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Generating generosity
Ornst serves special-needs school where son attended
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| From right Bob Ornst, principal of Selzer-Ornst Co.,
stands with Manny, a student of St. Coletta Day School, and Bill Koehn,
administrator for the school. Ornst serves as president of the board
of directors for the school, which serves students with special needs. Photo submitted by Selzer-Ornst Co. |
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If you go What: ColettaScope 2008, an art gallery and silent auction
event to benefit St. Coletta Day School of Milwaukee |
Bob Ornst knows firsthand the benefits St. Coletta Day School offers children with special needs.
The trouble, Ornst said is letting the rest of the world know about the Milwaukee school.
Ornst serves on the school’s board of directors when he’s away from his Milwaukee construction firm, Selzer-Ornst Co.
As board president, Ornst said, his job entails raising money for the financially independent school, which enrolls only 12 students at a time.
“People are not aware of it,” he said. “It’s probably the finest educational experience a kid with special needs could possibly have.”
Ornst first became involved with St. Coletta Day School when he enrolled his son, Matthew, who has Down’s syndrome.
Matthew Ornst graduated from the school, but Bob Ornst continues to work on the board.
He said volunteering for the school provides balance in his life.
“Family is very important and No. 1, but all of us who are able to have jobs and steady incomes in tough times are obliged to help the less fortunate and other good concerns,” Ornst said. “When the day is done and I’m 75 years old and look back, I want to look back at more than 40, 50, 60 hours each week [at work]. I want to look back at other accomplishments.”
The biggest challenge of being on the board, Ornst said, is raising money for the small school.
“The parents of all the students and the board members work very hard to get grants and donations,” he said.
The school also hosts an annual event each October, ColettaScope, where student-created art is auctioned off at an art gallery. Local businesses donate professional framing services for the event, which is held at Village Church Arts in Milwaukee.
Ornst said inviting guests to the school can also generate some generosity among potential donors.
“Most people want to give donations and contributions to a school with 100 to 200 students,” he said. “So we try very hard to get them to visit the school. Then, they can see what an unbelievably fantastic job the school is doing.”
Bill Koehn, administrator at St. Coletta Day School, said at least half of the school’s 14 board members have, like Ornst, a very personal connection to the school.
“I think when you’re the parent, as Bob is, of a special-needs child, or in his case, of a young adult, you have that personal connection,” Koehn said.
St. Coletta Day School, 1740 N. 55th St. in Milwaukee, focuses on serving students ages 8 to 16 with special needs.
Ornst said many of the school’s graduates hold jobs in the community.
“The school just celebrated its 50th anniversary,” he said. “It was way ahead of its time because kids in that day and age were most likely put away somewhere in some institution and forgotten.”
— Melissa Rigney Baxter