Wisconsin Vocational Board adopted rules that would prohibit department employees from
taking outside jobs without expressed approval by the State Director. The rule prohibited the taking of any job that
would involve a conflict of interest or would impair their function as Wisconsin Board employees. Honorariums for
speaking engagement and similar services were accepted under the new rules, but they required the State Director’s
approval.
In November 1965, Superintendent of Schools Edsel Vergin of Sparta, named a committee to study the possibility of
establishing a vocational-technical school for the Monroe-Jackson County area. About 30 persons attended the
meeting. It was brought out that a minimum of 250 students would have to be enrolled before the school could
become economically feasible, and that placing the territory in the expanding La Crosse system would be a more
logical solution since the school has 800 enrolled and offered a more varied course of training. At that time, Sparta
had eight students enrolled in the La Crosse school at a tuition cost of $2,450. Robert Ringdahl of Northern
Engraving, in Sparta, stated that expanding vocational night classes at Tomah and Sparta to include specific training
for area industries would greatly benefit his concern.

On December 2, 1965, Director Richardson spoke to the Rotary Club in the Hotel Stoddard (then on the corner of
Fourth and State Streets) on “What is the Need for Vocational and Technical Education.” Director Richardson
pointed out the implications in the actual and projected population growth in the United States. The fact that
there were more “white collar” workers than “blue” is part of the reason for the “crisis in American education,”
he said.
In December 1965, Coleman Vocational School was designated by the Wisconsin Board to develop programs for the
training of Dental and Medical Assistants. With the completion of the new Practical Nurse laboratory at the school,
the first class for training Licensed Practical Nurses started in June 1966.
In early January 1966, courses in auto mechanics, electronics and clerk stenography for out of school unemployed
youth were offered through the Wisconsin State Employment Service (WSES) and Coleman Vocational School.
Selection for persons for the program was handled by the La Crosse WSES Office, and the courses, part of the
Training Act, were held at Coleman. Qualified youths were eligible to receive a $20 a week allowance during the
courses, which lasted approximately 35 to 40 weeks.
January 1966 – Coleman Technical Institute was selected as a pilot school to offer courses in hotel-motel front office
procedures, housekeeping and waitress training in evening extension courses, with plans to expand into a full-time
program. Following the completion of the eight-week waitress-training course, nineteen waitresses received
certificates. They were:
Sister M. Amata, FSPA
Sister Joseph Clare,
FSPA
Arlene Barnes
Freda Blumer
Edith Domstrich
Louise Ender
Margaret Forer
Marvel Greene
Alice Hall
Marge Hauer
Nancy Kaiser
Diane Kowal
Jane Kowal
Harriet Lueck
Frances Murphy
Jean Reid
Cleon Selbrede
Mary Sheetz
Kathleen Tauscher
The 1966 proposed budget for Coleman Technical Institute was $692,289.59. More teachers and anticipated salary
increases of 5 to 10 percent accounted for the major share of the $145,400 increase in the budget over 1965. The
school’s offerings were expanding, and more teachers were expected to be added. The school’s budget also
contained $30,000 for remodeling in the small auditorium for a school library, and for offices. In the accreditation
process, one of the requirements set by the Wisconsin Board was a central library. At Coleman, each department
had its own library. With the increase in programming in June 1966, the Board authorized Director Richardson to
hire an architect to study and make preliminary plans for the expansion of the Vocational School. In December
1965, bids were authorized for remodeling for a library, and Director Richardson was authorized to hire architects.
In 1965-66, the school converted part of the small auditorium in the 1961automotive wing into a library. Annette
Niederkorn, formerly head librarian of the Port Washington Public Library, was hired to set up the new library in the
Coleman building.
January 1966, several new evening school classes began, including advanced typing, auto mechanics for women,
basic English, brainstorming sales, fortran and computers, geometry for the machine trades, income tax-o-rama,
modern math II, small engine and out boardmotors, technical writing designed for engineers and technicians, and
others. An extension course in Principles of Technical and Adult Education was offered.
The two-credit course was taught by Bruce Walley, assistant professor of industrial teacher education at Stout State
University.
In January 1966, the Coleman Vocational School participated in basketball with other vocational schools to form a
vocational-technical school league in Wisconsin. League participants were Appleton, Kenosha, Milwaukee, Racine,
Waukesha, Wisconsin Rapids, Eau Claire, Madison, Sheboygan and La Crosse, with all home games at the Mary E.
Sawyer Auditorium. Because of the late season start, there were 3 home and 3 out-of-town games. There were
17 boys on the La Crosse roster: Steve Welch, Harlan Thorson, Roger Misch, John Reinhard, Tom Puent, Dennis
Erpenback, Jim Hegge, Jim Harrison, Tom Kloss, Rich Halderman, Tom Hinytzke, Dennis Moris, Jim Tracy, Ed Parer,
Leo Fronk, Bob Terpening, and Bill Thoftne. Dean Morton was acting coach. The results of the games were:
Jan. 11 - at Madison
Jan. 21 -Wisconsin Rapids
L: 94-73
W: 68-36
Jan. 24- at Wausau
Feb. 7- Madison
W: 74-54
L: 76-67
Feb. 11 -at Wisconsin Rapids
Feb. 14 -Wausau
W: 93-63
W: 73-64

In February 1966, the Wisconsin Board, following a two-day inspection of the program by a nine-man committee,
approved the Electronics program. The committee members included: a representative from higher education
(the Platteville State University); two from other vocational schools (Oshkosh and Sheboygan); two from industry
(Trane Company and Control Data Corporation); two from the employee segment (an electronics technician with the
Federal Aviation Agency and an engineer with IBM); and two from the Wisconsin Board (Arnold Potthast and George
Kinsler). The approval meant that Coleman Vocational School could award associate degrees in applied science to
students completing the two-year course, with degrees being awarded beginning in June 1968.
New Name: Coleman Technical Institute
In 1966 -- As La Crosse was one of the first cities in Wisconsin to meet the state requirements for a technical
institute, the local Vocational Board approved of the name change from “vocational school” to Coleman Technical
Institute. The accreditation permitted the school to confer associate degrees in applied arts and applied science
for the technical curriculum approved by the state. To become classified as a technical institute, the La Crosse
school had to offer at least four programming areas. The programs had to be approved by the Coordinating
Committee for Higher Education and accredited by the State Board of Vocational, Technical and Adult Education.
The four programs, which were offered at La Crosse during the 1965-66 school year, were Business Administration
(Accounting), Business Administration (Secretarial) Electronic Technology, and Mechanical Drafting. The two
business administration programs conferred degrees in applied arts, while the electronic technology and mechanical
design programs led to an associate degree in applied science.
On March 3, 1966, President Lyndon Johnson signed the Veterans Readjustment Benefits Act of 1966. This new
piece of legislation affected veterans with more than 180 days of active military service since January 31, 1955, the
expiration of the Korean War G.I. Bill. The bill provided for a state-approving agency set up by the governor for the
purpose of evaluating and approving courses at schools veterans can attend using funds provided by the new
legislation. Coleman Technical Institute was one of the first schools to be approved for training veterans taking
advantage of the new bill’s benefits.
On March 30 and 31, 1966, a team of technologists and educators evaluated the school’s Mechanical Design
program. The evaluation was part of the overall review by the Wisconsin Board for designating Coleman a
technical institute. A photograph in the March 31 La Crosse Tribune showed Eugene Peterson of
Onalaska, a student, being questioned by three members of the team: Roy Lindberg of the University of Wisconsin;
Sidney Wall, an engineer at DeLuxe Engineering Company at 327 North Front Street; and William Rastall, a tool and
die maker at Trane Company.
On April 1, the Western Wisconsin Education Association Teachers’ Convention was held. The main centers of
activity were in the Mary E. Sawyer Auditorium, and at the Coleman Technical Institute where displays were
exhibited and the majority of the sectional and roundtables were held.
Beginning April 4, 1966 and continuing for 37 weeks, a special Machine Operation course was offered, through the
Wisconsin State Employment Service in La Crosse, for youths 16-21 under the Manpower Development and Training
Act of 1962. This was a special training program for that age group, who was unemployed or underemployed and
lacked the necessary funds for additional education.
On April 14-16, the 3 rd District Republican Party, caucused in La Crosse and unanimously endorsed Vernon Thompson
for a fourth term in the U. S. House of Representatives. Delegates from the 15 counties in the district also adopted
a set of resolutions, among them two calling for amendments to the U. S. Constitution: the Dirksen amendment to
permit states to apportion one house of a legislature on a basis other than population, and the Kerr amendment for
voluntary prayer in public schools. Approximately 300 delegates attended. Heading the list of speakers at the
Saturday, April 16, caucus was Governor Warren P. Knowles, Congressman Vernon W. Thompson, and GOP State
Party Chair Ody Fish of Hartford.
What are you doing Friday, April 15? An Open House was held at the Coleman Technical Institute to show off
displays and demonstrations held in the school’s seven departments: Adult Education, Distributive Education,
Trade & Industrial Education, Technical Education, Business Education, Homemaking Education, and Health and
Service Education. There were activities in 35 rooms of the three-story Coleman building. And remember,
“Education Doesn’t Cost, It Pays!”
On April 21, 1966, the Wisconsin Technical College Conference was officially formed.

La Crosse – All America City
The future lies ahead . . . In April of 1966, La Crosse was named an All America City. Out of 142 entries,
La Crosse was one of four midwest cities and one of 13 in the nation to receive this award. Following an economic
slump from the closing of two major industries (the Electric Auto Lite Plant at 621 Gillette Street with a peak
employment of 1,600 closed in 1959, and the Northern Engraving and Manufacturing Company at 303-319 North
Fourth Street which employed about 1,000 closed in 1961) there was a concerted effort on redeveloping the City of
La Crosse. A partial list of developments included: the Trane Company construction of an engineering and
administrative building; a number of townhouses were being built; buildings were constructed for the elderly; the
Wisconsin State University had increased enrollment and subsequent need for buildings; expansion of the La Crosse
Public Library; a new junior high school adjacent to Logan High School and a new high school was scheduled for the
south end of La Crosse; a K-Mart store opened in the Village; as well as plans for the development of a civic center.
On May 13, 1966, the La Crosse All America City recognition days started officially at 8:30 p.m. Fifth Avenue, from
Main to Jay Streets, was the scene of a free street dance with five musical groups performing. All orchestras and
bands were stationed on flatbed trucks. Among the performing groups, and stationed between Jay and Main
Streets, was the new 14-piece Coleman Cavaliers swing band.
May 6, 1966 – Henry Schwandt, Superintendent of La Crosse City District Public Schools, died unexpectedly while
attending the State Elementary School Principals Convention in Sheboygan, Wisconsin. Since 1912, the position of
Superintendent of Public Schools also served as a member of the Vocational Board.
On May 11-13, 1966, a Rehabilitative Nursing Techniques Workshop was held at Coleman Technical Institute. In
addition to the Coleman Technical Institute Practical Nursing Program, the La Crosse Lutheran Hospital and Saint
Francis Hospital participated.
May 16, 1966, women of the Wisconsin Vocational Homemaking Clubs met for a workshop meeting. Advisor of the
Club was Barbara Walter, coordinator of Home Economics.
May 20, 1966, Coleman Vocational finished second in the golf meet in the Wisconsin Technical College Conference
quadrangular at the Lawsonia course in Green Lake, Wisconsin. Tom Hinytzke took medalist honors with an 84; Jim
Tracy a 100; Roger Reichwein and Bud Miyamoto each 104 – for total strokes of 392. Dean Morton was the coach.
In May 1966, seven of 23 students enrolled in the past year in the extension course for Dental Assistants passed the
National Board examination for certification as Dental Assistants. Requirements for eligibility to take the test, in
addition to the course at Coleman, were two years of practical experience as a dentist’s assistant. Victor E. Larsen,
Supervisor of Instructional Services, worked with Dr. Ross in establishing the course. Dr. Roy J. Buehrle was the
dentist in charge of giving the examination for certification. He was assisted by Dr. Ross and by Dr. Richard J.
Strand. Those certified as Dental Assistants were:
Judie Preston, La Crosse
Mary Prudhome, La Crosse
Judy Becker, La Crosse
Jackie Oliver, La Crosse
Diane Dovonio La Crosse
Lorraine Hansen, La Crosse
Barbara Servais, Coon Valley
On June 2, 1966, the service fraternity (Tau Iota Upsilon) of Coleman Vocational School cleaned up Pettibone Beach.
The beach was badly littered over the Memorial Day weekend. Members of the fraternity turned out with a truck
to haul away the trash.
Five six-week summer school courses started June 13 included classes for: Pre-technical Mathematics,
Pre-technical Science, Introductory Typing, Stenoscript, and English Fundamental Review. The pre-technical
courses were planned to prepare new students for regular subjects in the fall. Summer school tuition was paid for
Wisconsin residents under 21 and for those over 21 and living in La Crosse City School District. Students over 21
living outside the La Crosse City School District, tuition of 50 cents a day per summer school course was charged.
All students paid a $2 enrollment fee.
In June 1996, the Wisconsin Board allotted scholarship funds to schools offering associate degree and
transfer programs. The allotments were made on the basis of $166,300 to be shared among all such institutions.
Sharing was done on the basis of $21.88 for each student enrolled. Coleman Technical institute received $4,157.
A New Look for “The Accolade”

In 1965 the students voted on renaming and redesigning their student newspaper. A name was researched and
decided on. The new publication was christened, “The Accolade”. The word “accolade” means the giving of
recognition for special merit, and is derived from the medieval ceremony or salute customary in the conferring of
knighthood.
1966 brought about a new look for “The Accolade.” The publication, a quarterly magazine, included information
for and about students, alumni, faculty, administration and related instructional programs, services and activities.
The publications staff of The Accolade was made up primarily of students of the Graphic Communication
Department, and from personnel throughout the school who volunteered their journalistic services when special
editions of the magazine were devoted to an organization, a division or department of the school. Faculty advisors
of the school’s departments and organizations also contributed. Richard Westpfahl, who then was a student in the
two-year Printing Program, was editor in 1966 and 1967.
The “Firsts” for 1965-1966
Among the “Firsts for 1965-1966” school year were:
� First accreditation in our technical programs include: Accounting, Secretarial, Mechanical Design, and Electronics
� First Library (containing technical and vocational reference material.)
� First Student Center (for use by students for class breaks, lunch hours, and after school activities such as mixers
and formal dances.)
� First Intercollegiate Basketball Team
� First Intercollegiate Golf Team
� First Scholarships (independently supported scholarships offered by local business firms and service
organizations)
� First General Student Loan Fund (established through contributions from local service and fraternal organization
donations.)
� First Work Study Program was initiated through governmental support (whereby qualified students were
employed by the school for help in the business offices, on the maintenance staff, and in other areas.)
� First Trade & Industrial Fraternity
� First Year as an approved Technical Institute
� First Student Bulletin
� First Awards Day
� First Year book
LaTech, Volume One
� In the spring of 1966, Volume One of LaTech, a Coleman Technical Institute yearbook, was published.
� Included was:
� In addition to the Director, there were eight administrative positions; a 39 faculty, 8 secretaries; and 7
custodians.
� Board members included (two employers, two employees and a school district administrator.)
� Programs included Auto Body, Auto Mechanics, Cabinetmaking, Distributive Education, Drafting, Electronics,
Machine Shop, Printing, Sheet Metal, Welding, and Home Economics. Health Occupations began at Coleman
Technical Institute with the first Practical Nursing program starting June 20, 1966.
� Two evaluation boards (representing industry, schools, and the State Vocational Board) visited the school and
recommended accreditation of the Accounting and Secretarial programs. This meant that Coleman Technical
Institute could offer associate degrees to those completing two-year programs.
� Activities included the Coleman Choristers; Music Makers (a band); Delta Eta Tau, a social fraternity of persons
from the Electronics and Mechanical Design departments; Tau Iota Upsilon, a Trades and Industry Fraternity;
“The Accolade,” a student publication; the Student Council, a governing body.
� Extracurricular activities included basketball; Cheerleaders; a Queen Candidate contest for the Sweetheart Dance
(the queen being crowned by the previous year’s queen).
In 1965-1966 events in the Auditorium included . . .

1965
March 14 The Coleman Vocational and Adult Schools Civic Choir presented its annual concert under the
direction of Elvin M. Saterbak.
April 4 Shirley Verrett appeared in concert with the La Crosse Symphony Orchestra. Eric Schee was
the conductor, and Jon Olson, piano soloist.
June 10 Graduation
State Director Clarence Greiber was the keynote speaker at the Coleman Vocational School
graduation in a ceremony that took place at 2 p.m. One hundred one persons graduated from
one- and two-year programs.
The programs from which the candidates graduated were:
Business Administration - 8
Secretarial Science - 25
General Clerical - 8
Business Machines - 9
Electronics - 8
Mechanical Drafting - 5
Machine Shop - 3
Cabinetmaking - 4
Auto Mechanics - 5
Sheet Metal - 4
Auto Body - 6
Print Shop - 10
General Shop - 4
Homemaking - 2
101
September Paul Rader, an international radio preacher, conducted a non-denominational area-wide Christian
5-8
campaign.
November A two-week National Security Seminar, in conjunction with the Industrial College of the Armed
1-12
Forces, was held with 33 lectures delivered by a five-man military team. Each lecturer, a specialist
in his field, was a military officer on the faculty of the Industrial War College of the Armed Forces in
Washington D. C. The seminar provided an opportunity to learn more about the world we live in
and the problems our nation faces. Mayor Warren Loveland proclaimed November 1-12 as
National Security Seminar Week and encouraged citizens to take advantage of learning about the
nation’s security status. The seminar was under the auspices of the Greater La Crosse Chamber
of Commerce. Speakers were: Capt. William B. Oliver; Army Col. Daniel C. Bird; Air Force Col.
Robert T. Hof; Army Lt. Col. Carl E. Pister; and Marine col. William L. Flake. Governor Warren P.
Knowles gave the keynote address at the opening session on November 1. In preparation for the
seminar, a C-119 “Flying Boxcar” was emptied of about 1½ tons of equipment at the La Crosse
Municipal Airport. Volunteers and crewmen loaded the material onto a truck for shipment to
Coleman Technical Institute.
November The Goldovsky Opera Theater gave a performance of “Don Giovanni” by Mozart to a full house in
13
the Coleman Auditorium. The production was brought to La Crosse by the La Crosse Community
Concert Association.
November A concert was presented by the La Crosse Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Eric Schee. Soloists
14
for the night were Gary Karr, a sensational young double string base virtuoso, and Isabelle Ruetten,
a talented local pianist. Karr was heard with the orchestra in a “Fantasie on Airs” by Bellini. His
performance of this selection on television’s Telephone Hour won him an immediate
re-engagement in that highly lauded program. Ms. Ruetten’s solo was “Piano Concerto in A
Minor, written for piano and orchestra. An estimated 1,000 persons attended the concert.
December 5 Handel’s “Messiah” was presented. Dr. William V. Estes, directed the 85-voice chorus and
instrumental ensemble.
December 9 The La Crosse State University Lecture and Concert Series presented The Dave Brubek jazz quartet
(piano, alto saxophone, drum, and string bass) in concert in the Coleman Auditorium to a sellout
crowd of 1,300 persons that “listened attentively to a program that centered around pianist
Brubeck.”
1966

January A first-time showing in La Crosse, a two-hour “Safari in Alaska,” with excitement galore on
8-10
outstanding fishing trips, game hunting, along with beautiful scenes.
February 6 The La Crosse Symphony presented a concert featuring pianist Carroll Chilton with the orchestra in
Mozart’s “Concerto No. 20 in D Minor.”
February 12 The La Crosse State University Lectures and Concert Committee sponsored the Pulitzer Prize
winning show, “The Subject Was Roses.” New York stars Liz Ross, Dennis O’Keefe and
Peter Duryea were in La Crosse for the one-night stand.
February 13 The Benedictine Sisters of Eau Claire presented “Happy Sounds.” The stage entertainment
presented the joy of work and living through poetry, prose, song and dance – a fantasia of sound
and color, in which music from Bach to the Beatles was featured. The La Crosse Tribune reviewer
stated, “it showed us how to enjoy our tasks, no matter how menial. It advised us on the heritage
left us, how we can leave even more to a world needing “happy sounds.” The show, a fund-raiser,
was offered to a capacity audience.
February 15 Kiwanis presented a color film on “New Zealand” and narrated by Bathie Stuart.
February 22 The Community Concert Association presented Jacob Latiner, a pianist, who made his debut at 19
and played with almost every major orchestra in America, as well as touring Europe and Australia
twice.
March 8 Kiwanis presented “This is Egypt,” a narrated color film by Jackson Winter.
March 15 “Preview of Spring,” was the theme of the La Crosse Lutheran Hospital Junior Auxiliary fashion
show. Auxiliary members teamed with professional models from Minneapolis to show the latest
styles and the colors of spring.
March 19 Metropolitan Opera star Cesare Valletti, a native of Rome, Italy, was the key performer with the La
Crosse Community Concert.
March 31 A family life forum, recommended for adults only and sponsored by the Catholic Family Life Bureau,
presented “Sex Education of Children – its application to teen age dating and early marriage” by Dr.
and Mrs. Jack C. Willke. The speakers informed the audience that “today’s U. S. society is pushing
its children up the maturity ladder too fast . . .” The forum was endorsed by the La Crosse County
Medical Society and four other associations.
April 1 The La Crosse Coordinating Committee for Civil Rights reported that the public lecture of
John Howard Griffin netted $700 for civil rights activities.
April 16 The “Roaring 20’s” was the Barbershoppers 20 th show at 8:00 p.m. Included among those
performing was a local group called “The Uncalled Four,” one of the few SPEBSQSA foursomes in
the nation that had an honest to goodness barber as a singer and which boasted over 50 years of
barbershop quartet singing; the “Coulee Chordsman Chorus,” the “Razz-Ma-Tazz,” the “My Gal Sal,”
the “Chordbuster’s March,” and the “The Fest Towners” as well as
the Ellefson Brothers of Wausau, the “Varieties” of Hinsdale, Illinois, and the “Auto Towners”
of Dearborn, Michigan. Songs included “Wait ‘Til the Sun Shines Nellie,” . . . “Rock a Bye
My Baby,” . . . “Where the Black-Eyed Susans Grow,” and “Bury Me Out on the Lone Prairie.”
Flivvers, coonskin coats, knee britches, Scott Fitzgerald and “doing the Charleston” filled
the hall.
April 17 Soloist with the La Crosse Symphony Orchestra was Itzahk Perlman, a violinist. The
La Crosse Vocational Civic Choir also was featured during the evening’s concert. Among the
selections, the choir sang Verdi’s “Te Deum.” The orchestra was conducted by Eric Schee, and
Jerry Kleinsasser was the choir director.
April 22-24 “Magic Land of Mother Goose,” a two-act play, featured the most beloved fairy tales and Mother
Goose characters. The fantasy came to life as the La Crosse Rotary Club sponsored a national road
company production of 30 storybook characters. Six performances were given: A Friday (April 22)
after school matinee at 4 p.m.; on Saturday at 10:30 a.m. and at 1:00 and 3:30 p.m.; and on Sunday
at 1:00 and 3:30 p.m. In conjunction with the stage performance, the La Crosse Rotary Club also
sponsored a parade on Monday, April 22, at 7:30 p.m. featuring characters of the cast. Among the
characters in the parade were: the Wicked Witch, Mother Goose, Prince Charming, Little Red
Riding Hood, Sleeping Beauty, Little Bo Beep, and Old King Cole. Other local participants included
Bozo the Clown, Miss Oktoberfest, La Crosse State University Band, Blackhawk Drum and Bugle
Corps, and the Blue Starts Drum and Bugle Corps.
April 26 The Winnepeg Symphony Orchestra presented a concert. The program was sponsored by
the Lectures and Concerts Committee of the La Crosse State University. The 65-member Winnepeg
Orchestra was conducted by Victor Felfbrill, and was one of 12 scheduled appearances in five states.
April 29-30 The Wisconsin Council of Teachers of English held its eighth annual convention in La Crosse, with
the opening session, a business and discussion meeting on Friday evening (the 29 th ) at 8:00 p.m.
Six sectional meetings were scheduled for Saturday morning along with workshops in the

afternoon.
May The Vocational School Choir and Pep Band presented a program at a recent meeting of the
La Crosse Optimist Club. Technical Science Instructor Bill Temte was director of the choir
and the band; and English Instructor Leota Archer was the accompanist for the choir.
May 22 The world famous Nicolo Marionettes presented “Aladdin & His Wonderful Lamp.”
The program was sponsored by La Crosse Jaycettes.
May 25-31 “The Restless Ones,” a film that portrays the social problems of teenagers, started a seven-day run.
A local committee made up of educators, parents, police officers, businessmen and church leaders
sponsored the film. The film was viewed by 1,000 at its premiere showing.
May 27 Commencement exercises were held for 69 Viterbo College seniors, with degrees awarded
to the largest class in Viterbo’s history.
June 3 Awards Day
� Musical Interlude Coleman Technical Institute Band
� Introduction Charles G. Richardson, Director
� Certificates of Appreciation to the School Board by Charles G. Richardson, Director
� Master of Ceremonies William Welch, Sr.
� Scholarships
� - One of the highlights of the program was the award of the first annual Accounting Scholarship sponsored
by the firm of Hawkins, Ash and Baptie, La Crosse Certified Public Accountants, to Gilbert O. Vieth.
� - Other scholarships to be awarded in the fall were presented by the Coleman Vocational Homemaker’s
Club; and three scholarships sponsored by Gateway Foods, Inc. and presented by Vice President David
Nudd.
� Selections by the Coleman Technical Institute Triple Trio were “The Halls of Ivy” and “Almost Like Being
in Love.”
� Extracurricular Awards were presented in the fields of athletics, cheerleading, and music.
� Instructor Ronald Russell presented the Wisconsin Business Education Club awards to 24 Coleman students
in the business education program.
� William Campbell, Student Personnel Services Supervisor, presented awards to the presidents of all student
organizations.
� Eugene Peterson, Student Council President, gave the concluding remarks.
� Presentations by Faculty Instructor Student
Trades and Industry (Vocational):
Automotive Body Repair Clifford Gunderson Charles N. Chapman
Automotive Mechanics Neal Stromstad Frederick E. Tydrich & Terry Ghent
Cabinetmaking Ansel Heram Robert H. Everson
Machine Shop James Becker Ronnie Peterson
Printing Alph Sorenson Richard Westpfahl & James Hegge
Sheet Metal Harold Hawkins Dennis D. Denter
Welding George Hinkley Burton Wheeler & Jerry Krachery
Trades and Industry (Technical)
Automotive Technology Richard Maki Keith John Mitchell
Electronics I John Roecker Eugene Tetzloff, Ronald Hangartner
and Richard Smith
Electronics II James Bice Frank C. Wendell, Jr., Terry Olsen
and Norm Dippel
Mechanical Design I Robert Maas Don Crogan, Richard Prochaska
and Ron Egge
Mechanical Design II Ralph Hermann Eugene Peterson and Harland Thorson
Business Education ( Vocational)
Secretarial Gladys Bethurem Linda Schaller
Business Machines Hedwig Rekow Louise Dolle
General Clerical Record Keeping Leota Archer Sharon Hauser
Data Processing/Tabulating Machines Ronald Russell Shirley Williams
Business Education (Technical)
Business Administration Accounting Carl Stori Barbara Mickelson
Business Administration Secretarial Marie Peterson Sharon Petzke
Distributive Education ( Technical)
Marketing Neil Stenga Susan Sokolik
Homemaking (Vocational)
Home Economics Nancy Clayton Cheryl Viner

June 9 Graduation
The June 9, 1966 commencement was the first formal graduation exercise at the school in its more than 50
years. Theron Cartwright, vice president of the Vocational Board awarded awarded the first associate degrees
in applied arts and applied science to the graduates. At the commencement ceremonies, the faculty for the
first time wore caps and gowns. Speaker
was Jack Kennedy of the Vocational School Board.
Academic achievement awards went to Eugene Peterson of Onalaska (Mechanical Design), and Linda Schaller
of La Crosse (Vocational Stenography)
Of the 154 students graduating:
� 42 graduates receiving the new two-year technical program degree of associate in applied art or associate
in applied science Secretarial Science, Accounting, Mechanical Design and Electronic Technology associate
degree programs. Associate degrees were awarded to:
ACCOUNTING – 13 Barbara J. Ammerman La Crosse
Earl E. Engelson Cashton
Elaine L. Gross Black River Falls
Roger E. Kjos Rushford, MN
Dale A. Linderbaum Monona, IA
Richard J. Loughan La Crosse
Mark D. Lucey Ferryville
Barbara J. Mickelson Onalaska
Bruce W. Nordstrom Coon Valley
Martin Stenslien Westby
La Vern A. Weibel Cashton
Donald H. Westpfahl Tomah
Jack R. Woodrow Black River Falls
ELECTRONICS – 18 James T. Barth Prairie du Chien
Virgil G. Bishop Ferryville
David R. Danielson Bangor
Robert E. Diersen Caledonia, MN
Norman R. Dippel La Crosse
Wayne M. Dosch Viola
Richard P. Duncan La Crosse
Daniel R. Grim Richland Center
Michael C. Hillbo Sparta
Kelly D. Knutson Stratford
Steven C. McDonald La Crosse
Robert P. Olsen Tomah
Terry J. Olsen Onalaska
Richard F. Schultz La Crosse
Archibald E. Sokolik Electronics
Samuel C. Sokolik Electronics
William A. Thoftne Soldiers Grove
Frank C. Wendell Black River Falls
MECHANICAL DESIGN – 8 Ronald O. Bakum Westby
Larry C. Clements La Crosse
Gerald A. Kendhammer La Crosse
Eugene C. Peterson Onalaska
Richard L. Skrede Viroqua
Alain J. Thompson Holmen
Harland C. Thorson Whitehall
Dale L. Weibel Cashton
SECRETARIAL – 3 Barbara R. Banasik La Crosse
Sharon K. Nordness La Crosse
Karen A. Pederson La Crosse
� 112 students form the vocational training divisions received diplomas in the fields of business education
and in training for trades and industries such as welding, cabinetmaking, graphic arts, machine shop, auto
mechanics, and auto body repairing.

June 12 The Marilyn School of Dance held its annual recital in the Coleman Auditorium.
June 16 The annual meeting of the Dairyland Power Cooperative was held. Guest speaker was
James Sullivan, Assistant Administrator of the Rural Electrification Administration.
In 1966-1967 . . .
The Board Team: Roy Kumm, president; Theron Cartwright, vice president; Louis Youngman, secretary; John
Kennedy, and Edsel Vergin, Superintendent of Schools.
In July 1966, the Vocational School officials appeared before the City Plan Commission to ask for $1.25 million for
capital improvements in 1968. Plans called for a $250,000 automotive addition (to replace the addition built in
1961) and a $1 million service and science building.
In July 1966, it was determined that a major share of the students enrolling for the fall term were from out of the
city, resulting in the need for student housing. A housing listing was being compiled, and landlords were informed,
“an inspection of the proposed accommodations by school officials would be required, and school regulations would
be enforced.” In 1967, however, a shortage of private rooms and apartments in the City of
La Crosse forced Coleman Technical Institute to reserve rooms in the Angell and Coate Halls at the La Crosse State
University for the semester. Both dorms had surplus rooms due to the rapid pace at which new dormitories were
being constructed. Most of the Coleman students utilizing the university dormitories were in their first year at
Coleman.
July 11-22, 1966 – Director Richardson attended a national leadership institute at Colorado State University.
Richardson was selected by the U. S. Center for Research and Leadership Development in Vocational and Technical
Education. The purpose of the training program was to develop and expand leadership capacities of technical
education in the United States. The two-week program included lectures, discussions with other leaders in the
field, group projects, individual study and field trips. Subjects covered included technical education, program
patterns, curricula, staff, facilities and equipment, financing, and research and development needs for vocational and
technical education. The institutes were a cooperative effort of five universities: the University of Illinois at
Urbana, Illinois; Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey; the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida;
Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, Oklahoma; and Colorado State University at Fort Collins, Colorado.
It’s all in knowing how . . . the art of “teasing” . . . wigs . . . the latest in hair styling . . . . In August 1966, Coleman
Technical Institute was the site of the sixth Annual Free Cosmetology Crafts Institute for beauty shop managers and
operators. Beauticians came from the surrounding towns as well as from La Crosse for the cosmetology institute.
Demonstrations included hair shaping; setting, cleaning and styling of wigs; hair styling; management; telephone
etiquette and others. The long and the short of it – Lavonne Henderson, came to the institute with long hair.
Before she left, she was persuaded to have it cut . . . and styled . . . she did . . . and, liked it!
July 1 to November 30 – A work-training program began to assist persons on relief to find steady employment.
The work habits and work skills of about 55 La Crosse County persons were being upgraded so they could become
more productive members of society. The work experience and training project was made possible by Title 5 of the
Economic Opportunity Act of 1964. Participants received a $35 stipend; transportation expenses; a living
allowance; books and other costs. The program was aimed at persons of economic need, such as mothers receiving
Aid to Dependent Children, the blind, those on general relief, and those physically and mentally disabled receiving
financial aid. Most of the participants were women ranging in age from 19 to 50. Training consisted of work in
business machine operation, medical assistant or secretary, food preparation in large quantities for institutions,
licensed practical nurse, general clerical, and electronics.
August 1966, a Vocational Education Day, sponsored by the La Crosse Office of the Wisconsin State Employment
Service (WSES) was held at the Coleman Technical Institute for the 100 youth enrolled in six areas of vocational study
under the federally sponsored Manpower Development and Training Act. In preparation for their future jobs,
Norman E. Schulze, La Crosse WSES manager, pointed out six factors that aid in assuring success in their job. These
he listed as attitude, initiative, reliability, cooperativeness, getting along with others and interest not only in their
work but also in their employer’s success.

1966-67 programming at Coleman Technical Institute in the “All America City” . . .
� Six more technical courses leading to associate degrees were offered in fall of 1966, bringing the total to ten.
Besides the technical degree programs in Accounting, Administrative Secretarial Science, Electronics and
Mechanical Design Technology, offered were: Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Technology, Automotive
Technology, Data Processing, Legal and Medical Secretarial Sciences, and Agribusiness . . . and, more new
programs to come.
� In 1966, the District purchased its first computer, an IBM 1401 Series electronic computer system used to train
programmers – a $90,000 computer with the state paying half of the computer’s cost – for setting up a data
processing center. The computer was used by students in the associate degree Data Processing program, the
Data Processing Machine Operations program, and by District administration for payroll and some limited
student record processing.
� In Air conditioning and Refrigeration technology, the students would have training for jobs at the Trane
Company, La Crosse Cooler Company and others.
� Automotive Technology covers mathematics and science so that the graduate could be a more versatile
employee than a mechanic or auto body man.
� In this new program, Agricultural-minded students could learn the latest technological advances for
opportunities in this field. In Agribusiness, persons would be trained for employment in agricultural and
business fields, such as farm equipment sales; feed, seed and fertilizer sales work; and for technician’s positions
in farm and agriculture-related industries.
� A major course of study in the Distributive Education department was the Food Merchandising program. Among
the “firsts” was the initiation of a comprehensive, trade-oriented course with major emphasis on food
merchandising. Food Merchandising, designed with recommendations by expert food merchandising and
marketing firms in the area, was the “first” of its kind leading to an associate degree in the state.
� One of the largest marketplaces for employment locally was the city’s expanding medical community.
The school offered complete one- and two-year courses to prepare students as Licensed Practical Nurse,
Medical Assistant, Dental Assistant.
� Apparel Arts, a new vocational diploma program, prepared graduates for careers as power sewing machine
operators, garment piece workers and related jobs, as well as position of retail dress shop clerks, notion
department specialists, sewing machine salespersons and demonstrators, and clothing buyers.
� The Institutional Foods, a new vocational program, prepares the graduates to seek employment as dietary
assistants for working with food supervisors or dietitians in hospitals, nursing homes, or similar institutions
having large food service operations.
Tuition and fees for enrolling at Coleman were paid in full for all state residents under 21 years of age, and all
La Crosse City School District residents over 16 years old. The La Crosse City School District included the City of La
Crosse, Town of Campbell, and parts of Medary, Shelby, Greenfield, Bergen and Hamburg. A nominal tuition was
charged for those students over 21 years of age from outside the La Crosse City School District and to residents of
other states. All students were required to pay a $20 general enrollment fee, plus book fees and supply purchases,
as well as special class and shop fees where required, and are responsible for individual living expenses. All the
technical and vocational programs at Coleman Technical Institute are public supported, permitting all Wisconsin
residents to attend at the lowest cost.
“Bring cash for payment of fees, and social security card number for registration” . . . Registration for Coleman
Technical Institute evening and adult training classes were made in class the first night of each scheduled class
meeting. No registrations were accepted in advance or by mail. Technical subjects for technical school credit
were taught in evening school classes for the “first” time, along with general and special adult evening school
courses. All fees were paid at the first class meeting when registering. The general $3 enrollment fee in cash was
required of all students, plus any special class fees depending on the nature of the course. All students 21 years of
age and older living outside the La Crosse City School District paid a tuition of 50 cents an evening at the time of
registration.

For school year 1966-67, that commenced September 6, Coleman Technical Institute added a Program Coordinator and 17 new
instructors to its faculty. In addition to Director Richardson, there were 65 faculty, eight clerical and seven custodial. The
school officials cited new technical and vocational training courses, plus an increase in student enrollment, as the reasons for
increasing the number of staff.
New staff were:
Morris Severson, Program Coordinator
Ruth Anderson, Practical Nursing
Arthur Armstrong, Auto Mechanics
Dorothy Beers, Medical Assistant
Robert Durall, Welding
Nancy Frisch, Communication Skills
Other staff members:
Charles G. Richardson, Director
Leota Archer, Psychology of Human
Relations
James Becker, Machine Shop
Gladys Bethurem, Shorthand, Typing
James Bice, Electronics
James Boots, Data Processing
Donald Branson, Plumbing
Richard Butkiewicz, Machine Shop
Florence Campbell, Practical Nursing
William Campbell, Supervisor, Student
Personnel Services
Nancy Clayton, Apparel Arts
Germain Davison, Adult Ed. Supv.
Joe DeMeulenaere, Rural
Electrification/Municipal
Utilities
John Eppley, Supervisory Training
Robert Fritz, Graphics
Paul Garness, Business Machines
Assistant
Clerical Staff:
Marion Baker
Marian Engelhart
Custodians:
Clifford Dansberry
James Kellicutt
Mary E. Groth
Eileen Johnson
Glen Kircheis
Raymond Myers
Ronald Frisch, Electronics
Stanley Hoeth, Machine Shop
Patricia Krueger, Dental Assistant
Richard Markos, Marketing
Wayne Lemar, Welding
Phillip Quillin, Food Merchandising
Clifford Gunderson, Auto Body
Leander Hamerla, Electricity
Harold Hawkins, General Metal,
Welding
Ansel Heram, Cabinetmaking
Ralph Hermann, Mechanical Design
George Hinkley, Welding
Marcel Huguet, Steamfitting
Harry Hutchison,
Teacher-Coordinator,
Business Administration
Earl Jensen, Meat Merchandising
Victor Larsen, Instructional Services
Supervisor
Robert Maas, Mechanical Design
P. W. MacKenzie, Insurance
Richard Maki, Automotive
Technology
Donald Meinert, Public Relations,
Advertising, Graphic Arts
Dean Morton, Teacher-Coordinator,
Distributive Education
Dallas Moser, Barber Science
Elsie McDowell
Marian Meinert
Carl Panke
Russell Rick
Constance Regelein, Legal and Medical
Secretarial Science/Machines
John Rindahl, Graphic Arts
Fred Stair, Automotive Technology
Gary Stetzer, Accounting
Donald Witt, Air Conditioning
Janet Witt, Institutional Foods
Samuel Munson, Carpentry
Annette Niederkorn, Librarian
Marie Peterson, Accounting, Typing
Richard Post, Rehabilitation’
Hedwig Rekow, Business Machines
John Roecker, Technical Mathematics
and Science
Joyce Rosso, Business Mathematics
Ronald Russell, Data Processing,
Accounting
Maddeline Schuldes, Teacher-
Coordinator, Practical
Nursing
Alph Sorenson, Graphic Arts
Seth Stoltz, Business Law
Neal Stromstad, Auto Mechanics
William Temte, Science, Student
Services
Dale Tessmer, Business Supervisor
Barbara Walter, Teacher-Coordinator
Home Economics
William Welch, Electronics
Patricia Peyton
Dorothy Stromstad
Harry Sweet
Coleman Bookstore
On August 26, 1966 the Board authorized establishing a privately-owned bookstore operated on a lease arrangement by the Jonlyn
Corporation, a subsidiary of Degen-Berglund, Inc. In addition to handling all text books and supplies required by the school’s programs,
the Coleman Bookstore also offered an appealing array of approved school stationery items and sundries. It was located below the
main auditorium Stage Entrance, Room 102.
September 27, 1966–Governor Warren P. Knowles linked the importance of vocational education with Wisconsin’s industrial and
economic growth at the La Crosse county industrial growth recognition breakfast in the Stoddard Hotel (formerly at the southeast corner
of Fourth and State Streets). “. . . vocational education is the cornerstone of industrial and economic growth. I want to add prestige to
vocational education.”
October 1966 – Coleman enrollment reached a record! Enrollment reached a record of 773 full-time students, an increase of more than
50 percent from last year. The 773 full-time students were enrolled in 27 different technical and vocational training programs.
Student daytime enrollments did not include the 141 apprentices enrolled for related training in the various trades. The student body
was composed of post-high school pupils from five states and from 28 Wisconsin counties. The heaviest concentration of resident
students came from La Crosse, followed in order by Vernon, Monroe, Trempealeau, Crawford, Jackson, Grant, Juneau and Buffalo.
Tuition-paying, out-of-state students came primarily from Minnesota and Iowa, with about equal number from each state.

October 20, 1966–Accolade staff member Gary Addis, a Marketing student and a star basketball player at Coleman
Technical College, interviewed Senator Edward (Ted) Kennedy, D-Massachusetts, and gubernatorial candidate,
Lieutenant Governor Patrick Lucey in the lobby of Hotel Stoddard (formerly at the southeast corner of Fourth and
State Streets). After the interview, Senator Kennedy and Lieutenant Governor Lucey made the following joint
statement: “Due to the ever-increasing emphasis placed on post-high school education and the incorporation by
business of advanced technological innovations, vocational and technical training plays an important role in our
educational system.”
Saturday, October 22, 1966 – the La Crosse Common Council Finance Committee looked at the $918,200 budget
presented by Coleman Technical Institute for 1967 and asked if it could be cut. The largest expenditure increase
was in the teacher’s salary account. It hired 12 full-time teachers and five part-time in September,
and planned to add three full-time and one part-time in January 1967. Among the other accounts showing
increases were
� Clerical Salaries because of salary increases and two additional secretaries;
� Equipment because of buying a computer;
� Operation because the school planned for a school catalog and brochures; and
� Work Study program, a new account.
On October 27, 1966, the Home Economics Department conducted an eight-session meat workshop for area
institutional personnel, cooks and chefs. The course was designed to help food service personnel better
understand the purchasing, grading, clarifying, cutting and preparing of meat for use in various types of food
operations in the La Crosse area.
October 27, 1966, the first school board convention was held for schools in Cooperative Education Service Agency
11. Members of the school committee of Area 11 said that “basic understanding and reasonableness are the keys
to school district reorganization within the area . . . and that the area school committee should be concerned with
planning for better facilities and improving education within the area rather than minor reorganization problems
which can be worked out between districts.”
The nation was experiencing a shortage of qualified persons in the health field. “Never before in American history
has the need been more acute for trained medical personnel than it is now,” was stated in the October 22, 1966
edition of the La Crosse Tribune that devoted a full-page to “Courses Available in Health Occupation Education Fields
at Coleman Technical Institute. The programs featured in the article were: Dental Assisting, Medical Assisting,
and Practical Nursing, and it also noted that in the Business Education field a new course to train as professional
medical secretaries, leading to an associate degree, was offered.
In 1966-67, DECA membership was 22 students. This was the first year that the La Crosse Chapter participated in
the state and national leadership conference. La Crosse, for the first time, placed students in the top three
positions of the various competitive events. In the September 23, 1966 edition of the La Crosse Tribune, the DECA
Club of the Coleman Technical Institute was listed as a contributor to the Man-Lay Garden (then located on the
southwest corner of Fourth and Main Streets.)
In November 1966, the La Crosse Chapter of the Distributive Education Clubs of America, composed of Marketing
students at Coleman Technical Institute, set up displays in local stores and at the school. The displays were
designed to call attention to DECA week. A model sales display was featured in the school’s marketing laboratory.
At that time, the Marketing course was also being evaluated for approval for offering a two-year associate degree. In
addition to Wisconsin Board personnel for the evaluation were Joseph Bachnik, Manitowoc Vocational School
director, Dr. Richard Ashmum, teacher training supervisor of distributive education at the University of Minnesota;
and Edward Falck, instructional supervisor at Sheboygan Vocational School. Dean Morton was the
Teacher-Coordinator of Distributive Education
November 6-12 – American Education Week. The theme was “Education Adds Up.” On Wednesday, the 9 th , key
educators appeared on WKBT Channel 8 to discuss teaching goals and the part schools are played in reaching the
ultimate aims of learning. The group included the Very Rev. Robert Hansen, La Crosse Diocesan Superintendent of
Schools; Director Charles Richardson; Edsel Vergin, Superintendent of La Crosse City District Schools; and Sister M.
Justille, President of Viterbo College. Moderator of the program was Howard Fredricks, professor in the history
department at the La Crosse State University and a news announcer at WKBT.
November 11, Patricia Floody, Castalia, Iowa, was the recipient of the “first” annual scholarship ($150) presented by
the Coleman Homemaking Club.

December 9, the Coleman Homemaking Club was entertained with Christmas music presented by the Coleman music
department under the direction of William Temte.
On December 19, 1966, holiday music was presented by the 30-voice choir of Coleman Technical Institute on WKBT’s
“Noontime” program.
In December 1966, a “Win a Turkey for Christmas” essay contest was sponsored for Coleman students. To
promote better writing along with major course studies, The Accolade arranged a very special competition that fit
into the November-December Holiday Seasons … It was a “Let’s Talk Turkey About Education” Essay Contest. The
goal of the event was to select the four best student essays on the theme of why vocational or technical education is
needed by high school graduates in order to prepare them for a secure, rewarding career in the modern scientific
world. The prize: A fresh-frozen turkey, ready for Christmas dinner preparation, was presented at the school’s
Christmas program on December 21, 1966. The four winners were Arlene Sanford, Data Processing Technology
Department; Sharon Taylor, MDTA Tab Machine Operator course; Dorothy Salek and Floyd Storey, both in the
Commercial Art program, and their winning essays were published in the January-February and the March 1967
issues of “The Accolade.” One of the essays follows:
Y B M T
by Floyd Storey, Commercial Art
“Y” always asks a question. The question is why have an education? “B” is usually identified with a busy
insect. It is the busy bee that gathers the most honey. In education, it is the busy bee that takes advantage
of every opportunity for a better future. “M” is for money. The result of a good education in all fields of
endeavor. The reward of the well prepared. “T” is for technical institute, the place of opportunity for people
of all walks of like. Put them all together and they ask the question: Y B M T?
In our society today no one needs to be empty of knowledge. One is never too old to learn so why wait until
one is too old? Today is the day of opportunity. Today is the day to prepare for tomorrow. We are living in
an age of scientific achievement and keen competition. Only the well prepared can meet these demands.
The high school graduate of today who wishes to meet this challenge can do so at Coleman Technical Institute.
It is a school, which is prepared to give personal attention and guidance in many fields. It is a school one can
be proud of and one, which, in turn, takes great pride in the accomplishments of each individual.
Coleman Technical Institute offers a wide range of courses. My personal choice was one of Commercial Art. I
have a wonderful group to work with, one which challenges me to take an active part in my class work and thus
enable me to express myself more fully. Along with my art class, I receive a well-rounded program of
coordinated subjects.
Today’s high standard of living means greater earning power. In the fields of industry and business the first
thing an employer considers is the amount of education an applicant has. We have already reached the stage
where it is virtually impossible for one without a high school diploma to find a job. We are rapidly moving
toward the day when this is not enough. In many places even today employers are looking for someone with
more than a high school education. The time has come when all must be prepared through education or fall by
the wayside for lack of ability to compete.
High school students, you have your whole future before you. Take advantage of what Coleman Technical
Institute has to offer. Coleman is an accredited school, yet one where a student with a limited budget can
prepare for a good job. Coleman is noted for its excellent teaching staff, so a student willing to apply himself
can obtain a first rate education. The school is centrally located which offers a great advantage to many
students in the way of easy transportation. The school has something for people in all walks of life and at
every age level whether they are those who attend day school or those who strive to improve themselves by
taking advantage of the excellent evening courses offered.
Again, I ask you
Y B M T
when the keys of knowledge which can open the doors to a successful future
are yours at Coleman Technical Institute.

He was the only man in the class, but was soon accepted as “just one of the girls.” Many people enjoy hobbies, but
Loyd Mieden, of Onalaska, a vocal music teacher for Logan high School, had an unusual hobby for a man. He liked
to sew. Meiden’s sewing began about in the 1950’s after he bought his wife a sewing machine for Mother’s Day.
Mrs. Meiden, however, after many tries gave up the thought about sewing and left the man of the house take over.
Meiden taught himself to sew by reading the pattern instructions and when having difficulty, consulted a home
economics teacher at the Logan or Longfellow School for assistance. During winter of 1967, he took a tailoring
course at Coleman . . . and produced “a fashionable selection of suits, dresses, coats and hats” for Mrs. Meiden.
Among his work of art, also was a gown and veil that he created for the August 1967 wedding of Geneva Engstad of
Onalaska. His talents also included making draperies, topcoats, blazers, costumes for operettas, singing groups,
cheerleaders, and a flag for the Logan School Band, and others . . .
P.S. Mieden also likes to golf!
In January 1967, Warren E. Hicks, a pioneer in Wisconsin vocational education, died in a Milwaukee nursing home at
the age of 101. When John Coleman retired in 1963, Hicks, then 97, attended Coleman’s retirement banquet.
Hicks, who was often called the father of vocational education in Wisconsin, encouraged John B. Coleman to accept
the position at the La Crosse Vocational School. He was also credited for establishing vocational schools in
Madison, Milwaukee, Oshkosh, Fond du Lac, Appleton, Racine, Kenosha, and Green Bay. Hicks came to Wisconsin
in 1912, a year after the legislature established the first vocational and adult education system in the country.
February 11– More than 100 string players from high schools throughout Wisconsin participated in
La Crosse State University’s for Orchestra Day, held in the Coleman Technical Institute.
February 1967– A giant Student Loan Fund drive thermometer was put in the student center (gymnasium) to mark
the progress of a weeklong drive. Coleman Technical Institute students started a one-week drive to “help
themselves” in cases of emergency financial needs. The drive, sponsored by the Coleman Tech Student Congress,
established a permanent student loan fund to be used by any full-time student in need of a quick cash loan for tiding
over a financial emergency. The loans—made on an “honor” system—had, as the only interest charged by the loan
fund governing body, one penny on repayment of the principal at the time specified. The goal of the drive was
$750, and the completion date coincided with the conclusion of Coleman Homecoming activities at a semi-formal
dance on February 16. In spring of 1966, the Education Committee of the Greater La Crosse Chamber of Commerce
established a loan fund for students attending the Coleman Vocational School. Director Richardson noted that
from time to time short-term or emergency assistance was needed by the students. The Chamber sent letters to its
members appealing for assistance and $330 was obtained.
February 1967 – The Gateway Foods Inc. of La Crosse, at 1637 St. James Street, awarded scholarships to three
students in the Food Merchandising course. Recipients of the $100 scholarship awards were: Larry Kurth,
Farmersburg, Iowa; John Wolff and Richard Schmidt, both of La Crosse.
Basketball Season . . .
November 29 the Coleman Cavaliers opened its “first” full season in intercollegiate basketball competition a the Rice Lake
Vocational School
December 9 So close, but yet so far away . . . The Cavaliers Basketball team suffered a defeat when it played the University of
Wisconsin–Wausau Center: 99-98. Dean Morton was coach. Addis scored 20 field goals and five free throws.
Teammates Mike Gofus, Bob Ducklow and Dean Bussian contributed 18, 13 and 12 points, respectively.
December 13 Coleman Tech won its third game in four starts knocking off Wisconsin Rapids 102-66. Seven players got into the
act for Coleman and Coach Dean Morton used 12 players in all in the rout. Dennis Erpenbach led the scoring with
27 points on 12 field goals and three free throws, Leo Fronk added 16 points, Bob Ducklow and Dean Bussian had
15 each, and Gary Addis 14.
December 15 Madison Vocational toppled Coleman Tech 103-91. Ron Parsons hit 21 points; Lee Linehan 15; Dick Sydow 14 and
Steve Schmitt 13 for the winners while Gary Addis meshed 25 points, Dean Bussian 18, Leo Fronk 15, Mike Gofus 12
and Bob Ducklow 11.
December In, Coleman Technical Institute suffered its first defeat of the season when the University of Wisconsin-Wausau
edged out the CTI team: 99-98. Gary Addis made 23 points, Bob Ducklow 17, and Roger Misch 13.
January 26 The La Crosse State freshman basketball team edged Coleman Tech 73-67 at the Mary E. Sawyer Auditorium.
February The Coleman Cavaliers took third place in the Wisconsin Technical College Tournament. Coach of the team was
1967
Dean Morton
February 2 Coleman Tech scores sixth victory 85-81over Richland County Teachers College. Roger Misch scored 21 points,
Gary Addis 19, Bob Ducklow 16, and Leo Frank 13.
February 3 Coleman Tech loses to Milwaukee Tech 91-88
February 10 Coleman topped Racine Tech 89-79. Bob Ducklow scored 29 points, Gary Addis 27, and Tom Peek 14.

February 11 The Coleman Cavaliers beat Waukesha Tech 116-68. Bob Ducklow had 26 points, Roger Misch 22, Leo
Fronk 20, Tom Peek 19, and Dennis Erpenbach 18
February 16 Coleman Cavaliers won over Madison Tech 82-78. Gary Addis scored 31 points, Bob Ducklow 22, Tom
Peek 13.
February 17 Coleman Tech defeated Waukesha Tech 92-88. Gary Addis scored 28 points, Tom Peek 18, Bob
Ducklow 16, Roger Misch 13, and Dennis Erpenbach 10
February 23 Coleman Tech closed out its regular season play with a 104-56 victory over Rice Lake Vocational at the
Mary E. Sawyer Auditorium. Bob Ducklow scored 26 points, Gary Addis had 23, Roger Misch 16, Leo
Frank and Dennis Erpenbach each had 11.
March 3 Madison Vocational beat La Crosse 86-71 in the semi-finals of the Wisconsin Technical College
basketball tournament.
In March 1967, the Automotive training program at Coleman Technical Institute was evaluated by a team from the
Wisconsin Board as a forerunner for approval as a two-year associate degree program. The team reviewed and
inspected the school’s facilities, equipment, personnel, teaching methods and administration. It interviewed
instructors, coordinators, supervisors and Director Richardson.
In March 1967, Richard Deal and Richard Schmidt, both Marketing students at Coleman Technical Institute, won first
and second places, respectively, in the state DECA competition at Green Lake. Deal won first place in the “sales
managers” portion of the meet where each contestant was required to demonstrate his or her ability through
written material, personal demeanor and professional presentation. Schmidt placed second in the “management –
decision making-personnel” category that included problem solving tests as well as a personal presentation.
Starting April 13 – “Going Steady? – Why Not Get Ready?” was the title of a series of seven pre-marriage counseling
meetings offered by the Family Service Association. The meetings were open to all couples going steady or thinking
of marriage. The speakers included a caseworker and the executive secretary of the Family Service Association, a
medical doctor from Gundersen Clinic, a professor from the College of Health, Recreation and Physical Education and
an instructor from the Department of Sociology at Wisconsin State University, a clinical psychologist from the La
Crosse County Guidance Clinic, along with representatives from both the Lutheran and Catholic Social Service
agencies.
On April 14, the Coleman Technical Institute Homemaking Club met and learned how to make “Crafts for Fun.”
April 27, 1967, Coleman Tech lost to Milwaukee Vocational in a golf triangular. Milwaukee totaled 412 strokes,
Madison 417, and La Crosse 457. Milwaukee won the Conference Golf Tournament at the Maple Grove Country
Club on May 13.
The May 16, 1967 – Open House . . . Programs . . . Tours . . . Exhibits.
An Open House of Coleman Technical Institute gave citizens an opportunity to see the “total picture” of Vocational,
Technical and Adult Education in action. Visitors were able to see a program, go on conducted tours and watch
demonstrations. The new programs were introduced to the public. Requirements of the technical courses that
grant an associate degree after two years were explained. Vocational courses also were on exhibit to re-emphasize
their importance to students interested in employment after one or two years of post-high school education. Also
open to the public was the Adult Education Program form the basic classes of teaching adults to read and write, to
special evening school technical courses that permit earning an associate degree by attending nights.
In May 1967, an exhibit of high school art from students from the three La Crosse high schools was on display in the
library. The Commercial Art Department sponsored this effort to give high school student artists an incentive to
pursue art as a career. Awards for the art exhibit winners were $100 scholarship, first place; $50 scholarship,
second; and $25 scholarship, third.
May 11-14, nineteen students participated in the four-day Wisconsin Business Education Club conference in Green
Lake. Several won business competition awards. From among the 700 students participating statewide, placing
third in the state was Marilyn Carr of La Crosse for her high degree of competency in stenographic related business
competition. Other students winning awards in the business competitions were:
� Mary Larson, La Crosse and Judy Jeidy, Bloomington, typewriting medalist awards;
� Marilyn Carr, a stenographic medalist award;
� Gilbert Vieth, Sparta, “meritorious” ranking for competition as accountant of the year;
� Nancy Mielke, La Crosse, accounting competency meritorious award;

� Russell Pickering, Galesville, meritorious award as a first-year student in data processing;
� Charles Kramer, Prairie du Chien, meritorious award as a second-year student in data processing technology; and
� Bruce Merrill, Taylor, clerical competency meritorious award.
Three of the Business Education students, Marilyn Carr, Richard Running, Westby, and Donna Konichek, Prairie du
Chien also participated in the National Business Education Club competitions at the state conference.
In May 1967, the Coleman Technical Institute Board authorized an architectural firm to proceed with preliminary
plans for a 75,000-square-foot health and science building. The firm of Hackner, Schroeder and Associates
presented floor sketches to the Board. The new building would house the health and science technology
departments, including possibly new programs. Director Richardson also said the Board plans to build a second
story on to the present gymnasium by 1970, to extend a wall of the school’s library (the former small school
auditorium), and to expand the diesel and auto mechanics shop. This would eliminate the need for a major auto
body and diesel addition. The body shop was part of a $1.25 million package proposed to the City Plan Commission
last year. A re-evaluation which qualified the school as a technical institute recommended several changes in the
school program and operations. The changes were made except where there was insufficient space. The
re-evaluation committee recommended that Coleman Technical Institute:
Hire a supervisor of general education;
Establish greater salary differences for staff experience, duties and training;
Develop a plan for professional improvement before the 1967-1968 school year;
Correlate the high school program with the cooperation of the high school staff as a stronger base for technical
institute programs;
Hire an additional counselor; and
Study in detail occupational employment opportunities.
In June 1967, capital improvement requests for 1968 were submitted to the La Crosse City Plan Commission for
consideration in July. Included for consideration was the Coleman Technical Institute expansion plan for building a
health-science building in 1968, buying land east of Seventh Street in 1969 and 1970, and start planning in 1970 for
an administration building. The expansion was planned as a result of state districting for technical institutes.
The La Crosse school would be serving a six-county area by 1970. The block immediately north of the school
(except for the Hixon House) had been earmarked in the Civic Center urban renewal project for Coleman expansion.
But, the school sought more. Director Richardson and the Board proposed that the school buy the block between
7 th and 8 th Streets, and Vine and Pine Streets in 1969, and the block between
7 th and 8 th Streets, and Pine and Badger Streets in 1970. The area first would be used for parking, then for
expansion. Coleman Technical Institute would serve a six-county area by 1970. For Coleman Technical Institute,
Director Richardson requested:
For
Year
1968
1969
1969
1970
1970
Amount Purpose
$ 2.35 million
$ 235,000
$ 50,000
$ 265,000
$ 100,000
Health-Science Building
Expansion east of Seventh Street
Diesel Shop expansion
Expansion east of Seventh Street
To hire an architect for an administration building and
heating plant.
In June 1967, fifteen command, supervisory and administrative officers of the La Crosse Police Department
completed an eight-week course at Coleman Technical Institute. Completing the course were Chief Ronald Wold;
Captains Roger Schmuck, Charles Hofferek and Robert Loeffler; Lieutenants Marlin Frick, Ray Lichtie, William Krause
and James Jacobson; Sargents Richard Frederickson, Richard Rifenberg and Kenneth Espenes; Corporals Gerald
Patschull and Frederick Asp; Patrolman David Walchak; and Records Supervisor Herman Rick.
In 1966-1967 events in the Auditorium included . . .
1966
August 14 Due to inclement weather, the Pops Concert, performed in memory of Stella Trane Jackson,
scheduled for Myrick Park was heard in the Auditorium. The program ranged from
Rimsky-Korsakov to excerpts from “Madame Butterfly” and “La Boheme” and also included
selections by a local soloist, Betty Mielke.
August 17 One piano. A fourhanded team. Weekley and Arganbright, international piano duettists, presented a
concerto for piano and strings. The Coulee Region Symphony accompanied the pianists.

October 15 A superb performance . . . the nationally-known Norman Luboff Choir (with 28 singers and
four accompanying instrumentalists) opened the La Crosse Community Concert season with
selections ranging from sacred to secular compositions.
November The La Crosse Community Theater’s first 1966-67 production, “Oliver” was presented in
4-5, 11 & 12 the Coleman Auditorium.
November 13 Leigh Eldor, a former conductor of the La Crosse Symphony Orchestra and a cellist of stature,
returned to the symphony as a performer. Talented baritone Eugene Holmes was the guest artist
for the 1966 opening concert of the La Crosse Symphony. A review of the concert stated, “his work
can hardly be discussed without superlatives.” Conductor was Eric Schee.
November 15 Kiwanis Club Travel Film: “North to Finland” was narrated by Jonathan Hagar.
Nov. 17-18 A hunting adventure with Don Lewis and Francis Murphy. The “Alaskan Odyssey” was a 1½-hour
journey through the 49 th state. Featured was hunting in the Canadian wilderness,
a 1,400 lb. moose, fishing secrets, and others. An added attraction was a “Duck and Fox Calling
Demonstration.”
December 12 Miss Irene Jordan, soprano, was guest soloist with the Community Concert Association. Her career
included opera, oratorio, and recital.
1967
January 24 The fourth in a series of Kiwanis Travel Films “Zoo Without Bars” – a visit to zoos all over the world,
an intriguing story by an unusual man who captured wild jungle animals for the zoos of the world,
was shown. The film was narrated by Sasha Siemel.
February 5 The choir of the Holy Cross Seminary Choir (formerly located at 3710 South Avenue in
La Crosse) was guests of the La Crosse Symphony when the orchestra offered its second concert of
the season. Evi Liivak was violin soloist with the orchestra. A former child prodigy, Miss Liivak
made her debut with the Helsinki Symphony when she was 11 years old. Scholarships followed and
she studied in Budapest, Berlin and Paris. Her instrument was the “Lipinski” Stradivari of 1775.
This violin once belonged to Tartini and to the Polish virtuoso whose name the instrument bears.
February 9 “Porgy and Bess,” George Gershwin’s American folk operetta was brought to La Crosse for a single
performance in the Coleman Auditorium under the sponsorship of La Crosse State University’s
lecture and concerts committee. A La Crosse Tribune reviewer wrote it “was one of the finest
productions ever staged here.”
February 16 One of the world’s leading cellists, Janos Starker, appeared with the La Crosse Community Concert.
Born in Hungary, Starker was principal cellist in the Budapest Philharmonic and later in American
orchestras in Dallas, New York and Chicago.
February 28 “The Grand Tetons” in northwest Wyoming, a Kiwanis travel film narrated by Julian Gromer, a
country that is lush with wild flowers, birds and animals.
March 4-5 The American Association of University Women play, “The Emperor’s New Clothes,” with two
performances each day at 1 and 3 p.m. Audiences of 1,200 and 800 saw the two performances.
March 14 “Carnaby Street” styles were presented in a fashion show presented by the Y-Teens as a fund-raiser
to support one representative of Central, Logan senior and junior highs and Lincoln to attend a
national conference in Boston, Massachusetts, in late April.
April 7 Western Wisconsin Teachers held their 61 st convention. Dr. Nicholas Nyaradi, author and lecturer
and jurist, addressed the educators and told them to “increase the value of our secondary school
diploma – put it on the highest level.” He noted that criticism was leveled at American education
when Russia orbited its first sputnik, and that the general public found the system a scapegoat on
which to blame the fact that the U. S. was not the first in space. “Up to that time, public opinion
didn’t give a hoot what education was doing.” He stated two fields that American education must
stress in its elementary and secondary schools are international relations and the American
economic system. Dr. Nyaradi linked much of his address to his personal experiences. A former
minister of finance of the Republic of Hungary, Dr. Nyaradi has two Ph.D. degrees from the Royal
Hungarian University, one in political science and one in jurisprudence. He was an attorney for 13
years and executive director of one of the largest banks in Hungary. He participated in the
anti-Nazi underground movement in World War II, and was the undersecretary of the treasury and
then minister of finance until 1948 when Soviet pressure forced him and his wife to flee the country.
Having firsthand knowledge of the Soviet Union, he wrote a book, “My Ringside Seat in Moscow” A
United States citizen, he was awarded the George Washington Honor Medal by the Freedoms
Foundation at Valley Forge for his addresses throughout the country.

April 9 The Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of Stanislaw Skrowacewski, played before a full house
April 15 “Sweethearts of Harmony,” was the theme of the 21 st annual Barbershop show in
La Crosse. Enthusiasm filled the Coleman Auditorium stage where the performing Barbershoppers sang. Featured
on the show were “The Auto Towners,” Dearborn, Michigan current International Champions; “The Barbersharps,”
Chicago, Illinois District Champions;
and “The Jubilaires,” Bloomington, Minnesota 1966-67 Land O’ Lakes District Champions.
Local groups included “The Fest Towners,” and “The Uncalled Four” along with the
“Coulee Chordsmen.”
In conjunction with this performance, the Coulee Chordsmen sponsored the first annual barbershop show
poster contest. All entries submitted were exhibited at the Batavian National Bank (then located at 319 Main Street)
– the top prize went to a Logan High School senior and second and third places were won by students at Aquinas High
School.
Aoril 16 Leigh Elder, known in the national music circles for his abilities as a cellist and a former conductor of the symphony,
was principal cellist with the orchestra for the concert. Carol Rosenberger, a pianist who overcame terrific odds of a
severe polio siege to return to the piano, was the featured artist.
April 23 The Nicolo marionettes were the “actors” in the Coleman Auditorium. Youngsters of all ages were treated to a
delightful musical presentation of “Hansel and Gretel,” sponsored by the
La Crosse Jaycettes. Marionette, Nicolo the Jester, and a host of delightful other characters, came to life on stage,
with puppeteer Nicolas Cappola, the leader of the staff.
May 17
Awards Day
Musical Interlude by the Cavalier Band
Introduction Charles G. Richardson, Director
Certificates of Appreciation by Charles G. Richardson, Director
� Samuel F. Fellows, Wm. Doerflinger Company, for his help in establishing the Apparel Arts program.
� Dr. Robert E. McMahon, for his assistance in organizing the Licensed Practical Nursing Program
� Jesse Meloling of the Trane Company, for his aid in helping to set up the Air Conditioning and Refrigeration
Program.
� Phillip Larson of Gateway Transportation Company for his service to the students and faculty of the Data
Processing department.
� Ken Hutson, WKBH-WKBT, for his use of broadcasting to promote the cause of vocational education.
� Harry Larsson, a photographer employed at the La Crosse Tribune, for his service to the school through news
photography.
Scholastic Achievements by Victor E. Larsen, Instructional Services
Awards were given to outstanding students in each department.
Jim Keeney - Mount Hope Auto Technology
Jim Mason - Black River Falls Auto Body
Ron Morre - Mindoro Auto Mechanics
John Skadahl - Osseo Welding
Jim Doerre - La Crosse Cabinetmaking
Richard Westpfahl - Tomah Graphic Arts
Janice Walker - Prairie du Chien Commercial Art
Larry Kurth - Farmersburg, Iowa Marketing
Robert Taylor - Holcombe Business Accounting
Sharon Petzke - Wilton Business Secretarial
Gary Stelzig - La Crosse Business Data Processing
Janice Thompson - Onalaska General Clerical
Patricia Young - Viroqua Business Machines
Cheryl Chapman - Bloomington, Minnesota Tab Operator
Steven Deyo - La Crosse Air Conditioning & Refrigeration
Eugene Tetzlaff - La Crosse Electronics Technology
Richard Prochaska - Alma Center Mechanical Design
Holly Ingvalson - Spring Grove, Minnesota Apparel Arts
Sheryll Paczynski - Prairie du Chien Institutional Foods
Dorothy Mercier - La Crosse Practical Nursing
Dorothy Wetterlin - La Crosse Practical Nursing
Joyce Severson - Coon Valley Dental Assistant
Sandra Blumenberg- Port Washington Medical Assistant

Scholarships by local businesses
� Paul Marcotte, vice president of advertising for Gateway Foods, Inc., presented the school with a scholarship for
an outstanding student in the
Marketing department’s Food Merchandising program.
� James O. Ash of the accounting firm of Hawkins, Ash and Baptie. Presented a scholarship to be made to a worthy
student in the Accounting Associate Degree program of the Business Administration department.
� E. L. (Bob) Burgess, business manager of the La Crosse Tribune, presented a scholarship for a deserving
Commercial Art student.
Extracurricular Activities by William Temte
Rich Deal - La Crosse DECA Club
John Wolf - La Crosse DECA Club
Henry Jensen - Camp Douglas Photo Staff
Louie Porath - Black River Falls Drama
Bruce Merrill - Taylor Drama
Steve Fascher - Farmersburg, Iowa Student Congress President
Fern Errthum - Bloomington, Minnesota Student Congress Secretary
Marge Collins - Waukon, Iowa
Ruth Richardson - Arkansaw All-around Participation
Russ Pickering - Galesville Band
Patricia Hansen - Cashton Year Book Editor
Marilyn Carr - La Crosse Student Bulletin Editor
Donna Konichek - Prairie du Chien WBEC Club
Richard Westpfahl - Tomah News Publication Editor
The Master of Ceremonies for Awards Day was Richard E. Markos.
May 26 Graduation
A total of 268 technical and vocational students graduated from Coleman Technical Institute.
The commencement exercises were the second formal graduation program since Coleman Technical Institute was
founded as the La Crosse Area Vocational School in 1912. The program began with the processional led by the
80-member faculty in academic robes. Graduates were dressed in caps and gowns of blue and gold, the school’s
colors. Sixty-one of the graduates completed the new technical associate degree. Associate Degrees were
awarded to
3 - Automotive Technology
13 - Business Administration-Accounting
7 - Business Administration Secretarial
9 - Distributive Education
13 - Electronics Technology
16 - Mechanical Design
61
Diplomas were awarded to 207
Guest speaker was Arthur M. G. Moody, chief engineer of the Trane Company and dean of Christ Episcopal Church.
He told the graduates that education is a continuing process. “Self-betterment in today’s technological world
depends on what the individual does to keep his skills and knowledge in tune with the times.”
Faculty awards were presented to two outstanding students. Barbara Walter, Home Economics Coordinator, made
the awards on behalf of the faculty to:
Eugene Tezlaff - La Crosse
Richard Westpfahl - Tomah.
Tetzlaff, a graduate in Electronics and a member of the school band, received the award as the top technical student,
and Westpfahl, a graduate in graphic arts who worked on the school paper, was honored as the top vocational
student.
May 28 Viterbo College held commencement exercise for their 65 graduates.
7/19 – 8/28 Instruction was again given on musical instruments during the summer for elementary, junior and senior high pupils.

In 1967-1968 . . .
August 1967 -- Overcrowding of Coleman Technical Institute necessitated leasing the former Community Motors
building at Fourth and Cass Streets for the Auto Mechanics class.
For the fall semester, accommodations for 74 men and 96 women were made available at the Angell and Coate Halls
at the La Crosse State University. Coleman students could also utilize the university food service and library
facilities.
Housing needs were explored at a hearing in La Crosse. On September 18, the La Crosse State University
administrators and students presented the La Crosse story on student housing to three members of the State Affairs
Committee of the Wisconsin Assembly at a hearing in the Whitney Center. The hearings, also planned at other
state universities, were held to determine the housing needs at the various institutions. Director Richardson
expressed his gratitude for being able to house students at La Crosse State, and also predicted there will be 3,000
students at Coleman by 1980 and that housing would soon be needed.
In fall of 1967, five associate degree programs, spanning the curriculum to six years, were offered at night.
The associate degree evening programs were: Electronics Technology, Mechanical Design Technology, Marketing,
Business Accounting, and Secretarial Science.
Technical Institutes Filling the Gap – In explaining the role of technical institutes, William G. Welch, chair of the
Faculty Committee on Technical Education and head instructor of the Electronics Technology Department, said
Coleman fills a gap between engineers trained in theory and tradesmen without advanced technical training.
He said, “ technical institutes were established to fill a void that was created when engineering and business school
programs became so theoretical that the graduates were prepared to function in the sharply defined fields of theory
and not in practical, skilled areas . . . institutions like Coleman will become the producers of the applications or
practical people. These people will be the skilled technicians who do the down-to-earth tasks, the ones who will
keep the show going in manufacturing, product research and development, and in business, marketing and data
processing.” At Coleman, for students working toward an associate degree the program is divided into three areas:
15 percent general education, 35 percent basic sciences, and 50 percent technical specialties and skills.
September 1967 – Mrs. Helen Vitale, who began work in September as an instructor, was named chair of the General
Education Division, responsible for planning and coordinating an expanded curriculum of general subjects.
Day student enrollment for 1967-68 was estimated at near the 1,000 mark.
On October 6, a Governor’s Committee on Apprenticeship Training from Iowa toured the school’s facilities and
discussed pre-apprentice and apprenticeship training. The Iowa group was headed by the Cedar Rapids director of
vocational and technical division, Iowa Area Ten Community College; and the Des Moines president of Iowa
Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO. Other visitors were the Des Moines state director of vocational and technical
education for Iowa; the Des Moines, Iowa Manpower Council; the Madison, Wisconsin supervisor of special services;
and the supervisor to the division of apprenticeship training of the Wisconsin State Industrial Commission.
In October 1967, a group of data processing experts from throughout Wisconsin gathered at Coleman Technical
Institute to evaluate the school’s Data Processing course for granting an associate degree to graduates of the
program. Evaluators meeting with Harry Hutchison, coordinator of business education, were Richard McCoy,
director of the University of Wisconsin Data Processing Center; Clifford Zenor, Evaluation supervisor of curriculum
development, and Jack Smythe, business education supervisor, both from the Wisconsin Board of Vocational and
Technical Education; Josh Diehm, government data systems coordinator at the Wisconsin Telephone Company in
Madison; Russell Weitz, data processing director for the board of school directors in Milwaukee; Keith Stoehr,
Kenosha Technical Institute director; and Albert Bethke, data processing department, City of Milwaukee.
Friday, the 13 th of October – At a meeting of the Coleman Technical Institute Homemaking Club, Jack Swidler
spoke on “Woe and Function of the Social Service to our Community.”

