KEYS, Inc. is a wonderful organization that helps provide scholarships to students in Kewaskum, Wisconsin. On this week’s episode, Jennifer Gerhartz & Kristy Bishop of KEYS join me to talk about the upcoming KEYS Run.
You can also call KEYS at 414-279-6374.
[00:00:00] Fuzz Martin: Hello, Washington County. We’re back with another episode of Fifteen Minutes. I’m your host, Fuzz Martin, and each week we showcase something positive going on in our community. On this week’s episode, I’m joined by Jennifer Gerharts and Christy Bishop, the President and Vice President of KEYS, Inc., an organization that provides scholarships for Kewaskum high school graduates.
After a virtual year in 2020, the KEYS run is back on Sunday, October 10th. 2021. Just to start off the episode. I know I’ve talked about Jerry Gosa on the show before, and as his friend, I thought I’d mentioned that like the Wisconsin 9 11 Memorial, Jerry was very passionate about the KEYS. In fact, I would say that KEYS was always his first love and that he was a big part of making sure that the KEYS run was well attended and well sponsored each and every year.
He very much poured himself into whatever he was a part of. And for that, among many, many other things. He is missed. And with that, here’s 15 Minutes on the KEYS Run with Jennifer Gerharts and Kristy Bishop.
Jennifer and Kristy, thank you for coming on and let’s talk a little bit about what KEYS is before we get into the run and what that’s all about.
[00:01:37] Jennifer Gerhartz: Well, KEYS is, um, Kewaskum Youth Scholarships. It was started in 1985 to provide scholarships for graduates of Kewaskum High School. And our mission is to encourage our Kewaskum high school seniors to continue their education by providing college and technical college scholarships with the hope that these will stimulate academic and professional success among the graduating KHS students in our community.
And I think for me, when I look at that, it’s an opportunity for me to serve my community, working alongside individuals and businesses to provide opportunities for our youth.
[00:02:13] Fuzz Martin: So it’s been around since 1985. How much has the KEYS awarded in scholarships since then?
[00:02:19] Jennifer Gerhartz: We have awarded over two and a half million dollars in scholarships.
[00:02:23] Fuzz Martin: Wow, that’s a great asset to the Kewaskum School District and to the community. And again, helping students no matter what kind of schooling they’re going into.
[00:02:32] Jennifer Gerhartz: Yes. Yeah. We have opportunities for universities and technical colleges.
[00:02:37] Fuzz Martin: Now, if a student wanted to apply for a KEYS scholarship, how could they go about doing that?
[00:02:41] Kristy Bishop: There is a link on the Kewaskum School District website that students would apply for those scholarships. In the scholarships, they ask different questions. First of all, we like to know what are your plans? What do you want to go to school for? Where would you like to go to school? We also try to get to know them a little bit better by asking personal questions, such as, what activities have you been involved in during your school life?
Also, we like to know, are you active in clubs, are you active in sports, because those take a lot of time and commitment, and that gives those students a lot of credit for all the dedication that they’ve put into it. So we analyze those applications, and then we eventually go through an interview process.
Once we have all the data, we kind of rank. The students, and then we are able to award the scholarships based on that.
[00:03:33] Fuzz Martin: How many students receive scholarships each year?
[00:03:35] Kristy Bishop: Is it in the fifties, I
[00:03:38] Fuzz Martin: believe?
[00:03:38] Jennifer Gerhartz: Yes, this last year it was 57 students and in a graduating class of, I’m not sure exactly of the number, but 160 to 180.
So it’s a very big portion.
[00:03:50] Fuzz Martin: Yeah, that’s great. I have a daughter who’s in West Bend West at the moment. I have a first grader in Kewaskum, but I have a daughter who’s graduating West Bend West and we’re going through that whole scholarship and financial aid night is tonight and all that kind of stuff.
So we’re, uh, we’re going through all that. And I. I’m grateful for things like KEYS and similar organizations that are helping students to further their career. I just paid off my student loans this year, so I’m going to try to set my daughters up so they don’t have to be 43 when they pay off their student loans.
We have the KEYS Run coming up, and how long has the KEYS Run been going on?
[00:04:25] Jennifer Gerhartz: This will be our 28th.
