“A” Honor Roll 6th Grade

Darlene Abeln, Oluwademilade Adebayo, Rowan Agosto, Rachel Agyei, Makenna Anderson, Allison Arndt, Marcus Ayumba, John Belair, Corey Bengtson, Abigail Berg, Cadence Bever, Grace Boswell, Ruby Bowen, Derek Brittan, Kerigan Brooks, Danielle Bruemmer, Kaylee Buck, Nathaniel Buhl, Catherine Bunker, Dru Bunn, Garrett Carlson, Nathan Carter, Bonita Chokdee, Cooper Christian, Madelyn Christian, Caitlin Cramer, Paige Crawford, Emma Czech, Iain Davis, Brandon Deal, Levi Donat, Jacob Dukatz, Alexis Duke, Gunnar Ecklund, Haelyn Eggert, Emily Ekman, Jordan Emerson, Ty Erickson, Matthew Ferry, Zachary Finch, Claire Flahaven, Alicia Ford, Jonah Fossum, Brayden Frank, Anders Freborg, Marcus Fritel, Adam Furniss, Haley Gallup, Emma Gangl, Caleb Gillquist, Drew Girtz, Elizabeth Glemming, Morgan Glissmeyer, Kayden Grassel, Summer Hackenmueller, Kaden Haferbecker, Macy Hageman, Morgan Hagen, Lane Halland, Julia Hanson, Lindsey Hanson, Garrett Harris, Carter Hasbrook, Sonja Hassing, Bryce Helget, Cole Helget, Shaughnessy Henry, Ashley Hess, Katelyn Hilary, Aidan Hillebregt, Samuel Hughes, Faith Hurley, Daniel Ijadimbola, Qamra Ireri, Maxwell James, Blake Johnson, Caleb Johnson, Courtney Johnson, Preston Jordan, Caden Kanenwisher, Hope Kanenwisher, Lauren Keckeisen, Jaedon Kerr, Nevaeh Kirk, Kelly Kla-Diihbah, Zachary Kohner, Isaac Kraft, Margaret Krueger, Bryan Kubicka, Lilly Lassek, Cameron Lehmann, Samuel Lillestrand, Emma Loretz, Leah Lundeen, Tate Madson, Rhea Main, Brooke Marks, Caleb Martin, Parker Mathewson, Jack Matter, Haddyn Mayer, Joshua Meister, Elijah Montague, Jailyn Moody, Elizabeth Moretto, Olivia Mujica, Jade Murray, Eli Nelson, Kayleigh Nelson, Bernie Nnadi, Ashton O’Leary, Mason Olofson, Ella Ovall, Yvette Oyagi, Emily Peterman, Abby Peterson, Jackson Plucinak, Amanda Purcell, Alan Quaid, Shane Rademacher, Jaime Radke, Austin Ramert, Brandon Ramert, Zoe Rammer, Abigail Rekstad, Austin Remer, Anna Riewe, Kayla Ring, Christopher Rizner, Jonah Robb, Connor Rolfes, Taylor Rossmeisl, Emily Rossmeisl, Savannah Roux, Cheyanne Rudolph, Luke Rumreich, Ayodamola Samuel, Kaelyn Sauter, Felicia Schall, Kaitlyn Schlink, Brock Schmertman, Dylan Schuster, Franciska Skorykh, Jackson Skyberg, Lathan Smith, Addy Soukup, Shane Staeheli, MaKenzy Straughn, Liahnue Tarpeh, Adelynn Taylor, Fridley Thao, Connor Theisen, Victoria Tobias, Linnea Trost, Elaina Varney, Kolbi Vasseur, April Volkers, Jackson Vorderbruggen, Ryan Weatherly, Mackenzie Weber, Emma Weisgram, Jacob Williams, Zoey Wirz, Annika Wozney, Maxwell Yantes

“B” Honor Roll 6th Grade

Matthew Alexander, Ella Anderson, Isabelle Bantz, Jaden Barnes, Autumn Barthel, Lucy Beecher, Mitchell Bjorklund, Jacob Buchert, Dayne Carlson, Joseph Cruz-Runnels, Tyler Curry, Ashton Dakis, Paige Davis, Kai DoBrava, Riley Duenow, Johann Eirich, Owen Erikson, Jack Flahaven, Morgan Fritch, Kolby Givens, Ryan Graham, Elizabeth Haag, Anton Harlander, Kayden Harris, Brett Haugland, Julien Hendershott, Thomas Hess, Riley Hustvet, Joseph Lano, Rory LeBlanc, Brock Leininger, Dylan Matykiewicz, Raven McCullough, Gavin Miller, Madeline Mitchell, Sheldon Musgjerd, Quenten O’Leary, Carter Oestreich, William Oliveira, Anders Olsen, Olivia Olson, Trent Olson, David Otunuga, Brayden Paulson, Aiden Paynter, Jaida Perri, Zachary Peterson, Calvin Phung, Carter, Rinehart, Annabelle Scharber, Sara Schoen, Parker Schroeder, Joseph Seitz, Conner Shariff, Karina Strelchuk, Morgan Sutherland, Madison Tveit, Nathan Vang, Brooke Zehnder

 “A” Honor Roll 7th Grade

Derek Aasheim, Matthew Aho, Claire Anderson, Gunnar Anderson, Nolan Anderson, Isabella Anderson-Cufre, Sophia Anderson-Cufre, Josie Babcock, Ellyson Bahr, Dylan Ball, Colin Bedbury, Michael Belair, Harvey Bergstrom, Anthony Black, Madison Blomberg, Blake Boedigheimer, Chase Brandenburg, Alexis Burstad, Davin Byman, Greta Carlson, Mary Charboneau, Abigail Charleson, Gage Clem, Alexa Cloutier, Daniel Cockcroft, Micah Collins, Shelby Conrad, Cora Coz, Rachel Crawford, Ainsley Davis, Abigail Debes, Coleton Diekow, Emily Ditter, Cooper Donat, Samantha Eagle, Bryce Eggen, Sydney Eidem, Madison Erickson, Jack Farrar, Sarah Fausch, Faith Fausone, Allison Fischer, Ava Friese, Matthew Gearou, Kate Goenner, Khaliana Gray, Olivia Gregory, Joseph Gustafson, Ella Haas, Gregory Hanegraaf, Morgan Heinen, Brady Heuer, Morgan Horton, Amy Hoskins, Isaac Houle, Jordan Hund, Myiesha Imam, Zachary Jacobs, Tanner Jenni, Ameliyah Jensen, Benjamin Johnson, Elizabeth Johnson, Mackenzie Johnson, Rachael Johnston, Bennett Jordan, Nicholas Jung, Thomas Katter, Jordan Keith, Marni Keith, Alexandra Klocker, Jenna Korinek, Lyndsey Korst, Hannah Kotila, Karina Kpahn, Kylie Kruse, Ryleigh LaPlante, Mason Lee, Shaun Lee, Lucy Leither, Abbie Lohn, Alexander Lutz, Elaina Maass, Megan Madsen, Brynn McDaniel, Taylor Meneley, Kalia Meza, Emmett Miller, Lexi Milless, Ellie Norton, Graham Norton, Emma Olson, Heather Olson, Elijah Pangborn, Callie Patraw, Noah Paulsen, Grant Paulson, Alfreda Payne, Karl Pederson, Samuel Polston, Kathryn Porter, Aidan Robeck, Amelia Ruby, Andrew Saxon, Thomas Schirmers, Addisyn Schuster, Avery Schuster, Ethan Spanier, Connor Springer, Connor St. Aubin, Ella Stephan, Blake Storbakken, Demitri Stotler, Lindsay Strecker, Josephine Stubbs, Madilyn Thorkildson, Peter Trace, Regan VanAvery, Lauren Verweg, Annabelle Volkers, Mackenzi Widman, Mallory Williams, Elizabeth Witter, Sydney Wojcieszak, William Xiong, Julianna Yang, MacKenzie Zachman

“B” Honor Roll 7th Grade

Zachary Albert, Pablo Aleksandrowicz, Kylie Applen, Wyatt Arbogast, Hayden Barnes, Blake Beese, Wyatt Behl, MacKenzie Bloom, Eric Boysen, Devyn Cain, Cody Capes, Caleb Chute, Alexis Dahlheimer, Natalie Dahlheimer, Parker Davies, Brooklyn Dolan, Ellis Donat, Cody Eggers, Jocelyne Ferrian, Ellen Fritze, Damon Garrison, Dylan Garrison, Colton Glemming, Wyatt Grimm, Cole Groebner, Benjamin Groth, Audrianna Gunderson, Aleigha Hallas, Macy Hanson, Quinten Hidde, Tiana Hince, Bryan Hoerr, Dylan Hopkins, Logan Huewe, Zachary James, Isabella Jeanetta, Neiko Jeanetta, Mason Jones, Brayden Kempel, Phyllis LaClare, Annabelle Langton, Alex Larson, Christopher Larson, Nicholas Larson, Sophia Lee, Ashley Lupien, Samuel Maves, Luke McCurdy, Aidan Mclane, Jessica Medenwaldt, Alexander Meehl, Gavin Melcher, Jadyn Mossengren, Quinn Nelson, Brent Netland, Michael Olowo, Brianna Olson, Abbey Onuma, Charlotte Oudekerk, Cody Peterman, Jessica Radke, Emily Schrader, Dylan Seitz, Bjorn Sheils, Kailey Sherratt, Colton Strain, Landon Straus, Diana Strelchuk, Dean Torelli, Tyler Trembath, Brennan Wallace, Hailey Walz, Amanda Weber, Rikayla West, Ethan Wojcik

