Fitness makeover

Thanks to some dedicated alumni, Ozaukee High School’s fitness center and its free weights, weight machines, treadmills and other equipment will be open to the public for free beginning Monday, April 5.

“The goal is to have a good mix of cardio and strength equipment so no matter what your emphasis is, there is something for you,” Ozaukee High School Athletic Director Andy McKee said.

The fitness center in Fredonia will be free to all residents of the Northern Ozaukee School District and will be open from 3 to 7 p.m. Mondays through Fridays.

Manning the center will be three OHS alumni — Grant Klas, 22, Anthony Rauch, 22, and Cole Large, 24 — and district Food Service Director Dewayne McFadden, 64.

“These guys came to us and were passionate about how can we get our students more engaged and how can we get our community more engaged in health and fitness,” district Supt. Dave Karrels said. “They really drove the truck in driving this whole thing forward.”

Klas and Rauch recently graduated from University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, where they played football, and returned to the area. Large has worked as a videographer for the Chicago Bears and lives in the district.

“We all recently returned to the area and all came to the conclusion that we could get more out of the facility,” Klas said. We’re just passionate about this.”

The trio have been regulars in the fitness room in recent weeks and have already had an impact on student athletes.

“When we were in high school, we maybe had like five people in here in a day,” Rauch said. “Since Grant, Cole and I came back, we have 30-plus people in here every day.”

Large said they have been writing fitness programs for some of the athletes.

“In the past, if they wanted to do more, they had to seek it out and most of them weren’t seeking it out and didn’t really know what to do,” Large said. “Kids weren’t really getting guidance and even if they were it was just select people.”

All three played football for OHS, and Large was an accomplished wrestler.

Rauch and Klas said they learned a lot about weight lifting at UW-Eau Claire. Rauch is working toward a certificate in personal training.

Large learned from being with the Bears. McFadden has been weight lifting for 45 years and has been a competitive body builder. He has worked with student athletes at OHS for years.

The goals of opening the fitness center are twofold, Karrels and McKee said.

“How do we engage more students in health and fitness and taking ownership of that,” Karrels said. “On the community side, there aren’t a lot of fitness centers in Fredonia. We have a great facility here and we want people to use it.”

McKee said the foursome’s presence is already being felt in the school and having an effect on its sports culture.

“It’s kind of a rebirth. You can tell by the increased attendance over the last couple of  weeks that we’re knocking down the barriers between the sports and getting all the coaches pulling in the same direction,” he said. “We want all our athletes to be active and not be selfish about their program.

“It’s important just for health and wellness,” Karrels said. “We’re not trying to create a bunch of Division I athletes.

“I’m really excited to have some alumni back and helping out. It’s great to have our student athletes see there is life after high school and that they want to come back and help our high school.”

Standing in the 4,400-square-foot fitness room, which was expanded several years ago, Rauch pointed to the equipment available to students and community members:

“We have basic bench racks, leg presses, incline machines, curl racks, straight benches, free weights, kettle bells, quad extension machines, abdominal workout machines, stationary bikes, treadmills, ellipticals, yoga mats ...”

“It’s a point of pride for a school our size to have a facility like this,” Karrels interjected.

McKee said the facility and its machines are constantly being upgraded.

“It’s a work in progress,” he said. “We’re making some technology upgrades, ordering some new equipment and rehabbing some equipment.”

At least one of the group will be on hand to supervise every night the fitness center is open. Their pay and the cost of the fitness center and its equipment are coming from the district’s community Fund 80 and not from the school district’s operations budget.

It cost $22,000 to update the fitness center, Karrels said.

Free introduction to fitness classes will be held from 6 to 7 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays, starting April 6.

“The classes will be for beginners and for those with experience but who want help fine tuning their technique,” Rauch said.

The public is asked to enter the fitness center on the west side of the school.

For more information, email fitnesscenter@nosd.edu.