Earning a Different Kind of Varsity Letter

CALEDONIA — Getting a “varsity letter” in high school has traditionally been a big deal. It meant you had achieved excellence, usually in a sport like football, basketball or baseball. In days past, your school presented you with a large felt “letter” that you had sewn on a special school sweater or jacket. You wore it with pride.

Wyatt Pohlman, from Caledonia, Minn., received a varsity letter last month—not from Rushford-Peterson High School, where he recently graduated, and not for excelling on a football field or basketball court. Wyatt got his letter for some things he did that—in the big picture—are just as impressive (maybe more so) than catching a few passes or scoring a bunch of points.

Wyatt received a Varsity Letter in Community Service from the United Way of Southeast Minnesota. He is the first student from Fillmore County to ever receive that award. He got it in recognition of the 151 hours of volunteer service he completed (in a period of only six months) while participating in a variety of activities for organizations in Caledonia, Houston, Rushford, Rushford Village and Spring Grove.

The United Way recently honored 35 students like Wyatt from high schools in Dodge, Fillmore, Olmsted and Winona counties. To earn their “letter,” each student needed to volunteer for a minimum of 100 hours. All combined those students totaled more than 5,000 volunteer hours in service to their local communities from March 2024 to February 2025.

What kind of things did Wyatt do?

He helped the Fillmore County Public Health Department offer a radon and nitrate testing clinic in Rushford Village. He volunteered at the Houston County Fair in the Caledonia Rockets 4-H Beef Show mentoring program, food stand and “Scare at the Fair!” fundraiser. (Over the past six years that Caledonia 4-H group has raised nearly $34,000 to fund building improvements at the Houston fairgrounds).

Wyatt volunteered at the Spring Grove Public Library, worked in a Semcac food drive, and at Caledonia’s Community Giving Tree and Holiday Parade projects. He was a “teaching assistant” at his own school, Rushford-Peterson. Wyatt also joined with a number of other young people to put on a Super Bowl Game Day party at the Claddagh Senior Living facility.

Some of his volunteer hours were hands-on and close to home: he moved furniture and shoveled snow for an elderly neighbor.

Wyatt Pohlman (left), from Caledonia, Minn., is the first student from Fillmore County to receive a “Varsity Letter in Community Service” from the United Way. Sonja Sommerfeldt (right), Impact Coordinator for the United Way of Southeast Minnesota, presented the award. (Photo submitted by United Way).

Wyatt got involved in the United Way program through the encouragement of his aunt, Brenda Pohlman, a public health educator with the Fillmore County Public Health Department. Brenda sees the United Way “varsity letter” program as a valuable teaching tool for young students.

“It opens their eyes to needs in their local communities and gives them opportunities to help meet those needs,” she says. “It’s great to see an awareness of volunteerism growing across the age spectrum. It was personally fun for me to work with my nephew, Wyatt, especially at the Houston Fair Haunted House; our family has been involved with that fundraiser for a number of years.”

Assessment and reflection

As part of the program, students are required to complete an assessment and reflection piece. In his, Wyatt said he learned many things through his volunteer experience.

“I learned that many people in Caledonia and surrounding rural communities are experiencing food insecurity,” Wyatt explains. “I learned that Fillmore County has high radon levels and that testing our homes is important. I learned that local libraries need more volunteers. I also learned that there are many different ways to volunteer.” 

Did all of those experiences have a personal impact on him? “It has humbled me,” says Wyatt. “It has made me think of people who are less fortunate. I’ve learned that people often need support to stay in their homes. Volunteering has also taught me the value of hard work.”

Sonja Sommerfeldt, Impact Coordinator for the United Way of Southeast Minnesota, sees the Varsity Letter program as an excellent way to introduce young people to the benefits and joys of volunteering. “United Way started this program in 2012,” she says. “It’s wonderful to see so many people involved and the great work that’s being done.”

What are some unique barriers for high school students when it comes to getting involved as a volunteer?

“They might associate community service with work that people are required to do as part of a criminal justice or probation situation,” says Sonja. “When they learn that volunteering is not that, that it can be a great way to pursue a personal interest they have, that they’ll have fun doing it, and even make new friends, they’re eager to get involved.”

The benefits of volunteering as a young person can also be unique, in a good way, adds Sonja.

“Serving in their community gives students opportunities to explore different career paths. While supporting a teacher in a classroom they might discover they enjoy working with children. By doing a project in the medical field they might develop a lasting interest they will choose to pursue. Volunteering can be life-changing for young people at critical decision-points in their lives.”

That seems to be the case for Wyatt Pohlman.

“Volunteering as a teaching assistant has inspired me to become an English teacher,” he says. “I plan to attend Winona State this fall.”