“A” Honor Roll 8th Grade

Sara Abbas, Foysal Abir, Olivia Ackerman, Cooper Adcock, Savannah Albu, Calvin Artmann, Jaures Ayumba, Christina Babaya, Ashley Ballou, Emily Balluff, Abranette Barry, Adam Benolkin, Meghan Bentz, Nicole Beyer, Amanda Bissen, Adam Boeckermann, Kaylee Bonk, Elizabeth Bounds, Liam Carr, Brandon Chokdee, Connor Clausen, Madelyn Cramer, Katelyn Dee, Ethan Del Sol, Evelyne Dmitruk, Genna Dow, Abigail Erickson, Samuel Erickson, Elayne Ernst, Jamie Feist, Jack Ferry, Rachel Ford, Morgan Gacke, Paige Gangl, Nicklaus Gill, Annie Givens, Shelby Glissmeyer, McKenna Goad, Isabel Gruhlke, Lydia Haack, Logan Haag, Jaida Hagen, Anson Hanna, Aria Hanson, Kiersten Hartje, Kira Haus, Joshua Hebrink, Robert Heinzen, Sophia Hemphill, Grace Hendrickson, Andrew Herrboldt, Clarissa Hilary, Allison Horn, Alyson Hovda, Jonathan Hughes, Tyler Hughes, Austen Humphrey, David Ijadimbola, Eric Ingham, Audrey Johnson, Elisabeth Johnson, Halle Johnson, Mickiah Johnson, Samiksha Kanukunta, Kossi Kavi, Amara Kettner, Paige Kinowski, Savanah Klegon, Alyssa Kosbau, Michael Kotzer, Jonathan Kovach, Jake Krauth, Isabella Krueger, James Krzesowiak, Christian Kubicka, Ellie Kunze, Anthony Kutzer, Natasha LaBarre, Alma Larson, Maxwell Lassek, Jackson Lietha, William Lillestrand, Aric Lindgren, Ellie Loe, Grace Lofquist, Nathan Loretz, Allison Lundeen, Rachel Main, Matthew McCormick, Sarah Merkling, Zachary Michaelis, Jack Milless, Mataya Mose, Isabel Nelson, Jack Ness, Madeline Neu, Joseph Nordstrom, Kaden Odegaard, Hayley Oestreich, Jenna Olawsky, Miles Olofson, Micah Olson, Charles Osugo, Kara Paulsen, Raymond Phengmany, Cameron Phung, Kaylin Plautz, Mackenzie Poliszuk, Alexander Polston, Austin Praske-Kukowski, Nilyma Priyanka, Jadon Purcell, Emily Reimann, Brodie Rice, Sophia Riewe, Karsen Risse, Beau Ruby, Elizabeth Rumreich, Makenna Sacre, Katelyn Sampson, Carter Scharber, Victoria Schwieters, Devon Shaw, Abbey Smith, Jordan Stanke, Jaxson Stephan, Madison Stout, Kaylee Sullivan, Debra Thayer, Tate Thein, Maxamillian Thomas, Joseph Thorkildson, Ryan Tillman, Megan VanDrehle, Kalena Vang, Benjamin Verdick, Yeshua Weidner, Jessica Weisgram, William Yang, Alan Zehnder, Tyler Zeledon, Tony Zhang

“B” Honor Roll 8th Grade

Peyton Allen, Skylar Antil, Adam Arndt, Joseph Bahneman, Samantha Ballenger, Melita Beaudry, Ryan Benson, Kyle Berg, Sara Bergman, Alexander Bray, Tyson Dusosky, Allison Dwyer, Joseph Eberle, Dylan Eggert, Aalyse Eik, Tate Fluguear, Chase Galbraith, Sabina Gladis, Kennedy Gleason, Asher Gunderson, Abby Gustafson, Grady Haferbecker, Nathan Hawk, Evan Holk, Zachary Holtz, Jaylynn Hovanetz, William Johnson, Micah Kafka, Nathaniel Kafka, Austin Kaiser-Joly, Mikayala Kanenwisher, James Klages, Jack Kleven, Grace Larson, Hunter Larson, Nicholas LaVine, Ihle Majeres, Joshua Makana, Isaac Maki, Madison McAlpine, Reese McCulloch, Makayla Melchior, Payton Mielke, Jordan Moravec, Nickolas Neilson, Destiny Nelson, Robert Nelson, Adrianna Nero, Adam Nielsen, Emily Nierengarten, Sydney Ninke, Christian Olkives, Jacob Olson, Azhar Osman, Drake Osmek, Kyle Peterson, Colton Pool, Armanee Porter, Allison Potts, Blake Rademacher, Sasmit Rahman, Cole Ronallo, Jayda Rundle-Robb, Owen Sailor, Sebastian Salazar Santor, Alexander Samson, Griffin Schmidt, Finn Sheils, Kalli Sheldon, Alex Springman, Molly Stenerson, Gillian Telfer, Mark Thole, Kaitlin Tran, Emma Trebil, Evan VanEps, Elena Vermeer, Mary Waters, Elijah Williams, Connor Wyse

by Joni Astrup

Associate editor

Two officials spent the night on the cold and windy rooftop of Kaleidoscope Charter School in Otsego, after students exceeded a school challenge.

Dr. Brett Wedlund, executive director of the school, and Chris Nordmann, principal, went up on the roof about 2 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 19, and stayed there until 8:30 a.m. the next day.

Nordmann described it as a test of endurance.

“We basically hunkered down between two air conditioning units,” he said.

The temperature dipped below 20 degrees, but the wind was the biggest challenge, he said. At one point it blew Wedlund’s sleeping bag off the roof.

The two men spent the night on the roof after the school’s 550 students met a challenge associated with the PRIDE program, which stands for personal responsibility, respect, integrity, discipline and excellence. Under the PRIDE program, when students exhibit those traits, they are given a Comet Card.

Nordmann said they set a goal of 3,250 Comet Cards for October, and if students met it, the two school officials would sleep on the roof. Students ended up earning a total of 4,098 Comet Cards last month, and the rooftop sleepover was on.

Nordmann said he and Wedlund had sleeping bags but no tents, as there was no way to stake them down on the roof. They also had a laptop and a projector and watched a NFL game by projecting it on an air conditioning unit.

The school community was able to follow the rooftop adventure via Twitter.

By morning, word of the event found its way to the Jason and Alexis Show on myTalk 107.1 radio, and Nordmann was interviewed.

Nordmann said the PRIDE program is new to Kaleidoscope this year, which has students in kindergarten through grade 11, with a 12th grade planned for next year.

“The whole program has been a successful effort,” he said.

Teachers are doing a phenomenal job presenting the information, he said, parents are following through and students are buying into it.

“Without any of those elements, it’s not going to be a success. Our community has just really rallied around this,” Nordmann said.

6^TH GRADE TERM 1 A HONOR ROLL Maya Adler, Zainab Ahmed, Jordan Alberts, Andrew Andersen, Evan Anderson, Olivia Anderson, Riley Anderson, Cade Armstrong, Samantha Aronson, Madeleine Arro, Andie Atanasoff, Noah Batcheller, Sarah Behnke, Peyton Belka, Tyson Bloom, Josie Bolster, Allison Born, Kylie Bostic, Amelia Bowers, Alexander Bowman, Alyseia Brache, Aksel Bresin, Espen Brown, Benjamin Bultemeier, Ellie Buzzelle, Brooke Carlson, Dillon Cassady, Keegan Cavanaugh, Ariel Chang, Anna Chase, Emily Christensen, Jacob Clauson, Ian Colby, Lauryn Collier, Flannagan Corkery, Olivia Correll, Alex Cox, Jack Curtis, Laney Dahlstrom, William Dahlstrom, Bryce Daiker, Payton Dane, Jacob DeValk, Isabella Dickmeyer, Christopher Dietl, Austin Dietrich, Easton Dobitz, Andrew Dolan, Braeden Donahue, Kathryn Donahue, Makenna Dorion, Reiken Downs, Alisha Dubay, Michael Dulski, Hunter Dunn, Alec DuVall, Madelyn Eddy, Shylin Eichele, Faith Envil, Ava Erickson, Anna Essendrup, Ella Evans, Jack Eyrich, Ryan Fischer, Mariama Fofana, Ty Frederickson, Hannah Geving, Cierah Giron, Nicholas Gleason, Olivia Glines, Austen Goelz, Brianna Good, Gavin Grambart, Alicia Grassel, Braedon Grauf, Cassidy Grebinoski, Savannah Greiner, Jamison Grudem, Abbigail Halverson, Josiah Haman, Alexis Hardy, Hannah Hartlage, Chase Harvey, Leah Hatcher, Caleb Heilman, Hannah Heimer, Megan Heinen, Joshua Henderson, Mackenzie Hennen, Grady Hines, Brady Hommerding, Emma Hommerding, James Honnoll, Hailey Hoskins, Alexis Israelson, Mitchell Jezierski, Abigail Johnson, Dawson Johnson, Dylan Johnson, Madeline Johnson, Tegan Johnson, Tyler Johnson, Corbin Jones, Lilyann Kaehler, Caleb Kantor, Emma Kemmetmueller, Sara Kemmetmueller, Kendal Kemp, Jamie Kerkvliet, Amber Killian, Raegan Kimbler, William Klabunde, Megan Klava, Dylan Kolman, Kassidy Kragt, Emily Krall, Alexis Krueger, Ashley Kuehn, Seth Kuhlman, Matthew LaCock, Vivian Lakotas, Caitlin Lee, Owen Lefebvre, Jack Lenz, Jack Lilleodden, Niramon Littana, Mason Luehrs, Anna Luksik, Ryan Lund, Spencer Lundberg, Madelyn Lynch, Tianna Lynch-Brown, Lexi Lynde, Paige Madsen, Anna Magnuson, Jadyn Mahaffey, Ellie Mahnke, Brendan Maisch, Alyssa Makela, Riley Martin, Riley Martin, Grace McClurg, Lennon McLean, Max Menne, Keagan Messer, Madison Metcalf, Cordelia Mindrum, Zachary Mink, Makayla Moe, Tyler Mohs, James Moir, Nadia Montano, Mckenzie Morey, Kiley Morris, Medina Muratovic, Emmily Ndege, Jaelyn Newcomb, Jayden Newman, Jacqueline Nguyen, Duncan Niblo, Kate Nourse, Samantha O’Connor, Kaden O’Konek, Carson Oberson, Jayden Olmsted, Jack Olsen, Parker Otkin, Sophia Paepke, Sara Parliament, Alexander Paulson, Anna Paulson, Eric Pearson, Kaden Pederson, Albert Pereda, Samantha Perry, Isabella Peterson, Annalyn Phengmany, Madison Phinney, Levi Putman, Samuel Raffenbeul, Brian Ramola, Kathryn Randall, Rhys Reilly, Brynn Reines, Alexander Reinking, Morgan Reust, Maxwell Ricks, Ava Ridlehoover, Jacob Ripley, Alyssa Ritchie, Allyson Ritter, Zachary Romans, Madeline Ronning, Kamrynn Rose, Joshua Running, Devin Sanders, Jeffrey Sarvey, Hannah Scharber, Anna Scherling, Peyton Schultz, Kailey Seckel, Rachel Secrist, Isaac Seipkes, John Seiwert, Giana Seminari, Ava Sevlie, Breanna Shaw, Morgan Sievert, Kayla Silas-Booker, Ava Sims, Jenna Skoog, Alex Smisek, Ella Smith, Isabelle Smith, Kya Smith, Sawyer Smith, Tristin St Gelais, Olivia Steinhauser, Kaitlyn Strand, Mackenzie Strandness, Luke Strassburg, Madison Stusse, Jack Swan, Johnny Tennyson, Kaylee Thomas, Sara Toensing, Kate Tollefson, Lan Tran, Hailey VanHouten, Allison VanStelten, Paige Vreeman, Alexa Vukich, Tyson Vylasek, Jack Wain, James Warren, Cameron Watters, Abigail Welle, Paige Welle, Cindle Wells, Brenna Wessman, Natalie West, Matthew Wetternach, Branden Willenbring, Tegan Woolsey, Isabelle Yantes, Andrew Yermakovich

