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Healdsburg Junior High library expansion, renovation moves forward
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| Library - Henry and Holly Wendt (at right) look on as Healdsburg Junior High School librarian Lauren Parnes and student Dylan Bursick work on a computer at the campus library. The Wendts have donated a total of $180,000 to renovate and improve the libraries at the junior high school and Healdsburg High School. - PHOTO BY Nathan Wright |
Ed Foundation says Wendt donation nearly enough to get started
By Nathan Wright
Staff Writer
The Healdsburg Education Foundation announced last week that it was moving forward with phase two of the Healdsburg Junior High School library project after accepting an $80,000 donation by the Wendt family.
The foundation is planning a major renovation to the junior high’s library this summer that volunteers hope will transform the building into an open, well-lighted and inviting place for students to study and learn. Plans call for a brand new entrance to the campus courtyard, new windows looking out into the hallways, new lighting, new carpets, new book shelves and many other upgrades.
“With the Wendt donation, we can pretty much say, with certainty, that the project will go forward,” said foundation president Gina Fontana. “We’re not quite where we want to be yet with fund-raising but we’re getting very close.”
Phase two of the junior high school is the latest effort in the foundation’s mission to revitalize and improve libraries in the Healdsburg Unified School District. In 2007 HEF partnered with the district to completely renovate the library at Healdsburg High School. The foundation raised more than $250,000 and rallied a small army of volunteers to finish the summer-long project.
On Oct. 5 the foundation invited Henry and Holly Wendt to tour the Healdsburg High School library—the benefactor of a $100,000 donation by the former Alexander Valley winemakers—and to visit Healdsburg Junior High School. Between the two library projects the Wendts, who once owned Quivira Winery, donated a total of $180,000.
“The library is really the heart of the school,” said Henry Wendt. “When the chance came to help the junior high school we didn’t hesitate.”
The Wendts were thrilled by the success of the high school project. “It reinforces the wisdom of our decision,” he said. “We’re very pleased and very proud.”
Holly Wendt was just as impressed with the group of volunteers who spent their evenings and weekends on the project. “To me, the most gratifying thing was to see how the whole community came together for the library,” she said.
Students returning to the high school in 2007 discovered a larger library—walls were knocked out to remove an office and storeroom to increase the size of the main room—with new carpeting, paint, ceiling tiles, furniture and an improved circulation desk. The foundation also paid for a library tech to keep the library open after dismissal, staffing the district had been unable to afford before.
Students said last week the changes made the library more inviting. “It’s relaxing and comfortable being here,” said Julie Nunez, a junior.
“It’s a really easy place to come and do your homework,” said Sergio Reyes, another junior.
Now HEF hopes for similar results at the junior high school.
The foundation has already completed phase one, a project that included school-wide wireless internet and three laptop carts equipped with 16 laptops each and a printer station. These carts are used by teachers in classrooms for projects ranging from essay writing to research.
With the technology implemented, phase two makes major changes to the library building itself. The biggest change will be a new entrance to the school’s courtyard, a doorway planners believe will draw students into the library at lunch and before and after school. The foundation plans to buy large chairs for the courtyard, providing students a place to sit and read.
The Wendts are the largest donors to the project, but HEF also received major donations from the Syar Foundation ($45,000 for the junior high school and $41,000 for the high school) and Mary and Dick Burke ($10,000 for each project).
The Sonoma County Office of Education lauded the projects at both schools, calling them unique and dependent on fund-raising and volunteers. “Funding for renovations for libraries is nearly unheard of,” said SCOE Library Manager Michael Powell. “Without HEF it would be impossible.”
For more information on HEF visit www.hefschools.com.
The foundation is planning a major renovation to the junior high’s library this summer that volunteers hope will transform the building into an open, well-lighted and inviting place for students to study and learn. Plans call for a brand new entrance to the campus courtyard, new windows looking out into the hallways, new lighting, new carpets, new book shelves and many other upgrades.
“With the Wendt donation, we can pretty much say, with certainty, that the project will go forward,” said foundation president Gina Fontana. “We’re not quite where we want to be yet with fund-raising but we’re getting very close.”
Phase two of the junior high school is the latest effort in the foundation’s mission to revitalize and improve libraries in the Healdsburg Unified School District. In 2007 HEF partnered with the district to completely renovate the library at Healdsburg High School. The foundation raised more than $250,000 and rallied a small army of volunteers to finish the summer-long project.
On Oct. 5 the foundation invited Henry and Holly Wendt to tour the Healdsburg High School library—the benefactor of a $100,000 donation by the former Alexander Valley winemakers—and to visit Healdsburg Junior High School. Between the two library projects the Wendts, who once owned Quivira Winery, donated a total of $180,000.
“The library is really the heart of the school,” said Henry Wendt. “When the chance came to help the junior high school we didn’t hesitate.”
The Wendts were thrilled by the success of the high school project. “It reinforces the wisdom of our decision,” he said. “We’re very pleased and very proud.”
Holly Wendt was just as impressed with the group of volunteers who spent their evenings and weekends on the project. “To me, the most gratifying thing was to see how the whole community came together for the library,” she said.
Students returning to the high school in 2007 discovered a larger library—walls were knocked out to remove an office and storeroom to increase the size of the main room—with new carpeting, paint, ceiling tiles, furniture and an improved circulation desk. The foundation also paid for a library tech to keep the library open after dismissal, staffing the district had been unable to afford before.
Students said last week the changes made the library more inviting. “It’s relaxing and comfortable being here,” said Julie Nunez, a junior.
“It’s a really easy place to come and do your homework,” said Sergio Reyes, another junior.
Now HEF hopes for similar results at the junior high school.
The foundation has already completed phase one, a project that included school-wide wireless internet and three laptop carts equipped with 16 laptops each and a printer station. These carts are used by teachers in classrooms for projects ranging from essay writing to research.
With the technology implemented, phase two makes major changes to the library building itself. The biggest change will be a new entrance to the school’s courtyard, a doorway planners believe will draw students into the library at lunch and before and after school. The foundation plans to buy large chairs for the courtyard, providing students a place to sit and read.
The Wendts are the largest donors to the project, but HEF also received major donations from the Syar Foundation ($45,000 for the junior high school and $41,000 for the high school) and Mary and Dick Burke ($10,000 for each project).
The Sonoma County Office of Education lauded the projects at both schools, calling them unique and dependent on fund-raising and volunteers. “Funding for renovations for libraries is nearly unheard of,” said SCOE Library Manager Michael Powell. “Without HEF it would be impossible.”
For more information on HEF visit www.hefschools.com.
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