In 1967, an advanced Data Processing Center was installed to teach students how to be programmers. With the
installation of the IBM 1401 Computer System, La Crosse had one of the few data processing training centers of its
scope in the nation. The 1401 Computer System included a central processor with 12,000 memory positions; a
random storage device with 2 million individual storage elements; an attached printer capable of printing 600 lines
per minute up to 132 characters (digits) wide; a card-reader punch which read 800 IBM cards a minute and punch
250 cards a minute; and a teaching console unit. The computer was equipped with all the contemporary “languages”
for complete training of student programmers, including Common Business Oriented Language (COBOL), Formula
Translation (Fortran), Symbolic Programming Systems (SPS), Report Program Generator (PRG), and Autocoder, an
upper level symbolic computer language. The emphasis was on using computers in payroll, inventory and other
practical business needs. Coleman Technical Institute was the fifth school in Wisconsin to offer training in data
processing. Jim Boots was in charge of the Data Processing Center.
In August 1967, thirteen full-time instructors were added to the school’s faculty for the school year that began on
September 5.
Fall enrollment in 1967 was 1,015 FTE students.
At the La Crosse Post Office, in September 1967, the mail volume rose 26.6 percent above 1966. According to the
Assistant Postmaster, the volume was due to changing mail patterns, including greater use of the La Crosse Post
Office as a sectional center . . . meaning that more raw, unsorted mail was being channeled directly to the local
facility for processing and distribution. Students from the three schools (La Crosse State University, Viterbo College
and Coleman Technical Institute) were hired as temporary employees, without previous experience and were paid
$2.64 an hour to help out in the “emergency.”
In the 1967-68 school year, there were ten administrator/coordinator positions, including the Supervisor of
Instructional Services, Student Services, Evening School, and Business Services; and Coordinator of Trade and
Industrial, Business Education, Marketing, Health Occupations, and Home Economics; and a Guidance Counselor.
Sixty staff and administrative contracts were issued.
In the Fall Term 1967-68 registration, 1,044 full-time students enrolled for a regular course in 15 associate degree
and 14 vocational diploma programs plus other Manpower Development Training Programs (MDTA) and apprentice
on-the-job training. Evening and adult classes enrolled 2,095 adults at the La Crosse campus, and about 1,500 were
enrolled in other centers, for a total of nearly 3,600.
Saturday, October 7, 1967 – Oktoberfest Parade – Our first float . . . And, it’s a winner!
The Commercial Art, Auto Body, Wood Technics and Electronics and Welding programs constructed the first
Oktoberfest Parade float that had as its theme “Harvest of Color in Education Opportunity.” A steady rain for 5+
hours knocked exhibition plans askew—originally, a data processing machine was slated to be on the float. Brightly
covered umbrellas (provided by William Temte) replaced the technical equipment on the float. Float riders were
Joyce Cleveland and Ron Potter (Marketing); Linda Stakes and Bonnie Coy (Health Occupations); Gayle Conrad
(Welding); Ken Farley (Technical) and Margaret Hickey (Business Education). The float was awarded the
Oktoberfest President’s Award for 1967!
On October 11, a 30-hour Law Enforcement Training program was offered. The in-service training program,
designed by La Crosse Police Chief Ronald C. Wold, was attended by law enforcement personnel from communities
throughout the county.
October 25 – “DECA” the Halls . . . Five Coleman students painted Santa Claus’ quarters to be placed during the
Holiday Season at Fifth Avenue and Main Street. The students were members of the DECA Club, an organization of
Marketing students who did public service projects for DECA Club Week. The students were Norman Camero and
George Kiehl of Arcadia; Fred Johnson, Dennis Bentzen and John Fitzpatrick, all of
La Crosse; and Kenneth Myers of Arcadia. In 1967-68, DECA membership was 35 students.
In October 1967, the Coleman Technical Art Club named 12 new members. Chi Alpha Chi, the Commercial Art Club,
concluded two weeks of pledging activities with the judging of an artwork that was hung in the school’s library.
Invitations to join the art society were accepted by 12 new members, who then were required to submit three of
their own original works for display in the two-week art show, and final judging before October 30. Pledges to the
Chi Alpha Chi Society are: Julie Adams of Luck, Wisconsin; Jackie Carpenter of La Farge; Mary Earl of Black River
Falls; Kari L. Hanson of Alesund, Norway; Richard Lano of Winona, Minnesota; Dawn Lerum of Pepin; and Virginia
Woehlert of Rothchild. Other pledges, all from La Crosse, are: Karen Hanson, Laureen

Hess, Louise Larson, Kathleen Lish, and Suzanne Sumner. Chi Alpha Chi was open to all students interested in art.
It was organized by the first class of commercial art students in the school’s new graphic communication
department. The 1967-1968 officers were John Spah of La Crosse, president; Janice Walker, Prairie du Chien, vice
president; Dorothy Salke, La Crosse, secretary, and Karen Potts, La Crosse, treasurer. Advisors of the Coleman Art
Club were Richard Post and John Syverson of the commercial art faculty.
On Friday, October 27, welding instructors from 18 vocational school districts in Wisconsin met to set up standards
to be used by all the schools to certify welders of structural steel and steel pipe. Coleman was a pioneer in setting
uniform standards according to state codes, and it and Madison Vocational School were the only such schools
approved by the state to test welders under state standards. Among those at the session were George Hinkley,
head of the welding department, George Kinsler, chief of trade and industry for the Wisconsin Board of Vocational
Education; and Thomas E. Hanson, boiler safety specialist, and Larry L. Mollere, chief of industrial safety, both with
the Wisconsin Industry, Labor and Human Relations Commission.
In November, a demonstration was given on the ornamentation of cakes at the meeting of the Coleman Technical
Institute Homemakers Club.
On Saturday, November 17, Coleman Tech opened its basketball competition at Willmar Vocational with a new
coach (Ted Kothe) and two lettermen (Bob Ducklow of Tomah and Tom Peek of Onalaska.) Other members on
the team that school year were: John Dall, Mike Pohle, Doug Gardner, Mark Marsalek, Mike West, John Horsfall,
John Windjue, Bill Ebner, Judd Schoeneman, Les Stevenson, Tom Meier, Dina, Jerry Schmidt, and
Ed Rogers. The results of some of the basketball games were:
Nov. 18 - at Willmar, Minn.
Nov. 30 -Richland Center
Dec. 7 - Madison
Dec. 16- at Milwaukee
Dec. 19- Marathon County
L: 114-80
L: 84-63
L: 75-60
L: 99-91
L: 93-76
Jan. 5 - at Rice Lake
Jan. 26 - at Waukesha
Jan. 30 - at Marathon County
Feb. 1- Milwaukee
Feb. 6- Wisconsin Rapids
W:81-75
L: 102-90
L: 98-93
L: 101-98
W: 98-72
Feb. 9- Waukesha
Feb. 13- Rice Lake
Feb. 15 - at Sheboygan
Feb. 17 - at Madison
February 29 and March 1, 1968 – the Coleman Technical Institute was host to the Wisconsin Technical College
Conference basketball tournament, with Madison defeating Coleman 109-83. In the consolation game, Coleman
scored 85 and Waukesha 68.
On November 1, a breakthrough in communications between La Crosse area youths and members of the McCoy Job
Corps Center was made when 22 representatives of La Crosse area schools visited the center.
The bus trip was sponsored by the La Crosse Council for the Promotion of Human Relations and made up of students
from Aquinas, Logan, Central and Onalaska High Schools, and Coleman Technical Institute. Some
of the member of the La Crosse Council for the Promotion of Human Relations appeared on closed circuit television
at the McCoy Job Corps Center and took part in a panel discussion on corps programs. Operating the camera was
Corpsman John Pfeiffer of Columbus, Georgia. Others participating were Jan Becker, Brenda Hein, Mary Silva, all
from La Crosse; and John Williams and Joe Captain, corpsmen
November 5, the La Crosse Chapter of the Distributive Education Club of America (DECA), composed of Marketing
students at Coleman, were host to 150 DECA Club members from throughout western Wisconsin at a national DECA
week banquet in the Holiday Room of the Holiday Inn (Hwy. 14-16 and 61.) Frank Potts, manager of the La Crosse
Montgomery Ward store (307 Vine Street) spoke on “How To Improve the Public’s Attitude of Retailing.”
In the Family Magazine section of the La Crosse Tribune, dated November 19, 1967, the cover showed a picture of
the computer-training program at Coleman; an article about the program followed on page 2. Entitled, “Wide
Open Field” and shown getting instruction on the IBM 1401 series printer were Millie Pientok of Bangor, Charles
Dramer of Prairie du Chien, and Raymond Doyle of La Crosse. Data Processing Instructor Jim Boots briefed them.
Preparing for a role in this rapidly expanding field, were more than 80 persons taking keypunch training on five
machines and five simulators.
December and Holiday Decorations . . . The art of making feather flowers was revived and on the scene for holiday
decorating this Christmas season. Mrs. Thomas (Sharon) Knoblock shared her talents by teaching a weekly class on
how to construct the different flower shapes and assemble them into an attractive centerpiece, wall handing, and
bouquet or novelty item. Feathers have been used for decorating everything from clothing to religious objects by
civilizations from southern and eastern Asia to the Americas for centuries. Through the
L:81-77
W:70-63
W:114-76
L:97-88

ages, civilizations all over the world have promoted the use of feathers for craftwork; however, the quality of work
has been dependent on the types of feathered creatures existing in the region.
In the Sunday, December 17, 1967 edition of the La Crosse Tribune, featured in the “Family Magazine” were students
in the first agricultural merchandising class at Coleman and their instructor, Verlie Niccum. Students included Ken
Farley of Galesville, Mike Pohle of Bloomington, Allen Scholz of Kendall, Paul Thill of Trempealeau, Kenneth Clements
of Stoddard, Stanley Miller of Cashton, and Conrad Buchal of Hillsboro. The seven represented the entire class and
came from a 50-mile radius, but Niccum indicated that school officials expected the group to increase next year from
a five-county area. In an article entitled “Demand for Ag Grads Mounts,” the Tribune staff writer stated, “A strong
demand for agricultural graduates, coupled with young people’s increased awareness of opportunities in this field
has resulted in a marked upsurge in the number of students enrolled in agricultural courses, not only in Wisconsin
but wherever such courses are offered.”
Here, at Coleman in La Crosse, a three-phase Agribusiness program began in September 1967, of which only feed,
seed and farm supplies was being offered at that time. The other two phases, chemical and fertilizer materials; and
dairy equipment, materials handling and buildings were scheduled to be added later.
Financial woes . . .
Enrollment tripled . . . staff doubled . . .
In October 1967 the school’s budget hearing at the La Crosse Common Council Finance Committee listed that the
1968 budget was up 42 percent from 1967. The school’s 1968 budget totaled $1.3 million, some $384,250 over the
1967 budget, with the city’s share of the budget at $543,000 up $197,000. Coleman Technical Institute had
requested a tax levy, but the city learned that the technical district is not yet a bona fide district. Thus, Coleman
could levy up to two mills only on assessed value and not on equalized for full value as had been assumed. A bona
fide technical district covered two or more high school districts; the Coleman Technical Institute covered only one.
The reasons for the budget increase were attributed to: Enrollment tripled in two years; the staff doubled; and ten
more staff members were to be hired by September 1, 1968. “We have increased our day school program, doubled
the apprenticeship program and expanded the evening school program . . . It all means more money.” It was a
troublesome budget period for the La Crosse Common Council, with a special bit of commiseration for its finance
committee, in that it faced special requests from the public schools, the technical institute, as well as department
requests. The La Crosse Finance Officer reviewed the budget and concluded that the “city might get by with less if
its residents pay tuition instead.”
In December 1967, letters were mailed from Coleman Technical Institute asking persons to call their aldermen to
support legislation to allow the institute to tax up to two mills on full valuation. Director Richardson said in his
letter asking for support “the institute receives up to 50 percent aid on major equipment items and 80 percent on
instructor’s salaries. The $225,000 cut in the tax levy, therefore, could mean a cut of $450,000 to $500,000 in the
school budget.”
On Tuesday, December 5, 1967 La Crosse aldermen cut the Coleman tax levy by $225,000. The cut in Coleman
Technical Institute’s tax levy request came when city officials learned that the institute can tax up to two mills on
only the assessed value, not on full value as had been assumed. Assessed values in La Crosse were 45 percent of
full value. The budget was adopted by a 16-4 vote; just enough to override a veto if no alderman changes his vote.
Asked if he would veto the budget, Mayor Warren Loveland said, “We’ll wait and see.” Mayor Loveland had until
Sunday, December 10, to exercise the veto. It would have been Loveland’s first veto in his 2½ years in office.
Some had expected that he might veto the 1968 City Budget on Friday, December 8, with City Clerk Shirley Tomalka.
When asked on Friday morning if he intended to veto the budget, Loveland responded that there were still things he
wanted to check out. Later in the day, Mayor Loveland vetoed the 1968 budget, and the school’s tax levy for its
1968 budget was cut by $225,000. On Monday, December 11, the budget veto was sustained.
Cutting of the Coleman budget $225,000 for 1968 forced some fee hikes:
� Night school fees for some classes would increase.
� Fees for classes for which the institute gets no state or federal aid would be increased to cover the cost of the
course, and at least 20 students would be required before these courses are begun.
� Starting next semester (January 1968) the fee for such a two-hour class would be $8 a semester; a 2-1/2 hour
class, $9, and a three-hour class, $10. The current fee was $3. Out-of-district residents would pay an additional
tuition.

In January 1968 financial problems forced a temporary shutdown of the 32-year-old La Crosse Civic Choir. The
boost in tuition fees by the school plus a salary cut for the choir director Elvin M. Saterbak, led to the decision at the
choir advisory board meeting. There was a disagreement on the extent of the fee levy. The choir’s president,
Bruce Ranis, said that tuition jumped “from $1.50 a semester to $8,” while Director Richardson said the cost was
from “$3 to $8.” The salary of the choir director was cut from $15 to $10 for the two-hour session every Monday
night. When the choir was first organized the “music director got $15 a night . . . it doesn’t seem right that he
should suddenly get $10 now.” Ranis also indicated that the boost in tuition apparently affected enrollment in the
group . . . there were fewer people in the group in the second semester than in the first, and that he felt the $8 was
too large a fee, particularly since many choir members were husband and wife teams.
Ranis indicated that the choir might consider becoming part of the City Recreation program.
In February 1968, Terry Winchel of Tomah and Gerald Quackenbush of West Salem, both second-year students in
the Food Merchandising associate degree program, won the annual Gateway Foods, Inc. scholarship awards given to
students in the program.
Following an evaluation, on February 12-13, of the technical Commercial Art course for granting an associate degree,
Coleman Technical Institute will grant associate degrees to students under the recommendation of an evaluation
team which inspected the program. A team of six experts in advertising, commercial art and education participated
in the evaluation. Coleman Technical Institute was selected as one of five schools of its type in Wisconsin to
expand its graphic arts program. The announcement came from State Director Clarence L. Greiber. As a
vocational graphics center, the school had to include one- and two-year vocational, two-year technical (associate
degree) programs, apprenticeship training, and extension courses to serve industry’s needs. It offered a two-year
course in Commercial Art, and a two-year vocational course in Printing and Publishing that began as a trade-printing
course more than 50 years ago.
A team of six air conditioning, heating and refrigeration experts recommended approval of the Air Conditioning
Technology training program. The team included Jacob Anderson, vice president of Anderson Bros. Refrigeration
Service, Milwaukee; Earl E. Welke, engineering technician for Hovland Sheet Metal and Air Conditioning Contractors,
Eau Claire; Edward Milok, professor of air conditioning and refrigeration, College of Mechanical Engineering,
University of Wisconsin, Madison; Charles A. Burchell, business manager, Plumbers and Steamfitters Local No. 31,
AFL, La Crosse; Curtis R. Gehling, area coordinator, Vocational District 12, Oshkosh; Thomas Dougherty, Eau Claire
Technical Institute; Arnold Potthast and Harland Klintworth, both supervisors of trade and industrial education for
the Wisconsin Board.
March 10-11 – DECA state conference held at Green Lake. Officers and members of the local DECA chapter sent 30
members to the conference.
In March 1968, fifty mechanical drawing tables were donated to Coleman Technical Institute by the Trane Company,
which had declared the tables as excess equipment. Students in the school’s chapter of the American Institute of
Design and Drafting furnished the manpower to unload the tables.
March 1968 – After 40 years on the job, it would seem to be a little late to be graduating from an apprenticeship
program – but, Charles Stoller, La Crosse, did just that. Stoller was one of 28 men who completed the program for
sewing machine repairmen at Riviera Sportswear Company, 1205 South Seventh Street, La Crosse. Riveria, a
subsidiary of the La Crosse Garment Company, was unable to obtain skilled labor in 1958, and requested the
assistance of the local representative of the U. S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Apprenticeship and Training.
Gordon Flick, La Crosse, was the first apprentice trained through the company. He served as an instructor for
following apprentices, foreman of mechanics, and later manager of government production for the La Crosse
Garment Company’s three plants that were located in the La Crosse area.
April 24, 1968 – On Wednesday, April 24, Coleman Technical Institute held its second annual open house from 1 to
10 p.m., to offer the public an opportunity to see the “total picture” of vocational, technical and adult education in
action. People could visit the 15 technical fields that lead to an associate degree, as well as courses in business,
trades and industry, health occupations and home economics that prepare students for jobs in one year. “… the
turnout was very gratifying. People were dropping in right up to the closing bell. DECA, the Marketing Club, also
held a bratwurst and sauerkraut “feed” the same day and had their usual
good response . . .”
On Wednesday, April 24, Coleman Technical Institute held its second annual open house. The complete picture of
vocational, technical and adult education was presented. The relatively new associate degree programs, which had
state accreditation leading to the two-year associate degree in 15 technical fields, were illustrated.

In 1968, Germain Davison, of La Crosse, a 26-year veteran of reserve and active naval duty, was promoted to Captain
in the Naval Reserve. Following his separation from service, in the spring of 1946 he was hired as assistant La
Crosse County agricultural agent. Davison joined the school’s staff in 1963 to teach general subjects and was in his
second year as an adult and evening school supervisor when he was recalled to temporary active duty in October
1966.
March 21, fifteen students enrolled in the Food Service Supervisor course served an Easter Buffet for class members
and guests. The menu included jellied Easter eggs, tossed greens, spring breeze cucumber gelatin, glazed yam en
casserole, baked potatoes with sour cream, chicken a la Inez, roast beef au jus, glazed hickory ham, roast leg of lamb,
caraway sticks, garlic bread, butter leaf rolls, tropic ambrosia Norwegian tea, and coffee. Among the class
members who participated in the project were Janet Chalsma and Colleen Byrnes, both employed by St. Francis
Hospital; Keith Simonson, employed by Professional Food-Service Management Co. (1741 State Street); and Vivian
Heckert, employed by the Hillview Home (Hillview Road). Barbara Walter was coordinator for the Home Economics
department.
In April 1968, Coleman Technical Institute asked the Common Council to rent the old Ellickson Studio building at 712
Main Street, for the school’s use. Director Richardson asked the city to lease the building and provide utilities from
October 1, 1968 through December 30, 1969. It was used the past year for apprenticeship trades classes,
supervisory and management training classes, and commercial art.
Coleman Technical Board – New Organization
April 17, 1968 – the Coleman Technical School Board met for the first time under new organization. Members
were: Edsel Vergin, Thomas Hancock, Roy Kumm, Louis Youngman and Theron Cartwright. (Hancock replaced
John Kennedy on the board.)
May 2, 1968 -- The Wisconsin Association for Vocational and Adult Education (WAVAE) voted to follow the lead of
other teacher groups and enter into collective bargaining for new contracts.
On May 17, the Apparel Arts majors at Coleman presented a fashion show at a luncheon meeting of the Coleman
Vocational Homemakers Club at the Cerise, at 1815 Ward Avenue. The fashions were made by the students who
enrolled in the nine-month home economics program. Students modeling for the fashion show included: Donna
Johnson, Donna Iverson, Cynthia Kuecker, Marjorie Roesler, Rosemary Miller, Jeannie Wilson, Yvonne Anny, and
Barbara Valley.
May 17 – Coleman golfers finished second in the Wisconsin Technical College Conference golf tournament at the
Maple Grove Country Club.
June 1968 – More financial woes . . . Coleman had asked the La Crosse Common council for an $8,300 deficit
appropriation toward its 1968 operating budget. The Council had earlier offered to lend the district the money, but
the vocational board wanted an appropriation, not a loan. Coleman Technical Institute said it needed the $8,300 to
continue its present school program without any cutbacks. No new programs would be started. The Council sent
the request to committee. Some aldermen preferred lending the money instead. Appropriating the money
meant that all the money would be provided by the city. Lending the money meant the district repays the loan
from its 1969 budget and the towns within the district would provide part of the money. On July 8, the
La Crosse Common Council Committee-of-the-Whole voted to deny an additional appropriation of $8,300 to the
school. The offer for a loan was still open. The aldermen preferred a loan to an outright appropriation, since the
loan would be repaid next year (1969) when a six-county area shared in the repayment.
June 1968 – sixteen employees of the Monroe County Infirmary and Hospital have became graduate nursing
assistants after completing a six-week, 120-hour course at the institution. The course was conducted under the
auspices of the Coleman Technical Institute, which loaned two registered nurses, Mrs. Connie King and Mrs. Mary
Boots, as instructors. Graduates were:
Kenneth Brooks
Phyllis Brooks
Karen Davis
Connie Faulk
Marie Flume
Marion Hobson
Joanne Johnson
Diane Nowak
Laura Koboski
Germaine Marx
Irene Pollack
Geneva Rugg
Eleanor Spohn
Gena Sullivan
Viola Stark
LaVonne Young

The First Catalog
The “first” school catalog – the Coleman Technical Institute 1967-68 catalog – was published. Information
published in the catalog included:
� The Coleman Technical Institute was under the direct supervision of the La Crosse Board of Vocational, Technical
and Adult Education.
� That the Board was appointed by the Board of Education of the City of La Crosse in accordance with state law
legislated in 1911 by the State of Wisconsin which established its system of vocational and adult schools as the
first of its kind in the nation.
� People residing within the La Crosse school district were not required to pay tuition. If a student was under 21
years of age and a resident of Wisconsin, the municipality in which the student resided paid the tuition if there is
no vocational school in a district offering the same course.
� A $20 general fee was required of each student.
� There were five administrators, 82 faculty, ten clerical, and eight custodians.
� Associate Degree programs included two major areas in Agriculture (Chemicals and Feeds); Air Conditioning and
Refrigeration Technology; Automotive Technology; Accounting; Data Processing; Commercial Art; Electronics
Technology; three Marketing programs, with emphasis on Food Merchandising, Retailing, and Wholesaling;
Mechanical Design Technology; three Secretarial Science programs emphasizing Administrative Secretary, Legal
Secretary, and Medical Secretary. Vocational Diploma programs in the Business Education area included
Business Machines, Tabulating Machine Operator, and General Clerical; Health Occupations programs in Dental
Assistant, Medical Assistant, and Licensed Practical Nursing; Home Economics programs included Apparel Arts
and Institutional Foods; and Trades and Industry programs in Auto Body, Auto Mechanics, Cabinetmaking,
Graphic Arts (Printing); Machine Shop—Tool and Die; and Welding.
� The General Education Division offered courses in English, Mathematics, Natural Science, and Social Sciences. In
addition, it provided a pre-technical program for students requiring further study at the secondary school level
before entering the school, and a “special” studies program for students who are undecided about their training
objectives.
� The school was also the center for Apprenticeship training in the La Crosse area in cooperation with the
Apprenticeship Division of the Wisconsin Industrial Commission.
� In 1966, Coleman Technical Institute opened its doors to the first adult education class for basic reading and
writing under the sponsorship of the federal government. Twenty-one students enrolled, with several joining
the class after it had started.
� For 1966-67, the evening school fee was $3.00 per class.
� Evening school listed 29 General Adult Education courses, 20 Home Economics courses, 27 Trades and Industry
courses, 23 Business Education courses, and 13 Associate Degree courses with an enrollment of 3,000 attending.
� Student activities included a Varsity Basketball Team, School Choir, Pep Band, Other Sports such as softball, golf
and bowling; a Student Congress; News Publication, a Yearbook, and Clubs such as Business Education Club, The
Distributive Education Club, a Technical Fraternity—Delta Eta Tau; a Trades and Industry Fraternity—Tau Iota
Upsilon; and Chi Alpha Chi, the Coleman Institute Commercial Art Club.
In 1967-1968 events in the Auditorium included . . .
1967
August 7 The Blackwood Brothers quartet, which had been classified as the No. 1 recording gospel foursome,
was heard in a free concert.
August 16 “Music Lovers Night” – The Eighth Annual Coulee Region Festival of Arts sponsored the Coulee Region
Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Frank J. Italiano, featured as guest artist David Mulfinger, a pianist.
September 15 The La Crosse Diocesan elementary teachers convention had seven speakers. The theme of the
convention was “Formation of the Christian Child – 1967.”
October 27 The Frank Loesser musical “Guys and Dolls,” with a cast of 46, ushered in the 1967-68
La Crosse Community Theater season at the Coleman Auditorium.
October 31 Halloween … and the nice things continue . . . Coulee Region Kiwanians offered their third season of
Travel and Adventure films. On the 31 st , you could go with Jackson Winter on a
trip to the Jordan.
November 12 James Dick, a Texas pianist and a finalist in the Tchaikovky piano competition in Moscow, appeared in
concert with the La Crosse Symphony Orchestra, with Frank J. Italiano as guest conductor.
November 28 California . . . where the trees are bigger . . . the coastline more rugged. Kiwanis Club presented
LeRoy Crooks in person for the travel film “Wonderful World of California.”

November 29 The Greater La Crosse chamber of Commerce sponsored “free” Christmas movies for grade school
children in the La Crosse area. Show times were 9 and 11 a.m. and 3 and 5 p.m. The films
consisted of Christmas cartoons. And, Santa Claus appeared at each show.
December 3 A chorus of some 90 La Crosse area singers presented Handel’s “Messiah”. Alvin S. Mikelson
directed the performance with Mrs. Clayton Burkhart serving as piano accompanist. Soloists
were Helen Houdon Hamilton, soprano; Wesley Abbott, tenor; and David Greedy, baritone – all
members of the Luther College music faculty; and Karen Anderson, alto, of Mabel, Minnesota, a
junior at Luther.
December 5 A bomb hoax failed to halt the piano duet . . . A bomb threat to blow up the Auditorium stage
while pianist Dallas Weekey and his wife Nancy Arganbright were performing was phoned to
Weekley at his hotel room. He received a call saying, “the stage had been rigged to blow up.”
The artists apparently were not upset by the hoax. The pair traveled on a national concert
circuit as Weekley and Arganbright as a fourhanded piano team.
December 9 La Crosse Jaycettes presented Bobby Clark and his king-sized puppets at two performances.
1968
January 8 Ruth Page’s International Ballet (formerly called the Chicago Opera Ballet) unit received a warm
welcome from a capacity audience. Costumes were outstanding in that “the colors and design
are vibrant and alive, and in complete harmony with the conception of the various ballets
presented.”
January 16 What better time to go to Africa than in January . . . “Amazing Africa” was the film presented
by the Coulee Region Kiwanis Club.
January 25,
26
& 27
Alaska’s wildlife in action in its natural habitat was seen in “This is Alaska,” a two-hour color
movie about hunting and fishing experiences of J. Ron Malcolm and Robert L. Tucker in the 49 th
state.
February 18 Guest artist with the La Crosse Symphony Orchestra was mezzo-soprano Carol Smith, the only
American on the regular roster of the La Scala Opera in Milan, Italy. Frank Italiano was guest
conductor.
February 20 Going around the world with the Coulee Region Kiwanis Club took the audience to Australia in the
film “Windjammer to Australia.”
March 10 The Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra presented a concert with Stanislaw Skrowaczewski
conducting. This local concert was the first in a tour of neighboring communities for the
Minneapolis orchestra. When the Ford Foundation awarded an $85 million grant to U. S.
orchestras late in 1965, the Minneapolis Symphony was one of the recipients of the maximum
amount.
March 15 The Alvin Ailey Dancers, five men and five women, exhibited virtuoso technique that elicited
frequent enthusiastic response from the audience. The Lectures and Concerts Committee of the
La Crosse State University brought this group to La Crosse.
March 19 Lola Belle Holmes warned a La Crosse audience of a Communist takeover of the United States
through the civil rights movement. Claiming to have been in the civil rights movement for 28
years, she said that it was directed by the Kremlin. Holmes, a Negro who spent seven years as
an undercover agent in the Communist party, was sponsored by the Coulee Region TACT (Truth
About Civil Turmoil) Committee, some members of which belonged to the John Birch Society, a
right-wing group. (The La Crescent School administrative staff turned down
a request for Holmes to speak to La Crescent High School students.)
March 23 A night for nostalgia – The Barbershoppers 22 nd annual show included local quartets and two
out-of-town foursomes. The theme of the show was “Songs from the Heart.” The local
groups included the 35-member “Coulee Chordsmen Chorus” in their bright red jackets; the
“Individualists” and the “Fest Towners.” Out-of-towners included the “Cabarets, a comic
quartet form Madison; and the “The Hartsmen Chorus” a musical group from Michigan City,
Indiana.
March 26 The travel film presented by the Coulee Region Kiwanis Club was “Canadian Far West.”
March 30-31 Area children had an opportunity to see their favorite characters in live theater as the American
Association of University Women presented “The Wizard of Oz.” It was offered at 10 a.m.,
1 and 3 p.m. on Saturday, March 30; and at 2 p.m. on Sunday, March 31.
April 1 A group of performers of medieval and baroque music and musical instruments. The New York
Pro Musica, an ensemble devoted to the performance of Medieval and Renaissance music. The
ensemble was composed of two women and eight men, with six of the ten being singers.
April 21 Sergiu Luca, a violinist, appeared in concert with the La Crosse Symphony Orchestra.
Milton Davenport, director of the Winona, Minnesota, Symphony and director of instrumental music at
Winona State College in Davenport, Iowa, was the guest conductor.

May 14 St. Coletta’s Choir, a 44-voice choir presented a concert. Members of the choir make their home
in St. Coletta’s School for Exceptional Children, in Jefferson, Wisconsin, and became well known
through its public appearances and television performances. The La Crosse County Association
for Retarded Children sponsored the event.
May 15 Honors Day Program
Introduction Charles G. Richardson, Director
Certificates of Appreciation by Charles G. Richardson, Director
� Lawrence Kapelke, manager of the Farmers Co-op Shipping and Supply,
West Salem, for his assistance in the school’s new Agribusiness technical program.
� Lynden Gjerde, business manager for G. Heileman Brewing Co., for his interest in the
business education programs.
� Leonard Vingers, personnel manager for Trane Company, for his work on various
advisory boards in helping set up new programs.
� Harold Weidenkopf, a retired design department employee of Allis-Chalmers
Manufacturing Company, for serving as a temporary faculty member in the Mechanical
Design program.
1968 Yearbook
Yearbook editor, Mary Earl, Black River Falls, announced the dedication of the 1968
La Tech annual yearbook to Hedwig A. Rekow, a member of the school’s business education
department for 31 years, who retired in September 1967.
Scholastic Achievements by Victor E. Larsen, Instructional Service
More than 50 students were honored for scholastic achievement with sterling silver honor
award emblems of the institute’s seal.
Extracurricular Awards by William Temte, Student Congress Advisor
- Recognition was given to students who had performed exceptionally in extracurricular
activities and in the student government body.
- A special certificate of honor went to Bruce Merrill, of Taylor, for his outstanding
participation record in school activities –especially as the “Top Tour Guide” at the 1968 Open
House.
Athletic Awards by Ted Kothe, Coach
Letters were awarded to basketball team members, golfers and varsity bowlers.
John Horsfall, Patch Grove, received the institute’s “Coach Trophy” as the outstanding member of
the varsity basketball team for 1967-68.
Scholarships
Scholarships were presented to outstanding students in the graphic arts program and the
accounting course by
� E. L. (Bob) Burgess, business manager of The La Crosse Tribune.
The Tribune graphic arts scholarship was awarded to Virginia Woehlert, a first-year
technical Commercial Art student from Rothschild.
� James O. Ash of the accounting firm of Hawkins, Ash and Baptie.
The Accounting scholarship was won by James O. Voight, Wonewoc, a first-year student.
� Leslie Eversole, president of Eversole-Rogers, presented the school with a scholarship to be
awarded to an outstanding student in the Auto Technology program in the fall of 1968; and
� Paul Marcotte, advertising vice president of Gateway Foods presented two scholarships to
be awarded in the fall of 1968 to two outstanding students in the school’s Food
Merchandise program.

May 24 Graduation
The third formal commencement exercises, the largest class in the school’s 56-year history, took
place at 8 p.m. in the Coleman Auditorium.
There were 307 graduates – 91 students completed the two-year technical programs, and
diplomas were awarded to 215 who completed one- and two-year courses in trade skills and
office training.
The Rev. Wayne Grover, pastor of Asbury Methodist Church, gave the invocation.
Opening remarks were made by Director Charles G. Richardson.
The Coleman Choir sang three music selections accompanied by Mrs. William Temte.
“Setting Goals” was the theme of the commencement address by Allen C. Menke, executive vice
president of the Trane Company. “No matter what skills you bring to the attainment of goals, all
will be for naught if you can’t take action because you have no self-discipline,” he said. Menke
listed the following steps for attaining goals:
� Selection of objectives that have greater possibility of accomplishment and result;
� Organize a priority list of certain mandatory goals:
� Set some enabling goals that will help lead to fulfillment of key ones;
� Set a personal schedule for accomplishing goals; and
� Re-examine periodically the goals and their values to see if they are still in line with one’s
personal situation.
Victor Larsen, supervisor of instructional services, presented the outstanding student awards.
Special awards went to the following who tied as the outstanding associate of arts degree
candidates:
� Marilyn Carr of La Crosse, a graduate in Business Administration, Legal Secretary program;
and
� George Jolivette III, La Crosse, a graduate of Mechanical Design Technology.
� Bruce Merrill, Taylor, was named winner of the outstanding vocational student award.
Bruce was a graduate of the one-year Tab Machine Operator program.
Gary Gleason, La Crescent student in Marketing, accepted the charge from the speakers on behalf
of the students.
Kenneth Bach was organist for the processional and recessional.
June 6 Television’s “Wonderful World of Fantasy,” one of the country’s most popular live stage
entertainments for children, appeared in La Crosse. Scenes from the “Arabian Nights” . . .
“Circus-Time,” and a patriotic scene, the “Wizard” scene and others provided a stage treat for
children by the Coulee Kiwanians.
June 11 The Marilyn School of Dance presented their annual dance recital.
According to a study made by the school, WWTI 1968 graduates who found jobs in their fields of study averaged
starting salaries of $359.46 a month; those in unrelated fields had an average starting salary of $336.63. The study
covered 307 graduates, not all of whom replied to all the questions asked. Beginning salaries for graduates
working in their fields of training ranged from a low of $242.86 for dental assistants to a high of $510 for those who
studied electronics. The average salary figures covered 188 graduates, 166 of whom had found employment in
their fields of study. The full study had 153 male graduates and 154 female.

Coleman Technical Institute, A Self-Discipling School
On Thursday, March 21, 1968 – State Director Clarence L. Greiber
on his visit to Coleman Technical Institute,
informed Director Charles Richardson that
Coleman has been designated as a “self-discipling” school
that would be the central school for the new vocational school district in this area.
The designation meant that Coleman would now be able to determine from
its own experience which programs would be developed. Until now, it had to
Rely on state evaluation to continue development of certain programs.
On May 28, 1968, the Wisconsin Board approved WWTC as a “self-discipling” technical institute.
This signified that the school was recognized as having the facilities, faculty and capabilities to initiate and
evaluate its own educational programs
A New District Board
The New Seven-Member Board
The new board elected (each serving a one year term) Roy Kumm of La Crosse, chairman; J. O. Beadle of Galesville,
vice chairman; Robert Ringdahl of La Crosse, secretary; and Louis Youngman of La Crosse, treasurer; Henry Ernst, Jr.,
Walter Weihrouch, and Edsel Vergin of the La Crosse Public Schools.
June 28, 1968 – A Meeting of the New Board
The board opened under the chairmanship of John Thomas, acting in his capacity as chairman of the La Crosse
County Board. It was guided in its first steps by State Director Clarence L. Greiber. The Coleman Technical
Institute Board elected officers. The new board oversees operation of the institute in its new role as the
headquarters for a six-county vocational, technical and adult education district. It superseded the former
vocational school board, which operated the school for the City of La Crosse.
Responsibilities
State Director Clarence Greiber told the Board, before the elections, that the treasurer’s post (to which Youngman
was elected) would involve very different financial arrangements from those in the past. He indicated that one of
the Board’s first responsibilities was to set its budget for next year (1969), because the local governments must be
notified by October 1 what their shares of the 1969 budget would be. Richardson gave the board a resume of the
Institute’s building and curriculum plans for the near and the long-range future, with emphasis on the construction
of an addition soon to get under way. He then conducted a tour of the present building.
Funds for Coleman Technical Institute would now be received and disbursed directly by the board rather than by the
City of La Crosse, although the city has agreed to continue handling the school’s finances for the rest of the year.
The board will, in the future, set its own budget, assess a tax levy of up to two mills on equalized valuation of
property in the district, send tax statements to local governments which will actually assess and collect the taxes and
receive the revenues from the local governments.
State Director Grieber explained to the Board the state law provisions of dividing up all of Wisconsin into 18
vocational school districts. He pointed out that all areas of the state must be within district boundaries by July 1,
1970. The Coleman district was to cover La Crosse, Monroe, Vernon, Buffalo, Trempealeau and Jackson Counties.
Variations from county boundaries were permitted, Greiber said. Some northern Buffalo and Trempealeau County
school districts have already received approval to be included in the Eau Claire district instead, and some of Jackson
County may seek to be put in the Eau Claire district, too. Also, some parts of Juneau County may apply to be
included in the Coleman district. The present Coleman district did not include part of Vernon County or any of
Jackson. The Jackson board had taken no action on the subject, while the

Vernon County Board voted not to act before the July 1, 1970 deadline. However, as the law allows, the Westby, La
Farge and De Soto School Districts in Vernon County have applied for and been approved for inclusion in the
Coleman district, so that about three-fourths of the county was a part of the district.
When Jackson County becomes a part of the district, said La Crosse County Board Chair John Thomas, representation
on the Coleman Board may be changed to give Jackson one member, with Buffalo and Trempealeau Counties to
share one member.
In reply to questions by various members, Greiber explained that the new board has full authority to conduct
vocational, technical and adult education throughout the district. Among other possibilities, it may establish day or
evening classes in existing buildings anywhere in the district or it may construct new buildings s it may see the need.
An Acting Director Named for Coleman Technical Institute
Greiber informed the board that the law requires that he certify to the board three persons qualified to be director
of the institute, and, if the board wished him to look further for a director, it could ask him for a list of additional
persons.
Greiber than provided the board with the names of Richardson, Carlton A. Erickson of Milwaukee, and Lyle Sorum of
Willston, North Dakota, as persons qualified to be the Coleman school director. He suggested that until the board
examines the qualifications of each applicant and picks a permanent director, it name an acting director. The board
named Richardson.

Part IV - A Technical Institute
Our School
On May 28, 1968, the Wisconsin Board approved WWTC as a “self-discipling” technical institute. This signified that
the school was recognized as having the facilities, faculty and capabilities to initiate and evaluate its own educational
programs.
Statement of Purpose, Section 1, Chapter 292, Wisconsin Laws of 1965:
“In order to broaden the educational opportunities for the youths and adults of Wisconsin the
State Board of Technical and Adult Education shall establish a program of instruction at institutions
throughout this state that will equip all of this state’s people to find their place in the competitive labor market
of today. This act shall be construed as an enactment of statewide concern for the purpose of establishing a
statewide system of vocational, technical and adult education districts throughout the state.”
Coleman Technical Institute Now Western Wisconsin Technical Institute - 1968-1987
Chapter 292, Laws of 1965, provided for the organization of the State of Wisconsin into Area Vocational,
Technical and Adult Education Districts by July 1, 1970. This organization enabled the expansion and
improvement of vocational and technical opportunities to all of the people in Wisconsin. With the formation
of the “area district” concept as a result of Wisconsin Legislation, the Western Wisconsin Vocational, Technical
and Adult Education (VTAE) District was formed in July, 1968, and the newly appointed VTAE District Board
adopted the name of the school as Western Wisconsin Technical Institute. Each district was assigned a
number, with La Crosse and the Western Wisconsin VTAE District being assigned No. 2. Use of the numbers
for designating the Wisconsin VTAE Districts and technical institutes was discontinued in 1973.
Under the old system, the Vocational School operated under local lay boards, generally named by the city council.
The board had fiscal independence, with authority to tax up to two mills on equalized value. The district system
led to branch schools in other communities outside the City of La Crosse. It also forced construction of dormitory
space as well as more classrooms at the La Crosse District center school.
In July 1968, area school districts were legally established, and, in accordance with Section 41.19, Chapter 292,
Wisconsin Statutes, the District accepted the responsibility of all nonresident tuition payments, regardless of age, for
all students who wish to attend vocational, technical and adult schools in other districts offering subjects not taught
by the WWTI District.

In July 1968, the Board was informed that it would have money with which to operate. The City of La Crosse
Common Council passed a resolution to continue operating the programs of the school for the rest of the year.
In 1968-1969 . . .
Organizational Meeting – July 8, 1968
A name change,
a change of organization,
and the start of construction on a major addition highlighted 1968
Coleman Tech Now Western Wisconsin Technical Institute
Monday, July 8, 1968 – Western Wisconsin Technical Institute. That’s the new name of what used to be Coleman
Technical Institute and was known as the La Crosse Vocational School before that. The name was chosen at the
second meeting of the school’s new area Board, containing representatives of five of the six counties which
eventually will comprise the District from which Western Wisconsin will draw its students.
In adopting the Western Wisconsin name, the board followed the example of some of the other area boards in the
18 vocational school districts into which the state had been divided. Eugene I. Lehrmann, Assistant State Director,
informed the Board that the State Board prefers such geographic names for the area schools. Board Chairman Roy
Kumm recommended that the La Crosse school take the name of “western” before a board in another city decides to
do so.
While changing the name of the Institute, the Board continued to recognize the contributions to the school by John
B. Coleman, director for 46 years by naming the present school structure as “the Coleman Building.”
The Board
A new District Board was selected consisting of six members (two employers, two employees, two
members-at-large), and one school administrator member designated by the six representative members. Its first
organizational meeting was held July 8, 1968. Board members included Roy E. Kumm, La Crosse, chair of the new
board (employer); J. O. Beadle, Galesville, vice chair (member-at-large); Robert Ringdahl, La Crosse, secretary
(employer); Louis Youngman, La Crosse, treasurer (employee); Walter Weihrouch, Westby, (employee); Henry Ernst,
Jr., Fountain City, (member-at-large); and ex officio member of the board was Edsel Vergin, Superintendent of the La
Crosse School District.
District Director
The Board also voted to hire former Coleman Director Charles Richardson as the permanent District Director.
Richardson had been acting director at the Board’s first meeting, pending Board consideration of other candidates
for the post.
Other matters
Among other steps taken by the Board was designating Friday, July 12, 1968 as the day for groundbreaking
ceremonies on the site of its newest addition (Health-Science / Kumm Building) across Pine Street to the north of the
Coleman Building.
Other actions taken by the Board that day were:
� Requested the Cities of La Crosse, Tomah and Sparta to close their accounts with the former vocational school
board and transfer the funds to the new board, which would handle funds itself from now on.
� Accepted the property, duties, rights and liabilities of vocational schools in the district.
� Establishing the new board as the policy-making body for vocational education in the district.
� Applied for participation in the Wisconsin teacher retirement fund.
� Agreed to pay tuition of district residents – regardless of age – who wish to attend vocational schools in other
districts offering subjects not taught at Western Wisconsin Technical Institute.

� Named the Batavian National Bank (319 Main Street) as its depository for the next year, with the account to be
rotated among the banks in La Crosse on a yearly basis in alphabetical order.
� Appointed Dale Tessmer, the school’s Business Manager, as deputy to District Treasurer Louis Youngman to
handle the districts financial matters.
� Terminated the lease on the garage at 4 th and Cass Streets on the grounds it was no longer needed for
instructional purposes, and continued leasing the old Ellickson Studio building at 712 Main Street.
� Set its regular monthly meeting time as 4:30 p.m. the fourth Tuesday of each month.
� Instructed Director Richardson, that in some cases with committee assistance, to investigate (1) the hiring legal
of counsel, (2) the prices on publishing board meeting minutes, and (3) the renting of additional office space in
the La Crosse County Courthouse for 1969-70. In 1968, the District Board authorized rental of space for
administrative offices in the basement of the La Crosse County Courthouse, at 400 North Fourth Street, for Law
Enforcement, Health Occupations, Business Marketing, Field Services (Community Services), Adult Basic
Education/GED, and the Instructional Media Center staff.
At the July 23, 1968 Board Meeting
� The Board set committees to begin studies of its first budget and the 1969-70 teacher salary schedule.
Assistant State Director Lehrmann, who was present for the meeting, recommended that the Board schedule a
public hearing on the budget before the adoption date of October 1, and that Director Richardson hold meetings
with local government officials in the district.
� Lehrmann suggested the calendar year be shifted to the state and federal fiscal year (July 1 – June 30).
� Tuition rates for 1968-69 were 50 cents an hour for full-time enrollment and 30 cents an hour for “other”
enrollment, with the same as the past year for students from outside the district.
� Instructed Director Richardson to investigate hiring an appraiser to assist the board in negotiating with the City
of La Crosse on the transfer of ownership of the vocational school properties from the city to the new WWTI
district. (On August 6, the La Crosse Common Council voted to hire two Grand Rapids, Michigan, appraisers to
appraise the Western Wisconsin Technical Institute complex. Ralph Wenger, one of a few appraisers in the
country, was hired to appraise the building at a $4,000 fee; and S. M. Dix, the fixtures and equipment for $7,500.
� The La Crosse law firm of Hale, Skemp, Hanson, Schnurrer and Skemp was authorized as legal counsel.
� Accepted a space utilization study which recommended renting temporary office space in the basement of the
Courthouse, at 400 North Fourth Street, for Law Enforcement, Health Occupations, Business Marketing, Field
Services (Community Services), Adult Basic Education/GED, and the Instructional Media Center staff.
On August 15, 1968, the La Crosse County Board approved the renting 1,782 square feet of space in the
basement of the Courthouse for $150 per month. The lease would run until June 1, 1970.
New WWTI District Provides Broad Range of Services
As a district center school, a wider range of services and programs were being provided and planned for initiation in
the near future.
In 1968, at the fall term enrollment, 1,044 full-time students enrolled for regular courses in 15 associate degree
programs, and 14 vocational diploma courses, plus others in Federal Manpower Development and Training Act
programs, and apprentice on-the-job training fields.
� The number of students from La Crosse and area high schools were: Central 122; Aquinas 73; and Logan 63;
and from Sparta 37; Tomah 34; Westby 29; Onalaska 27; Viroqua 26; West Salem 26; Black River Falls 21; and
Bangor 20.
� The students enrolled in the 1968-1969 school year represented 35 Wisconsin counties; plus the states
o of Colorado, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Jersey, North Dakota, South Dakota,
� and Vermont; and the foreign countries of Bolivia, India, Norway, Poland, South America, and Morocco. The
Business Education department had the top enrollment with 321 students; Trades and Industries ranked second
with 315; Health Occupations had 101; Marketing had 87; Agribusiness 24; and Home Economics 19.
� Age: 60 percent were in the 18- and 19-year-old bracket.
� 58.4 percent were male; 41.6 percent were female.
� In 1968-1969, there were 221 nonresident students, 177 apprentices, and 98 MTDA (Manpower Training and
Development Act) students.

Evening and Adult Classes Throughout the District
Evening school enrollment at the La Crosse school was 2,095. Evening and adult education courses were offered at
area high schools. Residents of the district may attend classes at WWTI in La Crosse, in their local high schools or at
any high school within the district for the same small registration fee.
About 1,500 students were enrolled in evening school classes held in the public schools in the district for an overall
total district evening school enrollment of 3,600 (including those at WWTI).
Evening and adult vocational programs were held at high schools in Arcadia, Blair, Brookwood, Cashton,
De Soto, Gilmanton, Holmen, Independence, La Farge, Sparta, Tomah, Trempealeau, Viroqua, Westby, West Salem,
Whitehall, and at WWTI in La Crosse.
Apprenticeship Training and Extension Courses
One of the most important of all educational programs at WWTI was the training of apprentices. As the center for
apprenticeship training in western Wisconsin, WWTI was among the largest in the state in this field. Extension
training courses were offered by WWTI in conjunction with area businesses and industrial plants. These special
courses, an “extension” of the employers’ fields of interest, were combined with the vocational and technical
training know-how of the WWTI staff.
An important part of the extension training programs were the workshops in Management Development that were
offered throughout the WWTI District by John L. Eppley, Supervisor of Management Development Services.
Expanded Facilities
Tentative plans for buildings, in addition to the health-science building that was under construction, were to first find
housing for students from out-of-town, then for another academic building, and an administration building.
Another possibility was the establishment of satellite schools in other locations throughout the District.
Housing
Housing for students was critical. In 1968, WWTI students were housed in the La Crosse State University (LSU)
dormitories; however, and at LSU would not be available for WWTI students in 1969. As the YMCA building at
Seventh and Main Street was listed for sale, WWTI speculated that sight as a possible dormitory for students. In
January 1969, the WWTI Board set up a committee to negotiate a purchase price for the La Crosse YMCA. Real
estate agent Thomas Wheeler was authorized to represent the joint YM-YWCA board of trustees in negotiations.
The asking price for the building was $175,000. It was estimated that the building could house about 100
students. If WWTI were to acquire it as a dormitory, remodeling would include building changes as designed by
the state safety specialist. Among the required necessary changes were the installation of additional fire escapes,
handrails, fire doors and lights.
In October 1969 rooms were available to male students in the Old “Y”, with the cost of rent from $9 to $10 per
week; the school furnished the linen.
On December 16, 1969, WWTI signed a fifteen-year lease-purchase agreement to occupy the former YMCA building.
It provided that anytime in the 15-year period, WWTI could exercise an option to buy the property for $217,000 with
all rental payments to the time of exercising the option to count as payments on the purchase. WWTI was already
making use of the structure, having a few students residing there.
In March 1970, WWTI complied with a La Crosse Fire Department order to vacate the old YMCA building as it was
unfit for occupation. WWTI had been using the building under its lease-purchase agreement with those who
bought the building from the YMCA. Up to the time that the order was received, WWTI had been housing about
ten students in the YMCA.
Much improvement was needed, said William Campbell, Administrator of Student Services, including a new heating
plant, new fire escapes, replacement plumbing and electrical work and much carpentry and painting. Much of the
work was done by WWTI students who were earning their way. When all the work was completed, the building
would house 78 male students, as well as offices on the ground floor. Among the offices to be moved into the old
YMCA when the remodeling was completed were the coordinators’ offices (that were utilizing space in the basement
of the La Crosse County Courthouse.)

In the fall of 1970, the 60-year-old-plus former YMCA building was occupied by 58 male students.
In 1969-70 school year, dormitories at University of Wisconsin-La Crosse were used to house approximately 180
students. The need for dormitory space continued, along with discussion on the acquisition of the YMCA Building
(then located on the corner of Seventh and Main Streets).
In 1971, the YMCA was purchased and remodeling began for utilizing the building as a dormitory and recreational
facility. The building was renamed West Hall.
Director Richardson stated that WWTI was the first school of its kind in Wisconsin to operate a dormitory.
Along the same line, another pacesetter, was the occupancy of a privately-erected, modern wing-shaped apartment
building for 60 WWTI female students. The site, about five blocks from WWTI, is where the former La Crosse
County Jail (then located at the north end of Tenth Street) overlooked the 6,000-acre La Crosse River marshes
separating north and south La Crosse.
In March 1969, the District Board was informed of a proposal for a girl’s dormitory. Local builder Dale Wernecke
offered his North Side apartment house near Copeland Park to house the school’s girl students. The rent would be
$10 a week each, which, Richardson said, compared well with the rate charged in university dormitories.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Transfer of Credits -- Two courses offered at WWTI would be accepted for transfer of credit at some colleges and
universities. “Many of our technical colleges are at the junior level,” said District Director Richardson, and added
that he had been in contact with several Wisconsin state universities to find out what courses would be acceptable
for transfer . . . a person who finishes a two-year program will do some of the work that a graduate engineer did
several years ago. “New engineers are more theoretical,” he said. “The engineer will define a problem and the
technician will carry it out.”
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
On July 31, representatives from Western Wisconsin Technical Institute and the Whitehall community business
people met in the high school to discuss ways and means by WWTI could better serve the educational interests and
needs of the adult population in such fields as agriculture, business, trade and general interest courses.
On August 11, the first of several employee workshops were conducted at the Tomah High School to determine
training needs. Those in attendance were John Eppley, Supervisory Management and Development; Morris
Severson, Trade and Industry Coordinator; Harry Hutchison, Teacher Coordinator, Business Education; Dean Morton,
Teacher Coordinator, Distributive Education; and Verlie Niccum, Agribusiness, of Western Wisconsin Technical
College, along with representatives from Northern Engraving Co., Sparta; the Tomah Journal and Monitor-Herald;
Vanpak Products, Inc.; Sparta Manufacturing Company; Oakdale Rural Electrical Cooperative; Tomah Shops
superintendent for the Milwaukee Road; the VA Hospital and the Tomah Memorial Hospital, representatives from
Stainless Steel; the Superintendent of Tomah Schools; and the former Tomah Vocational and Adult Education School
director. Director of Supervisory and Management Development John Eppley said, “We welcome the opportunity
and responsibility of supplying all business and individuals in the Tomah district the finest vocational, technical and
adult education. We are preparing for the challenge with a great deal of enthusiasm.”
A Faculty Handbook was published for the 1968-69 school year. The manual contained the policies, regulations and
procedures applicable to WWTI District..

In August 1968, twelve full-time/part-time instructors joined the staff making the faculty roster over 100.
New full-time/part-time instructors:
Full-Time:
Charles Schreader, Business Education
Norman Ellefson, Mathematics
David Elkins, Guidance Counselor
LeRoy Vitale, Machine Shop Instructor
Other staff members:
Charles G. Richardson, District Director
William Campbell, Student Services
Supervisor
Victor Larsen, Instructional Services
Supervisor
Dale Tessmer, Business Supervisor
Full-time instructors:
Richard Ammerman, Wood Technics
Ruth Anderson, Practical Nursing
Joan Angelone General Education
Leota Archer, General Education
Arthur Armstrong, Auto Mechanics
James Becker, Machine Shop
Dorothy Beers, Practical Nursing
Gladys Bethurem, Business Education
James Bice, Electronics
John Bigley, General Education
Jerry Boggs, Data Processing
James Boots, Data Processing
Florence Campbell, Practical Nursing
Virginia Chybowski, Dental Assistant
Dan Crady, Electronics
Gerald Dittmer, Mechanical Design
John Eppley, Supervisory Management
and Development
Harold Erickson, General Education and
Evening School Supervisor
Robert Franks, Accounting
Robert Fritz, Graphic Arts Assistant
Paul Garness, Business Machines Assistant
Carson Gotham Technical Math/Science
Clifford Gunderson, Auto Body
Harold Hawkins, Mechanical Design
Ansel Heram, Wood Technics
George Hinkley, Welding
Harry Hutchison, Teacher-Coordinator,
Business Administration
Clerical/Office Related Staff:
Marion Baker
Patricia Connor
Sharon Hanson
Custodians:
Clifford Dansberry
James Kellicutt
Jean Johnson
Elsie McDowell
Lois Nimocks
Glen Kircheis
Thomas Kohlway
Arlyss Grosskoph, Adult Basic Education
Merle Hotaling, Distributive Education
La Verne Sonsalla, Young Adult Farmer
Instructor at Blair
Truman Everson, Young Adult Farmer
Instructor at Westby
Theodore Kothe, Business Education &
Athletic Director
Wayne Lemar, Welding
Robert Maas, Mechanical Design
Donald Meinert, Commercial Art and
Public Relations
Dean Morton, Teacher-Coordinator,
Distributive Education
Donald Mundinger, Data Processing
LaVerne Ness, Practical Nursing
Verlie Niccum, Agribusiness
Annette Niederkorn, Librarian
Marie Peterson, Business Education
Constance Regelein, Business Education,
Counselor
John Rindahl, Graphic Arts
Joyce Rosso, Business Math, Economics
Mary Rusche, Medical Assistant
Gordon Schlafmann, Technical Math
Morris Severson, Trade and Industry
Coordinator
Martin Singkofer, Business Education
Edward Skoumal, Accounting
Alph Sorenson, Graphic Arts
Fred Stair, Auto Technology
Gary Stetzer, Accounting
Neal Stromstad, Auto Mechanics
John Syverson, Commercial Art
William Temte, Student Services,
Research and Planning
Helen Vitale, Teacher-Coordinator,
General Education
LeRoy Vitale, Machine Shop
Barbara Walter, Teacher-Coordinator,
Home Economics
William Welch, Electronics
Donald Witt, Air Conditioning
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Yvonne Ramsden
Mary Roberts
Dorothy Stromstad
Raymond Myers
Carl Panke
Mrs. Olwen Bryson, Institutional Foods
John Landro, Business Machines
Part-Time:
Ross Bennett, Audiovisual
Elaine Schultz, Practical Nursing
Part-Time Instructors:
Mary Bakalars, Practical Nursing
Ross Bennett, Audiovisual
Mary Bray, Communication skills
Audrey Cline, Communication Skills
Philip Quillin, Food Merchandising
Maddeline Schuldes, Coordinator, Practical Nursi
Elaine Schultz, Practical Nursing
Joan Woods, Business Education
Circuit Instructors:
Roland Beguhn, Carpentry
Donald Branson, Plumbing
Joe DeMeulenaere, Rural Electrification
Jerry Evans, Sheet Metal
Sheldon Hanson, Barber Science
Marcel Huguet, Steamfitting
Clarence Johnson, Electricity
Seth Scott, Iron Workers
Victor Weise, Resilient Tile Laying
Manpower Development & Training
Act Instructors:
Robert Durall, Welding
Stanley Hoeth, Machine Shop
Richard Uhler, Clerk-General
Barbara Miller, Clerk-General
Driver Education Instructors:
Robert Peterson
Mary Ann Uhler
Opal Weiss
Richard Westpfahl
Patricia Williams
Russell Rick
Harry Sweet

In September 1968, six languages were offered in the fall semester language program at WWTI.
Mrs. Silvia Fosslien, Russian; Thomas O’Brien, French; Mrs. Ove Guberud, Norwegian; Mrs. John Schilling, Norwegian;
Frank Garcia, Spanish; and Mrs. Eleanor Perkins, German.
In 1968, it was estimated that approximately 6,000 adults in the 84,000 population of La Crosse County were
believed to have “basic education problems.” In the five additional counties surrounding La Crosse County, and
only in Wisconsin, 25,000 were reported to be deficient in the same skills – reading, writing, and arithmetic. As a
result, a staff of about five persons tried to find these persons and to interest them in a new program of learning at
WWTC. Twenty-four persons were enrolled in three groups taught by Mrs. Laura Dobbs, Frances Greene and
James Latky. A reading machine was used in the Adult Basic Education classes. Mrs. Walter (Arlyss) Grosskopf
was the Adult Basic Education Coordinator.
September 18, 1968 – Practical Nurses Alumni Association – Membership: 33 – Approximately $200 was derived
from a Chicken Q given by the alumni association. The funds were for teaching aids in the Practical Nursing
Department of the school. General chairman was Mrs. George Milne and Mrs. Adrian Julsrud was ticket chairman.
Mrs. Gary Greer was in charge of serving and Mrs. William Bittner was bake sale chairman. This organization began
with the graduation of the first class in 1967. Its purpose was to promote high standards of practical nursing and to
assist in the recruitment of student at WWTI.
A sign language for the deaf class, sponsored by the State Service Bureau for the Deaf, was conducted by Mrs. Don
Sullivan of Sparta.
A Dress Code
On September 24, 1968, the WWTC Board approved a grooming and dress code that was prepared and approved by
the school’s Student Congress and the faculty before being considered by the Board. The code was initiated by the
students with no urging from the faculty or administration. “When the recruiting teams from industry came
through here (WWTI) last spring and emphasized the importance of appearance, the students realized its value and
approached the Student Congress for a dress code. The WWTI code had these provisions:
For men
1. Pants: Dress pants, slacks or Levis of a practical fit shall be worn.
2. Shirts: Shirttails shall be tucked in and shirts properly buttoned. Sport shirts, if square cut, may be worn
outside the pants.
3. Shoes: Conventional shoes and socks shall be worn.
4. Hair: Hair shall be neat, properly combed, clean and of reasonable male trim; that is: above the ears, eyebrows
and normal hairline on the neck.
5. The face shall be clean-shaven and sideburns shall not extend lower than the middle of the ear.
For women
1. Clothing: Girls shall wear blouses, sweater, skirts and conventional dresses for school use. The only other type
of dress allowed shall be culottes of the type that look like conventional skirts.
2. Shoes: Conventional shoes and hosiery (peds, socks, etc.) shall be worn.
3. Hair: Hair shall be neat, properly combed and appropriately arranged. Extreme hairstyles are not acceptable.
If bangs are worn, they shall be above the eyebrows.
The code had this preamble:
“There is a direct correlation between behavior, dress, grooming and the best interest of both students and school.
Students are required to wear the type of dress and hairstyle acceptable to school authorities and future employers.
These dress standards are established so educational processes are not jeopardized by extremes in appearance or
cleanliness. It is important that we maintain student appearance that is constant with standards acceptable by
business and industry.”
The code further provided:
“Interpretative decisions and enforcement of the code will be made by the administrative staff individually or
collectively.”
Although the dress code originated in the Student Congress, needless to say, it brought a flurry of comments. By
December 1969 a new dress code was being revised by the Student Congress. In February 1970, a notice was
published stating, “It will be up to each department to establish and enforce a dress code that is appropriate

to the health and safety regulations required by the school, and in the occupation in which the student will be
employed. This requires that all departments, with the aid of their students, establish a reasonable dress code and
that all instructors enforce these rules. The above is the result from a proposal of the Student Congress and was
modified only through committees above the Student Congress.”
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The First WWTI District Budget
The WWTI 1969 budget was estimated at 63 percent higher than the 1968 budget. A small crowd showed up at a
public hearing on September 28, 1968. After the eight persons who attended the public hearing were given an
opportunity to ask questions about the budget, the District Board approved it. Director Richardson said that WWTI
has much greater responsibility than the former Coleman Institute had. These included setting up and operating
vocational, technical and adult education day and evening classes in each of the 23 school districts comprising the
WWTI district, if they want them.
A foods team – John and Olwen Bryson, a British couple were not only raising five children but were teaching much
about food preparation. The Bryson’s, who at the time resided in Cochrane, said their goodbyes each morning and
drove in opposite directions to their teaching jobs. John, a Scotland native, was chef de cuisine and member of the
Academy of Chefs, was a special lecturer at Stout State University; and his wife, from Wales, drove to her job at
WWTI to teach a class of 12 young women in Institutional Foods for various future jobs in hospitals, nursing homes,
and the like.
In the fall of 1968 an adult evening course in Powerpuff Mechanics Class was offered. Sixteen mechanics –
15 of them wearing lipstick . . . ages varying from 19 through 50 . . . that’s what was in the classroom of the
Powerpuff Mechanics course, a basic course for the person who knew very little about the automobile. They
learned to test batteries, set points, replace spark plugs and fan belts and even to do minor carburetor adjustments.
Even though there was a classroom engine available, most of the students brought their own cars. Charles A.
Knutson, of Blair, was kept on his toes competing with the women in the class. The course encompassed basic
electricity and ignition, general maintenance, facts and procedures involved in purchasing a new or used car, fair
prices in procuring parts, and auto insurance. Among the 16 students in the class were June Kjome, a head nurse in
pediatrics at Lutheran Hospital who was a missionary nurse with the American Lutheran Church for 19 years and for
16½ of those years was in South Africa and drove a pick-up truck; Gertrude Pofal, a widow who had “to rely on my
own judgment in the care of my car”; Ilamae Johnson; and Mary Johnson.
In the fall of 1968, a reciprocal plan for checking out books was established between the La Crosse State University
and WWTI libraries. All WWTC students may use the library facilities of the University and check out books at any
time with their student “I.D.” cards. This agreement also applied for the University students who use the WWTC
library.
Oktoberfest 1968 – It was a cold and windy and clouds moved in shortly before the 11 a.m. start at Rose and
Windsor Streets. But crowds, estimated by Oktoberfest officials, to total more than 100,000 turned out in force
along the route of more than two miles. In floats, WWTI captured the Festmaster’s Award with its “elephant
powered” circus wagon. The float “The Greatest Education Show on Earth” had an elephant pulling a circus wagon
and it turned out to be the most popular float in the 1968 Maple Leaf Parade. The elephant—14 feet tall from the
street to the tip of its trunk—was realistic with ivory (Styrofoam) tusks, and ears and trunk outstretched. The
students of the Commercial Art and Wood Technics spent a month of hard work in designing and building the float.
Graphics Instructor John Syverson “drove” the elephant, Student Services Administrator Bill Campbell was the “circus
wagon” master, and former Director John B. Coleman held the reigns of Jumbo, the elephant. Commercial Art I
students Judy Larson, Debbie Thompson and Gloria Wuensch rode on the float. The float won first place for the
Festmaster’s Award!
Helping to make the float involved students and teachers from Commercial Art I and II, Wood Technics, Apparel Arts,
Auto Mechanics, and Graphics. Donald (Chick) Meinert, public information department administrator, provided the
initial idea on which the art students based their design. Instead of dismantling it, the school decided to donate the
parade elephant, nicknamed Willy, to some group or organization that could give him a permanent home. In the
meantime, Willy was moved into the display area of the Batavian National Bank at 319 Main Street.

In October 1968, waterworks operators from throughout Wisconsin were cramming to qualify for state certification
by January 1, 1969. Forty-five water plant personnel from around the Coulee Region were taking a 56-hour
certification course at WWTI. The course covered the rules, regulations and record keeping set up by the
Wisconsin Public Service Commission; hydraulics; chemical and bacteriological analysis of water; maintenance
practices; chemical feed equipment; construction and safety; meters; and pumping equipment. Natural resource
department and other personnel conducted the courses.
In October 1968, Patricia Wenzel was elected president of the Practical Nurses Alumnae; Mrs. Joseph Schubert; vice
president; and Mrs. Jackie Helgersen, secretary-treasurer; and Mrs. George Milne, representative on the Practical
Nurse Advisory Committee. The purchase and sale of the school cap to the graduates of the Licensed Practical
Nurse Program was selected for a fund raising project.
Bridging the gap until tax funds are received . . . the District Board at its October 22 meeting approved borrowing up
to $530,000 to be used to finance school operations until adequate tax funds were received after the first part of
1969. It was also reported that a number of persons residing in the WWTI District were attending other vocational
schools and enrolled in two-year programs that were offered by the WWTI District. Although an agreement
between districts was in place, Director Richardson recommended that letters be sent to these students saying that
the district would not pay their tuition next year at another district’s school. The Board approved his
recommendation.
On October 24, the Automotive Technology department was given a two-hour demonstration by the regional
engineer for the Champion Spark Plug Company. A company field unit was used to display troubles involved in
auto ignition systems.
In October 1968, two mothers -- with a total of 17 children -- were each awarded $250 grants by the Adolf
Gundersen Medical Foundation to aid them in continuing their education. Both Mrs. David (Marian) Hofer of
La Crosse, mother of seven, and Mrs. Edward (Harriet) Muenzenberger of West Salem, mother of ten, were enrolled
in the 48-week Practical Nursing Program.
On October 29, Alfred Kahn, a Watertown detective, turned shoplifter for an hour and 15 minutes, and he displayed
the merchandise to officials and employees of local stores at a shoplifting seminar. A table full of items from the
stores was arrayed in front of Kahn as the meeting began. Items as large as a radio and a ladies’ hair dryer had
been stolen. Smaller items such as cigarette lighters, knickknacks and articles of clothing also had been lifted.
Kahn demonstrated some of the devices professional shoplifters use to aid their stealing.
In November 1968, WWTI announced that a uniform adult driver education program would be offered in
La Crosse and also at branches of the District. The program was the result of a state statute dealing with highway
safety and minimum requirements for driver education in Wisconsin. The course had 20 hours of classroom
instruction, eight 50-minute lessons in a dual control car, and eight 50-minute periods of observation while driving.
November 5 – service managers and owner-members of the La Crosse Automobile Dealers Association, including
Eversole-Rogers service manager Wally Stark and Bob Burg Oldsmobile-Cadillac service manager Fred Grant, toured
the Marketing, Business Administration and Automotive Technology departments. Emphasis was put on the type
of training needed to provide potential employees for the La Crosse auto dealers.
On November 15, 1968, WWTI held an Open House that included the First Annual “News Media Open House”. In
observance of National Education Week, an invitation was extended to newspersons to tour WWTI, be guests at
dinner, and see a movie on the changing world. “This Old World is getting newer every day,” the speaker said as an
introduction to the film “Where the Action Is” that was shown at the First Annual News Media Open House.
On November 19, 1968 the first semi-monthly payroll was issued – the schedule for future checks was made out to
be the last school date nearest the 15 th of the month and on the last workday of each month.
November 20-21, 1968 – A two-day workshop was sponsored by the Wisconsin Board of VTAE and the Wisconsin
Department of Public Instruction.
On November 26, the District Board approved
� Pay raises of $20 to $35 a month for clerical and custodial workers.

� Taking over the bookstore if Jonlyn Inc. insists on a rent decrease. The Jonlyn Corporation of La Crosse, a
subsidiary of Degen-Berglund, Inc, of 1802 State Street, operated the Coleman Bookstore on a lease
arrangement. It was located in the basement below the main auditorium stage entrance, Room 102. In a
letter dated November 1968 to WWTI, Jonlyn Inc. asked for a rent decrease, and detailed the firm’s bookselling
costs which, they said, leaves the firm with a margin of four to five percent out which to pay its help and pay for
the paperwork involved. “It is not economically feasible for us to operate on a four-to-five percent margin.
As a result, a privately owned bookstore was established at the school.
In December 1968, the District entered into an agreement with Professional Food Service Management for
operation of the cafeteria in the Health-Science Building (later renamed Roy E. Kumm Building).
In December 1968, Student Services implemented a placement service for all graduating students.
In January 1969, about 20 apprentices in printing plants in western and northern Wisconsin took correspondence
lessons in the trade through WWTI. The program was supervised on the state level by Samuel Munson, trade and
industrial supervisor of the State VTAE Board, and at WWTI by Morris Severson, Field Services Administrator and
Donald Meinert, Public Information and Graphics Administrator. The program was available to members of the
Wisconsin Press Association, a statewide organization of weekly newspapers, which originated the lessons.
On January 22, 1969, the salary schedule for 1969-70 was approved. The Board also voted to give a merit pay
program a trial run for the rest of the 1968-69 school year, and a determination would be made as to whether to put
the program into effect for the 1969-70 school year. Under the program, each teacher would be evaluated five
times a year, twice each by the department head and by the supervisor and once by the director of instructional
services. Depending on the score, a teacher could be recommended for a double step increase (unless that would
put the teacher beyond the maximum), the normal one-step increase, no increase or for discharge because of
unsatisfactory work.
On January 24, 1969, a Recognition Tea was held for the January 1969 class of Practical Nursing at the Stoffel Hall
(English Lutheran Church) at 15 th and King Streets. January 1969 class members were:
Mary Berg
Barbara Bertrand
Eileen Collins
Judy Dally
David Flock
Diane Greener
Carol Grimswold
Pamela Heeg
Sandra Hermanson
Donna Kirking
Barbara Magin
Carol Norman
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Delores Parmenter
Sandra Rude
Lenore Senn
Alice Sloane
Carol Stenerson
Irwin Stickney
Kathy Tangen
Kathryn Tierney
Kathleen Topel
Elizabeth Troyanek
Jeanette Trussoni
On February 12, the Homemaking Club sponsored a charity card party at Leo Hall on 13 th and Park Avenue.
A program in law enforcement was developed. It covered the 16 federal standards, which as a result of the
National Highway Safety Act of 1966, were being developed for area law enforcement personnel. Initially, the
course would consist of (1) basic or recruit training, designed to acquaint the new officer with the technical aspects
of law enforcement work; (2) in-service training, designed to be a refresher course and introduce new techniques for
veteran police officers; and (3) special law enforcement training, dealing with subject matter designed to provide a
trained technician in many different aspects of police work. In addition to the traffic related training program,
general criminal investigation courses and related law enforcement training programs were also being developed.
Mark Smick, Law Enforcement Coordinator and Traffic Safety Specialist, developed the program.
An invention aimed at ending the hunt and peck . . . In 1968, Athletic Director/Coach Ted Kothe, also an instructor in
the Business Education Department, invented and patented a simple device that may have revolutionized the
teaching of beginning typewriting. Ted’s invention was called a “Key Finder”. It consisted
of several flexible strips of plastic that fit into a stronger piece of plastic. The entire unit fit on a typewriter
keyboard to prevent a beginning typewriting student from hitting the wrong keys.