6^TH GRADE TERM 1 B HONOR ROLL Greta Anderson, Tabitha Bandy, Will Barkley, Mckenzie Bayer, Bryce Bechtold, Jacob Bluml-LeMire, Jack Borchardt, Sawyer Braun, Kentaro Burnside, Kaden Carlson, Caleb Climaco, Julius Coller, Caiden Cooper, Olivia Damman, Zachary De Los Reyes, Isaac Dean, Miguel Del Valle, Nicholas Demoret, Clement Deschene, Anna Dols, Treyton Donnay, Matthew Duscher, Hayden Eide, Payton Embry, Emma Esterberg, Lauren Fahey, Samantha Fanaselle, Kelly Farmer, Irvin Gonzalez, Jackson Gullickson, Maximus Hansen, Sawyer Hanson, Anzhalika Harhun, Paige Harvey, Marlena Havel, Kaitlyn Hecker, Andrew Huber, Alexander Huspek, Philip Ibe, Kyle Jackson, Emma Japs, Carson Johans, Xavier Jones, Trevor Jovanovich, Ryker Kalahar, Owen Kanzler, Tiana Kastanos, Lauren Keeley, David Klaers, Kelsey Kuemper, Jake LaChance, Derek Lamers, Owen Lane, Alexander Lindberg, Vaughn Lindquist, Spencer Luckeroth, Karter Maki, Alexa Mattson, Haley McCassalin, Taylor Michaud, Tanner Miley, Miken Miller, Elizabeth Mogere, Carolyn Moore, Jack Munson, Jackson Neumiller, Trevon Olson, Allan Orina, Derek Ortiz, Luke Osen, Malik Othman, Daniel Otto, Delaney Palaia, Adam Peterson, Allison Peterson, Brooke Peterson, Soren Peterson, Mackenzie Pontius, Kira Radunz, Evan Reinke, Alyvia Richardson, Alexis Rojas, Shelbi Rolow, Evan Rose, Blake Ryks, David Schapiro, Trent Schuffenhauer, Trevor Schuffenhauer, Isabella Sederberg, Alyssa Shaft, Taylor Smith, Caden St Vincent, Robert Stewart, Hunter Stolba, Logan Thompson, Colton Topp, Jacob Tripp, Alexis Virginia, Autumn Wade, Emma Wald, Neva Weber, Tyler Weidenbach, Owen Wheeler, Isabella Wolf

7^TH GRADE TERM 1 A HONOR ROLL Lauryn Ahlm, April Anderson, Kaitlin Anderson, Theran Armogan, Alyssa Bachmeier, Sarah Barry, Gavin Beck, Henry Bednar, Gabriella Bengs, Faith Benzi, Allisyn Betzler, Natalie Bohlsen, Karolynn Bratten, Aidan Brewer, Ellie Bridell, Elizabeth Brown, Jacob Bunnell, Katlyn Byhre, Vernis Campbell, Ashlee Carlson, Carson Cornwell, Bryan Coskey, Emily Covington, Justin Cox, Austin Cuabo, Benjamin Dahl, Remy Darr, Carter Daun, Lydia Deavel, Luke Delzer, Jessica Derouin, Reese DesVernine, Eli Dobitz, Kealan Downs, Emily Dusosky, Anna Eich, Haley Field, Kaitlyn Fischer, Morgan Fischer, Ian Flath, Charles Folkens, Edie Frantzen, Alexandria Fuller, Jazmin Garcia Villagomez, Madison Gelo, Thomas Gilmore, Cade Gleason, Evan Glimsdale, Kobe Goodwin, Grant Greni, Cole Gunnarson, Gideon Haman, Braden Hamann, Nicholas Hand, Lauren Hatcher, Erika Hathy, Delaney Hegarty, Kaelyn Hegman, Alexander Heidorn, Josie Henderson, Olivia Hermanson, Breanna Hetchler, Reese Hoffarth, Nicholas Huettl, Ella Husnik, Jonathan Jairam, Matlyn Jensen, Kathleen Jessen, Alexandra Johnson, Jaina Johnson, Reagan Johnson, Delaney Jordan, Jacob Kaeter, Jenna Kalevik, Isaac Kapsner, Bryant Kerr, Malerie Kinney, Isabella Kornwolf, Madelyn Kranz, Mackenzie Krueger, Emma Kvalheim, Riley Larson, Alayna Lau, Courtney Lessard, Kate Lessard, Gwyneth Lien, Elijah Ligon, Abigail Lilleodden, Ethan Loukusa, Andrew Lubke, Taylor Lundberg, Sophie Lynch, Grace Mammen, Grace Manz, Dailey Matejka, Mackenzie Matthies, Anastasia Matushenko, Riley Meister, Ross Meskimen, Audrey Meyer, Allison Miller, Piper Miller, Sarah Mize, Zoe Morehead, Julia Motzko, Olivia Myrman, Evelyn Naziri, Hailey Nelson, Kate Nielsen, Anatolii Nikitchuk, Riley Nordberg, Erin O’Neal, Ella O’Shea, Cody Oakland, Samuel Oestreich, Avery Otten, Abigail Patin, Grant Pawlak, Dennis Paz, Gena Phengmany, Isabel Quintavalle, Carter Raiche, Connor Raiche, Bennett Reines, Thomas Rice, MacKenzie Rick-Moores, Braden Ridlehoover, Tyler Robinson, Emma Rooks, Cade Rosacker, Emma Schaupp, Abigail Schave, Emma Schindhelm, Zachary Schmitz, Julia Schnell, Brooke Schumacher, Payton Scott, Tucker Segraves, Dominick Siharaj, Megan Simon, Alexander Skinner, Gavin Smisek, Melissa Solem, Macy Soppeland, Annabel Stahlback, Alexis Stock, Emma Stock, Maddi Streit, Everett Sunvold, Victoria Swanson, Lauren Tate, Mackenzie Terhaar, Lauren Theisen, Navarre Thielges, Ethan Tran, Morgan Trierweiler, Caroline Tullbane, Malory VanEngen, Kyler Voeller, Elena VonBank, Alexander VonRueden, Lilian Wade, Samantha Walker, Steele Walsh, Tanner Weis, Ava Whitcomb, Jordan Wilson, Ryan Wolfe, Andrew Woods, Lucas Yelich

7^TH GRADE TERM 1 B HONOR ROLL Olivia Ames, Victoria Ames, Matthew Amundson, Noah Amundson, Jordon Beaudry, Hailey Bechtold, Dylan Blundell, Kyle Bookey, Logan Brecht, Alanna Carlson, Connor Chandler, Dominic Chihak, Colin Clair, Mitchell Coleman, Riley Darr, Ryan Davis, Kaitlyn DeVries, Ava Duke, Chloe DuRose, Mallory Engle, Quinn Follmer, Jared Gast, Bradon Gerberding, Kate Gilbertson, William Ginter, Angelina Golden, Connor Guthrie, Madelyn Hamilton, Zachary Hanauska, Quinn Hansen, Coleman Hegyi, Amber Heltemes, Corina Hoeg, Nicholas Hoffman, Kaden Holterman, William Johnson, Adam Jonason, Cylee Jones, Henry Jones, Kaitlyn Jones, Noah Kelzer, Bailey Kern, Arissara Khampho, Abigail Kiffmeyer, Gabrielle Klink, Riley Knox, Zachary Knutson, Kalista Kragt, Austin Krajsa, Mason Kranz, Abigayle Krone, Kirsten Krone, Jack Larson, Andrew Lauer, Madison Laurent, Caleb Lindberg, Katelyn Manthey, Alivia Marotteck, Jadyn Master, Colin McDonald, Curtis Meersman, Hailey Midthun, Matthew Mikolich, Ryan Moter, Alexandra Mudrick, Danyel Nelson, Zenith Neumann, Julie Nielsen, Ethan Nylin, Hayden O’Connor, Patrick O’Donnell, Logan O’Neil, MaKayla O’Neil, Hannah Olson, Timothy Oreskovich, Jaxon Osgood, Joshua Otto, Elizabeth Palumbo, Emma Palumbo, Treyton Parker, Amanda Pereda, Savannah Pittman, Mya Playle, Chevy Post, Sydney Power, Kaitlyn Rapacz, Tristan Rasmussen, Jaden Reasland, Owen Sabinash, Triston Sanchez, Kyle Scherber, Alexander Schmidt, Mia Schmidt, Zoey Schreiner, Joshua Schroeder, Matthew Seurer, Genevieve Sexton, Micaela Sigfrid, Brandon Simon, Hannah Skavnak, Dylan Skawiniak, Peyton Smith, Mayadell Sonderup, Mikayla Strand, Ella Stritesky, Tyler Strombeck, Alaina Syverson, Sean Tester, Logan Thelen, Hannah Thurber, Jaelynn Tresise, Parker Turbes, Natasha Villanti, Joseph Wallerius, Jack West, Avery Wilson, Emma Wilson, Brandon Wolinski, Brookelyn Yernesek, Benjamin Yonak, Dominick Zahner, Zoe Zelenak

