HOLSTEIN, Iowa -- A 30,000-square-foot addition to Holstein Elementary School will help provide new athletic, vocational and technical educational opportunities for students.
In December, voters overwhelmingly approved a $12.3 million bond issue to finance the construction project by a margin of 79 percent to 21 percent.  The addition will be built on the north end of the elementary school at 519 E. Maple St. in Holstein.
"It will be a new competition gym with about 1,400 seats. It will have a new state-of-the-art industrial tech, ag and automotive area. And it will have a couple classrooms that will be used more than likely for daycare," said Superintendent Jon Wiebers.Â
"We are in the planning stages yet. We are looking at a May bid letting for the site work and that will be due in June sometime."
Bids for the construction work are tentatively scheduled for early September.
People are also reading…
Wiebers called the elementary school addition "a community project."
"It will give our community, our youth programs, more access to gym time in our facilities."
The gym will also provide the district with the ability to host events and offer practice space for the boys and girls basketball teams at Holstein. Currently the lack of available gym space has forced the district to have to transport one squad or the other to the Schaller building for practice sessions.
"That will eliminate some transportation costs," Wiebers said. "That will save time. Hopefully, our kids will be able to get home a little earlier."
The district will also be able to start JV games a little later in the afternoon.
"We won’t have to start at 4 p.m.," he said.
The project will offer vocational and technical opportunities for students, according to Scott Phelps, industrial tech teacher at Ridge View High School in Holstein. Â
"Right now, we are in a really old building and our space is really limited. This will give our students at a lot more room for projects. It will be a lot safer," Phelps said.
Local companies need employees trained in computer-aided drafting (CAD), welding and automotive repair. Â
"The workforce is retiring. There is a lot of need to get kids interested in the vocational and the technical skills. Teach kids to be able to use their hands and find good jobs using their hands," Phelps said.Â
He teaches CAD and beginner and advanced woodworking.
The district's agriculture instructor teaches mechanics, welding and metal working.
"A lot of our kids are rural, farm kids," Phelps said. "They are exposed to a lot of this stuff already."
Students also take classes in auto mechanics.
"They are getting a lot of variety. We are trying to incorporate skills that they can use to go out there and work at VT (Industries)," Phelps said.
Besides providing a skilled workforce for local employers, the programs can help to keep students from leaving the area by providing good-paying jobs in the community.Â
 "They are directly tied to real-life experiences," Supt. Wiebers added.
"We actually held some community meetings with employees from both districts about what they needed. We know that we can also reach out into the plumbing area. We know that in our communities we need skilled individuals to go into our labor force and build our communities."
The Galva-Holstein and Schaller-Crestland districts operate under a whole-grade sharing agreement. All students attend high school in Holstein and middle school in Early. Elementary schools are located in Holstein, Galva and Schaller.
"We are thrilled with the community support that we received on the vote. It will continue to make our district a solid district," Wiebers said.