1968-69 marked the first time that WWTI students were included in the Who’s Who Among Students in American
Junior Colleges. The 1968-69 edition included the names of 22 WWTI students.
Julie A. Adams Luck Commercial Art
Kenneth G. Adams Holmen Electronics
Mary A. Bantle La Crosse Secretarial Science-Legal
Vicki Lynn Bolstad Viroqua Accounting
Michael K. Christopherson Viroqua Data Processing
Elaine DeFreezer Dickeyville Accounting
Michael D. Fortun Westby Mechanical Design
Gordon D. Haggerty Gays Mills Electronics
Carol L. Harter La Crosse Secretarial Science-Legal
David L. Hemstead LaFarge Accounting
Margaret M. Hickey La Crosse Data Processing
John O. Horsfall Patch Grove Commercial Art
Susette K. LaMere Tomah Secretarial Science-Administrative
Louise A. Larson La Crosse Commercial Art
Thomas S. Mason Prairie du Chien Automotive Technology
Stanley G. Miller Cashton Agribusiness
Dennis H. Steinke Genoa Data Processing
James O. Voight Wonewoc Accounting
Susan J. Wagner Glen Haven Secretarial Science-Legal
Jane L. Weinke Bangor Secretarial Science-Administrative
Lorrayne Winchel La Crosse Accounting
Virginia M. Woehlert Rothschild Commercial Art
In 1968, M. Ruth Cossio, a native of Bolivia, South America, was enrolled in the Administrative Secretarial Science
program at WWTI. Unique is that she began her formal training in one-handed typewriting on September 18, 1968.
She learned the touch-typewriting method through Instructor Marie Peterson’s specially devised system for the
handicapped. Miss Peterson, who was head of the Secretarial Department and taught in the Business Education
Department since 1935, initiated the one-handed typing techniques when she first came to WWTI, then La Crosse
Vocational School.
In 1968-69 DECA memberships within the organization numbered 44. At the State Leadership conference,
La Crosse ran a candidate successfully for the first time for a state office, and also placed high in competitive events.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The Sale of WWTI
Two bonding consultants gave presentations to the District Board in November, 1968. Director Richardson listed
nine areas in which the District would require borrowed funds obtained by issuing bonds. Immediate needs
included: construction of student dormitories, providing administrative office space, purchasing furniture and
equipment, land acquisition, and taking over the Vernon County Teachers College. The other areas were
providing an automotive center, expanding the agriculture program, installing a new heating plant, and remodeling
the present school building.
At the March 1969 Board Meeting the Board voted to offer the City of La Crosse $3,207,574.38 for all the vocational
school assets the City owns. The figure was agreed upon by negotiators representing the City and the District in
four sessions over the past month and consisted of:
$1,617,574.38
$1,590,000
For land, buildings, fixtures, furniture, equipment and supplies
For vocational school funds included in the 1967 and 1968 city bond issues
The District Board had conditioned its offer on an opinion by its attorneys on whether the city could be paid for parts built with
WPA funds. The question of Works Progress Administration (WPA) funds came up during the negotiating meetings. It was
stated that city representatives never had reported just how much in WPA funds had been used to build the 29-year-old section
of the building. During the negotiations, City Attorney John Flanagan had said that “whatever the amount of federal funds that
were put into the building they were a gift to the city . . . other communities got similar WPA benefits, perhaps for libraries or
other public structures that they will not have to surrender without compensation.”

Transferred from the city to the WWTI District was:
� The bond funds.
� All the school’s furnishings and equipment.
� The property in the block bounded by Sixth, Seventh, Pine and Vine Streets, together with the three buildings on
it.
� The land for the school’s new health and science building to the north, plus the building now under construction
there.
� The two square blocks of land being acquired for the school across Seventh Street.
On April 10, 1969, the sale of the WWTI complex for $3.2 million to the WWTI District was approved by the La Crosse
Common Council. The institute formerly operated as a school within the city, but under a 1965 statute, six and
possibly seven counties were put into the WWTI district. The district was to buy the school.
A public hearing was held on a $4.25 million bond issue by WWTI on April 27, 1969. The bond funds would be used
to pay for
� Construction and equipping the school’s new health and science building,
� A possible addition to the present buildings, for buying the present school property from the
City of La Crosse,
� Buying the La Crosse YMCA, and
� Buying property for planned school expansion.
On April 30, the District Board voted to issue more than $4 million in bonds to finance an expansion program.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
In March of 1969, the topic of “Traveling Schoolrooms” came into focus. The traveling schoolrooms were
described as trailer-like affairs that could be hauled to various locations. The unit could be rented to a local high
school for day operation, when the high school would use it to teach its own students in a certain field. In the
evenings, WWTI would use it in the same community for teaching adult classes. The traveling unit would be a
substitute for “satellite schools” which the district was coming under pressure to establish in various communities.
A used bus was purchased from the Jelco Bus, Inc. of Sparta for $5,500 to transport school groups for purposes such
as athletic trips or class field trips. The rules and regulations for use of the bus were:
� It shall only be used for trips approved by the District Director.
� Only personnel employed by the school were permitted to drive the bus.
� Groups using the bus reimbursed the school at the rate of 25 cents per mile.
On March 9-10, twenty-one students participated in competitive events at the two-leadership conference of the
Wisconsin Distributive Education Association at Green Lake. Representatives from the state district schools
participated. Horace Crews of Spurgeon’s (then located at 121 South Fourth Street) and Tom Wheeler of the
Wheeler Real Estate Company (528 Cass Street) were among the judges. In the advertising campaign event,
Norman Comero, Independence, placed second and Linda Riese, La Crosse, placed third; and Gale Sanders, Sparta,
was elected vice president of the state association.
In March 1969, awards were presented to students of WWTI at a three-day convention of Wisconsin Business
Education Clubs (WBEC) at Green Lake. Students winning both medalist and merit awards in the business contests
were Mary Bantle, Elaine DeFreezer, Carol Harter, Mary Ann Harter, and Pam Millard. Other students winning
merit awards were Peggy Beers, Arnold Harter, Richard Perry, Nancy Solberg and Lorrayne Winchel. In addition to
the award winners, students attending the conference were Arnold Haugen, Susan Lee, Ronald Leibl, Richard Sage
and Sandra Rolbiecki. Judges were Lynden Gjerde, office manager at Heileman Brewery and Robert Sierp, manager
of Management Computer Service (at 605 State Street.) Gjerde was presented with an honorary life membership
in WBEC.
Redistricting Problems – A Spring Referendum
In 1969, because of the local property tax impact caused by a section of the 1967 technical institute districting law, a
“total state operation of the vocational school system in Wisconsin” was proposed. Authored by a bi-partisan
group, the measure was designed to end local vocational-technical school boards and redesign the state vocational,
technical and adult education board into a “board of regents” for the schools. Two other bills were prepared which
would call for state financing and, at least in part, state control of the system.

“Are taxpayers’ funds for vocational education being wasted on teaching drapery making and cake decorating?”
That was the question put to the District Board on March 25, 1969 by the Trempealeau County Board Chairman.
Director Richardson pointed out that the District’s responsibility was not just vocational and technical education, but
adult education as well. “It boils down to offering whatever courses the adults want.”
Wisconsin voters had five referenda on the April 1, 1969 ballot. Two pertained to Constitutional Amendments and
three were advisory in nature. For vocational education the big question was whether the property taxpayers
felt they could afford an additional 1.5 or 2 mills on their property tax bill each year? Or would they rather have
the State of Wisconsin pay all of the costs of all post-high school education by vocational schools and thereby
assume complete control.
The referendum read:
Should vocational, technical and adult education be controlled by the state and paid for out of state tax
revenues?
(NOTE: Vocational, technical and adult education is now controlled locally and principally paid for from local
property revenues.) The referendum was advisory only. A “yes” vote indicated that the voter favors state
control and financing of vocational, technical and adult education. A “no” vote indicated that the voter favors
retention of the present system with financing in part from state aids and in part from monies raised in the
district through property tax.
Director Richardson said that if control were transferred to the state, outlying areas would find it increasingly
difficult to get what they want in the way of vocational education.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
February 12, 1969 – the annual semi-formal Sweetheart Dance was held in the Student Center from 8 p.m. to
midnight. The Ken Bye Quartet provided the music. Carol Harter, Chi Sigma Chi, was selected queen by the
student body – with 330 students casting ballots. Coronation took place at 10 p.m., when Julie Adams, the 1968
Sweetheart Queen, crowned Carol Harter. First runner-up was Delores Phillips, of Onalaska, Accounting Club; and
the second runner-up was Mary Schmitz, of Caledonia, Minnesota, Data Processing Club. Carol Harter received a
$10 certificate to eat at Wally’s Knotty Pine in Onalaska, a dozen red roses, and a box of candy. The dance was
attended by over 150 students, the largest attendance for any such occasion. The union was decorated with a false
ceiling of red, pink and white crepe paper and the walls were also decorated. A large red heart was the background
for the queen’s throne. Other contestants were: Debbie Thompson, Chi Alpha Chi; Susette LaMere, Future
Secretaries Association; Margaret Hickey, Wisconsin Business Education Club; Linda Riese, DECA Club; Elaine De
Freezer, Tau Iota Epsilon; and Pat Hickish, Delta Gamma Phi.
In April 1969, a three-man team evaluated the new Agribusiness course to determine the possibility of granting a
degree for completion of the two-year course. Team members were Doyle Beyl, supervisor of Agricultural
Education, Wisconsin Board; Don Mueller, personnel fieldman, F. S. Services, Inc., Madison; and Dr. Charles DeNure,
dean of the department of agriculture, Platteville State University. Conducting the team through the agricultural
section of the school were Verlie Niccum, Instructional Coordinator for Agriculture; and Germain Davison,
Agribusiness Instructor.
On April 15 and for four successive Tuesday evening, an adult course in Parliamentary Procedure was offered.
Robert Frederick, associate professor of speech at the Wisconsin State University conducted the classes. The
four-session course gave an introduction to the elements of parliamentary procedures. The students were
involved in the basics of making motions, conducting meetings, and conducting discussions from the floor. Each
student also had the opportunity to chair a meeting during the class.
April 17, 1969 – “Around the World With Foods” buffet dinner was given by students of the Food Service
Supervisor’s course. The dinner, under the guidance of Mrs. Hosea Perry, chief dietitian at the La Crosse Lutheran
Hospital and instructor of the class, featured foods from Norway, Japan, Germany, Czechoslovakia, Biafra, and
Mexico. Members of the class were Mrs. William Dalby, employed by Joint District 2, Black River Falls; Mrs. Hensel
Johnson, Grandview Home, Blair; Douglas Mulry, substitute home economics teacher, Black River Falls; Mrs. Elmer
Seiler, Lutheran Hospital; Mrs. Mildred Staves, Joint District 3, Alma Center; and Gary Smith of Brothers of Pious X,
De Soto. Each student represented a country corresponding to his or her nationality. Guests of the class were
employers of each student; last year’s class and their employers; and members of WWTI.

In spring of 1969, a second eight-week reading improvement program was offered. Among those enrolled in the
program was a family of four Rusche’s – John and his brother, Joseph, their mother Mary, department head of the Medical
Assisting Program, and their father, Dr. John Rusche, a dentist. The course was designed to improve reading speed and
comprehension.
In April 1969, Cavalier Fashions was presented at the Mary E. Sawyer Auditorium.
Musical Selections Richard Sage
Student Welcome Olin Ladwig
Invocation Nancy Stensven
Special Guest The Easter Bunny
And, our Show Begins!
Narrator Nancy Stensven
Student Models Norbert Affeldt Carol Harter
Monica Frye Pat Hickisch
Dick Gregory Steve Kellicut
Duane Hahn Liz Lachman
Karen Hanson Bonnie Weis
Faculty Mr. And Mrs. William Temte, son Andy, and daughter, Rachel
Special Feature “The Mello-mints” featuring;
Liz Bice
Janet Braurer
Bruce Darelius
Jim Garness
Diane Peterson
Rich Westpfahl
Special thanks went to Dean Morton, Business Education instructor, for helping to get the show on the road and for contacting the
stores that so graciously furnished the clothing that was shown:
Continental Clothiers (200 South Fourth Street),
Montgomery Ward & Co.(at 315 State Street),
Kauma’s (415 Main Street),
J. C. Penney Co. (then at 115-121 Fifth Avenue South),
Mader’s Men’s House of Quality Clothing (125 South Fourth Street),
Buttrey’s (407 Main Street),
Stevensons Inc. (413 Main Street), and
Spurgeon’s (at 121 South Fourth Street)
Special Acknowledgments:
Stage and Props Dick Epley Commercial Art Dept. Wood Technics
Institutional Foods Mary E. Sawyer Auditorium
Lighting Bill Welch
Make-up Mrs. Denise Strittmater
Publicity Kathy Walters
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
May 3, two boys represented WWTI in the 1969 Plymouth trouble-shooting contest in Madison. They were Thomas S. Mason of
Prairie du Chien and Gerald A. Porath of La Crosse. They were accompanied by Auto Shop Instructors Frederick Stair and Arthur
Armstrong. The team was sponsored by Eversole-Rogers, Inc., Fourth and Cass Streets. The contest consisted of two competitions:
a written exam that counted as 30 percent of a team’s final score, and a mechanical challenge worth 70 percent. In the mechanical
competition, the students worked on new cars supplied by local Plymouth dealers who sponsored the event. Several malfunctions
were purposely placed under the hoods of the cars by Plymouth engineers for the students to find and fix.

An employer-employee banquet -- In May 1969, students who were working part-time while enrolled in the
Distributive Education program entertained their employers at an employer-employee banquet at Nino’s Steak
Roundup. Clifford McCoy, president of the La Crosse Chapter of the Distributive Education Clubs of America,
welcomed the guests, and Linda Riese explained the activities of the local chapter.
WWTI Institutional Foods students won a Blue Ribbon -- In May 1969, eleven students in the Institutional Foods
program won first prize in the student culinary competition at the Baraboo Foods Restaurant Food, Equipment and
Culinary Show in Lake Delton. They won their prize for originality with their exhibit of breads, Wisconsin cheeses
and hors d’oeuvres. The hors d’oeuvres were displayed on the decks of a miniature ocean liner, “S. S. Savory.”
The vessel was constructed in the Wood Technics department under the direction of Ansel Heram. Accompanying
the students were Barbara Walter, Coordinator of Home Economics and Mrs. Olwen Bryson, Instructor in the
Institutional Foods program. Students participating were Anita Grubbs, Onalaska; Mrs. Joyce Guyana, South
America; Mary Kimball, Hokah, Minnesota; Ruth White, Sparta, Janet Long, Lyndon Station; Vicki Kraus, Muscoda;
Eileen Roesler, Jenny Phillips and Julie Page, all of La Crosse; Susan Werner, Chippewa Falls; and Helen Kast, Cashton.
There were 39 entries in the student culinary division at the show. The WWTI project was prepared as a class
project, and was the first year the school had entered the competition.
On May 15, 1969 the Wisconsin Vocational Homemakers Club conference was held in the American Baptist Assembly
at Green Lake. About 1,000 members, advisers, and administrators attended, including 43 members of the La
Crosse Vocational Homemakers Club. Barbara Walter, president of the Homemakers Club and coordinator of the
Home Economics Department at WWTI, presided at the conference.
On Sunday, May 25, 1969, a recognition tea was held for 44 students enrolled in the Health Occupations Division in
the student center. Eighteen students enrolled in the Dental Assistant program and twenty-six students enrolled in
the Medical Assistant program were presented with school pins.
Dental Assistant Gail A. Arnold
Lynn M. Briggs
Linda M. Christenson
Linda L. Culp
Orpha J. Easterson
Medical Assistant Karen K. Craig
Therese M.
Dengenhardt
Joyce A. Eide
Janice A. Hoscheit
Ellen R. Hundt
Patricia Johnson
Bonnie J. Gilbertson
Harriet I. Griese
Sharon E. Haas
Beth M. Haralson
Suzanne J. Heth
Lorraine U. Kasparek
Jan L. Kiehne
Dawn I. Lansing
Patricia A. Meyer
Nancy L. Miller
Mary A. Mahs
Jill S. Nicholson
Jeanette A. Hoard
Dawn M. Kreibich
Margaret E. Lamb
Kathy I. Matz
Judith L. Opsahl
Linda M. Otto
Julie A. Peterson
Cleo M. Preston
Julie A. Roecklein
Paula A. Simpson
Shirley A. Snell
Carmen L.
Mossholder
Penny A. Pankratz
Barbara M. Seiler
Cheryl J. Siekert
Terry L. Spulak
Diane G. Ulry
Karin S. VanSchoyck
Kathryn M. Walters
Ramona J. Ward
Linda J. Waters
In May 1969, twenty-five businessmen and women of the Black River Falls area were presented with certificates for
successfully completing the Small Business Management course to operate a business successfully. The Black River
Falls Chamber of Commerce sponsored the program for owners and managers of business and industry in the Black
River Falls area, and the sessions were held in the Black River Falls Senior High School. The instruction was offered
by WWTI. The management skills part of the program was conducted by John L. Eppley, Supervisor of
Management Development Services, and included the topics of “Putting Your Management ‘Team’ Into Proper
Focus; “Communicating Successfully As a Major Key In All Activity”; “Understand People For Efficient Motivation”:
and “Leadership and ‘Followship’ in Successful Motivation”.
Harry M. Hutchison, Business Education Coordinator, instructed the general overall operation of the business, such
as “The Why and What of Record Keeping” and “Records and Customer Credits and Collections”. The certificates
were presented by M. C. Schmallenberg, Superintendent of the Black River Falls Public Schools. Recipients were:
Ivan K. Berg
Ervin G. Bollum
Joyce I. Bollum
Garth E. Couey
Eugene R. Dana
Everett Fox
Louis Gardipee
Bonnie J.
Gilbertson
Ruth S. Gilbertson
Ethel M. Haug
Alice Kimbro
Donald J. Kislinger
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Frieda Kislinger
Jerome A. Kokkestol
Eugene G. Lewis
Mary J. Lewis
Oliver L. O’Heran
Neva Porath
Robert L. Rush
Betty J. Steele
Gary H. Steele
Milton
Warrichaict
Vernice Waughtal
George Waughtal

Thomas Neefe, of La Crosse, a May 1969 Business Machines graduate, liked to write poetry. After submitting a
pamphlet of his poetry to TV star Glen Campbell, a contract was signed. Neefe who was employed as a bookkeeper
at the Batavian National Bank (319 Main Street), attributed that his writing enthusiasm was due to the
encouragement he received from John Bigley, a WWTI English instructor.
The Application Report dated May 22, 1969 showed that, for the 28 programs offered, there were 991 applications
received, 539 accepted, and 301 were paid. The programs were:
Accounting
Secretarial-Administrative
Secretarial-Medical
Secretarial-Legal
Business Machines
Data Processing
One-Year Data Processing
Distributive Education
Interior Design
Apparel Arts
Institutional Foods
Air Conditioning &
Refrigeration
Commercial Art
Industrial Electronics
Auto Technology
Agriculture Technology
Mechanical Design
Graphic Arts
Auto Body
Wood Technics
Welding
Auto Mechanics
Machine Shop
Practical Nurse
Medical Assistant
Dental Assistant
Operating Room
Assistant
Of the May 1969 Grads –
� Response to a six-month follow-up study made of 1969 graduates showed the mean monthly salary for all
associate degree graduates employed in their area of preparation was $401, while the top starting salary
reported was $700.
� The mean monthly salary for all vocational diploma graduates employed in their area of preparation was $358.22,
and the high reported was $779.
� Six months after graduation,
- 67 percent were employed in their areas of preparation.
- 10 percent were in the armed forces.
- 4 percent had continued their education.
- 9 percent were working in jobs unrelated to their fields of training.
- 2 percent were working and not seeking employment.
- 8 percent were unemployed and seeking employment.
June 5, 1969 -- After 49 years of teaching at the Vocational School, Alph M. Sorenson, La Crosse, retired when classes
ended June 5, 1969. He began teaching in September 1920 after completing a two-year teacher-training course at
Stout State University. Summer school classes got him his Bachelor of Arts degree by 1927 and he had done
graduate work at La Crosse State University and at Colorado State University. Sorenson was one of the few
vocational school teachers in Wisconsin to hold certification in both printing and woodworking. He also taught
evening classes in sheet metal, woodworking, home repair, drafting and blueprint reading. It was estimated that
during those 49 years he taught 5,000 day school students and up to 50,000 night school students.
Summer 1969 – A first – Elaine DeFreezer became the first female accountant hired by Trane Company following
graduation for the associate degree Accounting program. DeFreezer was known as the
”Accountess” by her six male coworkers.
Cheerleaders
Promoting the school spirit . . . Carol Harter, Liz Lachmann, Patti Harris, Marcy Weihrouch, Karen Hanson, and
Suzie Harter, mascot. Virginia Chybowski, Dental Assistant Program Head, was their advisor.
Athletics – 1968-69
Basketball, wrestling, and bowling were the winter. Carl Fox and Bob Crist (LSU student) handled the wrestling
program; Ted Kothe coached basketball; and Linda Porter, Dental Assistant Instructor, had bowling. Golf was also
offered.
In baseball, a group of students, under the leadership of Doug Gardner, challenged the faculty “has beens” to a game
of softball at the All-School Picnic that was held at Houska Park on May 21. They agreed, out of mercy for all the
“old timers”, to use a 16-inch “pumpkin” ball. Staff in charge were “Honorable Player-Coach” Ted Kothe, and
“Assistant in Charge of Stiffness” Harold Erickson.

Basketball Season
The basketball team traveled 3,400 miles throughout Wisconsin, with trips to Iowa and Minnesota. Members of
the team included Steve Auer, Grant Boyle, Bill Druliner, Bill Ebner, Dave Evenson, Doug Gardner, Jack Horsfall, Larry
Frank, Frank Jones, Doug Koss, Dave Pfaff, Arlo Slack, Eliot Solsrud, Byron Steele, Terry Thirion, and Glen White.
The team’s coach was Ted Kothe. Some of the games included that school year were:
Nov. 20- at Richland Center
- Waukesha Tech
Nov. 26 - Wisconsin Rapids
Dec. 2 - Calmar Tech, IA
Dec. 8- Lakewood State J.C.
Dec. 9-Immanuel Lutheran
L: 86-69
L: 102-97
W: 106-67
W: 112-68
W: 100-66
W: 119-70
Dec. 14 - at Milw. Tech
Dec. 15 - Racine Tech
-Sheboygan Tech
Jan. 7 - at Madison
Jan. 10 - Waukesha
-Racine Tech.
Jan. 28 - at Wisconsin
Rapids
L: 88-69
L: 84-73
L: 97-88
L: 109-86
W: 105-89
W: 85-64
W: 120-82
Jan. 29- Rice Lake
- La Crosse U. Fr.
Feb. 5- Immanuel Luth
Feb. 7- Milwaukee
Feb. 11- Richland Center
- Sheboygan Tech
Feb. 13- Rice Lake
Feb. 20-Madison Tech
WWTI ended its 1968-1969 basketball season with a 12-12 record. “This seemed more like two seasons than one,”
said basketball coach Ted Kothe.”
Bowling
Team members: Melvin Lee, Phil Raymond, Karen Sandvigen, Roger Young, James Garness, and Bob Malanic.
Golf
Members of the golf team included Dan Bina, Bob Ducklow, Bill Ebner, Scott Heslip, Pete Kinley, Tom Kluck,
Mike Radell, and Tim Sietz,
Wrestlers
Members of the wrestling squad included Jay Aylsworth, Roger Benson, Jack Fortney, Danny Fox, Richard Gregory,
Jerry Huntington, Ron Joern, Mike Koch, and Steve Kellicut.
Carl Fox was the coach; Bob Crist (LSU student) was the first semester coach.
� In December 1968, WWTI had a wrestling team for the first time. The first match was with Calmar Tech of Iowa
on Monday, December 2. Bob Crist, a La Crosse State student, was the coach. The wrestlers from Calmar
Tech of Iowa won the match 8-5.
� In another match on December 7, the Lakewood Junior College wrestlers blasted WWTI 43-5 in nonconference
action.
� On January 7, 1969, the Western Tech team was defeated by the Road Runners of Richland Center 24-11.
� On March 4, WWTI dropped a 26-11 match to Madison Tech
CLUBS AND ORGANIZATIONS
(From information published in the 1969 LaTech.)
Student Congress
The Student Congress is the student governing body at WWTI. It is the clearing house for all school activities; the
students’ voice in the administration of school policy. They plan activities and give suggestions to the
administration on matters concerning student welfare.
Accounting Club - Club Advisor: Accounting Instructor Robert Franks.
William Adams
Jay Aylsworth
Linda Bishop
Jacquelyn Bolstad
Vicki Bolstad (secretary)
Cynthia Bright
Wayne Cavadini
Elaine DeFreezer (president)
Ann Dingeldein
Anita Hanson
Jean Happel (treasurer)
Mary Harter
Arnie Haugen (parliamentarian)
David Hemstead
Gerald Hess (representative to
student congress)
Larry Indahl
James Larson
Ronald Leibl
Leonard Mellor
John May
Pamela Millard
Patricia Nelson
Brian Newhouse
Rosemarie Osweiler
Diane Page
Richard Pendleton
Delores Phillips
Lucinda Pickering
(vice president)
Janice Quinn
James Rekow
Lester Rognstad
Richard Sage
Zenon Sawa
Sandra Schaefer
Barry Schaller
Helen Scott
Veronica Skaar
Nancy Solberg
James Voight
Lorrayne Winchel
L: 74-64
L: 91-61
W: 89-57
L: 80-50
L: 99-88
W: 110-91
W: 81-76
L: 85-66

ACRO Club - Club Advisor: Air Conditioning instructor Donald Witt.
Daniel Bina
Thomas Brieske
Stanley Clements
Richard Epley
Jock Hysel
Bernard Meinertz
Richard Sacia
John Steinhoff
Kenneth Stratman
Agribusiness Club - Club Advisors: Agribusiness Instructor Germain Davison and Verlie Niccum.
Garnet Beneke
Arnold Bever
Conrad Buchal
Michael Cantlon
Kenneth Clements
John Corcoran
Kenneth Farley
James Gotto
Gene Hogden
Paul Jones
Steven Kellicut
Robert Maca
James Marx
Stanley Miller
David Pfaff
Michael Pohle
George Smerud
Richard Spagl
Paul Thill
Howard Tracey
Roger Vetsch
AIDD Club
The local chapter of American Institute for Design and Drafting was organized in December 1966. The main
purpose of this organization is to promote a sense of unification among draftsmen and engineers throughout the
country by means of conventions, seminars, and newsletters. In the 1968-69 school year, membership stood at
fourteen.
Tau Iota Upsilon
The aims of the fraternity are educational, service, and social. The fraternity was organized in the 1965-1966
school year.
The March 19, 1969 newly elected officers were Dick Gregory, president; Dick Epley, vice president; Dale Sherburne,
secretary; Paul Baker, treasurer, and Steve Kellicut, Sergeant-at-Arms. Other students affiliated with the club
included Dick Lano, Mike Pohle, Kurt Share, and Ron Joern.
Students pledging membership in February 1969 were Paul Baker, Joseph Bolwahn, Ron Gibeaut, Steven Kellicut,
Richard Nero, James Reget, Peter Samb, and Brent Turner.
Chi Sigma Chi
Gail Arnold
Cheryl Cole
Linda Culp
Ruth Haag
Kari Hanson
Carol Harter
Margaret Hickey
Liz Lachman
Louise Larson
Lois Melbo
Alice Olson
Karen Sandvigen
Karen Schroeder
Eileen Schulz
Anne Sobkowiak
Data Processing Club - Club Advisor was Jerry Boggs, Manager of Data Processing.
Allen Benzing
Michael Christopherson
Bruce Darelius
William Ebner
Sandra Fox
Ellen Gerth
Margaret Hickey
Margene Joas
Ronald Joern
David Johnson
Scott Kimball
Carol Lamb
Daniel Myhre
Alice Olson
Allan Pischke
Eileen Riley
Mary Rogers
Sandra Rolbiecki
Roseanne VonHaden
Susan Wagner
Linda Walers
Judeen Wolf
Mary Schmitz
Dennis Steinke
Theodore Stenzel
Nancy Stensven
Robert Westerman
Kenneth Wunderlich
Delta Eta Tau
This technical fraternity was organized on January 31, 1964. Delta Eta Tau, a club open to any two-year technical
student at WWTI, provides a means for developing a better understanding between the technical students, the rest
of the student body, and the faculty.
Delta Gamma Phi - Club Advisors: Librarian Annette Niederkorn and Yvonne Ramsden, Library Assistant.
Rachel Aspenson
Bonnie Baumbach
Sandra Bruring
Joyce Eide
Patricia Hickisch
Susan Lee
Diane Page
Mary Quillin
Mary Roberts
Kathryn Walters
Joyce Worchel

Future Secretaries Association - Club Advisor: Joyce Rosso, General Education Instructor.
Betty Bush
Arvene Bolterman
Kathleen Bonsak
Peggy Beers
Vona Bernhardt (vice
president)
Mary Ellen Byrne
Janine Cavadini
Nancy Chase
DECA Club
Sandra Bacon
Nancy Brewer
Sandra Bruring
Ronald Buckholtz
J. Cleveland
Norman Comero
Wisconsin Business Education Club
Peggy Beers
Diann Besch (secretary)
Elaine DeFreezer (president)
Ann Dingeldine
Karen Frye
Jean Happel
(parliamentarian)
Margaret Hickey (historian)
Cheryl Cole
Karen Delaney
Margaret Ferguson
Karen Frye
Eileen Geier (secretary)
Diana Hansen
Carol Harter
Ann Hundt
Diane Johnson
Larry Gilbertson
Donna Head
(secretary/treasurer)
Robert Hess
Michael Hoff (president)
Olin Knudson
Mary Horschak
(treasurer)
Susan Hundt
Margene Joas
Lois Kaiser
Shirley Krause
Susette LaMere
Susan Lee (treasurer)
Shirley Krause
Susette LaMere
Pat McDonald
Stephanie Merfeld
Mary O’Gara
Sonja Olson
Carolyn Ottum
JoAnn Pearson
Kathie Porath
John Laufenberg
Eric Leum
Sharon Mathews
Clifford McCoy
Bob McDonald
Irene Liska
John May
Christine Olson
Mary Olson
(treasurer)
Sonja Olson
Sandra Rolbiecki
Mary Seguin
Karen Sandvigen
Deena Smith
Donna Schroeder
JoEllen Sherry
Rita Stekel
Janice Tietze
Roseanne VonHaden
Susan Wagner (treasurer)
Jane Weinke (president)
Bruce Merrill
Steven Muellenberg
Linda Riese (historian)
Greg Schantz
Sandra Shaffer
Susan Smerud
Jeanette Smith
Barbara Stellick
(parliamentarian)
Linda Tanke
Anita Tyler
Linda Winchel (vice
president)
In 1968-1969 events in the Auditorium included . . .
1968
August 7 The Blackwood Brothers quartet, which was classified as No. 1 recording gospel foursome, was heard in a
free concert. It was stated that the group travels more than 100,000 miles each year in the United States
and Canada.
August 29 The Gospel Crusaders. A group of 31 college age men and women from various schools in the United
States presented an evening of music and drama. The Lutheran Evangelistic Movement which
headquarters in Minneapolis is the parent organization of the youth group called the Gospel Crusaders.
The director of the Crusaders was Gary Alfson, a University of Minnesota graduate.
September 7 Practical Nursing Graduation
The first two area men to receive pins in the Practical Nursing Program at WWTI were among a 22-member
graduating class. Graduates were:
Gloria Bakkum, Westby Ehona McClurs, Viroqua
Barbara Bills, Hixton Linda McMahon, Eau Claire
Brother Richard Brendes, La Crosse Avis Missell, Houston, Minnesota
Pat Corcoran, Galesville Margaret Pase, La Crosse
Mary Doyle, La Crosse Brother James Pultz, La Crosse
Selma Jenks, La Crosse Kathy Raseman, La Crosse
Ruth Johnson, La Crosse Phyllis Reid, Sparta
Sherry Johnson, La Crosse Lorna Sakntala, Black River Falls
Ethyl Keefe, La Crosse Mary Slette, Viroqua
Jean Lawrence, La Crosse Carol Theisen, La Crosse
Christine Lau, Cassville Marijo Weichert, La Crosse
Speakers were Mrs. Maddeline Schuldes, Coordinator for the Health Occupations Program land June Kjome, Head
Pediatrics Nurse at Lutheran Hospital.
School pins and diplomas were presented to the class by Mrs. Schuldes and Mrs. Dorothy Beers, Head of the
school’s nursing department. Closing prayers were given by Rev. Daniel Vinge, chaplain at Lutheran Hospital.

Sept. 21-22 Pills-a-Poppin’ -- a prescription for entertainment. The Pills-a-Poppin’ stage variety show was a
big success. The Lutheran Hospital Auxiliary presented its first variety “Follies” show to
augment the pediatric fund. The hospital follies featured more than 100 La Crosse amateur
performers. Members of the cast were featured in selections from some of the most successful
Broadway musicals, including “Gypsy,” “Cabaret,” “Showboat,” and “The Music Man.” Ron
Teigland, the professional director for the show, was a member of the staff of Jerome H. Cargill
Productions of New York. Teigland said, “This is a home town show with a New York touch.”
October 10 At the 77 th Wisconsin Library Association Conference, Kathleen Molz, of the U. S. Office of
Education stated, “most librarians are not aware they can effect social change.” Promoting the
idea that the past has a relationship with the present, rests with librarians and their commitment
to the task.
October 17 An open forum was held to allow the public to meet the candidates for the state legislature. The
forum allowed candidates to state their positions on questions related to education. Candidates
participating included: Milo Knutson, Republican, and David Brye, Democrat, candidates for the
State Senate from the 32 nd District; Norbert Nuttelman and Gerald Grieder, Republicans, and
Virgil Roberts and Donald Medinger, Democrats, candidates for the State Assembly. Phi Delta
Kappa, a professional fraternity for men in education, sponsored the forum Howard Fredricks
acted as moderator. More state aids for education and a lower voting age were unanimously
endorsed by area candidates running for state offices at a forum before a slim audience in the
Coleman Auditorium. In the November 5 election, Milo G. Knutson, former La Crosse Mayor,
was elected to the State Senate after defeating veteran Raymond C. Bice
October 22 The Coulee Region Kiwanis Club presented the film “Call to Hawaii,” photographed and narrated
by Kenneth Rogers.
October 25 “Don’t believe anything I say tonight.” That was the opening sentence retired Army Lieutenant
Colonel, Gordon “Jack” Mohr said when speaking on the war in Vietnam. He advocated that
people should listen, analyze and then make up their own minds and not let newspapers and TV
reporting sway them. Mohr’s speech, “The Missing Alternative is Victory!” was part of a
month-long tour of the area, sponsored by the Coulee Region T.R.A.I.N. (To Restore American
Independence Now) Committee. He spent 24 years on active Army duty, including service in
the Korean War. Prior to the start of the war, while he was an advisor to Republic of Korea
forces, he was captured by the North Korean Communists. At the end of the war, he worked
with Maj. William E. Mayer, who conducted a study of Communist brainwashing techniques and
effects. Mohr taught classes in the new Code of Conduct at the Army Security Agency School.
October 26 The opening event of the Community Concert Association was a lavish production by the
Goldovsky Grand Opera Theater of Bizet’s colorful opera, “Carmen,” that included
70 people – singers, chorus and orchestra.
November 2 An area youth rally was held with talks by converted drug addicts and a man who worked with
them. The rally was sponsored by Teen Challenge, of Chicago, an international organization that
works with teenagers involved in drug abuse, delinquency, sexual promiscuity, and alcohol.
November 10 The November 10 orchestra concert had two features:
Lawrence Foster, a blond 14-year old boy, hailed by Leonard Bernstein as a musician of unusual
talent, lived up to expectations. Foster was guest cellist with the La Crosse Symphony
Orchestra, conducted by Frank J. Italiano.
The other feature employed a group of local “soloists” to purge concert going out of its habitual
solemnity, included the:
Four vacuum cleaners “played” by Sister Justille McDonald, president of Viterbo College; the Rev.
Roland Schwandt, president of the local Board of Education; Mayor Warren Loveland; and Chief of
Police Ronald Wold; and the
Four pistols handled by Dr. Samuel Gates, president of the La Crosse State University; Msgr. John
Paul, rector of St. Joseph the Workman Cathedral; Philip Davy, president of the La Crosse Greater
Chamber of Commerce; and Mike Larkin, president of the AFL-CIO Council.
December 14 A Christmas program was presented featuring a 100-member massed choir from 20 area
churches. The program, the theme of which was “putting Christ back into Christmas,” was
directed by Rev. Leon Franck, pastor of Bible Baptist Church.

1969
January 30 The Travel and Adventure Series of the Coulee Region Kiwanis Club presented “Turkey,”
which was photographed and narrated by John Strong.
February 9 Nerine Barrett was guest pianist with the La Crosse Symphony Orchestra conducted by Frank Italiano. As a
special feature, the “Lincoln Portrait” by Aaron Copland was performed, with Jack Martin, farm director of
the local WKBH-WKBT, was the narrator. “Lincoln Portrait” was first performed by Andre Kostelanetz and
his Cincinnati Symphony in 1942. The music has some of popular tunes of the Civil War period, using as the
main theme the folk song “On Springfield Mountain.”
March 29 & 30 Three performances of “The Merry Pranks of Tyll” were held for area youngsters. The play, geared for
enjoyment by elementary children, is built on the adventures of the German rogue, Tyll, who exposed evil
through laughter. The Children’s Theater of the American Association of University Women presented the
play.
April 7 It was a Beethoven evening. Hans Richter-Haaser, pianist, featured classical works at the Community
Concert Association presentation. The first half of his program was Beethoven, followed by compositions
written by Brahams, Mendelssohn, Chopin and others.
April 11 & 14 Cabaret pianist Idris Evans, a native of Wales, gave two performances.
The April 11 performance of popular music in cabaret style took place during a special assembly for WWTI
students and friends.
The April 14 performance featured a reading – 55 Minutes with Dylan in Wales – the works of the Welch
poet, Dylan Thomas, with Idris Evans providing piano accompaniment.
April 13 Soloists with the La Crosse Symphony Orchestra were the award-winning flutist Paula Sylvester, and La
Crosse piano duettists Weekley and Arganbright. The orchestra was conducted by Frank Italiano.
April 26 “All America in Song” was the theme for the Barbershoppers annual event. The “Coulee Chordsmen,”
barbershop singers of La Crosse, marked their 23 rd annual parade of quartets. In addition to the
Chordsmen, listeners heard the “Four Nubbins” of Spencer Iowa, the “Dairyland Delegates” of Racine, and
the “Mistersippis” of Winona, Minnesota.
April 27 The heroic figure of childhood fantasy, “Jack and the Beanstalk.” On stage for more than a quarter of a
century -- that’s the background of the internationally known Nicolo Marionetters. The La Crosse Jaycettes
sponsored two performances of the children’s theater program at 1 and 3 p.m. for the musical adventure,
“Jack and the Beanstalk.”
April 29 The Coulee Region Kiwanis Club presented Ireland in its travel and adventure series. The subject of the
personally narrated color film was “Ireland, Land of Legend.” The producer was Robert O’Reilly, a graduate
of the University of Notre Dame, who organized his own photography and motion picture business in 1964.
May 3 Phyllis Curtin, soprano, star of the Metropolitan Opera and the Vienna State Opera was guest artist with the
La Crosse Community Concert.
May 14 Awards Day
Musical Interlude Kenneth Bach (student)
Introduction Charles G. Richardson, Director
Departmental Awards to outstanding students Victor Larsen
Conrad Buchal - Hillsboro Agribusiness
Kathleen Self - Viroqua Clerk Typist
Eileen Riley - Viroqua Data Processing Machine Operator
Carol Craig - Melrose Business Machines
Vicki Bolstad - Viroqua Accounting
Mary Bantle - La Crosse Secretarial Science
Roseanne Von Haden - Wilton Secretarial Science
Nancy Frost - La Crosse Secretarial Science-Administrative
Margaret Hickey - La Crosse Data Processing
Linda Culp - La Crosse Dental Assistant
Nancy L. Miller - Neshkoro Medical Assistant
Ruby Hinz - La Crosse Practical Nursing
Mary Kimball - Hokah, Minnesota Institutional Foods
Patricia I. Petersen - Bagley Apparel Arts
Norman Comero - Independence Food Merchandising
Linda Riese - La Crosse Retailing
Donna Head - La Crosse Fashion Merchandising
Kenneth Adams - Holmen Electronics
Michael Fortun - Westby Mechanical Design
John O. Horsfall - Patch Grove Commercial Art
Thomas S. Mason - Prairie du Chien Auto Technology
Jock Hysel - La Farge Air Conditioning and Refrigeration

Jeffrey DeLapp - Mauston Auto Mechanics
Blaine Ottum - Ontario Auto Body
Thomas J. Dolle - La Crosse Cabinetmaking
Daniel Brudahl - Holmen Machine Shop
Scholarships were presented to the school by
- E. L. (Bob) Burgess of The La Crosse Tribune
- Mrs. Carsten Christiansen of the Lutheran Hospital Senior Auxiliary
- Reid Horle of the Masonic-Knights of Columbus
- David Nudd of Gateway Foods
Extracurricular Activities David Elkins
- Receiving awards for serving as officers of the Student Congress, the governing body which exercises
control overall phases of campus life, were:
Olin A. Ladwig - La Crosse President
Bruce R. Merrill - Taylor Vice President
Carol Harter - La Crosse Treasurer
John Horsfall - Patch Grove Parliamentarian
- Recognition for serving as co-editors of “The Accolade,” a monthly news magazine was given to
Shirley Belshan - La Crosse
Mary Bantle - La Crosse
- Students cited for their contributions to the student bulletin “Cavalier Clippings,” a weekly information
publication were:
Julie Adams - Luck for designing the covers
Helen Scott - New Lisbon Co-editor
Carol Harter - La Crosse Co-editor
- Students recognized for providing organ music at the several convocations and special programs
throughout the year were:
Richard Sage - Onalaska
Kenneth Bach - Beloit
- Recognition was given William G. Welch, Jr., La Crosse, for doing the special effects work for the several
convocations held throughout the year at the school.
Certificates of Appreciation were presented to 13 persons who rendered service and support to the school:
Dr. Joseph Durst of Grandview Clinic (formerly at 17 th and Main Streets)
Phillip Larson of Gateway Transportation Company
Mary Svec of Hale, Skemp, Hanson, Schnurrer, and Skemp
Gerhard A. Monson of Gerhard Monson Accounting
Bernice Callaway of WKBT-WKBH
James Bruha of the Bureau of Apprenticeship and Training
Fred Affeldt, past chairman of Sheet Metal Joint Apprenticeship Committee
E. L. (Bob) Burgess of The La Crosse Tribune
Edward Hutchings of WKBT
George Stuber of Pyroil Company
Fred Olsen, Jr. of Trane Company
Lawrence Kapelke of the Framers Co-op in West Salem
Rex Ritchie of the La Crosse Garment Company
Concluding Remarks were made by Olin Ladwig, president of the Student Congress.
Mistress of Ceremonies was Miss Joan Angelone.
May 22-25 The La Crosse Community Theatre, Inc. presented a four-day run of “The Music Man.” More
than 100 persons were involved in the production. It featured a boys’ band, many singers,
and a chorus as well as the pit band, all under the direction of Louis Witt, band director at
La Crescent, Minnesota, High School. Musicians from the La Crosse State University, Logan,
Aquinas and other area schools were involved.
May 28 Graduation
In 1969, WWTI graduated its largest class in the school’s 57-year history – 376 students.
Associate degrees were awarded to 135 who completed two-year technical programs, and diplomas were
presented to 241 who completed one- and two-year programs.
The commencement address was given by Eugene I. Lehrmann, Assistant Director, Wisconsin Board of
Vocational, Technical and Adult Education, Madison.
Meritorious Student Awards presented by Victor Larsen, Administrator of School Services.
Donna R. Head, La Crosse, Marketing program, was the recipient of the Outstanding Graduating Technical
Student Award, and
Kathryn M. Walters, of Sparta, Medical Assistant program, received the Outstanding Technical Student
Award.

In 1969-1970 . . .
The Quarter System – First in the State – September 1969
School 12 months a year?
How to use equipment and facilities effectively—that was the underlying focus for consideration for WWTI’s
proposed operation of the Quarter System plan.
In March 1968, a preliminary investigation of the Quarter System was made by the Curriculum Committee of the
school. The findings of the study were divided into six areas: The benefits to the students, the benefits to the
faculty, the efficiency involved in using the building, the possibilities for a fourth quarter a year, the opportunities to
enroll in a program, and additional considerations. A study was conducted by a special faculty committee,
appointed by the District Director, to develop procedures, materials and techniques for the implementation of the
Quarter System as a method of operation at WWTI.
In October 1968, Director Richardson explained to the Board that WWTI had been designated by the State Office as a
pilot school to study the Quarter System. He indicated the study would include utilization of the school on a
twelve-month basis. A motion was made by Edsel Vergin, seconded by Robert Ringdahl, and carried to approve a
study to develop a Quarter System.
Under the Quarter System, it would be possible for the school to operate for four 12-week quarters each year, and
that three quarters would be the equivalent of a present school year. WWTI was designated as the Wisconsin area
vocational school to set up a pilot program on the Quarter System. The school was operating under the semester
system, with the school year consisting of two 18-week semesters. For the most part, operations were suspended
during the summer. Director Richardson stated he was familiar with the quarter system in Minnesota as the
University of Minnesota used it, and that it had advantages to students and teachers as well as disadvantages.
Director Richardson said the quarter system provides some advantages in setting up courses of study and in utilizing
faculty members. Some would work the year-round, while others would take a quarter off for advanced study on a
staggered basis. He also pointed out that operating the school in the summer would require air conditioning. It
was anticipated that pending Board approval, the Quarter System would go into effect next fall (Sept. 1969).
On November 19, 1968 the Wisconsin Board approved the Quarter System as a pilot project to begin in the fall of
1969. The school would study the impact of the system on space, staff and administrative costs, the advantages in
curriculum flexibility, and student opportunities. The State Board of VTAE accepted the proposal and gave the
go-ahead to begin a “pilot plan” commencing with the start of class on September 8, 1969.
The decision to go to the Quarter System was adopted by the WWTI Board on February 25, 1969. The school’s
experiment would be used as a pilot program for all the state’s technical institutes. The Quarter System breaks the
regular school year into three parts, instead of the two parts of the semester system that had been used. In
addition, there was a fourth 12-week quarter, which took place during the summer months. The fourth quarter
permitted the school to operate 48 weeks of the year, thus utilizing the school’s facilities all year around.
Among the advantages was that it would allow more variety in the curriculum and let students work additional kinds
of courses into their programs. Three objectives were cited for switching to the Quarter System:
1. To improve the quality of the educational program.
2. To decrease the dropout rate in the full-time program.
3. To prepare for a more effective transition to year-round operation.
“What makes the trial timely is that school administrators – and fiscal advisers – have been pushing for this change
for a decade or two. Yet few have been willing to buck public habits and family patterns to try it. “ (Tribune
2/28/69)
In June 1970, the Summer Term began with the first class on a four-quarter schedule to carry through the summer.
(This was a forerunner of possible year-around full-time school operation at WWTI as part of the Quarter System
pilot plan.)
In the 1972 North Central Association report about the quarter system plan of operation, it was noted: “The
newly-established quarter system is a dynamic, meaningful program that has provided flexibility in program

construction. This has enabled the topics in the various subject matter specialties to be arranged in constructive
sequential manner and provides greater flexibility in the curriculum. WWTI is responsible for initiating this change
and is pilot-testing it for possible application of other Wisconsin (vocational and Technical education) institutions.”
What the students said about it . . .
I think the quarter system serves to break up the school year a lot more. I didn’t feel there was a need to
stretch the subject matter of most courses out over the semester which was a number of weeks longer than the
present quarter.
– Bill Welch from La Crosse, Electronics II
I’m not too pleased with it . . . Everybody’s trying to push everything into the quarter that previously took a semester.
We’re not learning things as deep . . . just hitting the highlights. Although maybe it’s just a matter of time for the
teachers to cover all things required in a course. I mean teachers should not try to teach everything that was
necessary in the 18-week semester in the six-week-shorter quarter we now have.
-- Sharon Fuller from Viroqua, Commercial Art II
I think the quarter system gives the student more of a chance to find himself. That is, if you don’t like a course you
haven’t wasted half a year (18-week semester). The longer semester didn’t help you any more and now if you don’t
like a course, or don’t feel you’re getting much out of the subject matter, you have a chance to take other subjects, or
even change to another program without wasting 18 weeks or even a full year.
It also gives the school more flexibility to offer more variety. And, we kids that are here for the first time this fall
have a greater advantage to learn under the new system along with the teachers.
-- Gerald Conner from Tomah, Data Processing I
I agree with Gerry Conner – that we have more variety of subjects and we aren’t paying our tax money for school to
waste time . . .
-- Barb Weiner from Cashton, Practical Nursing
Speaking from the data processing point of view, we’re not getting enough time under the quarter system for the
amount of work we’re expected to complete . . . that is, we have to go through just so much material in the Data
Processing program and we don’t have time to do it. There is much more variety, but the problem in Data
Processing is there are so many students in the lab and the machine is too slow . . . we can’t all get on the machine in
this short time.
-- Eugene Pfaff from Sparta area, Data Processing II
I like the quarter system because you get more variety of subjects. And subjects are more related to real
employment. We have had more real demonstrations in the practical things – for example, a businessman from
outside the school came in to demonstrate how operations in a real office are done on some advanced business
machines.
-- Lynn Seymour, Business Machines
My high school had nine weeks in a quarter . . . and the 12-week quarter here is somewhat confusing to me. It’s
kind of long compared to high school, but I’m getting used to it and I think things are covered better, especially
academic subjects like English – or Communication Skills – where we’re learning to speak in public and feel more at
ease for having this experience in class.
-- Sandy Fladhammer for DeSoto, Medical Secretarial I
On March 23, 1971, the WWTI Board changed the length of three programs to fit into the new year-round operation.
Changed were: the Wood Technics program was reduced from 72 weeks (two years) to 46 weeks, and Auto Body and
Auto Mechanics were lengthened from 36 to 46 weeks. The programs were previously designed for the 36-week
school year. With the change, the programs fit into the 46-week (three 12-week terms plus a 10-week summer
term).
When It Ended
In 1990-91, conversion of the Quarter System to the Semester System process was implemented.
Effective in the fall of 1992, WWTC switched from the Quarter System and adopted the Semester System. The
conversion was a complex process with changes in degree, program and course requirements, and involved many
staff in its process.
. . . . . . . . . .

The budget for Fiscal Year 1970 was $2,212,176. The 1970 budget was $538,000 higher than 1969’s, the tax rate
$364,000 higher and the mill rate 0.359 mills higher. The tax increase was attributed to higher enrollment, higher
debt service costs and the costs of operating the new health -science building.
July 7, 1969 was the starting date for a 25-week Production Machine Operator’s course, and a 21-week Combination
Welder course began on July 21. The training, offered through the Wisconsin State Employment Service, District
Manpower Division, was offered at WWTI.
August 26, 1969 – the Board of Directors for WWTI re-elected all its officers for one-year terms. They were: Roy
E. Kumm, La Crosse County, chairman; J. O. Beadle, Trempealeau County, vice chairman; Robert Ringdahl, Monroe
County, secretary; and Louis Youngman, La Crosse County, treasurer; with members-at-large Henry Ernst, Jr. and
Walter Weihrouch; and ex-officio member Edsel Vergin of the La Crosse Public Schools.
In the fall of 1969, WWTI had four mobile classrooms in operation. The trailer-type units were purchased from the
Trane Company, who was disposing of them, at $1,500 each. The units were used in the school’s program of
carrying its services to all areas of the district.
In the fall of 1969, the District Board approved a pilot transportation pilot program for the 1969-70 school year.
Round-trip service each school day originated at Viroqua, Tomah and Whitehall, with designated pick-up spots along
those routes. The buses left designated terminal points 6:40 a.m. arriving at WWTI about 7:50 a.m.
During the 1969-1970 school year, 10,852 students took advantage of educational opportunities at WWTI. Of this
number 1,612 were full-time day school students; 5,103 were enrolled in adult education programs at WWTI; and
4,137 were enrolled in adult education programs throughout the district.
In the fall of 1969, WWTI expanded the Medical Assistant and Dental Assistant programs because of the increased
demand for persons trained in these fields.
In 1969-70, three associate degrees and one vocational diploma were added: Fashion Merchandising (Associate
Degree); Printing and Publishing (Associate Degree); Interior Design (Associate Degree); and Operating Room
Assistant (Vocational Diploma).
In 1969-70, area evening school programs were organized and conducted in 22 high schools in the WWTI District, as
well as at the center in La Crosse—207 evening adult education courses were offered by the 22 schools in the
district, while 200 adult education classes were offered at the La Crosse Center.
In 1969, the student publication of WWTI was weekly and bore the name “Cavalier Clippings”.
In 1969, several staff members attended sessions of the Professional Growth Week conference in Eau Claire. The
conference was conducted for all local and district vocational education administrators, coordinators, supervisors
and counselors. The conference theme was “Let’s Listen To Our Publics,” to determine whether postsecondary
vocational, technical and adult education is meeting the needs of those it was designed to serve.
Beginning September 15, 1969, WWTI offered, for the first time, a six-hour day program for adults in need of basic
education. The program was scheduled to operate on a year-round basis, with adults in basic problems in
education enrolling to learn the skills they need to complete an eighth grade education. Classes were held in
reading, math, writing and English. The program was under the supervision of Arlyss Grosskoph, coordinator of the
Adult Basic Education, and two instructors, Doris Pynn and Peggy Fox.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Oktoberfest 1969 – WWTI captured top honors with its Oktoberfest entry. In October 1969, the nation’s space
program carried over into the 1969 Oktoberfest float, and WWTI did it again with its creation of “Moon Landing” – a
moon with an out-of-space character on the top. The theme was “Technical Training Turns Fantasy Into Fact” –
using the fact of technical training behind all the fantasy of a landing on the moon.
The design diagram of the float showed the “moon” with the Apollo 11 Module already landed on the lunar surface.
The combined effort of faculty and students from several programs – Commercial Art, Wood Technics, Auto
Mechanics, Mechanical Design – resulted in WWTI being a awarded first place for their entry into the Oktoberfest
Parade float.

In late August 1969, Art Department Head John Syverson and Assistant Commercial Art Instructor Virginia Woehlert
met with Ansel Heram, head of the Wood Technics Department; Neil Stromstad, head of the Auto Mechanics
Department; Bob Maas, head of the Mechanical Design Technology Department; and Bill Welch, Trade and Industrial
Supervisor to coordinate work on the float. Commercial Art students designed the final artwork of the float in
color, sculputured the “moon scape”, and decorated the float with floral materials. Auto Mechanics students
prepared the self-propelled chassis for the float unit. Wood Technics students built the entire superstructure of
the float and the “moon” sphere. Mechanical Design students created the animation for the Apollo 11 capsule
“Columbia”, which circled the float’s own “moon” as the unit moved along the parade.
To broadcast the “message” of technical training to almost a quarter million people watching the parade, students of
the Electronics Technology Department provided amplifiers and tape-recorded “Moon Talk” that was rebroadcast
form the float throughout the parade.
The first place award included a gold Maple Leaf Parade Plaque, a cash award, and the first place banner displayed
by WWTI Pom Pom Girls.
This was the second consecutive year that a WWTI float won the Festmaster’s Award. In 1967, the first year the
school competed in the Oktoberfest parade, the float entered won the second place.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
October 1969 – Officers of the La Crosse Chapter of the Wisconsin Business Education Club attended the fall
leadership conference in Madison. Attending were President Ronald J. Leibl, Holmen, a second-year student in
Accounting; Vice President Paul Peterson, Stoddard, a first-year student in Data Processing; Secretary Teresa
Neubauer, La Crosse, a first-year student in Business Machines; Treasurer Tom DeLong, La Crosse, a first-year
student in Accounting; Representative Ted Stenzel, La Crosse, a second-year student in Data Processing and
Accounting; Historian Helen Scott, New Lisbon, a second-year student in Accounting; and Parliamentarian Norman
Winchell, La Crosse, a first-year student in Data Processing.
In the fall of 1969, Clifford McCoy, La Crosse, president of the La Crosse Chapter of the Wisconsin Distributive
Education Association (DECA) received a certificate recognizing him for leadership during a two-day seminar at the
North Central Technical Institute.
In Fall 1969, a six-week hospital management workshop, sponsored by the Lutheran Hospital in conjunction with
WWTI, was conducted by John Eppley, Supervisor of Management Development Services.
On October 9, 1969, seventeen management and supervisory personnel of the Nelson Muffler Company of Black
River Falls were presented with certificates of satisfactory completion at the final session of the Management
Development program. The sessions were conducted in the Black River Falls High School and concluded with a
company recognition dinner at the Club 12. John Eppley coordinated the program. The following management
and supervisory personnel participated in the program:
James S. Allen
Albert L. Bagen
Dean F. Bahnub
Edward A. Bue
Dale Burlingame
Helmer D. Danielson
Larry L. Gaede
Wilbur Z. Gray
Harley K. Hanby
Howard L. Lambert
Raymond C. Landers
Crestwell R. Lindow
Lawrence J. McCann
LaVerne H. Scafe
George S. Severson
Joseph Sylbia
Gilbur E. Weideman
In addition to the 17 participants, two Nelson Muffler Company executives, Darrel Kersting, Black River Falls plant
manager and Joe A. Ylvisaker of Stoughton, Wisconsin, vice president of manufacturing, were present for the dinner.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
On October 10, 1969, the WWTI Homemakers Club met in the La Crosse County Courthouse Auditorium. Guest
speaker was Lloyd Hanifl, florist, on “Know Your Mums” and discuss the storing of bulbs for winter.
October 13, 1969, John L. Eppley, Supervisor of Management Development Services Director at WWTI, conducted a
management efficiency workshop. The workshop was for six weeks with six two-hour sessions and planned as a
refresher of basic management skills, with three-fourths of the workshop time devoted to group participation for
research and analysis to apply on all principles presented to current problems. Eppley had

about 30 years of experience in the field, 14 with General Motors, four in training Army officer personnel during
World War II, and was employed by WWTI in 1954.
October 22 -- Thirty La Crosse County department heads and supervisors completed a one-day management
workshop conducted by John Eppley.
October 22 through 29, 1969 – Gordon H. Feinberg, manager of Sanitary Supply Company (425 South Third Street),
was consultant and moderator of a work analysis and job techniques seminar for custodians sponsored by WWTI, in
cooperation with the Cooperative Educational Service Agency (CESA) 11. The three-part sessions were designed to
upgrade custodians’ work habits, and included demonstrations showing the latest techniques in cleaning, general
building maintenance, care and use of everyday cleaning equipment and supplies. The first session had Nils
Cederberg, assistant sales manager of the Clarke Floor Machine Co., Muskegon, Michigan, talking on “Care and
Maintenance of Cleaning Equipment.” The topic of the second session was “Maintenance Materials and Supplies,”
by C. D. Werner, executive vice president of Spartan Chemical Company, Toledo, Ohio. The third session, “General
Building Maintenance, Plumbing and Heating Care” was given by James Knothe, architect; Hugh Boschert,
mechanical engineer, and Jack Reiland, electrical engineer, all of Hackner, Schroeder, Roslansky and Associates, Inc.
(then at 412 Rivoli Building) The sessions were held at Central High School, and upward of 50 custodians attended.
In October 1969, WWTI received a $500 grant from the La Crosse Foundation (319 Main Street) for scholarships for
nursing students. The foundation was founded in 1930 by the La Crosse County Bar Association and accepts
bequests and charities for educational purposes in the La Crosse County.
On October 30, 1969, a ten-year expansion plan for WWTI was unveiled showing closely spaced buildings and
connecting walkways for turning the school into one “mega building”, including a large walkway over Seventh Street.
The plan, designed to accommodate the projected enrollment of 3,000 students by 1980, covered an area of nearly
six city blocks, consisting of the two on which WWTI has buildings, two to the east which WWTI was acquiring, and
two to the east of that. The plan made provision for fifteen structures bounded by Sixth to Ninth Streets and Vine
to La Crosse Streets, including dormitories, power building, health-science building (future multipurpose academic),
library, four new academic, technical education, physical education, the existing Coleman building, shop buildings,
health occupations, and a student union. Space for parking was designated on the north and south ends of the
building. Although each building in the plan was designated, it was stated that the development may not actually
proceed as it was envisioned. The timetable for expansion was dependent upon actual needs and enrollment
growth. Hackner, Schroeder, Roslansky and Associates were the architects.
A Halloween Dance was held on October 30, 1969 in the Student Union (Coleman 129). The Tau Iota Upsilon (TIU)
Fraternity offered a cash prize for the best costumes and they selected one girl and one boy to receive the prizes.
Paul Nedland and Karen Schroeder – both Commercial Art students – were awarded the prizes during an
intermission.
A new Coat of Arms was designed for the TIU Fraternity by Peggy Johnson and Cleo Grude of the Commercial Art
program.
A “special” member was acquired by the TIU Fraternity – a 5½ lb., five-week old Saint Bernard. The Fraternity
sponsored a “Name the Mascot Contest” and the chubby Saint Bernard was named “Monty”.
November 5 – Thomas Herried of Trane Company and Gerald Greeno, Ucemco Manufacturing Co., Tomah, both
graduates of WWTI’s Mechanical Design program spoke at the annual dinner meeting the school’s chapter of AIDD
(American Institute for Design and Drafting) in the Chateau Supper Club (then located about two miles south of La
Crosse on Highways 14-61).
November 6-14, 1969 – Floyd Storey, La Crosse, a commercial artist for Gateway Products Corp., La Crosse, exhibited
several of his oil paintings in the library at WWTI. Storey was a student in the original class of the commercial art
technical program, but left after one year to design glass nameplates and appliance decorations at Gateway.

November 7 – the second hayride of the year took place. About 20 students along with Instructor Jeff Naill went to
the Wayne Cavadini farm in Bangor. The first hayride was October 17. There was a slight charge of $.75 to cover
food and the gas for the tractor.
On November 12, an Agribusiness Career Day was held that drew approximately 150 high school students. Area
high schools represented included Black River Falls, Cashton, Cochrane-Fountain City, Gale-Ettrick, Hillsboro, La
Crosse Central, Onalaska, Westby and Caledonia, Minnesota, along with several young and adult farmer
representatives. Representatives of the State agribusiness advisory committees talked to the students about
careers in their respective field of agribusiness. An open house followed the panel presentation, allowing an
opportunity for visiting the facilities and inspecting the equipment at WWTI. Speakers and their topics were:
Marvin Steinke, executive secretary, Wisconsin Power Equipment Retailers Association, “Careers in Farm
Machinery”; Wayne Koene, agriculture coordinator, VTAE District 10, “Careers in the Canning and Freezing Industry”;
Ray Mierch, chief chemist, Sanna Dairies, Inc., “Careers in the Dairy Industry”;
Keith Everson, district sales manager, Geighy Agricultural Chemicals, “Careers in Agriculture Chemicals”;
Harold Schuebel, Farmers Union Central Exchange, “Feed, Seed and Farm Suppliers”; and
Stanley Foll, executive secretary, Wisconsin and Upper Michigan Florist Association, “Careers in Forestry and
Nursery”.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
November 14, 1969 – The WWTC Homemakers Club met in the La Crosse County Courthouse auditorium. Guest
speaker was Mrs. James Wagner from the House of Bonsai.
November 18, 1969 – A first took place at the Mulder Home when a doctor’s examining room and laboratory were
opened. The Mulder Home was one of the very few nursing homes in Wisconsin to have a doctor’s office and a
trained medical assistant to do laboratory work. Dr. George Gersch of the West Salem Clinic staff was the
attending physician, and Lenette Dessner, graduate of the WWTI Medical Assistant training was in charge of the
laboratory.
December 1969 – Seventy-three area school bus drivers completed a nine-hour pilot course in school bus driver
improvement. The sessions were conducted at the Arcadia Senior High School on three-consecutive Monday
evenings. The program included discussion on the responsibility and liability of the driver and the schools; the
relationship of superintendent, principal, contractor and driver; emergency drills; use of flares, flags and reflectors,
and the use of fire extinguishers; first aid for possible injuries resulting to pupil transportation, defensive driving and
factors relating and contributing to school bus accidents. WWTI in cooperation with the Wisconsin State
Department of Public Instruction coordinated the program.
December 11 – an “Old Time Movie Night”, featured Laurel and Hardy, W. C. Fields, Abbott and Costello, Charlie
Chaplin and other stars. The program was arranged like a typical “old fashioned” movie night – fun for the entire
family – complete with honky tonk piano music, cold soft drinks and tasty popcorn during the intermission, along
with a drawing for a free door prizes of a humorous nature. The event was sponsored by “The Singing Pleasures”, a
vocal ensemble comprised of fourteen WWTI students. They provided musical entertainment during the evening’s
program. Members of the group were: Jeanette Bissen, Kathleen Hanson, Marcia Hanson, Sharon Hurtz,
Elizabeth Job, Dana Kimpel, Adrienne Littlejohn, Anita Morel, Jane Muller, Sandra Olson, Patricia Peterson, Shirley
Purvis, Joan Sandvick, and Barbara Weiner. General Education Instructor Joan Angelone was advisor of the musical
group.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
In December 1969, holiday spirits were high prior to the long Christmas vacation. Students were active doing their
part in making the Christmas season brighter for others. The halls of WWTI sparked with tinsel; the Marketing
department corner display window contained a very heavenly scene of clouds, stars, and a very realistic angel; the
Refrigeration department spelled out Season’s Greetings with bent copper tubing connected to a refrigeration unit
that turned the tube letters frosty white and sparkling with ice crystals. The Tau Iota Upsilon Fraternity project
resulted in the collection of 150 pounds of canned goods and 500 pounds of clothes, which were contributed to the
Christmas Bureau for future distribution to needy people.
There’s a first for everything—and, in school year 1969-1970, a new organization was initiated to arouse school
spirit. It was: the “Pom Pom Girls”. As the organization was newly formed in 1969, there were no try-outs.
Although the young women from various departments got started late in the fall of 1969, they had perfected

several routines by the time the basketball season got underway. At the Christmas Convocation, they put on a
45-minute action packed performance, closing with a festive routine that spelled out
“Merry Christmas”
The Pom Pom Girls promoted school spirit. In 1969-1970, the Pom Pom squad included Jeanette Thompson,
captain; Janet Sullivan, co-captain; Chris Darelius, secretary; Marion Ristow, treasurer; and Barb Whitehead, Nancy
Hickey, Sharon Grutzil; Betty Limberg, Linda Linhart, Mindy Trailer, Carolyn Leisso, Joni Sesvold, Jeanette Strasser,
Arlene Schroeder, Ellen Greeno, and Kathy Veith.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The 1969-1970 edition of Who’s Who contained the names of 21 students from WWTI. Students named were:
Daniel D. Bina West Salem Air Conditioning and Refrigeration
Technology
Jacquelyn R. Bolstad Viroqua Accounting
Arvene M. Bolterman Fountain City Medical Secretarial Science
Wayne C. Cavadini Rockland Accounting
John F. Corcoran La Crosse Agribusiness Technology
Clinton C. Culpitt Sparta Data Processing
Margaret E. Ferguson Tomah Legal Secretarial Science
Walter E. Gnewikow Tomah Marketing
Steven J. Grabar La Crosse Mechanical Design Technology
Mary Ann Harter Viroqua Accounting
Robert R. Hess Tomah Marketing
Cathleen M. Linzmeier Milladore Legal Secretarial Science
Steven M. Mason Black River Falls Mechanical Design Technology
Pamela Joy Millard West Salem Accounting
Robert H. Pratt Bancroft Agribusiness Technology
Louis F. Schoen La Crosse Data Processing
Sandra A. Shaffer Chippewa Falls Marketing
Theodore R. Stenzel La Crosse Data Processing
Kenneth R. Stratman Bangor Air Conditioning and Refrigeration
Technology
Deborah J. Thompson Amery Commercial Art
Calvin A. Weihrouch La Crosse Mechanical Design Technology
In January 1970, the learn-by-mail vocational printing course, that was begun in January 1969 under the auspices of
the Wisconsin Board of VTAE, was expanded. The program expansion evolved from the demand to make the
printing correspondence program available to others besides members of the Wisconsin Press Association, a
statewide organization of weekly newspapers that originated the lessons.
Beginning January 1970, a series of four adult continuing education courses dealing with contemporary social issues
were offered. Courses were:
� “The Modern Black Movement” presented by Alfonzo Thurman, president of the Afro-American Association and
the Opportunities Association at the La Crosse State University, gave a black man’s view on the black movement
and the role of law enforcement and education in the movement.
� “Today’s Social Problems”, conducted by Dennis Stamberger, a La Crosse County Guidance Clinic social worker,
included lectures and discussions concerning the background and possible solutions to some of the major
problems such as drug addiction, suicide, alcoholism, generation gaps and racial issues.
� “Existentialism,” examined human problems. The class was conducted by Lee Harwell, an LCU graduate with a
major in philosophy and a minor in psychology.
� “Religions in the Near East” dealt with the different religions and their contribution to civilization. Wig
DeMoville, an LCU English instructor, conducted the class.
January 14-17, 1970 – First Annual Homecoming Activities – 1970. Laughter and singing was part of the
Homecoming activities. Rounding out homecoming activities were:
� Wednesday – January 14
- Students voting from among ten candidates for their choice for homecoming queen.