8^TH GRADE TERM 1 A HONOR ROLL Ella Achterkirch, Brianna Adamson, Anthony Alberts, Bailey Alberts, Lauren Andersen, Braden Anderson, Mikayla Anderson, Sam Bakri, Lily Bandy, Vince Barkley, Luke Behnke, Margaret Behrendt, Sydney Berry, Robin Beyer, Miranda Bjorklund, Evan Braesch, Michael Braun, Alaina Brenning, Abigail Bruers, Isabella Brunetti, Katelyn Buechler, Lindsey Carriere, Cheyenne Carter, Luke Chapman, Ella Chenvert, Madelyn Claseman, Joseph Clauson, Samuel Climaco, Seamus Corkery, Holly Cserpes, Ellie Dahlheimer, Lauren Dahlstrom, Kyra Dalluge, Slade Dalzell, Jared Deelstra, Benjamin DeMarais, Bailey Dobberstein, Kiley Dorion, Boston Eddy, Olivia Eggers, Ellen Erdahl, Henry Erdahl, Samuel Essendrup, Jacob Esteves, Erika Farmer, Benjamin Fisher, Riley Fiske, Shay FitzPatrick, Kamryn Fjellanger, Tyler Francis, Nathan Franz, Trey Frederickson, Ryann Frolik, Rachel Geist, Ryan Getz, Thomas Glad, Benjamin Gordon, Ian Groe, Tyler Hamilton, Isaac Hanauska, Hailey Hartlage, Allison Hatcher, James Hays, Alex Hedlund, Jacob Hemann, Cameron Henderson, Tariq Henry, William Hensel, Claire Hippen, Luke Holdren, Kelsey Holmes, Drew Hommerding, Grace Hromadko, Kayli Huber, Hannah Hulinsky, Heather Hulinsky, Taylor Husarik, Aaron Jablonski, Grace Jablonski, Greyson Jenkins, Gretta Jensen, Tyler Johner, Abigail Johnson, Jessi Jordan, Paige Jordan, Tessa Judge, Kasidy Justen, Brandon Kain, Sara Kangas, Alexa Kanieski, Ali Karels, Kaitlyn Kellar, Lauren Kellar, Jenna Kerkvliet, Logan Kimbler, Ritvik Kosuri, Isabelle Lacroix, Natalie Langston, Ella Lanman, Elise Larsen, Hunter Larson, Isabella Larson, Claire Lehtola, Emma Lenz, Charles Levis, Emerson Lewis, Peyton Lewis, Patric Loeffler, Sierra Lorbeski, Lauren Lougheed, Lucy Lyngen, Rachael Mackowick, Deanna Mantsevich, Morgan Marrs, Hailey Mattioli, Jonah Maurer, Marissa Meier, Jackson Melquist, Raegan Meskimen, Whitney Meyer, Ashley Michoma, Easton Miller, Samuel Miller, Isaac Mize, Kayla Moccia, Makayla Mohs, Leah Mork, Joseph Moss, Walker Nelson, Brittany Neu, Kacie Nevison, Beth Nielsen, Abigail Northuis, Corey Nuanthalasy, Mackenzie Olsen, Marshall Packer, Sara Parent, Adam Paris, Jace Parliament, Nathan Pawlowski, Alex Pearson, Jack Peluf, James Peterson, Carson Phenow, Alexander Prahl, Jada Primus, Luke Quale, Catherine Ramola, Sarah Randall, Carter Remer, Isidro Renteria-Garcia, Joseph Reshetar, Alison Reust, MacKenzie Richardson, Madison Richardson, Jaden Rivers, Andrew Rocheford, Riley Roden, Christopher Rooney, Preston Rosacker, Wesley Rothi, Nicholas Sanders, Jacob Scharber, Erin Schreifels, Tristan Schultz, Breanna Schumacher, Nathan Scollard, Samuel Simpson, Ryan Skoog, Adrian Smiles, Joshua Sommerstad, Emma Sorensen, Katherine Sperr, Darien St Gelais, Gunnar Stangeland, Kate Stein, Ashley Stusse, Olivia Sultany, Isaac Teigen, Lillian Tennyson, Kennedy Thomas, Megan Thomas, Andie Timpe, Isaiah Toth, Kaitlyn Tripp, Nicole Turner, Mia Umerski, Marissa Vescio, Maryjane Voight, Brianna Vote, Brennan Vreeman, Brady Watters, Michael Wegleitner, Emily Welch, Josie Wenum, Evan Wieker, Elizabeth Wilson-Sandberg, Sydney Wood, Cody Yoss, Sophia Zachman

8^TH GRADE TERM 1 B HONOR ROLL Wyatt Alden, Logan Alford, Judd Anderson, Nicholas Anderson, Micheal Angeli, Joshua Anthony, Brendan Bailie, Codi Banks, Peyton Bauermeister, Robert Bjorgan, Mackenzie Bolduc, Rylan Brown, Sierra Butala, Wesley Butkovich, Amber Casar, Dallas Casey, Reece Chadwick, Panharithik Chan, Elizabeth Earlewine, Derick Fisk, Madeline Fortin, Taylor Fullington, Justin Hagel, Kaitlyn Hager, Belle Hamilton, Julia Harder, Nathan Harmon, Emma Havel, Grace Heideman, Faith Hoppe, Payton Jewett, Jordan Johnson, Ryan Kammers, Kyler Kimmick, Frederick Kirschman, Hannah Knutson, Sydney Kollmann, Ethan Kriesel, Hannah Lamberger, Jessica Landry, Nicole Landry, Daniil Liashko, Roman Liashko, Maximus Lien, Kayla Lindboe, Brandon Lubke, Abigail Manthei, Cole Masterson, Jayleigh Mateuszczyk, Emilee McCaw, Malena McGraw, Garrett McLaughlin, Kiara Mendez, Caleb Miller, Vincent Mindrum, Nathan Molnar, Anthony Mootz, Vince Moua, Mitchell Myers, Evan O’Konek, Keila Omariba, Lucas Oswskey, Madison Paja, Jessie Proell, Max Quintavalle, Raegan Rohrer, Jacqueline Rose, Sydney Saen, Connor Schulz, Andrew Schuster, Kalena Silas-Booker, Brandon Sitarz, Jamison Skoog, Nicholas Smegal, Isabella Smetana, Corbin Stewart, Breyden Stolski, Ryan Streeter, Benjamin Surprenant, Isabella Tate, Aaron Thomas, Savannah Thompson, Megan Trombley, Megan VonDeLinde, Jacob Wanner, Amelia Weber, Alexis Wertzler, Lovell Williams, Jenna Wilson, Alyaksey Zhukouski

by Joni Astrup

Associate editor

Elk River Rotarians are delivering dictionaries to 480 local third-graders this fall.

Rotarians Tricia Downey and Lynn Caswell are personally handing out the dictionaries to third-graders at Lincoln, Meadowvale, Parker, Twin Lakes, St. Andrew, St. John’s and Solid Rock Christian elementary schools.

“The biggest cheer we get is when we tell them that the teachers want them to keep the books in school, but after third grade ends, they get to take them home,” Downey said.

The Elk River Rotary Club is collaborating with The Dictionary Project, a nonprofit that offers the dictionaries at a discounted rate to service clubs that deliver them to third-graders. The Elk River Rotary has participated in the project for the last five years.

The books contain a number of other things in addition to a dictionary, Downey said. They include the U.S. Constitution, information on planets and U.S. presidents, the alphabet in sign language, the periodic table and, the student favorite, the longest word.

Both Caswell and Downey said a paper dictionary remains relevant in the modern world.

As Caswell put it, “It doesn’t need batteries or cellphone reception or Internet.”

A HONOR ROLL

Grade 6 – Maverick Almich, Henry Babcock, Jordan Bauer, Blake Benson, Noah Benson, Tucker Brady, Logan Braley, Alex Brandt, Ryder Burdine, Hunter Burdorf, Lydia Burggraff, Joseph Caduff, Gavin Carlson, Lainie Carlson, Andrew Christopherson, Cruise Clay, Chloe Coffee, Isaac Coletta, Kayla Coolidge, Elle Cotton, Gabriella Danielowski, Lucinda DeMars, Alexandra Dillion, Owen Doran, Olivia Drager, Maya Eatherton, Zach Falls, Gemini Fields, Andrew Foss, Collin Furlong, Carmen Galante, Erin Gannon, Amos Gborie, Neal George, Luke Gintz, Kayla Grady, Tanner Greenwell, Bradley Gust, Dayton Guyer, Dylan Haataja, Tyler Hague, Belinda Hamlin, Anthony Hanson, Ella Harris, Benjamin Hawley, Luke Hevey, Jessie Hickman, Bella Hillman, Russell Hillukka, Gavin Hilyar, Kendall Hudson, Ryan Hudson, Taylor Ives, Emma Jackson, Lucas Jenniges, Kylie Jimenez, Ava Johnson, Kage Johnson, Zoey Johnson, Braden Junker, Joseph Jusczak, Gabrielle Kangas, Rylen Keoraj, Makayla Kichler, Abigail Kohout, Benson Kozitka, Gabriel Kramer, Lane Kvam, Dylan Langley, Ethan LaVenture, Kendra Lockwood, Rayna Mahowald, Peyton Maier, Cadence Martie, Mason Mattingley, Brady McAdams, Ashlynn McGuiggan, Alyson Miskowic, Caroline Nelson, Hailey Neumann, Ashley Ojeda, Ruby Olson, Sadie Olson, Erik Pilich, Thomas Rebrovich, Lindsey Redepenning, Madelyn Reisinger, Evan Ressler, Josh Riffe, Julia Rindy, Taitum Rishovd, Caleb Rother, Emma Rowland, Destiny Scharf, Dylan Schminkey, Maxwell Schunk, Blaise Schutt, Mason Schwegman,  Peyton Sharp, Nickolas Smith, Jack Sumstad, Gavin Swart, Joseph Swigart, Ashton Thomas, Brady Thompson, Bethany Timm, Ava Torfin, Jerome Uche, Cassondra Vang-Lohnes, Sydney Venne, Madelon Vojta, Jordan Voss, Hayden Waletzko, Amy Wallace, Mason Weber, Kathryn Wessel, Harper Westgaard, Sean Whealdon, Isaac Wiitala, Ryan Wingard, Rachelle Witt, Ella Wonser, and Olivia Yurich