[00:04:28] Fuzz Martin: Wow. And this, this is your biggest fundraiser of the year, right?
[00:04:31] Jennifer Gerhartz: Yes, that’s correct.
[00:04:33] Fuzz Martin: It’s back this year. Last year, was it virtual last year?
[00:04:36] Jennifer Gerhartz: Yes, last year we did a virtual event and people ran whatever day they chose to.
We sent in pictures, we put it on Facebook, but it was not an in person event last year.
[00:04:48] Fuzz Martin: Yeah, we, we bought a t shirt for our kindergartner at the time and we did not run, uh, but, but we did sport.
[00:04:54] Jennifer Gerhartz: Well, thank you. Yeah,
[00:04:55] Fuzz Martin: you’re very welcome. How much does the annual 5k in a non COVID year raise for the KEYS on average?
[00:05:01] Jennifer Gerhartz: Twenty two to twenty four thousand, but in the last few years, we’ve had a couple of years where it was 2, 000. 29 and 30,000. Wow. And I will say our community is wonderful supporting the Run. Last year, even with it being Covid in a virtual event, we had over 21,000.
[00:05:18] Fuzz Martin: Wow. Okay. Great. So it was,
[00:05:19] Jennifer Gerhartz: it was wonderful to have that much support.
[00:05:22] Fuzz Martin: Yeah. I remember going through the parking lot to pick up the T-shirts, and it was a, a well run machine of, uh, getting our shirts and getting through it and, and it was packed with people. So just knowing that there was still all that support, even though it wasn’t. A physical, big event run together, which was saying something for the community for sure.
What is the course for the KEYS Run? Where do we run?
[00:05:41] Jennifer Gerhartz: Well, the run starts and finishes at Kewaskum High School, and it winds around just some community streets and a little bit on the Eisenbahn Trail and stays off the major Roadways to avoid traffic.
[00:05:55] Fuzz Martin: What is the date and time for the event this year?
[00:05:58] Kristy Bishop: This year’s 5k, we are having it held on October 10th and it’s going to start at 11 a. m.
[00:06:04] Fuzz Martin: Very good. And then is it a run and walk or just a run?
[00:06:08] Kristy Bishop: You know, for those diehards, it is a run. For most people, myself included, it would be more of a run slash walk, have the kids race you, that kind of thing. Sure,
[00:06:20] Fuzz Martin: sure.
Is it a timed event then for the diehards?
[00:06:23] Kristy Bishop: Yep, it is timed. We are working with Tortoise and Hare. They are working with us, and it is a chip timed event.
[00:06:29] Fuzz Martin: Okay, all right, very good. That’s, uh, not my style. My style is more of the run with the kids or try to keep up with the kids kind of, uh, piece. But, uh, that’s great.
And then how many participants in a normal year, how many people participate in the run?
[00:06:43] Jennifer Gerhartz: Generally 450 to 500, and it can depend a lot on weather. to get that extra 50. Sure. You know, if it’s raining, it’s not going to be that many, but we’ve been very fortunate and with our weather. Yeah. So,
[00:06:59] Fuzz Martin: yeah. Well, hopefully it stays like it has been the last couple of weekends.
Somebody wants to sign up. How much is it and what is the deadline to get signed up?
[00:07:07] Kristy Bishop: If you register, registration is open right now. If you register now, you would pay 25 to participate in the event. That registration is open until midnight, October 1st. After that, we are going to keep the registration open, but we do increase the price a little bit.
So it’ll be 30 and that runs all the way through race morning.
[00:07:26] Fuzz Martin: Always an important topic. Is there a t shirt for the KEYS Run this year?
[00:07:30] Jennifer Gerhartz: We do have a t shirt every year. This year. Our t shirt is to help commemorate Jerry and to honor all of his years of service. And so we have a shirt that we printed in badger red, which is something he always wanted us to do.
And so we’re doing that for him and it includes a silhouette of him high fiving a young runner. So it seems to encapsulate him and the work he did.
[00:07:53] Fuzz Martin: Yeah, no, that’s great. That’s a fitting tribute and I’m sure he’d be proud. I will certainly be signing up. At least just for the shirt, we’ll see if I run or not, um, or, or walk briskly.
If somebody wants to register for the event, where do they go to do that?
