"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: 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." (Originally published in the Maple River Messenger) Note: High School Office Secretary Gloria Langworthy frightened me, so as a clueless student-teacher, I avoided Gloria and turned to the helpful student-assistant, Sarah Kauffmann for all my copying needs. Decades later, she returned to my life when I taught her two children. (I still struggled with the copier).  To borrow a military metaphor, those who serve in combat become a

Centuries ago, the Anishinaabe People left the shores of Nova Scotia on an exodus to discover a new home described in prophecy. A decade ago, my wife and I hopped on a jet plane and replicated this spiritual journey in a rental car with cheese and crackers in our Wal-Mart cooler. Okay, so our experience lacked any of the “epic” qualities of the original, but in trying to understand what it means to be “Minnesotan,” I needed to understand the journey that helped shape one of t