Grade 7 – Amber Aamodt, Alexandra Anderson, Kiyah Baker, Tyler Bakken, Emily Baumer, Nolan Blake, Evan Bode, Isabella Braaten, Grace Caouette, Katelyn Carr, Easton Christian, Ryan Corpe, Connor Corrow, Kendal Cox, Mackenzie Creighton, Isabella Dehkes, Blake Douglas, Kaitlyn Flagle, Amanda Forstie, Edyn Fosse, Andrew Fox, Derek Fromm, Jack Gebhardt, Katie Gerold, Emma Glasgow, Ella Goede, Megan Gordon, Joseph Greniuk, Donna Hacker, Jayna Hager, Luke Hansen, Madalyn Harvey, Hailee Hemze, Ryla Hines, Brady Holland, Nathan Holm, Hallee Hopping, Brooke Hortian, Viktoria Hrytskevich, Linkin Huber, Franklin Jarmoluk, Andrew John, Abigail Johnson, Cordelia Johnson, Jordan Johnson, Maya Johnson, Scott Jussila, Kira Kainz, Megan Kelley, Parker Kivley, Payton Kolles, Jacob Kotzian, Olivia Kramer, Johanna Langbehn, Kalia LaValley, Allison Lechtenberg, Makayla Leuthold, Kendra Lingman, Gabriel Livingston, Lucas Lodermeier, Harleigh Lucas, Tyler Lucas, Mckenzie Lundquist, Milena Maretski, Miah Martin, Mason Martineau, Jordan Mehrer, Kellen Michener, Jonah Monroy, Maxwell Muller, Payton Nivala, Grace Nord, Anne Overton, Samantha Peterson, Bailey Phipps, Irina Rabikava, Blake Ramberg, Ethan Reznicow, Carlie Richter, Ellie Rivers, Lily Roiger, Corinn Seifert, Elissa Simone, Raymond Sizen, Molly Stroh, Emily Tatur, Dacoda Thoennes, Sophia Tobin, Adaeze Udalla, Eric Ullrich, Kylie Urvig, Heaven Wells, Kennedy Westphal, Ryan Wilson, Charles Wonser, Mya Yoder, and Kalen Yurich

Grade 8 – Paige Anderson, Megan Averill, Trisha Averill, Mitchell Bakken, Abigail Barschdorf, Joshua Bauer, Emma Beckers, Abigail Bense, Molly Bense, Jordyn Benson, Elijah Bicek, Sadie Boyd, Johanna Breyen, Izzabella Brouhard, Snow Bryner, Kodi Buckley, Makayla Buckley, Rebecca Buckley, Gregory Bury, Taylor Byars, Addison Casey, Brendan Chermack, Taylor Christian, Remy Clusiau, Lauren Conzet, Kelly Crocker, Jake Cunningham, Jackson Danielowski, Haylee DeMars, Gracelyn Dilley, Jace Donnelly, Griffin Dow, Matthew Duitsman, Adam Eldredge, Alexa Engebretson, Bartholomew Engvall, Vitalii Fedosyuk, Abigail Filipiak, Dmitriy Findorff, Abigail Fritschel, John Gannon, Elijah Greenberg, Olivia Grev, Benjamin Grundman, Nicholas Gulden, Adam Hague, Cassandra Hall, Samantha Halter, Samuel Hansen, Carter Hanson, Hannah Hawley, Jaden Hickman, Rhetta Hillukka, Hannah Hilyar, Jack Hipsag, Miles Homola, Seth Hopkins, Savannah Hulse, Isaac Hultberg, Delaney Huntley, Katrina Jenniges, Anders Johnson, Cassandra Johnson, Moira Kirschbaum, Abbie Koste, Joshua Koziol, Noah Kramer, Isabele Krivich, Emma LaFlamme, Kayla Lingman, Bryce Loidolt, Lance Loyd, Alexis Lynch, Mackenzie Mahowald, Taylor Majeres, Michael Mattson, Kaylee Miller, Sidney Mitchell, Savannah Moore, Wyatt Morin, Tennison Mueller, Sean Mynahan, Bradley Nelson, Kaytlin Nething, Amelia Olson, Samuel Orgon, Jolea Osborne, Alicia Palmer, Abigail Peterson, Nice Plasabas, Kaiden Poling, Amber Pomeroy, Sergey Rabikau, Alexis Rademacher, Greta Rivers, Sydney Robertson, Adison Rodgers, Emily Rutherford, Alejandro Rydberg, Juliet Saari, Hailey Sandberg, Codi Schminkey, Paul Schmitz, Marianne Schoen, Alaina Schoenfelder, Erin Schunk, Isabel Seguin, Jacob Shaheen, Ethan Sharp, Austin Stanislawski, Leah Stanislawski, Zachary Stroh, Charity Timm, Jessica Timm, Emily Vetter, Austin Wilke, and Michelyn Zappa

B HONOR ROLL

Grade 6 – Austin Blue-Isensee, Devin Chermack, Ava Cole, Lars Forsell, Akshaya Gautam, Derix Gonzalez, Stephan Good, Maggie Hale, Alexia Hovda, Liberty Huber, Colton Hudson, Colton Jaderston, Devyn Jones, Brandon Kaufmann, Alexi Key, Hope Kirk, Landon Kolles, Rayna Laing, Mackenzie Larson, Shae Law, Dzianis Liashkevich, Aaron Marcotte, Tyler Menning, Tia Mitchell, Jacob Muniz, Isaac Nameny, Cole Newhouse, Boyd Peltonen, Connor Ricksham, Jordan Rose, Hannah Ruberg, Cade Sabby, Summer Sandberg,  Brianna Stevens, McKenna Stoll, Jaxson Tesser, Tucker Westphal, and Marcos Zelaya

Grade 7 – Brandy Belanger, Treyvanne Bergstrom, Kyleigh Boese, Josiah Bonin, Aaron Bouma, Kareen Brenteson, Faith Dahlheimer, Ellen Dehn, Cole Donald, Gabrick Doro, Riley Erickson, Jacob Faber, Blake Friestad, Michlyn Fyten, Paige Germscheid, Riley Graham, Kelsey Gust, Afton Guyer, Timothy Hanson, Kurt Haugen, Kyle Haugen, Dawson Hennig, Graham Hennig, Collin Humphreys, Brandon Klein, Logan Krekelberg, Madelyn Krueger, Madelyn Merkle, Austin Moss, Audrey Neuerburg-Chapman, Chelsea Nord, Quinn O’Hara, Jack Overton, Justin Owens, Jadyn Potter, Amanda Ysabelle Ribron, Gabriel Rodman, Ethan Schlief, Daniel Schroeder, Shelby Silva Garcia, Ethan Smith, Kaitlyn Stelk, Emma Stenglein, Hailey Traun, Jack Tudor, and Cassidy Wuerch

Grade 8 – Isaiah Baken, Emily Banker, Michael Bergerson, Austin Bianchi, Kristin Blomquist, Kyle Breth, Zachary Carlson, Benjamin Christensen, Evan Darnell, Alexander Dedon, Tyler Deeg, Macy Diehl, Madison Fleming, John Gintz, Thomas Good, Adam Gulden, Brooklyn Handt, Jasmine Hansford, Audrey Hawes, Talon Heath, Sara Heinkel, Cole Hevey, Anna Jorgenson, Aaron Knutson, Christian McAlpine, Piper Miller, Cody Newhouse, Mahalia Norton, Joshua Rehbein, Daniel Riley, Alan Rincon, Hayden Rishovd, Mackenzie Risting, Elizabeth Sample, Joseph Sullivan, Elijah Thompson, Clarice Toth, Alex Ustimchuk, Charlicia White, Austin Yang, Erica Zelaya, and Alexsia Zimmerman

by Aaron Brom

ECM Sun Newspapers

The Rogers City Council approved, on the consent agenda with no discussion, a settlement agreement in connection with legal action against the city by Reid Sagehorn.

Sagehorn was a senior at Rogers High School in January 2014 when he filed a federal lawsuit against the Elk River School District, Superintendent Mark Bezek, Rogers Police Chief Jeff Beahen and Rogers Police officer Stephen Sarazin, alleging that his First and 14th Amendment rights were violated.

Sagehorn had been suspended from school for seven weeks after he sent a two-word online message responding to a post suggesting that he had “made out” with a female teacher. He replied, “Actually, yeah.”

He said that he intended the comment to be taken in jest. The post was made outside of school hours, not on school grounds, and did not involve the use of any school property.

School officials suspended Sagehorn and then said they would be recommending that Sagehorn be expelled from school. Sagehorn subsequently withdrew from the school district.

Sagehorn maintained that Beahen “regularly, publicly and intentionally commented to the news media about Sagehorn’s conduct, stating, ‘That’s a crime,’ and adding that Sagehorn ‘could face felony charges’ for the post,” according to an online account of the case.

In the settlement agreement, the defendants denied that “they, the city and its elected officials, employees, agents or representatives engaged in any of the alleged wrongdoing, including, but not limited to, allegations that defendants defamed Sagehorn and violated his constitutional rights.”

The agreement does not release any claims that exist against the school defendants (Independent School District 728, Rogers High School Principal Roman Pierskalla, Bezek and Assistant Superintendent Jana Hennen-Burr).

The Elk River Area School Board met in closed session on Monday to discuss a settlement agreement.

It later approved a settlement agreement and release of all claims

The Board’s decision was based on its insurer’s wishes to resolve the dispute prior to trial in order to avoid the burden and expense of protracted litigation, according to a news release.

The Elk River Area School District will provide a lump sum payment of $325,000 as part of the agreement, and as an inducement for Sagehorn to enter into this agreement.

Sagehorn will receive $40,000 with the rest going to attorneys for the law firm of Gaskins Bennett Birrell Schupp, LLP.

District 728’s insurer has agreed to cover the entire cost of settlement on its behalf. The Elk River Area School District already paid its $10,000 deductible.

For more details on the settlement, see next week’s Star News.

Rogers will pay Sagehorn’s attorney

The settlement with Rogers stipulates that Sagehorn’s attorney will be paid $100,000 for distribution, and that Sagehorn and his counsel will be entitled to no further claim.

“It is understood and agreed by the parties that this settlement is a compromise of disputed claims, and that neither the settlement nor the presentation or execution of this settlement agreement are to be construed as an admission of unlawful conduct by defendants, First Amendment violation, due process violation, wrongdoing and/or liability,” the agreement said.

As part of the agreement, Sagehorn agreed to either destroy and/or return to his counsel copies of all documents produced by defendants or obtained from defendants.

The city stated that the dispute is being settled “to avoid any and all further costs of litigation, to avoid any and all further risks of litigation and to avoid any potential liability for the claims released.”

A federal district court in Minnesota earlier ruled that Sagehorn had a valid claim for violation of his First Amendment free speech rights against the school district, based on school officials disciplining him for an online comment he posted off-campus about a teacher. The court dismissed the free speech claim against the police defendants.

