Oak Grove raises $13 million, increases campaign goal to $18 million and launches Health & Wellness Initiative
Oak Grove Lutheran School is pleased to announce that it has met and exceeded its original Centennial Campaign goal and will continue to fund raise until the school reaches $18 million. As part of Phase III of its Centennial Campaign, Oak Grove is launching a Health and Wellness Initiative which includes integrating innovative health and wellness programs into the curriculum. This summer, the school will also break ground on needed capital improvements, funded by the campaign, which include renovating the Darwin Gorder Gymnasium, and adding classrooms and a wellness center at the middle and high school, and adding classrooms, upgrading the kitchen and gymnasium at the elementary school.
Oak Grove’s Health & Wellness Initiative will introduce comprehensive wellness programming, individualized student wellness plans, flexible physical education courses and opportunities year-round, and use of technology to integrate health and wellness concepts into core academic courses. The initiative focuses on seven pillars of wellness – spiritual, physical, emotional, social, vocational, environmental, and intellectual – and is designed to improve the overall health of students through deliberate and consistent attention. The school will hire a Wellness Coordinator this summer to facilitate the implementation of the initiative and to find innovative ways to incorporate overall wellness into daily lives of students. The school is currently seeking partnership with area healthcare providers, insurers and wellness experts to further broaden and deepen the initiative.
“Oak Grove considers it a privilege to educate students from pre-kindergarten through grade twelve, for potentially fourteen years of an individual’s life. We will intentionally bring health and wellness into the forefront of each students’ experience, integrating programs and enhancing curriculum,” says Oak Grove President Bruce Messelt. “Our initiative includes seven aspects of wellness, not only the physical wellness of students. The school’s Health and Wellness Initiative will foster whole and well-rounded young people, ready for the life in front of them. Simply stated, our goal for every Grover: embraced by the Gospel; prepared to experience the world.”
Phase III building projects will begin in May before the 2007-2008 school year closes. The construction at the north campus will be completed in stages to ensure that the gymnasium is available for volleyball season and the full complex is complete by basketball season. All changes at the elementary school are projected to wrap prior to the start of the 2008-2009 academic year.
The Centennial Campaign, “Nurturing the Journey,” is the school’s largest fundraising effort to date. The campaign’s original goal was to raise $10 million to enhance and expand facilities, support the annual operating budget, and increase student aid. Since the original goal was set in 2005, Oak Grove’s vision has grown and changed to include new ventures, such as an elementary school and technology initiative. The new campaign goal of $18 million includes funding of the Health and Wellness Initiative, capital projects, annual operating support, endowment growth, and support for the on-going technology initiative.
Phase I of the school’s centennial building projects renovated Jackson Hall and added a concourse, connecting Jackson Hall with the Darwin Gorder Gymnasium. The renovations were completed in fall 2005. Phase II constructed the Scheels Center for the Performing Arts and connecting link to Arvid Benson Hall. Construction wrapped on the Scheels Center in May of 2007. The center includes a 700+ seat auditorium that doubles as an athletic gymnasium, prayer chapel, and rehearsal and office space.
For more information about the Oak Grove Centennial Campaign, please contact the Advancement Office at 701.237.0212 or click here.
The Oak Grove Centennial Campaign is lead by volunteer co-chairs Mr. Jon Rustvang and Mr. Steve Zimmerman, current Oak Grove parents. They, along with a committee of 15 Oak Grove administrators, parents, alumni and friends, are steering the third phase of the campaign.
Jon Rustvang, Campaign Chair
Steve Zimmerman, Campaign Chair
Paul Lybeck, Board of Regents Chair
Bruce Messelt, President
Paul Holtan, VP of Advancement
Linda Kohler, Advancement
Brian Rahman ‘82
Monica Sunderland
Bryan Smith
Karen Burgum
Jodi Uecker-Rust
Doug Johnson
Jon Dangerfield
Scott VandeVoort
Lance Bergstrom ‘82
Scott Kjos ‘97
Dan Martinson
