Apologies for Sins of Omission
By Doug Berg
Things get awfully busy in Mini-School as the end of the year approaches. At the end of the last year, canoe trips, South Dakota trips, bike trips, and Woman’s Issues trips were all going on. Classes, of course, were happening, preparations were being made for a superb Recognition Night, and Randy was holding lengthy conferences with many Mini- School seniors, trying to get them graduated in spite of themselves. Also, an end-of-the-year issue of Com-Mini-Cations was getting published.
In that issue Lisa Kopecky conducted an interview with Randy about the 25 year history of Mini-School. She had planned to interview Randy and me, but I, of course, was on a BWCA canoe trip.
Lisa wrote an excellent article, but in translating her interview notes to the printed page, some information, particularly about former Mini-School Staff members, was omitted. I usually proofread Com-Mini-Cations, but since I was on the canoe trip, Ramona took over this duty. Since she is relatively new to the Mini-School, she could not know that some former staff members were left out of the article.
First, Georgia Lyon was, I believe, the first Mini-School aide (in the days before political-correctness and HIV) or paraprofessional. Jane McComber, a Mini-School graduate, also held this position in the late 70’s.
In the mid 70’s, Mini-School also had a teacher named Tom Peterson. John Eiden was a reading teacher in Mini-School in the mid to late 70’s, and Norm Garneau was an English teacher in Mini-School through the 80’s. Also, for most of one year in the early 80’s, Mini-School had a social studies teacher named Roy Hawkins who was a long-term substitute for Lester when she was on maternity leave.
All of these peopie left their mark on Mini-School and helped in its development, but most notable were John Eiden and Norm Gameau. Next to Randy, Joanne, Lester, and me, these guys have the longest tenure in Mini-School and were very involved in trips and ail aspects of the program.
We’re very sorry for our sins of omission in leaving these people out of the “history” article. Please accept our apologies.