(Editor’s note: Jim Boyle contributed to this report.)

by Jim Boyle

Editor

There’s a ray of sunshine at Zimmerman Middle and High School that’s helping some of the poorest performing middle school students succeed as they move along in their schooling.

Traverse – which stands for Teaching Respect, Attitude, Versatility, Empathy, Responsibility, Success and Ethics – identifies students performing the bottom 15 percent at a particular grade and brings them through a program of character education, service learning and enrichments.

Even more encouraging to the organizers and supporters of the program is the students in the Traverse program seem to be finding themselves in the process and will hopefully shed some of the behaviors and poor choices their predecessors have made.

School social worker Jenny Manthey and special education teacher Kevin Jost came up with the idea for the program after they spotted a gap in the vast array of programs and services at the school. The Elk River Area School District employees found that the programs offered were not adequately meeting the needs of the kids with grade point averages that put them at the bottom of their grade levels.

Research consisting of reviewing grades, attendance, behavior, chemical usage and graduation rates for the last five years of graduating classes showed only 28 percent of the bottom 15 percent of seventh-graders remained at Zimmerman High School through graduation, and of those students, only 0.08 percent ever made it out of the bottom 15 percent.

This bottom 15 percent  accounted for 4,166 behavior referrals and 15,587 absences from school, and 64 percent used drugs, alcohol or both (23 percent  were unaccounted for because they left ZMHS at a young age).

That means that only 13 percent didn’t turn to chemical usage.

“We at Zimmerman have so many good programs available to all our students, but the kids that fall in this group typically didn’t take advantage of those programs,” Manthey said.

Traverse is a non-traditional class. In addition to offering character education, service learning and enrichment activities, the class also has a reward system linked to academic success.

Students are recognized for receiving C’s or better in all their classes as well as making the A and B honor rolls.

Manthey and Jost say they believe the class is the first of its kind in Minnesota.

“There are schools that offer character education classes, there are districts that require service learning projects and there are teachers that have brought students to participate in enrichment activities,” Manthey said “However, to have a class geared toward (this group), that includes all three, that keeps the students engaged through a four-year program and that allows the teens to come back as peer mentors in a leadership role, seems to be unique to Zimmerman High School.

The program quickly got the support of Mark Bezek, the superintendent of schools.

“It’s special to me because it is a way of connecting with a group of kids that may not see the value of a formal education and may feel disenfranchised or left behind in the normal school setting,” Bezek said. “I’ve always tried to meet the needs of individual groups of students in a variety of ways.  We are fortunate to have caring staff that are willing to go above and beyond for these students by developing programs like this.”

Traverse has been at the Zimmerman secondary school for two years with the support and assistance from Principal Marco Voce and Vice Principal Lisa Johnson.

The class, initially offered to a group of 11th-grade students, showed a 90 percent decrease in behaviors and grades went from 13 F’s their first semester, prior to the class, to two F’s second semester, with the class.

Last year the class was then moved to work with a group of 12 seventh-grade boys. Once again it proved to be very successful. This group finished their previous year with a total of 83 D’s and F’s.

They finished their seventh-grade year with only nine D’s and five F’s in third quarter and four D’s and four F’s in fourth quarter.

This group of 12 also finished fourth quarter with four students receiving C’s or better in all their classes and four others making the B Honor Roll, one of whom just missed the A honor roll.

Service projects that the groups have been involved in so far include manning a water station at Grandma’s Marathon, hosting a toy drive for Ronald McDonald House, preparing and serving a meal at Ronald McDonald House, working concessions for home wrestling and basketball games, staffing games at Zimmerman Elementary’s Carnival, sponsoring a family of four children for Christmas, supporting a school-sponsored food drive, volunteering at a Special Olympics basketball tournament, volunteering at Feed My Starving Children and helping with the Neighbors Helping Neighbors Christmas program.

Manthey and Jost applied for and were fortunate to receive a $25,000 two-year grant from the Otto Bremer Foundation to help fund their innovative program. With the assistance of the grant, there was no cost associated with any of the experiences to the families. The grant is set to expire this December, so further funding options are needed.

This school year, Traverse has the ability to work with two groups of eighth-graders; however, the hope is to make Traverse into a full-time program, which would include two groups from seventh, eighth and ninth grade each and one group from 10th grade.

The idea is that the kids would start in seventh grade, continue to learn and grow with the program through 10th grade and then return as peer mentors their junior and senior years.

Katherine Solliday, who teaches in the School Within a School program run through Ivan Sand, has seen the kids benefit from Traverse first-hand. Students in it have become more accountable and are seen in the school as new crop of leaders, she said.

One of the most notable changes for Solliday has been a drop in behavior problems. Students are more respectful and willing to do their work. She has not had to write referrals this year.

“They are realizing that they can create positive change in their personal environment and in their community,” she said.

“Traverse helps students find their own worth in their own way. At the same time, they learn to care about others and respect classmates and teaching staff.”

The responses from the kids and parents involved in this course have been overwhelmingly positive. In a letter from one parent, the program was said to be a “ray of sunshine amidst dark clouds” for her son who has academic and behavioral struggles.

One student had 11 F’s in his core classes in the sixth grade, yet with the help of Traverse, by seventh grade’s fourth quarter, he had C’s or better in all his classes.

“He would stop by my room to give me grade updates, head held high, smiling and high-fiving over his accomplishments,” Manthey said. “He has gained not only academic success, but he feels better about himself, has a positive attitude and encourages others.”

Kim Kowalczyk said her son went from nearly failing grades to the A-honor roll.

“He has gone from being in the principal’s office on a weekly basis to being a student leader,” she said.

Manthey said there is a growing excitement at the potential of not only keeping these students, who were in the bottom 15 percent, in school through graduation, but also changing the course of their future as they build academic success, self-confidence and self-reliance.

Keeping kids in school also helps the school district’s finances.

In the past five years of graduating classes, only 34 out of 125 students in the bottom 15 percent of seventh grade remained at ZMHS through graduation.

“If we can keep those kids in school until they graduate, there is the possibility of keeping just under $3 million in the budget,” Manthey said.

The money needed to cover the costs of all the activities is dependent on grants and donations.

by Nate Gotlieb

Contributing Writer

The Elk River Area School District should reduce enrollment at Twin Lakes Elementary School by 200 students by next fall to reduce overcrowding there, a district committee is recommending.

The proposal would bring the K-5 school under its official capacity of 775 students. It could also affect enrollment levels at Lincoln, Parker and Meadowvale elementary schools.

Nearly 900 students are enrolled at Twin Lakes this school year, forcing school leaders to use the media center as classroom space and leaving special education teachers with no meeting rooms.

The committee, which met Monday, is recommending the district make the reduction through boundary changes. It is also recommending that the district give upcoming Twin Lakes fifth-graders who will be affected by the changes the choice to continuing attending the school. Their families would need to provide their own transportation.

The committee includes district administrators and parents, principals and teachers from the four schools. Committee members on Monday did not vote on specific boundary changes.

District administrators will investigative and develop those changes based on the committee’s recommendations, said Charlie Blesener, the district’s director of community engagement. The School Board will decide the actual boundary changes.

Parker, Lincoln schools currently under capacity

District policy 4004 requires that schools form a committee to address enrollment and capacity issues if they exceed their design capacities by more than 10 percent or are projected to in the next year. The policy requires schools to develop a plan for immediate action if they exceed their design capacities by 15 percent or more within the next year.

Twin Lakes is 15 percent over capacity this school year. Joe Stangler, the district’s director of research and assessment, projects its enrollment to continue increasing if the district doesn’t take action.

He calculates a school’s capacity by multiplying the number of classrooms in a building by a class size of 25.

Meadowvale has 594 students this year and a capacity of 625, while Parker and Lincoln are each more than 100 students under capacity. Lincoln has 500 students and a capacity of 700, and Parker has 486 and a capacity of 600.

“I do feel we could certainly accommodate that number of students,” Parker Principal Scott Lempka said of his building’s 600-student capacity.

“If Lincoln needed to be at 700 students to ensure that all Elk River elementary students have equitable learning spaces, our building and staff would be happy to help,” Lincoln Principal Justin Sperling wrote in an email.

Policy requires equity

The policy says the committees should exhaust all attempts to maintain established attendance zones before recommending changes.

No student should change buildings more than once during a selected grade span, it says. That means students should not transfer more than once during elementary school, in this case.

“Boundary shifts should be infrequent,” Blesener wrote in an email. “When they’re necessary, they need to be thoughtfully done so their effect is sustainable over time.”

The policy says that recommendations that change attendance zones cannot adversely impact another school. It also says attendance-zone changes should not impact equity of programming, space and demographics.

“Our intent is to not exacerbate the percentages of at-risk kids attending schools that already have the highest percentages,” Blesener wrote. “Instead, the intent of the recommendation is to better balance the distribution among the four schools without creating exact equality.”

Schools receive federal Title I funding if they have higher percentages of at-risk students. The Title I program identifies the following groups as at risk: students of color, students of limited English, special education students and those receiving free or reduced-price lunch.

Data has suggested that over time such groups are generally at greater risk of not learning or achieving at levels equal to their peers, Blesener wrote.

Lincoln, Parker, Meadowvale and Twin Lakes have similar proportions of limited English and special education students. Lincoln and Parker have a higher proportion of students who receive free and reduced-price meals, and Meadowvale has a lower percentage of students of color.

Housing development, middle schools eyed before lines get drawn

District administrators are also considering housing developments and middle school enrollment trends before redrawing boundaries.

Anoka-based Paxmar Land Development is developing 700 single-family homes to the south and east of Twin Lakes, Blesener said Monday. It plans to break ground for 40 homes this spring, he said, meaning more students in the Twin Lakes zone.

The staff also has to consider enrollment at Salk and VandenBerge middle schools. Salk has a capacity of 900 and enrollment this year of 853, a number that Stangler projected would increase to 943 by the 2019-20 school year without district intervention.

VandenBerge has a capacity of 875 and an enrollment of 544, which Stangler projected would hold steady for the next four years without intervention.

Twin Lakes and Parker feed into Salk, and Meadowvale and Lincoln feed into VandenBerge.

The committee will present its recommendation to the School Board on Dec. 14. Board members will provide feedback at their Jan. 11 meeting, and the district will hold a community input meeting on Jan. 26.

The committee will present its final recommendations to the board on Feb. 8, and the board will take action on the final recommendation on March 14.

Commander John Wisniewski of the Elk River-Rogers Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 5518 and Mary Touve, president of the Ladies Auxiliary, announced the winners of local youth essay competitions.

