You will hear the sounds of diesel trucks and engines driving past the Casco Career Academy after the Ahnapee Diesel Center was formally dedicated on Wednesday evening. Officials from Luxemburg-Casco School District, Kewaunee School District, Denmark School District and Northeast Wisconsin Technical College hosted the open house that will house the first credit-bearing, diesel-only high school education program in the state. Students going through the program will have a head start on other people pursuing the degree by earning a one-year technical diploma in diesel maintenance technician training and having the credits to pursue other programs. Luxemburg-Casco Superintendent Glenn Schlender says he is happy with how it turned out and the support it has already received.

Over 20 students are involved in the program’s inaugural year including Luxemburg-Casco’s Cynthia Falish-Haufe. She is already putting the skills she is learning to use as a fifth-generation farmer, but it goes beyond that for her.

The new facility drew hundreds of thousands of dollars from local businesses to convert the former Luxemburg-Casco Middle School Art and Wood Shop area into the diesel center. It also turned the school’s cafeteria into a classroom for the Ahnapee Diesel Program which will be able to handle up to 32 students each year.