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| Sliding Into School |
 School children on the small Madeline Island in La Pointe, Wisconsin, off of the tip of mainland Wisconsin, start their winter mornings like children all over the world - they get on the school bus. Unlike children elsewhere, though, the La Pointe ones are loading onto a windsled that appears to be a small houseboat on skis.
With a full-time population of 250, tripling in the summer, separated from the mainland by two miles of shallow water and jigsaw ice, Madeline Island presents a unique transportation challenge. Lake Superior, in which it sits, can be too chunky with ice for a ferry not solid enough for an ice bridge to the mainland town of Bayfield, where the upper school is located.
At 9,000 pounds, the locally designed, built and maintained windsled is the only practical answer. Propelled by twin fans, the windsled is heated and has padded benches and room for about 20 students. Bumping along at 18 mph, it is not the thrill ride it appears to be. It does, however, offer a breathtaking panorama of the wintery Lake Superior for those who can tear themselves away from their iPod or last minute homework.
The windsled was built and is maintained by brothers Arnie and Ronald Nelson, owners of a local construction company. They keep the sled light on its skis by dispersing the four and a half tons of weight over the sled's 336 square feet and utilizing its forward motion. They check it regularly for safety.
Operating costs for the sled, built in 2000 with a half million dollar grant from the Department of Transportation, fall on the school district as well as payment of liability insurance. Costs last year for the sled, ferrying 20 students, were $21,358. In the warmer months, the school spends an additional $30,435 on a ferry. A recently passed finance measure by state senator Robert Jauch will provide operating money of $35,000 for the sled.
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