Candidates for queen were:
� Theresa Fernette, Prairie du Chien, first-year Marketing student sponsored by the chapter of Distributive
Education Club of America (DECA);
� Nancy Hickey, La Crosse, first-year medical Secretarial Science student sponsored by the WWTI Pom Pom
Girls;
� Sharon L. James, Livingston, first-year Accounting student sponsored by the chapter of Wisconsin Business
Education Club (WBEC);
� Peggy L. Johnson, La Crosse, second-year Commercial Art student sponsored by Chi Sigma Chi sorority;
� Theresa M. Neubauer, La Crosse, first-year Business Machines student sponsored by the WWTI
cheerleaders;
� Debbie A. Oestreich, second year Clerk Typist student, sponsored by Delta Gamma Phi sorority.
� Jo Ellen Sherry, Ferryville, second-year Medical Secretarial student, sponsored by the Future Secretaries
Association (FSA);
� Veronica A. Skaar, La Crosse, second-year Accounting students, sponsored by the Accounting Club.
� Kathleen A. Stefferud, Cashton, first-year Dental Assistant student; and
� Debbie Thompson, Amery, second-year Commercial Art student sponsored by the Tau Iota Upsilon
fraternity.
� Thursday – January 15
- A pep rally in the Student Union of the Coleman Building.
- A mini parade in the Mary E. Sawyer Auditorium. First prize went to the float by TIU Fraternity; second
prize went to the cheerleaders float; and third prize went to the WBEC.
- At 7:30 p.m. a basketball game between WWTI and Madison Technical College in the Mary E. Sawyer
Auditorium.
- At half time, during a basketball game, the Pom Pom Girls performed to the song “The Stripper”.
Jeanette Thompson, captain of the Pom Pom girls, introduced the homecoming candidates.
- The queen and her court were revealed during the half-time ceremonies of the basketball game.
- The homecoming queen, Kathleen Stefferud, and her court Theresa Neubauer, Debbie Oestreich, Nancy
Hickey, all of La Crosse, and Sharon James of Livingston.
- After the game, the Pom Pom Girls sponsored a “shindig” from 9:30 to midnight in the Student Union with
music provided by “The Ice”.
� Friday - January 16
- An alumni coffee from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. in the Student Union.
- A suspense comedy movie starring Dean Martin in “Murder’s Row.”
� Saturday - January 17
- A variety of winter recreational activities in the afternoon, such as ice skating, tobogganing, snowmobiling.
- A semi-formal alumni ball from 8 to midnight in the Student Union, alumni and student swing to the
“Tom Lee”. Highlight of the ball was the coronation of the queen.
All in all, the Homecoming fun included choosing the queen and court, dances, variety show, pep rally, mini parade
and an alumni ball.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
On January 15, 1970, the La Crosse Redevelopment Authority approved preliminary plans for construction of an
Automotive-Diesel Shop and remodeling of some existing facilities for agricultural programs at WWTI.
January 17, 1970 – At the annual Madison Area Printing Week banquet, Torval (Toby) Hendrickson, coordinator of
the Graphic and Commercial Art departments at WWTI was named the “Man of the Year” in the Wisconsin graphic
arts industry.
On January 27, WWTI home economics students Mary Bentz, Darrell Dahl and Kathy Welch, spoke to home
economics students at Central High School on the home economics programs offered at WWTI. WWTI had just

ecently introduced three post-high school courses in the home economics field: Institutional Foods, Apparel Arts
(fashion and fabrics), and Interior Design.
February 2, 1970 – The cafeteria in the new Health-Science Building began operating. The Professional
Food-Service Management, Inc. was awarded the contract to operate the cafeteria. Burt Furan, the local manager,
and requested that a student food committee be named to offer suggestions and make recommendations
concerning the cafeteria.
February 12, 1970 – About 35 students representatives of all technical institutes in Wisconsin attended the second
meeting of the Wisconsin Student Council of Technical Education at WWTI. The idea for the organization came in
December 1969 when technical students from around the state participated in a Governor’s Commission on
Education meeting at Racine. Two WWTI students were elected officers of a Wisconsin Student Council of
Technical Education. They were: Debbie Oestreich, secretary-treasurer and Ted Stenzel, parliamentarian. Fifty
persons attended the organization session. The purpose of the student group is to help promote development and
improvement of vocational and technical education in Wisconsin. One of the organization’s first aims was to
encourage administration of new schools to win accreditation, thereby making it easier for students to transfer
credits between schools.
In February 1970, Eileen Geier, second year Medical Secretary student from Tomah, was officially designated “Miss
Wisconsin Division Future Secretary.” In February, Eileen was the winning applicant at the local level National
Secretaries Association International Scholarship contest. At that point, she became “Miss Coleman Future
Secretary.”
February 12, 1970 – the first general election of newly organized Wisconsin Technical Education Student Council was
held at WWTI. Two WWTI students were elected to offices: Deborah Oestreich, State Secretary-Treasurer; and
Theodore Stenzel, State Parliamentarian.
Annual Sweetheart Dance – Friday, March 20, 1970– Queen Ilene Nelson, first year Secretarial program sponsored
by Tau Iota Upsilon reigned over the event. Other contestants were: Kathy (Red) Vieth, second year
Administrative Secretary from Sparta sponsored by Delta Gamma Phi; Mindy Trailer, sponsored by the Practical
Nurses.
In March 1970, WWTI helped to create one of “Seven Wonders of Engineering in Minnesota” . . .
The Meyer Manufacturing Company of Red Wing, Minnesota, was presented an award for the design of a new
tubular steel power transmission tower for Northern States Power Company. And, considered a chief
behind-the-scenes contributor in making possible the product was WWTI. In December 1967, George Hinkley,
Welding Department Head, was called into the project by the Red Wing firm. He helped revise the procedure and
technique used in making welds and helped select the process that produced the required weldment. It was
accepted by NSP. WWTI was selected to train Meyer Company personnel, and welders were trained in the WWTI
welding department to produce consistently successfully welds. Meyer Company quality control personnel,
general foremen and shop foremen were trained in the control of a quality product and in the supervision of the
welders.
In March 1970, Eileen F. Geier, of Tomah, was named Miss Wisconsin Division Future Secretary in competition for
the second annual National Secretaries Association (NSA) Research and Educational Foundation International
scholarship. Eileen, the contestant scoring the highest number of points on the written examination at the division
level, was eligible to enter the Great Lakes District contest.
March 5, 1970 – March Practical Nursing Graduating Class – Maddeline Schuldes, former coordinator of health
occupations was honored for her services to the school during a graduation tea for members of the March Practical
Nursing graduating class. Anita G. Smith, Coordinator of Health Occupations, and staff of the Practical Nursing
program -- Ruth Anderson, Mary Bakalars, Elaine Baron, Florence Campbell, Wanda Hanson, Helen Houge, La Verne
Ness, Mary Schiltz, -- presented school pins to members of the graduating class.
Kathleen Bauer
Carol Breidel
Jean Buchanan
June Drier
William Druliner
Lois Fellenz
Barbara Gollnik
Margaret Hanson
Janice Harriman
Patricia Hurley
Barbara Johnson
Alice Judson
Jane Laufenberg
Mary Lausted
Sister Paula Lecheler
Dawn Mauss
Lois Mohr
Loretta Olsen
Nancy Olson
Anna Pawlowitz
Janet Rindal
Vivian Rybold
Lynda Sell
Ethel Sheppler
Renee Shuda
Linda Sinmonson
Dennis Theiler

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
In March 1970, the La Crosse Foundation (319 Main Street) awarded scholarships to Alice Parish, Coon Valley, and
Mary J. Lund of Eau Claire. Both were enrolled in the Practical Nursing program and were graduates in September.
In March 1970, ten Winnebago Indians were attending an adult basic education class at the Black River Falls High
School. The course, sponsored by WWTI, was instructed by Mrs. Rollie McManners of the Black River Falls Junior
High faculty.
In March 1970, two WWTI students won awards for expertise in business activities, and a third was elected a state
officer of the Wisconsin Business Education Clubs at the Green Lake annual competitions. Ted Stenzel, of La
Crosse, won second place in the Data Processor of the Year competition, and Arlys Gossfeld, La Crosse, won a second
place in Records Management competition. Glenda Kohlmeyer, La Crosse, was elected secretary of the
1,500-member organization.
Beginning April 1, 1970, a Reading Center for learning to read faster and retain more officially opened, giving every
student at WWTI an unusual opportunity to improve their reading rate and comprehension. On hand were
qualified reading teachers plus the latest equipment including Controlled Readers, Pacers, and others.
April 2-4, 1970 –State Business Skill Competitions -- A delegation of WWTI students represent the Coleman Chapter
(La Crosse) at Wisconsin Business Education Club Annual Conference at Green Lake. Three students won state
awards: Christine Darelius, first place winner in ten-key adding machine competition, goes to the National Office
Education Conference in Fort Worth, Texas. Sherry Johnson was elected Parliamentarian and Glenda Kohlmeyer
was elected Secretary. Ted Stenzel was the second runner-up for Data Processor of the Year; Richard Erickson was
first runner-up in Verbal Communications; and Arlys Gossfeld was first runner-up in Records Management.
North Central Association
� October 1968 – President James McCann of the Henry Ford Community College, Dearborn, Michigan, was
appointed WWTI examiner by the NCA.
� In May 1969, WWTI was granted correspondence status by the North Central Association of Colleges and
Secondary Schools.
� On November 3 and 4, 1969 the examination team from the North Central Association was at WWTI.
� April 8, 1970 – Notification by the North Central Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools of official
acceptance of WWTI as an “Approved Candidate for Accreditation”.
� November 28-December 1, 1971 – the final diagnostic visit to WWTI by a team of North Central evaluators
consisting of six Midwestern occupational education specialists.
� March 22, 1972 – We Did It! WWTI was granted full accreditation in the North Central Association as a
vocational-technical institute for the maximum term of 10 years without any conditions other than to
continue its present high level of service to the public in its area of vocational, technical and adult
education.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
At the April 21, 1970 the District Board voted to lease a Burroughs Computer for use in Data Processing training.
During board consideration, Director Richardson reported there were some 30 students enrolled in Data Processing
and that the staff believed enrollment could be doubled with a new computer. The staff recommendation was that
the Burroughs computer best suited the schools needs.
In April 1970, a training program in production agriculture for military service veterans was under consideration.
The new program was designed to be of interest to discharged veterans now on the farm, returning veterans
planning to make farming a career, and to men in service who expected to be discharged in the near future.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Health-Science Building (Kumm Building)
“There is no finer technical and vocational school in this part of the state
than the Western Wisconsin Technical Institute in La Crosse.
Through their efforts, many people in seven area counties have started on a successful career.”
Galesville Republican – April 30, 1970
May 2, 1970, marked the beginning of a new era of vocational, technical and adult education for residents of the
seven county Western Wisconsin VTAE District 2 centered at La Crosse – it was the date of the formal dedication of
the new $2 million plus Health-Science Building at WWTI. Half of the cost of the health-science building was
financed with federal funds. A formal dedication ceremony for the new Health-Science Building was held Saturday,
May 2, 1970, in the Coleman Auditorium, with an “Open House” for the general public on Sunday, May 3. Shortly
thereafter, the building was renamed the Roy E. Kumm Building. Roy E. Kumm served on the District Board from
1949 to 1971, and as Chairman of the Board from 1964 to 1971.
The new Health-Science Building was the first step in a long-range expansion plan for WWTI. Architects for the
project were Hackner, Schroeder, Roslansky and Associates of La Crosse, and general contractor was Nels Johnson
Construction of Winona, Minnesota.
A health-science construction mishap (January 14, 1969) – A crane, owned by Nels Johnson Construction Company,
was damaged when a boom extension came loose and struck the addition under construction. The building itself
was not damaged, but two sections of the crane were. Two men on the addition framework jumped clear of the
area when they saw the crane falling and thus were able to avoid injury.
All Floors Plus Basement
Basement – All four floors of the building, plus the basement were utilized for programs of the school. The
basement included three classrooms, the school bookstore, Institutional Foods Department and all food preparation
areas for the cafeteria.
Floor 1 had a spacious student center. The main feature of the student center, a circular brick office enclosed at
the end of the room (affectionately referred to by the students as the “Silo”), was occupied by the Student Congress,
the publications staff and the Student Union Committee. Adjacent to the student lounge was a new cafeteria,
operated on contract with the Professional Food-Service Management Co., of Livonia, Michigan.
Floor 2 contained the Student Personnel Services office, the Library and the Instructional Media Center
Floor 3 was devoted almost entirely to related science classrooms and laboratories, and the Electronics Technology
department had offices, classrooms and laboratories on that floor.
Floor 4 was devoted entirely to the Health Occupations training programs. There were laboratories, operatories
and demonstration rooms for the health programs.
After the dedication and open house, District Director Richardson reported “Dedicating our new building in the ‘low
key’ manner we planned, and following it with the Open House was at a most appropriate time. We showed the
public what we were doing constructively in vocational and technical education, while other campuses (and
students) in the college and university leagues were demonstrating their systems with firebombs and riots and
school-closing strikes. I think you’ll agree out effort was worthwhile and much more constructive. By all
standards – it was successful!
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
In May 1970, the students in the Institutional Foods program reinvested their earnings from bake sales at the school
in equipment that helps them learn more in their particular job area. Through the profits of selling pies, cakes and
other delicious foods, the students paid for a second-hand, commercial sized dough-roller (if when purchased new
was estimated at $800). In addition, the students also purchased several hundred dollars worth of cutting and
shredding attachments for food choppers and mixers in the new food service department. Students in the
Institutional Foods program that year were:

James Boe, Blair
Darrel W. Dahl,
Whitehall
Howard Gardner, La
Crosse
Marcy C. Guanella, La
Crosse
Dana I. Kimpel, Sparta
Andrew Novak, La Crosse
Joan Steele, Viroqua
Kay Trawtmann, La
Crosse
Kathy Weibel, Cashton
Mary Wiese, Athens
Coordinator of Home Economics was Barbara Walter; Shirley Lotze was head of the Institutional Foods program.
On May 23, 1970 – An apprenticeship completion ceremony and testimonial banquet for 68 apprentices in ten
different building trades was held in the Mississippi Room of the Holiday Inn honoring graduate apprentices of La
Crosse Area Building Trades. Getting their journeymen certificates were 9-plumbers, 5-steamfitters, 2-glaziers,
8-cement finishers, 3-sheet metal workers, 6-plasterers, 20-electricians, 3-lathers, 8-carpenters, and 4-linoleum,
carpet and resilient material layers. Approximately 400 persons attended the banquet, including State AFL-CIO
President John Schmidt; Ronald Stadler, president of the State Council of Carpenters; William Kessler, state plumbing
inspector; and George Hall, formerly of La Crosse, secretary-treasurer of the State AFL-CIO. Charles Nye of the
Wisconsin Department of Industry, Labor and Human Relations, awarded state certificates to the completing
apprentices. Joining in sponsoring the banquet were the La Crosse Construction Employers’ Association, Inc., and the
La Crosse Building Trades Council. At a recent meeting of the planning committee, Patrick Kelley, representing
employees, was elected chairman, and Richard Williams, representing employers, was named co-chairman, Gerald
Dittmer, secretary, and O. R. Neisius, treasurer.
The Apprenticeship Creed
� To nurture and foster integrity within my craft.
� To strive to attain the skills that will achieve the highest standards of workmanship.
� To conduct myself and do my work in such a manner when working for another that I have made a friend.
� To maintain a state of mind ever ready to accept technical changes and advances in my field of endeavor
� To measure my fellow workers on their character and abilities without thought of race, color or creed.
� To promote the functioning of democratic ideals within the organization to which I belong and its
relationship with other groups.
� To honor and respect the opinions and beliefs of my fellow workers though divergent to my own.
� To be ever-respectful of the laws of my nation and be active in my citizenship.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Graduation, May 27, 1970 -- Commencement exercises took place in the Mary E. Sawyer Auditorium. It marked the
first commencement that was held off the campus of WWTI, starting with an impressive procession of faculty in cap
and gown from the Coleman Building across the street to the Sawyer Auditorium. It was the largest class in the
58-year history of the school.
The main speaker was State Senator Milo G. Knutson (R-32 nd District). “America’s working men and women hold
the key to preservation of western civilization,” said State Senator Milo G. Knutson (R-32 District) to 465 WWTI
graduates at the Mary E. Sawyer Auditorium (then located at 500 North Fifth Street). After the commencement
exercises, a reception was held in the Roy E. Kumm Building Student Center. Knutson also praised the philosophy
of vocational education and the students in it.
Two students were cited for special honors on a vote of the faculty. Victor Larsen, Administrator of School
Services, presented the outstanding awards.
� Theodore Stenzel, of La Crosse, Data Processing program, was named outstanding associate
degree student, and
� Mary Wiese, of Athens, Wisconsin, was named outstanding vocational student.
She received her diploma in Institutional Foods.

District Director Richardson gave the welcoming address; the Rev. Richard Cagle, pastor of Faith Baptist Church,
delivered the invocation; and Board Vice President J. O. Beadle gave the charge to the graduates.
The graduating class included a brother and sister: Mrs. Marcella Weihrouch Tomaschefsky, of Gilman, and her
brother, Calvin Weihrouch of the town of Cleveland. Marcella was awarded an associate degree in Commercial Art,
and her brother was awarded an associate degree in Mechanical Design.
In May 1970, a color photograph taken in the Dental Assisting laboratory of WWTI was featured in the May 1970
issue of The Journal of the American Dental Association (ADA). The picture illustrated post-high school dental
assisting training available in technical institute and community colleges, and was part of a 16-page section in the
ADA Journal entitled “Dental Education, 1970”. The picture depicted Dental Assistant Instructor Diane Cunningham
and Dental Assistant student Vicki O’Mealy, reviewing proper radiographic mounting techniques. The photograph
was taken by Charles Auenson, owner of Auenson Photography Studio, in conjunction with the Public Information
Department at WWTI.
In May 1970, WWTI received a federal grant of $83,000 (according to the Wisconsin Higher Education Aids Board,
Madison) to construct a new Auto Technology Shop building.
In May 1970, members of the Zonta Club of La Crosse presented $346 in scholarships to Health Occupation students.
Zonta International is a service organization of executive and professional women that conducts projects to meet
civic, educational, and social welfare needs of the community.
May 14-16, 1970 – A Spring Fling
� Thursday, May 14 – 7:00 p.m. a movie in the Auditorium, followed by a Hootenanny
� Friday, May 15 – 4:30 Games in the Student Center
7:30 p.m. a Variety Show in the Coleman Auditorium
� Saturday, May 16 – Morning (games) in the Student Center
12:30 p.m. Picnic in the Student Center
7:30 p.m. a Dance in the Student Cafeteria
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
June 2, 1970 – Harold H. Hawkins, long-time general metals instructor at WWTI, was honored at a banquet for his 42
years of service to the school. Hawkins joined the La Crosse Vocational School in 1928 after receiving a Bachelor of
Science Degree in Vocational and Industrial Education at Stout Institute in Menomonie. John B. Coleman, director
of the school in 1928, presented him an award on behalf of the faculty; and Board Chairman Roy Kumm presented
him with an engraved resolution citing Hawkins’ services. In 1968 and 1969, Hawkins returned to Stout for summer
courses in advanced metallurgy in order to teach the subject to associate degree level students in the Mechanical
Design, Automotive and Air Conditioning Technology programs. In addition to his regular teaching duties, Hawkins
also taught related apprenticeship classes in eight different fields, with special extension courses for various La
Crosse industries. Hawkins coached basketball and supervised intramural athletic programs, and was an early
member of the La Crosse Curling Club.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
In June 1970, both WWTI and the La Crosse State University were given $250 each to buy advertising books
for their libraries as a “living memorial” to the late J. W. (Bill) Gunderson, former advertising director of The La
Crosse Tribune. The memorial was sponsored by the retail division of The La Crosse Tribune.
June 23, 1970 – Board members re-elected for one term were: Roy Kumm, chairman; J. O. Beadle, vice chairman;
Robert Ringdahl, secretary; and Louis Youngman, treasurer; members-at-large Henry Ernst and Walter Weihrouch;
and School District Superintendent Roland Hill (ex-officio).

Of the 1970 Grads –
� Six months after graduation,
- 87 percent were employed in their areas of preparation
- 4 percent were in the armed forces
- 6 percent had continued their education
- 13 percent were working in jobs unrelated to their fields of training
- 7 percent were not in the labor market
Average starting salaries reported by those employed in the areas of preparation were:
Agribusiness $600
Business
Education
Health
Occupations
Home
Economics
Trade and
Industry
Associate Degree
Accounting $424
Administrative Secretarial $333
Data Processing $516
Food Merchandising $541
General Marketing $519
Legal Secretarial $355
Medical Secretarial $345
Vocational Diploma
Business Machines $303
Data Processing Machine Operator $322
Clerk Typist
Vocational Diploma
$331
Dental Assistants $322
Medical Assistants (May class) $319
Medical Assistants (August class) $284
Operating Room Assistant $417
Practical Nursing (March class) $447
Practical Nursing (August class) $447
$350
Associate Degree
Air Conditioning $490
Auto Technology $313
Commercial $346
Industrial Electronics $546
Mechanical Design $597
Power Electronics $713
Vocational Diploma
Auto Body $592
Auto Mechanics $357
Machine Tool Operation $509
Printing $337
Welding $551
Athletics – 1969-1970
An Athletics Awards Banquet was held at Walt’s Restaurant, Third and Mississippi Streets, La Crosse. Charles
Kearns, radio announcer for WKTY was the main speaker. The following athletes, coaches and other personnel
were honored:
Coaches Ted Kothe
Larry Sosalla
Terry Thirion
Ed Skoumal
Other Personnel Charles Richardson
Charles Kearns
Jim Pickett
Marty Singkhofer
John Bigley
Dick Hoeft
Dave Elkins
William (Bill) Campbell
Cross Country, Basketball, Golf
Baseball
Assistant Basketball
Bowling
Director
Speaker
La Crosse Tribune
Scorer
Announcer
Tickets
Tickets
Student Services

Baseball Jay Aylsworth
Dan Bina
Phil Braun
Grant Boyle
Roger Dolato
Ralph Engh
Cross Country Tom Leisgang
Alan Abrahamson
Bowling Jerry Tollefson
Melvin Lee
Wrestling Bill Herrmann
Stan Burggraf
Basketball Dave Pfaff
Larry Frank
Bob Petry
Greg Flury
Jack Furtney
Curt Kortbein
Gary Kaiser
Gary Lanke
Ron LeJuene
Jay Aylsworth
John Elsen
Ron Tripp
Jon “Shorty” Pierce
Randy Seebecker
Jay Aylsworth
Richard Corlett
Tom Faas
Ron Philpot
Jim Markevitch
Steve Smith
Howard Tracey
Ron Whiteman
Roger Young
Tim Collins
Jerry Tollefson
Norm Winchell
John Nicksic
Grant Boyle
Jim Dockham
Randy Viner
Basketball Season
WWTI’s talented cage star Bob Petry was named to the Region 13 third team for the 1969-70 season.
March 16, 1970 – WWTI Basketball “Cavaliers” completed the 1969-70 season in Wisconsin Technical College
Conference with 8-2 conference record and 16 win – 8 loss overall season record. Bob Petry, star center forward of
the team, ranks as high as second nationally in scoring among member teams of the American Association of Junior
Colleges Conference.
Some of the games and the players during 1969-1970 included: Kurt Barenthin, Grant Boyle, Richard Corlett, Jim
Dockham, Tom Faas, Larry Frank, Frank Jones, Bob Petry, Dave Pfaff, Ron Philpot, Erskine Powell, Tom Rosenow,
Byron Steele, Dwight Steele, and Randy Viner,
Nov. 14- Gogebric Jr. College
at Eau Claire
Nov. 15-Soumi Jr. College,
at Eau Claire
Nov. 20-at Wisconsin Rapids
Nov. 25 -Richland Center
Nov. 28 -Lakewood Jr. College
White Bear Lake, MN
Nov. 28 -Rochester J. C.
W: 83-70
L: 79-75
W: 110-73
W: 70-69
W: 84-72
L: 112-82
Dec. 5- Waukesha
Dec. 8- Immanuel Luth.
Dec, 12 - Milwaukee
Dec. 13- at Waukesha
Dec.- Madison
Dec. 20- Austin Junior Col
Jan. 2- Anoka-Ramsey
Jan. 9- Sheboygan
Jan. 12 - Rice Lake
W: 84-77
W: 96-87
W: 97-83
L : 89-78
L: 116-93
L: 92-72
W: 99-90
W: 130-95
W: 103-68
Jan. 15 - Madison
Jan. 19 - Eau Claire
Jan. 24 - Richland Ctr.
Jan. 30 - Luther College,
New Ulm, MN
Feb. 11 - Rice Lake
Feb. 13 – Milwaukee
Feb. 15 - Sheboygan
Baseball
For the first time in history, WWTI had a baseball team. Larry Sosalla, formerly of Whitehall, was the coach.
Players included Dan Bina, Tim Collins, Ralph Engh, Greg Flury, Roger Dolato, Gary Kaiser, Ron LeJeune, Jim
Markevitch, Ron Whiteman, and Roger Young.
Apr. 24 - at Golden Valley
Lutheran
May 2 - La Crosse State
Frosh (a doubleheader)
L: 4 - 3
L: 6-1 &
L: 19-3
May 6 – NJCCA Region 13
(Mpls.)
May 9 at NJCAA Region 13
(Willmar, Mpls.)
Golf
The avid golfers were: Tim Collins, Kevin Kellicut, Bob Petry, Ron Philpot, Ron Whiteman
W:
101-90
W:
117-83
L: 99-85
W: 92-74
W: 97-69
L: 105-73
W: 90-72
L: 3-1 May 18 – Marshfield W: 8-7
Cheerleader
Cheerleaders were an important part of the school because they represent the entire student body. The
cheerleader’s responsibility is to stimulate pep for the “boys”. Of the ten try-outs in October 1969 for
cheerleading, these are the five who made the team: Gail White, Dental Assisting; Carol Ginther, Practical Nursing;
Sandy Roeling, captain, Accounting; Geri Troyanek, Data Processing; and Debbie Oestreich, Clerk-Typist.

CLUBS AND ORGANIZATIONS
Student Congress
Cheryl Cole
Richard Epley
Jayne Kirschner
Debbie Oestreich
Glenn Reid
Deborah Thompson
Accounting - Club Advisor: Business Education Instructors Robert Franks and Glen Davis
Mary Alseth
Jay Aylsworth
William Bauer
Jacquelyn Bolstad
(president)
Michael Bower
Robert Broihahn
Wayne Cavadini
(parliamentarian)
Ruth Cornell
Calvin Cronk
Thomas DeLong
Theodore Dunion
Richard Erickson
Kathleen Fedie
Mary Harter (treasurer)
Phillip Hutchison
Glenda Kohlmeyer
Helen Leibl (secretary)
Ronald Leibl
Pamela Millard
Brian Newhouse
Rosemarie Osweiler
Richard Perry (student
congress
representative)
William Reneau
James Rekow
Sandra Rolbiecki
ACRO (Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Organization)
Club Advisors: Air Conditioning instructor Curtis Murray and Donald Witt.
Daniel Bina
Gregory Hanson
Richard Sacia
Thomas Brieske
Douglas Groth
Bernard Meinertz
John Steinhoff
Agribusiness
Steven Anderson
Garrnet Beneke
Dennis Cathman
John Corcoran
David Crogan
Alan Fladhammer
Gregory Gartner
Daniel Hansen
Gene Hogden
Marlin Hornly
Gerald Juve
William Linsmeier
David Pfaff’
Robert Pratt
Cliff Reneau
Wayne Schmidt
AIDD (American Institute of Drafting-Design) - Advisors: Robert Maas and Allan Rusch
Michael Christianson
Paul Colsch
Stuart Gehler
Thomas Goodman
Brian Hanson
Dean Hoyer
Art Club - Advisor: Graphics Instructor John Syverson
Jeanette Bissen
Sharon Fuller
Janice Gabrielson
Chi Sigma Chi
Cheryl Cole
Jacqueline Danielson (vice
president)
Cleo Grude
Aaron Miller
Salisbury Lee
Cleo Grude
Delta Gamma Phi - Club Advisors: Librarian Annette Niederkorn
Carlynn Antony
Sandy Bacon
Mary Bartlett
Bonnie Baumbach
Janet Gilbertson
Kathleen Hanson
Patricia Hickisch
Sharon James
Linda Kearns
Susan Levendoski
Steven Mason
Richard Muetze
Judy Stangl
Kathleen Troyanek
Kathleen Vieth
William Welch, Jr.
Richard Sage
Ellen Schendel
Veronica Skaar
Nancy Solberg
Nancy Stensven
Sandra Strittmatter
Michael Sweeney
Barbara Whitehead
William Stenulson
Kenneth Stratman
George Smerud
Gary Stetzer
Howard Tracey
David Wortman
Roger Vetsch
Virgil Schieffer
Calvin Weihrouch
Robert Wieman
Gloria Wuensch
Theresa Neubauer Christine Sosalla
(president)
Linda Linhart
Cathleen Linzmeier
Eileen Loging
Marian Mattison
Debbie Oestreich
Bonnie Swartz
Kathleen Vieth
Barbara Whitehead
Lois Wrchota

Future Secretaries Association - Club Advisor: Joyce Rosso, General Education Instructor.
Mary Alseth
Kathleen Cota
Christine Darelius
Linda Feng
Ellen Greeno
Nancy Hickey
DECA
James Babcock
Sandy Bacon
Ronald Buchholtz
(vice
president)
Theresa Fernette
Gary Friday
Jeanne Garness
Larry Gilbertson
Walter Gnewikow
Richard Gregory
John Hart
Robert Hess (secretary)
Larry Johnson
Richard Larkin
Eric Leum
Linda Lieder
Richard Limberg
Clifford McCoy (president)
Dave Merrill
Steven Mullenberg
Patricia Peterson
David Pralle
Raymond Rodefer
Sandy Shaffer
Jim Schuster
Steven Winterfield
Tau Iota Upsilon – Advisors: John Bigley, General Education; Jerry Boggs, Computer Services;
Curtis Murray, Trade and Industry; Bruce Merrill . . . along with the Saint Bernard Mascot, “Monty.”
David Baker
Roland Gibeaut (secretary) Paul Nedland
Terry Schultz
Paul Baker (treasurer)
Brent Gilbertson
John Nicksic
Randy Seebecker
Stanley Burggraf
Douglas Groth
Marvin Onsager
Bill Sendar
Paul Colsch
Gregory Hanson
Paul Peterson
Danny Simpson
Jerome Carroll
Dale Jessie
Robert Petry
Byron Steele
Richard Epley (vice
Francis Kranz
Glenn Reid
William Stenulson (Sgt. at Arms)
president)
Thomas Faas
Keith Fetting
Thomas Morehouse
Curt Roverud
William Welch, Jr.
VETS
Ron Geissler David Kuruzovich Melvin Lee Richard Gregory
Wisconsin Business Education Club
Bob Bauer
John Bender
Vona Bernhardt
Kenneth Birnbaum
Kathleen Bonsack
Michael Bower
Richard Broihahn
Sharon Burns
Gerald Connor
LeRoy Craig
Calvin Cronk
SINGING GROUPS
Tom DeLong
Richard Erickson
Kathy Fedie
David Galewski
Eileen Geier
Mary Harter
Phillip Hutchison
Sharon James
Glenda Kohlmeyer
Kurt Kortbien
Shirley Krause
Helen Leibl
Ronald Leibl
Carolyn Leisso
Susan Levendowski
Pam Millard
Nancy Nenstiel
Theresa Neubauer
Sonja Olson
Richard Perry
Paul Peterson
Patricia Poellinger
Singing Pleasures - Advisor: General Education Instructor Joanne Angelone.
Jeanette Bissen
Elaine Errthum
Wandering Kind
Elizabeth Bice
Wayne Cavadini
Thomas Gilbertson
Jayne Kirschner
Betty Limberg
Eileen Loging
Roseanne Mader
Kathleen Mergen
Nadine Moore
Dana Kimpel
Judy Lieble
Richard Gregory
Bill O’Connor
Colleen Nugent
Cheryl Olson
Mary Pfaff
Marilyn Rust
Sharon Sosalla
Anita Morel
Pat Peterson
Diane Peterson
Deborah Thompson
Dianna Schendel
Theresa Shepardson
Linda Springer
Winnifred Stuchlike
Lillian Werner
Anthony Potter
Ellen Schendel
Arlene Schroeder
Eileen Schultz
Nancy Solberg
Kathleen Starkey
Theodore Stenzel
Richard Swiggum
Norman Winchell
Barbara Weiner
Kathleen Vieth
William Welch, Jr.

In 1969-1970 events in the Auditorium included . . .
1969
August 17-18 A youth rally . . . Members of a collegiate group called the Crusaders performed at a Lutheran Youth
Rally. The 26-member group split up into four teams over the weekend and participated in Bible
study and recreation with the youth of four area Lutheran churches. The team traveled under the
auspices of the Lutheran Evangelistic Movement of Minneapolis.
October 9 William Kennedy narrated his film, “Nova Scotia – Highlands to the Sea” when the Coulee Region
Kiwanis Club presented its Travel and Adventure program.
October 21 More than 600 sales personnel and managers from La Crosse firms heard William Leigh, Oklahoma
City, present his “Capsule Course in Human Relations. The talk was the kickoff of an eight-week sales
promotion sponsored by the La Crosse Tribune and designed to enhance the attractiveness of La
Crosse as a shopping center.
October 23 The performing artists were the Dorian Woodwind Quintet, five young musicians who became major
innovators in the field of chamber music. The quintet is composed of one woman and four men,
playing bassoon, oboe, flute, French horn, and clarinet.
November 4 Robin Williams narrated his film, “Toy Countries of Europe” as part of the travel adventure series of the
Coulee Region Kiwanis Club.
November 5 The Community Concert series presented the Indianapolis Symphony, conducted by Izler Solomon and
with piano soloist Susan Starr who was described as “exhibiting a musical feeling and understanding
that is unusual in such a young artist.”
November 9 James Dick, pianist and top finalist in three of the worlds most highly regarded musical competitions –
the Busoni in Bolzano, Italy; Edgar M. Leventritt in New York City; and Tschaikovsky in Moscow –
played in concert with The La Crosse Symphony Orchestra. The pianist appeared with the La Crosse
Symphony in 1967, and was the first artist invited back by the orchestra by popular request. Frank
Italiano was the conductor. The program was well chosen and appealed to the audience with such
success that Dick was given a standing ovation for his performance.
November 12 A 30-minute NASA film entitled “Man on the Moon,” original footage of the July 1969 Apollo moon
landing was shown six times. The film was made available through NASA and Rep. Vernon Thomson,
R-3 rd District.
November
14, 15, 21 &
22
The La Crosse Community Theatre production, “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying”
played the first two weekend performances to a packed house in Coleman Auditorium with WWTI
students admitted free. The play is a musical satire on the world of big business.
December 12 As a moratorium activity of the La Crosse Concerned Citizens for Peace in Vietnam, Professors William
Vettes and Joseph Heim of La Crosse State University debated on the topic, “Vietnam, Can We Amend
Our Past?” In what was basically a discussion of Vietnam issues, Joseph Heim of the political science
faculty at the La Crosse State University took the hawk position. Each had a rebuttal period, and then
the audience was invited to direct questions toward either speaker. After the debate and discussion,
a vote was taken on how the audience favors bringing the war to a close. The doves scored a 92-8
victory over the hawks in the debate. About 175 persons attended. Dr. Bryon Annis of the
Gundersen Clinic was the moderator; and Dr. J. Richard Snyder, LCU history associate professor, was in
charge of the December moratorium activities.
December 14 Included in the Bob Hirsch and his Dixieland Jazz All-Stars concert was jazz, blues, ragtime, stomps,
spirituals, marches, and pop tunes. The proceeds were donated to the La Crosse State University
Marching Chiefs to help finance their trip to the Rose Bowl.
1970
February 1 The La Crosse Symphony greets New Year with a gala performance featuring guitarist Oscar Ghiglia,
before a capacity crowd of members and WWTI students in the Coleman Auditorium.
Frank Italiano’s baton directed 50 musicians. Russell Huber was given a plaque in recognition of his
20 years of work with the La Crosse Symphony Orchestra. The plaque also commended him for his
Hi-Fi Concert on radio.
February 3 Just when ski fever is at its height, the Coulee Region Kiwanians offered another of their travelogues,
“Alpine World: U.S.A.” just when ski fever is at its height, the Coulee Region Kiwanians offered another
of their travelogues, “Alpine World: U.S.A.” narrated by outdoorsman, John Fowler.
February 6 The Community Concert Association presented the Whit-Lo Singers, a mixed chorus of 26 singers.
The singers had four accompanists playing piano, electric organ, harp and percussions in various
combinations. The women’s gowns were designed by Scaasi, a designer who created gowns for Joan
Sutherland, Marilyn Horne and Barbra Streisand.

March 3 “Bermuda . . . Isle of Rest” was taking a vacation the easy way with the Coulee Kiwanians. Bob
O’Reilly, Department of Defense photographer, took the colored film and was the narrator.
March 14 & “Rapunzel and the Witch” was presented for La Crosse area children on Saturday at 10 a.m. and at
15
1and 3 p.m. and on Sunday at 2 p.m. There were real trees in a witch’s garden because four
members of the La Crosse branch of the AAUW decided to add reality to fantasy. The event was
sponsored by the American Association of University Women, and was the 12 th annual production for
children.
March 23 The “Raymonda” was performed by Frances Machole and Peter Hauschild when the Minnesota Dance
Theatre appeared in the Coleman Auditorium. It was sponsored by the
La Crosse State University Lectures and Concert series.
April 6 John Elbert of Iowa City, Iowa, narrated a color motion picture “Adventures Across Europe” about his
expeditions in rural Europe as part of the Coulee Region Kiwanis Club Travel and Adventure series.
April 12 A journey into jazz – Violinist Mari Tsumura and special guests of the Selected Jazz Ensemble played in
concert with the La Crosse Symphony Orchestra, along with trumpeter John Alexander, director of the
Marching Chiefs of the La Crosse State University. The conductor was Frank Italiano.
April 25 “A Night With the Barbershoppers” was the theme of the 24 th annual presentation of the Coulee
Chordsmen. Headlining the show were the “Unpaid Bills” a La Crosse quartet, the “Schmidt Brothers”
of Two Rivers, 1951 international champions, and the “Four-More” group from Madison. Together
for 22 years – that was the record of the “For-Mor” quartet from Madison.
May 3 Children of La Crosse were taken on a fun-filled tour through a Wonderland of Marionette Magic when
the Nicolo Marionettes performed their new action-packed musical version of “Alice in Wonderland.”
The La Crosse Jaycettes sponsored a children’s classic. The “Queen of Hearts” and her “Knave of
Hearts” had important roles in the Nicolo’s Marionettes performance.
May 13 Awards Day
Musical Interlude by Richard Sage (student)
Introduction Charles G. Richardson
� Certificates of Appreciation were awarded to the following for their contributions to
vocational-technical education:
- Len Fritz, W. A. Roosevelt Company
- Attorney Quincy Hale of Hale, Skemp, Hanson, Schnurrer, and Skemp
- Alvin Leeman of WKBH/WKBT
- Dr. P. C. Dietz of St. Francis Hospital
- Albert Bruckman, Ross of La Crosse Furniture Company
- Angeline Wiemerslage, La Crosse Housing Authority
- James Hansen, Farmers Union Central Exchange, Tomah, Wisconsin
- Don Petruccelli, Greater La Crosse Chamber of Commerce
- Robert Coe, Trane Company
� Departmental awards given to students from each Vocational and Associate Degree program:
Student
Agribusiness –Chemicals and Fertilizers John Corcoran
Agribusiness –Feeds, Seeds and Farm Supplies, Gerald Juve
Clerk-Typist Janet Sebion
Data Processing Machine Operator Bernadette Becker
Business Machines – Calculator Delores Nerison
Business Machines – Bookkeeping Jeanette Thompson
Accounting Jacquelyn Bolstad
Secretarial Science – Legal Cathleen Linzmeier
Secretarial Science – Administrative Nancy Nenstiel
Data Processing Theodore Stenzel
Dental Assistant Charlene Johnson
Medical Assistant Barbara Wojahn Class of August 1970
Medical Assistant Sandra Moseley Class of March 1970
Practical Nursing Margaret Hanson Class of March 1970
Practical Nursing Mary Lund Class of September 1970
Operating Room Assistant Jamie Evans
Institutional Foods Mary Wiese

Apparel Arts Barbara Fisher
Food Merchandising Walter Gnewikow
General Marketing Larry Johnson
Retailing Linda Fuchsteiner
Fashion Merchandising Sandra Shaffer
Electronics William Rice
Mechanical Design Calvin Weihrouch
Commercial Art Deborah Thompson
Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Kenneth Stratman
Electrical Power David Thompson
Auto Mechanics Glenn Rauss
Auto Body Steve Olson
Welding Donald Morgan
Wood Technics Arthur Hoem
Machine Tool Operation James Hewitt
Printing Ronald Philpot
� Presentation of Scholarships
- E. L. (Bob) Burgess of the La Crosse Tribune, a scholarship to be presented to a Graphic
Communications student.
- James Furr of Gateway Foods, Inc., a scholarship to be presented to a Food Marketing students.
� Extracurricular Awards
� Concluding Remarks Richard Epley (President, Student Congress)
Mistress of Ceremonies Joan Angelone (General Education Instructor)
June 13 Coronation of the new Alice in Dairyland princess took place in the Coleman Auditorium.
(The La Crosse Jaycees, sponsors of the 1970 Alice festival, lined up three days of activities – June
11-13, 1970. The theme of the event was “This Land Is your Land.” Festivities began with a parade
from Riverside Park to the La Crosse State University. Evening activities included a banquet at Mary
E. Sawyer Auditorium, and the coronation of the new Alice in Dairyland.)
August 10 A summer graduation was held at the completion of the 10-week summer term, in the Coleman
Auditorium with Wisconsin Governor Lucey being the speaker.

Part V - The 1970’s: An Era of Growth
In 1970-1971 . . .
Our School
The deadline for reorganization was July 1, 1970. History may record the legislative
act as one of the most meaningful advances in public education of the 20 th Century.
Better schools, with broader offerings could be more efficiently and economically provided
with a broad district tax base than what was devised in the early years of vocational
education
The 1970’s were a time of growth for the vocational system. The 1960’s – which
placed all areas of the state into vocational-technical districts and gave vocational schools
authority to grant associate degrees and vocational diplomas – caused the greatest
enrollment growth, and program development. As the period of reorganization ended for
the state’s vocational and technical school system, the era of building began – building
was the hallmark as the system moved into the 1970’s, and construction of facilities
designed to meet the economic, industrial and student needs of the ‘70s and beyond had
already begun. According to State Director Greiber the original idea in dividing the state
into 18 vocational districts was that each would have one primary, central school for
full-time and apprenticeship programs, with evening classes conducted throughout the
area in existing building. In the 1970’s, vocational education reached out to a new
audience: the handicapped, the disadvantaged, and minority group members.
In February 1970, ten areas were included in the WWTI District. They were all or
parts of Buffalo, Crawford, Jackson, Juneau, La Crosse, Monroe, Richland, Sauk,
Trempealeau and Vernon Counties.
Board Members – July 1970 – Roy Kumm, J. O. Beadle, Robert Ringdahl, Louis Youngman,
Members-at-Large Myron Bockhaus and Paul Mockrud, and School District Administrator Melvin
Schmallenberg. (Paul Mockrud filled the unexpired term of Walter Weihrouch.) In July 1970, Walter
Weihrouch, who had served on the WWTI Board since 1968, resigned to accept a full-time position of
Agriculture Coordinator at WWTI. Weihrouch had also previously been associated with the Tri-State Breeders
Co-op in Westby.
Building Plans -- A Data Processing Building – In July of 1970, architects were invited to submit preliminary
plans for a $500,000 Data Processing Building. Plans drawn by architects Hackner, Schroeder, Roslansky
and Associates were submitted to the Higher Education Facilities Board, the agency that controls the
expenditure of federal school construction funds in Wisconsin. Director Richardson said the District Board did
not approve construction plans, but only approved forwarding the plans to the Higher Education Board.
September 28, 1970 – At the 50 th anniversary banquet and meeting of the La Crosse County Farm Bureau at
the Holiday Inn, Secretary-Treasurer of the American Farm Bureau Federation Roger Fleming told those
attending that “Congress is trying to make a welfare project out of the farm program . . . and that both the House
and Senate were considering extension of laws to drive down prices and make farmers dependent on
government payments.” During the business meeting, the group approved resolutions including the calling
for giving local units of government the authority to determine the use of federal and state taxes which are
returned on a cost-sharing basis; and for planned development to provide for orderly urban growth to protect
productive agricultural land.

On September 29, 1970 the District Board approved
� A Fiscal Year 1971 budget of $2.9 million. (The city share of the WWTI budget was up $103,005.)
� To keep the green space immediately west of the Hixon House as part of the La Crosse Campus.
The La Crosse Historical Society had asked if WWTI would be interested in selling the land immediately
west of the Hixon House on Seventh Street. Director Richardson told the Board that the land had been
acquired by the school as part of the property it had purchased from the city urban renewal authority, and
that the urban renewal ruled it could not be resold. Even it could, he said, he preferred keeping it as a
green area for the WWTI students.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
On August 7, 1970, a Graduation Tea was held for the August 1970 class of Practical Nursing in the Student
Center of the Health-Science Building. Forty members of the August 1970 class received their pins. They
were:
Suzanne Adams
Jean Barber
Patricia Bender
Kaylene Bradford
Colleen Collins
Mary Delury
Judith Eckelberg
Patricia Ecklor
Katren Fendos
Sister Stella Frenzen
Viola Gilbertson
Carol Ginther
Sharon Grutzik
Sandra Gunderson
Margaret Haines
Patricia Hanson
Joan Jorstad
Constance Kastad
Diane Klapatauskas
Audrey Larson
Linda Livingston
Mary Lund
Ardys Mikelson
Helen Momsen
Bonnie Moon
Jann Nelson
Ruth Nutt
Dorothy Palmquist
Alice Parish
Deborah Purdy
Lynette Rodenberg
Susan Shock
Linda Sade
Genevieve Smetana
Marguerite Thompson
Mary Trailer
Mary Van Riper
Linda Waters
Barbara Weiner
Jean Ziebell
The Practical Nursing faculty were Ruth Anderson, Mary Bakalars, Elaine Baron, Dorothy Beers, Florence
Campbell, Helen Houge, LaVerne Ness, and Elaine Schultz.
The Graduation Tea
Welcome ....................................................... by Ruth Nutt, president of the August 1970 Practical Nursing Class
Invocation ............................................................................ Father Hugh Uhrich, Chaplain of St. Francis Hospital
The Impossible Dream ........................... Practical Nurses (Accompanists: Joe and Marje Nutt and Linda Waters)
An Address ........................................................................ by Harold Erickson, Coordinator of General Education
No Man Is an Island .................................................................................................................... Practical Nurses
Presentation of Pins .......................................................... by Anita G. Smith, Coordinator of Health Occupations
Blessing ................................................................................................................................. Father Hugh Uhrich
The Lord’s Prayer ........................................................................................................................ Practical Nurses
Closing..................................................................................................................................................... Ruth Nutt
You will find, as you look back upon your life
that the moments that stand out are the moments
when you have done things for others.
--Henry Drummond
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
In August 1970 – A Student Health Services Center
Health services were provided for the first time in the fall of 1970. The Student Health Services Center was
located in a gray house at 415 North Eighth Street (now part of the Business Education building/parking area).
Dr. Joseph Richter established the Student Health Services Center and dedicated the last five years of his life
to the health and well being of the students at WWTI. In addition to Dr. Richter, a registered nurse, Carla
Figgie, staffed the Health Center. The District Board approved the hiring of a doctor on a part-time basis on
April 21, 1970. The cost of the doctor services was offset by a $5-a-quarter health fee charged to the students.
In April 1970, WWTI received approval to hire a nurse. Director Richardson told the District Board that
although hiring a nurse had been considered in the past and delayed, the school’s present enrollment justifies
having a full-time nurse on duty.
In the fall of 1970, a differential aptitude-testing program was initiated by WWTI to cope with rising enrollment
applications and increasingly diversified educational projects. According to William Campbell, Administrator of
Student Services, “we have about 40 different programs . . . the test will show students what occupation they
should train for and in what areas their greatest skills lie.” The three-plus-hour test was available to everyone,
whether they applied for admission to WWTI or not.

Fees and Programs
Effective Fall 1970 – The total health and registration fee was $25 per year -- $17 for those entering the second
quarter, and $9 for those entering the third quarter. The health and registration fee was in addition to course
fees, a $20 general fee for student activities ($15 to those entering the second quarter and $10 to those entering
the third quarter), the $2 aptitude test fee, and the $10 graduation fee. A late registration fee of $5 was
charged to students who enrolled after the designated registration date for each quarter.
In September 1970, the fall registration lines were long. There was an overflow of prospective students on the
first day of registration that encased the Coleman/Kumm Courtyard. The four-day registration period was
divided between the new students on the first two days, followed by two days for returning students.
In the fall of that year, there were 39 programs: 2-Agriculture; 12-Business; 6-Health; 3-Graphics; 3-Home
Economics; and 13-Trade and Industry. New programs were a two-year associate degree Medical Laboratory
Technician, program, and four vocational one-year diploma programs: Drafting-Mechanical, Electronic
Servicing, Refrigeration Servicing, and Ward Clerk; and Production Agriculture, a one vocational two-year
diploma program.
� The Medical Laboratory Technician program prepares persons for employment in hospital laboratories.
� Drafting-Mechanical provides the skills for employment as layout and detail draftsmen in manufacturing
industries.
� Electronic Servicing provides the skills for servicing radio, television and other related electronic devices.
� Refrigeration Servicing provides training for the maintenance and servicing of electronic systems;
television, radio and other electronic-related devices.
� Ward Clerk prepares the student to perform clerical non-nursing skills in a hospital or a clinic, such as
transcribing physician’s orders, maintaining supplies, and others.
In September 1970, as a preliminary figure, there were 1,856 students, including those enrolled in all regular
day programs. Enrollment was still being accepted in apprenticeship courses and in programs under the
federal Manpower Development and Training Act.
Adult Education: Vocational – avocational – business related – languages – trades. The Fall 1970 Term of
tentative Adult Education at WWTI in La Crosse listed 23 courses in Business Education; 4 in Graphics; 24 in
Home Economics; 23 in Trade and Industry; and 26 in General Education. Tentative offerings at designated
centers in the WWTI District included: 8-Arcadia; 4-Bangor; 6-Blair; 7-Cashton; 7-Cochrane-Fountain City;
3-DeSoto; 8-Elroy-Kendall-Wilton; 6-Galesville-Ettrick; 11-Holmen; 5-Independence; 5-LaFarge; 10-Mauston;
3-Melrose-Mindoro; 10-New Lisbon; 5-Norwalk-Ontario; 17-Sparta; 5-Taylor; 29-Tomah; 4-Trempealeau;
11-Viroqua; 8-Westby; 6-West Salem; and 4-Whitehall – with courses in several of the area schools yet “to be
determined”.
During 1970-71 school year, 14,118 students took advantage of the educational opportunities sponsored by
WWTI. Of this number 2,745 were enrolled in full-time programs at WWTI; 4,411 were enrolled in adult
education programs at WWTI; 6,894 were enrolled in adult education throughout the district; and tuition was
paid for 68 students attending other VTAE schools in the state.
Part-time enrollment was 11,305 with 4,411 enrolled at WWTI in La Crosse, and 6,894 students were enrolled
at one of the designated centers in the district.
September 19-20 -- The nursing students at WWTI received scholarships from the La Crosse Horse Show at
the Interstate Fairgrounds. In announcing the scholarship change, George Murphy, chairman of the show,
said, “This continues the tradition of the show in supporting nursing education.”
In September 1970, the Vernon Memorial Hospital Auxiliary awarded three Practical Nursing students
scholarships of $300 each. Recipients were Kathleen Odegard, Cashton; Pauline Manske and Jacquelyn
Nelson, both of Westby. Since the inception of the Hospital Auxiliary program in 1969, five $300 scholarships
were awarded to promote health careers available to young men and women.
In September 1970, a book entitled “Under All Is the Land” was presented to the WWTI library by the Greater
La Crosse Board of Realtors. The book contained 225 photos of the country that depicted the many moods of
the United States.

On October 1, 1970, six accounting students from WWTI attended the annual Business Symposium and Career
Opportunity Day at the Wisconsin State University in Platteville. The students were selected on the basis of
academic achievement and interest in majoring in business and economics. Attending were: William J.
Reneau, Wilton; Kathy A. Feddie, Mondovi; Nancy K. Stevensen, Ettrick; and Sharon K. Ames, Sandra L.
Strittmatter, and Janet M. Payne, all of La Crosse. Harry Hutchison was Chairman of the Business Division.
On October 5, 1970, George W. Hinkley, Trade and Industrial associate administrator and head welding
instructor, received the Howard E. Adkins Instructor Membership Award in Area Seven at the Lord Baltimore
Hotel in Baltimore, Maryland. The award honors instructors in high schools, trade schools, technical institutes
and junior colleges, who are considered by the American Welding Society National Awards Committee to have
advanced their students’ knowledge of welding.
October 5, 1970 found the officers of the La Crosse Chapter of the Wisconsin Business Education (WBEC) in
Green Lake for the Club’s fall leadership conference. Attending were: Bill Bauer of Wilton, president, a
second-year student in Accounting; Mike Bower of La Crosse, vice president, second-year Accounting student;
Mary Lisowski of Galesville, secretary, second-year student in Secretarial Science-Administrative; Tom DeLong
of
La Crosse, second-year Accounting student; Beverly Torkelson of Melrose, historian, Secretarial
Science-Administrative; and Linda Neuman of La Crosse, parliamentarian, a Secretarial Science-Medical
student. Also attending from the local chapter were Glenda Kohlmeyer of La Crosse, state secretary; and
Sherry Johnson of La Crosse, state parliamentarian – both Neuman and Johnson were Accounting students;
and Janet Geier, Tomah, student congress representative and student in Secretarial Science-Medical.
“Thou Shalt Not Copy!” -- In October 1970, a new feature was added to the library – a Xerox copier.
The machine was installed for general use. Students and instructors were urged to make use of the
copier. However, as copying controls were being violated, came the admonition from administration of
“Thou Shalt Not Copy!”
On October 8, 1970, the La Crosse Common Council voted to vacate the two alleys between Seventh and
Eighth Streets from Vine to Badger Street. WWTI had requested the closings. The half block on either side of
Pine will be used for permanent parking said Director Richardson, with the remaining half blocks used
temporarily and eventually for construction.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Oktoberfest 1970 – Oktoberfest celebration of the October 3 rd Maple Leaf Parade. The theme of the 1970
Oktoberfest float was “Beauty of Autumn in Vocational and Technical Education for All”. The float consisted of
a self-propelled unit carrying a nine-foot-tall “Jack Frost” painting a 12-foot-high “Maple Leaf”. On the front of
the “Leaf” in various fall colors was a map of the WW VTAE District. “Jack Frost’s” head and arms were
animated and his huge paintbrush moved up and down as if he were putting the different colors of autumn on
the “Leaf” from his painter’s palette. In addition to the float were the Pom Pom Girls group. They followed the
float dressed in their new golden-yellow tunics and slacks with gold floppy felt hats and pom poms to match.
Tape-recorded sound (courtesy of the Electronics Department) was played from the float, permitting the girls to
do their routines while marching. The self-propelled float chassis was prepared by the Auto Mechanics
Department. The float, made by the students, won first place award in the Festmaster’s Award and included a
check in the amount of $50, a banner and a gold plaque. Students in the second-year Commercial Art class,
under the direction of department head John Syverson, and the Wood Technics class, under the department of
Ansel Heram, designed, constructed and trimmed the float. They put in almost three weeks’ time to create the
first-place championship.
In other Oktoberfest activities, Virginia Woehlert, teacher assistant in Commercial Art, had the best design for
the 1970 Oktoberfest button and won the $25 award for the Oktoberfest Button Design; the Commrcial Art
students won second place prize of $50 for decorating the fence around the beer tents; Orville Bay, custodian,
won second place in the Oktoberfest Photo Contest; and Mary Metzke, a Commercial Art student, won first
prize for sculpture work in the Oktoberfest Art Contest.
The appearance of the WWTI Pom Pom Girls in the Oktoberfest Maple Leaf Parade paid off in a big way for this
student organization. Management at The Trane Company approved of what they saw and asked Ms. Pamela
Stern, Fashion Merchandising Instructor and the Pom Pom Girls’ advisor, if they could serve as usherettes and
add some color – and feminine charm – at the Annual Trane Sales Seminar for nationwide representatives that
was held in La Crosse on October 26-30, 1970. The Trane Company expressed their appreciation for these
services by sending a $150 donation to the Pom Pom treasury.

October 20, 1970 – Riverside Park got spruced up in preparation for the arrival of the Delta Queen, bound
upriver for St. Paul, Minnesota. Members of the WWTI chapter of the Distributive Education Clubs of America
provided the manpower for the park cleanup.
November 1970 – The Trane Company donated three combination heating-cooling units to the Air Conditioning
and Refrigeration Program at WWTI. Instructor Don Witt said that the students had not previously had rooftop
combination heating-cooling units to work with and would study this type of system, trouble shoot the
equipment, and run operating tests in training sessions. A Trane Company publication, called “Trane Triangle
of January 1971, reported that 30 Trane men were enrolled in the course.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
In that same publication, the Trane Triangle of January 1971, recognition was given to George Hinkley, head of
the Welding Department, on receiving the Howard E. Adkins Instructor Membership Award by the American
Welding Society. Hinkley was the only vocational and technical school instructor in the nation to receive this
award in 1970. The award read:
“This Howard E. Adkins Membership Instructor Award is presented
to George Hinkley in recognition of his outstanding teaching efforts
to promote the art and science of welding.”
Hinkley was employed by WWTI in January of 1956. In January 1966, he started a full-range welding program
in cooperation with Trane, and instructed over 1,000 Trane welders in every welding process since that time.
By 1970, Hinkley increased the welding department at WWTI from 14 students per week and one instructor to
327 students per week and five instructors.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
November 1970 – Joseph Heil, Sr., Onalaska, was elected parliamentarian of the Wisconsin Student Council of
Technical Education at a three-day convention at the Madison Technical Institute. Others from WWTI at the
conference were student congress members Paul Peterson, Glen Reid, Patrick Koch, David Johnson, and
Stanley Severson. Richard Hoeft was student activities director and advisor.
In November 1970 – A 10-mile swim contest! All interested in participating in a 10-mile swim program were
urged to sign up in Student Services. In measuring the distance, it was noted that 1,320 laps of the length of
the pool was equivalent to 10 miles (averaging 50 laps per week). Participation in the contest required that a
lifeguard must approve the progress with his/her signature, and that swimming could be completed at any
interval but must be completed in the WWTI activity building pool in the old YMCA, on 7 th and Main Streets.
A certificate would be awarded to those who completed the program during the school year.
November 13-14, 1970. A two day a fire-fighting school was held Saturday and Sunday for paid and volunteer
firemen in western Wisconsin was held at WWTI. The school was sponsored by the Wisconsin Fire Service
Program and hosted by the La Crosse Fire Department. Emanuel Fried, retired deputy chief of the New York
City Fire Department, instructed the 16-hour course. Fried was regarded as “one of the top fire fighters in the
country”, according to La Crosse Fire Chief Frank E. Kloss, “and battalion chief in the busiest fire department in
the world –the New York’s 44 Battalion—which averages 12,000 runs a year.” Topics included the theory of
hose placement, fire strategy, engine and ladder company operation, fire problems and hidden fires, basement
fires, buildings under constructions; and fires in home, apartments, hotels and motels, shopping centers,
lumberyards, windowless building, factories and churches, restaurants and theaters.
In December 1970 – The Tri-State Beverage Equipment, Inc. (415 South Third Street) La Crosse, donated a
new soft drink dispenser to students in the Refrigeration Servicing program, and two ice cube producing
machines to the school lab.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
On December 22, 1970, the District Board
� Approved the two-year associate degree Technical Nurse program.
� Accepted the designation of WWTI as the center for police training for the area. The Police program
consists of 160 hours of instruction for newly hired police officers. The program was financed in part under
the federal Omnibus Crime Act that provided 60 percent of the costs of equipment.

� Received a report on the formulation of a statewide association of vocational, technical and adult education
boards and their members (VTAE Boards Association). The purpose of the association would be to inform
members of legislative activity of concern, and to lobby for legislation the members favor.
� Approved the purchase of three cars and a station wagon. The vehicles were for use by field service
workers and administrators, and the station wagon, a nine-passenger model, would be used to transport
students on field trips as well.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
December 9-11, 1970 - Homecoming -- Voting for King and Queen took place all day on Wednesday,
December 9 th . The December 10 th events included a pep rally for all students in the Coleman Auditorium; a
wrestling match with Madison Tech at the old YMCA (Seventh and Main Streets), and a basketball game with
Madison Tech at Mary E. Sawyer Auditorium. The WWTI Cheerleaders helped to put “spirit” into the activities.
At half time, the homecoming royalty was announced: King Phil Hutchison of La Crosse and Queen Pat Koch of
Viola. There also was a Mini Parade. The day was topped off with a “surprise” movie in the Coleman
Auditorium at 10:00 p.m. Alumni were invited to attend a social that was held in their honor on Friday,
December 11, at 6:30 p.m. in the Faculty Lounge. The theme for this year’s homecoming dance was “I’ll Be
There” – the semiformal event was held in the Student Union (then in Room 129 of the Coleman Building) from
8 p.m. to midnight.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
On December 31, 1970, Clarence L. Greiber, state director and executive officer of the Wisconsin Board of
Vocational, Technical and Adult Education for 26 years, retired.
New head of the state VTAE system was Eugene I. Lehrmann who had been the assistant state director for the
past four years and who also had been the director of VTAE District Six, Kenosha.
Donald Brill, a member of the state VTAE board staff for 12 years became assistant state director.
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
Effective January 1, 1971, clerical and custodial employees of WWTI received 6-1/2 percent pay raises.
January 8, 1971, the WWTI Homemaking Club met at the Stokke Towers. “Wigs and Accessories” was
presented by Herberger’s (then located 426-436 Main Street).
January 18, 1971 – A graduation banquet was held in the Roy E. Kumm Building Lounge for 14 who
satisfactorily completed the Manpower Development & Training Act (MDTA) Clerk-Stenographer program.
January 20, 1971 – A Bomb Scare – WWTI was vacated for an hour as the result of a false report of a bomb
called to city police. The building was checked and no bomb was found.
In January 1971, three Practical Nursing students each received $200 grants from the Adolf Gundersen Medical
Foundation. They were: Alyce Hemp, Onalaska; Jacquelyn Nelson, Westby; and Jean M. Conrad of Nelson.
The grants were derived from the Robert J. Hackner Memorial Fund established in memory of him. A long-time
member of the Gundersen Foundation, Mr. Hackner died in a traffic accident in 1966. The recipients were
selected by the WWTI Scholarship Committee, and the awards helped to underwrite the cost of their training.
In January 1971, the handball courts at the YMCA didn’t get a moment’s rest. It was the Tri-Rivers Open
Singles Handball Tounament that had 48 contestants. General Education Instructor John Bigley was one of
the contestants who played in the match.
In February 1971, a conference on services to handicapped and disadvantaged persons was held that included
staff from WWTI and Cooperative Educational Services Agency officials. Called the Inter-Agency Cooperation
for the Delivery of Services to Handicapped and Disadvantaged Persons Conference, it was sponsored by the
WWTI Board, the State Department of Public Instruction, and the State Division of Vocational Rehabilitation.
The conference sought to include individuals to be served, description of services that should be provided, and
to explore alternative methods of delivering services through interagency cooperation.
In the 1971 school year, a young Sparta man attended WWTI with the help of the Division of Vocational
Rehabilitation. Lee Izard, who lost his right arm in an industrial injury and unable to perform his original job,
began retraining in the associate degree Marketing program.

In February 1971, WWTC, in cooperation with the Juneau County Sheriff’s Department, sponsored a series of
law enforcement classes for all law officers of Juneau County and surrounding area. Classes were held in
February and March in the Juneau County Courthouse, followed by a three-day workshop in April held in the
Mauston National Guard Armory. The classes were taught by FBI Officers Thomas Graham and David
Coppinger, and the workshop was taught by two FBI men, George Ayres and John Coughlin.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Agriculture Programs -- In February 1971, it was reported that the “interest in farming in west-central Wisconsin
apparently has not lagged,” according to an enrollment response to a production agriculture course helped
along by some federal subsidy money. Walter Weihrouch, Agriculture Division Chairman, stated a total of 134
young men, most armed forces veterans, were enrolled in the three-year programs centered in Blair (47
enrollees), Wilton (30), Viroqua (343), and Sparta (24). It was estimated that ninety-five percent of the
enrollees owned farms. Some were farm managers, others hired hands. Veterans who qualified were
attracted to the program by the federal subsidy, ranging from $141 a month for a single man, over a 44-week
period for each of three years; to $165 a month for a married man, without additional dependents, to $190 for a
married man with one dependent and an additional $10 a month for each additional dependent. Three full-time
instructors taught at the four centers – each with a teaching specialty. Subjects included: Crop production,
farm accounting, animal conformation, animal nutrition, farm records, soil fundamentals, crop management,
agricultural mathematics, farm management and accounting, soil management, swine production, welding,
sheep and poultry production, dairy production, beef production and farm power.
One month later, in March 1971, an Agricultural Advisory Committee for the vocational agriculture programs at
Cochrane-Fountain City, Gale-Ettrick and Holmen High Schools was organized for assisting agriculture
instructors with the revision or development of vocational agriculture courses in the high schools.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
In February 1971 – Marilyn Isabel was crowned Sweetheart Queen 1971. She was sponsored by the Tau Iota
Upsilon, a service fraternity, and was escorted by Tom Bonsall. The “Last Draft” provided music.
February 1971 – The Trane Company donated a photo-offset plate maker and supplies valued at $4,000 to the
Graphics Department of WWTI. Modernization of Trane’s offset printing division made the equipment
available.
February 7-13, 1971 – In observance of Children’s Dental Health Week, students in the WWTI Dental Assisting
program presented dental health education projects to 57 fifth graders of the Cathedral-St. Wenceslaus School.
Diane Cunningham was head of the Dental Assisting program. Among the “patients” were Denise Flynn,
daughter of Mr. And Mrs. John Flynn, and Laura Hauser, daughter of Mr. And Mrs. Paul Hauser.
In February 1971, officers of the La Crosse Riding Club presented a scholarship to WWTI for a student enrolled
in a Health Occupation program. Funds for the scholarship were raised at the Horse Show in the fall of 1970.
Residency
February 23, 1971 – The District Board formally adopted rules for determining which students are residents and
may attend the school tuition-free and which are nonresidents. Rules provide that in determining whether the
residency requirement has been made, the school may consider factors such as filing of state income tax
returns, possession of a state driving license, motor vehicle registration, place of summer employment and
place of summer residence. In general the rules followed those of the past. The main requirement is
residence in the district for a year or more to qualify for tuition-free status:
� Residence in the district for a year or more to quality for tuition-free status.
� Students over 21 who have been a resident of the district for a year or more before the beginning of any
semester for which they register may attend tuition-free.
� Students under 21 whose parents or legal guardian have been residents for the minimum of one year attend
tuition-free.
� If parents are divorced or separated, the students are exempt from tuition if they resided in the district for a
year or if either their father or mother has done so.
� Orphans residing in the district may attend tuition-free.
� All others are classified as nonresidents and must pay tuition.

February 26, 1971 –Twenty-five members of the March Practical Nursing program and nine members of the
March Ward Clerk program received their pins at a recognition tea in the Student Center of the Roy E. Kumm
Building. Anita G. Smith, Chairman of the Health Occupations Division, gave the welcome and Joan Wollberg
of Melrose, an Operating Room Assistant student, sang two vocal selections. Musical selections were also
presented by “The Best of Friends,” a folk singing group comprised of Terri Bensend, Cheryl Hastings, Barbara
Scott, Barbara Vrbsky, and Ginny Skadahl. Pins were presented to:
Practical Nursing
Delores Ames
Cathryn Bertling
Deborah Deaver
Marilyn Drangstveit
Beulah Gerke
Ward Clerk
Judith Ginther
Rita Hafner
Darlene Hanson
Janice Henry
Janice McCain
Deborah Atchison
Elaine Erickson
Anne Kulig
Pearl Miller
Lorraine Millich
Bonita Olsen
Carol Olson
LaVon Quinn
Lois Lyon
Marilyn Malin
Diane Hegland Mathison
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
John Ray
Linda Redlaczyk
Linda Rugo
Beverly Severson
Judith Shelton
Kay Storandt
Linda Tollefson
Evelyn Torrey
Stella Shimshak
Patricia Smith
Frances Tietze
Arlene Triebs
Linda C. Vangen
In March 1971, twenty-four WWTI students were selected for inclusion in the 1970-71 Who’s Who:
Kenneth Axelson, Sparta
La Verne Bakkom, La Crosse
William Bauer, Wilton
Richard Erickson, La Moille,
Minnesota
Elaine Errthum, Bloomington
Kathy A. Fedie, Mondovi
Linda A. Freng, La Crosse
Michael Haakenson, Westby
John Heck, Viroqua
Thomas Koenig, La Crosse
Kenneth Kulig, Independence
Richard Limberg, La Crosse
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Jean Meckelberg, Kendall
Colleen Nugent, La Crosse
Gerald Paul, La Crosse
Patricia Peterson, Bagley’
Carol Byrne, Galesville
Ronald Stetzer, La Crosse
David Weiland, Holmen
Eileen Whitehead, Sparta
Anita Morel, Prairie du Chien
Gary Stetzer, Black River Falls
David Wortman, Melrose
John Wrobel, Viroqua
In March 1971, Cynthia Olson, La Crosse, a Practical Nursing program student, received a $100 scholarship
from the Grandview Nurses Alumnae.
March 10, 1971 – A resolution promoting the transfer of college-level credits between Wisconsin tax-supported
institutions of higher learning cleared the State Senate, 25-5.
March 12-14, 1971 – Twenty-five WWTI students swept a major share of the state Distributive Education Clubs
of America (DECA) competitions at the annual state conference in Green Lake. WWTI marketing students
who won major offices and awards were:
� Frank De Novi, firstـyear student from Morton Grove, Illinois, was elected president of the Wisconsin
Distributive Education Association;
� Elaine R. (Sue) Errthum, Bloomington, second-year student in Fashion Merchandising, received the
Wisconsin DECA Student Achievement award;
� Linda Hilgers, Wisconsin Rapids, was elected national regional vice president for Wisconsin and also
won second place for her presentation in the human relations competition;
� Deborah Rosendahl, Dorchester, Iowa, and Karen Schumacher, Sparta, won first place in the
advertising campaign competition;
� Paul H. Prindle, La Crescent, Minnesota, chairman of the WWTI chapter’s booth was awarded first
place;
� Patricia Peterson, Bagley, president of the WWI DECA chapter, was second place winner in the
chapter’s marketing improvement competition;
� Richard A. Limberg, La Crosse, was third place winner in the sales managers competition; and
� Sue Anderson, Viroqua, was third place winner in the sales representative competition.
Duane Moore, of Moore, Poser and Associates Advertising, La Crosse, was a judge for the three-day event.
In 1971, Dean Morton was Business Division Chairman, and Jeff Naill and Pamela Sterms were Marketing
program instructors and WWTI DECA advisors. Jeff Naill was also selected as state advisor to the Wisconsin
Distributive Education Association for 1971-72.

March 18, 1971 – The City of La Crosse mourned the death of Roy E. Kumm, 58, a La Crosse industrial civic
leader. Kumm was president of the WWTI Board, having been a board member since 1949. On March 24,
the District Board adopted a memorial resolution in praise of his services to WWTI. The Board stipulated that
the resolution be reproduced for permanent installation in the Roy E. Kumm Building as WWTI’s health-science
building was named for him in 1970.
In April, a scholarship fund was set up in his honor. The fund consisted of some $7,000 contributed by
G. Heileman Co., of which Kumm was president, and some $3,000 contributed by his friends. The income
from the fund was designated to “aid worthy and needy students attending WWTI.”
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
In April 1971, the Board advanced its annual elections from June because of the vacancy left by Roy Kumm’s
death. April 1971 – Board members re-elected for one term were: Robert Ringdahl, president; J. O.
Beadle, vice chairman; Louis Youngman, secretary; and Myron Bockhaus, treasurer; members-at-large Henry
Ernst and Walter Weihrouch; and School District Superintendent Melvin Schmallenberg (ex-officio).
On March 24, 1971, a free Hydraulics Institute was sponsored by WWTI and the Donald K. Davis Company of
Milwaukee. The workshop included fluid power systems, maintenance testing and troubleshooting, filtration of
hydraulic fluids, and others.
On March 31, 1971, the Student Government Constitution was voted upon for ratification by the student body.
This was the first time that the Constitution was presented for ratification since about the 1940’s.
In March 1971, Robert Pendleton, Instructor and Head of the English Department at WWTI, received the Navy’s
Meritorious Unit Commendation from Adm. Edwin Rosenberg in ceremonies at the Naval Reserve Training
Center. Pendleton, who retired from the Navy as a captain after 28 years of service, was cited for the
following two operations with Task Group 30.5 in the Pacific: August 27 to November 15, 1959, and January
13 to March 30, 1970.
In April 1971, at the Fifth National Office Education Association Leadership Conference in Indianapolis,
Indiana,
� Cyndi Fredrickson, Viroqua, placed fourth in extemporaneous speaking;
� Linda Freng, La Crosse, placed sixth in the business records management contest; and
� James Murray, Tomah, was elected vice president;
Accompanying the girls to Indianapolis were James Murray, Tomah, state vice president of the WOEA and
first-year Data Processing student, and Michael Faust, Kiel, 1971-72 president of the WWTI Student
Congress and first year student in Data Processing.
In April 1971, a Health Career Days pilot project was offered at Central High School that gave high school
students an overview of the many professions in the health field. The project was sponsored by the Woman’s
Auxiliary to the La Crosse County Medical Society, and included health representatives from the local hospitals,
Viterbo College and WWTI. Cheryl Hastings, a practical nursing student at WWTI, participated in this event.
Saturday, April 17 -- A Computer Dance! The dance, sponsored by the Data Processing Club, was held in the
Student Center. The purpose of the dance was threefold: to acquaint high school students with WWTI, to
acquaint them with other students, and to show the students activities of WWTI. The cost was $1.50 per
person for computer matching service and the dance, or $1.00 for those wishing to attend the dance and who
didn’t want to be “computerized”. The matching included over 20 area high schools within La Crosse and the
Coulee Region. Jim Murray was president of the Data Processing Club and Donald A. Mundinger, Advisor.
In April 1971, twenty military and civilian command and supervisory personnel from Camp McCoy attended an
informational meeting hosted by WWTI. The camp personnel director stated there was a need for replacement
of retiring blue-collar workers at the camp, as well as a need for new and replacement white-collar personnel,
which could be recruited from WWTI graduates. Lunch was served by the Institutional Foods program
students. WWTI administrators attending the meeting were Director Charles G. Richardson; William
Campbell, Student Services Administrator; David Elkins, Counselor; and John L. Eppley, Supervisor of
Management Development Services.

