Student-run business to launch in Marathon

By Kevin O’Brien

After touring a student-run manufacturing business in Eleva-Strum, tech ed teacher Wayne Kroeplin told the school board last week that a similar operation will be ready to open next year at Marathon High School, under the name “Raider Manufacturing.”

Kroeplin spoke to the board at its Nov. 13 meeting following his visit to Cardinal Manufacturing at Eleva-Strum High School, which was created 17 years ago as a way to teach students a wide range of real-world job skills, from design and production to customer service and marketing.

“The school converted their tech ed program some years ago, and it’s been an evolving process,” he said. “Along the way, they’ve just grown immensely.”

Starting next year, Marathon students will have the opportunity to do something similar after the board approved a 2025-2026 Academic and Career Planning handbook that includes a new yearlong elective course called “Raider Manufacturing.” The course will “focus on all aspects of today’s wood manufacturing industry,” with students responsible for everything from quoting jobs and ordering materials, to making and marketing products and drawing up invoices.

In Eleva-Strum, during the course of a typical 90-minute class period every day, Kroeplin said students clock into a part-time job that completely replicates a real workplace environment.

Kroeplin said he was impressed with the authentic workplace culture that’s been established at Cardinal Manufacturing, where students sit through meetings, shake hands

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and make eye contact, and work with customers in the community. The business is totally self-sustaining, netting $250,000 last year.

“The students are getting paid to go to school, at least for a chunk of their time,” he said. “They have products that they build and services they offer to the community.”

High school principal Dave Beranek, who also went along on the tour, said he too was impressed with the formal business environment established at the school, with students having to submit a resume and application just to join. At the same time, he said students don’t even need to be planning a career in manufacturing, since Cardinal Manufacturing also hires greeters, office personnel, and maintenance staff.

“It only amounts to 90 minutes of their day,” he said. “The rest of their day is 100 percent a normal, traditional school day.”

One of the lead teachers in the program has also encouraged the students to get involved in financial planning, arranging for two different financial institutions to come in and sign students up for Roth IRAs, with parental permission. Part of their paychecks and profit-sharing then goes into these retirement accounts as seniors.

A second all-day trip to Cardinal Manufacturing is planned for sometime in February, he said, inviting board members to come along if they want to see it in operation.

Kroeplin plans to implement something similar at Marathon High School, starting off small and building the program in a way that’s sustainable over the long term.

“We would try to emulate a factory, a manufacturing place, and it’s not just for the builders,” he said, noting that students could also have office jobs like the ones in Eleva-Strum. He said he likes the idea of sharing profits with the students, comparing it to the money FFA students earn with their annual fruit sales.

Kroeplin said the business would most likely start with some small woodworking projects, based on experience students already have with making shelving and kitchen furnishings.

“The first month or so of school would be a few small projects,” he said. “Students are working, but we’re also thinking about the future and what to do.”

When asked how many students may be enrolled in “Raider Manufacturing,” Kroeplin said “as many as we could,” but he estimated that around 15 to 20 would be a realistic starting point.

Eleva-Strum, which is a smaller district than Marathon, limits the number of students participating in their business at this point, he noted. In addition to completing a variety of prerequisites, Marathon students will also have to fill out an application and participate in a job interview in order to join Raider Manufacturing.

Beranek said one question that came up was the possible competition against private manufacturing companies in the community. The business owners he spoke to said the quantity of the work done by the students is not something they would take on.

“They said, number two, ‘If my business was worried about high school kids working 90 minutes a day, then I’d have a problem with my business,’” he said, noting that manufacturers in the Eleva-Strum district are supportive of Cardinal Manufacturing.

Kroeplin said Cardinal Manufacturing is “prepping kids to be employable,” so they can fill the needs of businesses looking to maintain or grow their work forces.

Superintendent Rick Parks said this idea started with a conversation between the district and the Central Wisconsin Manufacturing Alliance (CWMA), a group that partners with schools to encourage students to pursue careers in the building trades.

Board member Lia Klumpyan asked if Marathon’s tech ed program has the equipment needed to start such as an enterprise.

“We have the bulk of what we need to do a jumpstart on this,” Kroeplin said. “We’ll have to accessorize and fill in the gaps here and there, but by and large, it’s ready to go.”

Other business

■ Max Wienke, principal of Marathon Area Elementary and Marathon Venture Academy, said the schools recently ran a safety drill, with students evacuating the school and meeting at a rally point. Wienke said students made it to the rally point in under 12 minutes, but it took another five minutes for all students to get into the building.

■ The board accepted the resignations of varsity football coach Ryan Winkler and custodian Paul Tasch.

■ The board approved Tony Podjaski as the fifth-grade boys basketball coach, Hannah Baldeschwiler as a volunteer eighthgrade girls basketball coach, and Jon Kleinschmdit as a volunteer Wellness Center coach. A co-coaching arrangement was also approved for Curt Miller and Dana Kolbe for seventh-grade boys basketball.

■ Emily Waldvogel was hired to fill an HR/payroll position, Andy Krautkramer as a winter site supervisor, and Zack Anderson as a second-shift custodian at at MAES/MVA.

SCHOOL BOARD SHARK TANK - Tech ed teacher Wayne Kroeplin speaks to the Marathon School Board last Wednesday about “Raider Manufacturing,” a student- run business/class that will be offered starting next school year. Board president Jody DeBroux, left, and board members Lia Klumpyan and Ted Knoeck review materials related to the new class.

STAFF PHOTO/KEVIN O’BRIEN