FOND DU LAC – Chegwin. Roberts. Sabish. These are just a few school names that have become part of Fond du Lac residents’ lexicon, be it through seeing them adorned on building exteriors or attending the schools themselves.
But, behind every name is a story. According to archives provided by the Fond du Lac School District, in the 20th century, many communities began to name schools after those who locally impacted education, and Fond du Lac School District was no exception.
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So, what is the meaning behind schools like Goodrich or Evans? The USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin has compiled a brief history of the Fond du Lac School District’s namesakes, based on available records and arranged by year built. Expanded name origins for Lakeshore and Parkside are not included in on the list as they are named for their location.
Franklin Elementary School — now STEM Academy
Unlike many of the Fond du Lac schools that followed it, Franklin was not named after someone who impacted the city, rather someone who impacted the nation: Founding father Benjamin Franklin. Born in Boston, Franklin was many things, including a politician, inventor and diplomat.
The school was the first in the village of Fond du Lac, and originally built on Main Street between Second and Third streets, according to “The History of Fond du Lac County, as told by its place-names,” by Ruth Shaw Worthing. Another school was built at Fifth and Marr streets, but burned down in 1848 and was not rebuilt until 1850.
According to the Fond du Lac School District, the current Franklin Elementary School/STEM Academy was built in 1906 for $19,000.
Goodrich High School — now Riverside
Lowell P. Goodrich’s service to the community led to a change of name for Fond du Lac High School.
Born in Ripon in 1891, Goodrich attended Ripon Public School and earned a degree from Ripon College and a master’s degree from University of Wisconsin — with additional graduate work at Columbia and Harvard.
Throughout his career, he taught debate, science and track, as well as served as superintendent of schools in Phillips, Ripon, Fond du Lac and Milwaukee. His longest tenure was in Fond du Lac from 1923 to 1940, according to documents from the Fond du Lac Historical Society.
Built first as Fond du Lac High School in 1859, the school started above a store on Main and Second streets. It later moved to a building on Merrill Avenue and in the 1920s, until the school on Ninth and Linden streets was built, according to Shaw Worthing.
It was named after Goodrich in 1955, six years after his death.
Following the construction of the new Fond du Lac High School on Campus Drive in 2001, the Goodrich building became Riverside Elementary School.
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Waters Elementary School
In 1950, the Fond du Lac School District opened one of the city’s long-standing schools in recognition of one of its natives: Elizabeth Waters.
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Born in Fond du Lac in 1864, Waters attended the city’s high school, then earned a science degree at University of Wisconsin, and later attended University of Minnesota.
Although her career took her throughout the state and into Minnesota, the majority of her time was spent in Fond du Lac. From 1886 to 1887, she taught at the Fond du Lac German and English Academy, and in 1892, returned to the city. Here, until 1895, she served as an assistant in the high school, before becoming assistant principal of the school. From 1898 to 1930, she served as principal of Lincoln School.
Outside of Fond du Lac, she was the first woman to serve on the University of Wisconsin Board of Regents, and did so for 15 years. At one time she even held the position of vice president.
Upon her death in 1933, University of Wisconsin President Glenn Frank described her commitment to help others, saying, “to the thousands of men and women who knew her as a teacher and counselor, her greatest service lay in her sheer act of being the flawless spirit she was,” according to Fond du Lac School District archives. In her honor, the university named one of its residence halls after her.
Pier Elementary School
Located on Pioneer Road, Pier’s namesakes trace their path back to Fond du Lac’s first white settlers, Fanna and Colwert Pier. The Piers first settled in 1836, after Colwert Pier and his brother Edward searched from Green Bay to southern Illinois for land to farm and settle on, according to a Fond du Lac County Historical Society plaque on Pier Cemetery on Old Pioneer Road.
The brothers chose the Fond du Lac area, and in late May, Colwert Pier moved to Fond du Lac; on June 6, Fanna followed, according to the plaque. In 1837, Edward Pier and his wife — and Fanna’s sister — Harriet, moved to Fond du Lac as well. Nearly all members of the early Pier family are buried at a cemetery located down the road from what would become Pier School, built in 1954.
Evans Elementary School
With more than 45 years of educational service to Katherine Evans’ name and a life lived on the west side of the city, it is no surprise that in 1955, when the school district sought to name Fond du Lac’s new west-side school, they chose her.
Evans graduated from the city’s high school in 1897, and taught “grammar grades” from 1897 through 1910 at Franklin School. From 1910 to 1943, she served as principal of Lincoln School, a school on Lincoln Street, according to a document from the school.
Described as being “kind, aggressive and open to new ideas,” Waters was especially dedicated to teaching English to the children and families who emigrated from Europe. After the school day was over, Evans’ day continued as she worked on language skills with her students’ parents.