April 1971 – Two technical programs were evaluated by the Wisconsin Board prior to approval for an associate
in applied science degree. They were the Interior Design program in the Home Economics Division, and the
Printing and Publishing curriculum in the Industrial Division. Both were two-year programs that would be
graduating students for the first time in May of 1971. Barbara Walter was in charge of the Home Economics
Division, and Torval (Toby) Hendrickson, Associate Chair, Graphics Department.
April 27, 1971 – The District Board approved a resolution aimed at preserving the role of vocational, technical
and adult institutes. The resolution, which originated at the Wausau District, expressed fear that if the state
universities and the University of Wisconsin were combined under a single board of higher education,
vocational schools would suffer unless the law specifically spelled out their role in the state’s education system.
Director Richardson told the Board that up to now the Coordinating Committee on Higher Education had
resolved questions of overlapping jurisdiction between various educational systems, but that the law combining
the two university systems would eliminate this committee. The resolution asked that the law specify that the
vocational schools be responsible for all phases of programs leading to degrees below the baccalaureate level,
both vocational and associate degree, and for all occupational training, apprentice training, and adult education
below the professional level.
April 28-29, 1971 – Spring Fling – the food was delicious and the games were fun. A picnic in Houska Park
was the highlight of the two-day “Spring Fling,” which concluded with a dance on Thursday, April 29. The fling
was sponsored by the Inter-Greek Council and the Student Congress of WWTI.
April 1971 – Proper car care can clear the air – As part of a class project, the Automotive students hooked up an
exhaust emission tester. Based on air pollution and auto exhaust emission tests conducted both nationally
and locally, mechanics and ecologists agreed that a substantial amount of engine pollution could be eliminated
if people would keep their cars properly maintained. Students at WWTI have conducted tests that agree with
those conducted by automotive engineers. Automotive Instructor Stanley Meyer said his students “haven’t
found any cars yet that we can’t get within (pollution control) specifications with a proper tune-up . . . we can get
about 90 percent decrease in carbon monoxide emission by adjusting the carburetor.”
On April 29-30, 1971 – The spring 1971 convention of the Wisconsin Student Council of Technical Education
met in La Crosse at the Holiday Inn. WWTI students serving as state officers were Paul D. Peterson, of
Stoddard, a Marketing student and parliamentarian of the WWTI Student Congress, was district chairman, and
Joseph L. Heil, Sr., of Onalaska, an Accounting student (member-at-large of the WWTI Student Congress) was
parliamentarian. Other officers of the WWTI Student Congress were: President Glenn Reid, of Sparta, a
Commercial Art student; Vice President Stan Burggraf of Bloomington, a Marketing student; Secretary Dolores
A. Holy of La Crosse, a Commercial Art student; and Treasurer Richard G. Krawjewski of Onalaska, an
Electronics Technology student. Eighty delegates from the state technical schools attended the spring
conference. One of the main goals of the conference was the mailing of letters to North Vietnam protesting the
plight of American prisoners of war. Many of the delegates wore silver bracelets with the name of a POW and
the date of his capture inscribed on it. Heil, the parliamentarian, stated the students would wear the bracelets
until the POW is freed.
In May 1971, WWTI was included in a national study of two-year colleges conducted by Edmund Gleazer, Jr. of
the American Association of Junior Colleges and financed by the W. K. Kellogg Foundation. During his meeting
with department heads, Gleazer probed for opinions on what the role of WWTI and other Wisconsin
vocational-technical schools should be. He also asked questions about what changes they foresee with
students. While many of the faculty comments had been public before, views of department heads included
the following:
� The image of the vocational school student must change from “ragtag”, “bobtail”, “shut out”, and “let out”;
� That more funds for vocational technical schools are needed, particularly since only 20 percent of high
school graduates actually finish college. While a technical school must gear its needs to the needs of the
community it serves, a highly mobile society also requires training of students for jobs other than those
available in the La Crosse area; and that
� Local autonomy is vital in developing programs to meet the needs of its students.
Department heads who met with Gleazer were Harold Erickson, General Education; Morris Severson, Field
Services; Walter Weihrouch, Agriculture; Harry Hutchison, Business Education; Anita Smith, Health
Occupations; William Welch, Industrial Division; Barbara Walter, Home Economics; and Donald Meinert,
Public Information.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

In May 1971, the WWTI auto technology troubleshooting team won the championship in the state Plymouth
Troubleshooting contest in Madison. The contest was based on correcting 100 malfunctions, scoring almost
perfect written examinations, starting the engine first and then completing troubleshooting in the lowest total
time. Out of the 20 teams reaching the mechanical event, the La Crosse team was first to get the engine of
test started in 20 minutes after the test started, and the team completed the entire repair and adjusting job in
38 minutes after the competition started. The WWTI team, composed of Kenneth E. Kulig, Independence, and
Ronald J. Benusa, Arcadia, was one of more than 30 teams from technical institutes and high schools. The
instructor of the program was Arthur Armstrong.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
On May 1, 1971, a marble tournament was conducted “just for kicks”. The tournament attracted more than
30 participants, according to the tourney’s sponsors, Richard Hooverson and John Tremain, both of La Crosse.
Hooverson was a student at WWTC and Tremain a graduate student at La Crosse State University.
The tournament was played under national marble tournament rules, except that the ring size was reduced from
10 feet in diameter to three feet because of the rough ground and inexperience of the players. The tourney
was conducted on sandy ground near the pair’s apartment.
Two LCU students from Hong Kong, where marbles is a popular sport, captured the main prizes donated by
Tremain and Hooverson. In addition, eight-year-old Terri Bott of La Crosse also was a winner.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
In May 1971, a Delta Queen Cake, made by the Institutional Foods students, won a blue ribbon and two red
ones in the annual competition at the restaurant, food, equipment and culinary show in Baraboo. A foods
class of 16 was taught preparation of quantity food, ranging from salad making and baking to meat cutting.
Shirley Lotze was Home Economics Instructor, and Barbara Walter chaired the Home Economics Division.
May 9, 1971 – Sixty-nine students of the Health Occupations Division received their graduation pins at a
recognition tea in the Student Center. Anita G. Smith, Chairman of the Health Occupations Division, gave the
welcome, and Larry Johnson, a Marketing student at WWTI played a trumpet solo. Anita Smith and the
department heads presented pins to the graduates. Receiving pins were students in the Dental Assistant,
Operating Room Assistant, and Medical Assistant programs. Department head of those programs were
Diane Cunningham, Dental Assistant; Marjorie Eichman, Vocational Nursing and Nursing Related Programs;
and Claudia Kupel, Medical Assistant program.
May 12, 1971 – The Tau Iota Upsilon trade and industry fraternity sponsored a brat fry.
May 22, 1971 – District Director Charles G. Richardson was elected president of the Wisconsin Association of
Vocational, Technical and Adult Education Administrators. The organization was formed in 1967 to provide
cooperative promotion of vocational education in the state among administrators, the state board, governmental
agencies, and the public. Its membership included district directors and acting directors of the 18 VTAE
districts in Wisconsin.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
May 27, 1971 – Graduation. The 1971 commencement exercises took place in the Mary E. Sawyer
Auditorium, with 445 persons receiving associate degrees and diplomas. Associate degrees went to 179
graduates of two-year technical programs, while 266 received diplomas for completing either one or two-year
programs in vocational training.
John Tepoorten, Manitowoc, pioneer vocational education leader and state coordinator for the Wisconsin Board
of VTAE from 1935 until his retirement in 1964, spoke on “A Symphony of Living.” Tepoorten said the “greatest
thing in the world today is change. Challenge is the mainspring of all humanity.” Tepoorten had been
involved in vocational education since World War I. He was director of the Cudahy Vocational and Adult
Schools from 1923 to 1935. He also was president of the Wisconsin Association of Vocational and Adult
School Directors from 1923-1996.
Following the ceremonies, a reception was held in the Roy E. Kumm Building. Director Charles Richardson
and Board President Robert Ringdahl presented the diplomas and the associate degrees. The Rev. Calvin
Hay, pastor of St. John’s Reformed United Church of Christ gave the invocation, and Glenn Reid, of Sparta,
president of the Student Congress led the audience in the pledge of allegiance. Victor Larsen, Administrator of
School

Services, presented outstanding student awards to Kenneth Kulig, Arcadia, Automotive Technology program,
and Barbara Hickey, La Crosse, Clerk Typist program.
The 1971 graduating class received a letter of congratulations from The White House, signed by President
Nixon … “The continued success of the American Experiment depends primarily on the qualities of the heart,
mind and spirit or our young people. As college graduates you have not only the training and idealism, but the
opportunity and responsibility to build through further study or through your chosen careers the kind of society
which will make further generations proud to identify with your accomplishments . . .”
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Saturday, June 12, 1971, the WWTI board voted to issue $2-1/4 million worth of bonds to finance a new school
building and improvements in old ones. The board had to postpone action on the selling of bonds indefinitely
because, as Director Richardson explained, no decision had been made on the outcome of a federal court suit
in Milwaukee that challenged the right of appointed vocational school boards to levy taxes.
ATHLETICS
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Baseball
WWTC opened its second year of baseball against Metropolitan Junior College of Minneapolis with six returning
players and a new coach. Bill (Boober) Parizek, longtime city baseball player and coach . Team members
included: Michael Averbeck, Jay Aylsworth, Philip Braun, Larry Calloway, Tom Dockham, Roger Dolato, Arnie
Fremsted, Arnie Frosted, Calvin Hendrick, Gary Kaiser, Kurtis Kortbein, Douglas LaFleur, Ronald LeJeune,
Richard Mullenberg, Peter Schlesser, Mark Schultz, Randy Stach, Terry Thorson,
March 10 A double header. WWTI and Metropolitan Junior College of Minneapolis: WWTI WWTI L: 7-5 and
won and lost one
W: 8-7
April 13 Lakewood State Junior College WWTI W: 4-2
April 16 Golden Valley Lutheran College of Minneapolis WWTI L: 13-2
May 8 A doubleheader – Waukesha Tech WWTI W: 10-3 and W: 5-3
May 11 One win and one lose – a double header against Metropolitan Junior College WWTI W: 3-1 & L: 11-1
May 17 Lakewood Junior College scored victory WWTI L: 8-3
May 22 Madison Tech won both games in a doubleheader WWTI L: 2-0 & L: 4-0
Basketball Season
Members of the team included Robert Anderson, Brad Berland, Philip Braun, Lawrence Calloway, David
Erlandson, John Hickey, Gary Johnston, Robert Kremer, Bob Petry, John Schroeder, Mark Schultz, Dwight
Steele, Doug West, Eric Windjue. The team was coached by Ted Kothe.
Nov. 19 ـ Richland Center
Nov. 23 ـ Austin J.C.
Nov. 25 ـ at Lakewood J.C.
Nov. 30 ـ Immanuel Lutheran
Dec. 4 ـ at Milw. Tech.
Dec. 5 ـ at Sheboygan
Dec.10 ـ Madison.
Dec.14 ـ Rochester J.C.
Dec. 17 ـ at Wis. Rapids
L: 99-77
L: 80-74
L: 78-76
W: 112-86
W: 104-86
W: 118-86
L: 100-82
L: 101-77
W: 88-76
Jan. 2 ـ Anoka-Ramsely
Jan. 5 ـ Rice Lake
Jan 13 ـ Wis. Rapids
Jan. 15 ـ at Waukesha
Jan. 18 ـ Baraboo
Jan. 25 –Rochester J.C.
Jan. 30 –Baraboo
L: 69-66
W: 91-75
W: 102-64
W: 101-85
W: 121-72
L: 100-73
L: 88-83
Feb. 3 –Rice Lake
Feb. 9 – at Madison
Feb. 12 –Milw. Tech.
Feb. 16 – Waukesha Tech
Feb. 26 –Gogebic Col.
L: 93-87
L: 113-90
L: 82-59
W: 79-76
L: 109-78
Golf
Avid golfers were: Rolf Bergerson, Bob Guenther, Eric Windjue, Don Stelter, Tom Meyers, Bob Guertler, Mike
Herzog,
Track
A new sport was introduced to WWTI with the addition of track. Team members included Bob Petry, Orrin
Pengra, Dan Schaub, Dennis Wopat, Bob Young, Barry Eichman, Jim Heim , Peter Jensen, Larry Ladwig, and
Monte Torgeson

Wrestling
The team included: Tom Bagnewski, Roger Benson, Roger Koderer, Dick Johnson, Leonard Lettner, Steve
Lundsten Paul Matchey, Steve Lundsten, Tom Klotzke, Jerry Williams,
Feb 6 Richland Campus
Feb. 6 UW-Junior Varsity
Feb. 16 Milw. Tech
W: 35-11
W: 32-2
W: 26-0
Cheerleaders
Anna M. Berry Joan Brooks
Wrestling Cheerleaders:
Michele Gronemus and
Kathy Levendoski
Pom Pom Girls
Rose Ann Dalbec
Margaret Duckett
Cathy Ekberg
Ellen Greeno
Theresa Groth
Barbara Hickey
Jacky Brown
Nancy Hickey
Carolyn Leisso
Susan Lenser
CLUBS AND ORGANIZATIONS (From information in the 1971 LaTech.
For the most part, all names in the book were first initial and last name.)
Student Congress - Club Advisor: Dick Hoeft, Student Activities
Stanley Burggraf (vice president)
Michele Gronemus
Steven Hegge
Joseph Heil
Dolores Holy
Mary Hostvet
Patricia Koch (secretary)
Richard Krajewski
Demencio Mendez
James Murray Jr.
Glenn Reid (president)
Stan Severson
Accounting Club – Club Advisor: Glenn Davis, Accounting Instructor
James Bardeen
Bill Bauer
Michael Bower
Geraldine Brux
Calvin Cronk (president)
Tom DeLong (treasurer)
Carol Eggen
Arlyn Frost
Mark Grasby
Robert Guertler
Barbara Gumbert
Susan Guttormsson
Dolly Hull (vice president)
Judy Hunter
Sherry Johnson
Glenda Kohlmeyer (secretary)
Deborah Marco
Annette Murphy
ACRO Club – Club Advisor: Curtis Murray, Air Conditioning Instructor
Terry Burkum
T Colclough
Michael Duckett
Russell Hellwig (president)
Charles Kapchinski
Agribusiness Club – Club Advisor: Verlie Niccum
Steve Anderson
Garnet Beneke
Dennis Cathman
John Corcoran
David Crogan
Alan Fladhammer,
Greg Gartner (secretary/treasurer)
Dan Hansen
Gene Hogden
Marlin Hornly
Jerry Juve
Bill Linsmeier,
McConaughey J (sergeant at arms)
Rodney Ristow (vice president)
Dave Pfaff
K. Pratt
Cliff Reneau
Wayne Schmidt
George Smerud
Sharon James
Arlene Schroeder
Karen Welch
Barbara Whitehead
Elaine Vogt
Gary Wolfe
Bruce Zillmer
William Neve
Roger Niedfeldt
Ellen Schendel
Stan Severson
Sandra Strittmatter
Kathleen Walker
Dennis Schmidtknecht (secretary)
Monte Torgerson
Gary Stetzer (president)
Howard Tracy
Dave Wortman (sergeant at arms)
Roger Vetsch
John Wrobel (vice president)
AIDD Club (American Institute for Design & Drafting) - Club Advisors: Robert Maas, and Allan Rusch
Mechanical Design Instructors
Kenneth Axelsen
Curt Dummer
Tom Luce (treasurer)
Jeffrey Rood
Charles Besch
Steven Hegge
Roger Miller
Virgil Schieffer (vice president)
Jeff Bluske
Jeffrey Hett
Richard Muetze (secretary) Rich Wildes
Richard Boenigk
Gary Howly
Ronald Nicks
Richard Zidich
Paul Colsch (president)
Frederick Lenz
Dave Pearson

ASB - Advisor: William G. Welch – Industrial Division Chair
Ernest Andrew
James Bardeen
Allan Behringer
David Blaskowski (secretary)
Patrick Boltik
Keven Carter
James Clappier
William Giese
Mark Grasby
Dennis Graupe (vice president)
John Gresens
Steven Hegge (president)
Steve Kiedrowski
Scott Kimball
Robert Kouba
Jerome Leis
Ferderic Lenz
George Miles
James Murray, Jr.
William Neve (sergeant at arms)
Cavalier Band - Advisor: Vicky Bigley, Medical Assistant Instructor
Diane Amo
Barbara Bachmann
Judy Bartels
Geraldine Brux
Phyllis Fortney
Carol Gelbeck (president)
Greg Heine
Ronald Hayden
Marcia Knopke
Cheryl McDonah
Mary Metzke
Roger Niedfelt
Gary Pischke
Emil Schmitz
Allen Shay
George Treml (treasurer)
Arlon Witcraft
Kathleen Odebard
Gerald Paul
Sharon Zillmer (secretary-treasurer)
Cavalier Choir - Advisors: Kathleen Kumm, Dental Instructor and Jeff Naill, Business Education Instructor
Lucille Berg
Carolyn Fedie
Arlyn Frost
Sue Gullikson
Marcia Hanson
Greg Heine
Ruth Ann Mathews
Anita Morel
Rebecca Ostrem
Chi Alpha Chi – Advisor: John Syverson, Commercial Art Instructor
Mary Althaus
Janice Anderson
Doug Breidel (president)
Greg Heine
Dolores Holy
Mary Hostvet
Demencio. Mendez
(co-president)
Anita Morel
Paul Nedland
William Ojanpera
Rebecca. Ostrem
Ellen Rambo
(vice president)
Chi Sigma Chi - Advisor: Torval (Toby) Hendrickson, Graphics Program Head
Jane Ames
Patricia Baldwin
Jerolyn Chadwick
Sue Dell
Michele Gronemus
(vice president)
C. Grude (president
Kathryn Haugen (secretary)
Gail Iverson
M. Johnson
Kathleen Lachman
Vickie Manke
Debra Pelan
Julianne Page
Barbara Scott
Gary Wolfe
Glenn Reid
Jayne Stokke
Elizabeth Volkert (treasurer)
Irene Wildasin
Karen Schnick
Susan Martin
Rita Schauland
Marsha Schorbahn
Data Processing Club - Club Advisor: Donald Mundinger, Data Processing Instructor
David Benning
Rola Bergerson
Lola Emerson
Jacqueline Guidice
Charlene McNulty
James Murray, Jr. (president)
Jay Nichols (vice president)
Eva Olson (secretary)
Charles Schmidt
Paul Shie
DECA - Co-Advisors: Pamela Stern and Jeff Naill, Marketing Instructors
Beverly Albers
Gary Arneson
Marvin Bringe
Stanley Burggraf
(parliamentarian)
Frank DeNovi
Gary Friday
J. Garness (historian)
James Gnewikow
Ken Greene
G. Hangartner
Linda Hilgers
William Lashua
Delta Gamma Phi – Club Advisor: Annette Niederkorn
Barbara Bachmann
Genell Berget
Sharon James (president)
Janice Jelinek
Linda Kearns
Patricia Koch
Kathy Levendoski
Susan Levendoski (treasurer)
Richard Limberg
(vice president)
John Olson,
Allen Peterson
G. Peterson
Patricia Peterson (president)
Eileen Loging (vice president)
Marsha Mook
Kathy Robinson
Bonnie Swartz
Michael Stache
Michele Welch (treasurer)
Bruce Zimmer
David Pralle
Debra Rosendahl
Karen Schumacher
Elaine Vogt
Susan Williams (secretary)
Barbara Torrey
Elaine Vogt
Barbara Whitehead
(parliamentarian)

Future Secretaries Association - Club Advisor: Joanne Woods
Diane Amo
Karen Anderson
Bonnie Bollrud
Judith Boyle
Cathy Ekberg
Sandra Fladhammer
Linda Freng
Cathy Galster
Janet Geier
Janet Gilbertson
Ellen Greeno
Sue Gullikson
Nancy Hickey
Carol Kane
Dona Kastenschmidt
Harriet Kowalski
Carolyn Leisso (treasurer)
Betty Limberg
Marilyn Lisowski
Eileen Loging
Diane McLees
Jeanne Meckelberg
Kathleen Mergen
(recording secretary)
Ilene Nelson
Linda Neuman
Colleen Nugent
(corresponding secretary)
J. Peterson
Patricia Poellinger
Brenda Richmond
General Business Club - Advisor: John Landro, Business Education Instructor
Mary Berget
Mary Burke
Health Occupations Club
Vicki Aiken
Delores Ames
Donna Betz
Rhonda Braaten
Linda Brown
Patricia Clay
Jean Conrad
Gwen Dahl
Marilyn Dahl
Deborah Deaver
Karen Engelien
Connie Eichman (president) Mary Johnson
Rita Schauland (vice president)
Elaine Erickson
Carolyn Fedie
Colleen Ford
Alyce Hemp
B. Herke (or B. Hemker)
Susan Hilbert (treasurer)
Barbara Hoffman
Susan Husie
Nancy Johnson (secretary)
Marcia Knoepke
Mary Langlois
Inter Greek Council – Advisor: Dick Hoeft, Student Activities
David Blaskowski
Roland Gibeaut
Michele Gronemus
C. Grude
David Heuer (vice president)
Francis Kranz
Pamela Larson
Lois Lyon
Ellen MacLachlan
Marilyn Malin
Ann Manske
Pauline Manske
D Mathison
Cheryl McDonah
Joan Merchlewitz
Marie Myren
Jacquelyn Nelson
Kathy Levendoski
Susan Levendoski
William Neve (president)
Rosanne Schoen (vice president)
Arlene Schroeder
Susan Schumacher
J. Sullivan
Beverly Torkelson
Mary Tuma (president)
Ann Turner
Lillian Werner
Cecile Wopat
Debra Zilolski
Kathleen Odegard
Sally Peterson
Florence Roscovious
Barbara Scott (president)
Patricia Sheetz
Marsha Shorbahn
Cynthia Snider
Linda Tollefson
Terry Weiner
Mary Yeager
Karen Schroeder
Barbara Whitehead
(secretary-treasurer)
Newspaper - Advisors: Philip Brochhausen, Graphics Instructor, and David Radloff, General Education
Patricia Baldwin
Julie Bayne
Jackie Brown
Jerry Carroll
Paul Currier
Dave Eggen
Michele Gronemus
Dave Hartig
Martha Herried
Linda Hilgers
Richard Hooverson (editor)
Dawn Krokouski
Steven Lundsten
Outing Club - Club Advisor: Dick Hoeft, Student Activities
Julie Bayne
Mary Hostvet
Dawn Johnson
Enemencio Mendez
Joyce Mousel (historian)
Paul Nedland (president)
William Ojanpera
Rebecca Ostrem
Vicki Manke
Doris McKerchie
James Murray Jr.
Barb Olson
Glenn Reid
Connie Rohrer
Allen Shay
Victoria Skaff
Sue Schumacher
Victoria Skaff
Arlene Schroeder
Karen Schroeder
Dudley Voves
Marie Young
Jayne Stokke
Elizabeth Volkert (secretary/treasurer)
Dennis Wohlers
Photo Club - Club Advisors: Gordon Johnson and Philip Brochhausen, Graphics Instructors
Julie Bayne
Paul Currier (vice president)
David Johnson (treasurer)
Enemencio Mendez (president)
Anita Morel (secretary)
Allen Shay
Resident Hall Council - Advisor: Dick Hoeft, Student Activities
Ernest Andrew (secretary) David Heuer
George Treml (vice president)
Stephen Buye
Marvin Onsager (president)
Victoria Skaff
Dudley Voves

Tau Iota Upsilon - Club Advisor: John Bigley, General Education Instructor
Philip Braun
Stanley Burggraf
Colin Carrimon
Paul Colsch
Steven Devine
Tom Faas
Vets Club
David Benning
Harold Chedester
Paul Hegge (vice president)
George Hentges
Keith Fetting
Roland Gibeaut
D. Heuer
Franz Kranz
Steven Lundseth
Dennis Hesselberg
David Johnson (treasurer)
John Koenig
John McConaughey
Enemencio Mendez
Thomas Morehouse
Paul Nedland
Mark Onsager
Robert Petry
Demencio Mendez
Theodore Moga
Glen Murphy
Donald Reese (president)
Wisconsin Business Education Club - Advisors: Mary Bantle and Gary Stetzer,
Business Education Instructors
Beverly Anderson
Mark Grasby
Eileen Loging
Karen Anderson
Ellen Greeno
Mary McConnell
Jmes Bardeen
Barbara Groth
Charlene McNutly
Bill Bauer (president)
Barbara Gumbert
Jeanne Meckelberg
Mary Berget
Susan Guttormsson
Annette Murphy
Michael Bower (vice president) Joseph Heil, Sr.
James Murray
Gloria Breka
Dolly Hull
Ilene Nelson
Joan M. Brooks
Judy Hunter
Linda Neuman (parliamentarian)
Geraldine Brux
Mary Johnson
Jay Nichols
Mary Burke
Sherry Johnson (State Officer) Roger Niedfeldt
Calvin Cronk
Nancy Hickey
Eva Olson
Tom DeLong (treasurer) Dona Kastenschmidt
Gary Pischke
Carol Eggen
Glenda Kohlmeyer
Russell Rattunde
Connie Eichman
(State Officer)
Brenda Richmond
Cathy Ekberg
Harriet Kowalski
Kathy Robinson
Michael Faust
Carolyn Leisso
Ellen Schendel
Janet Geier
Marilyn Lisowki (secretary)
Yearbook - Advisor: Valerie Burman and Assistant Advisor: Virginia Woehlert
Julie Bayne
Valerie Bergman
Geraldine Brux
Greg Heine (editor)
Judy Hunter
Rae Kaiser
Demencio Mendez
Mary Metzke
Anita Morel
Glenn Reid
Stan Severson
Michael Stache
Dennis Staskal
John Weissenberger
Dennis Schmidknecht
Richard Selbrede (secretary)
Thomas Theisen
Gerald Wilcox
Rosanne Schoen
Rita Schauland
Arlene Schroeder
Susan Schumacher
Vonnie Sheda
Paul Shie
Roger Thicke
Beverly Torkelson, (historian)
Ann Turner
M. Walker
Michele Welch
Lillian Werner
Cecile Wopat
Debra Zibolski
Bruce Zillmer
Sharon Zillmer
Victoria Skaff
Tina Strickland
In 1970-1971 events in the Auditorium included . . .
1970
August 12 An investment in youth. The Coulee Region Festival Orchestra presented a superb 2½-hour
performance of orchestral music for music-lovers of La Crosse and the vicinity. Of the 106 members,
87 ranged in ages from 13 to 22; the other 19 were their Symphony School instructors, representatives
of a variety of symphonies and college music faculties throughout the nation. Mrs. Frank Italiano, who
helped her husband administer the five-week summer program, said that most of the students attend on
full or partial scholarships. Students received scholarships from the Symphony of the Hills, the Coulee
Region Festival of Arts, or from business firms. Most scholarships were for tuition, with the youngsters
picking up the room and board tab. Cost of the five-week session was $175 tuition and $150 room and
board. While in La Crosse, the girls stayed at Viterbo College’s Marian Hall, and the boys at Holy
Cross Seminary. All took their meals at the Marian Hall.
August 14 & 15 The “Crusaders” came to La Crosse with a modern-day message for YOUth. A group of collegians,
known as the Gospel Crusaders, presented a program of music and drama. The team traveled under
the auspices of the Lutheran Evangelistic movement of Minneapolis, Minnesota,
August 22 A “nonpolitical” conference, sponsored by Congressman Vernon Thompson of the Third
Congressional District, attracted 110 persons from eight counties to acquaint area residents, groups
and officials with the types and kinds of federal programs available to them.
September 22 Direct from Boys Town, Nebraska, Father Flanagan’s famed Boys Town Choir was on stage in the
Coleman Auditorium. The choirboys, aged 10 to 18 years, provided a varied program from lilting
Viennese waltzes, folk songs of all nations, and others. The choir has toured from coast to coast every
year since 1946, and this year La Crosse was their first stop for starting off their 1970 concert season.

September 25
and 26
Pills-a-Poppin’ – music, gorgeous gals, skirts, and dance routines – starring all local talent. The show
was a follies, in color and comedy – a charity for children. The musical variety show, sponsored by the
Lutheran Hospital’s Junior Auxiliary, benefits the pediatric ward of the hospital. Since its inception, the
Junior Auxiliary served the needs of the hospitalized child. The organization has furnished the
pediatric ward with a variety of items from a playroom to allocating money toward a micro blood gas
analyzer that is used in the research and diagnosis of children’s diseases.
October 13 The Columbia Recording group, Hope, presented “Hope In Concert,”. The Tau Iota Upsilon, trade and
industry fraternity sponsored the concert.
October 27 “The World of Gilbert and Sullivan” was presented for the opening of the 1970-71 La Crosse
Community Concert season. “The World of Gilbert and Sullivan” is an American touring company that
was formed to give audiences in the United States a chance to hear the popular operas presented by
British artists. The operas, all written between 1875 and 1900, are rated as classics in their simplicity.
November 12 A lecture was presented by the Rev. Richard Wurmbrand, a Romanian Lutheran minister who was a
Communist prisoner for 14 years. He taught history in the seminary at Bucharest before the
Communist takeover. In 1945, following the Communist seizure of Romania, he began an
underground ministry. Arrested in 1948, he served three years in solitary confinement and five
additional years in “mass” cells, during which he was subjected to medieval tortures. Mrs. Wurmbrand
was also arrested and separately imprisoned for three years, during which time she served as a slave
laborer on the never-completed Danube Canal. Following his release in1957, he resumed his
underground work, but was arrested again in 1959 and sentenced to 25 years in prison. A general
amnesty in 1964 brought his release.
November 15 An award winning young French violinist, Jean-Jacques Kantorow, was soloist with the La Crosse
Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Frank Italiano, conductor. He appeared with the orchestra
in the Bruch “Concerto Number 1 in G Minor” and closed the program in a solo group of works by
Kreisler and Wieniaski. Richard Zcodava, pianist, was the accompanist.
November 18 For their second concert of the season, the La Crosse Community Concert Association presented the
Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, with Izler Solomon conducting. The 88-member orchestra is one
of the major symphony orchestras in the United States, and founded in 1930. Russell Huber, a
reviewer for The La Crosse Tribune, praised the Indiana Symphony performance. Orchestral
arrangements included Dvorak’s “Carnival Overture”; the “Sleeping Beauty” by Alfred Bruneau; Aaron
Copland’s suite from the film “The Red Pony,” based on a John Steinbeck story; Sibelius “Symphony
Number 5 in E Flat”; and for an encore, the overture to the Johann Strauss operetta “Die Fledermaus”.
December 10 In conjunction with the annual Homecoming activities at WWTI, a “surprise” movie was shown on
Friday evening.at 10 p.m.
1971
January 12 It’s cold outside! Keith McColl, a resident of Calgary, Alberta, Canada, was the presenter for the
Coulee Region Kiwanis Club’s Travel and Adventure Series. Born and raised in Saskatchewan,
Canada, he has been active in outdoor related journalism and broadcasting.
February 4 The Community Concert Association presented Ronald Turini, a Canadian pianist. Turini played three
of Mendelssohn’s “Songs Without Words”, followed by pieces by Waldstein, Chopin, and Liszt. Turini
closed his program with “Hungarian Rhapsody Number 13. The concert was well attended despite a
heavy snowfall, attesting to the community’s continuing enthusiasm for piano performances.
February 14 Valentine’s Day, and something different this year -- “Sweetheart Night”. Preceding the Sunday
night Valentine’s Day concert was a smorgasbord-type buffet in the Crystal Room of the Hotel Stoddard
(then located at the southeast corner of Fourth and State Streets), complete with a rose for each lady
guest, wine and entertainment by strolling musicians. The dinner was followed by the special
Valentine-keyed concert that had as its guest soloist Metropolitan Opera soprano Karan Armstrong.
“Sweetheart Night” was staged by the three groups: the La Crosse Community Arts Council, the
Culture Committee of the Greater La Crosse Chamber of Commerce and the La Crosse Symphony.
The concert was conducted by Frank Italiano. The Symphony’s guest soprano was described as
“pretty as a Valentine, personable, and talented . . .”
February 16 Yearning for a warmer climate? The Coulee Region Kiwanis Club took the audience on a trip along
the “Highway to Panama”. Professional photographer, William Kennedy, of Detroit, Michigan,
narrated the film.
February 19 Traditional and contemporary choral music was sung when the St. Olaf Choir of Northfield, Minnesota
presented its concert, directed by Dr. Kenneth L. Jennings. The program was sponsored by the
La Crosse Area Federation of Lutheran Men.
March 4 The Community Concert Association presented William Walker, a leading baritone of the Metropolitan
Opera Association. A Bloomington, Illinois, paper spoke of his “voice as big as his native Texas.” He
was a favorite on the concert stage, a frequent guest star on television, having appeared with Johnny
Carson, as well as a leading man on Broadway.
March 9 Albert G. Kerlof, Paris fashion designer, narrated a film on his journey over the ice fields of Antarctica,
“Expedition South Pole.” The film was sponsored by the Coulee Region Kiwanis Club as part of its
Travel and Adventure Series.

March 25 The La Crosse Chapter of Distributive Education Clubs of America presented a “Sign Into Spring”
fashion show in cooperation with the Retail Division of the Greater La Crosse Chamber of Commerce.
Local merchants unveiled spring lines of wearing apparel. Participating stores and where then located
were:
Barker’s Shoes Store ..................................................................... 410 Main
Continental Clothiers ....................................................................... 200 South Fourth
Desmond’s ...................................................................................... 112 South Fourth
Doerflinger’s .................................................................................... 400-408 Main
Fantle’s Fifth Avenue ....................................................................... 201 Fifth Avenue South
Herberger’s ..................................................................................... 426-436 Main
J. C. Penney Co. ............................................................................. 115-121 Fifth Avenue South
Jeffrey’s .......................................................................................... 409 Main
Kauma’s .......................................................................................... 415 Main
Mader’s Men’s House of Quality Clothing ........................................ 125 South Fourth
Montgomery Ward & Co. ................................................................. 315 State
Newburg’s Clothing Store ................................................................ 322-326 Pearl
S & H Sports Shop .......................................................................... 327 Main
Sear’s, Roebuck & Co. .................................................................... 217 Fifth Avenue South
The Shoe Box ................................................................................
Spurgeons ....................................................................................... 121 South Fourth
Props were provided by Moen Photo (313 Main) and Garvalia China Shop (116 Fifth Avenue South).
Denise Strittmater narrated the show that was coordinated by Pamela Stern, Fashion Merchandising
Instructor.
April 17 The local chapter of Barbershoppers’ moved into its 25 th year with the 1971 show. Among the acts that
were featured, Miami, Florida, sent one of its best quartets, The “Suntones” as a feature for the show.
They made several appearances on the Jackie Gleason Show, sang in the Boston Symphony Hall, the
Ford Auditorium in Detroit, and others.
April 18 Called by a critic as a “pianistic whirlwind”, Gita Karasik, a 19-year-old piano phenomenon from San
Francisco performed as guest artist for the final program of the La Crosse Symphony this season.
Frank Italiano was conductor of the orchestra..
May 3 The last adventure program for this season. LeRoy Crooks, Florida, commercial film producer,
presented “Appalachian Trails” as the Coulee Region Kiwanis Club’s final adventure series program
May 12 Awards Day
Musical Interlude .................................................................... (student)
Introduction ............................................................................ Charles G. Richardson, Director
Departmental Awards ............................................................. Victor Larsen
Awards were given to outstanding students in each department.
Gary R. Stetzer Black River Falls Chemicals and Fertilizers
Daniel R. Hansen Holmen Feeds, Seeds and Farm Supplies
Barbara J. Hickey Onalaska Clerk Typist
Roger J. Kuderere Cashton Data Processing Machine Operator
Gloria J. Nontelle La Crosse Business Machines
Sandra L. Strittmatter La Crosse Accounting
Sally M. Silha La Crosse Secretarial Science-Legal
Colleen M. Nugent La Crosse Secretarial Science-Medical
Linda A. Freng La Crosse Secretarial Science-Administrative
LaVerne O. Bakkom La Crosse Data Processing
Janice M. Leatherberry Elroy Business Machines
Marcia L. Knoepke Colfax Medical Assistant
Judy A. Ginther La Crosse Practical Nursing
Muriel M. Miller La Crosse Practical Nursing
Susan M. Hilbert La Crosse Operating Room Assistant
Lowell L. Prise Tomah Institutional Foods
Patricia K. Fellenz Eau Claire Apparel Arts
Eileen M. Whitehead Sparta Interior Design
David R. Pralle La Crosse Food Merchandising
Gerald J. Nelson La Crosse General Marketing and Retailing
Patricia I. Peterson Bagley Fashion Merchandising
Jay H. Itnyre Stoddard Electronics
Paul L. Colsch La Crosse Mechanical Design
Glenn M. Reid Sparta Commercial Art
Kenneth E. Kulig Independence Auto Technology
William H. Stenulson Black River Falls Air Conditioning and Refrigeration
Allan J. Schmidt Bangor Electrical Power
Martin M. Foellmi La Crosse Welding
Gregory M. Dobrunz La Crosse Wood Technics
Dennis L. Tryggestag West Salem Machine Tool Operator

� Scholarships presented to the school
- Larry Mange of Gateway Foods, Inc. IGA Court presented a scholarship to the school
for Food Marketing students.
� Extracurricular Activities .......................................... David Elkins
- Receiving awards for serving as officers of the Student Congress, the governing body which exercises
control overall phases of campus life, were:
Olin A. Ladwig - La Crosse President
Bruce R. Merrill - Taylor Vice President
Carol Harter - La Crosse Treasurer
John Horsfall - Patch Grove Parliamentarian
- Recognition for serving as co-editors of “The Accolade,” a monthly news magazine was given to
Shirley Belsham - La Crosse
Mary Bantle - La Crosse
- Students cited for their contributions to the student bulletin “Cavalier Clippings,” a weekly information
publication were:
Julie Adams - Luck for designing the covers
Helen Scott - New Lisbon Co-editor
Carol Harter - La Crosse Co-editor
- Students recognized for providing organ music at the several convocations and special programs
throughout the year were:
Richard Sage - Onalaska
Kenneth Bach - Beloit
- Recognition was given William G. Welch, Jr., La Crosse, for doing the special effects work for the
several convocations held throughout the year at the school.
� Certificates of Appreciation were presented to 9 persons who rendered service/support to the school:
La Verne Hogan of Cargill Inc., 416 South Front Street ....................................... Agribusiness
W. A. Roosevelt Co., 230 North Front Street ....................................................... Distributive Education
Nyla Musser, extension home economist, Black River Falls ................................ Home Economics
Robert Berry, Pyroil Co., Inc., 20 Copeland Avenue ............................................ Trade and Industry
Fred Olson, Trane Company ............................................................................... Trade and Industry
Robert Daley, Hawkins, Ash and Baptie,
206 First National Bank Building .................................................................... Business Education
Milo Mach, First National Bank ........................................................................ Business Education
Russell Huber, WKBH ......................................................................................... Public Information
Donald D. Krause, La Crosse
Commercial insurance agent ........................................................................ Activities
� Concluding Remarks were made by Olin Ladwig, president of the Student Congress.
� Mistress of Ceremonies was Miss Joan Angelone, Psychology Instructor, General Education Division.
�
June 2 About 500 rural electric leaders from the Upper Midwest were in attendance at the 30 th Annual meeting
of the Dairyland Power Cooperative. Featured speaker was James K. Smith of Washington, D.C.
Smith was governor of the National Rural Utilities Cooperative Finance Corporation, a private lending
institution for the nation’s rural electric systems.

Redistricting continues . . .
In the January 7, 1971 Milwaukee Sentinel indicated that:
Full-time post-high school programs leading to two-year vocational diplomas or associate
degrees were in operation at 38 locations in the 18 Wisconsin districts. The 18 districts
operated 38 full-time schools and more than 400 part-time evening schools. There were
three technical colleges, 14 technical institutes, and 21 vocational-technical schools.
They were:
1. Technical Colleges (3)
Madison Area,
Milwaukee Area (MATC), and
Nicolet College and Technical Institute, Rhinelander.
�Technical institutes (14)
District One,
Eau Claire
Fond du Lac
Fox Valley, Appleton
Fox Valley, Oshkosh
Kenosha
Lakeshore, Manitowoc
Lakeshore, Sheboyga;
Mid-State, Wisconsin Rapids
�Vocational and Technical Schools (21)
Advotech 18, Grantsburg
Advotech 18,
New Richmond
Ashland
Beaver Dam
Beloit
Fox Valley, Neenah
Janesville
Kenosha Technical Institute,
Walworth County
Campus, Elkhorn
Mid-State, Marshfield
Mid-State, Stevens Point
MATC, Cudahy Campus
North Central, Wausau
Northeast Wisconsin,
Green Bay
Racine
MATC, Port Washington Campus
MATC, South Milwaukee Campus
MATC, West Allis Campus
North Central, Antigo
Northeast Wisconsin, Marinette
Northeast Wisconsin,
Sturgeon Bay
Superior
Waukesha County
Western Wisconsin,
La Crosse
Rice Lake
Southwest Wisconsin,
Fennimore
Watertown
West Bend
In August 1971, a committee was formed to advise the State Board of VTAE on revision and possible
reduction of the number of districts in the state. District Director Charles G. Richardson was nominated to
represent the state-at-large on this committee.
The organization of districts in the less populated parts of the state had been more difficult for the state
board than in the urban areas. This led to a number of revisions.
An advisory committee was created at the suggestion of State Director Eugene Lehrmann, who advised
reducing the number of districts for the upper Wisconsin and northwestern counties in order to give them a
more adequate tax base and an enrollment potential sufficient to justify an enlargement in the number of
schools and training programs. The Wisconsin map was divided into 18 districts. Reviewed were Districts
1, 14, 15, 16, 18 and 17.
On March 21, 1972, the Wisconsin State Vocational Board of VTAE voted to reduce the number of area
districts from 17 to15 by consolidations in northern Wisconsin. The State Board voted to merge VTAE
Districts 17 and 18 and Districts 14 and 15 effective July 1, 1972.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

In 1971-1972 . . .
District Board Meeting – Saturday, July 17, 1971.
The Board Members were: Robert Ringdahl, J. O. Beadle, Myron Bockhaus, Lloyd McCaskey, Paul Mockrud,
Melvin Schmallenberg, and Louis Youngman.
The Board
� Adopted a resolution requesting the State Board to consider federal funds available under the 1968
amendments of the Vocational Education Act for the planned construction of a Business Education
Classroom Building, and an Air Conditioning-Refrigeration and Wood Technics Shop Building.
� Approved employment of six additional clerical persons.
� Waived the registration fees for senior citizens enrolling in a defensive driving course.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
August 1971 – Groundsperson Willie Lamm. Willie Lamm was a Groundsperson at WWTI from August 1971
to April 1980. When Willie Lamm came to Wisconsin as an adult, he did not know how to read or write. He
had spent a lifetime working at odd jobs which rarely required the 3R’s – jobs that he obtained through the
Wisconsin Employment Service. One day Willie decided he wanted more out of life. When the Wisconsin
Employment Service referred him to the WWTI Adult Basic Education program, he grabbed at the chance.
Within six months, he had the basic tools for survival. Willie Lamm became an example of what WWTI could
do with functionally uneducated adults. The Wisconsin State Employment Service, through a Federal grant,
provided the funds to put Willie on the payroll of WWTI as a part of its custodial service. Willie Lamm knew
how to grow and care for plants . . . flowers . . . he also had the artistic talent for making floral arrangements, as
well as exquisite pinecone wreaths and wreaths created from other materials.
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
August 5, 1971 – First Summer Commencement: The first summer commencement exercise was held at
WWTI. – Ninety-seven students completed coursework for the vocational diploma in electronic servicing,
mechanical drafting, practical nursing, printing, refrigeration servicing, ward clerk and business education.
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
In August 1971, six WWTI past and present educators were named Outstanding Educators of America for 1971,
selected for the honor on the basis of civic and professional achievement. Named were: John B. Coleman,
Harold H. Hawkins, Mrs. Hedwig A. Rekow, Mrs. Maddeline Schuldes, Erwin L. Schreiber, and Alph M.
Sorenson.
� Coleman was named to the list for his more than 50 years of service to vocational education as director
of the La Crosse Vocational and Adult Schools from 1916 to 1964.
� Erwin L. Schreiber was cited for his 42 years of service to vocational education as an instructor and
trades and industrial division coordinator from 1920 to 1962.
� Hedwig A. Rekow was named for 30 years of service as an instructor in the business education division
from 1936 to 1967. She was also cited for maintaining contact with alumni of her classes.
� Alph M. Sorenson was recognized for 49 years of service, from 1920 to 1969, as an instructor of
graphic arts and woodworking. Since 1971, Sorenson was on the district’s Graphic Arts Advisory
Board.
� Harold H. Hawkins was cited for 42 years of service, from 1928 to 1970, as a general metals and
welding instructor in the Trade and Industrial Division.
� Maddeline M. Schuldes, was cited for organizing and coordinating health occupations programs from
1965 to 1969.
Each recipient received a deluxe-bound 1971 edition of “Outstanding Educators in America,” in which a
biographical sketch of each individual was printed.

In August 1971 – The largest enrollment in history was anticipated for WWTI, with a 30 percent increase in
student enrollment anticipated for the Fall Term. Incoming students did not have as much space as the school
had planned, since the completion of the new Auto Technology Building was delayed about 13 weeks by a
construction strike. In anticipation of crowded facilities, alternatives were explored to handle the
record-breaking enrollment. Alternatives considered were double class sections in crowded programs, use of
mass lectures in general education courses that lend to larger attendance, utilization of unused facilities such as
the Coleman Auditorium for lectures, lengthening of the school day as well as Saturday morning classes if the
need arises. District Director Richardson said that possibly “double-shifts would be run in the space available
for students in programs affected until the new building is finished.”
In the fall of 1971, five new two-year programs were added leading to an associate in applied science degree
and one new one-year vocational diploma program.
The new associate degree programs were:
� Dairy Equipment, Material Handling and Farm Building
The program prepared students to enter the broad field of agribusiness involved in the developing
of systems for converting agricultural raw materials into edible products, disposal of waste
material, and planning or developing of related farm structures and buildings.
� Radiologic (X-Ray) Technologist
The radiologic technologist works under the supervision of a radiologist and is trained to produce
a radiologic film for diagnostic purposes and to assist in radiotherapy.
The program started in fall of 1972, the 1972-1973 school year
� Food Service Management
The program prepares students to enter management or supervisory positions in commercial or
institutional food service establishments. Students in the program develop an understanding of an
institution and how their food service departments operate.
� Biomedical Electronics Technology
The program was developed to meeting the need for technicians to repair, maintain, service,
calibrate and adapt the multitude of electronic apparatus and instrumentation used in therapeutic,
diagnostic and research aspects of medicine.
� Visual Communications Technician.
Students learn to prepare and produce visual and graphic materials for use in the communication
industry, including television, sales promotion and training, as well as to operate and maintain the
equipment involved.
The program started in the fall of 1972, the 1972-1973 school year.
The new vocational program was Electroencephalograph (EEG) Assistant.
The program prepares students to work as physician assistants in neurology (study of brain disease).
High School Relations -- With the growth of WWTI and competition between three schools of higher learning in
La Crosse, more attention was devoted to keeping prospective students informed on the programs available,
application, testing and enrollment procedures. One device that gave an overall picture of WWTI was the
program brochure rack holding more than fifty brochures on the separate programs offered by WWTI. An
individual rack was also provided for each of the more than 30 high schools visited. This big job was headed
by David Elkins, Counselor, Student Personnel Services. In addition, he was also responsible for financial
aids, housing, and other guidance and testing duties.
In 1971-72 the number of persons enrolled in full-time programs was 3,219 of which 1,349 were enrolled in
associate degree programs; 1,502 in vocational diploma programs; 137 apprentices; and 163 in the Manpower
Training and Development Act (MTDA) program.
Part-time program enrollment at various locations throughout the district totaled 11,479.
In 1971, WWTI was appointed the General Education Development (GED) testing center for this area.
In January of the 1971-72 school year, the Adult Evening Program offered over 400 courses at 26 evening
school centers in the WWTI District, including 100 courses at the La Crosse Center.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

In the Fall of 1971, a new Cooperative Career Project for providing counseling services was jointly announced
by Wisconsin State University-La Crosse and WWTI. William Campbell, Administrator of Student Personnel
Services, announced that a cooperative career consulting service was initiated between Wisconsin State
University-La Crosse and WWTI. Harold R. Kumbier, Career and Education Consultant, joined the Student
Personnel Services staff to provide the career advising services. Students of both campuses were
encouraged to take advantage of the additional counseling services. This cooperative effort and the use of the
educational resources of both institutions broadened the career and educational guidance for the students of
the two schools. The services of the Career and Education Consultant were coordinated with the services of
the counseling and testing center and with Harold Motschenbacher of the office of placement and career
advising. The Student Personnel Services office was located on the second floor of the Kumm Building.
Twenty-two new full-time positions were added in the fall of 1971:
Business
Education
Health
Occupations
General
Education
Industrial
Division
� Harold Kumbier, Counselor
� Richard Markos, Registrar
� Constance Carroll,
Secretarial Science
� James Geiselhart, Accounting,
� Marian Johnson, Medical
Laboratory Assistant
� Jean Newton, Practical
Nursing
� Robert Berry, Natural
Sciences
� Thomas Byerly, Social
Science and Mathematics
� Robert Durall, Welding
� Robert Olson, Curriculum
Coordinator
� Business Administration and
Related Business
� Diane Whiteford, Marketing
� Clayton Pollert,
Electroencephalograph Assistant
� Charles Temp, Practical Nursing
� Linda Hamilton, Mathematics
� John Hamilton, Social Science
� Thomas Schipper, Jr., Biomedical
Electronics
� Philip Thaldorf, Administrative
Assistant and Evening
School Supervisor
� Deborah Dunn, Intern Teacher
in Marketing (part-time)
� Ruth Wills, Operating Room
Assistant
� Helen Wood, Practical Nursing
� Donna Braaten, Teacher
Assistant, Medical Assistant
� Robert Sullivan, English
Physical Plant staff included: Robert Copsey of Shipping and Receiving, and custodians Doyle Gates, James
Kellicut, Thomas Kohlway, Glen Kirchheis, Willie Lamb, Raymond McNulty, Raymond Myers, Charles
Nedvidek and Ronald Young.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
In August 1971, twelve special public service radio reports, with airtime provided as a public service by WKTY,
were aired weekdays at 6:50 p.m. Captioned “Western Wisconsin Technical Institute . . . Where Dynamic
Education is Happening in the Seventies”, WWTI administrative staff reported about the school and happenings
in their respective divisions/departments. Reports were given by:
Charles G. Richardson District Director of VTAE District No. 2
Charles G. Richardson (continued)
Harold Erickson General Education Chairman
Dean Morton Business Division Chairman
Anita G. Smith Health Occupations Division Chairman
William (Bill) Welch Industrial Division Chairman
Walter (Walt) Weihrouch Agriculture Division Chairman
Morris Severson Home Economics Division Chairman
Dean Morton Marketing Department
Gerald (Jerry) Dittmer, and
Jim Bruha
Field Services Associate Chairman, and
U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Apprentice,
Reporting on Apprenticeship Training.
William H. Campbell Administrator of Student Services
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
August 24, 1971 – A Tragedy. A tragic event took the life of a WWTI staff member. Fire destroyed an
eight-unit apartment building at 1642 Bainbridge Street. A victim of the fire was Mrs. John (Ruth) Straub, 24, a
WWTI librarian, who died on August 31 in the St. Mary Burn Center in Milwaukee. Also made homeless by that
fire was the Treise family who lost all their possessions. Mrs. Mary Treise was a secretary in the Health
Occupations Division.

August 26, 1971 – Robert Maas, Mechanical Drafting instructor was informed that the AIDD (American
Institute for Design and Drafting) student chapter sponsored by WWTI was selected as an outstanding chapter
promoting the drafting profession and the aims of the AIDD. An honorable mention certificate was presented
at the National Seminar of the American Institute for Design and Drafting (AIDD) in San Luis Obispo, California.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
August 31, 1971 - District Board Meeting:
� The Board voted to borrow $2.5 million for buildings – most of it to build and equip the new Business
Education building, and the rest to buy the old YMCA building located at 7 th and Main Streets.
The District has been leasing the “Y” and using it as a dormitory for 76 male students, nine offices and
several classrooms, as well as making use of the gymnasium and the swimming pool for student recreation.
In the 1970-71 school year, revenue from the dormitory students fell short of the rent paid under the lease.
Under the terms of the lease, WWTI could buy the building for the purchase price of $167,000, plus $50,000
to remodel it to meet codes and the schools requirements, plus an extra $5,000, or a total of $222,000.
� Partial raises were given to WWTI teachers. The teachers at WWTI received part of the salary increases
granted them under an agreement reached in February 1971. The District Board had ruled earlier that in
accordance with the federal wage-price freeze, the teachers would get no increase at this time. Since
then, the Office of Emergency Preparedness had issued a ruling affecting teachers. Under the ruling, if
some teachers in a school system were working under a new contract before August 15, then others
starting work after that date were entitled to most, but not all, of the same increases granted the teachers
who started earlier. The District Board was informed on August 31 that because of the school’s summer
program, some WWTI teachers had been working under the new contract effective July 1. The schedule
adopted last winter was for an 18-month period beginning July 1. It kept the same base salary as the
previous contract, $7,600 for those with bachelor’s degrees and $8,000 for those with master’s degrees, but
it increased the increments for teaching experience from 4-1/2 percent to 5 percent a year, up to a
maximum of $11,400 for those with bachelor’s degrees and $13,760 for those with master’s degrees.
Since then teachers remained on the same step as last year, the ruling meant that those beginning after
August 15 were paid at the rate of $380 a year less than the contract specified for those with bachelor’s
degrees and $430 a year less for those with master’s degrees.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
September 1971 – A ten-week course entitled, “Basics of Officiating Football” was offered as a refresher course
for officials and to anyone interested in officiating. Bill “Duke” Coughlin, president and co-owner of the local
sporting goods store Riverland Sports and Trophy (then located at Sixth and State Streets in La Crosse) and a
veteran of 17 years of officiating, conducted the classes.
September 1971- Getting them back to reality . . . A classroom program was offered at the Monroe County
Mental Hospital. The “reality” program was supervised by WWTI and coordinated by Mrs. Arlyss Grosskopf,
Associate Chairman, General Education. Many of the patients who had been living at the hospital for years
had become “institutionalized” and lost touch with reality. A phase of the new “reality” program that met with
success was a classroom schedule, with Mrs. Earl Molstad of Sparta, a retired teacher, as the instructor.
There were also five illiterates learning to read and write, as well as three persons interested in taking a general
high school equivalency test. With the acceptance of the program by the patients, life at the Monroe County
Hospital took on a new meaning. Since the classes started in December 1970, three were released: two to
vocational rehab in La Crosse and one in farm labor.
In September 18, 1971, as part of the 42-hour apprenticeship journeyman training program, members of the
Cement Masons Local 257 placed a “White Beaver” stone monument on concrete near the Dr. Frank Powell
drinking fountain at Powell Park. Union members involved in this project were Ronald Sommerfeldt, Thomas
Dohlby and Elton Sackett.
September 23, 1971 – Orbit, a Stevens Point musical group, played for a pre-election dance at WWTI.
September 25-26, 1971 – Fire Chief Frank Kloss and Gerald Dittmer, Associate Chairman, Industrial Division,
coordinated the largest petroleum fire fighting school ever conducted in Wisconsin. A demonstration and drill
on how to control a petroleum fire climaxed a two-day educational program for 262 representatives of 66 fire
departments and 39 oil companies. About 600 gallons of gas, donated by the Mobil Oil Company (then located
at 35 Copeland Avenue in La Crosse), were burned during the drill, according to Capt. James Sciborski, training
officer for the

La Crosse Fire Department and coordinator of the program. The purpose of the program was to familiarize
firefighters and oil industry personnel with techniques of preventing and extinguishing fires at oil terminals, tank
trucks, bulk plants and service stations. The program, including Saturday and Sunday morning classes at
WWTI, was conducted by U.S. oil and gas industry experts. Program sponsors were the local Fire
Department, WWTI, Skelly Oil Company Skelgas Division (then located at 11 Copeland Avenue in La Crosse)
and the Minnesota and Wisconsin LP Gas Association. Classes were held on Saturday and Sunday morning
at WWTI.
September 28, 1971 – District Board Meeting
� The Board approved a $3.59 million budget for the 1972 calendar year, incorporating a property tax levy of
$2.2 million.
The budget was up $706,000 over 1971 (or 24.5 percent), and the tax levy up $440,000 (or 23.4 percent).
New Fiscal Year: Director Richardson informed the Board that the proposed state budget includes a
requirement that vocational schools, (which were on a calendar year budget as WWTI) must shift to a fiscal
year running from July 1 to June 30. Because of this, he said the Board may prefer to keep the 1972 mill
rate at the higher figure and use any surplus accumulating because of higher state aids to help offset the
cost of an 18-month budget -- with the extra $616,000 taking care of one-third of the extra cost of the
18-month budget.
A near $72,000 property tax demand on the City of Sparta by WWTI drew sharp criticism by Roger E.
Brandstetter, president of the Sparta City Council and chairman of its Finance and Budget Committee. In
his letter Brandstetter noted that the 1972 levy on the City of Sparta was up $10,000 over 1971. “It’s a
terrible way to finance a school of higher education,” he said, “it should be put on the general tax rolls –
certainly not the property tax.” Brandstetter also noted that the university system, which includes La
Crosse State, is funded, in part, by the general property tax and not by taxing the “overburdened property
owner.”
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
OKTOBERFEST USA: Getting Ready for Oktoberfest –
September 1971. Painting the fencing on the east and south sides of the fest area for the annual fence
painting contest got underway. In the Oktoberfest Fence Painting contest the skillful work of the WWTI Art
Club took second place in decorating the fence around the beer tents.
Saturday, October 2 -- The 1971 Maple Leaf Parade. The threat of rain hovered over the parade and a few
drops began falling just as the units started moving out. The WWTI Oktoberfest float made quite a showing – a
nine-foot purple “giant” chasing a 4½-foot Jack (and the goose that laid the golden eggs) down a beanstock.
The WWTI float captured the Festmaster’s Award for their Fairyland Fantasy float entitled, “Jack and the
Beanstalk”. The message on the float read: “Seeds of Fantasy Grow Gigantic Futures”. A separate float
honoring the school’s longtime director, John B. Coleman and his wife, was also in the parade. This year,
Syverson’s 18 Commercial Art II students spearheaded the project under the Fest theme of “Fantasy As Seen
Through the Eyes of a Child.”
Building a Float -- Many groups entering floats in the parade do it for promotion – the students at WWTI did it
for an educational experience. John Syverson, chairman of the Commercial Art Department, and in over-all
charge of float construction since 1967 said, “The project gives numerous departments and students a chance
to add a bit of spice to what might otherwise be routine teaching.”
Starting in the first week of school, students put the training they have already received to work, in terms of
designing and constructing all the artwork required in a large float. Students submitted designs based on an
agreed upon subject: Jack, with the goose laying the golden eggs tucked under his arm, fleeing down the
beanstalk from the wicked giant who is chasing him. Students initially discussed float themes, and six of the
ideas were put together and submitted to the school administration for final approval. Besides the Commercial
Art Department, other school departments are involved, too. If talking is involved, the Electronics Department
helps out. The Auto Technology Department prepares a stripped down car as a chassis for the float, and
makes sure that such things as the battery, brakes, spark plugs, and transmission are functioning. The
Mechanical Design Department works on the animated features of the float – the parts that move, while the
Wood Technology Department students build the skeleton of the float.
Instructor Syverson said the cost of building a float at WWTI ranged between $225 to $300 compared to $2,000
or more if it were contracted for.

Since the school first entered a float in the rain-drenched 1967 parade, WWTI has been a winner each year.
The Festmaster Award, first place, has been won by WWTI in 1968, 1969, 1970 and again in 1971. In 1967 the
float received second place (President’s Award in the Civic Division).
Syverson “volunteered” for the project supervision in 1967, when he became head of the Commercial Art
Department. That was the day “someone” announced that WWTI would enter a float each year and that
Syverson would be in charge.
October 13-15, 1971 – Mrs. Arlyss Grosskoph, Associate Chairman of the General Education Division,
participated in the 1971 National Business Education Conference in St. Louis. The topic of Mrs. Grosskoph’s
speech was “Exemplary Programs in Reading in the Business Education Subjects.”
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
October 1971 – Nine members of the La Crosse Chapter of the Wisconsin Distributive Education Clubs of
America (DECA) attended the annual fall leadership seminar of vocational-technical school
business-distributive education students in Wisconsin Dells. Stanley Burgraff, president of the local DECA
chapter, was awarded a leadership certificate at the close of the seminar. Burgraff, a second-year Marketing
program student, was from Bloomington, Wisconsin. Others attending from the local chapter were: Rhonda
Halverson, of Chaseburg; Debra Rosendahl, of Dorchester, Iowa; Jo Ann Schaefer, of Potosi; Sara Hanson, of
Viroqua; Mark Squier and Dwayne Heram, of La Crosse; Linda Hilgers, of Wisconsin Rapids, southwestern
regional vice president; and
Frank DeNovi, Morton Grove, Illinois, state president.
March 9-11, 1972 -- A delegation of 21 marketing students and five staff members attended the 11 th annual
Wisconsin Distributive Education Association Leadership Conference at the American Baptist Assembly in
Green Lake, Wisconsin. The theme of the conference was “Building Tomorrow’s Leaders Today”. Marketing
students winning major offices and awards were:
� Mark Kunes, Melrose, a first-year General Marketing students, was elected to the office of vice
president of the Wisconsin Distributive Education Association (post-high school division);
� Linda Hilgers, Wisconsin Rapids, a second-year student in the Fashion Merchandising program placed
first in the Human Relations-Management Decision Making case competition. (Linda served as
Southwest Regional Vice President in 1971 and as chairman of the constitution committee. She also
was the recipient of an outstanding achievement award at this year’s conference.)
� Stanley (Stan) Burggraf, Bloomington, received an outstanding achievement award. Stan, president
of the La Crosse DECA Chapter, and past chapter parliamentarian, was named second-place as
“Outstanding Male Student:” in the state.
� Gary Bathke, Onalaska, a first-year student in the Marketing program, placed first in the Decision
Making—Operations case problem competition.
� Michelle Kelly, La Crosse, a second-year student in the Fashion Merchandising program, and Michelle
Crean, Tomah, a first-year student in the Fashion Merchandising program, won second place for their
joint presentation in the Advertising Campaign competition.
� Randy Dwyer, Onalaska, a second-year student in the Marketing program, placed third in the Credit
Management Decision Making competition.
� Kathy Markos, La Crosse, a first-year student in the Fashion Merchandising program, placed fourth in
the Sales Representative competition.
� The WWTI chapter placed third in the “Chapter of the Year” competition.
� The WWTI La Crosse DECA Chapter Booth was awarded fourth prize for its exhibit and display.
Dean Morton was chair of the Business Division. Pamela Stern and Jeff Nail, Marketing Instructors, were
co-advisors of the WWTI La Crosse DECA Chapter.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
October 30, 1971 – Welding Instructor Wayne Lemar participated in the 12 th Annual Welding Conference for
Teachers and Supervisors in Madison. The session conducted by Wayne Lemar was titled, “How To Make
8mm Welding Instructional Films—Single Concept – Tape Method”.

October 30, 1971 – Nine girls were entered in the WWTI “All Wool” contest. Winners were Terry Kampa, Shelli
Smith and Doreen Maliszewski. Other entries were Sue Miemietz, Kathy Killian, Faith Marsolek, Elaine
Schank, Kathy Walcek and Kay Peintok. Barbara Johnson was the Home Economics instructor. About 50
entrants from a seven-county area competed for honors in the “Make It With Wool” contest.
November 2, 1971 – the Wisconsin Board of Vocational, Technical and Adult Education held its meeting at
WWTI. Discussion centered on the impact of the state budget, including increased enrollments in the
postsecondary vocational-technical schools, and increased costs of operating those schools. The Board
accepted a report of the State Advisory Council on Vocational Education, which included recommendations for
increased health occupation.
In 1971, a new Automotive Shop was constructed, at the northeast corner of the Coleman Building.
1971-72 Who’s Who – The 1971-72 edition of Who’s Who Among Students in American Junior Colleges carried
the names of the following 30 WWTI students:
Student Program
Anna M. Berry, Spring Green
Patrick D. Boltik, Sparta
Linda Brown, Black River Falls
Stanley Burggraf, Bloomington
Frank J. DeNovi, La Crosse
Steven W. Devine, La Crosse
Michael E. Duckett, Mauston
Steven J. Fanta, Hillsboro
Cynthia K. Fredrickson, Viroqua
Janet A. Geier, Tomah
Kenneth J. Greene, La Crosse
Gregory J. Heine, Spring Green
Russell Hellwig, La Crosse
Linda M. Hilgers, Wisconsin Rapids
Melodie A. Jahns, Markeson
David T. Johnson, Gratiot
Michelle L. Kelly, La Crosse
Linda L. Lee, Mauston
Kathy M. Levendoski, Chaseburg
Demencio Mendez, La Crosse
Joyce M. Mousel, Cadott
Annette K. Murphy, La Crosse
James R. Murray, Jr., Tomah
Linda Jo Neuman, La Crosse
William M. Ojanpera Arcadia
Susan K. Schumacher, La Crosse
Cynthia R. Strittmater, Bangor
Randall G. Thompson, Galesville
Elizabeth A. Volkert, Roberts
Sharon J. Zimmer, Black River Falls
Commercial Art
Accounting
Medical Laboratory Technician
Retail Marketing
General Marketing
Accounting;
Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Technology
Agri-Business
Medical Secretarial
Medical Secretarial
General Marketing
Commercial Art
Air Conditioning and Refrigeration
Fashion Merchandising
Interior Design
Automotive Technology
Fashion Merchandising
Fashion Merchandising
Interior Design
Commercial Art
Commercial Art
Accounting
Accounting
Medical Secretarial
Commercial Art
Medical Secretarial
Fashion Merchandising
Agri-Business
Commercial Art
Legal Secretarial
In 1971-72, the name of the club called “Business Education Club” was officially changed to Wisconsin Office
Education Association (WOEA). The club ‘s purpose is to:
� Promote leadership;
� Bring out new methods, needs, and knowledge;
� Acquaint Wisconsin business people with the vocational competence of Wisconsin Vocational,
Technical and Adult School business education students;
� Share chapter experiences;
� Give students and schools recognition;
� Provide a comparison of one student to another; and
� Provide a comparison of other schools.
In 1971-72, the WOEA had an activity filled school year. The activities included
� Three business education clubs (the Data Processing Club, Accounting Club, and Future Secretaries
Association) sponsored a “computer dance” with over twenty area high schools represented--the
reason for the dance was to acquaint high school students with the activities of WWTI;
� The Data Processing Club traveled to the Twin Cities to tour the Federal Reserve Bank and General
Mills, two of the largest data processing centers in the Midwest;

� The Fifth National OEA convention was held in Indianapolis, Indiana, and four students (Linda Freng,
Cyndi Fredrickson, Jim Murray, and Mike Faust) made the journey; shortly before May 1971
graduation, the Accounting Club invited area business persons to attend a luncheon at Nino’s Steak
Roundup, Inc. (then located at 206 Copeland Avenue in La Crosse) to acquaint students with possible
future employers;
� Successful fund raising projects included selling decorative glitter plaques at various stations at the
school; a gala Halloween with costumes and games; and a Christmas collection for the “Toys for Tots”
campaign;
� With New Year’s game Homecoming—Brian Nichols and Sandy Clements were WOEA’s choice for
king and queen candidates;
� February 6-12, 1972 was proclaimed National OEA Week in La Crosse by then Mayor W. Peter
Gilbertson. State Officers Jim Murray and Cyndi Fredrickson were interviewed on WKBT Channel 8
Television.
� A display was placed in the window of the Batavian National Bank (then at 319 Main Street);
� A job placement seminar was sponsored by the Accounting Club;
� The editing of a film taken of the 1971 Green Lake convention;
� A “Winterland Mardi Gras” on February 14-17;
� On Valentine’s Day, club members went to St. Michael’s Orphanage (then located at 3222 South
Avenue) to visit persons living there;
� Broom hockey played with brooms and a ball, the sport (including spills) was played on ice without
skates;
� Collected Hunt-Wesson Foods labels from products such as pork and beans, ketchup, and oil and sent
them to Hunt-Wesson for use in their nationwide label collecting project for planting trees in one of the
burned out national forests; and
� As part of his National Campaign for the Presidency, U. S. Senator Muskie, from the State of Maine,
stopped in La Crosse on his campaign tour and answered questions for WOEA State Vice President
Jim Murray and State Parliamentarian Cyndi Fredrickson.
1972 marked the ninth year of the WOEA at Western Wisconsin Technical Institute. WOEA began as an idea
of the business education students from Fond du Lac, Madison, Oshkosh, Wausau and Wisconsin Rapids.
Delegates from each of these schools attended the 1963 Distributive Education Clubs of America (DECA)
Conference in Madison to observe and determine whether such an organization for business education
students should be organized. The meeting proved successful and the delegates agreed unanimously that
such a statewide organization for students would be beneficial.
History of an “organized” local business education club at the school dates much earlier than the group
becoming a charter member of the state association in 1964. The La Crosse school is one of the oldest in the
Wisconsin VTAE System, having been started immediately after the first state legislation was enacted creating
public supported vocational schools in Wisconsin.
The La Crosse school became famous for its business and office education department, which was known at
that time as the La Crosse Vocational College of Commerce. It was so successful, that an article about
La Crosse and the “College of Commerce” was published in The Readers Digest in 1942, entitled, “A City That
Goes to School.” Students from the early years had an active “College of Commerce” Club, which participated
in many local, area and state business and service-oriented functions. This strong local group became the
foundation on which the present WOEA Chapter at WWTI is based.
The OEA Emblem: The official OEA emblem has a profound meaning. The four points of the shield stand for
Ambition, Leadership, Sociability, and Poise. The shield itself stands for the honor and dignity of the office
profession. The quill and inkwell represents the stability of the office through the ages. The strips represent
direction; and the letters OEA stand for the organization itself. The official colors of the OEA are hunter green
and gold which signify the lustrous beams of the rising sun, brilliantly displaying the plenteous fields of
opportunity in office occupations.
March 23-25, 1972 -- Wisconsin Office Education Association state convention was held at Green Lake,
Wisconsin. Attending the conference were James Murray of Tomah, second-year accounting student; Beverly
Anderson of Tomah, second-year medical secretarial student; Cyndi Fredrickson of Viroqua, and Harriet
Kowalski of New Lisbon, second-year legal secretarial students. Beverly Anderson of La Crosse won third in
typing, second in shorthand, and a second in machine transcription, and was eligible to go to the national
competition at Columbus, Ohio, in May.
April 29 – May 2 – National Office Education Association Conference at Columbus, Ohio. To quality for the
national conference, students must have won medallist awards for first, second or third place in the State

competition at Green Lake in March. Attending the national conference were Jim Murray, second-year
accounting student; Cyndi Fredrickson, second-year Medical Secretarial student; Beverly Anderson,
second-year Administrative Secretarial student; and Harriet Kowalski, second-year Legal Secretarial student.
The La Crosse WOEA placed second in the national competition. The theme for the display was “WOEA
Grows with Involvement.” Beverly Anderson earned a merit award in the General Clerical competition, placing
fourth nationally. Highlight of the national conference was the Awards Banquet on May 2. Speaker for the
event was Edward Nixon, younger brother of President Richard Nixon. Mary Bantle, WWTI instructor,
accompanied the students to Columbus as an advisor.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
In 1971, WWTI owned a bus, nicknamed the “Grey Goose”. The bus was mainly used for athletic and field
trips. The driver was Robert “Pete” Peterson, Safety Education Instructor. The “Grey Goose” journeyed to
many states, including Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Indiana, Michigan and Illinois as well as north, south, and
east and west of our own Wisconsin.
In 1971-72 – WW2 Trailblazers Booster Club. Blazers were fashionable. Faculty and staff purchased their
own standard WWTI blazers – a blue sport coat with a gold pocket WWTI emblem, for wearing at school and
public functions. WWTI blazers were worn by faculty and staff to provide a look of professionalism. Staff
promoted the organization of a faculty-sponsored WWTI “Booster” Club in which faculty and staff wore blazers
with the WW emblem on the pocket, and all staff were encouraged to purchase and wear their blazers.
In 1971-72, at a conference in Hot Springs, Arkansas, Joe DeMeulenaere, a circuit instructor for the VTAE
schools at District 1-Eau Claire, District 2-WWTI, District 17-Superior, and District 18-New Richmond was
elected chairman of the National Association of Job Training and Safety Instructors. Previously, he was
elected to a three-year term on the association planning committee and had been a coordinator of workshops
for national meetings.
October 30, 1971 – Nine girls were entered in the WWTI “All Wool” contest. Winners were Terry Kampa, Shelli
Smith and Doreen Maliszewski. Other entries were Sue Miemietz, Kathy Killian, Faith Marsolek, Elaine
Schank, Kathy Walcek and Kay Pientok. Barbara Johnson was the Home Economics instructor. About 50
entrants from a seven-county area competed for honors in the district Make-It-With-Wool contest.
In Fall 1971, twenty-three local and area police officers completed a basic training course conducted by WWTI.
The four-week course met standards prescribed by the Wisconsin Law Enforcement Standards Board.
Subject areas covered administration of justice, basic law, patrol procedures, traffic control, criminal
investigation, juvenile procedures, and human relations. Officers completing the course were:
Larry J. Bierkos
Edward Priebe, Jr.
Michael J. Weissenberger
Timothy F. Merrell
Kenneth M. Schye
Robert G. Wilhelm
Lynn J. Thompson
Alvin G. Mouradin
John S. Farnam
Jon E. Parkhurst
Leon D. Slayton
La Crosse County Sheriff Department
La Crosse County Traffic Police
UW-L Campus Patrol
Arcadia Police
Black River Falls Police
Elroy Police
Juneau County Sheriff Department
Sparta Police
November 13, 1971, the local chapter of Distributive Education Clubs of America (DECA) – made up of
Marketing Department program students -- sponsored a state regional DECA meeting and dinner in the
Holiday Inn (then located at Hoeschler Park Plaza -- on the pike across the entrance from Pettibone Park
between La Crosse and La Crescent, Minnesota.) DECA members from the state technical schools of
Madison, Janesville, Fennimore and La Crosse attended. Lee Snapp of WLCX radio was the speaker. Mayor
W. Peter Gilbertson issued a proclamation urging support of the event.

In November 1971, fourteen men at The Trane Company received certificates upon completing a
pre-supervisory training course. The 12-hour course covered Management-Worker Relations, and was
offered to qualified employees who wished to become supervisors when openings occurred. Topics included:
� What management-worker relations can mean to the individual and the company;
� Developing a thorough understanding of the organization and a design for best results;
� Individual goals and the task of charting a course for reaching the objectives;
� Communicating successfully for efficient results in all activities; and
� Motivation—a necessary tool.
Certificates were presented by John Murphy, Industrial Relations Staff Assistant, to:
John Antony
Maynard Brostrom
John Buehrle
Maynard Everson
Robert Gakill
Willard Hart
Charles Hewitt
Norm Jacobson
Manley Kirkeeng
Richard Pervisky
Russ Pfenning
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Ron Robertson
Victor Samb
Peter Servais
In December 1971, the Tau Iota Upsilon fraternity members volunteered to solicit La Crosse and area business
firms for cash contributions to the Christmas Clearing Bureau for purchasing gifts of clothing and other
necessities for underprivileged families in the La Crosse County.
November 28-December 1, 1971 – A team from the North Central Association of Colleges and Secondary
Schools visited WWTI.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
November 30, 1971 – District Board Meeting
� State Director Eugene Lehrmann explained the purposes of the North Central accreditation at the
November 30, 1971 Board Meeting.
� The Board approved District Administration to pursue property in Monroe County that had been declared
surplus and was subject to disposal for educational or public health purposes.
December 28, 1971– District Board Meeting
� The Board authorized the purchase of the Jess Ondell property located at 402 North Eighth Street, on the
northeast corner of Eighth and Pine Streets. The building was scheduled to be remodeled, and to house
the District’s administrative offices. The Ondell purchase was the first acquisition in the two-block area
bounded by Badger, Vine, 8 th and 9 th Streets.
� The closing of Pine Street from 7 th to 8 th was in the planning to make way for the Business Education and
Applied Technology buildings.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
In Spring 1972 – A textbook co-authored by Harold P. Erickson, General Education Chairman and former
communications teacher at WWTI, and Thomas E. Wirkus, a Speech Instructor at the University of Wisconsin-
La Crosse, was published by Prentice-Hall, Inc., Englewood Cliffs, N.J. Work on the book began three years
previous.
The textbook, entitled “Communication and the Technical Man” was intended for students of technical
communication, both written and oral, and contained several examples from local La Crosse businesses,
including The Trane Company (3600 Pammel Creek Road, La Crosse, WI) technical installation literature and
the Trane Air Conditioning Manual, the Pyroil Company (then located at 20 Copeland Avenue in La Crosse),
Gateway Transportation (then at 455 Park Plaza Drive in La Crosse), La Crosse Cooler Company (then at
2809 Losey Boulevard South in La Crosse), and Johnson Service Company (then at 1101 South 8 th Street in
La Crosse).
The textbook was written on the college freshman and sophomore level and designed to meet the oral and
written communications needs of students enrolled in courses in English, technical writing, speech or
communication skills.

In 1972 – Coleman Remodeling. The former gymnasium in the Coleman Building was remodeled to include a
second floor. Floor 1 would be used for machine shop and Floor 2 for drafting rooms.
In 1972, the Business Education Building was constructed.
In 1972, a nonresident tuition reciprocity agreement between Wisconsin and Minnesota was discussed.
In 1972, Outstanding Service Awards from the Wisconsin Association for Vocational and Adult Education were
made to:
� L. Dean Morton, Business Division Chairman, who was elected president-elect of the WAVAE.
� Board Secretary Louis Youngman.
� Marie Peterson of the Business Division.
� Germain Davison of the Agriculture Division, who received the George P. Hambrecht Memorial Award
for 25 years of teaching and a 25-year pin.
In 1972, Monna Thompson of the Health Occupations Division, co-authored an article entitled “Developing a
Module Curriculum” which was published in “Nursing Outlook”, October 1972.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
February 13-19 -- The National Vocational Education Week and the 60 th Anniversary of WWTI coincide.
The week was of special interest to WWTI since it was at this time of the year in 1912 that our school was first
established.
1972 marked the 60 th anniversary of continuing its tradition of servicing labor and the workingman. In 1911,
one woman home economics teacher and a school director were the entire staff. The “1971 Wisconsin Labor
Magazine,” the official annual publication of the Wisconsin State AFL-CIO, paid tribute to the vocational
school’s sixty years of service to labor and the working man – a “tradition that is being continued with even
stronger vocational and technical training assistance for the trades, industry, business and the professions” in
the district served by the La Crosse Center.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
In 1972, Harold “Motsch” Motschenbacher was named head of the Placement Services at WWTI. In this
position, he made contact with people in business, industry, government, medical and health institutions, and
education that are responsible for hiring new employees.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
On January 3, 1972 – A new Learning Center for the Disadvantaged began operation at WWTI in Room 24 of
the Kumm Building. The Learning Center provided tutorial help in reading, language skills, mathematics and
science. Its services were available to anyone 16 years of age or older, as well as for any adult who planned to
return to higher education needing tutorial assistance in these areas.
Arlyss Grosskoph, Associate Chairman of the General Education Division, and Gordon Schlafmann, Head of
the Mathematics and Science Department, co-directed the center. Two full-time teachers staffed the Learning
Center. Lois Durall, a reading specialist in the Adult Basic Education program at WWTI, handled the reading
program, and William G. Franzen taught Mathematics.

