By Merlin Zimmerman
As the school year begins, it strikes me how much Mini-School is a mixture of the old and the new. Take our new students, for example. We have 35 new students – about half the program – but among them there are many familiar faces. Mini-School teachers teach several of Minnetonka’s Summer School and Independent Study classes, and almost all of the students who enrolled with us this year have attended one of those classes in the past year or so, so very few of our new students are completely new. This is actually more significant than it first appears. In fact, educational studies show that a major factor in the success of students like ours is the relationships that they develop with the adults in their alternative schools. By working with us over and over before they even enroll in Mini, many of our “new kids” are familiar old veterans the day they walk through the door.
We also noticed that this year we have nearly 20 “legacies” in Mini-School. Legacies are students who have a family member connected to Mini-School prior to their own entry into our program. We have at least 3 kids whose parents or aunts/uncles were students of Doug and Randy’s. But much more common are the students who are the younger siblings and half-siblings of former students. There are nearly a dozen of these. This kind of long-term family contact puts us, as staff, in a very valuable position, in that we know what family life is like for many of our kids. The less of a stranger their parents and siblings are to us, the more we are able to understand the many influences in their lives. We personally know the parent that has been in dismal health for years, or who is getting miraculously better; we know the 5-year-older brother who is taking a positive step in his career choices; we understand when a parent or child might not be pleased – or might be greatly relieved – when the courts step in to intervene at home. Without years of contact with a family, the mainstream teacher has less opportunity to appreciate the details in a student’s life. In a very real sense, Mini-School is the very model of a small community. Functioning as a modern educational program that recognizes the value of an “out-of-date” approach, the atmosphere of a program like ours harkens back to the days of the one-room school house where grades levels mix together and the staff and students work with each other on a very individual level.
In the academic arena, there is old and new, as well. As of this school year, neither Mini-School nor Minnetonka in general has to fulfill the Graduation Standards that have been around for several years. However, the “same old” part of the story is that there are new state and district standards that we all must begin to adhere to. The standards remain, but the change from the old system to the new appears, from a teacher’s standpoint, to be a positive one.
Aside from the all-important people in the program, we are pleased to announce the arrival of the newest member of our transportation team: the White Van. Mini purchased this used Dodge van knowing that our old blue van was approaching its mandatory retirement age of 10 years. In the middle of the summer, the state of Minnesota changed the vehicle retirement age to 12, so now we have 2 more years of use from each of our vans. Having the two vehicles makes our trips program a much smoother operation. It also allows for Mini to continue contributing a vehicle to the district when they need small group transportation, as we have been doing since we first got our van over 10 years ago.
And as a final note, as the year begins, we have had another bit of news about a life event as old as time. On October 10, Pauline had a son, Nathan Jerome Engleby. One of our senior (but certainly not “old”) teachers is now the mother of the newest member of the Mini-School Family. Congratulations and best wishes to the whole Engleby family!
Mini-School in the Electronic Age or How We Finally Learned What the “E” Stands For
The Minnetonka School District has had a website for a number of years now, with a link on the Minnetonka High School page (under the pull-down menu “departments”) to the Mini-School page. However, for all the eagerness we have been able to muster, it has never been possible for us to generate any content for our own web page. This may be a remnant of the Mini culture of valuing a rustic natural life. Well, Ramona is out to introduce us to the 21st century! She has begun working on customizing and managing our Mini-School web site! Thank you, Ramona!
Now that we are committed, it looks like our website will be coming up around Christmas. You should keep checking periodically at [REDACTED] to see it as soon as it flies.
In order to take advantage of our electronic resources, we will be publishing Com-Mini-Cations on the website. Anyone with web access, who would like to, will receive an e-mail from the Com-Mini staff announcing that a new issue has been posted. Our E-readers will then have the opportunity go to the Mini web-site and check out our current issue. We hope to eventually have some archived issues available, as well.
In order for this to be an effective means of publication, the Com-Mini staff needs to know who would rather receive an electronic Com-Mini than a snail mail Com-Mini. In order to do this we are requesting an e-mail response from all our readers. (Logically, if you have no e-mail, you will not respond to our request.)
Here’s what we would like you to do: Send an e-mail to the teacher editor of Com-Mini-Cations at the following e-dress: [REDACTED]
In your e-mail, please include the following information:
- Your name as it appears on the mailing label of your Com-Mini-Cations, along with a preferred e-mail address for us to write to.
- State clearly if you would prefer to continue receiving Com-Mini through the mail, or whether you would like to receive it via internet. IMPORTANT – IF YOU SAY YOU PREFER THE INTERNET METHOD, YOUR NAME WILL BE REMOVED FROM THE POSTAL MAILING LIST.
As soon as the internet Com-Mini is operational, you will receive a note with any information you need to access your copy on-line. Thanks for helping us make this technological move. In this way, Mini-School can be ready for serving our community for another 30 years
Alumni News
Nick Kurian (2001) Nick stopped to the Mini-School office to chat the other day. He is working as a body artist at “Lucky Linda’s Body Art” in Excelsior, and has been for several years now. This has been a very successful and fulfilling career path for him! Meanwhile he is living with Tanner Anderson (2001) who is attending MCTC.
Monica Williams (2002) Monica lives with her parents as she attends MCTC taking her general classes. Her plan is to proceed into a teacher’s college later on and join the ranks of her amazing Mini-School instructors.
Kellen Davis (2001) Right now Kellen is going to HTC for Auto Mechanics, but he was recently accepted into “the Harvard of Auto Mechanics Schools” – Wyotech, in Laramie Wyoming. Until he goes off to school in the west though, he is moving into a new apartment with his girlfriend, he is going to school full time, and working A LOT.
Lacey Landt (1999) Lacey recently got promoted to International Sales Representative for the region of Asia, Latin America and Australia. She has been taking Spanish lessons and hopes to begin actually traveling for her job soon.
Lexy Montemayor (2002) As of July 2003, Lexy is performing as a model in runway shows, bridal magazine layouts, and even television shows in the Philippine Islands, where she is living. She has spent a lot of time singing in a band, and learning Tagalog, the local language. Sounds exciting!
Wade Radde (2003) Wade stopped in just the other day, home in Minnesota after finishing Marines boot camp. He will soon be off to camp Pendleton for rifle training, and on to his specialist training. Wade found himself particularly unpopular with his Drill Instructor due to an e-mail that Matt Radde (a brother) and Matt’s own sergeant had written claiming that Wade thought boot camp was a cake walk. Rather than get Matt back, Wade says he is considering how to make boot camp a memorable experience for his little brother Cody, who is Marine-bound next year. Pass it on, Wade! Watch out, Cody!