By Pauline Engelby
And they’re off! Another year in Mini-School has begun.
I feel sometimes that we never really ended. The summer break has come and gone with the blink of an eye. Mini-School seems like one continuous year with some seniors diligently, anxiously trying to complete graduation requirements into the summer, and us preparing for the return of our many veteran students. But there is always time for fun. The Mini-School staff got together for a 2-day workshop put on by MAAP (Minnesota Association of Alternative Programs). Teachers themselves are a unique breed of extroverted entertainment oriented people; alternative educators are that, plus! It was great to see all the support for alternative education across the state.
I spent my free time enjoying my two small children with my husband Jason. Samantha is now 1 1/2, and Alex is 4 years old. We had a great summer playing at the parks and beaches. Sam is quickly becoming the family comedian and Alex will probably make a fine teacher herself someday. She has begun practicing on her guinea pig, Lucky; her cat, Nick; and the two Betta-fish, Ashly, and Jewel.
The big news for Ramona this summer was that she obtained her Masters’ Degree in Work, Family, and Community Education. Way to go Ramona! When she wasn’t working on her Masters’ paper or the Independent Study she was able to spend time with her family vacationing in Lutsen. Zachary has begun first grade at Clear Springs Elementary and Zorina is still anxiously waiting her turn to be off to school.
Merlin and his wife, Laurie, were able to get away to the bikers’ mecca in Sturgis, South Dakota, and drove to Atlanta to see Laurie’s family. When Merlin wasn’t spending time with his wife and son, Willy, he spent his summer free time playing the drums in his bagpipe band, the Minnesota Pipes and Drums.
Paul also spent time traveling this summer in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area with his family, friends, and his dog, Jackson. He was able to spend some time with his nephews teaching them the skills to survive in the back country. He also worked hard at his second profession, which is tree trimming and was a great help to me in developing one of my new teaching blocks on the different species of trees in the Midwest.
The newest member of the Mini staff is Kim Weimer. Kim comes to us all the way from Dallas, Texas. There she worked as a stay at home mom and a volunteer in the pre-school at her local church. Kim and her husband, Tom, have two sons, Jacob (11), and Kevin (7). Kim works in the Mini-School office as our para-professional, so be sure to welcome her when you get her on the phone.
The fall trip line up began with the traditional Mark Warren trip in Grantsburg, Wisconsin. Mark is a naturalist from Georgia and works with the kids in a very unique way to get them in touch with the earth, and with themselves. Doug Berg and Paul Gerten facilitated the trip, which was comprised of two groups of students. Group 1 included Billy Knight, Carl Poulsen, John Grambsch, Nichole Huddleston, Monica Williams, Josh Boudreau, PJ Davis, and Marc Cohen. Group 2 consisted of Krissy Valdez, Josh Reisgies, Katie Juneau, Kevin Witte, Alexis Montemayer, Natalie Evans, Zach Hobbs, Keri Allen, and April Brown.
The highlight of this year’s trip was that everyone was able to make fire from the basswood tree. The kids brushed up on their tracking and stalking skills along with their hunting and gathering techniques. The week culminated in the traditional sweat lodge ceremony on an island in the St. Croix River.
Shortly after their return preparation for the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore Trip, which was a seven day hiking trip, led by Paul. The seven participants were John Grambsch, Josh Boudreau, Jenny Blankenship, James Froemming, Andy Sheats, John Hunter, and Andrew Bernstein. The kids and Paul hiked out of Grand Marais Michigan destined for Munising. As in the Mini-School spirit they hiked through the unique geology of the Upper Peninsula in the cold and sleet barely escaping a nine inch snowfall in Marquette. The group returned back to school with a great attitude. We’re proud of all the kids. They did a great job!
Currently Merlin and I are gearing up for the traditional pre-Thanksgiving stomach-stretching Grantsburg Hike. We are working hard at rallying a group together for the eighteen mile hike that will take place the fifteenth and sixteenth of November.
Back at the home front, mid-quarter has come and gone. Seniors are working fast and furious toward graduation; juniors and sophomores are concerning themselves with graduation standards and social events. Our own Mike Bromme was nominated to the Homecoming Court and we had a great time cheering him on (way to go Mike!). We also have 30 new kids in the program and the staff is working diligently at instilling in the kids a sense of Mini-School history and philosophy.