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Rosenow Elementary School
The Weis Avenue school found its name in a long-time board of education member — Henry G. Rosenow.
Born in Fond du Lac in 1883, according to the Wisconsin Historical Society, Rosenow served on the school board from 1918 until his death in 1943. For a period of four years, he served as the board’s president, according to Tracy Reinhardt of the Fond du Lac County Historical Society.
The school located east of DeNeveu Creek opened in 1955 and cost about $500,000 — $4.7 million in today’s dollars, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Sabish Middle School
A social studies teacher, multi-sport coach and principal, Frank A. Sabish became the namesake for one of the city’s first middle schools when it was dedicated in November 1962 on Peters Avenue.
Born in 1898, Sabish grew up in Grant County, on the western side of the state along the Mississippi, and earned degrees from Lawrence College in Appleton, University of Iowa and University of Wisconsin. In 1921, his career began in Fond du Lac, when he became a social studies teacher at what became Goodrich. A year later, he moved to Roosevelt Junior High and continued teaching the subject as the head of the department, according to Fond du Lac Reporter archives.
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Throughout his time, he coached sports, including basketball and football, and moved up the school’s ranks. He became the school district’s administrative assistant in 1936, assistant principal of Roosevelt Junior High School in 1942 and principal in 1957, according to archives. He served until his death in 1959, according to Sabish social studies teacher Tony Prus.
With a mind focused on students, Sabish taught the applications of civics, and started Roosevelt’s first newspaper and the “Roosevelt Review,” while also traveling throughout the state to help Fond du Lac students receive scholarships, according to a 1959 edition of the “Roosevelt Review” by former principal R.B. Woodworth, written in memory of Sabish.
Woodworth Middle School
As Sabish’s name was recognized on one area junior high in the city, R.B. Woodworth’s, was on another at Morningside Drive in 1962. Woodworth served as principal of Roosevelt Junior High and was Sabish’s predecessor, according to Reinhardt.
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Roberts Elementary School
On Candy Lane, residents find the school named after Margaret K. Roberts, a woman known not only for her educational work in Fond du Lac, but throughout the nation.
Roberts was born in Columbus and attended Portage High School, Milwaukee State Normal School — now UW-Milwaukee — University of Wisconsin and University of Minnesota to earn a bachelor’s degree in education. However, her studies didn’t end there. Seeking a master’s degree, Roberts attended University of Chicago, then journeyed across the pond to study at Oxford, also attending the University of London in 1926 and 1938, according to Milwaukee Journal Sentinel archives provided by the Fond du Lac School District.
Teaching throughout the United States, Roberts served as an elementary supervisor from 1924 to 1947, when she retired. During her time, she instituted “the primary reading plan” in Fond du Lac schools, a schooling practice she learned in England in which students progress through levels based on their reading abilities. The program made its way to Milwaukee when L.P. Goodrich, former superintendent for the Fond du Lac District, accepted a position as superintendent in the city and implemented it. From there, it spread nationwide, according to archives.
In addition to her work on reading, Roberts also guided the development of a program for home-bound and handicapped students, and took interest in psychological testing to meet the needs of all levels of students and transportation for students with physical disabilities.
The school was built in 1963, and Roberts attended its dedication.
Chegwin Elementary School
It is Rose B. Chegwin who gave her name to the Merrill Avenue school. A grade-school teacher, Chegwin taught in the Fond du Lac School District from 1890 until she retired in 1938, according to Shaw Worthing.
Throughout the years, Chegwin had a “’lifelong devotion to education’ and extreme high standards of conduct and professionalism,” as well as “continually worked for the better of education in home, church and community,” said President of the Board of Education Mrs. Carlton Rogge at the dedication ceremony, according Fond du Lac Reporter archives.
The school was built in 1970 on the site of the former Roosevelt Junior High School, which was torn down in the 1960s. At the dedication ceremony on Oct. 25, Chegwin’s only living relative, niece Helen (Chegwin) Wright, attended in her honor, according to archives.
Theisen Middle School
Raised in the middle of the country, it was Henry Theisen’s impact in Fond du Lac that led the school district to name the Pioneer Road middle school after him.
Theisen grew up in Nebraska and graduated from Columbia University to become a teacher in science and social studies. At the end of the school day, he took to coaching basketball and football teams for the schools where he worked. In Wisconsin, he served first as Antigo High School’s principal, then as principal of Fond du Lac’s Goodrich for 34 years.
When the school opened in 1971, it dedicated the first issue of the “Theisen Pioneer” to its namesake, stating: “Mr. Theisen has influenced the lives of many people and continues working for the better education for Fond du Lac. We are proud of his achievements and feel privileged to have our school bear his (name),” according to archives from the district.
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