Faculty Wives Organization
A new organization was formed at WWTI. It was called the Faculty Wives Organization. A volunteer
committee contacted the wives of faculty and staff members at WWTI to start an organization for women to
participate in service and charitable work related to the school, as well as for socializing. Volunteers involved
in organizing the faculty wives group were Ann Stansbury, wife of Lee Stansbury - Electronics Servicing
Instructor, Marcia Murray, wife of Curtis Murray - Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Instructor, Helen Johnson,
wife of Gordon Johnson - Graphics Art Instructor and treasurer of the La Crosse Teachers Credit Union, and
Terry Jacobs, wife of Mike Jacobs - Industrial Electronics Technology Instructor. At the initial January 13
meeting of the organization, the officers elected were:
President Ann Stansbury
Vice President Virginia Pollert, wife of Clayton Pollert, Electroencephalograph Assistant Program
Secretary Beverly Landro, wife of John Landro, Department Head of the Secretarial and Clerk Typing Programs
Treasurer Mary Nelson, wife of David Nelson, Mathematics Instructor.
There were 21 wives present at the first meeting. A Constitution Committee was formed with Jan Witt, wife of
Don Witt - Air Conditioning, Refrigeration and Heating instructor, as chairman. The organization was not
school sponsored; it was a social organization – “short business meeting, long gab-fest, refreshments, and card
playing for those so inclined.”
A second meeting was held on February 17 at which 18 wives were present. The treasurer’s reported a
balance of $5. Phyllis Richardson, wife of District Director Charles Richardson, read the new Constitution that
was approved. Suggestions were made for future programs and meetings. A sports night, crafts and bowling
were suggested. Treasurer Mary Nelson opened a checking account at the Coulee State Bank for the Faculty
Wives. Bonita Olson, wife of Bob Olson – Learning Resources Curriculum Coordinator, won the door prize.
Proposed for the March 16 meeting was a talent show and a white elephant auction.
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
January 14, 1972 – Homecoming. A never to be forgotten homecoming . . . “Color My World,” Homecoming
1972, burst on the WWTI scene in royal style on January 14. Sponsored by Inter Greek, this event was kicked
off by a pep rally in the Student Union and the voting for the king and queen. The most popular pair was
announced during half time of the Waukesha basketball game in the Mary E. Sawyer Auditorium (then located
at 500 Vine Street across the street from the Coleman Building.). King George Guidice and Queen Colette
LeMere led the court on a grand march, preceded by a colorful mini-parade of floats, pom pom girls and
cheerleaders. A multitude of WWTI graduates were invited to the game, dance and Alumni Tea. The 1972
Homecoming court was comprised of Mike Faust, Mary Burch, Marv Bringe, Kathy Smith, Queen Colette
LeMere, King George Guidice, Jacques Brown, Dave Johnson, Stephine Gittens, and Michael Ojanpera.
The occasion was also a gathering for the 1967 graduates’ five-year reunion. The TIU Fraternity took first
place honors with their float, “Bury the Birds,” during the mini parade at halftime of the basketball game.
. . . . . . . . . . . .
On January 31, 1972, the Field Services Division, headed by Morris Severson, hosted a districtwide Adult
Education Advisory Committee meeting. Working with Severson for providing services to the outlying areas
were Richard Ammerman, Assistant Chairman at the La Crosse Office, responsible for the western portion of
the WWTI District; and Dr. Dale Steffen, Assistant Chairman located in Elroy, Wisconsin, responsible for the
eastern portion of the WWTI District. In addition to Morris Severson, Richard Ammerman and Dale Steffen, the
VTAE District 2 Area Advisory Committee Members included:
W. M. Alexander
Fred Becker
Lester Crispell
Elmer Gernetzke
Herb Guthrie
Mike Healy
Donna Hundt
Carol Lawton
Althea Leland
Lloyd McCaskey
Levi Miller
Frances R. Perry
Arden Peterson
Dorothy Picha
Ivan Radke
Jack Robinson
Peter Schmitz
Jan Wall
Calvin Whiteagle

In February 1972, thirteen students in the Health Occupations Division received scholarship awards from
various service and professional organizations in La Crosse. A fourteenth scholarship was planned to be
awarded to a top students in Health Occupations during the third term of the school year. Recipients included:
Scholarship Donor Recipient Program
La Crosse County Medical Society Ruth A. Steele, La Crosse
Linda L. Brown, Black River Falls
Virginia C. Brueske, Onalaska
The Zonta Club Patricia Young, Viroqua
Chardra J. Zepp, Pickett
Amy C. Weitzenkamp, Shell Lake
Joan F. Merchlewitz, West Salem
(The fifth was reserved for the 3 rd Quarter)
La Crosse Foundation Ruth M. Turner, La Crosse
Vicki L. Beranek, La Crosse
Mary Lou Betz, La Crosse
Margaret E. Schultz, La Crosse
Carol M. Thomas, Norwalk
Operating Room Assistant
Medical Laboratory Technician
Electroencephalograph Assistant
Medical Assistant
Medical Assistant
Medical Laboratory Technician
Medical Laboratory Technician
Practical Nursing
Practical Nursing
Practical Nursing
Practical Nursing
Practical Nursing
Robert J. Hackner Memorial Fund Linda E. Weber, La Crosse Practical Nursing
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
February 17, 1972 – The first annual Winterland Mardi Gras was a week frosted with winter fun and games,
including the Sweetheart dance. The Sweetheart Queen was announced on Valentine’s Day from a host of
lovely girls during half time of the basketball game between Milwaukee Technical and WWTI. A dance was
held on February 17 at the Concordia Ballroom, 1129 La Crosse Street, where the queen was crowned.
“Sunshower,” a local rock band provided a big beat sound for the dancers to enjoy. The Sweetheart court
consisted of Gary Faas, Joyce Mousel, Dave Johnson, Jackie Lenser, Queen Kathy Levendoski, King Stan
Smith, Anna Berry, Allan Behringer, Debbie Rabener, and Curt Roverud. Other festivities of the Winterland
Carnival, such as beer chugging, pancake eating and an ice sculpture contest, provided organizations with a
competitive spirit. In the pancake-eating contest, Marilyn Ingraham was willing to make the supreme sacrifice
of gaining five pounds after consuming sixteen pancakes. A tiny pair of elephants was entered in the ice
sculpture contest.
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
1972 – Pantsuits were fashionable, and whether to wear or not to wear pantsuits to the workplace caused a
flurry of comments. After considerable discussion, it was decided that women staff members could wear
appropriate pantsuits to the workplace. Guidelines were drawn, and each employee was expected to exercise
good judgment in choosing her apparel:
� Appropriate pantsuits were defined as those being with jackets, long vests, or tunic tops in matching or
coordinated colors. Pantsuits were dressy and/or tailored, and generally had full, loosely fitted trousers.
� A pantsuit is NOT a sweater and slacks, a shell or blouse with slacks, or any top with jeans.
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
February 8, 1972 – A “Placement Panel” was presented on job placement and proper interview procedures.
Personnel Directors and Office Managers from La Crosse area industrial and governmental agencies
participated. The “Placement Panel” was sponsored by the Accounting Club of WWTI and attracted nearly 100
students and faculty members for an interesting and lively, two-way “rap” session. Moderated by Bill
Horschak, president of the WWTI Accounting Club, panelist included:
� James Staats, Director of Industrial Relations, U.O.P., Norplex; La Crosse;
� Perry Farnam, Personnel Director, The Trane Company, La Crosse;
� Jerome Rusch, City of La Crosse Personnel Director;
� David L. Novitske, Office Manager, Hawkins, Ash, Baptie Accounting Company, La Crosse;
� Richard Jacobs, Chief Accountant, NCR, West Salem, and
� Ken Gutherie, Personnel Director, La Crosse County.
Each panel member was asked by moderator Bill Horschak to give his views regarding interview techniques
and job opportunities in the La Crosse area. Interviewing techniques and responses to questions included:

Interviewing Techniques
Staats Suggested that graduates relax and be themselves.
Suggested they know something about the company beforehand, be on time and show interest and enthusiasm.
Farnam Talked about responsibility, growth potential, attitude, grade-point and attendance records.
Stated that one should show maturity and have goals.
Rusch Emphasized the importance of a “first” impression – how “you” strike the interviewer, cleanliness and neatness,
application form neatness and completeness, speaking clearly, showing interest and enthusiasm, and by all
means follow-up, stop back, check up, and be persistent within reason.
Novitske Preparing for the interview is important. The way one prepares the application data sheet is the first thing an
interviewer notices. Know the company and have confidence in yourself.
Jacobs One’s personal appearance. Expressing oneself without a show of arrogance is important.
Guthrie Stated that the techniques used by the interviewer determine the style of the interview.
Question Response Panel
Member
Pay -- When does one ask or discuss salary? Wait. . . wait until it is brought up by the interviewer.
Guthrie
What importance do interviewers give to
extracurricular activities?
A veteran asked: What is the general feeling
toward hiring retired military personnel – age
40-up?
How heavily do you rely upon past work
experience
Much weight, because if a student participated or was active
on campus, they will be active at work.
We welcome anyone who is qualified and that obviously a
20-year veteran would have much to offer.
Very heavily, and previous employers may be asked if they
would rehire the applicant.
Farnam
Several
panel
members
Several
panel
members
What about employment of married females? No discrimination of any kind. Jacobs
and others.
How heavily do you rely upon past work Very heavily, and previous employers may be asked if they Staatz
experience?
would rehire the applicant.
How does one answer an ad in a distant city? Enthusiastically!! Confidently state your readiness to come
to a distant city, and your ability.
Farnam
Can we photograph our resumes? Sure. We know that resumes and data forms represent a lot Notivske
of work. Be neat in all your letter writing, and type them in
proper business letter form.
and others
Follow-up -- What method should be use?
All panel members agreed that as long as the facts are there
and neatly done, a copy is okay.
A letter or telephone call asking “Should I follow-up? -- but be
persistent within good taste.
Guthrie
How can we feel more enthusiastic?
Know the job – know your goals, ask questions, know the
company, have confidence in yourself.
Jacobs
Salary was brought up again.
It would depend upon whether the position was with a private Guthrie
What can the person being interviewed expect; corporation or a governmental agency. A private
how can he spot the time to ask?
corporation would have an idea of minimum and maximum
salary that they can offer. A governmental body would have
current salary scales posted.
Do vets have advantages? Yes, but so do the experienced. Rusch and
others
How does one ask the salary question without Cool – no sweat! This is not an extremely sensitive point. Staatz
upsetting the personnel director?
The interviewer wants to establish salary ranges, too.
If you are “overpriced”, we would like to know why.
What are your qualifications?
Salary is an integral part of the interview.
Rusch
Guthrie
The presentation, videotaped by the WWTI Audiovisual Department, was made available for viewing through
the Placement Services Office.

In February 1972, the Commercial Art program received a donation from the Trane Company of La Crosse in
the form of “cold type” lettering supplies known as “Artype”. The Trane Advertising Department’s Art Director,
Frank Haberman, a member of the WWTC Graphics Advisory Committee, explained that the purchase of a new
Phototypositor at The Trane Company has completely eliminated their need for Artype. The supply consisted
of several hundred fonts of type filed with negatives for reproducing additional sheets of the type. It was
estimated that the Artype donation approximated $300 in worth.
In February 1972, the states of Wisconsin and Minnesota enlarged their post-high school educational
reciprocity program to permit young people of each state to enroll in vocational and technical institutes. This
enlarged the earlier agreement that permitted the exchange of students of the two bordering states for
enrollment in the respective collegiate institutions of each. The purpose of the agreements was to improve the
training opportunities for those students who could more conveniently enroll in schools across state boundaries
than in their own jurisdiction.
In 1971-1972, sixteen students in the Computer Programming course at Westby Senior High School utilized the
data processing facilities at WWTI. Hiram Lund, instructor of Computer Programming at Westby High School,
introduced his students to this new subject with two weeks of training in FORTRAN (a mathematically oriented
compiler language used in scientific business management problems.) After students learned the “language”
of FORTRAN necessary to help them feed their programs into the electronic computer at WWTI, they were
ready to begin problem solving. The high school students wrote their programs in Westby and sent them by a
dispatch service truck to the Data Processing Department at WWTI. At WWTI, the high school students
programs were key-punched on data processing cards by students in the computer technology course at WWTI
and fed into the computer for print-out solution. The print-out was then returned by the weekly truck, provided
by CESA Agency No. 11, to Westby where the results were studied in class. Donald Mundinger was head of
the Business Data Processing Department at WWTI.
February 13-19 – Vocational-Technical Education Week. A proclamation from Governor Patrick J. Lucey
urged all citizens of the State to observe this week by making themselves more acquainted with the purposes of
vocational education and its programs by visiting vocational education facilities. During February 14-21, 1972,
a National Vocational Education Week display was in the show window of the Batavian National Bank (then at
319 Main Street). There was also a slide projection daily from 5 to 11 p.m.
February 1972 – The Cashton Record publication took on a new look that was brought about by the talented
artist Michael J. Kuruzovich of Sparta. A trademark and R-R heading (a column heading for the weekly Ridge
Runner feature) were both created and designed by him. Michael J. Kuruzovich had taken a correspondence
course in art, and also attended WWTI where he majored in commercial art.
February 24-25 – The Agri-Business Club sponsored a car wash from noon to 4 p.m. in the Agri-Business Shop,
Auto Body Shop and the Auto Tech Shop.
March 7, 1972 – Custodian Suffers Burns. Custodian Glen Kircheis was burned by steam pipes while crawling
through a pipe chase in the basement of the Coleman Building while on duty there. While hospitalized, Glen
required skin grafting.
In 1972, the Administrative Office and the Public Information Department initiated new communicating devices,
such as “Speed Message” forms and the Interdepartmental envelopes. Because of the quick growth of WWTI,
these were initiated to help staff in “communicating”. In prior years, it was not difficult for an employee to know
staff members on a first-name basis; however, with the quick growth of the institution, new processes were
developed to enhance communication at the school.
In 1972, the IBM 1401 computer system was replaced with a Burroughs 2500 computer system. Usage of the
computer remained the same data processing instructional programs as with the IBM 1401, along with
additional usage by Trade and Industrial students taking FORTRAN programming programs. Administrative
application was expanded to include more financial processing, and student records continued to add more
functionality.
In 1972, the students chose the student “Cavalcade” newspaper to be published in a tabloid newspaper format.

A Career Mobile . . .
In 1972 – Career Mobile. What was the Career Mobile? The Career Mobile was a self-contained trailer unit
jointly funded by WWTI and federal Vocational Education Act Funds to provide a wide variety of audiovisual
career guidance information to students and adults. It was specifically designed to assist and support
guidance and counseling services, and the career education programs. It was not a recruiting instrument -- but
rather an informational service unit for people in the WWTI District. “Careers With A Future” was the byword of
the WWTI Career Mobile. It was stocked with tapes, filmstrips, and literature dealing with the world of work to
district residents.
The Career Mobile was the first mobile career information unit of its kind in the State. The caravan traveled the
highways of Wisconsin and Minnesota to provide firsthand information and guidance on future careers for
students in the area high schools and others searching for job opportunities. This public service by WWTI was
unique in its “outreach” concept nationally and was funded by a federal continuing education grant. The
Career Mobile contained sound filmstrips on 600 occupations, including over 50 developed by the WWTI staff
covering its own programs. Onalaska High School was the first stop on its “maiden trip” in a line of 30 schools
that was visited by the unit. In 1972 the Career Mobile was facilitated by Audiovisual Career Technician Lee
Loerch
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
March 1972 – WWTI Awarded Accreditation by the North Central Association. The BIG news was that WE
DID IT! The North Central Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools granted WWTI full accreditation as
a vocational-technical institute without conditions for a full term of ten years. Not only was this an important
milestone in the growth of WWTI, but it also was an important “credential” for all members of the faculty and
administration.
The final diagnostic visit to WWTI took place November 28-December 1, 1971, by a team of North Central
evaluators consisting of six Midwestern occupational education specialists.
District Director Charles G. Richardson and staff were in Chicago on March 19-22 to receive final reports
resulting from the North Central final evaluation in November.
Director Charles G. Richardson indicated “we are doing more for the disadvantaged and
handicapped now than ever before. We have emphasized courses in adult basic
education at centers in La Crosse and throughout our district, and have instituted a
Learning Center, which is open to the public to assist with whatever learning difficulty an
individual may have. This is open to any adult, 16 years of age or older, whether or not
they are a student at our school. The school is also the center in western Wisconsin for
federal manpower training for the disadvantaged, minority group training, adult high
school diploma credit programs, GED high school equivalency testing, reading
improvement, remedial mathematics and vocational extension training of all sorts.”
WWTI was one of the first two-year, vocational-technical institutes of its type in the nation to achieve this
recognition.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
March 1, 1972 – Recognition Tea. A Recognition Tea for Practical Nursing students and Ward Clerks who
completed their programs this month was held in the Student Center of the Kumm Building. Anita G. Smith,
Health Occupations Division Chairman, gave the welcoming address. Marjorie Eichman, Practical Nursing
Department Head, presented pins to students completing the Practical Nursing program, and Mary Rusche,
Allied Health Programs Department Head, awarded pins to those students completing the Ward Clerk program.
Margaret Thompson, of the Practical Nursing program, and Sue Koss of the Ward Clerk program, gave
responses on behalf of their respective fellow students.
It was the tradition of WWTI to hold a Recognition Tea for nursing and other health occupation division
students when they complete their programs, which often occurred at times other than the close of the regular
school year. Faculty responsible for training in these two health occupation training areas were Marjorie
Eichman, and Practical Nurse personnel Ruth Anderson, Florence Campbell, Donna Destree, Margaret
Hansen, Rita Jenks, LaVerne Ness, Mary Schiltz, Charles Temp, and Helen Wood. Ward Clerk program staff
were Mary Rusche and Shirley Maier.

In 1972, the WWTI Graphic Copy Center, manned by Rich Westpfahl, was dubbed the “Westpfahl Center”.
The Copy Center was started in the summer of 1967, with Rich as its first and only operator. Rich had
completed the two-year vocational course in printing in May of 1967, at which time he was honored as the top
vocational student in that year’s graduating class by the faculty organization. He was also editor-in-chief of
“The Accolade,” a monthly student news publication.
The concept of the Copy Center was new and, at the onset, many did not give it a chance of succeeding. It was
the only “duplicating center” of its type in the state other than the one in operation at the Extension Division of
the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The Copy Center utilized the concept of producing all instructional,
administrative and miscellaneous printed material of the school at one centrally located point, by offset
lithography with electrostatically processed direct-image plates (masters).
This meant elimination of all other duplicating equipment throughout the school – mimeographs, spirit
duplicators and stencil master were out. The vision of the Copy Center became a reality, and in 1972 it was
averaging over three million impressions per year and something like 40,000 masters to handle that volume of
printing.
The Copy Center was successful, it handled jobs on time . . . production was faster and the quality was higher
than the older forms of duplicating processes.
In the meantime, Rich completed the Associate Degree in Applied Science Printing and Publishing Program
and then took a leave of absence from WWTI to undertake the baccalaureate program in industrial education at
the University of Wisconsin-Stout Institute.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
In 1972, the need for satellite schools in the WWTI District was initiated.
In 1972, the former gymnasium in the Coleman Building was remodeled to include a second floor. Floor 1
would be used for machine shop and Floor 2 for drafting rooms.
In 1972, the WWTC District Board approved establishing the WWTI District No. 2 Foundation, Inc. to provide
support for the school.
February 10, 1972 – In conjunction with National Children’s Dental Health Week, three-year olds attending the
Congregational Church Nursery School were guests of the Dental Assistant department for a tour. The service
provided to approximately 60 community youngsters introduced them with “tender loving care” to the fearsome
realm of the dentist’s office and to good dental hygiene.
In 1972, the nonresident tuition reciprocity agreement between Wisconsin and Minnesota was discussed.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
In 1972 – A new venture in Nursing Assistant training was offered by WWTI – A Pre-Service Nursing Assistant
course and an In-Service Nursing Assistant course were offered.
� The Pre-Service Nursing Assistant course was offered to train persons for employment as nursing
assistants, and
� An In-Service Nursing Assistant course was offered for persons already employed as nursing
assistants. The objective of the in-service course was to upgrade and improve the skills of those
employed on the job.
At the In-Service course taught at the Hess Memorial Hospital in Mauston, the class, instructed by Mrs. L. A.
Benson, included personnel from Hess Memorial, St. Joseph’s Hospital at Hillsboro, and the Edgewood
Nursing Home at Elroy. Completing the course were:
Norma Benish, Elroy
Evelyn Cowan, Mauston
Dorothy Durkee, Hillsboro
Donna Jaech, Elroy
Jeanne Larson, Hillsboro
Lena Potter, Hillsboro
Juanita Scott, Elroy
Edith Riss, Elroy
Nora Ritchart, New Lisbon
Kris Wahner, Mauston
Margaret Woodliff, Elroy

Twelve persons completed an In-Service Nursing Assistant Course at Vernon Memorial Hospital and Bethel
Home in Viroqua. Suzann Balduzzi was the instructor. Certificate were issued to:
Bethel Home Mrs. Evelyn Heal
Mrs. Mary Johnson
Vernon Memorial Hospital Mrs. Merle Dodge
Mrs. Cleo Jefson
Mrs. Geneva Larson
Mrs. Elaine Nustad
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Ms. Elizabeth Mills
Mrs. Evageline Peterson
Mrs. Luva Parker
Mrs. Inger Phillips
Mrs. Ruth Skrede
Ms. Lylith Wedwick
March 1972 – Twenty-five employees in the area of water and sewage plant operation completed a course in
Water and Wastewater Technology. The 120-hour course, which was federally-funded and jointly sponsored
by the Wisconsin Board and the WWTI District, provided entry-level training for new employees as well as
upgrading those already employed in water and wastewater plants. George Hoffman served as project leader,
with duties including community contacts, interagency contacts and class supervision; and Clifford Zenor, State
VTAE Curriculum Supervisor, was the project director.
In Spring 1972, thirty-five first year students and ten second-year students in the two-year Interior Design
program utilized the Hixon House at 429 North 7 th Street, La Crosse, for classroom study of period furniture in
the “History of Furniture” class instructed by Mrs. Martha O’Donnell. The La Crosse County Historical Society,
that maintains the house as a museum and historical landmark, opened the Hixon House specifically to the
students.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
March 21, 1972 – The first annual WWTI Safety Day, sponsored by the Faculty Safety Committee, was a
success according to chairman Harold Motschenbacher. Over a thousand students and faculty members
attended the program, which emphasized safety in school, on the job, and in everyday life. Phil Thaldorf was
Master of Ceremonies and also spoke on School Safety. A motion picture film was shown in the Coleman
Auditorium. Classes were not dismissed, but all instructors with classes at that time of the showing of the
motion picture were encouraged to bring the students to the Auditorium for the program.
In addition to the film, Bob Peterson, Driver Training Department Head spoke on driving safety and showed the
film entitled “Who’s To Blame?” “Fire Safety” was the subject of a talk by City of La Crosse Fire Department
Chief Frank E. Kloss, and the program ended with a recognition ceremony of the Safety Committee by
Chairman Motschenbacher. In addition to Motschenbacher, member of the committee were: Bob Berry,
Eldred Manske, Bob Peterson, Phil Thaldorf, Ken Wing, and Captain James Dayton, Chief Inspector of the La
Crosse Fire Department.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
March 21, 1972 – Twenty-seven paid and volunteer firefighters from La Crosse and surrounding communities
completed a 12-hour “Fire Inspection and Investigation” course. Captain James A. Dayton of the La Crosse
Fire Department conducted the course, which was designed to upgrade the firefighters in the areas of fire
inspection and investigation. Receiving certificates were:
Ralph V. Anderson, Holmen
Glenn L. Berg, Germantown
Stanley E. Bernette, Camp McCoy
Odes O. Clark, Sparta
Lawrence F. Coenen, Oakdale
Reginald F. Cottrell, Holmen
Irvin A. Dahlke, Stoddard
Eugene E. Edgerton, Oakdale
Edward I. Gamerdinger, Oakdale
Howard R. Giesler, Tomah
Ronald R. Jenson, Camp McCoy
Frank E. Kloss, La Crosse
Douglas R. Knutson, West Salem
LaVern M. Leis, Stoddard
Bernard C. Mattie, La Crosse
Lester C. McGinnis, Camp McCoy
Thomas G. Nimmo, Germantown
Gerhard Pierce, Town of Campbell
James A. Reisinger, Sparta
Ernest L. Schroeder, Stoddard
Lawrence Semlar, West Salem
William P. Store, La Crosse
John W. Tully, Stoddard
Donald R. Warner, Town of Campbell
Norman E. Warthan, Sparta
Terry L. Winchel, Tomah
August L. Zimmerman, Tomah

In April 1972, the La Crosse Riding Club and Horse Show donated funds for scholarships. Western Wisconsin
Technical Institute received $1,000 for health occupation student scholarships from the 1971 La Crosse Horse
Show proceeds that were earned through show competition involving 2022 class entries exhibiting more than
900 horses.
In April 1972, Dean Morton, Business Division Chairman, was elected president-elect of the Wisconsin
Association of Vocational and Adult Education. Dean came to WWTI in 1964 and was responsible for setting
up of the new Distributive Education and Marketing Programs. In 1971, he became Business Division
Chairman and was responsible for the administration of nine business and marketing associate degree
programs and four vocational diploma business programs. Dean was active and interested in sports. He
volunteered as the first athletic director and coach at WWTI, and then was instrumental in helping create and
organize the Wisconsin Technical College Varsity Athletic Conference and was its first president in 1966.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
April 1972 – Twenty-six members of the Camp McCoy Fire Department graduated from an extensive Red Cross
First Aid and Civil Defense Medical Self Help course. The 18-hour classroom and practical instruction was
given at the Camp McCoy Fire Station under the guidance of instructors George Thompson, Jr., and Monroe
County Coroner Dr. E. O. Lukasek. Arrangements for the class were made by Fire Chief Ray Northrup, the
Monroe County Civil Defense Office, and WWTI. Certificates were awarded to:
Gordon Bergerson
Stanley Bernette
Harold Burch
Delbert Butterfuss
George Christenson
Harris Dahle
Vernon Duxbury
Darrel Edwards
Robert Esser
Jack Gantenbein
John Gasatis
Gerald Halverson
William Hostrawer
Vernon Jacobson
Ronald Jensen
Carlton Kastberg
Wallace Ladron
Robert Mahr
Robert Mannel
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1972 was an election year – Students were encouraged to register and vote.
� April 4, 1972 -- The names on the Presidential Preference Primary included:
DEMOCRATS REPUBLICAN
1. Eugene McCarthy
2. Shirley Chisholm
3. Wilbur D. Mills
4. Patsy T. Mink
5. George McGovern
6. Samuel Yorty
7. Hubert H. Humphrey
8. Vance Hartke
9. John Lindsay
10. Edmund Muskie
11. Henry M. Jackson
12. George Wallace
� September 12 -- Primary Election
1. John Ashbrook
2. Richard M. Nixon
Lester McGinnis
Chief Ray Northrup
Dale Noth
Willie Rueckheim
Howard Schaefer
Donald Sullivan
James Thompson
� November 7 – General Election
Richard Milhous Nixon became the 37 th President of the United States (January 20, 1969 – August 9,
1974). Because of the Watergate scandal, Nixon resigned the presidency on August 9, 1974.
Vice Presidents serving with Nixon were Spiro Theodore Agnew, 39 th Vice President of the United
States (1969-1973). Agnew resigned that office when he was fined for income tax evasion. He was
followed by Gerald R. Ford (1973-1974). After the resignation of Nixon, Gerald Ford became
president (August 9, 1974 – January 20, 1977).
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
April 8, 1972 – A business education competition for area high school students was held at WWTI. Students
from 31 high schools in Vocational District No. 2 entered the events, which tested proficiencies in the various
business and office job skills, such as typing, shorthand, transcription, business machines, bookkeeping, and
business mathematics. The event was planned as an annual competition to encourage high school business
education students to continue training after graduation.

April 1972 – Twenty-five graduated from an extensive Red Cross First Aid and Civil Defense Medical Self Help
course conducted at the Oakdale Rural Electric Cooperative. Class instructors were Mr. And Mrs. George
Neitzel of Kendall. The graduation session was highlighted by a mock up crash scene involving one car and
two Oakdale fire trucks. Members of the Kendall and Wilton fire departments served as “victims” for the
exercise. The class was conducted in cooperation with the Oakdale REC, Oakdale Fire Department (Lloyd
McCaskey, Oakdale Fire Chief and WWTI Board Member), and WWTI. Certificates were awarded to:
Chris Anderson
Eldron Erbs
Lawrence Coenen
Bernard Felber
Douglas Frei
Dan Hoag
Lester Hoag
Kenneth McGinnis
Miles Meltesen
Paul Muehlenkamp
Gordon Ornes
Darwin Schendel
Kit Schleicher
Dale Schultz
Bernard Seely
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
John Sherer
Brenda Shie
Gervase Shie
Steven Shie
William Steward
Edward Stickney
Terrence Tiber
Alfred Waltemath
Melvin Westpfahl
Jerald Zimmerman
April 24-27, 1972 – WWTI’s third annual Spring Fling – “The Good Old Days”. The 1972 Spring Fling featured
a variety of events including: Softball Tournament, Egg Tossing Contest, Horse Shoe Throw, Egg Rolling
Contest, Pie Eating Contest, Bike Obstacle Race, TIU Variety Show, Gunnysack Race, Human Wheelbarrow
Race, Egg Obstacle Race, Rope Pull, General Games, Blanket Movie, and a Dress-Up Day of the 30’s.
Rounding out the Spring Fling activities was a performance by the comedy vaudeville group, “Trash of the
Thirties”, in the Coleman Auditorium. The general rules for the Spring Fling included the following:
� Participants must have a button to enter any/all contests, and to attend any social events.
� Independent groups may enter as a team.
� There were three divisions: men’s, women’s and mixed division. The mixed division had to be equal
number of men and women.
� The point system:
- 1 st Place 15 Points
- 2 nd Place 10 Points
- 3 rd Place 5 Points
The three division winners received a cash prize of $15.00, and the overall total point winner received the
Spring Fling Traveling Trophy. John Malin, an Agri-Business student, was given the Traveling Trophy for the
most points accumulated in the Spring Fling.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
May 2, 1972 – The third annual Accounting Department Employer-Student Luncheon was held at Nino’s Steak
Roundup, Inc. (then located at 206 Copeland Avenue in La Crosse). John Karis, of the Accounting
Department class of 1972, welcomed the 57 students, businessmen and WWTI personnel and explained that
the purpose of the event is to acquaint area businessmen with students graduating in the accounting field and
for graduating students to discover what job opportunities are available.
In May 1972, two classes of the federally-funded driver education course were offered for Indians. There were
two basic requirements to qualify for the course: (1) was the applicant must be over 18 years of age, and (2) an
American Indian.
In May 1972, students in the Agriculture Division won three of the five scholarships that were awarded by the
Farmers Union Central Exchange.
The Central Exchange Foundation Scholarship Program for Agri-Business, sponsored by the Farmers Union,
awarded a total of five scholarships in Wisconsin to recognize the achievement of agriculture students. These
were the first awards of this kind from the industry for agriculture-related fields.
Scholarships were awarded by Kermit Veum of Westby, representing the Farmers Union Central Exchange, at
a recent meeting of the Agri-Business Club. Recipients of the scholarships were
� Steven J. Fanta, Hillsboro;
� Dale A Servais, La Crosse; and
� Thomas E. Bennett, of Lancaster.

Graduation
On May 25, 1972 – Graduation. Commencement activities were held in the Mary E. Sawyer Auditorium (then
located at the corner of 500 Vine Street, across from the Coleman Building). The formal graduation
ceremony began with the traditional procession of faculty. The procession included 145 faculty members,
gowned in academic garb and colors, crossing Sixth Street from the Coleman Building to Mary E. Sawyer
Auditorium.
The May 1972 graduating class had 446 people gowned in blue and gold who were awarded an associate
degree or a diploma. Associate degrees were awarded to 221 completing two-year technical programs, and
225 diplomas were awarded to students completing one- or two-year vocational programs.
Eugene Lehrmann, State Director of the Wisconsin Board of Vocational, Technical and Adult Education, was
the featured graduation speaker.
“That vocational training is having more and more of an impact on education is readily evidenced by the fact that
a total of 446 students graduated from WWTI,” was printed in the June 8, 1972 edition of the New Lisbon Times
and Argus.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
In June 1972, Ron Wyss of Black River Falls, a two-year Chemical and Fertilizer program student, was elected
to the office of State Parliamentarian at the State FFA Convention in Green Lake. By this election, Ron
attended the Leadership Training Session in Kansas City, Missouri, for conducting Parliamentary procedure at
FFA meetings at three colleges around the state, and participated in judging contests in the ten sections of FFA.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
June 1972 – Police Basic Training. Twenty-nine police officers from twenty-two local law enforcement
agencies completed the Police Basic Training course. 36 resource specialists from various federal, state and
local law enforcement agencies from several institutions of higher education, including WWTI and Wisconsin
State University-La Crosse, provided instruction for the course.
Subject areas covered in the course included administration of justice, basic law, patrol procedures, traffic
control, criminal investigation, juvenile procedures, human relations, and others. The “Resusci-Anne” training
manikin was used for learning the techniques of artificial resuscitation.
The class elected James L. Schleifer, president; Gary T. Westlie, vice-president (both of La Crosse County
Traffic Police); Robert W. Kidrick, secretary (Jackson County Sheriff’s Department); and James D. Gallagher,
sergeant-at-arms (Sparta Police Department) as their class officers. Successful completion of the course
results in certification by the Wisconsin Law Enforcement Standards Board as having met the minimum
standards for police basic training.
A graduation supper was held honoring the officers completing the course. Approximately 100 persons
attended, including the graduating officers, their wives, their respective police chiefs and sheriffs, the instructors
and guest. The speaker was State Senator Milo G. Knudson. Robert M. Hilgart, Park Falls Police
Department, received an award for the highest qualification score in the firearms training phase of the course.
Mark H. Enderle, Mauston Police Department received an award for the high scholastic achievement in the
course. Mark A. Smick was Police Training Director. Certificates were awarded to:
Thomas D.
Tomah Police Department Paul B. Julson Dodgeville Police Department
Arrowmith
Frank J. Bakalars Shelby Township Police, La Crosse County Robert W. Kidick Jackson County Sheriff Department
Gary L. Baker Campus Patrol, UW-L Larry L. Leque Independence Police Department
Dean F. Cheneweth Black River Falls Police Department Roger D. McGinnis Sparta Police Department
Craig F. Chicker Richland Center Police Department David L. Monson West Salem Police Department
William R. Crothers Campbell Township Police Department Thomas P. Olsen Hudson Police Department
Larry A. Denison Buffalo County Sheriff Department Reuben A. Rave Jackson County Sheriff Department
Orville J. DeVoss Dodgeville Police Department Gerald L. Retzlaff Onalaska Police Department
Mark H. Enderle Mauston Police Department James L. Schleifer La Crosse County Traffic Police
Emmit Fettis, Jr. Juneau County Sheriff Department Charles A. Spiker Campus Patrol, UW-L
James D. Gallagher Sparta Police Department Gary F. Sprosty Crawford County Sheriff Department
Garland H. Green Whitehall Police Department Montie L. Strait Hillsboro Police Department
Karl W. Halverson La Crosse County Traffic Police Stanley Varney Tomah Police Department
Mark G. Hess La Crosse County Sheriff department Gary T. Westlie La Crosse County Traffic Police
Robert M. Hilbart Park Falls Police Department

Athletics:
Baseball
Cavalier diamondmen included: S. Anderson, M. Domke, D. Cole, B. Ekern, D. Gabrielson, C. Hendrick,
D. LaFleur, M. McDaniel, D. Pfaff, G. Rieber, D. Sheperd, S. Smerud, M. Squier, and R. Stach along with Coach
Bill (Boober) Parizek and Manager Vernon Dick.
Basketball
The Basketball team under Coach Ted Kothe included: Bob Anderson, Steve Anderson, Tom Bauers, Brad
Berland, Tom Dockham, Dave Erlandson, John Ford, Bob Guertler, Harold Hanson, Bob Kremer, Larry
Littlegeorge Bob Severson.
The WWTI Cavaliers won the 1971-72 Wisconsin Technical College Conference champions, defeating
Milwaukee Technical College 85-79.
Richland Center Extension
Suomi Junior College
Gogebic Junior College
Lakewood Junior College
Austin Junior College
Manitowoc Technical Institute
Madison Technical College
Wisconsin Rapids Tech.
L: 77-102
L: 88-105
L: 70-85
L: 55-74
L: 69-83
W: 68-57
W: 98-87
W: 107-78
U of Minnesota-Waseca
Rochester Junior College
Rice Lake Tech. Institute
Waukesha Tech. Institute
Richland Center Extension
Milwaukee Tech. College
U of Minnesota-Waseca
Manitowoc Tech. Institute
Sheboygan Tech. Institute
W: 97-65
L: 65-83
W: 83-67
W: 98-96
L: 77-89
L: 97-104
W: 86-74
W: 103-82
W: 117-61
U of Wisconsin-Baraboo
Wisconsin Rapids Tech.
Rochester Jr. College
Rice Lake Tech. Institute
Milwaukee Tech. College
Madison Tech. College
Gogebic -- NJCAA Region
13 Play Off
Milwaukee -- WTCC
Championship
W: 95-88
W: 92-72
W: 96-83
W: 105-83
W: 90-86
W: 86-85
L: 84-89
Bowling
The WWTI bowling teams participated in state competition at Madison on March 23, 1972, with the women’s
team winning first place. In the state league standing, the girls ended the season in second place and the men
in fourth place. Ed Skoumal, Accounting Instructor, was coach for the bowling teams.
Women’s Team: Members of the women’s team included Bev Anderson, Sue Dwyer, Donna Hedrick
Harriet Kowalski, Judy Parizo, and Debbie Rabener, and Sue Schumacher (captain). This was the
first year women competed at the state level. La Crosse defeated Sheboygan in second place by 159
pins, winning all three games and total pins. Sue Schumacher placed third in individual scoring with a
498 series; Donna Hedrick placed fourth with 494; and Judy Parizo placed sixth with 489.
Men’s Team: The men’s team finished third behind Madison and Milwaukee. Team members were
Ron Halverson, Jim Miller, Dan Schaub, John Schneider, and Greg Shattuck. They beat Waukesha
two games and in total pins, losing one game. Greg Shattuck placed fourth in individual scoring with a
566 series.
Golf
WWTI had fall golf this year. According to Athletic Director Ted Kothe, it’s a move more and more schools
make. The weather is better, the courses are more available and the players shoot better after hitting the ball
all summer.
Golfers teammates included: Steven Anderson, John Hanson, Rolf Bergerson, Bob Guertler, George Pitz, and
Don Stelter.
WWTI ended the Golf season with a 9-7 record. Games included were:
� Sept. 13 WWTI won its golf autumn opener with a 303-373 win over Richland Center Campus.
� Sept. 17 WWTI ran its record to 2-0 in its first conference win of the season beating Mid-State Technical Institute of
Wisconsin Rapids, 319-343.
� Oct. 1 WWTI scored its fifth golf win in six starts by knocking off Marshfield and Wisconsin Rapids in a triangular.
WWTI scored 324, Marshfield had 366, and Wisconsin Rapids had 369.
� Oct. 5 WWTI whipped Richland Center Campus at the Maple Grove Country Club in West Salem, 325-368.
� Oct 12 WWTI won its fifth Wisconsin Technical College Conference golf match in six starts disposing of Mid-State Technical
School of Wisconsin Rapids, 317-347.
� Oct. 13 WWTI placed second in Madison, Wisconsin, in a quadrangular at the Cherokee Country Club. Madison Tech won the
meet with 427. WWTI and Milwaukee each had 431, and Richland Campus, 486.
� Oct. 23 In the second round action of the Wisconsin Technical College Conference, WWTI trailed Milwaukee Tech by 10 strokes.
Milwaukee, 320; WWTI, 330; Waukesha, 338; Manitowoc 351; Fond du Lac 363, Wisconsin Rapids 373; and Sheboygan
417.
W: 85-79

Tennis
Tennis was new to WWTI in 1972. The first WWTI tennis team consisted of four first-year and two second-year
students. Of the six, only three had any prior experience. Tennis team players were: Sue Gullikson, Colette
LaMere, John Dennis, Dennis Sang, Steve Dasher, and George Guidice.
Track 1971-72
Don Trevaski and Berry Olson were the only Cavaliers to score any points for coach Tom Anderson’s track
team. On April 25, at the Golden Valley Invitational, Don placed second in the 120 high hurdles, third in the
javelin, and third in the discus. Barry Olson took fourth in the 440 yard intermediate hurdles in the same meet.
CLUBS AND ORGANIZATIONS (from information in the 1972 LaTech.)
The students in the yearbook were identified by first initial and last name.
Student Congress – Club Advisor: Richard Hoeft, Student Personnel Services
Dolores Ames
T. Bennet
Patrick Boltik (treasurer)
Sandy Clements
D. Cole
B. Ender
Michael Faust (president)
Cynthia Fredrickson
Debra Granger
S. Hanson
N. Harris
Greg Heine
Accounting – Club Advisor: Glenn Davis, Accounting Instructor
D. Ames
Patrick Boltik
Carol Eggen
Barbara Gumbert
W. Horschok (vice president)
Annette Murphy
M. Kunes
Kathy Levendoski
J. Lowe
Jim Murray (vice president)
Linda Neuman
(parliamentarian)
Roger Niedfeldt
Jim Murray
J. Parizo
Debbie Rabener
Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Club
(The Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Club goes on many field trips and invites speakers
to their meetings in order to help its members learn more about their field.)
Agri-Business -- Advisor:
T. Bennett
S. Higgins
J. Bratberg
R. Hundt
S. Brian
R. Johnson
R. Casberg
R. Kleinsmith
J. Dummer
K. Larson
S. Gund
G. Lowe
L. Halverson
(sergeant at arms)
J. Lowe
J. Malin
R. Manke
S. Marshall
L. McManamy
W. Milner
G. Molid
B. Olsen (secretary-treasurer)
Alpha Sigma Beta – Advisor: David Nelson, Mathematics Instructor
S. Bardeen
Patrick Boltik (president)
M. Duckett
J. Dunsworth
George Guidice
John Gresens
Robert Kouba (secretary)
Bruce Lovell
R. Mannel
G. Moldlenhauer
Jim Murray (treasurer)
William Neve
(sergeant at arms)
Roger Niedfeldt
Gary Pischke (vice president)
C. Peterson
N. Stalhiem
Tina Strickland
Dennis Staskal
S. Wang
B. Schmitz
C. Schmitz
R. Risberg
T. Schlicht
T. Selin
D. Servais
T. Walton
T. Weitzel
R. Wollberg
Emil Schmitz
R, Schmitz
Allen Shay
P. Stuart

AIDD (American Institute for Design Drafting) -- Club Advisors: Allan Rusch, Mechanical Design
Eldred Manske, Industrial & Technical’ and
Charles Besch (treasurer)
John Eckhardt
William Foust
Arne Fremstad
M. Hanson
Gregory Heinz
B. Herman
Jeffrey Hett
James Isbell (secretary)
R. Johnson
F. Kratochvill
Gary Paulson
Dave Pearson
Cavalier Band – Director: Mr. Krause
Joey Amberg
Diane Amo
M. Grassl
Greg Heine
Cavalier Choir –
L. Bentzen
L. Downs
Sue Gullikson
J. Haldeman
P. Hoffman
S. Jacobson
K. King
Colette LaMere
M. Ruff
C. Townsend
R. Turner
Robert Maas, Industrial & Technical
Jeffrey Rood
Daniel Schaub
D. Shepherd (vice president)
I. Sheppard
G. Short
J. Short
S. Skaaland
M. Leick
Mary Metzke
Sharon Pionke
M. Ruff
Chi Alpha Chi – Advisor: John Syverson – Graphic & Applied Arts
Allan Behringer
Anna Berry
Ann Conrad
John Gresens
Bruce Hammes
Greg Heine
Marilyn Ingraham
Rae Kaiser
Steve Kiedrowski
Colette LaMere
Janice Lewan
Su Ann Ludwigson
Chi Sigma Chi – Advisor: Miss Dunn
L. Aspenson (secretary)
Mary Burch
J. Carr
L. Dagrud (officer)
S. Garbers
P. Kratt (co-secretary)
Demencio Mendez (president)
Mary Metzke
Joyce Mousel
Michael Ojanpera
B. Olson
Laura Rochon
P. Jackson (vice president)
S. Lindsay
D. Tryggestad
G. Smith
S. Smith
C. Stroeh
Terry Teed (president)
Francis Walske
Richard Zidich
Deborah Thums
J. Weeden
Amy Weitzenkamp
Sharon Zillmer
Harlan Schlitter
Norman Scoville
Vicki Snyder
Deborah Thums
Elizabeth Volkert
K. Welch
K. Wieland (treasurer)
Circle K – Club Advisor: Robert Olson, Curriculum Coordinator
(Circle K International, a subdivision of Kiwanis International, was officially chartered into existence at WWTI on December 2, 1971.
La Crosse Kiwanis President Ted Shepard presented the Circle K banner, gong, gavel, and flags to Jim Murray.
Robert Olson was presented with the advisor pin.)
Patrick Boltik
S. Dascher
Lola Emerson
D. Fryseth
L. Greene
E. Jacobson
(board of directors)
L. Kondrow
D. Mauss
Jim Murray
D. Schendel
Linda Weber
T. Woychik (director)

Data Processing – Club Advisor: Donald Mundinger, Data Processing
S. Carley (vice president)
D. Casper (treasuer)
T. Doers
J. McCauley
C. Peterson
N. Stalhiem
C. Towsend (president)
DECA – Club Advisors: Pamela Stern, Business Education Instructor, and
S. Anderson, Student Advisor
Marvin Bringe
Stanley Burggraf (president)
D. Cole
M. Crean
Frank DeNovi (state DECA
president)
D. Eggum
Michael Faust
M. Gleiter
Kenneth Greene
V. Griffiths
K. Haima
Rhonda Halvorson (historian)
S. Hanson
N. Harris
Delta Gamma Phi – Advisor: Annette Niederkorn, Librarian
B. Bachmann
Genell Berget
D. Bozart (treasurer)
Jacquelyn Brown
L. Christen
D. Day
M. Fischer
M. Johns
D. Heram
J. Jansen
K. Kummer
M. Kunes
J. Latimer
K. Markos
E. Mashlan
Gary Pischke
M. Lennox
Kathy Levendoski
vice president)
Susan Levendoski
C. Peterson
Drama Club (a newly created club) – Club Advisor: Thomas Gschwind, General Education
Allan Behringer
Anna Berry
Ann Conrad (business
manager)
M. Gleiter
S. Gleiter
John Gresens
Bruce Hammes
Greg Heine
Marilyn Ingraham
Colette LaMere
Janice Lewan
Demencio Mendez
Joyce Mousel
B. Olson
B. Schmitz
Future Secretaries of America – Advisor: Mary Bantle, Business Education Instructor
B. Anderson
S. Bardeen
J. Barto
D. Christianson
B. Connor
L. Derr
C. Dwyer
Cynthia Fredrickson
Health Occupations – Club Advisor:
L. Becwor
K. Cota
J. Dunsworth
P. Errthum
D. Felling
P. Gorkowski
Sue Gullikson (treasurer)
J. Haldeman
J. Hauswirth
M. Hoffman
K. Kadrmas
L. Koll
Harriet Kowalski
M. Goldsborough
I. Hurt (secretary)
N. Kanikula
D. Stecker
M. Lennox
D. Lind
Linda Neuman
P. Pendleton
Brenda Richmond
D. Rude
J. Schroeder
Colleen Schumacher
V. Steine
P. Stuart
R. Turner
Linda Weber
Debra Rosendahl (historian)
J. Schaefer (chapter treasurer
and State W.W. Regional
Vice President)
Kathy Smith
M. Squier (parliamentarian)
Dennis Staskal
S. Stinson
J. Rezabek
N. Stalhiem
E. Vogt (parliamentarian)
L. Wheeler
C. Schmitz
Norman Scoville
Elizabeth Volkert
K. Ware
D. Weix
Sue Schumacher (president)
M. Smith
Sherry Stenerson
A. Thielker
L. Wheeler
J. Wrobel (vice president)

Inter Greek Council – Advisor: Richard Hoeft, Student Personnel Services
L. Asperson
Patrick Boltik
Michael Faust
N. Harris
M. Johns
P. Kratt
Kathy Levendoski
(secretary-treasurer)
G. Moldenhauer
Newspaper – Club Advisor: Thomas Gschwind, General Education Instructor, and
Philip Brochhausen, Graphic & Applied Arts
M. Bonnie
J. Grim
J. Persick
S. Sobotta
B. Chitko
H. Harrington
Sharon Pionke
A. Thielker
P. Currier
M. Kunes (editor)
I. Schilling
C. Townsend
J. Duda
T. Olson
Outing Club – Advisors: Linda Hamilton, Mathematics Instructor,
John Hamilton, General Education, and
Karen Anderson (historian)
Julie Bayne (secretary)
Allan Behringer
Anna Berry
Paul Currier
G. Faas
Robert Berry, General Education
Michael Faust
S. Gitten
D. Hartzheim
Greg Heine
P. Hoffman
Marilyn Ingraham
Rae Kaiser
Demencio Mendez
Mary Metzke
Joyce Mousel (president)
Photo Club – Club Advisor: Gordon Johnson, Graphic and Applied Art
D. Ash
M. Bonnie
Paul Currier (president)
G. Guidice (vice president)
Bruce Hammes
Colette LaMere (secretary)
Demencio Mendez
Resident Hall Council – Club Advisor: Richard Hoeft, Student Personnel Services
C. Brocker
L. Gilchrist
T. Hoffman
L. Kondro (president)
T. Woychik (secretary)
Gary Pischke (vice president)
J. Rezabek
Dennis Staskal (president)
D. Nelson
Michael Ojanpera
(vice president)
L. Riniker
Vicki Snyder
Elizabeth Volkert
Tau Iota Upsilon – Club Advisors: John Bigley, General Education Instructor, and
Bruce Merrill, School Stores Manager
B. Anderson
Michael Faust
T. Johnson
Mark Stach
C. Axness
Paul Foellmi
M. Kunes
Dennis Staskal
R. Bakkum
Steven Hanson
Steven Lundsten
Paul Tandy
K. Barness
N. Harris
T. Ormson
L. Tydrich
Stanley Burggraf
S. Haug (treasurer)
Paul Peterson
John Weissenberger
Dennis Craig
R. Heuer
D. Simek (sergeant at arms) J. Wojcik
Steven Devine (secretary) Blair Hill
R. Simpson
Gary Wolfe
R. Dwyer
Brent Hill
Stan Smith
James Woychik
E. Erickson
K. Hoverud
Ralph Solberg
(vice president)
David Erlandson
David Johnson (president) M. Squier
Vet’s Club
(The Vet’s Club provides information on benefits to qualified students with the
status of 180 days of active duty in any branch of the United States service.)

Wisconsin Office Education Club – Club Advisors: Mary Bantle, Future Secretary’s Association,
Donald Mundinger, Data Processing Club, and
Glenn Davis Accounting Club
Ms. Carroll, Advisor
(The Wisconsin Office Education Association (WOEA) postsecondary members are students in accounting, secretarial
science, data processing, and similar careers in the school. The WOEA is the parent organization of branch organizations
in the various business majors offered at WWTI.)
B. Anderson
J. Anderson
K. Anderson
Balmer
G. Bardeen
P. Boltik (vice president)
J. Borto
D. Casper
Sandy Clements
Connor
L. Derr
C. Dwyer
Eggen (secretary)
Ekberg
C. Fredrickson
(state
parliamentarian)
P. Gorkowski
S. Guenther
S. Gullikson
B. Gumbert (historian)
K. Hadley
J. Hauswirth
M. Hoffman
In 1971-1972 events in the Auditorium included . . .
1971
August 5
K. Kadrmas
D. Kastenschmidt
L. Koll
H. Kowalski
M. Lennox
D. Lind
A. Murphy (treasurer)
Jim Murray
(state vice president)
L. Neuman (president)
P. Pendleton
C. Peterson
B. Richmond
D. Rude
B. Schmity
C. Schmity
J. Schroeder
Sue Schumacher
L. Sheeler
M. Smith
N. Stalhiem
A. Thielker
C. Townsend
J. Wrobel
The “First” Summer Commencement Exercise – The first summer graduating class was held in
the Coleman Auditorium, and was the first at WWTI since the start of the quarter system, which
permitted year-round school operation, the fourth quarter of each school year being the summer
quarter. Ninety-seven students completed work for vocational diplomas in Electronic Servicing,
Mechanical Drafting, Practical Nursing, Printing, Refrigeration Servicing, Ward Clerk, and
Business Education.
Vinson R. Simpson, Jr., executive vice president of the Trane Company, was the main
commencement speaker. Simpson’s address to the graduates was “Your Contribution.”
Prior to the evening commencement ceremony, the Health Occupations Division held a tea in
the Roy E. Kumm Building for friends and relatives of graduating health occupations students.
At this tea, the practical nurse graduates were presented their pins and caps. The Ward Clerk
graduates received pins.
September 27 The Coulee Region Kiwanis Club presented its first show of the season, taking viewers on an
arm-chair trip through British Columbia.
September 28 A public hearing was held on the proposed 1972 budget. The proposed budget totaled
$3,455,000 (about 21 percent more than for 1971).
October 14 The first of two general aviation pilot improvement programs was offered. Free of charge, the
program included discussion of flight service station functions and services, federal air
regulations and chart interpretation, and preflight of pilot and airplane. Cosponsored by the
Wisconsin Department of Transportations’ division of aeronautics and the Federal Aviation
Agency, the program was one of 14 to be conducted in the state during October and November.
The second program was scheduled for February/March.
December 15 The newly created Drama Club presented a Christmas play, “The Night Santa Made the Scene”.
It was acclaimed a tremendous success.]
1972
February 9
February 10
February 11
The Drama Club presented three one-act plays:
� Impromptu,
� Sorry, Wrong Number
� Red Carnations

February 20 The Stoughton Senior High School Norwegian Dancers of Stoughton, Wisconsin, performed on
stage. The group, eighteen dancers accompanied by two accordionists, were considered to be
the finest Norwegian Folk Dance group in the United States. Their program featured authentic
costumes from Norway and the best of Norwegian folk dances.
March 21 Safety Day Film
April 7 American Tea Company, a five-man electrical band with a mog synthesizer, put on a fantastic
concert. It was the first rock band to play in the school auditorium
April 27 “Trash of the Thirties” a hilarious comedy concert and proclaimed as one of the top college
concerts was staged during Spring Fling. The auditorium was magically transformed into a
fabulously gaudy movie and vaudeville palace of the 1930’s for this spectacular show.
May 1972 Awards Day – Extracurricular and Departmental Award
Extracurricular Awards
Awards for students who have done much to benefit themselves and the school outside of their own department.
The students receiving the award were:
Anna Berry
Patrick Boltik
Linda Brown
Stanley Burggraf
Sandy Clements
Steven Fanta
Cynthia Fredrickson
Debra Granger
Kenneth Greene
Greg Heine
Russel Hellwig
Linda Hilgers
Melodie Jahns
Kathy Levendoski
Janice Lewan
John Malin
Demencio Mendez
Joyce Mousel
Jim Murray
Dennis Sang
Sue Schumacher
Elizabeth Volkert
Commercial Art
Accounting
Medical Laboratory Technician
Marketing
Accounting
Feeds, Seed-Retailing
Secretarial Science-Medical
Secretarial Science-Legal
Marketing
Commercial Art
Air Conditioning
Fashion Merchandising
Interior Design
Interior Design
Commercial Art
Feeds, Seed and Farm Supplies
Commercial Art
Commercial Art
Accounting
Electronics
Secretarial Science-Medical
Commercial
Departmental Awards
Awards given to the students who have helped to contribute to the success of their department.
The awards were given to students in the Associate Degree and Vocational Diploma programs.
Vicki Aiken
Barbara Ambrosius
Beverly Anderson
David Anderson
Marvin Bringe
Terry Burkum
Steven Fanta
Richard Fox
Cynthia Fredrickson
Jacqueline Guidice
James Gnewikow
Richard Hammelman
John Koenig
Linda Lee
Sylvia Mashak
Demencio Mendez
Nolan Nelsestuen
Bruce Olsen
Terry Teed
ASSOCIATE DEGREE VOCATIONAL DIPLOMA
Medical Laboratory Technician
Interior Design
Secretarial Science
Automotive
Marketing
Air Conditioning
Feeds, Seed and Farm Supplies
Electronics
Secretarial Science-Medical
Data Processing
Marketing-Food Merchandising
Accounting
Power-Electrical
Marketing-Fashion
Merchandising
Secretarial Science-Legal
Graphics-Commercial Art
Marketing-Retailing
Chemicals and Fertilizers
Mechanical Design
Karen Alberts
Joey Amberg
Susanne Brudos
Linda Bruege
William Foust
Carl Franksen
George Guidice
Carl Graf
Barbara Koeller
Randy Miller
Theresa Passe
Emerson Peckham
David Polodna
Barbara Reedich
Michael Seits
Sherry Stenerson
Mark S. Stenulson
Richard Swenson
Linda Weber
Patricia Zilk
Business Machines
Data Processing Machine
Operator
Apparel Arts
Dental Assistant
Drafting
Machine Tool Operation
Printing
Refrigeration Servicing
Operating Room Assistant
Auto Mechanics
Practical Nursing (March)
Wood Technics (two-year)
Electronic Servicing
Medical Assistant
Food-Institutional
Clerk Typist
Wood Technics
Auto Body
Practical Nursing (August)
Electroencephalograph
Assistant

May 11
May 12
May 13
Certificates of Appreciation
Certificates of Appreciation were presented to 9 persons who rendered service/support to the school.
- Louis Schlaver of Schlaver Seed Farms (then located in rural Sparta, Wisconsin.) Agriculture instructors
used his farm for demonstration purposes and tours.
- Richard and Dale Olson, co-owners of the Ivy Motel (then located at 232 North 6 th Street at the corner of 6 th
and Vine Streets across from the Coleman Building) for permitting the use of the Ivy as a laboratory for
teaching housekeeping procedures.
- Ivan Peltier of Quality Auto Products (then located at 129 Vine Street in La Crosse) for putting in many hours
helping with equipment for new areas, and arranging factory seminars and demonstrations.
- Don Jobe, Assistant Controller of UOP Norplex (then located at 1309 Norplex Drive, La Crosse) as a
contributing member of the Accounting Advisory Committee. A graduate of WWTI, he has taught in the
evening school Accounting program and was speaker for 1971 orientation of new students.
- Edith Halverson, manager of Jeffrey’s (then located at 409 Main Street) and a member of the Marketing
Department advisory board for service on the board and for contributing clothes for the fashion show
sponsored by the Fashion Merchandising students.
- Ed Collins, Personnel Manager of National Cash Register in West Salem for his help in the Secretarial
Department
- Robert Sierp, president of Management Computer Services (then located at 1717 St. James Street in La
Crosse) for his service on both the local and state data processing advisory boards.
- Paul Schweke, Riverland Sports (then located at 6 th and State Streets in La Crosse) for services provided to
the Athletic department.
- Ken Hutson of Hutson Advertising Agency (then located at 224 South 7 th Street in La Crosse) for teaching
advertising in the evening school classes and for assisting students in state marketing competitions.
The Drama Club wound up its 1971-72 season with the old-fashioned melodrama, “The Curse of
an Aching Heart or Trapped in the Spider’s Web.” The audience had a good time cheering the
good guys and booing the bad guy at the vaudeville-like comedy. The cast included Greg
Heine as Windemere Hightower; Allan Behringer who humorously played Lucious Goodenough;
Anna Berry who played the heroine, Melody Lane. Other performers included Bernice Schmitz
and Norm Scoville playing Sara and Hirem Abernathy; Tina Strickland and George Guidice
playing their beautiful daughter and long lost son; Debbie Granger who played the mysterious
Indian maiden Red Wing; Jane McGrath playing the town busy body Nellie Blythe; and Melody
Johns playing Muriel Atkins, Hightower’s partner in crime. Behind the scenes were Demencio
Mendez who designed the elaborate set, the posters, and the programs; Joyce Mousel and
Betty Volkert who worked on lights, make-up and the set; Jerry Severson and Dwight Fryseth,
the sound and lighting men; and Bev Olson and Ann Conrad who took care of the elaborate
costumes. Robert Sullivan and Thomas Gschwind were the director-advisors for the players.

Part V (Continued)
The possibility of merging the UW System and the Vocational-Technical System was frequently at the
forefront. It was thought that programs were duplicated, that the missions of both institutions were
similar, and that merging the education systems would be cost-effective.
It was realized, however, that any merger would result in the domination of the Vocational-Technical
System by the UW System as each have two different types and styles of education.
In September of 1972, the District Board opposed the “broadening of the University of Wisconsin System
mission to include associate degree vocational-technical work”.
In 1972-1973 . . .
The 1972-73 nonresident tuition rates were: Full-time students enrolled in full-time programs–$515 per
academic year; and for students enrolled in Other Programs–$1.00 per hour of enrollment.
In the fall of 1972, a three-year Production Agriculture program, a vocational-type instructional program, was
initiated for the farmers actually tilling the soil. Walter Weihrouch, Chairman of the Agriculture Division,
indicated that the “agriculture picture in the WWTI District is changing rapidly as in other rural areas of the
United States. Farms are becoming larger and more mechanized. More capital is required to keep up with
the times, and farm operators must be more technically skilled and business oriented to make their operation
profitable.” The decision was made to start the program after discussing it with county service officers, county
agents and high school agriculture instructors. Students attended 12 hours of classroom instruction each
week for 44 weeks. The week was divided into one 6-hour day class and two 3-hour evening classes. Three
instructors were hired to teach on a rotational basis: Arthur Brieske, as head of the Production Agriculture
Department; Buel Dull to instruct in crops and soils; and Wilbert Hutchens to instruct in farm machinery and
welding courses.
September 11, 1972 – At 12 o’clock noon on that day, the total enrollment at WWTI for the fall quarter of the
1972-1973 school year was 3, 192 students, with 414 of those returning as second-year students.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
September 29-30, 1972 – A meeting of the Wisconsin Distributive Education Association (DECA) chapter
officers was held at Lake Delton, Wisconsin. The meetings and workshops provided members the opportunity
to exchange ideas with other students from all over the State of Wisconsin. Guest speaker Lee Snapp of
WLCS Radio, La Crosse, spoke on the importance of radio in today’s society and that the “Golden Age of
Radio” is happening today. Another speaker was Linda Hilgers, a 1972 marketing program graduate and
employed by the Hutson Advertising Agency (224 South 7 th Street, La Crosse).
Those attending the Leadership Seminar from WWTI were Gary Bathke, chapter president; Dennis Staskel,
chapter vice president; Sue Stinson, chapter historian; Kathy Markos, chapter secretary; Mary Mored, chapter
treasurer; Michelle Crean, Kathy Smith, Cathy Clark, Sue Gullickson, Bob Nuemaier, Steve Flint, Richard
Krumholtz, Pat Zollthesis, Dwayne Heram, and advisors Diane Whiteford and Jeff Naill.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
September 29 – October 1, 1972 – WWTI’s fourth annual Fall Leadership Seminar r was held at Lutherhaven in
Dakota, Minnesota. Issues discussed were Student Government, Student Participation, Sources of
Frustration and Conflict of Students with the School, and Student Involvement. The students attended a
parliamentary procedure and officer sessions. Each of the students were involved in personal evaluation,
encounter sessions, creative sessions, group dynamics and recreation. Those attending the seminar were:
Neil Harris, Evan Erickson, Tom Greathouse, Dan Golz, Dennis Gracomino, Gerald Johnston, Roger Burgoo,
Kathy Levendoski, Lori Stull, Patsy Freeman, Ron Mannel, Jackie Nowicki, Garry Faas, Kathy Krachow, Patty
Pendleton, Stan

Smith, Linda Busshardt, Barb Nichols, Susan Dwyer, Jane Welsch, Debbi Granger, Mark Gilles, David Roberts,
John Grosskopf, and David Johnson.
October 1972 –Clinton Knutson was employed as the new Financial Aid Officer at WWTI. In this position, he
was involved in administering all state and district monies made available to students in the Financial Aid
Program, including Grants, Work-Study and Student Loans.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Oktoberfest 1972 – The 1972 Oktoberfest officially began Wednesday, October 4, with the invocation by Rabbi
Elliott Katz, who called for a spirit of brotherhood and love to reign over the festivities. Activities began with the
annual Festmaster’s Parade through downtown La Crosse. A fence painting contest drew to a close on
October 4 with the judging based on the theme of “Nostalgic Heros of Yesterday”. Students involved in fence
painting were William Baxter, Ron Mannel, Mike Meyers, William Horschak, Tom Stone, Sheldon Reed, Tom
Greathouse, Keith King, Tim Mitchell, Glenn Dalaney, and Steve Sahrte. Other activities included huge
Mapleleaf Parade, in which the WWTI “Casey Jones” float placed top honors, and a torch light parade.
The WWTI Casey Jones creation was fantastic and one of the highlights of the Maple Leaf Parade. The WWTI
Oktoberfest float won the Festmaster’s Award for the fifth time. “Casey Jones” choo-choo train float won the
Festermaster’s Award again to the theme of “Homespun Heroes of History . . .Happy Heritage for Young and
Old.” The float was a huge three-part toy train that chugged down the two-mile parade route. The students
and faculty in Commercial Art and Wood Technics made the winning float. Animation seemed to be the key in
winning. This year, Casey’s head was made to turn left and right to view the thousands parade goers as he
steered the blinking engine. The entire train also swerved from one side of the crowded street to the other.
The float is a 100 percent student project, with the commercial students under John Syverson’s direction, doing
the construction of framework; auto mechanics students, under Stanley Meyer, providing the mobile chassis;
and welding students, under the direction of George Hinkley, providing mechanical work on trailer hitches and
other parts. Once again, after weeks of hard work and fun, the efforts of the Float builders were acclaimed by
all of WWTI for the construction of the 1972 First Place Festmaster’s Award winning Oktoberfest Float!
This year, former Director John B. Coleman led the float riding on a festive decorated truck that was labeled
“John Coleman’s WWTI Polka Band.” The sound for this unit was provided by William Welch, Sr., Industrial
Division Chairman. The young musicians added a Bavarian touch to the line of march. The students in the
Polka Band, under Director Don Krause, were Ray Soucheck, Carroll Garvin, Sue Koelbl, Carol Ruff, Susan
Holte, Brian Berg, and Ronny Colf.
In the Torchlight Parade, the WWTI Pom Pom Squad led the parade.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
November 1972 – Mary Althaus, a 1973 graduate pf the Commercial Art Associate Degree program was
featured in “The Line of Grace” advertisement on page 223 of the November, 1972 issue of “Good
Housekeeping” magazine.
In November 1972, the WWTI Players presented “The Curious Savage”, by John Patrick. The play, a comedy,
centers on Mrs. Savage, the main character who was an extremely wealthy older woman who lost her husband
and was committed to “The Cloisters” by her greedy children. Marilyn Kepler played Mrs. Savage. Other
characters included: two sons, Titus and Samuel, and a daughter, Lily Belle. Dennis Sturdevant, Mike
Kennedy, and Nancy Clanton played the roles, respectively. The play centered on the Cloisters’ institution, a
place of residence for the abnormal. There were five patients who lived at the institution. Florence, a woman
who had lost her son and replaced him with a doll. Hannibal, a very, very amateur violin player, who was once
a professional – he lost his talent and senses. Another patient, Fairy May, who told everyone to beware of the
night and not to sleep because of tomorrow. The next patient was Jefferey, a young man who was shot down
in the war – he always covered up an imaginary scar; and Mrs. Paddy, a chronic electricity saver. Maureen
Folsom, Tom Stone, Brenda Becker, Bert Eldridge and Karen Brommer played these characters, respectively.
Dan White played the respectable Doctor Emmett of the institution; and Susan Wenning played Miss
Wilhelmina, the nurse. It was reported, “this was indeed a good play, not only for the production, but for the
lesson it teaches us – an excellent example of human nature.”

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
November 1972 – Agri-Business Scholarships. Six students at WWTI were among 36 high school graduates
receiving Center Exchange Foundation scholarships as part of a continuing education program. They were:
� Ronald H. Severson of Trempealeau, a first-year student in the Feed, Seed and Farm Supply Associate Degree program;
� Tom Bennett, Lancaster, Wisconsin, a second-year student in the Chemicals and Fertilizer Associate Degree program;
� Sheila J. Higgins, La Crosse, a second-year student in the Feed, Seed and Farm Supply Associate Degree program;
� Robert P. Manke, Bangor, Wisconsin, a second-year student in the Chemicals and Fertilizers Associate Degree program;
� John C. Malin, Genoa, Wisconsin, a second-year student in the Dairy Equipment, Material Handling and Farm Buildings Associate
Degree program;
� Dale Servais, La Crosser, a second-year student in the Dairy Equipment, Material Handling and Farm Buildings Associate Degree
program.
The individual scholarships last the length of the course, with a maximum of $600 payable over two years.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
November 1, 1972 – The annual installation banquet for Future Secretaries of America was held at the Party
House (then located on Route 3, La Crosse). Invocation was given by Mrs. Arlene Omodt. Gen Gordon,
president of the Badger Chapter of NSA, gave the welcome. The response was presented by Barbara Nichols,
president of the Coleman Chapter of FSA. Miss Charlotte Sherman presented the $100 NSA Scholarship
Award to Vickie Stanek, of Wonewoc, Wisconsin, a second-year Medical Secretary program. Guest speaker
for the banquet was Father Thomas Finucan, president of Viterbo College. He spoke on the “Importance of the
Individual”.
November 2, 1972 – Second Annual Safety Day. All classes were recessed for the event at the regular class
break at ten minutes to 11 a.m. All staff and students were asked to attend, as safety is of vital importance to
all and in line with long-established vocational education practice of teaching and observing safety on the job.
November 7, 1972 – Presidential Election Day. Richard Nixon and Steve McGovern
November 11, 1972 – Twenty students from the La Crosse Chapter of DECA attended the fall regional banquet
held in Madison at the “Left Guard”. The purpose of the fall banquet was to elect a regional vice president.
(The newly elected regional vice president was a member of the Fennimore Chapter.) Officers from the La
Crosse Chapter who attended were Kathy Markos, secretary; Jackie Jensen, parliamentarian; Gary Bathke,
president; and Denny Staskal, vice president.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
On November 16, 1972, the WWTI Band held a concert. The concert was rated “a success!” A drawing was
held that included people who bought a ticket to the concert and were present to claim the prize. Tickets were
a quarter a piece or five for one dollar. During the intermission three people were awarded pizza from The
Pizza Hut. After the concert, the drawing for turkeys was held and three attendees were winners of turkeys
donated by Quillin’s IGA. The winners of the pizzas and turkeys were given certificates for presenting to the
place of business to receive their prize.
The winners of a pizza from The Pizza Hut were Fred Johnson, Mrs. Florence Beals, and Lori Stull. The
drawing took place at intermission and was done by the help of Band Director Krause’s son.
After the concert, the drawing for the turkeys was held. The winners of the turkeys which were from Quillin’s
IGA were: Fred Johnson, Dawn Wood and David Anderson. This drawing was done with the help of Band
Director Krause’s daughter.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
December 2, 1972 – A Christmas Party was held for all members of WOEA (Wisconsin Office Education
Association) and guests at the Party House (then located on Route 3, La Crosse). A cocktail hour preceded
the dinner. Door prizes were awarded to Dwight Johnson, Eva Miller, Dan Nelson, Dave Johnson, Peter
Walhstrom and Dennis Kuester. There was entertainment following the dinner. And, a good time was had by
all . . .

December 4, 1972 was set-aside for the beginning of Homecoming activities – Homecoming WWTI Style.
Homecoming 1972-1973 court included: Queen Kathy Levendoski, King Stan Smith, Patsy Freeman, Bruce
Hammes, Mary Kuran, Rick Bakkum, Debbie. Knapp, Randy Knadle, Jane Mendell and Tim Mitchell. Among
the events of Homecoming was Honky Tonk 50’s Days. Activities included:
� On December 4 at 12 noon, the king and queen and their court were presented noon in a kick-off ceremony
in the cafeteria. Members of the team gave pep talks. The band, cheerleaders and pom pom girls
entertained.
� On December 5 – It all started out with a medallion hunt on Tuesday, December 5. Medallion contest
winners were Art Hass, Joe Sheffer, Steve Hatchcock, and Kendal Harvey – all Printing Program students.
� It was also Honky Tonk 50’s Day. Students dressed up in clothes from the 50’s. Judging of the far out
costumes of the 50’s was based on originality and appropriateness to the 50’s. There were two prizes for
each, the girls and the guys. First prize in each category was $10 and the second prize was $5.
� December 6, a Pep Rally began about 6 p.m. around the fountain area and featured lighting of the W’s.
There were pep talks followed by a snake dance led by the cheerleaders. From there, they went to Mary
Sawyer Auditorium (5 th and Vine Streets) for the homecoming game against the Blue Jays of Milwaukee.
The Blue Jays defeated the Cavaliers 93-76. At the half-time, there was a mini parade, and the
announcement of the King Stan Smith and Queen Kathy Levendoski and their court followed by the Grand
March of the Court. Mini float winners were Chi Alpha Chi first place showing a caricature with a mop hold
a sign that read: Mop Up the Bluejays”. The Delta Gamma Phi Sorority and TIU Fraternity tied for second
place. The TIU float had a gory surgical theme.
� December 7 an Alumni Social for the Faculty. There were door prizes of $15, $10, and $5 for the oldest,
and furthest, and newest alumni.
� The final event, Thursday evening December 7, a Homecoming Dance was held at the Concordia Hall
(1129 La Crosse Street, La Crosse) from 8 p.m. to midnight. Music was by the Stormy Monday (brass)
Band. Admission was $75 for singles and $1.25 for couples. The theme of this formal or semi-formal
dance was “Nights in White Satin.” Crowning of the King and Queen (the Exchange Coronation) by last
year’s royalty, George Guidice and Colette La Mere, took place at 10:30 p.m. John Bigley, General
Education Instructor, was Master of Ceremonies. A door prize certificate for a Bell and Howell Cassette
Player-Recorder was awarded to Ruth Nutt, a 1970 PN graduate.
Winning the door prize, a Bell and Howell Howell Cassette Player-Recorder, donated by Teen Electronic, was
Ruth Nutt, a 1970 Practical Nursing graduate. Also winning a pizza this time was one of the chaperones.
Annette Niederkorn had the lucky number.
Besides King Stan Smith and Queen Kathy Levendoski (sponsored by the Delta Gamma Phi sorority), other
couples who ran for the crowns were Randy Knadle and Patsy Freeman (sponsored by the Pom Pom Girls),
Rick Bakkum and Debbie Knapp (sponsored by Alpha Sigma Beta), and Bruce Hammes and Mary Kuran
(sponsored by the Outing Club).
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
In December 1972 – Christmas in the Air. The WWTI Brass Choir and Carolers presented “A Musical Holiday
Greeting” on radio station WWLA-FM 93.3. Donald D. Krause directed the choir and carolers in two
performances: one on December 19 and the other on December 21.
A Christmas Card, commissioned by District Director Richardson and Donald (Chick) Meinert had a drawing of
the main La Crosse Vocational School along with a message that read: Open doors for anyone requiring
career training since 1912. The card was designed by Virginia Woehlert and produced under the supervision
and craftsmanship of Toby Hendrickson, Philip Brochhausen, Gordon Johnson and Delmar Brown of our
Graphics Communications department. The card was printed in three colors: red, gold and black on the front
side and two colors of red and black on the inside.
An all-staff project was the lighting of the Christmas Tree. A 20-foot –tall Christmas Tree was produced by the
Welding Department under the direction of George Hinkley. The lighted “W” was produced by Ansel Heram’s
Wood Technics class. Design of the tree and “W” were by Donald (Chick) Meinert, and Philip Thaldorf was
responsible for getting the 500 blue lights on the tree, and yellow lights behind the “W” to stay lit.

