Schulte shares Jack-of-all-trades skills

by Dennis Dalman

editor@thenewsleaders.com

There’s hardly a Sartell program that the Jack-of-all-trades skills of Joseph Schulte hasn’t touched.

A native of Sartell, Schulte, who is a high-school industrial-arts teacher, was named Citizen of the Year by the Sartell Area Chamber of Commerce at its April 23 banquet.

A long list of Schulte’s volunteer efforts include the following, as cited by the emcee just before Schulte was presented his award: the Sartell Farmers’ Market, Pinecone Central Park, the Verso Mill Art Project (helping salvage scrap metal for bicycle stands), a community pottery project and the Sartell Garden Club (designing signs). And that’s only the beginning.

Schulte has also helped at the Sartell-LeSauk Fire Department by designing its letter head, doing technology work for them and assisting with the Wall of Flame memorial at the fire hall. He works with St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church, its parish and school, to help coordinate the summer bazaar. He fosters many efforts at Sartell schools, youth ministry programs, projects for the City of Sartell and the annual Casting for a Cure charity event.

Schulte is a baseball coach for Sartell youth, as well as a basketball coach.

As a teacher, Schulte formed fruitful partnerships with Sartell businesses and manufacturing industries to enhance the education of students. For example, he worked to develop internships for students at the DeZurik plant.

Every pep fest at Sartell High School is organized by Schulte, and that includes finding student volunteers, developing creative activities for the events and creating video tributes and send-offs for sports teams.

He is also a member and has served as a leader in the Knights of Columbus organization and worked on projects for the entire St. Cloud Catholic Diocese that help secure education for families in need.

Schulte is unique because he received five nominations for the Sartell Citizen of the Year award.