As she walks through the halls between classes, P.E. teacher Rebecca Moore steps by the showcase by the auxiliary gym and looks back at her accomplishments; the showcase is known as the Fenton Athletic Hall of Fame. The hall is used to recognize the talent from past athletes.

“From my own experience as an athlete, I developed a great appreciation for those who worked hard and achieved just like kids who worked just as hard in music, arts and academics,” former FHS athletic director Ken Wensel said. “I always looked for ways to honor and bring attention to great effort and great accomplishment, so knowing about Fenton’s great athletic tradition, I thought that it would be a really good idea if we came up with a hall of fame for the high school.”

The Hall of Fame is not only used to recognize successful athletic figures over time, it is also a way to fundraise for the Fenton Education Foundation.

“The Foundation supports academics, arts, and athletics,” current athletic director Mike Bakker said. “In the past, we have tried to hold specific events in order to support each endeavor; the Athletic Hall of Fame helps support the athletics. They tried to find events that would help showcase and support other endeavors as well.”

Sponsorships supported the foundation; ticket sales and meals for the inductions were one of the ways to raise money. Over the years, funds were raised in order for the Education Foundation to support larger projects. The baseball and softball scoreboards were examples of how they have supported athletics.

“We had a lot of people here who gave us money; we probably took in $55 to $60 thousand. When I retired, we had close to half of that amount that was still available,” Wensel said. “I was with the foundation for six years; one year prior to the creation of the Hall of Fame, in 2007, and then I was the head of that area for the next five years. I stepped down in 2013.”

Wensel worked for the high school for 30 years prior to joining the FEF in 2007. After Wensel retired from Fenton schools in 1999, he volunteered for different communities until he joined the FEF.

“The person who was the head of the foundation heard that I was trying to start a Fenton High School Hall of Fame and so he asked me if I had thought about being a part of the FEF,” Wensel said. “He also said he would be able to fund some money for us to help get us started; we ended up going that route. I was involved with that for about six years, one year to lead up to the actual start and the five years that I headed it up.”

During the time Wensel was in charge of the Hall of Fame committee between 2008 and 2012, he said about 35 people
were inducted. To be inducted, there is an application that needs to be filled out 10 years following their graduation. Moore was inducted in 2012 because of her athletic accolades from her high school career.

“The two big accolades are making All-State and getting on the Wall of Fame for being All-State,” Moore said. “I was named for All-State for softball in 1995 and 1996 and for volleyball in 1996; I also played basketball in college. Being in the Hall of Fame is very humbling; I have a lot of pride in this school. And I couldn’t have done it without the support of my teammates, my parents and my coaches. You learn a lot of things and that is what helped me get the accomplishments I earned.”

When filling out the application, the person filling it out must include all high school, collegiate and professional accomplishments that were made by the athlete. Then the committee takes all that information into consideration when being nominated, and then eventually inducted. Wensel believes that a lot of good came out of inducting these athletes .

“I am pleased with how proud the kids were when they were notified that they had been nominated to become a member of the FHS Athletic Hall of Fame,” Wensel said. “I was appreciative at how much had it meant to them. And I think there are a lot of people who are very proud of Fenton in different ways. I was just really pleased with being a part of that; to do something good for FHS and for the kids who graduated.”