Special to Morning Journal / Patti Schaeffer Derek Wolfe, known for his strength and energy, spent it on all of the 1,816 students at Beaver Local Tuesday during Derek Wolfe, Jamin Pastore Day. Wolfe and Pastore met with all the students and teachers, talking and signing autographs from 11 in the morning until the dismissal bell rang in the afternoon. Wolfe and Pastore were still meeting with kids at the old ROTC building after visiting the football field. Pastore, left, and Derek Wolfe, right, are joined by Beaver Local treasurer Stacy Williams with a presentation check after they donated $1 million to the school.

CALCUTTA — Two distinguished Beaver Local High School graduates, one a professional fooball player and the other a successful businessman, returned on Tuesday to announce they are donating $1 million to their alma mater.

The money donated by Derek Wolfe and Jamin Pastore, who both played football at Beaver Local, will be used to replace the grass football field with artificial turf, which will cost about $600,000. The rest will go toward the eventual construction of a multi-use athletic training facility that will require a financial commitment from the community to complete.

“It’s an exciting day for our students, staff and all of Beaver Local, and we appreciate them not forgetting where they came from and coming back to do this,” said Beaver Local Superintendent Eric Lowe.

Wolfe, who graduated from Beaver Local in 2008, recently completed his eighth season with the Denver Broncos, where he was a starting defensive end on the 2015 team that won the Super Bowl.

A 2001 Beaver Local graduate, Pastore was named to the All-Ohio high school football first team and awarded a scholarship to Duke University. He is president and CEO of JP Capital Management, a private equity firm specializing in the acquisition and operation of manfacturing, health care, commodity brokerage and other types of distribution and service companies.

Their friendship began when Wolfe was 14 and attended a Beaver Local football camp. Pastore, still in college at the time, was a volunteer at the camp and began working with Wolfe on his running technique. The friendship grew from there.

“He’s the closest thing to a brother I’ve ever had, and he’s a mentor as well. I’m glad we’re able to pay it forward,” Wolfe said.

After the Broncos won Super Bowl 50, Pastore said he and Wolfe began kicking around the idea of doing something to pay back Beaver Local for helping give them their start in life.

“We’re just excited to be able to do this. It all started here. It really did,” he said.

They approached school officials, and from those discussions decided to focus on helping with the athletic facilities, especially the football field.

“When you have a high school like this, a beautiful place like this, you need (athletic) facilities to match,” Wolfe said, referring to the new all-school complex that opened in 2015.

The only part that is not new is the football field and accompanying buildings across the road.

The plan is to begin installing the new turf field this spring and have it in place for the upcoming football season. Pastore said it is the cheaper of the two projects and also addresses what they believe is the most immediate need.

“I remember my sophomore year I blew my knee out on a slip, so I know how bad the field was here,” he said,

The remaining $400,000 will be applied to the new multi-use training facility that will include a weight room, a room for trainers, locker rooms, a room for coaches to review film, and a mini-indoor turf field.

“That will not only benefit football players, but our soccer program and our baseball and softball teams when they can’t get on the field to practice,” Lowe said.

“We want to have a place that will be the envy of everyone,” Wolfe said. “It’s going to be expensive, but it’s going to be worth it” if it helps more Beaver Local athletes secure college scholarships.

To help pay for the training facility, Lowe has set a $1 million fundraising goal and they have already begun working on a plan and forming a committee to begin seeking contributions from the Beaver Local community.

“We will need to do some fundraising to finish this endeavor and it will likely be done in stages, but without their contribution it wouldn’t be possible,” he said.

Wolfe and Pastore also took a moment to thank school Treasurer Stacy Williams, who took the lead in working with them in making this happen. In return, she thanked them.

“We could not do this without you guys,” Williams said.

Before and after the news conference announcing the donation, Wolfe visited students in classrooms and assemblies to speak with them and sign autographs. Wolfe told the older students about how he was able to overcome a tough childhood and still achieve success, but he said talent is not enough unless it is accompanied by hard work and a commitment to excellence.

While school board president Jerry Barnett is obviously pleased with the $1 million donation, he is equally impressed by the message it sends to students.

“It sets a nice example for our young people: Don’t forget where you come from, and give back. I just feel these kids are going to be so blessed in the future because of their generosity,” he said.

Wolfe joked he would like for the complex to be named after him, with the weight room called the Wolfe’s Den.

“That’s all I really need,” he said.