Editor’s note: The following letter was originally sent to Whitewater Unified School District Board of Education President Casey Judd on Jan. 6. It has been shared by its author with Fort Atkinson Online as a letter to the editor.
My name is Pete Grace. I was an industrial arts teacher at Whitewater High School from 1965 to 1997. I taught with Ken Nehring, Jerry Stauffacher, and a plethora of auto mechanics teachers. None lasted very long. Most were not very good.
During my last 2-3 years of teaching, I taught with Mike Wintz. Of all of the teachers that I have ever worked with, Mike was by far the best.
Form the early 1960s (when Ken Nehring started) to present time, I believe we had no severe injuries in the classroom (including Wintz’s time as WHS) until the 2021 incident in question.
Shop teachers are more likely to have accidents in class than any academic teacher simply due to the nature of the class.
Where does this end? Is this the beginning of the end of industrial arts classes at WHS? Will chemistry students be allowed to conduct experiments? Will PE classes need to refrain from any activity that might cause an accident?
This is a very dangerous precedent that you have set.
I think that Mike was too severely punished and I request that you consider reversing your decision and offer him his job back.
There is currently a shortage of industrial arts teachers. If this in not reversed, it is my opinion that WHS will most certainly have a hard time attracting any industrial arts teachers and certainly not the quality of Mike.
Respectfully,
Pete Grace
Delaware, Ohio
Signage erected near Home Lumber in Whitewater in support of recently retired Whitewater High School shop teacher Mike Wintz. File photo/contributed.
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