The “W” symbolizing Western Wisconsin Technical Institute’s initials, was lit during Homecoming on December
6 to welcome alumni to the campus. The Christmas Tree was lit at the close of Homecoming on December 9 to
signify the start of the Holiday Season.
The Tree and the “W” remained lit through January 6, the Twelfth Night following Christmas.
In January 1973, the Cavalcade Newpaper held a Cartoon Contest. Karen Elwood, a first year Commercial Art
student, was awarded first prize (a $14 set of acrylics) that she won.
1973 – WWTI Staff Names in the News:
� Thomas Gschwind, Communication Skills Instructor, demonstrated his theatrical expertise in the La Crosse
Community Theatre’s production of “The Cherry Orchard”. The story takes place in 19 th century Russia,
and Tom played Yasha, a valet, in the play.
� Also in that cast was Bruce Merrill, who works in School Stores of Shipping and Receiving. Bruce played
a postal clerk and milled about the crowd as well.
Advertising in 1973 held fast and strong to the slogan “Education That Works For You”.
January 1973, Mr. Robert Sullivan was appointed Night School Supervisor for the remainder of the 1972-73
school year.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
January 2, 1973 – An article about Placement Director Harold Motschenbacher was published in the Kiwanis
“Growler” following a speaking engagement for that organization. The article, in part, read:
“A demanding sales job, that’s how Harold Motschenbacher described being the Placement Director of
WWTI. …He told of contacting employers and encouraging them to hire WWTI graduates. He told of
selling students on job opportunities most favorable to them; and, when possible, of convincing them to
get work in their home communities or, at least, to stay in this area which provided their education…”
As a result of his speaking engagement, “Motsch” reported that he received four outright offers of jobs
for students.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
In January 1973, Community Services was established as an administrative unit. Community Services was
charged with the responsibility to find the educational needs of and to provide educational opportunities for all
the adult residents of the district. Community Services staff were located strategically throughout the district
and were responsible for adult and continuing education classes at local district high schools in the
communities outside of La Crosse. Western Wisconsin Technical Institute broadened its outreach by
establishing five regional community service centers responsible for adult and continuing education classes at
27district high school. Community Services Centers were located in Arcadia, serving the northwest portion of
the district; at Viroqua, covering the south sector; at Mauston for the east area, at Sparta for the northeast
portion; and at
La Crosse for the west part of the district centered at WWTI.
January 16, 1973 – Armed Service Career Information Day. The first annual Armed Service Information Day
was held in the Student Lounge of the Roy E. Kumm Building. Male and female representatives of the U.S.
Navy, Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps were manning tables with career information, literature, etc. They
also answered questions that anyone had regarding the new double salary increases and other benefits which
might be had by graduates of WWTI.
January 19, 1973 – The second annual Printer’s Banquet was held at Ninos Steak House in honor of National
Printing Week (January 14 – 20). Torval (Toby) Hendrickson, Associate Chairman of the Graphics
Department, introduced Tad Froncek of the Oscar Mayer Company in Madison, Wisconsin. Froncek spoke on
attitudes in the graphics field and presented a slide series on the creation of a package design. He told how
approximately 50 comprehensive layouts were prepared by his art department to make a single design for a
package of Oscar Mayer franks. In addition, he spoke on the future laser beam system that would be used in
stores at the check out counter. The system would eliminate the cash registrar by using a special code on
each of the items purchased. Gordon Johnson, Graphics chairperson and banquet chairman, presented
prizes to those attending. First prize went to Laura Rochon, a second-year Commercial Artist. Second prize
went to Debby Schroeder. Two large Oscar Mayer characters, Little Oscar and a hotdog, were won by Barb
Czechoweicz and Mike Walter.

January 25, 1973 – “Food Service Occupations” was featured on WKBT Channel 8, La Crosse. Linda Hilgers
of the Ken Advertising Agency (224 South 7 th Street, La Crosse) interviewed Barbara Walter, Chair of the Home
Economics Division. CESA 11 and WWTI sponsored the cooperative educational series.
February 1973 -- Fuel Oil Rationing. Nationally, the fuel shortage was predicted. Gas and oil were the fuels in
short demand around the country. Coal was as abundant as ever, but most buildings were no longer equipped
to burn coal. WWTI was informed by its fuel oil supplier that the oil supply for the school would be rationed
through the month of February. They were allocated between 30,000 and 32,000 gallons of fuel for the period
through February, a time when the school normally uses 36,000 gallons. In an effort to conserve fuel oil, it was
suggested that all thermostats be set no higher than 68 degrees, and that all exterior doors be closed whenever
possible.
February 1973 – Student Book Exchange Started. The Vets Club, led by Dick Johnson and Steve Baush and
backed by the Student Senate, initiated the first Annual Student Book Exchange between the second and third
quarters of the 1972-1973 school year. The idea of a book exchange had been bandied around the school for
many years. Students continually complained of exorbitant prices at the Book Store. They complained that
the Book Store did not buy back paperbacks. Dick Johnson of the Vet’s Club came up with a plan for a Book
Exchange that would help students sell books to each other in a manner more reliable that a note on one of the
bulletin boards. The plan was drawn up and passed by the Student Senate and given okay by William
Campbell, Administrator of Student Services. The Book Exchange for buying and selling textbooks took place
in the “Silo” (located at the west end of the Student Lounge in the Kumm Building).
February 4-7, 1973 – National Office Education Week. “Working Students – Proud Citizens” was the theme of
National Office Education Week. In recognition of the La Crosse Chapter of the Wisconsin Office Education
Association at WWTI, Mayor W. Peter Gilbertson issued a proclamation and presented to the Association’s
officers at City Hall.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
February 5-8, 1973 -- Winter Carnival – The theme of the Winter Carnival was “Snow Fantasy”. Winter
Carnival Queen Candidates and their sponsors were: Nancy Stahleim (Delta Gamma Phi); Sandy Clements
(WOEA); Linda Hansen (Outsiders Club); Sharon Pionke (Art Club); Colette La Mere (Alpha Sigma Beta); Linda
Busshardt (Knights of the Round Table); and Patti Page (TIU).
The1973 Sweetheart Court were King Robert. Benedict, Queen Linda. Busshardt. Members of the court were:
George Guidice and Colette LaMere; Mark Squier and Patti Page; Al Herbers and Nancy Stalhiem; and Pat
Gillis and Sharon Pionke.
Activities include a pancake-eating contest in which Paul Geier, Lori Stull and Laura Rochon were the winners,
with Lori and Laura tying for first place. A dance was held at the Concordia Hall at 1129 La Crosse Street.
� Monday, February 5: Voting for Queen, Pancake Eating at noon; Pom Pom vs. Faculty at 7 p.m. and
Bar Night Varsity Club including a Chugging Contest, Dance Contest, and the announcement of the
Queen.
� Tuesday, February 6; Funny Dress Day (dressed as a “Sultan”, Bev Olson was first place winner in
the funny dress contest; Knee Contest at noon; Tug of War at 3 p.m. and evening activities included a
Skating Party, Broom Hockey, and a Movie.
� Wednesday, February 7: Snow and Ice Sculptures; Snowmen Contest; a Pep Rally, an Egg Toss,
and in the evening an early basketball game between the Student All Stars vs. Faculty followed by
WWTI vs. UW-Baraboo.
� Thursday, February 8: A Mural Contest; Sweetheart Dance and coronation of the Queen
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
February 11-17, 1973 – Vocational Education Week. The theme was “Opening Doors to Careers”.
A huge billboard at the La Crosse River Bridge on Lang Drive (between the north and south sides of La Crosse)
carried the message:
NORTH LA CROSSE LUMBER COMPANY
SALUTES “OPENING DOORS TO CAREERS”
AT WESTERN WISCONSIN TECHNICAL INSITUTE.
Carl Iverson of North La Crosse Lumber Company paid for this advertisement.

In February 1973, Clark Van Galder (Corky), a Social Studies teacher, was the winner of the faculty one-on-one
basketball tourney played at the YMCA gym. He defeated Don Nontelle of the English Department in the final
game. Enroute to the finals, Van Galder disposed of Bill Komro, Tim Collins and Clay Pollert. Sixteen
teachers took part in the single elimination contest, the brainchild of Lee Stansbury of the Trade and Industry
Division.
1972-73 Who’s Who – The 1972-73 edition of Who’s Who Among Students in American Junior Colleges
carried the names of the following 32 WWTI students:
Student Program
Steven M. Anderson, West Salem Food Merchandising
Gary E. Bathke, La Crosse General Marketing
Robert T. Benedict, Sparta Electric Power Technology
Thomas E. Bennett, Lancaster Chemicals and Fertilizers
Sandra T. Clements, La Crosse Accounting
Susan J. Dwyer, La Crosse Accounting
Gerald H. Faas, Stoddard Commercial Art
Marty J. Fisher, Wisconsin Dells Interior Design
Maureen A. Folsom, Ripon Medical Laboratory Technician
Leonard L. Gilchrist, Mauston Accounting
Debra J. Granger, Mauston Legal Secretary
Sue E. Gullikson, Onalaska General Marketing
Jeanne A. Hill, La Crosse Medical Secretary
Donald G. Hooverson, Stoddard Data Processing
Randy D. Knadle, Hillsboro Accounting
Colette LaMere Commercial Art
Bruce M. Ladron, Tomah Industrial Electronics Technology
Janice H. Lewan, Thorp Commercial Art
John C. Malin, Genoa Feed, Seed and Farm Supply
Ronald I. Mannel, La Crosse Accounting
Barbara M. Nichols, Sparta Administrative Secretary
Dan Pfaff, Mindoro Air Conditioning and Refrigeration
Sharon M. Pionke, Hancock Commercial Art
Dennis C. Sang, Waupun Industrial Electronics Technology
Jo A. Schaefer, Potosi Fashion Merchandising
Harlan C. Schlitter, Waukon, Iowa Commercial Art
Darlene E. Schneeveis, Athens Interior Design
Linda M. Shldon, Viroqua Data Processing
Nancy J. Stalhiem, Amery Data Processing
Susan K. Stinson, La Crosse Fashion Merchandising and Retailing
Karla J. Weiland, La Crosse Medical Laboratory Technician
Mary K. Westlie, La Crosse Medical Laboratory Technician
March 1, 1973 – Beginning March 1, Parking Lot regulations were enforced. The Staff Parking stickers were
orange and green for parking automobiles on the WWTI parking lots. Student parking stickers were
fluorescent blue with yellow lettering. Cars without stickers would be towed away at the owner’s expense.
In March 1973, the District Board adopted a resolution commending Director John Coleman and conferred upon
him the lifetime honorary title of “Director Emeritus of Western Wisconsin Technical College”.
March 8, 9 and 10, 1973 – Wisconsin Distributive Education Association (WDEA) held its 12 th Annual Career
Marketing Conference in Madison. More than 400 students attended the state conference and participated in
career oriented competitive events which are intended to provide a realistic business-like situation. The
performance of students was rated by more than 80 businessmen who served as judges. Ken Hutson, of the
Hutson Advertising Agency (224 South 7 th Street) served as a judge, and who also was awarded an
Outstanding Service Award. Student awards were presented to the winners in the various competitive events.
� Gary Bathke, first place in Management Decision Operations
� Susan Stinson, first place in Chapter Activities Manual. Sue was also runner-up for WDEA student.
� Jackie Jensen, second place in Training Manual.
� Kathy Markos, second place in Chapter Marketing Improvement.
� Sue Dubach was elected WDEA Secretary.

March 9, 1973 – The Related Art Department presented a Studio Show of Decorative Textiles and Creative
Design. Students in the Apparel Arts and Interior Design exhibited projects they completed for class. In the
decorate textiles area, macramé, latch and punch hooked rugs, hairpin lace afghans, stitchery, needlepoint,
quilts, and crocheted pieces were displayed. Apparel Arts students demonstrated methods of sewing pockets
of various kinds. Others demonstrated the technique of making the bound buttonhole, a mark of quality
tailoring and sewing. Parents of the 85 students involved and the public were invited to the Studio Show to talk
with students and view their creative work. Instructors involved in the Studio Show were Dianne Hoffman,
Gladys McConaughey, Martha O’Donnell, and Honee Randall. Barbara Walter was Chair of the Home
Economics Division.
March 13, 1973 – The La Crosse Dental Auxiliary presented a $100 scholarship to Teresa Meyer of Onalaska,
Wisconsin. The Auxiliary annually awards a $100 scholarship to a one-year dental program student. The
presentation took place during a luncheon at Nino’s Steak Roundup, Inc. (then located at 206 Copeland Avenue
in La Crosse). Linda Porter, Dental Assistant Instructor, spoke on “Trends in Dental Assisting”.
March 16, 1973 —Barbara Scott, Hospitalman Recruit for the U. S. Navy, stationed at the Naval Training Center
in Orlando, Florida, received the American Spirit Honor medal and certificate, the highest individual award
presented to graduating recruits. The medal is awarded to only one recruit of the graduating companies who
has, during her period of training exemplified the American spirit or honor, loyalty, initiative, and comradeship.
Barbara Scott was an August 1971 graduate of the Licensed Practical Nursing program and was employed as
an LPN in hospitals in Eau Claire and La Crosse before enlisting in the U.S. Navy in January of 1973.
March 26, 1973 – The Cavalier Bank wound up their successful year with a great concert. Pizzas from the
Pizza Hut were given away along with quarts of Pepsi Cola.
March 26, 1973 – The Home Economics Division annual in-service seminar was held for part-time and full-time
staff. This seminar was for educators who wished to gain further insight into the relationship between course
content and course evaluation, with activities involving participants in actual learning situations. Drs. Low and
Davis, both nationally recognized home economics presenters, provided training sessions on four consecutive
Monday evenings:
Date Topic Presenter
March 26 People Teachers Dr. Phyllis K. Lowe
April 2 Methods for People Teachers Dr. Phyllis K. Lowe
April 9 A Yardstick for People Dr. Phyllis K. Lowe
April 16 Consumer Education – Technique and Topics Dr. Reba Davis
March 27, 1973 -- A Pick-Up, Clean-Up project was conducted Delta Gamma Phi in which members
Went around the campus and picked up litter.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
March 29-31, 1973 – Twenty-nine WWTI students competed in the 10 th Annual Business Conference of the
Wisconsin Office Education Association (WOEA) held in Waukesha, Wisconsin. Approximately 425 students
from the state technical schools attended. Opening and closing sessions were held at the Marriott Inn, and the
30 competitive events took place at the Waukesha County Technical Institute. WWTI competition winners
included:
� Dave Johnson, 4 th in Extemporaneous Speaking
� La Vonne Olson , 2 nd in Records Management and 2 nd in Typing II
� Linda Sheldon 3 rd in Job Application Data Processing , third in Data Processing II, and second in
Data Processor of the Year
� Kathy Van Camp, 5 th in Typing I
� Judy McMannimon, 6 th in Shorthand I
� Vicky Stanek, 4 th in Machine Transcription II.

WWTI won third in Chapter Display, which included a videotape of the recent Accounting Club seminar. Each
event winner was awarded a plaque. Peggy Allison, advisor of the WOEA and Mary Bantle advisor of the
Future Secretaries Association accompanied the contestants to Waukesha. Other members of the La Crosse
Chapter of WOEA who participated in the state competition were: Dorsey Ames, Sue Dwyer, Debbie Fischer,
Tom Greathouse, Ron Kuecher, Diane Lind, Ron Mannel, Conlee Miller, Barb Nichols, George Pitz, Roger
Stuve, Glen Whiteheaad, and Jean Wrobel.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
April 1973 – The first annual Photo Contest was held at WWTI. Virginia Woehlert, Graphics Instructor, took top
honors. Bill Barr received first in the slide competition. Second place winner was Ed Wais, 3 rd place winner,
Tom Walsh; and 4 th place winner, Kay Christiansen.
April-May 1973 – Vocational Guidance TV Series were presented on WKBT, Channel 8, La Crosse.
Six weekly Thursday interviews were conducted providing the TV audience with information about WWTI
programs:
Date Film Topic Presenter/Department
April 5 Paper Industry Occupations Torval Hendrickson, Graphics Department
April 12 Health Occupations:
Dental Assisting Program and
Medical Assisting Program
Linda Porter, Dental Department
Claudia Kupel, Medical Assisting
April 19 Radio and TV Occupations Torval Hendrickson, Commercial Art
April 26 Conservation and Recreation Programs Robert Berry, General Education
May 3 Health Occupations:
Child Care Film: Handle With Care
Claudia Kupel, Medical Laboratory Technician
William Komro, Radiological Technician
May 7 Food Service Occupations Shirley Lotze, Institutional Foods
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Mid-April 1973 – Contract Time. Some employees become so much a part of the “team” that the day-to-day
workload often takes precedence over remembering to read, sign and return the new contract to the boss.
This was the case one contract year . . . An employee was stopped by District Director Charles G. Richardson
on the day before the contract due date and questioned why he had not returned his signed contract. On the
date the contract was due, District Director. Richardson received the following poem with the signed contract:
Just what is a contract?
Does it bond groups together,
To accomplish a goal
Through thick and thin weather?
It could be such
But it is required,
When men have a bond
That’s more highly desired?
Yes, where purpose is common
(to make people grow)
then a contract’s redundant
as you and I know.
For working together
Has developed me, too
I just hope all enjoy it
As much as I do.
But if contract’s the word
Then I’ll sign on the line;
Another year’s growth
Will suit all just fine.

April 27, 1973 – Delta Gamma Phi held its annual Spring Banquet, a combination of a second-pledge initiation
banquet and spring banquet. Following the banquet a party was held at one of the member’s apartments.
April 27-28, 1973 – A weekend Leadership Seminar was sponsored by WWTI. Area colleges, universities and
high schools as well as local businessmen were invited.
April 30, 1973 – The Sixth Annual Athletic Banquet was held on Monday, April 30, at Schmidty’s Restaurant
(located at 3119 State Road in La Crosse). Participants in varsity sports of golf, bowling, girl’s volleyball,
basketball, and tennis were honored. John Barth, Athletic Director of the UW-Platteville, was the guest
speaker.
Spring 1973 – Vicky Merola received best award at the first annual Food Show.
Spring 1973 – Several WWTI students participated in the Association of College Unions--International Region
VIII Tournament held in Oshkosh. Included were:
� Bowling – Twenty-six teams from Wisconsin, Chicago, northern Michigan and central Canada competed
- Dennis Pederson, of Genoa, Agriculture – Feed, Seed and Farm Supply program student, finished
second with a score of 620 – 12 off the pace of the leader from Chicago.
- The WWTI Men’s Bowling Team finished in 18 th place. Team members were Dennis Pederson, Gayle
Hess of Trempealeau, James Voight of Wonewoc, and Mike Herzog of Onalaska.
- Women’s Bowling – Nancy Boero of La Crosse; and Karen Combs of La Crosse, finished in 4 th place
in the doubles competition. They were three pins out of third place. In all-events competition, Boero
finished 16 th and Combs 17 th in a field of 50. Both were Business Machines program students. Other
member of the bowling team were Carolyn Ryan of Lake Geneva, Sue Dwyer of La Crosse, and Carol
Lee of La Crosse
-
� Foosball – Joel Roland of La Crosse, Visual Communications Technician program, made it into the
quarterfinals before he was eliminated. In doubles, Joel Roland and Rich Storlie of La Crosse, Accounting
program, won four matches before being eliminated
� Other Events:.
- Chess: ChrisThompson of La Crosse, Mechanical Design program
May 6-9, 1973 –Wisconsin Distributive Education Association (WDEA)—National Conference, Atlantic City
New Jersey. WWTI students competing in the national event were Kathy Markos, Sue Stinson, Gary Bathke,
Jo Schaefer, Colleen McCambridge, Danny White, Tom Stone, Kathy smith, Barb Slaby, Sue Dubach, Sue
Gullickson, Karen Ziegler, Gordon Betts, and Jam Remlinger, along with Instructor Jeff Nail.
May 7-12, 1973 – Spring Fling. Events included:
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
� Monday -May 7 –
Noon Tug of War (behind the Hixon House)
5-8 p.m. A Card Party in the Student Union—if, your game was Eucure.
8-10 p.m. A Song Fest in the Coleman Auditorium. School organizations were invited to join in the fun
and compete for the top points in each division.
� Tuesday – May 8
Noon Gunny Sack Race (Behind the Hixon House)
4 p.m. Spring Fling Picnic (Houska Park) At the picnic there was: Volleyball, a Wheelbarrow
Race, Limbo, Balloon Blowing Contest, Balloon Up, Water Balloon Catch, Peanut Relay.
6 p.m. 12” Slow Pitch Softball (Houska Park)
8:30 p.m. Movie Night: An Alfred Hitchock Festival.

� Wednesday – May 9
Noon Money Pile (WWTI Parking Lot)
12:30 p.m. Three Legged Race (Behind Hixon House)
5:30-8 p.m. Boat Trip (Riverside Park)
8 p.m. A Surprise Nite (at WWTI Campus)
� Thursday – May 10
4 p.m. Egg Catching (Behind the Hixon House)
6-8 p.m. Spring Fling Bike Tour (WWTI Campus)
8-12 p.m. Dance at the Concordia Hall (1129 La Crosse Street); Music by “Todays Tomorrow”
May 17, 1973 – Chess Tourney Finals took place in the Library – NO KIBITZING – silence is the most important
element. The finalists of the 1973 Chess Tourney squared off in a match play. The finalists were Dave
Johnson and Chuck Brigson, both Data Processing majors. Dave had already defeated Chuck once in the
tournament, which was scheduled around a double elimination draw. The final match consisted of the best of
the nine game series. Both contestants were confident that their strategies would win.
“I have analyzed the sixty best games of Bobby Fischer, and
I now feel that I can snatch victory from the jaws of defeat,” said Brigson.
Equally confident Johnson said,
“My strength lies in steady play in carefully building up a winning position.
You have to be alert if you want to be a champion.”
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
May 1973 – Spring Art Contest. At the recent Art Contest, there were 22 entries. Entries included string art,
carvings, oils, acrylics, sketches and enamels. Prizes were awarded as follows:
� 1 st Prize -- $50 was awarded to Steve Ballard for his Seahorse, a botik.
� 2 nd Prize -- $25 was awarded to Jim Jesmer for his unnamed copper fountain.
� 3 rd Prize -- $15 was awarded to Eric T. Paff with his Collage #3—Series on Life.
� Honorable Mentions -- $10 each were given to Steve Ballard for his colored pencil and to Janet Burger for
her acrylic owls on masonite.
� Special Mentions – No cash awards – were given to Larry Winston for his needlework vest (burlap) and to
K. Christiansen for an oil painting, City Storm.
Judges for the art contest included John Bigley, Diane Cunningham and Helen Vitale of the Faculty Committee
along with M. Jane O’Donnell and John Syverson.
The botik was on display in the Library until appropriate security measures and framing would permit its hanging
in the Faculty Center.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
In 1972-73, advertising held firm to the slogan “Education That Works For You”.
In 1972-73, the number of students in full-time programs at WWTI was 3,822 plus 85 students attending other
VTAE schools, for a total of 3,907.
In 1972-73, part-time program enrollment for the WWTI District totaled 13,839 plus 326 nonresident students,
for a grand total of 14,165.
During 1972-73, nearly 18,000 district high school students used the Career Mobile on their own high school
grounds.

In the 1972-73 school year, the apprenticeship class offered FREE Barber services. Every two weeks, from
November through May, the Barber Apprenticeship Class came to WWTI to work on students. They put curl
and body into limp hair, flattened frizzies, made you a blonde or a brunette – whatever, the apprentices could
spruce you up!
In 1973, a weeklong Spring Fling, from May 7-12, garnered events from songfest to card party to boat trip to
movie night to dance to bike tour. A special “Surprise Night” was held on Wednesday, May 9.
May 9, 1973 – William Merwin of the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse and Dr. Richard Rogers conducted an
in-service program in the Learning Resource Center on the writing of packages.
May 24, 1973 – Graduation. Graduation ends with a new beginning. A smile and a handshake bring the
hopes of tomorrow. In 1973, there were 466 persons who graduated from the associate degree and vocational
diploma programs. In addition, 126 persons were award a GED.
May 30, 1973 – The annual Spring Potluck Picnic for staff of WWTI was held at Veterans Memorial park near
West Salem.
Faculty Wives Organization
The Faculty Wives , a social committee, continued to meet with Ann Stansbury as the presiding officer.
.
� October 1972
- Bev Landro (wife of John Landro – Accounting Instructor) read the secretary’s report was read for
accuracy; and the treasurer reported a balance of $32.15.
- Plans were being formulated to hold a Christmas Party in the Holiday Inn (then located at Hoeschler
Park Plaza -- on the pike across the entrance from Pettibone Park between La Crosse and La
Crescent, Minnesota.) Committees for the event were formed. Appointed to the Music Committee
was Kay Morton (wife of L. Dean Morton – Business Education Chairman); as chairman; Marcia Murray
(wife of Curtis Murray – Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Instructor); and Terry Jacobs (wife of Mike
Jacobs k- Industrial Electronics Instructor). The handling of Tickets was assigned to Mary Nelson
(wife of David Nelson – Math Instructor) as chairman; Ginny Pollert (wife of Clay Pollert –
Electroencephalograph Assistant Instructor); and Ginny Oliver (wife of Philip Oliver – Communication
Skills Instructor). Maxine Dull (wife of Buel Dull – Agriculture Instructor) was assigned as the Snack
Committee. Bonita Olson (wife of Bob Olson – Learning Resource Curriculum Coordinator)
volunteered to send invitations to the husbands of all faculty wives.
- Following the business meeting, the group played Bingo.
� January 18, 1983 meeting:
- The balance in the treasury was $105.90
- The term of office for future officers and whether it should be changed from two years to one year.
Mary Nelson was appointed chair of the Nominating committee.
- Future meetings and ways of making money for scholarships; e.g. cookbook, with Marcia Murray chair
of the project.
- Hostesses for the evening were Ginny Pollert and Bev Landro. Thirteen faculty wives were present.
Cards were played after the business meeting
� February 15, 1973 meeting:
- The balance in the treasury w as $101.48.
- Jan Brudos of the Viking Heritage demonstrated and discussed several different types of stitchery.
- More recipes were needed for the cookbook. The WWTI Printing Department would print and saddle
stick the book for approximately $.30 a copy for a 50-page book.
- Hostesses for the evening were Helen Johnson, Kay Morton, El Bice and Ginnie Oliver. Twelve faculty
wives were present.

� March 15, 1973 meeting:
- The Secretary’s Report showed a balance of $101.48 in the treasury.
- Mrs. Harriet (Tom) Schipper presented a filmstrip titled “Journey Into Hope” She and her husband,
Tom, a WWTI faculty member plan to spend two years in Africa working with the lepers.
- A slate of officers was presented. By vote of the majority, a change was made to replace all four
officers at the April meeting.
- Hostesses for the evening were Helen Johnson, Kay Morton, El Bice and Ginnie Oliver. Twelve faculty
wives were present.
� April 26, 1973 meeting:
- The Secretary’s Report showed a balance of $98.42in the treasury.
- Election of Officers:
President - Marcia Murray
Vice President - Barb Swanson
Secretary - Doris Mueller
Treasurer - Nelma Brown
- A picnic was schedule for May 17, 1973 at Veterans memorial Park, West Salem.
- The Faculty Wives present proofread the recipes for the cookbook.
- Hostesses for the evening were Mary Welch, Sharon Storrs, and Ardelle Lemar.

Athletics:
The sixth annual Athletic Banquet was held on April 24. John Barth, the successful and popular athletic
Director at Platteville College, was the featured speaker and told the students, “You’ve got to be a good student
to be a good athlete.”
� Basketball members honored were:
- H. Hanson as the most valuable player on the basketball team;
- T. Bauers for making all-conference; and
- B. Ekern, for being the most improved cager.
� Golfers honored were:
- S. Anderson, and E. Windjune.
� Tennis players honored were:
- J. Olson, and S. Sagen.
Pom Poms
The girls perform their perfected routines for the half-time at all basketball games.
M. Brown
E. Connor
B. Janechek
L. Busshardt
L. Fanta
E. Joern
B. Connor
K. Hadley
L. Koll
Cheerleaders
B. Benedict
P. Gillis
G. Guidice
C. LaMere C
B. O’Malley B
B. Sandberg
B. Sherman B
P. Pendleton
K. Singer
D. Soderling
Baseball Coach: Bill Parizek
The Cavalier baseball team included: K. Brown, R. Colegan, M. Domke, B. Ekern, F. Formanek, J. Hefti, D.
Kaiser, D. Pfaff, R. Possehl, G. Rieber, J. Rogers, D. Shepherd, M. Squire, J. Trogers, and D. Wahl.
Basketball -- Coach: Ted Kothe
Manager: D. Heuer
Basketball team members included: S. Anderson, T. Bauers, T. Dockham, B. Ekern, H. Hanson, G. Jump, G.
Margelowsky, L. Nelson, D. Niedfeldt, B. Petterson, D. Pfaff, D. Rice, D. Rosenberg, and T. Yager.
UW Baraboo
Wisconsin Rapids Tech
UW-Richland Center
Austin Junior College
Eau Claire Tech Instituet
Rochester Jr. College
Milwaukee Tech College
Worthington Jr. College
Madison Tech College
L: 61-70
L: 90-94
L: 63-78
L: 61-87
W: 100-84
L: 74-91
L: 76-93
L: 51-104
L: 71-85
Manitowoc Tech Institute
Sheboygan Tech Institute
Rice Lake Tech Institute
Waukesha Tech Institute
Rochester Jr. College
UW-Richland Center
Manitowoc Tech Institute
Sheboygan Tech Institute
Eau Claire Tech Institute
L: 84-94
L: 87-75
W: 106-65
L: 63-89
W: 72-59
L: 60-116
L: 68-72
L: 91-51
L: 72-74
Rice Lake Tech Institute
Milwaukee Tech College
UW-Baraboo
Madison Tech College
Wis Rapids Tech Institute
Milwaukee Concordia—
National Junior College
Athletic Assoc. Playoff
W: 93-65
L: 62-65
L: 56-66
W: 89-73
W: 76-74
L: 68-96
� A faculty basketball team, coached by Don Nontelle, was currently tied for first place in the Men’s Intramural
Basketball League. Clayton Pollert led the way with 12 points and five fouls. Other players who dazzled
the crowd were Tom Byerly, Gordon Schlafmann, Dick Markos, Clark Van Galder, Dave Nelson, Dick Hoeft,
and Harold Erickson. During the absence of Coach Nontelle, acting captain Tom Gschwind commented:
“As soon as we learn to play more as a team, we plan to challenge the varsity …
and then who knows – maybe the Milwaukee Bucks!”

� December 1972 – The faculty basketball team was the only undefeated team in the intramural league.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
� January 21, 1973 – The first annual WWTI Faculty Basketball Tournament was held in the Annex Gym of
the Activities Building, (the former YMCA) 629 Main Street, with a trophy awarded to the winner of this
single elimination competition. Clark Van Galder (Corky), a Social Studies teacher, was the winner of the
faculty one-on-one basketball tourney. A total of 16 teachers took part in the single elimination contest, the
brainchild of Electronics Instructor Lee Stansbury. Players in the tournament included Richard Markos,
Michael Jacobs, Ted Kothe, Tom Byerly, Robert Berry, Thomas Gschwind, John Bigley, Donald Nelson,
Don Nontelle, David Nelson, George Guidice, Gordon Schlafmann, Clayton Pollert, Harold Erickson,
Donald Witt, Doyle Gates, Timothy Collins, Robert Olson, and Clark Van Galder.
The rules and regulations for the tournament were:
- The competition is single elimination, with the first player to score 15 points being the winner.
- The games played on half court.
- Fouls declared, with the opponent getting the ball out of bounds on the first three fouls, and the
opponent getting a one and one free throw situation on the fourth and successive fouls.
- On steals and missed shots: If the defensive player gets the ball, the ball must be taken past the
free throw circle.
- There was a 20-second time limit to shoot or lose possession of the ball.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Bowling David (Dave) Nelson, General Education
Ed Skoumal, Accounting Instructor (Coach)
Bowlers in 1972-1973 included:
Women - bowlers were Nancy Boero, Karen Combs, Sue Dwyer, Carol Fanta, Kitty Kraeken, and Carol
Lee.
Men - Bill Baxter, Larry Campbell, Brian Chapman, Tom Greathouse, Mike Herzog Gayle Hess, Keith King,
Bill Lonsdorf, Mike Loomis, Ron Mannel, Jim Miller, R. Neumaier, Dennis Pederson, Ken Pierce, Greg
Shattuck, Jim Voigt, D. Von Haden and Ed Wais.
Golf Ted Kothe, Coach
WWTI ended the Golf season with a 9-7 record.
Team members included: S. Anderson, T. Dockham, R. Ebert, A. Follendorf, G. Kulig, C. Norman, G. Pitts,
and E. Windjue.
Tennis Mike Jacobs, Coach
WWTI’s team included M. Everson, S. Gullickson, D. Johnson, J. Olson, S. Sagen, D. Sang, and L. Weber.
Volleyball
A Women’s Varsity Volleyball Team began in January 1973. Coached by Dick Hoeft, the team consisted of the
following: Lori Stull, Joan Seymore, Cathy Zillmer, Shelia Joholski, Ginny Erdenberger, Roxanne Rabe, Kristie
Seymore, Jane McGraith, Sonja Hizer, Kathy Krachow, Rita Kiefer and Cindy Sacia.
A faculty couples volleyball league began on January 19, 1973.

CLUBS AND ORGANIZATIONS
(NOTE: Club Election Results were published on page 2 of the October 13, 1972,
November 2, 1972,November 16, and December 22editions of the Cavalcade, a student
newspaper. Information about clubs and organizations were also included in the
1972-73 La Tech yearbook which was published in the spring of 1973. As membership
changes occur during the school year, all participants and club positions, from both the
newspaper and the Yearbook, were listed in the below clubs/organizations Therefore,
there are duplicated club positions. For example: the president of a club in October
may be another person in spring at the time the Yearbook is published. These
changes, no doubt, occurred because of length of program in which a student is
enrolled.
In 1973, twenty professional/social clubs, along with two fraternities and one sorority, operated within the
student body such as clubs like Circle K, Outing Club, choir, band, and forensics along with sports and other
activities for pastime.
Student Congress – Club Advisor: Dick Hoeft, Student Activities
(See note above regarding duplication of club positions.)
B. Andrzejeski
L. Gilchrist
B. Landron
M. Burch
D. Granger (president)
S. Lindsay
M. Cina
J. Grosskoph
M. Meyers
S. Clements
S. Gullickson
T. Mitchell
S. Dwyer (treasurer)
N. Harris (vice president) B. O’Malley
L. Emerson
J. Hill
R. Pace
G. Faas (parliamentarian) D. Hooverson (vice president) K. Riley
P. Freeman
K. Krane (or K. Kumm) S. Sampson
D. Fryseth
D. Johnson
Accounting
D. Ames
T. Averbeck
C. Bouska
S. Clements
S. Degenhardt
S. Dwyer
L. Gilchrist
G. Granum
T. Greathouse
K. Hegenbarth (secretary)
D. Johnson
D. Johnson
K. Krackow
M. Loomis (president)
G. Machnowski
R. Mannel
Agri-Business -- Advisors: Ag Instructors: Art Brieske
Buel Dull
S. Ames
V. Bartels
T. Bennett (president)
S. Bryhn
D. Burke
R. Casberg
E. Dux
S. Gund
P. Hardy
R. Herricks
G. Hess
S. Higgins
R. Jansen
R. Johnson
A. King
R. Kleinsmith (vice president)
Carl Mueller
K. Larson
G. Lowe
(secretary and treasurer)
J. Malin
R. Manke
W. Milner
M. Nandory
T. Peterson
D. Sang
S. Severson
S. Smith
L. Stuhl
P. Welch
J. Welsch (secretary)
S. Wenning
S. Zarhte
D. Miller (vice president)
D. Rabner
L. Reget (treasurer)
J. Rogers
M. Thompson (parliamentrian)
G. Whitehead
T. Schlicht
T. Selin
F Sorenson
J. Voigt
D. Walz
T. Weitzel
R. Wollberg
R. Wyss

Alpha Sigma Beta – Advisor:
G. Delaney
L. Gilchrist
T. Greathouse
J. Gresens
K. King
R. Luedke
Cavalier Band – Director: Mr. D. Krause
I. Alderman
M. Anderson
G. Dikeman
C. Garvin
S. Gullickson
L. Hansen
P. Hoffman
S. Holte
D. Hudson
S. Jacobson
B. Kaiser
K. King
Chi Alpha Chi – Advisor: Torval (Toby) Hendrickson
A. Conrad (secretary)
J. Lewan
S. Pionke (treasurer)
L. Riniker (president)
L. Rochon
C. Ryan (vice president)
H. Schlitter
Chi Sigma Chi – Advisor: Peggy Dunnum
M. Beito
C. Bouska
H. Brickson
M. Burch (president)
E. Connor (historian)
P. Dunnam
P. Freeman
L. Hartje (treasurer)
R. Mannel
M. Meyers
S. Jacobson
S. Koebl
C. Krackow
R. Parkes
K. Pattison
S. Pionke
D. Kowalki
L. Larkin
S. Lindsay (vide president)
D. Martin
Circle K– Club Advisors: Jeff Naill, Business Education Instructor
Golz D (vide president)
Knadle R (treasurer)
Landron B (secretry)
Malin J (parliamentarian)
Sang D (president)
DECA – Club Advisors: ,Business Education Instructors:
Diane Whiteford and
Jeff Naill
(See note above regarding duplication of club positions.)
G. Bathke (president)
C. Clark
M. Crean
S. Dubach
S. Flint
J. Gaede
S. Gullikson
D. Heram
J. Jensen (parliamentarian)
R. Krumholtz
K Markos (secretary)
Delta Gamma Phi – Advisor: Annette Niederkorn, Librarian
L. Busshardt (vice president)
L. Christen
C. Garvin (president)
J. Hill
K. Levendoski
N. Stalhiem
R. Wolf
D. Wood
C. McCambridge
M. Morel (treasurer)
B. Nuemaier
S. Quandahl
J. Schaefer
T. Mitchell
S. Zahrte
R. Poff
G. Sacia
J. Smith
R. Souchek
L. Stull
L. Velovsek
J. Mendell
P. Page
R. Schoen
K. Smith
D. Staskal (vice president)
S. Stinson (historian)
P. Zalllthus (public relations)

Drama Club– Club Advisors: P. Dunnum
D. Henke
B. Becker
K. Brommer
N. Clanton
A. Conrad
S. Conrad
R. Sullivan
B. Eldridge
M. Folsom
M. Kepler
B. Olson
C. Sczypiorski
D. Sturdevant
D. Thurston
S. Wenning
D. White
Future Secretaries of America – Advisor: Mary Bantle, Business Education Instructor
(See note above regarding duplication of club positions.)
S. Bardeen
P. Freeman
D. Lind
D. Rude
(corresponding secretary) A. Gorkowski
J. McManion
C. Schauble
N. Blanchard
K. Hadley
E. Nelson
V. Stanek (recording secretary)
B. Dalzel
J. Haldeman
B. Nichols (president)
C. Stoen
B. Dregne (treasurer)
L. Koll (vice president)
J. Palen
K. Van Camp
C. Dwyer
M. Larsen
J. Paul
C. Wirtz
D. Fischer
P. Pendleton
J. Wrobel
Health Occupations – Club Advisor:
D. Adams
I. Alderman
C. Bayuk
N. Beitlich
J. Belke
M. Berzinski
M. Bettin
A. Bishop
T. Bremer
D. Catt
D. Chaser
M. Crane
V. Delaney
L. Dregne
D. DuPar
V. Dworschak
C. Erickson
Inter Greek Council – Advisor:
H. Brickson
M. Burch
L. Chrisen
B. Fowler
B. Hafner
M. Halverson
K. Hengel
N. Hengel
K. Hersz
L. Hince
G. Hoffman
M. Johnson
C. Jones
R. Kabat
D. Kirska
S. Knutson
J. Lange
S. Lenser
N. McNeil
G. Delaney
S. Flint
D. Heram
T. McGuire
P. Medinger
V. Meyer
K. Michel
G. Micksahl
M. Moore
D. Moskonas
D. Nelson
L. Nelson
B. Nickelotti
J. Olson
S. Parnow
B. Pederson
E. Peterson
S. Reinhardt
S. Reinholz
J. Hill
M. Meyer
P. Page
Newspaper – Club Advisor: Tom Gschwind, General Education Instructor, and
Phil Brochhausen, Graphic & Applied Arts
(See note above regarding duplication of club positions.)
B. Ahmen (reporter)
C. Braman (new editor/reporter)
T. Burdick (production)
A. Conad (art editor)
D. Dobbins (typist)
C. Erdmann (reporter)
D. Fisher (typist)
M. Folsom (reporter)
C. Garvin (typist)
J. Grenwald (production)
S. Gullickson (sports editor)
J. Haldeman
(typist)
(composing foreman)
B. Hammes (photographer)
H. Hamilton (photo club)
D. Havlik (typist)
J. Howe (preparatory foremen)
P. Koch (production)
L. Lippert (feature editor)
B. Olson (art editor)
S. Pionke
(production manager)
C. Sacia (reporter)
C. Sczypiorski
(managing editor/
co-editor)
J. Roeseer
S. Sabelka
J. Sabotta
D. Schultz
S. Schulze
K. Sheetz
N. Steigerwald
K. Stoeckly
D. Thornton
E. Trailer
N. Wagner
S. Wesselberg
R. White
R. Wiegel
M. Wozniak
K. Young
S. Smith
D. Wood
S. Zahrte
D. Swanson (reporter)
C. Szitta(typist)
A. Thielker (managing editor/
co-editor)
D. Wensel (typist)
S. Wenning (reporter)

Outing Club – Advisors: Linda Hamilton, Mathematics Instructor,
John Hamilton, General Education, and
B. Baxter
G. Faas (president) R. Pace
D. Bohman
M. Kuran
J. Palen
R. Burgoon
(secretary and treasurer) C. Ryan
K. Comba
R. Maxwell
Photo Club – Club Advisor: Gordon Johnson, Graphic and Applied Art
K. Armstrong
B. Barr
V. Brandt
L. Gering
T. Greathouse
G. Lawrence
Riding Club – Club Advisor: Clark Van Galder
Some members of the riding club:
K. Hillman
K. Schofield
R. Roverud
J. Young
C. Ruf
D. Meyer
R. Nelson
G. Olson
Vet’s Club
(The Vet’s Club provides information on benefits to qualified students with the
status of 180 days of active duty in any branch of the United States service.)
B. Barr
S. Bausch
C. Bell
L. Burch
R. Burrows
R. Gage
T. Greathouse
J. Grosskoph
R. Halverson
D. Johnson
R. Johnson
R. Newhouse
J. Smith
L. Volovsek
K. Zimmerman
L. Rice
R. Rumpel
J. Tanner
O. Olson
J. Rivers
M. Ryan
E. Schlappi
Wisconsin Office Education Club – Club Advisors: Peggy Allison, Business Education Instructor
(See note above regarding duplication of club positions.)
C. Ames
D. Fischer
E. Knudson
P. Pendleton (historian)
D. Ames (treasurer)
M. Folkers
K. Krakow
G. Pitz
S. Bardeen
P. Freeman
D. Kuester
D. Rabener
N. Blanchard
R. Gilchrist
M. Larson
(historian)
E. Calogero
G. Granum
D. Lind
L. Reget
T. Carrier
T. Greathouse
M. Loomis
J. Rogers
S. Clements (secretary)
K. Hadley
R. Mannel
D. Rude
D. Degenhardt
J. Haldeman
D. Miller
S. Sabotta
B. Dolezel
K. Hegenbarth
B. Nichols
V. Stanek
C. Dwyer
B. Horshak (president)
(vice president)
K. VanCamp
S. Dwyer (vice president) R. Johnson
(president)
G. Whitehead
B. Eldridge
S. Johnson
C. Noel
C. Wirtz
B. Ender (parliamentarian) L. Kall
J. Palen
J. Wrobel
Yearbook-- Advisor: Valerie L. Wentzel-Burman
Assistant Advisor: Sharon Pionke
The 1972—1973 La Tech Yearbook was dedicated to Mrs. Gladys O. Bethurem, Business Education Instructor
from 1955-1972. The Yearbook staff were:
Tom Beaupre,
Assistant Editor
Bruce Hammes
Photography Editor
Colette LaMere (proofreader)
Linda Lippert (proofreader)
Gene Margelowsky,
Layouts Editor
Laura Rochon (proofreader)
Harlan Schlitter,
Editor in Chief
Cherie Sczypiorski
Copywriter

In 1972-1973 events in the Auditorium included . . .
1972
August 10 The second graduation during the summer at WWTI, the only vocational-technical institute of
its type in Wisconsin operating on the quarter term system which permits year-around use of
the school facilities. The more than 150 graduates were honored by the presence of
Wisconsin Governor Patrick J. Lucey, who made a major statement of his administration’s
public education policies, which highlighted the importance of vocational, technical and adult
education.
October 2 The Coulee Region Kiwanis Club of La Crosse began its 8 th annual Travel and Adventure
Series. The kickoff program featured “Down The Mississippi” presented by Gene Goetz.
October 17 “The New Arizona” - Coulee Region Kiwanis Club
November 14 “Voyager Forever” (Montreal to Alaska) – Coulee Region Kiwanis Club
November 16 The WWTI Band held a concert. Tickets were $.25 each. Turkeys and Pizza was given
away as door prizes.
November 16 “Bullitt” starring Steve McQueen, sponsored by DECA, was shown. Tickets were $.75 at the
door and $.50 in advance.
December 21 DECA sponsored four great films. The main feature, “On the Water Front” with Marlon
Brando and Eva Marie Saint was a winner of eight Academy Awards. This film was about a
priest who set out to smash mob control over the New York waterfront. The other three were
short films that starred Charlie Chaplin, the Keystone Cops, and W. C. Fields.
1973
January 18 Film: “Joe”
January 23 “Fantastic East Africa” - Coulee Region Kiwanis Club, Travel and Adventure Series. The
film features the exploration of John Ebert’s expedition to Tarania and Uganda in East Africa,
including mountains, the world’s most dangerous animals, native villages and market places,
great cities, and deep sea fish from the Indian Ocean.
January 25 The second annual WWTI Accounting Club Area Personnel Director’s Seminar on
Interviewing and Job Application Techniques was held. Ten personnel directors participated
in seminar on interviewing and application techniques. The program was geared to
prospective graduates and instructors.
February 8 Film: “The Great Bankrobbery”
February 13 “Mexico’s Sea of Cortez” – Coulee Region Kiwanis Club
February 15 Film: “The Arrangement”
February 18
March 6 “This is Paris” – Coulee Region Kiwanis Club
March 7 and 8 “Spoon River Anthology”, a three-act play by Edgar Lee Masters, was presented by students
of the new course, Theater Appreciation Practicum. The play was presented as a
culmination for and final project of the students. Peggy Dunnum and Dave Henke of the
General Education Division directed the play. The cast included seven dedicated students:
Bert Eldridge,; Nancy Clanton, Dave Thurston, Kathy Zok, Tom Stokes, and Denny Stacy –
three newcomers to the WWTI stage; and Sue Wenning.
March 13 Film: “The Fox”, based on D. H. Lawrence’s novel.
March 6 “This is Paris” - Coulee Region Kiwanis Club
March 15 Film: “Bonnie and Clyde”
March 26 The Cavalier Band wound up their successful year with a great concert. Pizzas from the
Pizza Hut were given away along with quarts of Pepsi Cola.
March 27 “Incredible Japan” – Coulee Region Kiwanis Club
April 12 Film: “Sex and the Single Girl”
April 27 and
April 28
The National Leadership Methods, a leadership training organization, conducted a seminar.
Training consisted of proven industrial management techniques for decision-making
communication, and interpersonal relationship skills. The emphasis was on “personalized
experience” and self-awareness.
May 10 Film: “Alfred Hitchcock Festival”

In 1973-1974 . . .
Fall 1973 – WWTI Receives 3M Company Awards. Through the efforts during the summer months of
Automotive Instructors Art Jesmer and Forrest Clappier, the Automotive Department tested individualized
instruction units on Basic Electricity and Carburetion for the 3M Company. For this cooperation, and the efforts
of Ray Bingea of the 3M Company, WWTI was the recipient of master copies of this software plus the units on
Tune-Up as well as one of the Sound Page units.
September 1973 – First Woman Plumber Apprentice to attend classes here. Betty Klopotek was the first
woman plumber apprentice in the State of Wisconsin. Mrs. Klopotek worked under the supervision of her
husband, Kenneth, who was a licensed journeyman plumber. She was indentured to her father-in-law,
Eugene Klopotek, who was a master plumber. Betty and Kenneth and children resided in rural Arcadia. Mrs.
Klopotek was previously employed as an inspector at the Arcadia Furniture Company and as a dietician at St.
Joseph’s Hospital in Arcadia. Betty was enrolled in plumbing-related instruction classes at WWTI with
approximately 35 male plumbing apprentices. Although there were other women plumbers in the state at that
time, they had not served an apprenticeship.
September 1973 – New WWTI Stationery. New letterhead stationery was designed and art copy prepared by
Virginia Woehlert of the Graphics department. The new letterhead was awarded a Graphic Achievement
Certificate for the new design and print quality.
In 1973, the Health Occupations Division of WWTI, under the direction of Anita G. Smith, was expanding rapidly
to keep up with the burgeoning needs in the health-related fields. Health Occupations was divided into ten
career fields: Medical Laboratory Technician, Medical Records Technician, Radiologic (X-Ray) Technology,
Dental Assistant, EEG, Medical Assistant, Operating Room Assistant, Practical Nursing, Ward Clerk and
Nursing Assistant. Plans were in the making for a new RN program. In addition, extension courses such as
in-service nursing assistant programs were offered throughout the district in cooperation with nursing homes
and hospitals.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
September 1, 1973 – A new Learning Resource Center (LRC) was in operation as of September 1. The
Center, located in Rooms 201-202-203 of the Kumm Building, was headed by Learning Resource Chairperson
Arlyss Grosskopf. Since 1967, Mrs. Grosskopf headed the Adult Basic Program at WWTI. Under her
direction, the ABE program grew to one full-time center at La Crosse and 14 area centers. She was also
serving as the Associate Chairman of the General Education Division.
The new Learning Resource Center combined the current Adult Basic Education program and the Learning
Center that was housed in Room 24 of the Kumm Building. In addition, the General Education Division
scheduled all of its vocational Applied Communication Skills, Applied Math, Human Relations and Economics
through the Resource Center.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
In 1973, WWTI secured a seven-year lease from Vernon County to utilize the first floor of the former Vernon
County Teachers College. The space served adequately until about 1972 when the county and WWTI were
informed that the building did not meet handicapped access regulations and would require extensive
remodeling to meet state code. Viroqua—the South Center—serves most of Vernon County, southwest
Monroe County, and portions of Richland and Crawford Counties. Included in the region are the cities and
towns of Westby, Coon Valley, Stoddard, De Soto, Genoa, Chaseburg, La Farge and Cashton, as well as
Viroqua.

In 1973, Elwood Harebo, of La Crosse, who has an accounting degree from WWTI and where he also has been
an instructor, was named manger of advertising production/services at The Trane Company.
In 1973, William G. Welch, Sr., Industrial Division Chairman, authored an ERIC publication entitled, “The
Determination of a Technical Core Program for a Two-Year Technical Program in Bio-Medical Electronics.”
For the 1973-74 school year, nonresident tuition rate for full-time program was set at $520.00 (maximum rate);
the rate for other programs was $1 per hour of enrollment.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
October 1973 – One of our former welding students, Ray Symicek, called with a request for assistance in
finishing a math course, which he did not pass as a student in our program in La Crosse. He said that after he
left our school, he learned the importance of having a “Diploma”: rather than a “Completion Certificate” and was
wondering how he could now get it. General Education Division Chairman Harold Erickson and Math
Instructor Gordon Schlafmann decided to utilize the “extension” facilities of our new Community Services
Center in Mauston to help Ray Symicek get his diploma.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Oktoberfest 1973 – Six First-Place Oktoberfest Parade Float Wins in a Row. 1973 was the sixth time that
WWTI awarded the Festmaster Award in the Civic Division of the Oktoberfest float contest. Because
everything doesn’t always go so smooth, it also deserved a well-earned “hard luck” trophy as well.
Starting in 1967, WWTI got into the Oktoberfest Parade float –building business. The float in 19657 won
second place. In 1968, the students and Advisor John Syverson made a resolution to win the first place
Festmaster’s Award. And, they did … and have won the first-place award every year since … six straight,
including the 1973 victory in the opening event of Oktoberfest.
A parade float story about the “Turtle” that could . . .
The 1973 float was designed to suit the Oktoberfest Maple Leaf Parade theme: “The Great River – Lifeline and
Link to the World!” Commercial Art students were assigned the job of designing the float in accordance with
the theme. It was part of their regular advertising layout and design class work. Since the Oktoberfest
celebration normally falls only a month after the fall term of school starts, the design of the float must be done in
less than two weeks to permit the final two weeks of September to be used for float construction.
Figuring that the 1973 parade theme would suggest “steamboat” or “river tow boats” to many other entrants, the
Commercial Art students decided to come up with something really different – a mud turtle. The “turtle”
provided a humorous character to work with and pleased the many children who attended the parade. It was
typical of the Great River. Turtles are thought of as being slow, but sure – just like our thorough-type of
vocational-technical education. So, this was the design selected for 1973.
After the preliminary drawings were finalized, the project was handed over to the Wood Technics students and
they translated the design into a wooden framework. “Framework” is too simple a description for the work
done by the Wood Technics students. In addition to the frame, which is more like the skeleton of the final
design, it was the job of the Wood Technics crew to “animate” all moveable parts of the float. In the case of the
1973 turtle design, the turtle’s head, mouth, four legs, and tail had to move. Mounted on the turtle’s back was
a little elf holding the world in one hand and a fishing pole with the other hand – all of which was also animated.
The elf’s head moved back and forth and the world turned on his fingertip.
The slogan on the WWTI float picked to parallel the parade theme was displayed along the elf’s fishing pole –
which suspended a juicy apple in front of the turtle’s mouth to urge it along the parade route. The slogan
proclaimed – “Lifeline to a Life’s Career at WWTI.”

After the Wood Technics students finished, it was the job of the Commercial Art students to add the floral
decorations, an around-the-clock job to complete the float by parade day, October 7. Bright and gay, the huge
green turtle with orange and yellow shell and the elf riding on its back left the school at 9 a.m. on Sunday
morning, October 7, for the parade-judging point in North La Crosse. It was almost 14 feet tall, 12 feet wide
and 24 feet long, and traveled under its own power.
How could it miss? Well, it didn’t, and as all the WWTI Oktoberfest floats since 1967, the 1973 “Turtle” was
chosen by the Maple Leaf Parade judges as the first-place winner of the championship “Festmaster’s Award”.
The parade float was not without trouble, though . . . Trouble with a capital “T”.
The parade hadn’t started . . . At 1 p.m. sharp, the WWTI’s Dick Hoeft (the WWTI Student Activities Director)
started the Maple Leaf Parade in his official capacity as Oktoberfest Parades Chairman . . . and, the “Turtle”
started, too. But, then it stopped . . .
The gas gauge registered full – but the tank was empty.
Somehow, the Commercial Art students inside the float borrowed a garden hose from a parade bystander and
siphoned gas from a sports car. However, the sports car was lower than the gas tank filler on the float, so the
gas wouldn’t flow up. A semi-truck in the parade was taller, but one of the “rough riders” acting as Dick Hoeft’s
assistant told the truck to get going – so, the “Turtle” was still stalled.
Finally, help arriver --- one quart of gas. It was enough to move four blocks further until the battery ran low
from too much cranking of the starter. A friendly parade watcher from Illinois jumped cables from the battery of
his ’74 Cadillac to the WWTI “Turtle”. It started again and moved up the incline to the Rose Street viaduct and
down the other side. But, float driver John Syverson took his foot off the accelerator in the tension of
squeezing the float under the girders of the viaduct – and, the engine stalled again . . . out of gas. Help arrived
. . . a five-gallon can of gas (most of it spilling on the tail of the turtle because the “Rough Rider” was back
threatening to kick the float out of the parade).
“Look out for sparks. We’re full of gas,” shouted John Syverson – and, down the street the “Turtle” moved
again. “Give me your fire extinguisher,” shouted Dick Hoeft. “There’s an antique care on fire just ahead of
you!” “We’re drenched with gas,” replied John Syverson. “Bring the d___ thing right back!”
What’s happening now?
P-o-o-o-o-o-f-f-f-f-f! Hiss-s-s-s- ! ! ! Pow-w-w-w ! ! !
The “Turtle” filled with steam and smoke – a radiator hose had burst.
“I give up,” said John Syverson.
“Don’t quit now!” said one of the Commercial Art students. “I live just round the corner, and my roommate’s got
a car and tow chain. The chain was hooked up, and off they went again.
All of the mishaps had caused delay. The WWI float scheduled for the 15 th spot in Section 1 dropped to the 4 th
spot in Section 4 (about a mile and a half behind where it had started originally.) The “Turtle” finally crawled
into view of Channel 13 TV and the television reporter (Mr. Ed Hutchings) gave a vivid description of the float for
all TV viewers and camera close-ups of all the animation on the float.
WWTI won first place in the Oktoberfest Parade … but, Mr. Syverson and his accompanying Commercial Art
students got the “Hard Luck Trophy” as well as the Festmaster’s Award.
Everyone was happy, and the students simply said: “WE WON!”
Likewise, Director Charles Richardson said, “I KNEW THEY’D WIN!”

December 1973—WWTI faculty rejected a union by an 89 to 38 vote. Three groups—one independent, and
others affiliated with Wisconsin Federation of Teachers (WFT) or the Wisconsin Employment Relations
Commission (WERC) sought representation rights in that balloting.
December 1973 Homecoming. This year’s theme was “In The Midnight Hour”. A basketball game was
played on Thursday December 13, in the Mary E. Sawyer Auditorium, and a dance was held at the Concordia
Hall on Friday, December 14.
The 1973 Homecoming King was Jeff Van Ryan, first year Electrical Power Technology program, and Queen
Colleen Bernhard, first year Radiologic Technology program. Activities included a pancake-eating contest,
with Tom Greathouse being the 1973 champion. Tom downed 23 pancakes in about 30 minutes—and, his
ability to do so made him $10 richer! In addition, there was an egg toss, and an Alumni Tea at the Concordia
Hall (at 12 th and La Crosse Streets). Sylvia Horstman of Student Services was the winner of the Medallion
Hunt. A good number of fans turned out at the game to cheer the Cavaliers on to Victory over the Madison
Trojans. There was a parade of mini floats, constructed no larger than the size of a small child’s wagon. First
place went to the Pom-Pom Girls—their float entitled “When We Reign, It Pours”: Second place went to the
work of the Delta Gamma Phi Club—the float featured a large salt box made from chicken wire and tissue
paper, and an old fashioned telephone with the caption “Ringing Up a Victory”. Third place float award went to
six of the Frat boys, dressed in black cassocks and carrying a casket. The minister, deep in prayer, led the
procession. “Bury the Trojans” was the theme of the float. But despite the crowd’s enthusiasm and efforts of
the team, the WWTI team was defeated.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
In December 1973 -- An Emergency Energy Crises. The nation was experiencing an acute national energy
crisis. To help alleviate the crisis, Western Wisconsin Technical Institute instituted a four-day school week
during the second quarter of the 1973-74 school year. The school day was extended to allow everyone to get
the necessary number of classes and hours. In other words: five days’ work in four days.
All staff will work the required five-day total hours in four days. We must maintain total hours of
contract responsibility to meet State Board policy on total number of contract days.
Earlier (in October 1973) the District Board requested that school thermostats be set no higher than 68 degrees
at any time and that staff should notify students to bring a sweater or jacket for extra-cool days.
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
In December 1973, all chairmen and associate chairman had long distance telephone capabilities on the DAIN
Line. All other outside phone were restricted to local calls only.
In January 1974, Harold Kumbier was named Affirmative Action Officer for WWTI. The following people were
asked to serve on an Affirmative Action Committee: Harold Erickson, General Education Chairman; Clark Van
Galder, General Education Social Science Instructor; Claudia Kupel, Medical Health Occupations; Raymond
Myers, Custodial; Georgia Baker, of the Secretarial Staff. Thuan Tran, Librarian; Paul Garness, Business
Education Instructor; and Gordon Schlafmann, Math Instructor, General Education Division.

In January 1974, Robert Gauger, former publisher of the Whitehall Times and past president of the Wisconsin
Press Association, was employed as Correspondence Course Coordinator, Graphics Communications
Department at WWTI. “The technical school is updating a printing by correspondence course for indentured
apprentices throughout the state. The lesson assignments, originally written by Les Hawkes, are being
expanded through all phases of offset, including composition, camera, press work, ink, paper, etc.” WWTI
handled the developing of lesson material and administered the program, with approval by the State Board of
VTAE and an ad hoc committee from the Wisconsin Press Association.
January 1974 – A Student was Injured in the Crosswalk on Seventh Street. The Seventh Street crossing from
the Kumm to the new Business Building became a concern when a student, Vicki Anderson, was taken to a
hospital with injuries when a passing car struck her. A petition for a traffic light was circulated.
March 7-9, 1974 --- The 13 th annual Wisconsin Distributive Education Association Career Development
conference was held in La Crosse.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
March 9, 1974 – Hedwig A. Rekow, former Business Education Instructor, passed away March 9 after a long
battle with failing health.
In memoriam . . . A memorial profile, written by Pat Moore, La Crosse Tribune Special Correspondent, was
printed in the March 12 th edition of The La Crosse Tribune that very appropriately told of her close ties with
WWTI and the students from her start in 1937 in the College of Commerce.
The article was entitled: “Mrs. Hedwig Rekow of La Crosse -- She Was ‘The Best’, Students Attest”.
The article, in part, written by Pat Moore read:
Hedwig Rekow was described by a former student as “one of the best teachers I ever had.” She was honored
by the 1967-68 WWTI yearbook for her high standards and she was recognized as an “Outstanding Educator in
America.”
The 1967-68 WWTI yearbook, dedicated to her, noted: “Her special field here was teaching business
machines, but she also taught filing, business English, and human relations. She kept her department up to
date by keeping in touch with local industries. Her students became well versed in mathematics as well as
skilled machine operators. Her standards were high, her students successful.”
Mrs. Rekow held a bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. In September 1967, the La
Crosse Board of VTAE adopted a resolution citing her for her 31 years of teaching vocational and technical
skills. In 1971, she was recognized as an “Outstanding Educator in America”.
� Marie Peterson, former head of the College of Commerce at WWTC and who retired two years ago
(1972) says, “She was deeply interested in her students. Human relations was a big issue with
her. She was a tremendous instructor.”
� Paul Garness was a student of Mrs. Rekow for two years. He says, “She was an excellent
teacher. She took an interest in all her students. She was probably one of the best teachers I
ever had.”
� Lynden Gjerde, an officer at G. Heileman Brewing Company (1106 South Third Street in La
Crosse) says: “I was a student of hers in 1936 and 1937. Each one of us found that little element
or little something extra that indirectly put us where we are today.” Gjerde says he “studied
comptometry and with that training, got my job at Heileman. She certainly was a fine person. As
a teacher she always had our highest respect. I think her special characteristic was her
gentleness. She was always so understanding. Mrs. Rekow had the ability to work with the
person to see the difference in individual Mrs. Rekow had the

ability to work with the person to see the difference in individuals and to work with them all. Noting
the number of students she must have helped, “I’m glad to have been one of them,” he said.
� One school official described her as a “one-woman alumni.” Up to less than six months ago, he
said, she corresponded with more than 300 of her former students. She was interested in their
families and what they were doing.”
Mrs. Hedwig A Rekow . . . an outstanding La Crosse educator.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
In April 1974, Thomas Byerly General Education Instructor, appeared as Igor Sullivan in the La Crosse
Community theatre’s production of “Cactus Flower”. The play concerns a playboy dentist trying to get himself
out of a tangle of lies he has told his girlfriend, Igor Sullivan’s next-door neighbor.
In April 1974, the mileage reimbursement rate for the use of personal car was set at 12 cents per mile.
April 20, 1974 – Barbara Walter, Home Economics Chairman, was a discussion group resource person for
Update III, “Homemaking and the Family: Changing Values and Concerns”, sponsored by the Governor’s
Commission on the Status of Women. The conference was held in the Cartwright Center of the University of
Wisconsin-La Crosse. The purpose of Update III was to examine the economic contribution to our nation
made by the unpaid labor of homemakers, the serious economic risks involved, and the proposals being
advanced from many quarters to upgrade the general evaluation of homemaking and reduce the economic
risks.
April 23, 1974 – Alvin Baldus, a Democratic candidate for the U.S. Congress from the Third Congressional
District, was on campus, in the Kumm Building student and faculty areas, to speak with students and faculty.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
May 6-9, 1974 – Festivities for the Fifth Annual Spring Fling began Monday, May 6 and continued through
Wednesday, May 9. The 1974 Spring Fling featured the following events:
May 6 Water Balloon Catch
Noon
Card Party
6 p.m.
May 7 Pizza Eating Contest
Noon
Boat Trip
5 p.m. at Riverside Park
Surprise Night
8 p.m. on campus
May 78 Peanut Relay
Noon
Egg Rolling Contest
Noon
Picnic, including a gunny sack race,
wheelbarrow race, volleyball, softball, tug of
war, horseshoe contest, chugging contest,
3-legged race, and a bike race.
Afternoon
May 9 Dance at Concordia Hall 9 to midnight, with a
dance contest at 11 p.m.

May 1974, Robert E. Berry, General Education Instructor, was appointed as a member of the “Chemical Week”
magazine Management Advisory Panel. The purpose of the panel was to participate in identifying possible
future trends in the field of chemistry.
On May 9, 1974, the 1973-74 Athletics Awards Banquet was held at the Commodore Club in La Crescent,
Minnesota. Athletes, coaches, administrators and other personnel were recognized for their part in a
successful year. Athletics included: Volleyball, Pom-Pom’s, Cheerleaders, Bowling, Tennis, Basketball, Golf,
and Baseball.
On May 20, 1974 the first annual student activities Winter Carnival was held in the Activities Building (Seventh
and Main Streets). Activities included Ping Pong Race, Candle Race, Clothes Change, Blow Your Horn,
Penny Pinch, and Two Man Swim. In the first annual Water Carnival, it was the Kings Palace who came away
with the grand prize. WWTIA came in second (and also last for they were the only other team that
participated). At the end of six events, the teams were tied—the tiebreaker lasted four minutes and consisted
of four members of each team diving for pennies on the bottom of the pool. The action was furious, but it was
the King’s Palace who received the first prize – a half-barrel of beer.
In 1974, the Applied Technology Building was constructed.
In 1974, space was leased at 2711 Larson Street for the Diesel program.
In 1974, space was rented at 612 Division Street for a Tri-Campus Child Care Center.
In May 1974, the Western Wisconsin Trade and Industry Association presented its first annual Project Display
in the Kumm Building, which included all Industrial and Graphics programs. Students exhibited projects they
completed for class
June 20, 1974 – The Practical Nursing Program was the first practical nursing program in Wisconsin to receive
accreditation by the National League for Nursing (NLN). Achievement of accreditation signifies that national
standards of excellence have been met and that the program is committed to the maintenance of high
standards and continuing improvement.
Faculty Wives Organization
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
� October 1973 Meeting:
- Officers were: Marcia Murray, President; Doris Mueller, Secretary.
- Fifteen faculty wives were present.
- It was reported that the Faculty Wives Cookbook was nearly done, the book contains 76 pages. Mary
Nelson and El Bice were put in charge of the sale of the books.
- Hostesses for the evening were Mary Lou Balts and Liz Schreader.
� November 13, 1973 Meeting:
- Eighteen wives were present.
- The upcoming Christmas party was discussed, with 156 persons indicating they would attend.
- An “elegant” white elephant and talent auction” was held. El Bice was the auctioneer. The auction
proceeds amounted to $50.25.
- Hostesses for the evening were Nelma Brown and Bard Swanson.

� December 14, 1973
- A Christmas Party was held at the Holiday Inn (located at 529 Park Plaza Drive on the pike between La
Crosse and La Crescent, Minnesota.)
� January 8, 1974 Meeting:
- The secretary’s report showed a balance of $143.08.
- The group discussed the possibility of aiding in tours through the WWTI facilities.
- It was decided that a maximum of $5 would be spent on any hospitalized member.
- Hostesses for the evening were Rosemary Schneider and Mary Nelson.
- Eleven wives were present.
� February 9, 1974 Meeting -- A Valentine’s Day Party. The group met at the Coulee Golf Bowl (located on
Rural Route 1 in Onalaska) for bowling and later for a snack at the Fireside Restaurant (then located at
9402 U.S. Highway 16 in Onalaska).
-
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
January 21, 1973 – The first annual WWTI Faculty Basketball Tournament was held in the gym of the Activities
Building, (the former YMCA) 629 Main Street, with a trophy awarded to the winner of this single elimination
competition. Players in the tournament included Richard Markos, Michael Jacobs, Ted Kothe, Tom Byerly,
Berry, Thomas Gschwind, John Bigley, Donald Nelson, Don Nontelle, David Nelson, George Giudice, Gordon
Schlafmann, Clayton Pollert, Harold Erickson, Donald Witt, Doyle Gates, Timothy Collins, Robert Olson, and
Clark Van Galder.
The rules and regulations for the tournament were:
� The competition is single elimination, with the first player to score 15 points being the winner.
� The games played on half court.
� Fouls declared, with the opponent getting the ball out of bounds on the first three fouls, and the
opponent getting a one and one free throw situation on the fourth and successive fouls.
� On steals and missed shots: If the defensive player gets the ball, the ball must be taken past the free
throw circle.
� There was a 20-second time limit to shoot or lose possession of the ball.

In 1973-1974 events in the Auditorium included . . .
1973
October 23 The Coulee Region Kiwanis Club of La Crosse presented the ninth annual Travel and
Adventure Series. The first movie was entitled “Bolivian Adventure”.
1974
February 14 An all-school variety show was held in conjunction with the 1974 Winter Carnival.
Summer 1974
A transformation: Remodeling of the Auditorium had been in consideration since September
1973. At that time, a study was done to determine whether the extensive renovation was
practical. Actual construction began in July 1974, with funds raised by local bonding and a
federal grant, to make way for the Instructional Media Center and Graphic Arts programs.
The total cost of the project was $481,000.

In 1974-1975 . . .
Our School
The number of enrollments was increasing, and housing for out-of-town students was becoming scarcer.
June/July, 1974, carried an advertisement in the La Crosse Tribune showing two students “adrift” on a raft in the
Mississippi River. “…because of the scarcity and high cost of gasoline, many WWTI students may be cast
adrift as far as their higher educational plans are concerned, unless we can find more housing accommodations
for them now.”
In 1974-75 plans included a Coleman Auditorium Conversion project for developing an instructional area
capable of providing full-color, broadcast quality television.
August 1, 1974, in a reciprocity agreement that was reached, Wisconsin and Minnesota may attend each
other’s area vocational and technical schools free of tuition.
In September 1974, the Farm Business Management program began.
For the 1974-75 school year, nonresident tuition rate for full-time program was set at $550.00 (maximum rate);
the rate for other programs was $1 per hour of enrollment.
In 1974, the names of 41 students were submitted for publication in Who’s Who Among Students in American
Junior Colleges.
In 1974, the Cavalcade, a monthly student publication in a magazine format was printed. (The Cavalcade
replaced the Cavalier Clippings and Cavalier, student newspapers that were printed between 1969 and 1972.)
In October 1974, WWTI won first place for its float in the Civic Division of the annual Oktoberfest parade.
Aboard the prize-winning float, animation provided for two cartoon characters to be seen in a never-ending
pursuit across the brightly colored terrain. As the coyote used rocket power in an attempt to snatch his victim,
the roadrunner sped even more quickly. The school’s float was the only self-contained float in the parade, with
a stripped down ’62 Buick as the motivation. Art Armstrong’s (instructor) Automotive class tuned it and
checked it over mechanically; and Clifford Gunderson’s (instructor) Autobody class removed the doors,
windshield, rear fenders, and engine’s hood so that the float frame itself could be positioned on the car. The
float was a class project for the Wood Technics and the second year Commercial Art students. The theme of
the float was “Happiness is Reaching Your Goal at WWTI”.
March 5, 1975, was the date of the first annual Career Placement Day. According to Placement Director
Harold Motschenbacher, several hundred students questioned the 77 representatives of 53 employers about
job opportunities in their field of preparation.
In 1975, a total of 838 students graduated. Graduation exercises were held at the former Mary E. Sawyer
Auditorium (then located at 500 Vine Streets). Graduation on May 22, 1975, had 681 graduates, of which more
than half received the associate degree. In addition, there also was a formal summer graduation exercise for
those students completing courses at the end of the Summer Term. At the Summer Term Graduation on
August 7, 1975, 157 more students completed classes at WWTI and received associate degrees or vocational
diplomas. In comparing the 1966 graduation class of 152 students: the 1975 summer graduation is larger
than the first graduation class, and the total number of students graduating in 1975 was more than five times as
many than completing programs in 1966.

In 1975-1976 . . .
In school year 1975-76, tuition for full-time program was $550 per academic year; and for Other Programs it was
$1 per hour of enrollment. Nonresident tuition rates were: Full-time Programs—Maximum tuition for
academic year $1,173; and for Other Programs--$1.48 per hour of enrollment.
In 1975-76 school year included the following program offerings: 35 Associate Degree; 18 Vocational Diploma
(one year); 4 Vocational Diploma (two years); and 3 Vocational Diploma (less than one year).
Board members for the 1975-76 year were Robert Ringdahl, chair; J. O. Beadle, vice chair; Louis Youngman,
secretary; Myron Bockhaus, treasurer; Lloyd McCaskey, Paul Mockrud, members-at-large; and Keith
Martin, school district administrator.
The 1975 Oktoberfest brought awards and satisfaction to many bicentennial spirited students. The theme of
the 1975 fest dealt with American Heritage and Western Wisconsin Technical Institute depicted just that in their
award-winning float and fence painting entry. WWTI’s float, three revolving drums showing great moments in
early American history won two awards in the Maple Leaf Parade. Competing in the newly formed Education
Category, the WWTI float came out on top for the eighth year in a row, having won the Festmaster’s Awards
previously. The successful float crews were from Commercial Art, Wood Technics and the Auto Mechanics
program. The fence-painting contest brought second place to Commercial Art entry.
November 20-21, 1975—In conjunction with the community-wide celebration of La Crosse as America’s “No. 1”
City, WWTI conducted tours of the school for the public.
January 22, 1976–A second effort to unionize WWTI faculty got underway with a hearing before a Wisconsin
employment Relations Commission (WERC) examiner.
In February 1976 the District Board renewed leases for the Viroqua and Arcadia Career Centers, and approved
renewal of the Sparta Career Center lease on a month-to-month basis, and approved renewal of the Mauston
Career Center lease on a month-to-month basis (the lease with Otis Larson for the Mauston Center was
terminated June 30, 1976).
March 18, 1976–Voting Day. Groups seeking representation were: the WWTI Education Association which
would affiliate with the Wisconsin Education Association Council (WEAC); the Faculty Federation which would
affiliate with the Wisconsin Federation of Teachers; the WWTI Professional Group (PEG) an Independent group
with no state or national affiliation. Results of the March 18 th voting: 155 of the eligible faculty members voted
with 134 casting ballots for a union and 21 against. The Independent group received 61 votes; WFT-55 votes;
and WEAC-18 votes.
1976-1996 – the nation’s Bicentennial Year – WWTI was made a “Bicentennial Campus”, with events focusing
on history. The 1976 Winter Carnival (February 7-15) theme was “A Winter Revolution”. And, the “Old
Fashion Sweetheart Dance” had a President and First Lady reigning.
In April 1976, students enrolled in the evening art classes at WWTI held a public exhibit of their work in the
Kumm Building. The Interior Design and Apparel Arts programs annual Design Revolution displayed the latest
art involved with fashion design. Demonstrations included macramé, block prints, tie dying, caning,
crocheting, and weaving.
In 1976, graduation exercises were held on May 27 in the former Mary E. Sawyer Auditorium with 758 persons
graduating: 431-associate degrees and 327-diplomas
On August 12, graduation exercises were held in the former Mary E. Sawyer Auditorium—190 persons
graduated.
In 1976, seven members constituted the District Board: Robert Ringdahl, chair; J. O. Beadle, vice chair; Myron
Bockhaus, Louis Youngman, secretary; Myron Bockhaus, treasurer; Lloyd McCaskey, Paul Mockrud; and Keith
Martin, school district administrator - exofficio.

