Class of 2024 Legendary Women

Rachel (Perky) Pernina Oliver Burke

EDUCATION

Diploma with Honors, Brainerd Public Schools

PUBLISHED WORKS

Published works in The Lutheran, St. Anthony Messenger, CentraCare Health Publications, Brainerd Dispatch, St. Cloud and Walker newspapers including: Remembering a Cold February Night (In memory of Edward and other veterans of WW2), Brainerd Dispatch

Write or Weep, read live by Perky for NewsCut newscut.mprnews.org/2018/03/perky/ “We mustn’t forget… be grateful for the good things because that is a gift. “

- Perky Burke

JUST BECAUSE I’M A WOMAN Pernina O. Burke 1990

Mr. Mechanic – I warn you: Just because I’m a woman –Don’t you dare tell me I need a whole new cooling system in my car when all I need is a fuse and a can of Freon!

And don’t you dare tell me I need a battery and a new starter when all I need is to have the connections checked and the corroded terminals cleaned!

And don’t you dare tell me

I need an entire exhaust system when all I need is a tailpipe!

And don’t you dare tell me I need brake pads and calipers and “the works” when absolutely all I need is the pads! Besides, this old car isn’t worth the price of “the works.”

I’m finally getting smarter. I’ve been through all this garbage. I’ve trusted mechanics because they’re supposed to know about these things. But no more. Now I get a second opinion. Just like at the doctor’s office –Because I’m a woman!

Rachel (Perky) Pernina Oliver Burke (BHS 1934) graduated with honors at age 16, two years earlier than the typical 1934 BHS grad. A member of the National Honor Society, Declamation Club and Commercial Club serving as secretary her senior year, she was also an actor in the Senior Class play. Perky met her husband, Edward Burke, in 1935 while both were employed at the Farm Credit Administration in Brainerd. Like Perky, Ed had graduated high school at age 16. They married in 1937. Their family grew with the birth of two children.

Activated as Commander of Company A, 194th Tank Battalion, Ed deployed in September 1941, serving in the Philippines. In May 1942, Perky received word that her husband was MIA. Unknown to her, five months earlier, Ed had been wounded and captured as a POW, information she didn’t receive until December 1942. He didn’t return home until October 1945.

During WW2, Perky worked at a local defense plant making bolts for airplanes and was involved in homefront war efforts including playing in the Brainerd Ladies’ Drum and Bugle Corps in 1942, joining other band members who also had loved ones in the 194th Tank Battalion.

During the war and after, with Ed’s recovery at home from his POW experience and alcohol addiction, Perky was the main caregiver for the family and operated a board and care home for veterans with mental illnesses in St. Cloud until 1957. She washed, ironed, cooked and cleaned for the eight boarders while caring for her growing family of six. “I loved those years!” she said. “Busy, busy. Hardly had time to breathe. Ed’s sobriety was a big, big part of it.” With low profit outweighing their exhaustive efforts, they closed the Board and Care in 1957.

Perky spent 25 years as a secretary in the pathology department at St. Cloud Hospital and also taught medical terminology, transcription and office procedures at St. Cloud Technical College. Perky used her self-taught skills to teach medical terminology to the blind, dictating into a computer which printed in both English and Braille. After retiring from the hospital, she edited a medical textbook for a local law firm and was offered a job, finally retiring at age 80.

Perky was a prolific writer. When she was 7, her four-line poem was published in a children’s magazine. As an adult, Perky had numerous essays published in local and regional publications. She was a dedicated member of the Sinclair Lewis Writing Club of Sauk Center. Throughout her lifetime, Perky remained active in the Ex-POW Department of the State of MN and St. Cloud, serving as Chaplain for 27 years. She was also a sought-after community theater actress.

Perky writes, “My last gig was as Ethel in On Golden Pond. It’s a role I played twice with the same leading man. The last time, I was 78 years old. I enjoy theater very, very much.”

Perky, a talented seamstress, made most of her own and her daughters’ clothes. Musically talented, Perky was a composer and played piano, organ, tenor drums and saxophone. She remained a member of the esteemed Brainerd Ladies’ Drum and Bugle Corps and traveled with the group to perform in many events including the 1949 New Orleans Mardi Gras parades where the Corps was heralded with national acclaim.

Edward, at age 56, and three of their six children preceded Perky in death. At her 100th birthday celebration, Perky remarked, “I used to think 79 was old. Now anybody who’s under 80 is certainly a kid.” An accomplished woman of substance, Perky passed away in September 2018 at age 100.

Julia’s Journey: Overcoming obstacles through early intervention

BY JODIE NORQUIST

HALVORSON

Lowell fourth-grader Julia Fargo can be described in many ways. She’s bright, funny, caring, brave, confident and a good friend. Julia is also deaf.

At 10, Julia has faced many challenges throughout her young life. However, with the support of early intervention services provided by her dedicated Brainerd Early Childhood Special Education team and her parents, Matt and Nikki Fargo, who were determined to help Julia communicate with the world around her, Julia has proven that deafness is not a barrier to success. Being deaf is one of the many reasons why Julia is an amazing kid.