Students placed in the local patriotic essay competitions in the following categories.

Voice of Democracy

(9-12 grades)

Topic: My Vision for America. Entries received: 93 from Elk River High School.

• First: Grace Olson, 11th grade, Elk River High School. $100 check award.
• Second: Anna McGlone, 10th grade, Spectrum High School. $75 check award.
• Third: Elizabeth Brayden, 11th grade Elk River High School. $50 check award.

Olson’s and McGlone’s entries have been sent on to the district competition.

Patriot’s Pen

(6-8 grades)

Topic: What Freedom Means to Me. Entries received: Two from Spectrum.

• First: Grayden Snyder, eighth grade, Spectrum High School. $75 check award.
• Second: Caleb Rogers, eighth grade, Spectrum High School. $50 check award.

Grayden’s entry has been sent on to the district competition.

Fifth-grade Essay

Topic: Why We Say the Pledge of Allegiance. Entries received: 22 from Meadowvale Elementary School.

Awards: Small cash award and certificate.

• First: Emma Circa, fifth grade, Meadowvale Elementary.
• Second: Kaylyn Breyen, fifth grade, Meadowvale Elementary.
• Third: Rylee Donald, fifth grade, Meadowvale Elementary.

Emma’s essay has also been sent on to district.

Local awards will be given at 6 p.m. Jan. 5 at the Elk River American Legion, 525 Railroad Drive, Elk River.

For more information about the VFW Youth Programs, contact the Elk River-Rogers VFW Post 5518 Ladies Auxiliary youth activities chair Melody Shryock at 763-712-1873 or by email at mkshryock@gmail.com.

Student: William (Billy) Sibilski

Parents: Robert (Bob) and Jeraldine (Jeri) Sibilski

List the activities you have participated in and tell of your proudest accomplishments: I play high school soccer and I play a little basketball. I used to play football. I am in Boy Scouts and in Confirmation. Some accomplishments are getting a 4.002 GPA in ninth grade and being a leader of my Boy Scout troop.

What is your favorite class and why? What is your favorite subject? My favorite class is AP Chemistry with Mark Angstman.

The class is a lot of fun with all the labs we do. My favorite subject is history, especially war history.

What are your future plans? I would like to join the Navy and become a naval aviator. I would then like to move up the ladder and either become admiral of the Navy or chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. 

What are your hobbies and/or personal interests? I like to play sports and hang out with friends. I love camping and just sitting, listening to nature. I love to hunt and fish. Going camping with Scouts is a big hobby. I like to read, especially about World War II. I love to help people any way I can.

Who is your hero, if you have one, and why? I have two heroes, my mother and father. They have always been there for me and gave tons of love and support.

Tell of a most memorable experience that relates to school, personal interests or a hobby: My most memorable experience was probably going to regionals for National History Day in seventh grade. I did my project on the Battle of Midway.

How do you demonstrate leadership? I try to take charge in a nice manner to try and make things run smoothly. I help people every day to make sure they understand the things we learn. 

How do you approach academics to achieve success? I approach academics with a positive attitude to be successful. I always try my hardest and it pays off in the end.

What special projects have you done, in or out of school? The one really special project was my Eagle Scout Project. I built an area for a sign and had a sign built for my church’s future spot. 

Why do you think you won this award? I think the fact that I help people in class even if it cuts into my work time is the main reason.

What does it mean to you? It makes me happy that someone has noticed that I help people at the threat of my grade dropping. It makes me want to help people more so that they can then in turn help someone.

by Allie Baker

Students from Elk River High School were honored at BestPrep’s Educational Forum on Nov. 10 as winners of a statewide essay competition based on Grammy award-winning singer, activist and humanitarian Angélique Kidjo’s book “Spirit Rising: My Life, My Music.”

Thomson Reuters and BestPrep co-sponsor the essay competition. Second-place winner Emma Leither, fourth-place winner Jennifer Koehler and four other Elk River students were recognized for placing in the top 20 from out of more than 260 essay submissions. The other four were Julia Abell, Blake La Vallee, Taylor Nelson and Erin Klang, all with honorable mention.

The students and their teacher, Denise Green, were invited to a private reception with Kidjo and Rick King of Thomson Reuters at the Educational Forum in Minneapolis. The students were able to meet Kidjo and participate in a question-and-answer session with her.

The students’ essays reflected on the value of education, and Kidjo’s book was used as a jumping off point for students to consider the importance of education both domestically and abroad. The students specifically responded to two questions: What is the value of education locally and around the world, and What challenges do you face in your own educational journey?

When asked in what way this experience has developed her perspective on education, Julia replied: “This event has shown me how many aspects of our life education really affects. It’s not just about getting a career, it’s about your learning experience. It’s about teaching and sharing with others. It’s about your part in bettering your community.”

In regard to each of these students’ plans for their future, Emma said: “I discovered the importance of taking a global perspective and realized that I am passionate about tackling issues, such as education, on a global scale. In college, I hope to pursue further studies in international relations.”

For another student, other great plans await. “I now know I want to immerse myself in a career where I can work and communicate amongst people who share similar goals,” Taylor said. “I want to be a world changer, even if it changes the world for a few.”

Essays were read and judged by a panel of business and education volunteers for quality and creativity.

“Our judges were thoroughly impressed with the quality of the essays,” said Bob Kaitz, president and CEO of BestPrep. “The ideas and insights the students shared offer much hope for the future of Minnesota and the world.”

The awards presentation was part of BestPrep’s Educational Forum, which featured a dinner address from Kidjo for over 800 business professionals who, utilizing an audience response system, engaged in a question-and-answer session with Kidjo and General Mills CEO Ken Powell, with Jason DeRusha of WCCO TV as the master of ceremonies.

Proceeds from the Educational Forum will benefit BestPrep’s educational programs.

BestPrep’s mission is to prepare students with business, career and financial literacy skills through hands-on experiences that inspire success in work and life. To learn more about BestPrep or the Educational Forum, call 763-398-0090 or visit www.bestprep.org.

by Nate Gotlieb

Contributing Writer

Elk River Area School District custodians will voice opposition to the potential outsourcing of district custodial and maintenance jobs during the public comment portion of Monday’s School Board meeting.

The action comes as the district negotiates a new financial package with Service Employees International Union Local 284, which represents 76 custodial and maintenance employees in the district.

The district faces long-standing funding inequities, Supt. Mark Bezek wrote in an email, and is looking to avoid cuts that impact classrooms.

He wrote that the district has offered a package that would start new employees at a lower pay rate but increase pay for current employees.

It would also maintain employee benefits.

“The School District must consider the effective use of taxpayer funds by looking at alternatives in the event such a settlement is not achieved,” he wrote.

Union representative Leif Grina said the proposal would diminish the quality of custodial and maintenance services the district provides.

He said it would mean lower pay for new hires even after they are no longer new.

“(The superintendent’s) going to have people paid less for doing the work that are members are doing now,” Grina said. “There’s no way around the conclusion that that’s just valuing the work less.”

Grina said the custodians and maintenance workers help maintain a safe and nurturing environment in the district, developing relationships with parents, staff and students.

“The value that they provide is far beyond the actual work they do,” he said.

The union members will hold a private event before Monday’s School Board meeting, which is at 7 p.m. at Elk River City Hall.

Two Elk River students have advanced in a poster contest.

Rachel Johnston, a student at Salk Middle School in Elk River, and Sophia Tobin, a student at VandenBerge Middle School in Elk River, have won a local competition sponsored by the Elk River Lions Club. They were awarded $100 for their winning peace posters.

Johnston’s and Tobin’s posters were among the entries submitted worldwide in the 28th annual Lions International Peace Poster Contest.

Lion Bob Brown was impressed by the expression and creativity of the students at Salk and VandenBerge.

“It is obvious that these young people have strong ideas about what peace means to them,” he said. “The Lions are proud that we were able to provide them with the opportunity to share their visions.”

The winning posters will be entered at the district, multiple district and international rounds of competition. One grand prize and 23 merit award winners will be selected. The grand prize includes a cash prize of $5,000 plus a trip to Lions Day with the United Nations. The merit award winners will each receive a cash award of $500.

Students at Twin Lakes Elementary School in Elk River may soon see some positive changes in their cafeteria, thanks to a donation by Uncle Ben’s brand and Coborn’s.

Twin Lakes Elementary received a $5,000 donation as part of Coborn’s participation in the Uncle Ben’s beginners cooking contest, which is designed to inspire healthy lifelong eating habits by encouraging parents and kids to cook together. The contest has also had a mission to help schools reinforce those healthy habits by supporting school cafeteria makeovers to help foster a culture of health.

“We strive to partner with organizations that promote nutrition education, so we’re thrilled to team up locally with the Uncle Ben’s brand on this national program,” said Tony Fridgen, store director of Coborn’s Elk River. “We’re excited that a school in our community can directly benefit from this unique contest.”

Twin Lakes Elementary will use the $5,000 donation toward educational supplies and overall school improvements.

A school bus carrying sixth grade students from  Zimmerman Middle School went off the road at 12:35 p.m. today upon the group’s arrrival to a field trip in Deep Portage near Hackensack in Cass County.

One student was taken to the hospital, but the rest were able to continue on with their field trip activities. The parents of the student taken to the hospital have been notified.

“The initial report is that all students are safe and eating lunch at Deep Portage, with the exception of one student who was transported to the hospital to assess possible injuries,” Principal Marco Voce said in a communication with parents.

The bus, which was carrying a trailer, reportedly jackknifed and went off the road it was traveling on in wintry conditions.

by Trevor Hass

Sports Reporter

The ISD 728 administrative team and the Cass County Sheriff’s Office are working together after an incident was reported at Deep Portage Learning Center on Thursday, Dec. 17, the district said in a release Friday.

Authorities were contacted after Zimmerman students on a field trip reported suspicious activity on campus Wednesday, Dec. 16. In the release, Principal Marco Voce told parents that an “unknown adult male” entered the students’ room for a short time that night.

Zimmerman staff notified the Cass County Sheriff’s Department, who immediately opened an investigation and have conducted numerous interviews, per the release. Tony Cyr, deputy of the department, is conducting the investigation, and a clinical social worker and other staff members are with Voce on the site investigating.

Several additional personnel – including Superintendent Mark Bezek, Assistant Superintendent Jana Hennen-Burr and Manager of Prevention Safety and Grants Judy Johnson – are also involved to support the students, Voce said.

