Bloomington's Noon Rotary presented the $50,000 check on July 7 to fund middle school sports for the 2026-27 school year, covering fall soccer at all three middle schools, winter wrestling at Oak Grove and Valley View, and spring track and field districtwide.
The money matters because it's filling a gap the district created itself: Bloomington cut middle school sports in 2019 to close a budget shortfall, and the programs have only come back with outside help since. Oak Grove, Valley View and Olson middle schools are the ones benefiting this time around.
The check came out of the Rotary's Fundraising Committee, with members Deb Newman and Paul Neibergerberg working the donation alongside Rotary Foundation Chair Karyn Arazi. On the district side, Middle School Activities Director John Born and Superintendent Eric Melbye accepted the gift.
Rotary isn't stopping at $50,000. The club says it wants to top that figure for 2027-28, with an eye toward expanding middle school programming and building support for the feeder pipelines into Kennedy and Jefferson high schools.