By Kevin O Brien
While earth-movers pushed large piles of dirt around outside on Tuesday, the North Gym of the Abbotsford School District filled up with students, staff and invited guests eager to celebrate a couple of major milestones leading into the district’s future.
At a two-part presentation held in front of the entire student body, a group of district administrators, school board members and community partners recognized the creation of a new school forest – officially dubbed “Soaring Acres” – and also marked the start of a new $17 million project that will add 10 new classrooms and reshape other areas of the K-12 campus.
To start off the event, superintendent Ryan Bargender declared it a “great day to be a Falcon.”
“We have a lot to be thankful for and a lot to be proud of,” he told the audience, before introducing Steve Schmidt, an outreach specialist for LEAF, Wisconsin’s K-12 Forestry Education Program, which partners with UW-Stevens Point and the DNR.
LEAF, which stands for Learning, Experiences & Activities in Forestry, praised Abbotsford for creating what will be called “Soaring Acres: Nature, Nurture, Grow,” featuring “Falcon Forest” and the “Knowledge Trail” – all names suggested by community members.
Schmidt said LEAF was started in the late 1990s when state conservationists realized that “Wisconsin students knew more about tropical rainforests than they did about the forests in their own backyards.”
At 97 years old, Wisconsin’s school forest program is the oldest in the nation, he said, having been in established in 1928 to replant many of the trees that had been cut down during a period of intensive logging. Schmidt said school forests soon became “outdoor laboratories where students learned about sustainable forestry, water,
See ABBY K-12/ Page 8
SHOVEL READY – Three students and two teachers were chosen to represent their classmates and co-workers during Tuesday’s groundbreaking ceremony at the Abbotsford School District. From left to right are students Aaliyah Mendoza, Andrew Hirsch, and Porscha Hagen, along with teachers Krista Keech and Randy Pempek. The event officially kicked off a two-year, $17 million project that will include the addition of four classroom at the elementary school, an expanded parking lot and various other improvements to the K-12 campus. staffphoto/kevin O’brien Abby K-12
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wildlife, soils and recreation.”
“Now, every subject you can think of has been taught at a Wisconsin school forest,” he said, noting that even band concerts have been held in some of the state’s 430-plus forests.
Schmidt presented Bargender with LEAF’S 2024 School Forest Award in honor of his efforts to create a school forest from scratch on land that had traditionally been used for farming.
“Very few school forest programs develop from an idea to a program in just a few years, especially when converting a field to a forest,” Schmidt said. “Many of Wisconsin’s oldest programs, with beautiful forests, started decades ago after the cut-over and fire devastated much of the land in Wisconsin.”
DNR forester Justin Kupusta nominated Bargender for the award, with letters of support from Georgia Kraus, the district’s accountability coordinator, and Amber Kraus, middle and high school Spanish and ESL teacher. Both letters emphasized the superintendent’s “community-building skills,” bringing together multiple different groups, including farmers, students and businesses, to plant trees and develop a pollinator and butterfly garden.
In accepting the award, Bargender said he “tried unsuccessfully” to get his name removed from the award and replaced with the school district and community of Abbotsford, “but they wouldn’t break the rules.”
“It is certainly an honor for our district to be awarded the LEAF School Forest Award,” he said. “We are grateful for all the help from many on this ongoing project. There have been so many helping hands.”
Bargender said the school forest idea was first planted in the summer of2022, when he got a call from city administrator Josh Soyk, who wanted to see if the district was willing to do something to reduce the amount of nitrates ending up in the three municipal wells located on roughly 17 acres of land to the west of the K-12 campus.
The city began working with the Wisconsin DNR and the Wisconsin Rural Water Association on a plan to covert the district’s agricultural land into forest in order to eliminate the use of nitrate-rich fertilizers near the wells. A team was formed that that included Soyk, Bargender, Amber Kraus, Georgia Kraus and Melissa Pilgrim, principal of Abbotsford Middle/High School, along with DNR representatives.
Bargender acknowledged that he probably knew the least about “plants and earth science” of anyone on the team, but he wanted to help move the project forward.
The team developed a plan to repurpose the land for educational and recreational purposes, with a map drawn that includes trails, an orchard and an area of native prairie grasses that are proven to further reduce nitrate levels in the groundwater by absorbing nitrogen in the soil.
In December of2022, the district officially applied to the DNR to establish a school forest, and once authorization was granted, planting began in the spring of 2023. Additional trees were planted in 2024 and again this spring, Bargender said.
“All in all, after this spring, we’ll have planted almost 3,000 trees,” he said, noting that Kupusta has provided recommendations on the species of trees and planting locations.
“He has worked with students to show them how to plant the trees and has been instrumental of our school forest,” he said, asking for a round of applause for Kupusta. Bargender also credited Gene KnoU for pulling the planter every spring with his tractor and donating several trees for the first planting season. Edgar Evergreens provided the trees, which were unpackaged and sorted by students, including Marcus VanLuven and Dylan Thieme who were mentioned by name during Bargender’s acknowledgements. Girl Scouts Lily Esselman and Hazel Flink were also singled out for their efforts to establish gardens in the forest and spending the summer of 2023 watering the trees and spreading mulch.
Thanks to a grant from Cummins that the district received in 2023, it was also able to plant apple and pear trees and put up fencing to keep deer away. A group of the company’s employees also came to help plant the trees.
The city’s public works crew also blazed a trail through the forest, and the district’s custodial staff installed five benches for walkers to rest and do some nature-watching.
Abbotsford FFA, FFA Alumni and Dukestead Acres contributed grass, and the Christiansen Foundation provided money for signs being designed by the district’s art club.
“This project could not have been done without the entire team that I’ve spoken about today, and that includes all of you students and staff who have put in the work,” he told the audience.
“This is only the beginning,” he added. “The hope is that more classes will utilize the area for educational experiences.”
Project groundbreaking
Tuesday’s gathering was also used to kick off a $17 million multi-phase project that was approved by voters in an April 2024 referendum.
“Fences went up yesterday and shovels went into the ground today,” Bargender said.
Bargender detailed the process that led up to the project, starting with enrollment discussions in 2021 and culminating with the successful referendum last year. He said the newly expanded parking lot should be done by August, and the rest of the additions and upgrades should be completed by August of 2026.
“This is an exciting day for the future of the School District of Abbotsford,” he said. “After the completion of this project, our building and infrastructure will be set up for many, many years to come. We are extremely fortunate to have a community that is so supportive of our school.”
A GROUP EFFORT – Above, superintendent Ryan Bargender stands at the center of a group of people from the Abbotsford School District and the community at large who helped establish the district’s new school forest, “Soaring Acres.” Bargender was presented with the 2024 School Forest Award by Steve Schmidt, left, an outreach specialist for LEAF – Learning, Experiences & Activities in Forestry – Wisconsin’s K-12 forestry education program. Bargender made It clear in his acceptance speech that the award really belonged to the school district and community at large, who banded together to get the school forest started just two years after It was proposed.
STAFF PHOTOS/KEVIN O’BRIEN
