11/08/12 During Tuesday evening’s Plymouth Community School Corporation Board Meeting, it was announced that the Board accepted a $100,000 donation to Plymouth High School’s School of Inquiry from Plymouth residents Daniel and ­­­Julie Weidner. In doing so, the Board also acknowledged that the School of Inquiry would accordingly be renamed the Weidner School of Inquiry at PHS.

  “We’re excited about the opportunity to contribute to a program that we believe will positively impact hundreds, if not thousands, of lives in the community for generations to come,” said Dan Weidner, president of Plymouth-based Weidner & Company, P.C. who, along with his wife, Julie, is also a Plymouth High School graduate.

“As a businessman, I have no doubt that, beyond assisting the students themselves, this program will also contribute significantly to the success of businesses in the region and beyond by further preparing our future workforce through the real world insight and experience they gain through the Weidner School of Inquiry at PHS.”

Dan Tyree, Superintendent of the Plymouth Community School Corporation, said that the gift from the Weidner family will be felt immediately during the construction of the School of Inquiry’s permanent home in a renovated section of the high school.

“The bond for the construction of the building did not include loose equipment, so this contribution will go toward obtaining tangible items such as furniture for the office and learning spaces,” said Tyree “but it will also assist in the professional development of the teachers who are new to the program.”

Tyree went on to commend Dan Weidner and his family for providing an attainable business model for others to follow.

“An overriding theme for the School of Inquiry is entrepreneurship and we are fortunate that the Weidner family will be the named donor because they have a great reputation in the area and appropriately exemplify this theme of entrepreneurship,” said Tyree. “They’ve demonstrated that, if you work hard and are persistent, you can build a successful business in Plymouth and make it your lifelong home.”

Weidner & Company, P.C. has been in business since 1990 and currently employs 16 people at its Columbus Drive office – located just east of Plymouth High School. It is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the Indiana CPA Society.

The Plymouth School of Inquiry is a unique, small learning community that utilizes project-based learning to create adaptive learners who have the necessary skills to thrive in an ever-changing global economy in which firm ground no longer exists and many jobs have yet to be invented. The Schools’ philosophy is based on the premise that these key skills include not only content knowledge but the ability to access and process information, to think creatively and critically, and to effectively communicate and leverage ideas to an ever-broadening personal network.

In the fall of 2012, the Plymouth School of Inquiry opened its doors for the first time and includes 102 enrolled freshman students.