“I’m a forever changed educator because of Julia and her family,” says Martha Smithson, Brainerd Early Learning principal. “It was so exciting to learn with you and celebrate your successes with you.”

“Hear that, mom?” Julia says, smiling at her mom, Nikki, while sitting in a conference room at Lowell School. “I changed somebody’s life.”

Newspapers In Education provides newspapers, lessons, online activities and links for classrooms and homes. nieonline.com/brainerdecho

“You changed everybody’s life,” Nikki responds, grinning back at her daughter.

Julia was born at Essentia Health St. Joseph’s Medical Center in Brainerd. During the routine hospital screening at birth, her hearing test indicated she may have hearing loss in her right ear, and she was referred to an audiologist at Children’s Hospital in Minneapolis. At two months, Julia was found to be deaf in her right ear during that appointment at Children’s Hospital. While the Fargo family, which includes Julia’s sister, Sofia, who is two years older, was concerned and fearful of what this could mean for Julia, they soon discovered things were worse than expected.

At five months, Julia stopped responding to sounds altogether. She no longer cooed or made other baby sounds. Something was wrong.

“I told Matt, ‘I don’t think she can hear us anymore,’” recalls Nikki. “I was scared.”

Another hearing test revealed what the Fargos had feared; Julia was now deaf in both ears. Doctors are unsure why this occurred. Julia was healthy and perfect in every way, says Nikki, but Nikki still grieved, worried about what the future would hold for her baby girl. Julia was referred to the Help Me Grow (HMG) program through the Brainerd School District. The program is a state-wide resource and referral service that provides additional support for families with a young child, birth to age 5, who needs help meeting developmental milestones.

At 5 months, Julia was outfitted with hearing aids to attempt to see if they would help. Through the Help Me Grow process, Julia and her family were matched with a speech and language pathologist, Lori Schweitzberger, and Smithson, who was an early intervention teacher at the time. Julia needed help learning to communicate, and her family needed to know how to best communicate with her. They went to the family’s home each week to find ways to bridge the communication gap between Julia and her family members as they worked to help her meet milestones despite her learning obstacles.

The hearing aids did not work for Julia, so the Fargos

SUBMITTED PHOTOS decided she would undergo surgery to receive two cochlear implants. A cochlear implant is a small electronic device that can help provide sound to a person who is deaf or hard of hearing. A portion of the device is surgically implanted under the skin behind the ear, and an external portion rests behind the ear. While an implant doesn’t restore hearing, it can convert sound and speech into electronic pulses sent to different parts of the auditory nerve. Cochlear implants are not hearing aids that amplify sounds. Instead, they can bypass damaged areas of the ear and directly stimulate the auditory nerve.

Julia was 10 months old when she underwent surgery for cochlear implants. She needed time to heal before the implants were activated when she was 11 months old at Children’s Hospital. It was an emotional experience for everyone, watching Julia respond to sounds, such as tapping on a table and her mom’s voice.

Smithson and Schweitzberger also traveled to the Twin Cities to some of her audiology appointments, trying to learn as much as they could on how to help Julia and her new cochlear implants.

“You were the sweetest, happiest baby. We wanted to learn so much for you, Julia,” Smithson tells Julia with a smile. “Sometimes Nikki didn’t know what to ask, and we would help. We would say, ‘Let’s connect you. Let’s keep fighting together.’”

“I never had to navigate those waters alone,” adds Nikki.

Even though Julia can hear sounds and understand speech because of her cochlear implants, it is still important she and her family are fluent in American Sign Language (ASL). There are times when she can’t wear her processors. The batteries must be charged, and she can’t sleep with her processors. For example, it can be difficult for her to hear the teacher in loud classroom settings, so her teachers wear a microphone-type necklace connected via Bluetooth to Julia’s cochlear processor. She also has an ASL interpreter in her classes, so she doesn’t miss anything. At about six months old, Julia was matched for two years with a deaf mentor, Emily Smith-Lundberg, to help in her ASL training.

Nikki took as many ASL courses as she could at Central Lakes College to communicate with her daughter.

“I do not want her to have any minute of her life where she doesn’t have access to language,” Nikki explains.

When Julia was 3 years old, she attended preschool at Washington Educational Services Building. Today, Julia is enrolled in the AGATE Academy for gifted students at Lowell Elementary School. She is one of two deaf students at her school. Many of her friends have learned ASL to communicate with her. She’s come a long way since she was an infant who fell behind in her development when she lost her hearing ability.

Julia plans to attend Camp UBU in South Dakota for a week this summer, a camp for deaf and hard-of-hearing campers who have completed second through eighth grades. She’s excited to meet other campers who are also deaf and to learn more about the deaf culture.

“It’s an opportunity for me to learn different ways to sign,” adds Julia.

Looking back, Nikki says Julia’s deafness has made her a better person. Nikki has reached outside her comfort zone and testified before Minnesota state lawmakers about the importance of the Deaf Mentors program. She’s learned how to become a strong advocate for her daughter, who, in turn, has learned to advocate for herself.