Bezek spoke with parents and guardians of the students Friday afternoon, and Voce said the safety and security of all students continues to be their highest priority.

by Nate Gotlieb

Contributing Writer

Elk River Area School District employees rallied Monday to show solidarity with the custodians, whose work district leaders are considering outsourcing to cut costs.

More than 350 teachers, custodians, cooks, paraprofessionals and clerical workers attended the rally at Gateway Church in Elk River, during which speakers criticized the district’s contract offers to all five bargaining groups. They said custodians play a vital role in maintaining a safe learning environment, noting that they do more than keep the buildings clean and running.

“If they do try and outsource us, it’s going to affect everybody,” said Tony Emig, the head custodian at Zimmerman Elementary School. “Cheap labor ends up being very, very expensive in the long run.”

District leaders say they face long-standing funding deficits, noting a structural deficit of about $2 million. The district used $2 million in general fund money this year to protect class sizes, Superintendent Mark Bezek said, adding that the district receives $12 million below the metro average in state funding.

“Financially and budget-wise, we really have nowhere to go,” he said, imploring residents to talk to their legislators about boosting funding levels. “Now is the time to make these changes while we (Minnesota) have a surplus.”

In an email last week, Bezek wrote that the district has offered a package that would start new employees at a lower pay rate but increase pay for current employees. It would also maintain employee benefits.

The district’s lead negotiator, Tim Caskey, said the offer would ultimately bring new employees to the same pay rate, though he couldn’t say how long that would take.

The speakers countered that the district’s offer would create a “two-tier wage structure” that would devalue the work of new hires and make it hard to fill open positions.

“They’re treating custodians and all the other employees as liabilities rather than assets,” Emig said.

Negotiations ongoing

Service Employees International Union Local 284 represents the 76 custodial and maintenance employees in the district whose jobs could be outsourced. The union also bargains for the district’s cooks and clerical workers.

AFSCME Council 5 represents district paraprofessionals, and the Elk River Education Association represents teachers. Monday was the first-ever joint rally of the five groups.

The district also bargains contracts with principals, third-level administrators, special education coordinators and confidential clerical and secretarial workers, Caskey said.

SEIU representative Leif Grina said his union last met with the district Nov. 12 and will meet with district leaders next week. He said the most recent contract expired June 30 but remains in effect until the union negotiates a new one.

The district will begin negotiations with ASFCME Dec. 29, Caskey said.

Troy Wihlm, one of the chief negotiators from the Elk River Education Association, said his team has been pleased with the negotiations process so far, complementing Caskey, who is new to the district. He said negotiations stalled as usual, however, when the sides began discussing financial terms.

Wihlm said his union has asked for a 2.25 percent annual pay increase, which he said is comparable to similar districts. The district countered by offering a 1 percent increase, he said, and by asking the union to use $685,000 in staff-development money to pay for several one-time increases.

Caskey didn’t comment about other districts’ increases or the specifics of the Elk River district’s proposal.

“We continue to negotiate the economics around the contract,” he said. “It’s a back-and-forth process.”

Wihlm also said the district has been inattentive to the teachers’ workload concerns, noting that the district hasn’t lived up to its promise of taking commitments off teachers’ schedules as it adds others.

“I think all know that budgets are made on priorities,” he said. “We are obviously not a priority to the current administration.”

Caskey said the district understands the importance of the workload issue and will continue to work with the teachers to solve it. He said the district changed some of the scheduling for training so teachers can be in their classrooms more.

“By not taking them out of the classroom that certainly helps,” he said. “It’s an ongoing discussion.”

‘We take care of them’

Most of the employees at Monday’s rally also attended the subsequent School Board meeting, where four speakers voiced support for the custodians during open forum. Education Minnesota President Denise Specht also spoke at the rally and attended the School Board meeting.

Custodians and supporters had also gathered outside a Dec. 1 district meeting with prospective contractors for the custodial work, Grina said.

The speakers at Monday’s rally stressed that the custodians, cooks and other support staff are the ones who provide students with a good learning environment.

“We’re not here to just put food on their plate but to be a part of their learning environment,” said Leanne Musgjerd, the head cook at Zimmerman Elementary School.

She said she encourages kids to make healthy choices, helps them learn to be patient and listens to them when they want to share stories and ask questions.

Jessica Zoubek, a secretary in the district, said the support staff bring care and dedication to their relationships with students, teachers and parents. Custodians in particular do more than keep the heat on, she said. They respond to incidents such as smoke alarms, cleaning up after sick students and opening lockers.

Emig, the Zimmerman janitor, told a story of a first-grader befriending him on the boy’s first day of school. The boy went home and told his mom that he made two friends that day: Mr. Tony and Mr. Vern, both janitors.

“They see us, and we take care of them,” Emig said.

by Nate Gotlieb

Contributing Writer

The Elk River Area School Board publicly heard for the first time Monday a proposal to reduce enrollment at Twin Lakes Elementary School by 200 students by next fall.

Nearly 900 students are enrolled at Twin Lakes, which has a capacity of 775 students. That is forcing school leaders to use the media center as classroom space and leaving special education teachers with no meeting rooms.

District policy requires that a committee develop a plan for immediate action if a school exceeds its capacities by 15 percent or more within the next year, as Twin Lakes does.

The Twin Lakes committee includes district administrators, parents, principals and teachers from the four schools Lincoln, Parker and Meadowvale elementary schools, all of which could be affected.

The committee, which has met twice, is recommending the district reduce Twin Lakes’ enrollment by redrawing school boundaries. District administrators will develop those changes, and the School Board will have the final decision.

The committee is also recommending that the district give Twin Lakes fourth-graders affected by the boundary changes the option to complete fifth grade at the school. Those families would need to provide their own transportation.

The district last redrew its boundary lines before Twin Lakes opened in fall 2007. Enrollment at the school became an issue this year because of the addition of districtwide all-day kindergarten and a larger-than-expected increase in enrollment.

The district is also expecting population growth around Twin Lakes, as a developer is planning 700 single-family homes in the area.

District policy stipulates that students should not transfer more than once during elementary school. It also says that any boundary shifts cannot adversely affect another school or impact equity of programming, space and demographics.

When redrawing boundaries, district staff will work to create a better balance of at-risk students, Charlie Blesener, the district’s director of community engagement, said after the last committee meeting. Blesener presented the committee’s recommendations to the School Board on Monday, along with Joe Stangler, the district’s director of research and assessment, and Twin Lakes teacher Becky Herbert, a committee member.

After the presentation, School Board Chair Jane Bunting asked Herbert for her sense of what parents think of the recommendations. Herbert said it’s going to be sad for kids who have to transfer but added that she would be proud to send her kids to any of the district’s elementary schools.

“I would have no problem, as a parent, knowing what I know from the teacher perspective,” she said.

School Board members will provide feedback to the recommendations at their Jan. 11 meeting, and the district will hold a community input meeting on Jan. 26.

The committee will present its final recommendations to the board on Feb. 8, and the board will take action on the final recommendation on March 14.

by Jim Boyle

Editor

With the passage of a $98 million bond and a $6 million operating levy in November 2014, much of 2015 was focused on gearing up for the future.

Multiple committees began working with architects on planning the new spaces to be built, which include auditoriums at Zimmerman and Rogers high schools, an E-8 school in Otsego, a third wing of classrooms at Rogers High School, gym space at Elk River High School and assorted instructional spaces at several points in the district.

The district held ground-breaking ceremonies in June and November for the additions at Rogers High School and the auditorium in Zimmerman.

The planning of how to use the technology levy that was part of the operating levy culminated with a plan for tech purchases that went to the Elk River Area School Board.

Then in September the district began its rollout of 1:1 technology at the high schools.

The computers will be distributed first to juniors and seniors throughout the district in 2015-2016, with freshman and sophomores getting machines next year. By the 2017-2018 school year, each student from grades six to 12 will have a Chromebook.

“Changes in school curriculum – from the tests the students take to the textbooks and supplements they use in class – are moving online,” District 728 manager of instructional technology Troy Anderson said in September. “Students need access to those materials in and out of the classroom.”

The Chromebook rollout is one part of a $2.6 million technology levy as part of the 2014 ballot.

Before the Chromebook roll out,  Manny Scott, one of the original Freedom Writers featured in a hit movie, and Sue Romane, a Rogers High School principal who was battling cancer, helped kick off the school year.

Scott was never mentioned by name in the 2007 film “Freedom Writers,” but his blood, sweat and tears are deeply ingrained in it.

He was in Erin Gruwell’s first class at Woodrow Wilson High School in Long Beach, California, long before Academy Award winner Hilary Swank would be cast as the teacher of the unteachable in this Hollywood hit movie inspired by true stories.

Scott shared his story of triumph over tragedy. He urged District 728 employees to continue their good work and to commit to becoming students of their students who are often suffering.

He said of their students and the importance of believing in them: “Sometimes you have to believe in somebody else’s belief in you until your own belief sets in. My teachers, counselors, coaches, lunch ladies and security guards (believed in me) when I didn’t believe.”

Romane followed Scott with a surprise message, as she had been undergoing cancer treatment and was out on a medical leave. She talked about making meaning of change and challenges, be it a cancer diagnosis or changes to your work life or family life.

The Elk River Area School District welcomed new leadership at Rogers High School and Parker Elementary School as well as at Rogers Middle School.

Jason Paurus took over at Rogers High School after Roman Pierskalla retired.

Mark Huss, a former Elk River High School administrator, took over at Rogers Middle School where Paurus had been.

Scott Lempka returned to the Elk River Area School District to take the helm at Parker. He replaced Mike Malmberg, who left for a superintendency in Pillager.

Superintendent Mark Bezek said among the accomplishments in 2015 were continued rises in test scores on ACT college readiness testing and Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments.

Another, Bezek said, is the publication of the school district’s World’s Best Workforce Report.

Bezek, in October, brought attention to what he dubbed a disappointing legislative session. He said there’s a lot of frustration, and that the Legislature’s 2 percent education increase in each year of the biennium “really didn’t do us a lot of good.”

Greg Hein, District 728’s executive director of business services, said the state’s $544 per pupil allocation for 2016 and 2017 amounts to less than inflation.

“In 2015, District 728 was dead last (in per-pupil funding),” he said. Hein noted that the Minneapolis School District receives $3,000 more per student than Elk River does. “Rochester, Minnetonka and North St. Paul get much more state aid,” he said. “Edina gets $750 per student.”

Blanket funding increases, which were given, do nothing to narrow the disparity, Hein said.