In 1976-1977 . . .
In July, 1976, the District Board adopted a resolution in which the Juneau County Board proposed to sell to the
Western Wisconsin VTAE District the Mauston High School for One Dollar--consisting of approximately 2,400
square feet of space in the former agriculture shop and 10,800 square feet in a wing of the former high school;
approved the acquisition of the Gund Home facilities (then located at 405 Oakland Street, 1309 Pine Street and
the Southeast corner of 13 th and Badger Streets) for providing housing for approximately 100 students.
In 1976, WWTC golfers placed second in the Junior College State Championship. The four-some included
Kurt Norman, Mike Frederick, Larry Elvert and Tim Jirsa.
In 1976-77 school year, the District Board set the cost of nonresident tuition at $700.
In 1977, the former Mauston High School was purchased for remodeling as the Mauston Extended Campus.
May 26, 1977–WWTI graduated 697 students—this was the largest graduating class in WWTI’s 65-year history.
Formal exercises were held at the Mary E. Sawyer Auditorium, with 394 persons successfully completing
two-year technical programs, and 303 students completing one- and two-year vocational programs.
Summer graduation August 11, 1977–172 persons received their diploma in the seventh summer
commencement exercises at the Mary E. Sawyer Auditorium. The associate degree was awarded to 67
graduates who successfully completed two-year technical programs; and diplomas were presented to 105
students who completed the one- and two-year vocational programs.
In 1977-1978 . . .
There were ten major divisions at WWTI in 1977-78. Division Chair positions included: Accounting and Data
Processing; Development Division; Communication Skills, Social Sciences and Service Occupations; Graphics;
Marketing and Secretarial Science; Mathematics and Science; Health Occupations; Home Economics;
Agriculture; and Trade and Industrial. In addition, there were three Associate Chair positions: one in the
Trade and Industrial Division and two in the Health Occupations Division.
Program offerings were increased to include: 39 Associate Degree; 18 Vocational Diploma (one year); 3
Vocational Diploma (two years); and 5 Vocational Diploma (less than one year).
In 1977, the District Board was requested to explore the availability of federal money for building a parking ramp
in cooperation with the City or County of La Crosse.
In 1977, the District was authorized to enter into an agreement to participate in a cooperative management
review study of mid-management staff by Hayes and Associates of Chicago. The participating districts were
Fox Valley, Moraine Park, North Central and Waukesha County VTAE Districts, along with Western Wisconsin
VTAE District. The study was to determine the appropriate salary range for each salary grade and develop
procedures to implement and assure ongoing administration of the program.
In 1977, a Digital Equipment Corporation DEC System 20, with eight terminals, was installed for both
administrative and instructional users as the mainframe for the District.
In 1977, WWTI bought the former Gund Nursing Home property at 405 Oakland Street and 1309 Pine Street to
provide housing for approximately 100 students. The building was remodeled into a self-supporting dormitory
with rooms, kitchens, common living areas, and a recreation room/lounge and was named East Hall.
In June 1977, the District explored the feasibility of constructing a parking ramp.
In June, 1977, the District was awarded a $1,400,000 grant under Title III of the Advanced Institutional
Development Program covering management improvement, development of a data base for a management
information system, improvement of student services, curriculum improvement and development including the
implementation of six new programs.

In August, 1977, in accordance with Sections 38.08 and 38.10 of the Wisconsin Statutes, the District Board
reaffirmed a representation plan for the Western Wisconsin VTAE District that includes representatives as
follows: one from Buffalo, Clark and Trempealeau Counties, one from Jackson and Juneau Counties, one from
Monroe County, one from Crawford, Richland, Sauk and Vernon Counties, two from La Crosse County, and one
school administrator appointed at large without any consideration to geographic apportionment. Board
nominations of women and minorities were encouraged.
In September 1977, the first Personnel Officer (Richard Davis) was employed.
In October 1977, the District Director Richardson and University of Wisconsin-La Crosse Chancellor Kenneth
Lindner met to discuss the possibility of a joint building project to provide a health facility center for the two
institutions, and that such facility would be located between WWTC and UW-L.
In October 1977, the Mary E. Sawyer Auditorium property (located at the corner of 500 Vine Street) was
considered for acquisition by the WWTI District.
In October 27-29, 1977 – “Meet the Candidates”, a series of videotapes that featured political candidates for five
different state and county offices was broadcast on Channel 12. The videotapes were done as a class project
in Television Production as a course in the Visual Communications Technician program. The videotapes were
done during joint news conferences at which representatives of the local media asked questions of the
candidates. Five political contests were covered: Third Congressional District with candidates Alvin Baldus
(Democrat) and Adolf Gunderson (Republican); 94 th District Assembly with candidates Virgil Roberts
(Democrat), and Keith Ellison (American Party); and La Crosse County District Attorney with candidates
Edmond Nix (Democrat) and Michael Mulroy (Republican)
On December 5, 1977, WWTI celebrated its the ninth Homecoming. Included was an Open House for alumni
and the public, the lighting of the “W” and traditional Christmas Tree created by the students and displayed
prominently at the entrance of the mall between the Coleman and Kumm buildings. Elected King was Dave
Niemuth, first year Marketing program student, and Kelly Burkett, first year Dental Assistant program was
chosen Queen. Serving on their court were Michael Hampel and Katherine Baldwin, first and second year
Accounting students; Jeff Loree, second year Feed, Seed and Farm Supply, and Julie Loomis, first year Dental
Assistant; Dave Vasquez and Mary Humfeld, both in the Mechanical Design Technician program; Steve Borden
and Jeannie Gronemus, both first year Food Service Management program; Steve Peterson, a second year
Commercial Art student, and his wife, Mary, a second year Printing and Publishing student. The Homecoming
basketball game was a victory for the WWTI Cavaliers—the score was 109 to 66 over the Southwest Wisconsin
Vocational Technical Institute “Chargers”. Following the game a dance was held in the former Auditorium.
In December 1977, a Program for Liberal Arts and Career Education (PLACE) was developed by Viterbo
College whereby Viterbo would accept credits earned at WWTI toward a degree granted by Viterbo.
On April, 28, 1978, WWTI held an Open House in the style of the popular Oktoberfest “Heritage Night” complete
with door prizes, arts and craft sales, live music, and gourmet food prepared and served by WWTI’s Food
Service Management and Institutional Foods program students. The menu included delicious and exotic
dishes from far-off lands as Greece, China, Spain, France, Italy, Germany, Hawaii, and the Scandinavian
countries; and an old European Café for relaxing and enjoying delicate French pastries with coffee or tea. The
theme for the event was “Vocational Education: An American Heritage”. Area high school bands, choruses
and musical ensembles, provided daylong musical entertainment.
In April, 1978, the District was authorized to construct a child care center of the central campus; proceed with
the development of plans for a student health center in conjunction with the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse;
and to acquire and remodel the Mary E. Sawyer Auditorium (located at the corner of 500 Vine Street).
In May, 1978
� The District acquired ten acres of land in the Independence Industrial Park, and the purchase of one relocatable
classroom for the purpose of providing office and classroom facilities of approximately 3,000 square feet.
� The District began negotiations with the City of Sparta for acquisition of all or part of approximately 53 acres of land on
the former Sparta Child Care Center site for possible development of programs in agriculture, police training, fire
training and traffic safety/driver education.
� The District was authorized to continue renting space in the former Vernon County Teachers College for the Viroqua
campus, and to initiate a feasibility study or alternative methods for providing office and instructional space in Viroqua
� The District, jointly with UW-L, develop plans to construct a student health center facility
� The District constructed a facility on the central campus to provide the Child Care and Development Program
instructional laboratory space.

� The District was authorized to continue negotiations on a proposed ground lease to build a 48-unit
apartment complex to house approximately 192 students on the property commonly known as the “La
Crosse Hospital” (corner of 13 th and Badger Streets) site.
In June 1978, Judith Radcliffe, of Black River Falls, was the first woman appointed to the Western Wisconsin
VTAE Board. She served as a Board Member from July 1978 through June 1986, and as Secretary of the
Board from July 1981 through June 1986.
In June, 1978, a 12-week, “red carpet” program entitled, “Residential Career Development Program for
Out-of-School Youth”, was conducted involving approximately 150 young people between the ages of 16 and
21 identified by the Community Action Agencies within the District, with 90 students as a residential group and
60 students a control group. The goal of the students in the residential group is that 80 percent would pursue
full-time training or be placed in jobs. The project was conducted under the Youth Employment and Training
program, Title III of the Comprehensive Education and Training Act (CETA) of 1973.
August 19, 1978–180 persons received their diploma in the eighth summer commencement exercises at the
Mary E. Sawyer Auditorium. The associate degree was awarded to 37 graduates who successfully
completed two-year technical programs; and diplomas were presented to 143 students who completed the one-
and two-year vocational programs.
In 1978-1979 . . .
In 1978, the Food Service Program was established to provide controlled laboratory experiences for students
enrolled in the Food Service Management and Institutional Foods program.
In the fall of 1978, the remodeled of the Mauston High School was completed and programs were begun in:
Welding, Small Engine –Chassis Mechanic, a Business Skills Laboratory, Farm Business Management, Metal
Fabrication-Apprenticeship, Goal-Oriented Adult Learning (GOAL), Production Agriculture, and Pre-Service
Nursing. Mauston—the East Center—serves the counties of Juneau and Jackson, plus portions of Monroe,
Vernon, Sauk, Richland and Clark counties. There are eight high school districts within the East Area and
each one serves as the location for adult evening school offerings through Community Services. At the East
Center itself, three full-time and one part-programs are available during the day as well as associate degree,
vocational and adult evening level.
November 27-28–WWTI conducted a hazardous materials training seminar at the Rolling Hills Nursing Home in
Sparta. The major goal of the three-day seminar was to enable emergency services personnel to deal
effectively with hazardous materials involving, highway, and rail and terminal operations and/or for and any
other emergencies that may arise.
The 1978 U.S. VICA welding winner Duane Christianson, of Mindoro, qualified for world competition that was
held in Cork, Ireland, in August 1979. Duane Christianson, a 1978 Welding program graduate won the
first-place gold medallion in Arc Welding at the U.S. Skill Olympics in Birmingham, Alabama, after placing first in
the Wisconsin competition in Fond du Lac.
In 1978-79 there were 365 full-time employees and 935 part-time employees, and 254 students qualified for
Federal Student Work-Study and were employed during their free time at the WWTI.
In 1978-79, the Adult Program enrollment total 20,437, of which 10,201 were at the La Crosse Campus.
Postsecondary enrollment for associate degree, vocational diploma, apprentices and the GOAL program total
7,561.
In 1979, three buildings were added:
� The Tomah Career Planning Center was completed in the Tomah Industrial Site at 1310 Townline Road. The Tomah
Center had several large classrooms for programs such as Supervisory Management, Pre-Service Nursing,
Goal-Oriented Adult Learning (GOAL), and a Career Assessment Center to help counsel those wishing to upgrade
career awareness and training.
� The Independence Outreach Center at 204 Walnut Street was designed to provide classrooms for similar programs in
the northwestern region of the Western Wisconsin VTAE District along with various evening adult courses, career
counseling, and community and economic development support services.
� A Parent-Child Center was constructed at 415 North Ninth Street. (The District had previously rented facilities for
providing instruction and child care activities at an off-campus site.)

With the January, 1979 issue, the Cavalcade returned to the newspaper format it had abandoned in 1974 in
favor of a smaller magazine size and style.
On April 27, 1979, WWTI held an Open House for the public with the theme “Your Future Is In Career Country at
Western Wisconsin Technical Institute”. The event included tours, entertainment, realistic exhibits and
classroom project demonstrations, gourmet food prepared by Food Service program students of WWTI, and a
general orientation on programs and services provided for all residents of the Western Wisconsin VTAE District.
District entertainment groups from area high schools were invited to provide musical entertainment during the
day and evening of the Open House. Over 300 high school students performed in the 15 different musical
groups represented—ranging from Jazz Bands, Choirs, Swing Bands, and others. Also in conjunction with the
Open House, the Related Arts Department presented its sixth annual Studio Show of Decorative Tiles and
Creative Design, and the Commercial Art students had their annual portfolio showing of their art and graphics
projects. Tours of all departments of the school’s full-time division of agriculture, business, graphics, health
occupations, home economics, industrial, general education, and developmental education were in operation
with students attending classes and teachers demonstrating instructional techniques.
In 1979, the WWTC golf team had its most successful season—taking conference championship, placing
second in the state meet, and eighth in the Nationals.
In 1979, the WWTI Faculty Senate sponsored a school-wide car pool effort to help conserve energy.
In 1979-1980 . . .
On August 27, 1979, a Women’s Opportunity Center was established at WWTI to meet the special needs of
women returning to or entering the labor market. The center provided career-counseling services, with
emphasis placed on individual’s returning to school, the nontraditional student, and women entering
nontraditional careers. The Center was located in Room 101 of the Business Education Building. The
Center’s coordinator was Mary O’Sullivan (now of the General Education Division).
In September 1979, the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act (CETA) Clerical Training program was
offered on an “open-entry, open-exit” basis.
In October 1979, WWTI offered a pilot course to the Black River State Camp inmates. Jim Southworth was the
instructor of the one-day, 8-hour Visual Communication Career Development Mini-Course.
November 1979–construction of the new WWTI Independence Center at 204 Walnut Street replaces the WWTI
Northwest Center that was located in the city hall in Arcadia. The I.M.D. Corporation, a nonprofit
Independence industrial development corporation, donated the five acres of land on which the facility was built.
December 3, 1979, began festivities the for WWTI’s homecoming celebration. The theme was “Time
Passages” to signify the end of the 70’s and the beginning of the 80’s. Homecoming King and Queen were Tim
Knoblock, representing the Chemicals and Fertilizer program, and Laurie Brown, representing the Interior
Design program.
May 31, 1979—Commencement exercises were held at the Mary E. Sawyer Auditorium, with 710 persons
being awarded an associate degree, diplomas, or a certificate. Graduates include: 432 associate degrees;
236 diplomas; and 42 certificates.
In 1980-1981 . . .
In 1980-81, WWTI faculty numbered 191 full-time and 687 part-time.
In the 1980-81 school year, 58 associate degree and vocational diploma programs were offered, along with the
vocational-technical development GOAL program.
In 1980-81, Adult and Continuing Education Enrollments totaled 25,744, with 13,235 at the
La Crosse Campus and 12,509 people attended classes outside the La Crosse Campus.

In 1980 following investigation and discussion, the District Board moved to continue the Practical Nursing
Program that was begun in 1966.
In 1980, the WWTI press and its production served as a practical learning vehicle for commercial art and
printing students printed the “new” Accolade.
In 1980, the Cavaliers (Men’s Varsity Basketball) finished the season with a 7-7-conference record, a 13-13
regular season record, and 1-1 in the state playoffs.
In 1980, plans were finalized for the remodeling and retrofitting of the Diesel Shop located at 2711 Larson Street
in the La Crosse Industrial Park. Prior to 1980, the District leased the building.
In 1980, the Wisconsin Postsecondary Vocational Clubs of America (VICA) Skill Olympic trials were held at
Waukesha County Technical Institute in Pewaukee. Seventy WWTC students and instructors were involved in
the competition. In all, WWTC students returned with 22 winners, 17 medals, and one State Officer.
New programs approved included Respiratory Therapy, Real Estate, Microcomputer and Computer
Typesetting.
In the summer of 1980, Fort McCoy became a receiving station for approximately 175 Cuban refugees. WWTI
responded to a request from the Federal Emergency Management Administration and the U.S Department of
Education by conducting an assessment and training program at Fort McCoy. Many GOAL and other staff
responded to the request for teaching basic skills and English as a Second Language to the refugees.
On September 9, 1980, the acquisition and remodeling of the Mary E. Sawyer Auditorium property (then located
at Fifth and Vine Streets) referendum was defeated. The result of the election showed 13,510 Yes votes and
17,958 no votes.
In 1980-81, the Cavaliers finished the season with a 7-7-conference record, a 13-13 regular season record, and
a 1-1 in the state playoffs.
In 1981, a remodeling of the West Hall (Old YMCA) Activity Building was under consideration. The building
was remodeled to utilize extra floor space for classrooms, faculty offices and other needed space involved in
instructional programs.
On October 26-28, 1981, the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools evaluation team conducted an
all-school evaluation. The team recommended that the District receive accreditation for a ten-year period.
In 1981, the Viroqua Campus was located in temporary office quarters at 840 North Main, Route 2, Viroqua.
Since the temporary quarters did not have space for instruction, classrooms were rented in the community as
required. The Pre-Service Nursing Assistant class was held at the Vernon Memorial Hospital, and GOAL
classes were held at the Viroqua Senior High School. During the Viroqua Annual School Meeting in July 1981,
voters of the local public school district approved the sale of a parcel of land adjacent to the high school to the
Western Wisconsin VTAE District for the price of one dollar. Architectural plans were submitted for
construction of a new facility for the Viroqua Center.
In 1981-1982 . . .
In 1981-82, headcount enrollment was 3,890 for Associate Degree programs and 4,327 for Vocational Diploma
program, totaling 8,217.
In 1981-82, Adult and Continuing Education enrollments totaled 12,272 for the La Crosse Campus and 12,013
outside the La Crosse Campus, for a total of 24,285.
In 1981-82, a Van Pool project was submitted to the Wisconsin Department of Transportation to purchase three
vans for providing transportation for students to and from outlying regions. WWTC was the only technical
college in the state to provide this service. One van picked up students in Black River Falls with pickup points
in Tomah-Sparta at New Lisbon, Necedah, Warrens, Tomah, Sparta and Bangor. On the Viroqua route,
pick-up points were La Farge, Viroqua, Westby, Cashton, Chaseburg and Coon Valley. A third van was for the
Arcadia-Independence area. However, in August 1982

the Arcadia/Independence route was discontinued due to lack of riders. In 1982, two vanpools were operated
at WWTC—one for the Sparta/Tomah area and one van the Viroqua area. Both staff and students were
eligible to use the Van Pool services for a nominal fee—which averaged 4.5 cents per mile.
In the fall of 1982, a Corporate Campus concept was created. While the concept of providing services to
business and industry was not new to the VTAE System, the Corporate Campus concept was an amplification
of the many services that have always been provided to businesses and industries throughout the District. The
major difference being the District’s commitment to providing “quick start” courses, whenever possible, for any
employer at any time or location throughout the District. It utilized statewide resources, and the state VTAE
System also played a vital role in the Corporate Campus experience.
In 1982, the WWTC Foundation, under the direction of Dr. Jack Swidler who became the Foundation Officer in
July of 1979, began “the great alumni search”. Prior to his position with the Foundation, Jack was employed in
Student Services as a Counselor/Psychologist.
In 1982, the Governor signed the VTAE Governance Bill. The bill states that a nine-member district board will
be appointed by the Appointment Committee in 1983; three members will be appointed for one year, three
members will be appointed for two years, and three members will be appointed for three years; and that all
board members will be required to sign the State of Wisconsin Code of Ethics.
May 28, 1982 graduation was held at the La Crosse Center.
In 1983, economic development activities included 130 adult education courses set up specifically for business,
industry and service occupations that served 2,554 students.
In 1983, the 47 th Annual WAVAE Convention was held in La Crosse on April 14-15
In 1982-1983 . . .
Wisconsin laws governing the VTAE System were changed during the past year in response to ht need for
broader representation on district boards. Beginning July 1, 1982, the District Board was increased from
seven to nine members. In addition to the increased numbers, each board must contain at least two members
who are elected officials. Board members were: Thomas P. Padesky, chair, Donald A. Woychik, Gene F.
Schroeder, Judith A. Radcliffe, Paul S. Dokken, Lawrence P. Malinoski, Patricia J. Schmidt, Janice E. Keil, and
Alan R. Szepi,
In 1982-83, the Western Wisconsin Technical Institute Foundation held its first Scholarship Reception.
In 1983-1984 . . .
In 1983-84, Adult and Continuing Education enrollments totaled 9,154 for the La Crosse Campus and 11,092
for outside the La Crosse Campus, totaling 20,246.
In July 1983, a one-year lease was signed with Ellefson, Incorporated for office space for the Viroqua Center.
In July 1983, the new nine-member District Board succeeds the seven-member group. A change in Wisconsin
State Statute 38.08 requires that all districts have equal consideration for the general population. With that
change, WWTC District was allotted nine members for its board, with members being appointed by
chairpersons of the county boards in the 11 counties served by the District.
In the fall of 1983, the District began four new full-time instructional programs: Respiratory Therapy
Technician, Police Science, Electromechanical Technology, and Farm Implement Servicing Mechanic.
In November 1983, the Handicapped Awareness Association at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse
recognized WWTI as the “Handicapped Employer of the Year”. More physically disadvantaged staff and
faculty personnel were employed at WWTI than at any other institution or business in the community.

In 1984, the West Hall Activity Center was again remodeled for use as an Administrative Center.
In 1984, the second annual Scholarship Reception was held to honor students and donors. Over 115 attended
the reception including donors, students, members of the WWTI Foundation and District staff.
On May 25, 1984, WWTI will graduate 1,144 students who have successfully completed full-time instructional
programs.
In 1984-1985 . . .
During the 1984-85 school year, a total of 21,301 persons were served through the Adult and Continuing
Education courses.
In December 1984, the WWTC Foundation, Inc. purchased the ole Mary E. Sawyer Auditorium and its
surrounding parking lot for $500,000.
In 1985-1986 . . .
In September 1985, the first female plumbing apprentice instructor in the state of Wisconsin joined the
WWVTAE District staff as an instructor of plumbing apprentices.
In 1985, the Quality Circles concept catches on at WWTI. The first Quality Circle at WWTI was established in
September 1985 to study student assessment. That circle defined assessment as the total analysis of each
student’s academic, personal, and potential needs and career aspirations through a process of testing and
professional counseling to help each student receive maximum benefits of the educational programming
services at WWTI. The goals were to define assessment, as it is used at WWTI, identify the users of
assessment at WWTI, recommend district-wide responsibility for assessment, and make recommendations on
the improvement of the assessment process.
In February 1985, WWTI’s Television Production students had their work televised on national television
networks. The funeral for three men slain February 7, 1985, in St. Patrick’s Catholic Church in Onalaska,
Wisconsin, attracted national attention. Television crews from the major news networks were in La Crosse to
cover the funeral Mass held at St. Joseph the Workman Cathedral. It was, however, WWTI-TV that provided
most of the live internal coverage of the funeral Mass.
On May 9-10, 1985—WWTI held an Open House in conjunction with it’s 4 th Annual Skills Fair—the theme “Real
Learning = Real Earning”. The District entertainment groups from area high schools provided musical
entertainment during the day and evening of the Open House. Skills Fair provided an opportunity for high
school students to com0pete for scholarships to attend WWTI.
In 1985, a Pom Pom squad was organized. There have been Pom Pom and cheerleading squads in the past,
but neither has been active for several years. While nineteen women started practice in September, only eight
remained on the squad due, in large part, to school study commitments. They emphasized on dance routines
featuring two different pom
pom routines – one during half time of the women’s and another during the half time of the men’s games.
In 1985, the District purchased and remodeled the Viroqua Extended Campus. Staff occupied the Center as
of June 19, 1985. The acquisition and refurbishing of the Center was a team project between the WWTI
Foundation and the WWTC District. The WWTI Viroqua Center, Nelson Building, located at the corners of
Rock and Decker Streets in downtown Viroqua, held an open house on Sunday, January 12, 1986.
Fall 1986 enrollment was: 1,722 full-time students and 732part-time students, totaling 2,454.
In 1986, three second-year students in the Mechanical Design Technician Associate Degree program were
selected from more than a hundred national finalists to receive awards in a T & I Systems, Inc. Computer-Aided
Drafting contest entitled, “CAD Your Way to Success”.
In 1985-86, 756 students were served through the Tech Center.

On April 22, 1986, the fourth annual Scholarship and Leadership Reception was held at the former Mary E.
Sawyer Auditorium (then located at the corner of 500 Vine Street).
The 1985-86 annual report of Economic Development Activities indicated that the school provided contracts
with 60 organizations for special services related to Economic Development. Other facts included the delivery
of 147 individual courses through contracts; the training of some 4,918 employees; the signing of 10 contracts
for technical assistance for a total of 162 hours.
In 1986, Phase 1 of the Coleman Center Retrofit project was completed, and space was leased in the Mormon
Coulee Training Center for Public Safety Services.
During 1986, a Human Resource Network – a cooperative program including Western Wisconsin Technical
Institute, the Wisconsin Job Service Office, and the Coulee Region Community Action Programs – utilized
space in the basement of the Allen Building (the former J. C. Penney Downtown Store), 115 Fifth Avenue South,
La Crosse. The purpose of the Human Resource Network was to assist in obtaining employment for
JTPA-eligible residents of La Crosse County.
1986 marked the 75 th year of the Wisconsin Apprenticeship System. It’s been 75 years since the Wisconsin
Legislature passed the comprehensive apprenticeship law that not only created the Wisconsin system but also
served as the basis for apprenticeship in the rest of the nation.
Richardson, the fourth director of the school, retired at the end of December 1986. During his tenure,
Richardson presided over significant growth in student numbers, from 5,000 to 24,500.
Western Wisconsin Technical College – 1987 -
A New Director
In 1987, Dr. Beverly S. Simone, became the fifth District Director. Dr. Simone has the
distinction as being the first woman to hold the position of District Director in the State of
Wisconsin. Dr. Simone was District Director from January 12, 1987 to February 3, 1989.
On March 29, 1987, Dr. Beverly S. Simone was formally installed as the Western Wisconsin
VTAE District Director. The Western Wisconsin VTAE District Board hosted the ceremony
that took place in the first floor lounge of the Kumm Building.
Dr. Simone maintained a high profile nationally and pushed legislators to increase vocational
funding during a time of tight budgets and staff layoffs. In February, Dr. Simone alerted all
staff about the 1987-89 State VTAE Budget and its implications on the Western District. All
planning units were asked to develop a 1987-88 budget at a 90 percent and 95 percent funding
level of current expenditures.
In 1986-1987 . . .
Fall 1986 enrollment was: 1,722 full-time students and 732 part-time students, totaling 2,454.
In July 1986, at the Board’s organizational meeting on July 14, Jan Keil was elected chairperson of the District
Board and was the first woman to hold this position. Jan Keil served on the District Board from 1983 to June
30, 1990.

In 1987-1988 . . .
1987-88 was a budget battle year. On June 23, 1987, the District Board formally adopted the 1987-88 budget.
Because of declining property values, 14 positions were eliminated. The District Board approved a
“bottoms-up budget” approach for making budget cuts during the crucial financial crisis.
Fall 1987 enrollment was: 1,738 full-time students and 845 part-time students, totaling 2,583.
During the summer of 1987, WWTC used space next to Dayton’s in the Valley View Mall as a Career Center.
Between July 7 through “August 14, during the 33 days of operation, 1,795 people visited the Western
Wisconsin Tech Career Center.
In 1987, the annual tuition for a full-time, state resident vocational student taking 30 credits was $841.50;
$28.05 a credit; and $40.85 a credit for college parallel.
In March 1987 WWTC received two new automobiles from General Motors Corporation for use in the
Automotive Servicing Mechanics program.
Over $28,000 in scholarship funds were awarded in the 1986-87 school year. Nearly 300 students and guests,
faculty and staff, and representatives of business, industries and service organizations attended the event,
which was held in the former Mary E. Sawyer Auditorium (then located at the corner of 500 Vine Street).
At the annual WWTI athletic banquet on May 5, 1987, former District Director Charles G. Richardson was
selected as the Wisconsin Technical College Conference Sportsperson of the Year. Richardson played an
instrumental role in the formation of the conference and attended the initial meeting on April 1, 1966. The
conference was officially formed on April 21 of that year.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
On May 8-9, 1987, Western Wisconsin Technical College celebrated its 75 th anniversary. The theme of the
diamond anniversary celebration was “Education that Works”. In addition to tours and displays, it included the
sealing of a Time Capsule that was installed in a pillar between the Coleman and Kumm Buildings that is to be
opened in 2012 when the 100 th anniversary of the institution is celebrated. Contents of the Time Capsule are:
� Periodicals of the Day: Time, Newsweek, and U.S. News;
� Newspapers: the La Crosse Tribune, The Milwaukee Journal, St. Paul Pioneer Press Dispatch, and
USA Today;
� Agricultural projections to the Turn of the Century;
� Automotive computer;
� Floppy disks;
� Micro chip from Apple Computer;
� Phototype Set Paper and Polaroid Film from Kodak;
� Interior Design Styles – magazine
� WWTI Catalog from 1986 and 1987;
� Health Occupations Division Organizational Manual and Student Guide Book;
� Wisconsin Vocational Educator magazine;
� WWTI Student Packet for 1986-87;
� School Calendar;
� Student Guide Book, Career Country;
� Map of the City of La Crosse;
� Copies of ZEAL and Trail Blazes publications;
� 1986-87 Budget for the Western Wisconsin VTAE District;
� John B. Coleman’s book entitled: The Rag-Tag and the Bobtail;
� Outstanding Educators of America, book listing four WWTI educators;
� Film: “WWTI and Your Future”;
� Nightlife, night school offerings;
� History of West Hall;
� Computer Graphic Filmstrip;
� 75 th Anniversary Alumni Button and Brochure;
� WWTI Professional and Administrative Organization, 1986-86 (booklet);
� Strategic Plan – December 1986;
� Program Proposal – September 1986;

� Program Investigation of Legal Assistant – March 1987;
� Final Report of the Self-Study – August 1981;
� Five-Year Follow-Up Survey Report - December 1986;
� 1985-86 Follow-Up Survey Report – April 1987; and
� 1986-87 Operational Plan.
Dignitaries for the ceremony included Wisconsin Senator Brian Rude, former State Senator Raymond Bice a
longtime member of the school’s governing board. Speakers on “How WWTI has helped me” included Jim
Wagner, Executive Director, Catholic Charities and Riverdale Marriage and Family Clinic; Howard Johnson,
Fire Chief, La Crosse Fire Department; Karen Keeffe, the 1988 (second) District Star Award Winner and VTAE
Ambassador; and Sandra C. Schultz, the (first) 1987 District Star Winner.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
At the May, 1987 Skill Olympic Trials of the Vocational Industrial Clubs of America event that took place in
Milwaukee, three WWTC students took top spots in the diesel equipment mechanics category. First, second
and third places won gold, silver and bronze medals. WWTC students Kurt Rutlin, Tomah, took first place; Ron
Sutherland, Viola, second; and Todd Potter, Warrens, third, respectively.
May 29, 1987—Graduation exercises were held in the La Crosse Center—867 persons graduated.
Goodbye WWTI and Hello WWTC - 1987
Western Wisconsin Technical Institute is gone. In its place is Western Wisconsin Technical
College. In June 1987, the District Board submitted a resolution to the Wisconsin Board of
VTAE recommending the name change. The state Vocational, Technical and Adult Education
System decided to change the names of 14 of its 16 schools so that all will be known as
“technical colleges”. The change did not mean a shift in program emphasis; it reflects “what
we are doing”. The word “college” signifies the level and quality of education that is offered.
The mission of all the Wisconsin Technical Colleges remained the same—that of serving young
people and adults with high quality postsecondary education programs.
The gift of a $17,000 1987 Buick to the Western Wisconsin Technical Foundation through the Walt Hammond
Automotive dealership in La Crosse and General Motors was made to the Auto Mechanics program. The
program was expanded in the fall of 1987 from a 48-week course to a two-year, vocational diploma program.
In 1987, Phase 2 of the Coleman Center Retrofit project was completed, and space was leased in the Mormon
Coulee Training Center for Public Safety Services department.
In 1987, the WWTC Foundation sold the Mary E. Sawyer building to the La Crosse County.
In 1987-88, a Computer Services implementation plan was approved that involved
� The installation of the first minicomputer (VAX 8250) and cluster hardware to permit additional minicomputers to share
a common disk file, printers and magnetic tape drives;
� The installation of a campus-wide ETHERNET backbone cable that would connect all campus facilities to the network;
� The Integration of All-In-One for office automation support in the areas of word processing, electronic mail, calendaring,
time management, information management and communication.
� TECHNET operations and accessing.
In 1987, a one-year $75,000 Job Training and Partnership Act (JTPA) grant was awarded WWTC to assist in
retraining workers laid off by The Trane Company. Nearly 400 production and management employees were
affected. Assessment services and classroom training were provided by WWTC.
In January 1988, the Police Training, Fire Training, Traffic Safety and Apprenticeship programs were relocated
to the Mormon Coulee Training Center, 4439 Mormon Coulee Road. Staff in the building included the
Associate Chair of Service Occupations, Fire Service Specialist, the Police Training Specialist, and two
secretaries.

In 1988, Western Wisconsin Technical College hosted the VICA Skill Olympics. About 350 students from
throughout Wisconsin competed in the skills they will use in their careers. Western Wisconsin Technical
College students entering into the competitions, placed winners in 10 first places, 6 second places, and 8 third
places. WWTC Welding students “took the first place trophy home” for the bed race.
In 1988, the DEC System 20 increased from its original 8 terminals to 138 terminals. Usage included
instruction, administrative processing, and area school districts accounting and payroll processing.
In 1988, the Operating Assistant program name was changed to Surgical Technician.
In 1988, Phase 3 of the Coleman Center Retrofit project was completed, and the Auto Body program was
relocated into remodeled space in the Diesel Shop.
In May 1988, Audrey Wygel, of Arcadia, a student in the medical secretary program and president of the student
Coordinating Commission, was selected the District Star Award Winner.
May 26, 1988–Commencement exercises were held at the La Crosse Center. The associate degree was
awarded to 540 persons successfully completing two-year technical program and a diploma was awarded to
393 persons of one- and two-year programs.
In 1988-1989 . . .
The May 12, 1988 Skills Fair drew more than 600 students from 28 area high schools for competing in more
than 40 events. The WWTC Foundation awarded forty-two first-place winners in the WWTC Skills Fair for high
school students $100 educational scholarships.
Jennifer Shurson of Bangor, a commercial art student at WWTC, designed the 1988 Oktoberfest button. The
button depicted Grandad Bluff, colored autumn leaves, and a soaring eagle.
In 1989, the tuition for a district resident was $32.35 per credit, while a non-resident pays an extra $58.55 per
credit for a total of $90.90.
In the winter quarter of 1988, there were 2,908 students enrolled at WWTC.
On November 17, 1988, Dr. Beverly Simone, director of WWTC, announced that she would leave her position in
La Crosse for Madison Area Technical College as of February 3, 1989.
On November 22, 1988, the American Association of Community and Junior Colleges sponsored a video
teleconference titled “Building Communities: A Vision for a New Century” live from Washington D.C.
In 1989, ASSET was started at WWTC as a pilot project. ASSET is aimed at helping match students to a
program and helping them gain skills to be successful in a program.
February 8, 1989--the second-year students of the Visual Communications program created a half-hour news
program called “Campus Beat”, which was aired on February 8 on Marcus Communications cable channel 8.
The show featured stories within the school system (including story on WWTC’s tuition increase and physical
fitness) as well as of the surrounding community.
In March 1989, two WWTC basketball players received all-state junior college honors.
� Marti Przybylla, a 5-foot-10 sophomore, was named to the women’s team for the second straight
season. The former Arcadia High School standout led WWTC in scoring and rebounding averaging 15
points and 12 rebounds a game. Przybylla is the second all-time leading scorer in WWTC history with
641 points. She trails only her sister, Margo, who scored 6 86 points in a two-year at the school.
� Scott Indahl, WWTC forward, was named to the men’s all state team and the Wisconsin Technical
College all conference team. Indahl, a 6-4 freshman, averaged 18.3 points and 10.6 rebounds a game
to lead the team in both categories. Indahl, a former Onalaska Luther player, shot 49 percent from the
field and 76 percent at the free throw line for the Cavaliers.

In 1989, Lois Durall, a teacher in the English as a Second Language program at WWTC, was nominated for the
American Heroes in Education Award, sponsored by the Reader’s Digest magazine. The award recognizes
those who have developed better ways to produce more learning for more students. Lois has worked with
more than 300 adult refugees from Southeast Asia since 1975. She also served on the Las Crosse County
Task Force for Refugees, and as a member of the board of directors for the La Crosse Area Hmong Mutual
Assistance Association.
In 1989, Dr. Sabra Ann Mumford, chairman of the Division of Home Economics, was chosen to participate in the
“Leaders” program, an international leadership program for two-year college women administrators.
1989 remodeling included the relocation of the Machine Tool program into the former Auto Body space in the
Coleman Center, and remodeling of the space vacated by Machine Tool into a new Student Services area.
In April, 1989, WWTC staff made a presentation at the AACJC meeting in Washington, D.C. Participants in the
presentation, “Implementation of Futures Commission Recommendations: Renewal of Community College
Faculty” were Jerrilyn Brewer, Robert Durall, and Donald Nontelle along with District Director Simone. Also
attending were Katherine Bakken and Suzann Balduzzi.
On April 7-8, 1989, WWTC hosted the Vocational industrial Clubs of America (VICA) and the Health
Occupations Students of America (HOSA) students. This was the second time in two years that WWTC
hosted the competition in La Crosse. WWTC had 10 VICA and four HOSA first place winners, eight VICA and
three HOSA second place winners, and eight VICA and three HOSA third place winners.
In 1989, Dale Tessmer, Art Marson and Board Members Linda Carlson and Maribeth Solverson attended a
seminar on Quality First at Fox Valley Technical College, a high priority in WWTC’s Strategic Plan.
In 1989, WWTC graduated nearly 800 students with the modern business and technological skills needed by
area employees.
In 1989-1990 . . .
Interim Director
In 1989, a nationwide search took place for a new director following the resignation of Dr. Beverly
Simone.. During the time period of February 3, 1989 until a new director was employed, WWTC
Deputy Director Dale
Tessmer ran the school.
Dale Tessmer, a respected and an astute Business Manager of the school for over 25 years, retired
September 30, 1990. He was instrumental in the development and transition of the Western
Wisconsin Technical and Adult Education District from the Coleman Technical Institute to Western
Wisconsin Technical Institute to Western Wisconsin Technical College, and performed his services
with extraordinary integrity and expertise. He also provided exemplary leadership for the
improvement of vocational education on the local, state and national levels.
Dale Tessmer retired on September 30, 1990 after 25 years of exemplary leadership and service,
and at that time the District conferred upon him the status of Executive Vice President Emeritus.

A New Director
The expectations of the new director differed from previous directors: The search for a new director
was broad based. Among them:
- The school broadened its search by attracting interested candidates from other education
institutions as well as from private businesses. Attracting business leaders was appropriate as
the school maintains close ties to the private sector.
- In addition to the standard recruitment through the Chronicle of Higher Education, WWTC placed
advertisements in The Wall Street Journal.
- The search asked applicants to meet the state requirements of having a master’s degree or
equivalent experience.
Lee Rasch proved to be the most qualified candidate. On June 9, 1989, at special meeting of the
Board of the Western Wisconsin Vocational, Technical and Adult Education District, the appointment
of Lee Rasch as District Director and Chief Executive Officer was announced.
A formal installation ceremony was held on November 6, 1989 in the First Floor Lounge of the Roy E.
Kumm Building.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
September, 1989 enrollment was 3,192 students overall. Of the total, 1,914 are full-time students and 1,278
are part-time.
In a press conference at the Midway Motor Lodge, Governor Tommy Thompson indicated that the tuition
reciprocity agreement between Wisconsin and Minnesota would continue for another seven-year period. The
agreement covers all state-operated colleges and universities, including vocational and technical schools.
October 24, 1989—the second annual Dinner De Gala, a 10-course 3½-hour gourmet meal in the ballroom of
the La Crosse Radisson Hotel, with food prepared by the chefs at the Radisson and food service students from
WWTC, is a dining extravaganza for a good cause. The proceeds from the dinner benefit the La Crosse Area
Restaurant Association Scholarship Fund.
Enrollment for the winter quarter of 1989 was 3,134 students, an increase of eight percent over 1988 (2,908)
students.
On May 7 and 8, 1990, Dr. George Baker of the University of Texas administered the WWTC Climate Survey.
The survey gleaned information about WWTC organization; strengths of the college, and areas for focusing
energies. The results of the survey play a key role in NCA accreditation and in the Quality Improvement
process.
May 10, 1990 – the sixth annual Scholarship Banquet/Reception was held to honor 124 people who received
awards from 78 different scholarship funds. Astronaut Mark Lee was guest speaker for the function. Also, the
tenth annual Skills Fair was held May 10, 1990, with over 500 people attending the event. There were 428
students involved in 49 areas of competition, and some 60-70 high school students who were present for
campus tours.
In 1989, and Educational, Research and Dissemination (ER&D) program was functioning at WWTC. The
program supports effective teaching strategies that result in improving instruction. Jerrilyn Brewer along with
Robert Andraschko, Katherine Bakken, John Grass and Linda Schwandt participated in the ER&D program and
made a presentation at the American Association of Community and Junior Colleges Convention in
Washington, D.C. in April of 1989, with a similar presentation in December 1989 at the American Vocational
Association Convention in Orlando, Florida.
On March 12 and March 14, 1990, WWTC hosted employers from Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois and Iowa in
two separate Career Days. March 12—Human Services Career Day included over 30 employers for 13 health
programs, police science, medical secretary and biomedical electronics. March 14—Career Information
Exchange Day included over 40 employers from business and industry for program areas of business
education, home economics, agribusiness, graphics, and trade and industry.
In March 1990, Dawn Johnson of Onalaska and student at WWTC won the La Crosse Interstate Fair Souvenir
Button Design Contest. There were 95 entries in the button design contest.

In May 7, 1990, Bethany Lutheran College eliminated WWTC’s baseball team from postseason play. Bethany
Lutheran defeated WWTC 12-3 and 11-1 in a two-game total runs series in the national junior college
subregionals.
In 1990 the second floor “Infill” expansion was completed on the original 1923 Coleman Center.
In 1990, a group of educators were invited to Germany to view a model of the German school restructuring.
Mary Braithwaite, General Education, was part of the contingent and visited the new system and school in
Saarland, West Germany, that has been in existence since 1985.
In 1989-90, the Education Issues Task Force was established at WWTC, co-chaired by Linda Mast, Student
Services Administrator, and John Grass, General Education Communication Skills instructor. Some of the
issues included curriculum, an instructional computer policy, purchasing, transfer of college credits, issues
related to semester versus quarter system.
In 1989, Dr. I. King Jordan, President of Gallaudet University, visited WWTC. Former Congressman Steve
Gunderson appeared with Dr. Jordan in his visit to WWTC.
At the May 24, 1990, commencement exercises, three staff members of WWTC were honored. The awards for
excellence went to:
� Jane Rada as teacher of the year—Jane, a business division instructor since 1975, and lead instructor and
academic advisor to the Office Assistant program;
� Keith Valiquette as administrator of the year—Keith, chair of the Instructional Support Services Division,
developing and implementing seven new projects and for his cooperation with high schools; and
� Nancy Schoh as top associate employee—Nancy, officer automation trainer for WWTC’s automation
software, for conducting training on the use of the new software.
In the 1989-90 school year, enrollment increased to 3,379 full-time equivalent students.
In school year 1989-90, the police in-service training program at WWTC served more than 150 law enforcement
agencies. According to Mark Smick, chair of Public Safety Services, there are about 600 law enforcement
officers and 45 agencies within the WWTC boundaries, and 93 part-time teachers from law enforcement
agencies were employed to teach the training classes at WWTC.
In 1990-1991 . . .
.
On December 6, 1990, the Economic Development Division sponsored a Management Issues for the 90’s video
conference by Peter Scholtes on “A Practical Approach to Improvement: True Improvement Versus the Illusion
of Progress”
December 17, 1991—the District Board approved $8.8 million for Phase Two of the facility expansion plan that
was developed in 1989. Included in the plan were expansions in Tomah, Independence, Black River Falls,
Viroqua, Mauston and La Crosse, as well as a new facility in La Crosse and Sparta.
In January 1991, at the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington, D.C., Susan Fox, an interpreter for the
hearing impaired at WWTC, shared the stage with President Bush. Susan was one of two interpreters at the
annual breakfast at the Washington Hilton Hotel on Thursday, January 31. In addition, she has interpreted for
Representative Steve Gunderson at town meetings and other events when he visited the Third District and was
featured in several of Gunderson’s television campaign ads interpreting his message for the hearing impaired.
Susan also was the interpreter when I. King Jordan, the president of Gallaudet University, a college for the
hearing impaired in Washington, visited La Crosse in 1990.
In 1991, a Black River Falls needs survey (distributed in the NSP mailing and also included in community
newspapers) indicated interest to having expanded service in their community and possible leasing of space in
the Small Business Incubator building.

In 1991, a Heritage Award was presented to WWTC by the Preservation Alliance of La Crosse “in appreciation
for exceptional contributions and effort in the recognition, preservation, and use of the La Crosse Area’s
historical and architectural heritage” (the YMCA Building, located at the corner of 7 th and Main Street).
In 1991, the ASSET student assessment program was implemented on a pilot basis.
On April 8, 1991, three members of a delegation of visitors from Dubna, Russia, toured WWTC, concentrating
on computer use, and nursing and public safety programs.
On April 16, 1991, the District Board accepted Phase One of a master long-range facility plan that was
developed in the fall of 1989 and approved $3.2 million for eleven remodeling/building projects. Projects
Included were: the addition of 3,500 square feet to the Tomah Campus, an addition of 1,700 square feet to the
Mauston Campus; and at the La Crosse Campus a new 8,000-square-foot Physical Plant building, remodeling
and relocation of the Book Store from the basement of the Kumm Building to Floor 1, remodeling of the first and
second floors of the Coleman Building 1923 wing, remodeling and equipment for a new food preparation area in
the Kumm Building and remodeling of basement for classrooms and offices for food services, remodeling in
West Hall basement and first floor for a wellness center and training area for police training programs, a
second handicapped access entrance to the Coleman Building, and possible purchase of land for additional
campus parking.
In April 1991, the District Board approved a revised admission policy making the test mandatory for new
students. Students will be tested for various skills such as writing, reading, language, elementary algebra and
science under a program called ASSET (Assessment of Skills for Successful Entry and Transfer).
In 1991, the Foundation awarded more than 169 scholarships totaling $75,814.
In the spring 1991 WVA Convention, Maggie Cabral-Hayes, Academic Services Supervisor, received the
Administrator of the Year Award, and Dianne Hoffman, Interior Design Instructor, received the Teacher of the
Year Award.
On May 23, 1991, three WWTC employees won awards for excellence during the WWTC commencement
exercises. They were:
� Margarita Cabral-Hayes, Educational Services Supervisor and Certification, was selected administrator of
the year;
� Dianne Hoffman, an Interior Design program head and instructor, was honored as teacher of the year; and
� Jayne Wells, administrative assistant to the vice president of Student Services, was chosen as top
associate employee.
In Summer 1991, the total summer enrollment was 995.
In 1991-1992 . . .
Fall enrollment for 1992 reached a five-year high, with 3,094 students registering for classes.
In 1992 the Coleman north entrance handicap ramp and the Kumm Center Book Store relocation from the
basement to the first floor as a “Campus Shop” projects were completed.
In September 1991, WWTC stepped up its efforts to help business and industry in the Coulee Region cope with
future changes in technology and the economy. Through a newly formed Economic Development Division,
WWTC will more actively meet the needs of business through training, planning and technical assistance. In a
survey of 259 businesses in the Coulee Region about their needs it was learned that:
� 47 percent faced immediate challenges due to changing technologies, and 52 percent expect future
challenges arising from new technologies;
� 74 percent faced immediate challenges due changing economic conditions, and 62 percent expect to face
future challenges brought on by changing economic conditions; and that
� Most looked to WWTC for help in respond to these challenges by providing training and technical
assistance.
On October 4, 1991, the WWTC baseball players staged baseball-throwing marathon as a fundraiser for their
1991 spring trip. General Education Division Math Instructor Dave Nelson helped to “coach” this project.

Eddie Hale, a 1991 WWTC Commercial Art program graduate who, at the time, was employed as a production
artist at Ovation Marketing and joined the WWTC Commercial Art teaching staff in, designed the 1991
Oktoberfest Button
On October 11, 1991, the Electroneurodiagnostic (EEG) program celebrated its 20 th anniversary with a reunion
of its graduates. The program, which was approved in 1973, has been under the direction of Clayton Pollert
since its inception.
On October 29-31, 1991, the NCA team made a three-day fact-finding visit and WWTC was reviewed under a
new set of stricter standards, based on institutional effectiveness and student performance. WWTC received
glowing marks from the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools. It was awarded reaccredidation
up to ten years, the highest rating possible for a two-year institution.
In November 26, 1991, five players –Bill Peterson, Shannon Austin, Steve Krause, Jerry Nelson and Greg
Wieman, scored in double figures to lead WWTC to a 78-52 victory lead over the University of Wisconsin-Fond
du Lac in a nonconference men’s basketball game. WWTC women fell behind, 53-43, in a nonconference
game. JoAnne Ronnie led WWTC with nine points.
In 1992 a referendum was held to generate funds for upgrading the WWTC Independence, Mauston, Tomah
and Viroqua campuses.
In 1992-1993 . . .
1993 remodeling and construction projects included: the Physical Plant Building, remodeling of the
Administrative Center (West Hall) basement into a new Wellness Center, and remodeling of Coleman Center’s
first floor into new division offices, conference space, a Copy Center, and two classrooms.
In 1993-94 . . .
In 1994, scholarships were awarded to 85 students at the annual WWTC Foundation Scholarship Recipient and
Donor Banquet.
1994 remodeling and construction projects included: Automotive Shop addition, Applied Technology Center
second floor addition, Tomah Extended Campus addition, Viroqua Extended Campus relocation into a newly
remodeled building, Coleman Center’s second floor south remodeling, the Cafeteria Serving Area remodeling,
and construction of the Sparta Public Safety Training Facility.
In 1994, formal articulation agreements on the transfer of credits were signed between WWTC and Viterbo
College and WWTC and University of Wisconsin-La Crosse was signed.
On February 13, Dave Fish won the Kiss-A-Pig Contest. Dave brought in the most money for the National
Kidney Foundation in a fund-raiser, sponsored by the Wisconsin Marketing and Management Association.
In April 1994, WWTC President Lee Rasch announced he would run for Congress as a Democrat in
Wisconsin’s 3 rd District.
In November, 1994 the WWTC Foundation launched a capital campaign to raise $2 million for the E-Max
Network. E-MAX – Education to the Maximum, provides interactive television to Independence, Mauston,
Tomah, Viroqua, Sparta and La Crosse Campuses. In 1994, the Tomah and Black River Falls campuses were
connected to the interactive television system.
Melvin Swanson, who was employed by the Bureau of Apprenticeship Standards as district representative from
La Crosse area, was named to the Wisconsin Apprenticeship Hall of Fame. Swanson began his
apprenticeship in September 1955 and served with the La Crosse Area Bricklaying Joint Apprenticeship
Committee.
“Exploring the Opportunities of Entrepreneurship”, a five-part series featuring successful of the region, was
held at the WWTC Viroqua Campus under the direction of Rural Development Coordinator Gary Kirking.

In 1994-95 . . .
In 1995, Matthew Davidson, of Mabel, Minnesota, was elected vice president of the State PAS organization.
In 1995, WWTC announced the winners of its first Artwork Contest. The WWTC Unifying Theme Committee
and the WWTC Student Government entered a total of 15 pieces in the contest, which was sponsored. First
Place: A natural paper sculpture by Sherri Diamon, a 1992 graduate of the Interior Design program; Second
Place: A color photograph by Maggie White, a secretary at the WWTC Tomah Campus; Third Place: A collage
by Susan Schafer, Medical Secretary program. The project intent precipitated by ongoing expansion and
remodeling at WWTC, was a search for artwork to become part of WWTC’s permanent collection.
In 1995, Margaret Perri, instructor in the Instructional Support Services Division, was nominated for the 1994-95
Wisconsin Vocational Association Professional Excellence Award in Teaching.
In 1995, awards in the first WWTC artwork contest, sponsored by the Unifying Theme Committee and the
Student Government, went to: Sherri Diamon, first place – nature paper sculpture; Maggie White , second place
– color photograph; Susan Schafer, third place – a collage; and honorable mention - Chrstique Neibauer.
Fifteen pieces of artwork were entered in the contest. The search for artwork to become a part of WWTC’s
permanent collection was precipitated by the ongoing expansion and remodeling project.
In March 1995, Governor Tommy Thompson announced that he supports building a $26.8 million allied health
and science teaching center in La Crosse. The project—known as the La Crosse Area Medical Health Science
and Research Center—edged out other proposals in the 1995 capital budget.
In March 1995, the basketball season came to an abrupt halt for the WWTC. The Cavaliers hopes for a
National Junior College Athletic Association national tournament ended when losing 102-89 to Minneapolis
Community College in the finals of the NJCAA Region 13 playoffs.
In the 1995 State Spring Competitive Events Conference of the Postsecondary Agriculture Student (PAS)
organization, Tim Woodhouse placed first in the employment interview-livestock, Laurel Grulkowski placed first
in the employment interview-conservation category and in career planning-conservation, and Chrystal Kotek
placed third in the impromptu speaking category.
In May 1995, the Wisconsin Board approved plans for establishing a new school in Mauston for housing the
fabrication welding and machine tool programs, and an interactive long-distance learning room. Funds for the
new building were based on a 1992 building referendum approved by voters and $250,000 from the WWTC
Foundation.
On May 19, 1995, commencement exercises were held at the La Crosse Center to honor 1,083 graduates of
WWTC.
The ceremony includes 542 graduates of associate degree programs, 285 vocational program graduates, 223
certificate program graduates, and 33 graduates of apprenticeship programs.
In June 1995, the renaming of buildings on the main and extended campuses took place to call them “Centers”.
In 1995, David S. Jensen, of Galesville, and Todd S. Pernsteiner, of Medford, were selected as WWTC’s
nominees for the Academic All-American Scholarship Team. The purpose of the All-American Team,
sponsored by the Phi Theta Kappas International Honor Society, USA Today, and the American Association of
Community Colleges, was to recognize scholarly achievements of students enrolled in community, technical
and junior colleges. Jensen served as Chapter President of Postsecondary Agricultural Students (PAS) at
WWTC, and as vice president of the State PAS organization. Pernsteiner was managing editor of The ZEAL, a
bi-weekly student publication.
In 1995, seven WWTC graphics students received honors at the annual Gutenberg Awards competition,
sponsored by the International Association of Printing House Craftsmen and the International Graphic Arts
Education Association. The winners were: Ruth Boushak, Cynthia Noble, Ralph Mueller, James Elliott,
David Kamla, Marge Literski and Jodi Ceason.
In 1995, the WWTC Women’s Volleyball Team had a successful season: 15 wins, 7 losses.
New program brings classroom to the student -- In 1994-95, an E-Max (Education to the Maximum) campaign was initiated
by the WWTC Foundation, Inc., focusing on increasing distance learning capabilities to the WWTC Extended Campuses, as
well as increasing interdistrict involvement through the WONDER Network. Because of the successful E-Max campaign
(WWTC’s interactive television system), the College has become one of the leaders in the field of distance education.

In May, seventeen marketing program students participated in the National Delta Epsilon Chi Career
Development Conference in St. Louis, Missouri. Cheryl Lindley finished in the top 20 in the nation and Matt
True, Darin Martell, Mike Fuchsel and Rich Bazel finished in the top 10.
In 1995-1996 . . .
July 1995
� An assessment plan was compiled in preparation for a NCA visit in 2001.
� An orientation video “tour” of specific campus areas was developed for incoming students.
� WWTC instructor Art Brieske received an award for 25 years of teaching at the 78 th annual conference for
Wisconsin Instructors in Agriculture/Agribusiness Education.
August 1996
� A distance education network was installed at the Mauston Campus through the efforts of the WWTC
Foundation.
� Increased security lighting was planned for all WWTC Campuses.
� On August 15, the new two-story Academic Resource Center (ARC) celebrated a ribbon-cutting ceremony
and an Open House. Construction funds were provided by the 1992 Referendum. Construction began in
April 1994, and the building opened for classes on June 5, 1995. Services provided within the building are:
Library, Instructional Support Services Division (GOAL, GED, HSED, ESOL, Adult High School, Alternative
High School, Special Needs, Minority Affairs), School-to-Work Initiatives, a Computer Lab, and additional
classrooms. HSR Associates, Inc., of La Crosse was the Architect, and Market & Johnson, Inc. of La
Crosse, the General Contractor. Construction costs totaled $3,354,765.
� August 28 – Fall Semester begins. Official Fall Enrollment – 4,458 credit students.
September
� Fall semester enrollment is up. Opening day enrollment was 3,758, the highest in eight years.
� Two courses were offered to facilitate understanding of the Hmong culture and language: Introduction to
Hmong Culture/Language, taught by minority liaison specialist Nhai Vang, who emigrated from Laos to the
United States in 1976; and Hmong Language Level I, taught by the bilingual job developer Neng Xiong, a
native from Laos who came to the U.S. in 1980.
� District Board and staff represented WWTC at the Association of Community College Trustees Annual
Convention in Seattle, Washington.
� On September 18, Governor Tommy Thompson’s “W-2/Wisconsin Works” proposal draws comments at a
public hearing in the La Crosse County Courthouse.
� In cooperation with the Western Wisconsin School to Work Consortium, which includes 28 school districts,
WWTC provides apprenticeship training in banking/finance and automotive technology for high school
students under the School to Work Opportunities Act.
October
� The Food Service Management program students earn silver and bronze medals in the Wisconsin
Restaurant Association 1995 Student Culinary Competition in Neenah, Wisconsin.
� The General Motors Training Center in Minneapolis and Ray Hutson Chevrolet Geo in La Crosse presented
a 7,000 pound above-ground hoist to the Automotive Department.
� Oktoberfest 1996, Julie McAllen, a 1990 Commercial Art graduate, created the winning Oktoberfest Button.
The button, which fit into the theme of the Fest, “Season of Family Fun” had two young children playing in a
pile of leaves. McAllen also won the button contest in 1990, which was the fest’s 30 th anniversary—that
button had a tuba player on it.
November
� The staff of “The ZEAL” publication received first place and best of show honors in electronic publishing in
the annual Gutenberg Awards competition. The award was for the 1995 graduation issue of “The ZEAL”.
� November 13, a ribbon-tying ceremony linked six campuses–Independence, Mauston, Tomah, Viroqua,
Sparta and La Crosse–by interactive television through the WWTC Foundation E-Max, Education to the
Maximum campaign project. Distance education began at WWTC about 15 years ago with a connection
between the La Crosse and Independence campuses.
� On November 21, a presentation and unveiling of the “When Parents Fail” painting was held in the Coleman
Building.

Sister Marietta Hackner, member of the Franciscan Adoration, completed the painting in early 1930’s. The
work was donated to John Coleman, director of the La Crosse Vocational and Adult Schools.
December
� The women’s basketball team won over Rochester Community College: 92-82.
January 1996
� The proposed Health Science Center Referendum Campaign gets into full swing. Presentations, yard
signs, buttons, newspaper publicity and others
February
� The WWTC Scholarship Committee awarded $38,300 in scholarships to 95 students.
� Walker Stainless Steel in Juneau County donated stainless steel for the welding programs.
March
� On March 2, the WWTC Foundation Camp “W” project raised $2,245 for staff development.
� Election Day, March 19, the WWTC referendum for construction of a Health Science Center in conjunction
with the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, Viterbo College, Gundersen-Lutheran Medical Center and
Franciscan-Skemp Healthcare passed with 64 percent of the total votes cast. During the spring campaign,
there were over 200 presentations made in the WWTC District by 40 members of the five-partner
consortium.
April
� On April 3, a Job Fair was held at the Mauston Campus. Approximately 300 persons visited 21 booths.
� The Vernon County Job Fair, Viroqua, drew over 200 people.
� April 19 marked the eighth annual Entrepreneurship Recognition Banquet at the Conestoga Supper Club in
Sparta.
May
� On May 9, the fifth annual School-to-Work Banquet was held.
In 1996-1997 . . .
July 12 found the Fire Department at the Administrative Center on Seventh and Main. An electrical problem in
the air handling unit was blamed for thick smoke that poured out of ceiling vents into the second floor offices. A
burned wiring harness was found inside an air conditioner exchange unit was the culprit.
Summer 1996 and guess who went to Atlanta, Georgia, for the Summer Olympics? It was the Clark Van
Galder family.
On July 25, the Village of Cashton hosted an entrepreneurial tour sponsored by the Economic Development
Division. Included were a presentation on rural developments in Europe and a presentation by Natasha
Tsitovich, lecturer and consultant for the Center for Citizens Initiative in San Francisco and a college professor
in St. Petersburg, Russia. Gary Kirking was the coordinator for this event.
In 1996-1997, the Women’s Volleyball team placed first in the State.
In the Youth Apprenticeship program, WWTC’s Banking and Finance Program won the 1996 national
Exemplary Worksite Learning Award sponsored by the Center for Occupational Research and Development
and the National Tech Prep Network. The program – which places high school juniors and seniors into
workplace situations – was rated exceptional for its planning, implementation and results in large measure.
August 1996 found WWTC Agribusiness and Science Technology program students pulling purple loosestrife,
an undesirable plant, from the Fish Creek area, which flows into the La Crosse River Marsh near Rockland.
Purple loosestrife is a rapidly spreading plant that is detrimental to marshes and wildlife habitat. The project
fits into the conservation concepts and environmental concerns included in the curriculum.
September 1996 – opening day enrollment at a nine-year high, with a total of 3,871 students.

The 1996-97 officers for the WWTC Chapter of Business Professional of America were: Julie Amundson,
president; Michael Yeager, vice president; Kim Yeager, treasurer; Elizabeth Fillner, secretary; Monta Hulsing,
Historian; and Jeffrey Kuschel, Parliamentarian.
In fall 1996 WWTC students received hands-on benefits from having a Chrysler dealership in town. Eversole
Motors, Inc., 434 South Fourth Street, and Chrysler Corporation donated a 1995 all-wheel drive Plymouth
Voyager, worth $18,000) to the Automotive Technician program.
September 26, 1996, the second annual Oktoberfest Car Show was held at the WWTC parking lot on the
corner of Seventh and La Crosse Streets.
December – national “3D Month (for Drunk and Drugged Driving month in December) brought attention to the
problem through demonstration of wearing the special “Fatal Vision” goggles that simulate drug and
alcohol-induced impairment as well as a news conference. At WWTC, prevention programs and peer
counseling is under the direction of Pat Breslin.
In 1997-1998 . . .
At the 1998 Wisconsin Marketing and Management Association (WMMA) State Career Leadership Conference
held in Madison, twenty WWTC marketing students earned honors.
In 1998, Gary Kirking of the WWTC Economic Development Division, along with the University of
Wisconsin Business Development Center and the Wisconsin Innovation Service Center (WISC) worked
together to bring a new class to the area especially for innovators and inventors.
In 1998, the Occupational therapy Assistant program was granted Accreditation Status by the Accreditation
Council for Occupational Therapy Education (ACOTE) of the American Occupational Association (AOTA).
In 1998, 52 WWTC students were named to the 1998 edition of Who’s Who Among Students in American Junior
Colleges.
On January 24, 1998, the WWTC women’s basketball team was victorious over Milwaukee Area Technical
College: 79-84. The men’s team fell: 62-54.
On January 28, 1998--President William J. Clinton visited La Crosse, an estimated 30,000 Coulee Region
residents crowded downtown for a chance to see the 42 nd President at the La Crosse Center.
In February 1998, the Scholarship Committee of the WWTC Foundation, Inc. awarded $61,860 in scholarships
to 126 students.
February 7, 1998—WWTC men’s basketball team defeated Waukesha Tech: 88-69.
On February 12, 1998, a delegation of three from La Crosse left to lecture in Dublin, Ireland, on “School-to-Work
Transition: An American Experience”. Betty Brendel, Tech Prep Curriculum Specialist, Educational Support
Services, was one of the three delegates making this trip.
March 5, 1998, marked the date of the spring Careerfest at the La Crosse Center.
February 20, 1998—the men’s basketball team defeated UW-Rock County: 84-75.
In March 1998, the seventh WWTC School-to-Work Banquet was held at the Radisson Hotel for La Crosse area
businesses and students interested or involved in school-to-work programs—the event encompasses 28 high
school districts within the WWTC District and numerous businesses. The four components of school-to-work
include: school-based learning; work-based learning; career exploration; and business and education
partnerships including internships for teachers and students.
March 4, 1998--the date ground was broken for the new Health Science Center (HSC) at 1300 Badger Streets
in La Crosse. The center, a collaborative effort of five partners—WWTC, University of Wisconsin-La Crosse,
Viterbo College, Gundersen-Lutheran Medical Center and Franciscan-Skemp Healthcare—is designed to
enhance education. The HSC

will be the new home for health-related joint education programs, a dental hygiene clinic, a student health
center, and a literacy development clinic.
On March 10, 1998, the WWTC Board took steps to make it easier and less expensive for school districts to
take advantage of the Youth Options Program, with the first enrollment under Youth Options in Fall 1998. This
Board action eliminated the complicated cost formula. School districts are now charged just standard program
fees, material fees and book expenses for participating students. The Youth Options Program replaced the
Post-Secondary Enrollment Options (PSEO) program.
At the annual WWTC Foundation Donor Banquet held April 28, 1998, former Sheriff Karl (Butch) Halverson was
named the 1998 recipient of the Distinguished Alumni Award.
On April 23, 1998, a ribbon cutting ceremony was held at the Gold’n Plump Processing Plant in Arcadia,
Wisconsin, to mark the opening of the Gold’n Education Station learning center.
In May 1998, eighteen high school students from throughout the Western Wisconsin School-to-Work
Consortium completed two-year apprenticeship programs in automotive technology, financial services, and
manufacturing/machining.
On May 9, 1998, the WWTC Foundation, Inc. launched a new fund raising event – the Big Big Charity Auction,
held at the Oktoberfest Grounds to support the WWTC Foundation Access to Education Endowment. The
purpose of the endowment is to have a fund available to help students overcome the barriers that keep them
from accessing education.
In May 1998, Sara Cowell, of Brownsville, an Occupational Therapist Assistant program student, and a
neighbor who has muscular dystrophy designed an adaptive device for fastening to a wheelchair. Sara
submitted her innovation to a national competition held in conjunction with the American Occupational Therapy
Association annual meeting in Maryland. Out of 80 entries, Sara’s entry won the first-place Maddak Award in
the student division.
In 1998, six WWTC students enrolled in the two-year associate degree Air Conditioning, Heating and
Ventilating Technology program were volunteer peer trainers for the Energy Center Wisconsin Education
Project. The project offered students an opportunity to become involved with energy conservation issues by
working with low-income families in La Crosse County. The students paired up and went into customer homes
to demonstrate low-cost and no In Summer 1991, the total summer enrollment was 995.
May 19, 1998, WWTC hosts the Diesel and Heavy Equipment program open house at the Diesel Shop, 2729
Larson Street in La Crosse.
May 22, 1998—Graduation exercises at the La Crosse Center. 580 were awarded an associate degree, 328
were awarded a technical diploma, 292 were awarded a certificate, totaling 1,200 plus eight apprentices.
On June 5, 1998, at the annual GOAL Graduation at the La Crosse Center, 400 students who achieved the goal
of earning a GED, a high school equivalency, or home school diploma were recognized.
In June 1998, Juneau County Deputy Steven Coronado, of Mauston, a student in the accelerated Supervisory
management program at WWTC Tomah Campus, was named the 1998 WWTC District Student Ambassador.
In 1998-1999 . . .
In July at the 1998 at the Conference of Postsecondary Agriculture Students (PAS) organization in
Williamsburg, Virginia, the WWTC team of two first year contestants placed eighth out of 27 teams in the Crop
Production Specialist Award program. Team members were Francis S. Myhre of Caledonia, Minnesota, and
Kendra K. Duren of Reedsburg, Wisconsin.
In 1998, twenty Marketing students at WWTC earned honors at the 1998 WMMA State Career Leadership
Conference in Madison, Wisconsin.
In 1998, a new Youth Apprenticeship Program geared to agriculture was offered by the state and the
Trempealeau County Farm became the site of a unique Beginning Farmer program. Operated jointly by the
University of Wisconsin-Extension, WWTC, and the Trempealeau County Health Care Center on its 780-acre
dairy farm, the Beginning Farmer

Incubator program provided three, three-year, paid adult apprenticeships for beginning farmers. The
apprentices received $18,000 a year plus housing. After the first year, 50 heifer calves are purchased for the
apprentice, who cares for them and leaves the program at the end of the three years with 50 springing heifers as
well as financial bonuses of up to $15,000 for meeting quality, production, care and other job objectives.
Dennis Deitelhoff, of Galesville, Farm Business and Management program instructor at WWTC, is one of five
instructors in the Beginning Farmer Incubator program.
In 1998, WWTC leased the former La Crosse Inn at Sixth and Vine Streets for use as a student residence hall to house
about 100 students.
In 1998, an agreement between WWTC and CISCO Systems, an $8 billion company based in San Jose,
California, brings high tech education and training to high schools and technical colleges across the state.
WWTC received $20,000 in equipment for the initial delivery of CISCO’s new on-line networking curriculum.
The primary emphasis is to provide training for high school teachers.
On August 6, 1998, Radio Station WCOW (Tomah) provided a “live” broadcast between the Tomah and
Mauston Campuses.
On August 13, 1998, the new WWTC Regional Technical Training Center at 1000 College Avenue in Mauston
Industrial Park was dedicated.
August 18, 1998 marked the dedication/ribbon cutting ceremony and open house was held at the new WWTC Black River
Falls Campus at 808 Red Iron Road. The theme of the event was “It Takes a Community to Build a College”. The 8,500
square foot building includes a computer classroom, three ITV classrooms, a main office complex, student lounge,
academic resource, a (quiet study) room, individualized study room, two lecture rooms, large meeting room and a complex
for the Job Center Agencies/Video Conferencing, Job Service teleconnection, and the local Literacy Coalition.
In 1998, a new associate degree Individualized Technical Studies program was begun to enable working adults
to meet their individualized career objectives.
Fall semester opening day enrollment for 1998-99 totaled 3,891 full- and part-time students, reaching a
seven-year high.
In 1998, WWTC hosted the 1998 State Vocational Industrial Clubs of America (VICA) and the Health
Occupations Students of America (HOSA) competitions. The event drew more than 200 students from
throughout Wisconsin to the La Crosse Campus for competitions.
In 1998, WWTC Tomah Campus Instructor Ruth Strazinski (then 95 years) appeared on the NBC’s Today
Show. Ruth has been a life-long teacher of English and history, and has been working with the GOAL students
at Tomah until here retirement in July of 1999.
On September 22, 1998, Careerfest ‘98 was held at the La Crosse Center. Approximately 1,250 visited 58
booths.
On September 25, 1998, Carol Gilligan, author of “In a Difference Voice: Psychological Theories and Women’s
Development” spoke at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. WWTC was among several organizations that
sponsored here appearance. Her topic was “Maximizing Human Potential: What We Can Learn”.
In September 1998, a Community Forum was held at the Viroqua Campus to promote communication between
WWTC and the community, and to receive input on how WWTC can better serve the residents of Vernon
County.
The 1998 Oktoberfest Button Design Contest was won by Mark Westpfahl of Onalaska. The button depicted
Grandad Bluff along with old-fashioned streetlights for the winning design. Mark graduated from the WWTC
Commercial Art program in 1999.
On October 6, 1998, a Community Form—“WWTC Mauston—Where Do We Go From Here” was held to gain community
input.
On November 23, 1998, the WWTC men’s basketball team won over Riverland Community College: 74-56.
November 1988 marked the moving of an old house from the WWTC Campus. The Greek Revival structure was moved
from the alley on Eighth and Badger Streets to the west lot of the Hixon House. WWTC donated the land on which the
house was placed.
In November 1998, WWTC received a “Partners In Success Award” at the Western Wisconsin Private Industry Council
Annual Meeting for its support of council efforts to help western Wisconsin residents achieve success.

On December 11, 1998, Lillian Hope Kumm, long-time WWTC benefactor, passed away.
On November 6, 1998, WWTC’s newly renovated Dental complex held an open house. The number of chairs
and units increased from four to six stations, allowing more chair side practice.
On November 18, 1998, WWTC Welding program hosted an open house to showcase the $900,000 renovation
of the welding facilities.
In December 1998, final papers were prepared for the sale of the WWTC Hickory Street Building. The Juneau
County Board passed a resolution in 1997 to purchase the building from WWTC for $230,000. When the
county sold the building in 1976 to WWTC, part of the agreement was that it could only be sold back to Juneau
County.
In December 1998, the Viroqua Festival of Trees raised $2,440 for a variety of causes. WWTC Viroqua Center
donated the use of their Community Room.
In 1998, the National Science Foundation awarded a $420,000 Advanced Technological Education (ATE)
program grant for introducing telemedicine technology to western Wisconsin. Among the activities supported
by this grant were: a model telemedicine site equipped in the WWTC electronics lab; and teleradiography
equipment installed in the new Health Science Center, at 1300 Badger Streets, for use by the Radiography
program.
In 1998, the Wood Technics program students participate in the La Crosse Housing Replacement Program. At
house at 1728 Loomis Street, La Crosse was made into a bungalow style home. This was the fifth property
where the Housing Replacement Program facilitated new housing.
In 1999, Alumni activities of WWTC were reactivated. Harris Publications of Norfolk, VA, that contained
information of over 10,000 persons who graduated between 1980-1998, published an Alumni Directory.
Although these papers offer a brief insight to the marvels of vocational-technical education,
never will anyone be able to document,
since this vocational education institution came into being,
the names of all the people
the tremendous number of events
and the good that this institution has given to the community, to Wisconsin, and the nation.
Year 2000 . . . the brink of a new millennium . . .
a whole new world awaits us at WWTC . . .