By Joanne Johnston
Go fly a kite! The kids just came in from the baseball field, where I was taking pictures of them flying their “final kites”—the kites they built as part of Ramona’s math class. The kites had to fly and the kids had to do the trigonometry to receive credit for the two-week block. They had been out there for three days of trial-and-error learning, watching kites get up about 20 feet and then dive in circles and crash, adding weight to one side or the other by taping pennies on, adjusting length of string between paper and wood, duct-taping broken cross pieces, and any other means to get those first, second, and third-stage designs up in the air.
I watched the kids work (and play) in pairs, saw them get discouraged when the kites wouldn’t fly, saw Ramona work with the kids and bug them to keep trying, and eventually saw how proud they were when their kites did fly. Some flew so far we could hardly see them. It was great to see the kids running and yelling with big smiles on their faces. Mason even ran so hard that when he hit the fence he got a bloody nose and we had to get an ice pack for his knee. And he was still smiling.
The kite class seems to be a fitting metaphor for my school year.
Para in the dungeon downstairs. I think about the last time I wrote Meanderings. That was last spring, when I was so inundated with paperwork I wondered if I wanted this job as para. Last year my challenge was to decide if there was a good enough balance between paperwork and being with kids. I wrote then that it was still a good enough balance. Barely.
But, as sometimes happens, things get worse before they get better. And my job sure did. The day I returned from my honeymoon in late June, I got a call from the principals at MHS. My job was on the line because the paperwork was incomplete and inaccurate. Mini-School and MHS were looking bad because of me. Good-bye, summer vacation. I spent a bunch of days straightening things out. I met with a consultant who helped me begin to put Mini-School’s paperwork on the computer, which was overwhelming. I didn’t care whether my kite flew or not. I wondered if I could make myself come back in the fall.
I was on probation. Larry, my computer, and I spent the first three months last fall in an office downstairs. I met with principal Amy Mook every couple of weeks while we decided whether I could get on top of this job. I really felt bad. I didn’t like coming to work. I missed the kids, getting to know them, feeling their energy. My mind was struggling to understand the new computer programs I was learning. The Mini staff wasn’t too happy with no one to answer the phones in the office upstairs. I felt like Mason running into the fence.
Amy Mook comes through for me and MiniSchool. Just after the first of the year, I was back in the
upstairs Mini office and feeling a part of the program again. I realized the work on the new computer programs was beginning to pay off. The dreaded ALC monthly report that used to take 2-3 work days could now be done in 2-3 hours. Mini’s new reporting systems of attendance, credits, class descriptions, and educational outcomes were working. I was happy in my job again. I had time to do the paperwork and be with kids and staff. My kite was flying and I was smiling, even with an ice pack on my brain.
The key to my success was my meetings with Amy Mook. Amy held me strictly accountable to report my progress. She constantly questioned how and why we do things the way we do so we could devise information collection and reporting systems that would satisfy not only Mini-School’s students and parents, but also the school district and the state agencies. She challenged me to look at the strong and weak points of my personal work style. I’d go into those meetings with trepidation and come out energized, encouraged, and feeling confident and competent.
Amy Mook did what principals were originally charged with in the “olden days.” They were the super teachers who had classroom experience and then, as principals, became mentors to teachers and other staff. In a school setting where teachers and other staff sometimes feel isolated in their classrooms and offices, the principal teacher would offer support and advice. This is what Amy did for me directly and for Mini-School indirectly. She listened to find out about Mini’s unique position at MHS, hooked me up with talented people in the high school, like Glenn Skoy who taught me how to adapt the computer programming for Mini. She helped me help the Mini-School teachers adjust to the changes that made more work for them. Thanks to the Mini-School teachers who lived through these transitions.
Amy affirmed me as a talented, competent person when I was feeling pretty inadequate. She set high standards for me and my job and challenged me, then supported and encouraged me to do more than I thought I could. We all need that, and it is often sadly lacking in a huge school setting, especially from administration. Mini-School owes a big thank you to Amy for spending her precious time one-on-one with their para. And I personally thank you, Amy.
