William H. Schalk (Class of January 1960)

 

At Taft, Bill played football and basketball, was voted Co-Athlete of the Year for the January 1960 class, and was a member of the Future Teachers of America.  He went on to Coe College and entered the U.S. Navy flight officer training program in 1966. 

 

For the next 20 years Bill served in the Navy on aircraft carriers and in two combat missions to Viet Nam.  He was also in an officer exchange program with the Royal Navy in Scotland.  He graduated from the War College and served two tours in the Pentagon with the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Department of the Navy representing the United States in NATO meetings at Brussels. 

 

Retiring from the Navy in 1986, Bill attended Marquette University Law School and served seven years as an assistant district attorney in Racine, Wisconsin where he prosecuted more than 10,000 cases.  He observed that students who were successful in the classroom had fewer problems with the police or the courts. 

 

Bill ran for a seat on the Racine United School Board to have a positive impact on children’s education.  Now in his third term, he serves as president of the board for what is the third largest school district in Wisconsin.  He also serves as a trustee for the Village of Wind Point, Wisconsin, where he is responsible for village finances, and is active in many community organizations. Bill is a member of the board for Lincoln Lutheran, an agency that provides nursing, assisted living and convalescent services to the needy in Racine. He volunteers on the board of the Bethany Apartments, a Dominican-run program to provide transitional housing for abused women and their children. 

 

Bill and his wife, Dorothy, have been married for 38 years.