Lastly we will be beginning our annual sale of the WCCO Freshwater Foundation Weather Calendar sale. We are all hoping for another year of record breaking sales, so contact your nearest Mini-School kid or give us a call and we’ll be glad to send a kid your way. Thanks for all of your support throughout the years. We’re looking forward to hearing from all of our alumni and friends.
Alumni News
Many alumni from Mini-School have contacted us over the summer. Here are some updates.
Scott Hedke (class of ’95) stopped to visit in early June of 2000, after having completed 4 – 4\2 years in the U.S. Navy. With him and his wife, Satsuki, a native of Yokahama, Japan, was their son, a very interested and engaging boy named Samuel Joshua. He was born on November 9, 1999. The Hedtke family was planning a summer move to Jacksonville, Florida.
Jesse Steinwand, class of ’99, is going to school at Normandale right now, but is considering a transfer to Alexandria Technical College where he will study law enforcement.
Tony DeSantis, a graduate from the late ’70’s now has a son who is in Randy Nelson’s Work Experience class. (Randy says TJ is a great kid.)
Coreena Schulz attended Mini-School in 99-00. She is going to cosmetology school soon.
Keith (Pugsley) Bartram, class of ’94, sent the following e-mail to Mini-School: After Keith’s discharge from the U.S. Navy in March of 1997, he has been spotted at such businesses as Fleet Maintenance in Eden Prairie working as a diesel mechanic, William’s Towing in Excelsior, and now finally an association management company called the ARDEL group. Keith is currently working at both the ARDEL group as a Marketing Consultant and part-time at a local Target, as security. Keith’s full time job as a Marketing Consultant puts him in a position where he is in charge of maintaining and expanding vast databases, selling exhibition space, advertising in client publications, internet visibility, and membership development. The ARDEL group also keeps him busy with sending him to various other trade shows across the United States in hopes of expanding his current client and trade show lists, and databases. Keith feels that he has finally found his niche in the career world, and is looking to be the first person to sell a Macintosh to Bill Gates and a 1/2 pound all beef burger to a vegetarian. He is currently residing in Excelsior, and his son, who is 2 1/2 years old, is living in Illinois with his mother.
Matt (Meatball) Richards, class of ’93, attends the University of Southern Oregon. His major is Astronomical Physics, and according to Dad, he lives for homework! He was recently named to the faculty Dean’s List and received a scholarship from NASA.
Bill Gallagher, who attended 98-99, is going to HTC for Electronics. He works for UPS and, due to the physical nature of this job, likes going for a massage on occasion.
Colin Davis, a late ’90’s attendee, is a roadie for Laurie Line & the Pop Chain Orchestra, and is travelling quite a lot.
Rob Ayotte, who attended Mini-School in ’92-’93, is teaching art classes at Minnetonka Institute of Art. He’s also taking classes and doing freelance artwork. He says get in touch with him if you need anything artistic.
Missy Quaas, a ’99 graduate, had a real-life adventure recently. She used her Mini-School trip skills in Louisiana, where she lives, when she and her friends got lost in the woods. Close to heat exhaustion and plenty tired, Missy led the group back to civilization. Now they do it the way she says from the start!
Mike Ayotte, class of ’99, is assisting in shipping and receiving at Data Metalcraft. In his spare time, he “varmint hunts” with Dad in North Dakota and shoots skeet.
Kortnie Hanson, class of ’98, is working at Gina Maria’s with Kyle, and she starts her modeling career on January 1 with Karen International.
Dave (Zyt) Zytkoskee, ’94 graduate, has been back from Wisconsin for a while. He’s a mobile DJ (does weddings) so keep him in mind if you need someone to play tunes.
The Johnstons have a new house. Brad, who graduated in ’80, and Joanne, our para-professional who you might say “graduated” with Doug and Randy in 1999, recently bought a little tiny cabin on top of a really tall hill just a few blocks from where they used to live in northern Minnetrista. Joanne says if you want to give them a call or visit, that probably means she would like to hear from you. Here’s their new address & phone:
[Editor’s Note: Redacted for obvious reasons.]