The Fort Atkinson Community Foundation is pleased to announce the addition of a new scholarship fund to its portfolio. The Don Gruber Memorial Athletic Scholarship is now available to graduating seniors at Fort Atkinson High School, thanks to the kindness of the Gruber family and friends of Don Gruber.
The scholarship fund was established at the Foundation by the children of Don and Carol Gruber to memorialize and honor the contributions their father made to the many student athletes who graduated from Fort Atkinson High School. Don (1937-2023) was a longtime educator, varsity boys basketball coach and athletic director in the Fort Atkinson school district from the 1960s into the 1990s. As the varsity boys basketball coach at Fort high school, he amassed a 311-113 record with seven Badger Conference Championships, seven WIAA Regional titles and a State Tournament appearance in 1981. Coach Gruber was elected into the Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame and was an inaugural inductee onto the Fort Atkinson High School Athletic Wall of Fame.
“Dad believed strongly in the benefits of athletics,” noted Don’s son Greg Gruber, “such as learning about teamwork, developing problem solving skills, boosting self-esteem, fostering friendships, making healthy lifestyle choices, and learning how to deal with both successes and failures. While he strived to win every game he ever coached, he was equally determined to put each of his players on the path to adulthood with an ability to deal with future life circumstances. Setting up a scholarship, helping students take their next steps in life, is a fitting tribute to Dad.”
The Gruber Athletic Scholarship is available to graduating seniors at Fort Atkinson High School who have at least three seasons of involvement with either the high school’s boys basketball team or girls basketball team, as players or managers. They must also have earned a minimum of two varsity letters in sports other than basketball. Applicants must plan to pursue a bachelor’s degree at a 4-year college or university or enroll in a program at a technical college for an associate’s degree or the two-year transfer program. They also must have maintained, at the time of application, a cumulative gradepoint average of at least 2.5 on a 4.0 scale.
Selection will be based on the applicant’s contribution to the team, commitment to the program, and work ethic. Financial need is not required for this scholarship, but need can be considered by the recommendation committee.
The amount to be awarded for the 2025-26 school year is $1,000.
Interested applicants should visit the Community Foundation’s website, www.fortfoundation.org, and then follow the links to the scholarship pages where they can learn more about the Gruber Scholarship and find the link to Fort Scholarships, the Foundation’s online scholarship application website.
At Fort Scholarships, applicants will be able to create an account and begin working on their application – one application that will be used for all the scholarships for which they apply. When selecting scholarship opportunities, applicants will have another chance to review the eligibility requirements for each scholarship to make sure they qualify for those they select. They also will see listed many of the scholarships offered through Fort Atkinson High School and will be able to apply for those from this site as well.
The application can be worked on intermittently as the work can be saved and applicants can log in later and pick up where they left off.
The deadline for submitting an application for the new Don Gruber Memorial Athletic Scholarship is Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025.
For more information about this new scholarship, or about any of the scholarships offered by the Fort Atkinson Community Foundation, contact their executive director Sue Hartwick at (920) 563-3210 (office), (920) 222-1191 (mobile) or via email at facf@fortfoundation.org.
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