Left, Ryland Kautz, kindergarten, photo via CaringBridge. Right, Paisley Gritzuk, 1st grade, photo via Prayers and Positivity for Paisley on Facebook.
Left, Ryland Kautz, kindergarten, photo via CaringBridge. Right, Paisley Gritzuk, 1st grade, photo via Prayers and Positivity for Paisley on Facebook.

KAUKAUNA — Kaukauna High School’s Civic Engagement class is organizing two community fundraisers to benefit a pair of students at Dr. H. B. Tanner Elementary School facing terminal illness.

Ryland Kautz, a kindergartener at Tanner, was diagnosed in late June with inoperable brain cancer known as Altered Diffused Midline Glioma.

Follow Kautz’s journey at https://www.caringbridge.org/visit/rylandkautz.

Paisley Gritzuk, a first-grader at Tanner Elementary, was diagnosed in 2016 with Neurocutaneous Melanocytosis and has been battling it ever since.

She has undergone nine surgeries this year alone. Follow her journey through Facebook at Prayers and Positivity for Paisley.

During Thursday’s home football game (rescheduled from Friday), Civic Engagement will host a basket raffle and 50/50 raffle to raise donations for the students and their families to help with extra costs incurred as they battle this disease, according to Griffin Boucher, one of the event organizers.

Then on Saturday, Oct. 21, Civic Engagement will put together a “Haunted Hallways” event at Kaukauna High School to generate more donations for the families. 

This will be open to all kids ages 3-11 throughout the Fox Valley.

Doors will open at 5 p.m. and close at 8 p.m. Tickets will be sold at the door at a price of $3 or two tickets for $5.

Kids will have the option to choose between a scary and non-scary experience.

All proceeds will go toward the families of these two kids.



Paid partnership with StoneRidge Piggly Wiggly.




By Dan Plutchak

Dan Plutchak, born and raised in Kaukauna, is cofounder of Kaukauna Community News.