Sometimes, Julia wishes she wasn’t deaf. But most of the time, she considers it a gift.

Early Intervention Available at Brainerd Public Schools

Brainerd Public Schools provides early childhood special education for children from birth to kindergarten who show a developmental delay in the general areas of speech and language, large and fine motor skills, social and emotional behavior, cognitive and/or adaptive skills or have a vision or hearing loss.

After a child receives a formal evaluation to identify special needs, trained ECSE teachers and specialists will work with parents, caregivers, and the child. These special services take place in the child’s home or natural environment. From age 3 to kindergarten, children receive these services at sites including Warrior Early Learning Center and Nisswa Elementary School.

For more information, call the Warrior Early Learning Center at 218-454-5430.

“I sometimes feel I have more opportunities than other people do,” Julia explains.

“She never dwelled on being different,” adds her mom. “She’s proud of who she is, and I admire her, truly. She’s unique and special.”

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For Students Age 15-24 who are primary owner on a checking account more information on this program please stop in and talk with us!

Student can earn a $25 reward* deposited into their checking account up to twice a year for obtaining a GPA of 3.5 or higher per grading period.

*Must be eligible for membership.

BY JOLENE ZELENSKI

PHOTOS BY JOEY HALVORSON

29. 13. 8. 84,000. 65. 100,000. These numbers represent a brief glimpse into Sandy Loney’s teaching career.

Loney, an earth science teacher, has been teaching for 29 years and will retire at the end of the current school year. She first started at Franklin Junior High School before moving over to Forestview Middle School. However, if you ask her to look back over her career, she’ll instead point you to her passion project, Water Week.

Water Week is part of H2O for Life, which is a student learning program that raises awareness about and funds for clean water projects in Central America, Africa and Asia. Loney first brought this program to Forestview 13 years ago after hearing about H2O for Life at a conference.

“All my passions were tied into one: girls in school, the environment, helping pull communities out of global poverty,” said Loney. “Everything about this program, it’s just what I wanted.”

The first year was a single table. As the years went by, Loney worked to incorporate more ways for students to get involved. Eight years ago Loney and her husband, Allan, built “Drink-O,” an 8-foot tall board modeled after Plink-O from “The Price is Right.”

Students can purchase tokens ($1 each or 6 for $5) and drop the tokens down the board in the hopes of winning a prize. This quick game creates a statement piece in the commons and is a significant fundraiser. Plus, it’s just fun.

“I’m going to go to the opposite side of the goal in the hopes it goes in,” said Preslee Glynn, a student at Forestview.

Students watch daily educational water videos and have a variety of ways to contribute:

Purchase special Water Week T-shirts which were designed by students

• Buy “water drops” with the winning team earning a Dilly Bar party which is always generously donated by the Dairy Queen Grill and Chill on the east side of Brainerd

• Compete by grade level in penny wars to earn a freezee party in the spring

• Buy (and eat) Brainerd Senior Center doughnuts with a preparation assist by the Sunrise Rotary Club

• Drop off aluminum cans for recycling in the bin in the parking lot

“Crow Wing Recycling generously gives the can bin and banner each year,” said Loney. “They’ve been wonderful.”

There are also grand prizes for the two students who bring in the most donations. The winners can select an all-terrain hoverboard, an Oculus Quest 2 or a $225 Target gift card. The prizes are donated by LCL Electronics.

Beyond the fun, games and doughnuts, students have an opportunity to practice leadership skills. Loney’s student teams are assigned a job and may have other students to guide as part of that job. For example, Forestview student Patrick Schuedy is the Drink-O board manager.

The week culminates by making a lasting impact for students in other countries. The funds raised are sent to schools that need access to clean water and are matched by an non-governmental organization in the local community to ensure community support. Clean water access means building cement pitted latrines, a hand cleaning station and hygiene education.

Loney and her students are able to select which schools to direct their donations as well as see before and after photos through the H2O for Life website. This year they have chosen four schools in Nicaragua.

Prior to kicking off 2024 Water Week, Forestview students have raised just over $84,000 and provided clean water access to students in 65 schools. Loney originally set a goal to raise

$100,000, however, this is the final year of Water Week with Loney’s upcoming retirement.

“I had never thought of doing anything like this,” said Loney, as she looked back at the effort to make Water Week a reality. “This is really a full-time job.”

Anyone wanting to help the Forestview students to reach the goal can donate online at www.H2OforLifeSchools.org/ sponsors/5, or drop off aluminum cans for recycling in the bin in the Forestview parking lot.

“It’s everything coming together. Kids participate that you never hear their voice in the classroom and they participate,” said Loney. “It’s fun to see the kids want to give back to those who have so little in life.”

After retirement Loney plans to travel including going to Central America to help sea turtles and find a second home for the Drink-O game to benefit animal shelters and rescues.

And Loney’s reflections for her students as she looks back over her career?

“I want them to learn the message that we help take care of each other. That’s the message I want to leave them with.”