[00:08:08] Jennifer Gerhartz: You can go to our website, KEYS scholarships. org, or you can go directly to runsignup. com and search under KEYS.
[00:08:17] Fuzz Martin: Okay, very good. Aside from runners, do you need any other help or volunteers for the event?
[00:08:23] Jennifer Gerhartz: You know, what we really need is people to sign up and be there.
We have a lot of volunteers. If somebody’s interested in volunteering, we would certainly find a place to plug you in.
[00:08:33] Fuzz Martin: Really getting feet on the street is what we really need in terms of getting people registered to help support the KEYS organization and to help raise those funds. And the more people, the more fun it’s going to be and the more money we’ll raise for Kewaskum students.
[00:08:48] Jennifer Gerhartz: It is. And it’s a fun community event. It’s families. It’s. There are serious racers, but there are many just great community supporters. And there are other ways to support. This year, we have, you know, Roundup for KEYS at the Kewaskum Piggly Wiggly, Geidel’s Piggly Wiggly, and we have the Fuel It Forward at the BP.
in Kewaskum. Those are great community ways you can also support Kewaskum Youth Scholarships.
[00:09:15] Fuzz Martin: What other things are going on during the actual race itself?
[00:09:19] Kristy Bishop: After the race is completed, we are offering, through our Kewaskum Booster Club, they’re going to go ahead and open up their concession stands. So people can grab snacks, grab a little light lunch before they head off to explore their day.
So again, that’s from the Booster Club in Kewaskum.
[00:09:36] Fuzz Martin: And then, does KEYS do any other events throughout the year, or is the Run the big one?
[00:09:39] Jennifer Gerhartz: The Run is our biggest event, but we also have done a Christmas concert for many years, and that features the Kewaskum Big Band, and, and also the Ecumen will be performing.
[00:09:50] Fuzz Martin: Any other info in terms of like weather?
[00:09:52] Kristy Bishop: If people are concerned about gathering in large groups, they can still register and we will accommodate them to run virtually. You know, they can send in their pictures. However, unfortunately they won’t be in the awards with that, but we’d love to have your support either way.
[00:10:06] Fuzz Martin: Sure. Sounds good. I know with that timing chip that to be fair to those who are running with the timer, he’s got to make sure that everything’s scientific.
[00:10:14] Kristy Bishop: Correct.
[00:10:15] Fuzz Martin: And I know how competitive some of you runners can be, because we have a number of them here at my office. And they’re rabid. If it does rain, is there, it’s not going to rain.
I’m knocking on the desk right now. Nope, it’s not going to rain. It’s not going to rain.
[00:10:28] Jennifer Gerhartz: We’ve always held it rain or shine. Okay. And the only accommodation is that we move the award ceremony inside. One of the unique things I think about our run, as it’s really geared towards kids, and that’s our focus, we have a lot of age categories for young runners.
We have an age category for kids 1 to 7, for 8 year olds, for 9 year olds, for 10 year olds, for 11 year olds, for 12 year olds, for 13 year olds, 14 and 15, 16 and 17. And so in that, there’s a lot of kids who come in and run and get a medal. Get excited about doing it again. So that’s something that I think is different about the KEYS Run that’s very youth focused and fun.
[00:11:08] Fuzz Martin: Well, we’ll check that out. The website again is KEYS scholarships. org?
[00:11:13] Kristy Bishop: Yes.
[00:11:14] Fuzz Martin: Or again, that website is?
[00:11:17] Jennifer Gerhartz: runsignup. com. Okay. And then search under KEYS.
[00:11:20] Fuzz Martin: Anything else that we should know about? We’d love to have you there. All right. Very good.
[00:11:24] Kristy Bishop: We’ve been working really hard this year to make sure that it is a fun event, especially coming off the year off.
And we’re excited, we’re motivated, we’re ready.
[00:11:32] Fuzz Martin: Well, we thank you for what you do for our students and the community. It’s very important that we have an organization like this in Kewaskum, here in Washington County. And Jennifer and Christy, we appreciate you coming on the show today. And good luck with the KEYS Run.
Thank you,
[00:11:47] Kristy Bishop: and thanks for having us.
[00:11:48] Fuzz Martin: You’re very welcome.
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