First ever! Mini doesn’t take a spring BWCA canoe trip. With 18 inches of ice on the Boundary Waters lakes on May 10, Doug Berg and students are canoeing the Big Fork River in northern Minnesota, going north to International Falls. A new adventure for Mini-School and possibly a new regular trip.
Other trips since the last Com-Mini-Cations were the March winter camping trip led by Doug as usual, and the Buffalo River canoe trip in Arkansas, led by Doug and Randy, who haven’t been on a trip together for a long time. And Randy took a bicycle trip to southern Minnesota, where the temp was in the 30’s most of the time. You’ll read more about these trips further in this issue.
Another first ever—Mini limits enrollment to 70 students! Gone are the days when 5 staff members
could do a good job with over 100 students. With a waiting list, the following students felt pretty lucky to join Mini this spring: Geno Faraci, Erik Sturm, Dan Oraivej, Erik Ottum, Chris Smieja, Ryan Boyum. Tony and Ann Kohman, son and daughter of Mini alumni John Kohman, are in Mini now. Back from last year are Justin Secor, Jim Zachman, and Angie Peterson.
Third quarter graduates: Casey Wright and Dawn Hesselgrave graduated and are leaving next week to live in Florida. Susan Pipkorn graduated on March 13 to beat twin sister Sara, who graduated on April 19. Brandon Petron came back after leaving last year and graduated on March 22. Congratulations and best wishes, you guys! Keep us posted on your travels through life.
Classes and blocks are constantly changing to meet the needs of students. Some of the old stand-bys are Reading, Com-Mini-Cations, Consumer Math, Newspaper, and Math History. Pauline did blocks on Crime & Justice and Environmental Policy & Debate.
60 out of 70 Mini kids hold down jobs in addition to going to school in the mornings. They get credit for their work experience and learn a lot about working in the real world. Some kids try different jobs until they find one that fits for them. The following kids have worked at the same job for a year or more:
Chris Alexander-Utne: Pizza Hut
Scott Bakkelund: Rubble Tile
Mason Davey: L’il Caesers
Collin Davis: MacDonald’s-Excelsior
Marcelle Dorenkamp: Dunn Bros.
Mike Ennis: Cooper’s Super Valu
Greg Fasching: Hilltop, City of Excelsior
Lisa Kopecky: Eagle Medical
Emily Matejcek: InHome Personal Care
Matt Morseth: Amoco-Excelsior
Tami Olson: MacDonald’s-Excelsior
Grady Peterson: KMart
Will Scheidler: Target-Ridgedale
Justin Secor: Starkey
Christina Sedlak: Hour Glass Cleaners
Nicole Tiggas: Pizza Hut
Congratulations! It’s fun to go to a local place and see students there.
Staff doings: Doug and Randy are doing two summer school St. Croix/Namekagon canoe trips this summer. There will be 14 kids on each trip, and they’ll be from all over the ALC (Alternative Learning Centers) area.
Pauline had her baby, a little girl named Alexandra Rose, and she’s a great mom. She seems so calm you’d hardly know it’s her first. And Alex Rose is a mellow kid. The staff and kids are happy to have Pauline back. Also, Pauline got tenured this year. Congratulations and good going!
Ramona’s expanding the IS (Independent Study) program all the time. Zaccy is almost 2 years old now, and while Daddy George was away on business for 3 weeks this spring, Ramona found out what it was like to be a single mom.
I (Joanne) will be celebrating my first anniversary with husband Brad this year in a new (built in 1900) house! We bought a place out in Minnetrista and will be moving over Memorial Day weekend. We’re looking forward to having a big yard and gardens that we missed in the apartment in Excelsior. And as soon as school’s out, we’ll be at the Humane Society looking for a puppy.
Seen in the staff bulletin at MHS: Let it be known that the well-oiled machine of Mike Lichty and Doug Berg won the gold medal in their division of the 15 mile Snake River Canoe race in Mora, MN, May 4, and with a blistering time of 2 hours and 28 minutes (the water behind their canoe was giving off steam) were 3rd overall in a field of 80 canoes. These superb aging athletes, these inspirations to the imminent retirees of MHS, will hereafter expect appropriate deference and obeisance.