River Valley School District honors area EMS volunteers
By:
Joe Block
On January 8, 2026, the River Valley School Board proudly recognized the Arena, Lone Rock, Plain, and Spring Green Emergency Medical Services for their outstanding service. Superintendent Loren Glasbrenner shared our deep gratitude for the volunteer commitment these teams make to keep our community safe. Time and time again, they go above and beyond for our communities, our families, and our students. Thank you to our local EMS teams for everything you do — we are so thankful for you and proud to call you part of River Valley!
By Joe Block
During the community spotlight section of the River Valley School District January meeting, District Administrator Loren Glasbrenner took time to laud the Arena, Lone Rock, Plain, and Spring Green Emergency Medical Services. Derek Miller, Spring Green Ambulance Chief, mentioned his inspiration and reason for his service, sharing a story about a friend who sadly passed during a shared racquetball game.
“Halfway through the second game, I served the ball, and the ball did not come back. I lost my friend that day on the court, and I decided I want to know what to do,” he said.
Miller continued:
“But we also need new people. As Loren said, my daughter took the course while she was a senior here at River Valley. So I want to highlight that as well, to bear that in mind that it may be possible that there are high school students who would be interested in doing something like this, and it launched her into it made it much easier for her to get into nursing school. She ended up with a Master’s in nursing and as an Oncology Nurse. Now today, she got a leg up in the whole process because of her exposure through EMS. So it can really be a launching pad for a more advanced career. We also have people that start this after they’ve retired, so people can start at any age.”
While discussing future class offerings, Darby Blakley, High School Principal, explained:
“[I]n big terms, we create a menu for our students and we have our registration day, which will take place on February 12. And so these, these are new classes that our students, our teachers are passionate about offering.”
“But just because this is going on the menu doesn’t mean we’re going to cook the meal. We have to wait and make sure all this to be like that analogy,” he further explained. Class offerings include musical theater history and performance, zoology, ecology, and even a course on officiating sports.
The board approved a start date of Tuesday, September 1, 2026.
The board accepted generous donations, ranging from food to clothing to financial gifts.
