Michael Gangloff has always found the time to help his alma mater.

This summer, he took on a big project to benefit Farrington High School's athletic teams and physical education classes.

"He looked at the weightroom and said maybe I can help," said Farrington football coach Randall Okimoto, who also teaches PE at the school and was Gangloff's football teammate in high school. "I wasn't expecting this at all."

The end result is two rooms of brand new weights, machines and equipment. The school's name is now painted on machines and equipment. Plates now bear the Governors' 'G' logo. The floor and mirrors are new. The football team even painted new coats of maroon paint on the walls during one weekend, something that players called a bonding experience.

"It was his vision," Okimoto said. "I thought he was going to help here and there, a couple machines replaced. He went the whole nine yards."

The final touches of the project wrapped up this past weekend and Gangloff, president of MIRA Image Construction and a 1991 graduate, took care of the entire $200,000 bill, from equipment costs to the new flooring to labor. Matson and Alpha Glass also supported the project.

"I did it because I didn't forget where I came from," said Gangloff, whose son Andrew is on the Farrington junior varsity team. "The same weights were there from 20 years ago when I went to school and there were weights 20 years before me when I went to school."

The former Farrington weightroom had old free weights and a 30-year-old universal machine. That is not rare at local public high schools, many of which have older equipment and even hand-me-downs from local health clubs and other schools.

"Considering the weights we had, it was still good," Okimoto said.

"The old weightroom, we had one or two squats, three benches," said senior Drake Miller, a wide receiver and one of the team's captains.

James Smith, a senior captain and free safety, said the mirrors which surround the weight rooms will help out in one of the basics of weightlifting. Form.

"You see which body parts you're working on and your form," Smith said.

"You can see your improvement," pointed out senior Sila Tonga, a linebacker and captain.

Gangloff brought his company down on a recent weekend, and along with more than 100 students, volunteers and coaches, they helped put everything together. The former weightroom now houses machines. A second room, which was previously used for other activities, now contains free weights, benches and plates.

Farrington's team captains said they're thankful and feel blessed and fortunate.

Gangloff, who used to help feed the football team, said anybody can do their part — big or small. In the end, someone will benefit from it.

"I'd love to see others step up and do something for their schools," Gangloff said. "A little bit helps. People think they can't do anything, but a little bit helps, a lot helps."

Okimoto has an old video from high school of the team practicing. In it, Gangloff is saying, "lifestyles of the rich and famous."

"His goals were always high like that," said Okimoto, a 1992 alum. "He was always driven. He's at the point in life where he's in a position that he can do this."

Now, the new weight rooms could attract more students into the school's athletic teams. Roosevelt, which unveiled its new Ticky Vasconcellos Stadium this fall, saw more than 100 students turn out for football tryouts.

"It gives them motivation to work even harder," said senior Paul Kama, a Governors captain and offensive lineman. "They have this facility right here."

Gangloff said this will give students something to be proud of and "make them understand there are better things in life they can work for."

An immediate challenge is taking care of the facility. In the past, weights got tossed aside after use and carelessness only added to the wear of already old equipment.

"Everybody has to do their part," Okimoto said. "We have to change the culture of how we do things. Now we can run it like a first-class weightroom. Everybody uses a towel, everybody wipes their feet."

Aside from the physical benefits, the new facility could change the way students think.

"Hopefully we can give back like how he contributed," Kama said.