Rogers School Names Climbing Wall In Teacher’s Honor

Kirksey Middle School Honors Wolff

Teaghan Wolff, 6, works her way across the climbing wall dedicated to her father, Chad Wolff, Friday, Dec. 20, 2013, at Kirksey Middle School in Rogers. Wolff, a special education teacher at Kirksey, died in April while hospitalized for surgery. Funding for the climbing was was already in progress at the time of Wolff's death, but since Wolff was a supporter of the project and an athlete, the school decided to commemorate the climbing wall in Wolff's honor.
Teaghan Wolff, 6, works her way across the climbing wall dedicated to her father, Chad Wolff, Friday, Dec. 20, 2013, at Kirksey Middle School in Rogers. Wolff, a special education teacher at Kirksey, died in April while hospitalized for surgery. Funding for the climbing was was already in progress at the time of Wolff's death, but since Wolff was a supporter of the project and an athlete, the school decided to commemorate the climbing wall in Wolff's honor.

ROGERS — Students and donors officially welcomed the climbing wall at Birch Kirksey Middle School on Friday, dedicating it in memory of a special education teacher.

Chad Wolff died in late April while hospitalized for knee surgery just a week before the 5K race that was to help raise money for the climbing wall, a cause he had embraced, said his wife, Sarah Wolff.

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“He was a real fun teacher,” Timothy Hicks, eighth-grader, Kirksey Middle School.

“He was so excited about the race, and he was bummed that he wasn’t going to get to run in it,” Sarah Wolff said.

The wall is a good way for her children to remember their father and fitting because of his athletic background, she said.

Chad Wolff earned 10 or 11 varsity letters during high school playing baseball, basketball and soccer, said his father, Soren Wolff. He had a special affinity for others who didn't have the athletic ability that came naturally to him and tried to help them along, his father said.

Chad Wolff’s involvement in Special Olympics demonstrated that compassion.

“He never saw any bad in anybody,” said his mother, Susan Wolff.

Timothy Hicks, an eighth-grader, said he came to the dedication to remember Chad Wolff who made class feel easy.

“He was a real fun teacher,” Timothy said.

A climbing wall was a priority when the first Kirksey school, then a junior high at 2922 S. First St., was opened in 1997, said Jim Yurwitz, physical education teacher.

Donations and volunteer labor built a climbing wall for the first Kirksey a couple years after the school opened, but when the school moved to its 2930 S. First St. building in 2008, the wall stayed at the other site.

“We couldn’t bring that wall with us. We built it so that wall is never coming down,” Yurwitz said.

Students used the climbing wall every day, and after trying to find grants to build a new wall, students raised pledges and hosted a 5K race this spring, raising about $20,000 for the 60-foot length of bouldering wall.

Students were given the goal of raising $20 each for the wall and were rewarded with a pizza party, said Micah Griffith, an eighth-grader. She raised $200 with a friend and her homeroom tied for most money raised.

Students at the ceremony gripped the wall and worked their way across the L-shaped section to demonstrate their skills.

Joseph Castro, a seventh-grader, said he was expecting something taller. The distance between handholds and the different types of handholds offer a challenge, he said.

Rafel Beltran, a seventh-grader, said he likes having the wall, but wants it to be harder. A taller wall would make it more challenging.

“If it was more challenging I think we could build more more muscle,” Rafel said.

“To me upper body strength, total body strength, is in direct correlation to your health,” Yurwitz said.

Students have been using the wall since the start of school in August.

Plans include raising the height of part of the wall. Once the wall is higher than 10 feet, there will be belaying ropes and additional safety equipment. Teachers are working with the manufacturer on a solution to locking down the wall when it's not in use.

When teachers started making plans for the climbing wall, Chad Wolff requested there be adaptive handholds so children with limited dexterity could enjoy it with the rest of the school. Those handholds are on order and will be installed on the panel under the plaque that bears his name.

He was eager to see the wall built for children at the school, Sarah Wolff said, but having his face on a sign above the wall is something Chad would have found a little embarrassing.

“He would hate it, but he would love it,” she said.

A special education teacher, Wolff, worked with all students, blending his students in with other classes and befriending children at the school, said Mel Ahart, principal. Wolff worked at Kirksey from October 2012 to April 2013, but he left a lasting impression on students, she said.

“He built relationships with students. It didn’t matter who those students were,” she said.

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