"It’s a Good Day to Be an Adult and an Eagle." (Note: Due to circumstances that were beyond my control, I had most of the freshman English sections in 1998, and a colleague departed, I ended up getting most of the sophomores in 1999. In 2000, I had most of the Public Speaking students as juniors, and then when another colleague retired, I suddenly had several elective classes in 2001. Needless to say, I knew the Class of 2001 almost too well. Whether athlete or artist, cheerl

Student Council learns leadership through planning activities. Following all the excitement and pageantry of homecoming week, the student body is rudely greeted the following Monday with: “We now resume our regularly scheduled programming.” The routine of school can be a bit tedious, which is why decades ago, administrators realized the value of promoting student councils, who not only provide entertainment and a heavy dose of school spirit but also learn important leadership

Lewis and Moore represented Maple River on the National Stage. As an "Old Guy" covering youth sports, my inner cynic observes a student’s entire athletic career come and go like the lifespan of a cicada. 99% of the time, all the blood, sweat, and tears put into athletics ends in a sudden loss to JWP, BEA, or JCC. Career over. Let the tales of glory days begin. This past week, though, two former Maple River athletes not only took on Father Time but also battled the world in tw

"It's a Good Day to Be an Adult and an Eagle" NOTE: As a teacher, there were moments when I’d toss out a “hard” question during discussion meant to stymie the kids seeking shameless attention. For the class of 2018, they didn’t look down. Nope, they all turned their heads toward…Kayla Rigdon. Kayla never flinched in these high pressure moments and would maintain fearless eye contact as I scanned the room. Even if she wasn’t certain, she’d confidently tackle the question while

"Brad Lawson Demonstrates Excellence in Assisting" Life gives a person chances to lead as well as times to follow. For Bradley Lawson, his career at Maple River has given him plenty of both. As a middle school teacher, he is the captain of his own ship, guiding students through curricular and developmental lessons on a daily basis. In this regard, Lawson leads a hundred learners as he shepherds his flock from September to May. Yet Lawson has proven himself to be one of the mo

Homeschooling in the Maple River Community The month of September marks the beginning of the school year. For many students, it means new teachers, new lockers, new clothes, a new bus route, new, new, new… While so many head off to school, some students just stay…home! According to the Minnesota Department of Education, there were more than 29,000 students homeschooled in Minnesota during the 2023-2024 school year, which is a 10% increase from the previous year and 40% higher

This video features interviews with Bill Daly, whose father sold the land to the county, the current park manager, as well as a historical look at our local lake.

Head Custodian Nicole Quiram Keeps the Facility running year 'round. With the end of summer, students and staff return from the corners of Maple River to a familiar routine and building. Yet there are some staff members that never left, and in the early weeks of August, find themselves sprinting to a finish line: the custodians. Nicole Quiram is the leader of the custodial crew who organizes a deep cleaning of the entire building and then hastily puts humpty-dumpty back toget

"It's Good to be an Adult and an Eagle" NOTE: I have nightmares about the infamous “canoe disaster of 2012.” I know I looked right into the eyes of Jessica Landsteiner and the rest of my NHS kids and told them to NOT grab hold of any overhanging branches while canoeing the Blue Earth River. What does she do? Yep. A decade after we wrecked two canoes (turning one into a Z shape), Landsteiner looked back on that moment as one of her “fun” memories in school. Sometimes disasters

"It's a Great Day to be an Adult and an Eagle." Note: Just like Clark Kent would meekly go about his work without fuss or complaint, Jessica (Anderson) Edwards was an outstanding if not reserved part of the classroom. Yet outside of the classroom, she was a feared competitor. Instead of a cape, Super Jessica would emerge in a business suit and crush Speech and Mock Trial villains. Swinging Sledgehammers My favorite memory of Jessica Edwards involves a public service announce

"The Enduring Tradition of Maple River Marching Band." Having engaged in a five-minute duel with random strangers for a small eight-foot plot of grass along some random street in a random town, you must now endure nine levels of torment and torture that would’ve made Dante rewrite The Inferno. Drunken morons, defecating horses, showers of stinging sucrose, and weather conditions fit only for the propagation of mosquitoes make minutes turn to hours. Did I mention you’re superv

“Wyatt Birr ‘Walks the Walk’ with Leadership.” Kids these days. Social Media often portrays Gen Z and the forthcoming Gen Alpha as creatures about to ruin human civilization, yet Maple River High School is still churning out a few “old school” types who understand the importance of community. The son of Jodi and Ben Birr recently received the Maple River National Honor Society’s Individual Service Project of the year award, which is a project that benefits the community and i

In July, I was able to sit down and visit with Jane Caldwell about her life in retirement and also some of her memories of working at Maple River through the decades.

"It's a Good Day to be an Adult and an Eagle." Note: All Day SA, as the nickname implies, was apparently relentless on the basketball court, but I only knew him as a student in my Media Productions class. This light-hearted jokester would apparently shift into “beast-mode” on the court, but for me, he was a charming reporter able to talk to anybody about anything. While his athletic talents took him to great heights in high school and college, his charm and communication skil

"It's a Good Day to Be an Adult and an Eagle." Note: It was a beautiful day on the Blue Earth River paddling with my NHS students. While there would be plenty of team-building and planning later, one canoe hosted an hour-long discussion of favorite guitar players. In my years of canoeing, it was a memorable conversation with a unique young man. He’s still unique and still shredding. A well-rounded education tries to create an enriched individual, yet it is also a process to f

On Friday, June 28th, I sat down with my former colleague (and current neighbor) to discuss retirement. The problem? This man hasn't slowed down one bit in the past decade. During my morning coffee break...there goes Jim driving past my house in his white truck. During my lunch break...there goes Jim past my kitchen window. On my afternoon coffee break, there goes both Jim and Arleen. It makes a fella almost dizzy. While I've kept track of "Swannie" for the past ten years, h

"It’s a Good Day to be an Adult and an Eagle." (Note: No other student scared me as much as Katie Maras. Why? Oh, she knew all the grammar rules, and if I slipped up, her hand would shoot up for a clarification. She made me a better teacher, and for the next two decades, I’d talk about her to my students when I introduced grammar and the “cheat sheet” I created for dealing with Katie.) Overture An opera tells a dramatic story set to music, so it is fitting that Katie (Maras

Batman needs Robin, and for head track coach Nathaniel Kenne, he needs a team of Robins to help manage such a large team. One of his secret weapons is assistant coach Jeremy Walters. Walters has gained notoriety within the track coaching community for one specific skill: pole vaulting. For most of the 2024 track season, both boys and girls pole vaulters locked down the top spots from early season invitationals to the section finals. While track and field showcases a variety

"It's a Good Day to Be an Adult and an Eagle." (Note: Some students took notes. Others wrote down your jokes. While I stopped teaching in 2023 (journalism, speech, Indigenous studies, and film history), a piece of my teaching career continued “up north” with one of my former Eaglevision anchors, who also discovered that the consolation prize for not being a gameshow host is a rewarding gig as a teacher. ) Ladies and Gentleman, who wants to play a game? First, let’s meet our b

"It's a Good Day to be an Adult and an Eagle." Note: 25 students helped make the 2005 yearbook, but only 1 stayed to finish it: Danielle Smith. My former editor would sit cross-legged and barefoot on a desk when working on pages and then hand-off the finished pages to me and take my two-year-old son outside to play while I worked. When the yearbook was finished, off she went into the world. Some of those nursery rhymes we were taught back in the day were quite misleading. Rem