Jan Mitchell, LWV Observer
Absent: Noel Stratmoen
Announcements-
Fall sports programs have begun, involving 520 students.
A good program for parents of student athletes was presented by HCI.
ACT results showed strong academic success – Northfield students did better than
Minnesota average, and MN leads the nation.
Filing for School Board are the 4 incumbents (Stratmoen for the 2 year term, [...]
Jan Mitchell, LWV Observer
Absent: Mike Berthelsen
Public Comment: Owners of Making Waves swim school, Northfield Athletic Club, and Snap fitness center presented concerns about a YMCA facility which might be built on school property.
Announcements: Filing for school board positions is open until 5 p.m. on August 17th. At this time, the 4 incumbents have filed. There [...]
Jan Mitchell, LWV Observer
I wasn’t there (apologies), but this is what happened:
The Wellness Committee submitted its report. The employee participation in several wellness programs (a 5K , blood pressure testing, onsite yoga classes, for example)
resulted in improved morale and healthier employees. Funding for the program came from the tobacco settlement and several grants. Fewer sick [...]
Jan Mitchell, LWV Observer
Absent – Anne Maple
Announcements & Recognitions –
South East Education Cooperative recognized Troy Cohrs, High School English teacher, as an outstanding teacher.
Greenvale’s 4th graders will benefit from an Arts Board award that will bring a special program to them next year.
Greenvale’s nature area will benefit from help from the Northfield [...]
Jan Mitchell, LWV Observer
All members were present.
Public Comment: Three teachers from the high school made the case for retaining the electives in business education, industrial technology, and family & consumer science. These courses provide practical skills for college, careers, and household management.
Announcements: Eighth grade students received awards for leadership, spelling, reading, attendance, music, and [...]
Jan Mitchell, LWV observer
All members were present.
Public Comment – Ray Coudret, President of the Northfield Education Association, spoke in support of the PLC experience – both as a teacher and as a parent. He calculated that the school invested 40 hours of compensated time in each teacher for the year, and that typical teachers probably [...]
Jan Mitchell, LWV observer
Mike Berthelsen was absent.
Announcements included:
Healthy Community Initiative award to Cheryl Mattison’s ALC students for
their soy candle project, which has over the years provided $14,000 for the
CAC
Speech team has 5 who qualified for state competition
Student services has a grant of $15,000 for training parents of special needs students
The Middle School musical was a [...]
Jan Mitchell, LWV Observer
All members were present.
Announcements –
55 Northfield students participated in the History Day regional competition, and 4 groups will advance to the state.
Two Northfield students have attained the final level of competition in a national writing contest.
Rochester IBM engineers visited the Middle School to promote engineering, and students are engaged in a [...]
Jan Mitchell, LWV Observer
All members were present.
Public Comment:
Judy Dirks spoke in opposition to the Spanish immersion program, saying that it made native speakers of languages other than Spanish or English feel slighted, and that the money spent would be better used to provide more ESL instructors.
Ms. Otterdahl form Keya Paya expressed concern about the lengthy [...]
Jan Mitchell, LWV observer
Noel Stratmoen was absent.
Announcements included:
Amber Barksdale’s success at the spelling bee.
Bridgewater students’ Pennies for Patients campaign generated over $2300.
Gymnastics and wrestling team members advance to state.
Morgan Zabel broke school scoring records in basketball – both boys & girls!
Many Northfield students participated in recent music performances in the [...]