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THURSDAY, RSDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 20 2011 11 1
EDEN PRAIRIE
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Krull reflects on time in Eden Prairie BY LEAH SHAFFER lshaffer@swpub.com
Melissa Krull has no regrets. It’s her last week as Eden Prairie School District superintendent, following the early separation agreement made with the Eden Prairie School Board. The early separation comes on the heels of an unprecedented year in Eden Prairie, in which Krull headed up a boundary change in the district that moved 1,000 students to different elementary schools and redistributed the number of low-income students evenly among the K-6 schools (with the exception of the Spanish Immersion School, where enrollment is not determined by boundaries). Along the way, Krull has remained committed to the change and to the district’s work addressing the achievement gap between students of color and white students. When asked if she would do it all again, Krull said she absolutely would. “I’m absolutely certain that the outcome for our students is better and right and
$1 $1
HOLDING COURT
BOARD ANNOUNCES INTERIM SUPERINTENDENT AND NEW COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR. SEE PAGE 3.
PHOTO BY LEAH SHAFFER
Melissa Krull during her last week as Eden Prairie’s superintendent. good,” she said. “I would absolutely lead it again. I think it’s the work that needs to be done all over this country.” The Eden Prairie News spoke with Krull
as she finished up her last week in the Eden Prairie School District. It is an unexpected place to be for a woman who started her career with a wish to help students with special needs. Krull grew up in St. Paul, attending Catholic schools, but was drawn to working in public education because of a desire to work with children with special needs, she said. She had no plans or idea that she would end up a superintendent of a district of some 9,500 kids. “I never had it mapped out like that,” Krull said. Except for her first two years out of college, Krull has spent her entire career in Eden Prairie. She started as a special education teacher in the district in 1984,
Krull to page 8 ®
Stepping up recycling PHOTO BY DANIEL HUSS
EPHS senior Becca Ebert works to improve recycling efforts
This year’s Eden Prairie High School Homecoming king and queen are Connor Gnazzo and Kathryn Ravey. Like the rest of the Homecoming court, they were recognized at halftime. See more Homecoming photos on page 12.
PROP offers job-search help
BY LEAH SHAFFER lshaffer@swpub.com
BY LEAH SHAFFER lshaffer@swpub.com
I
t’s the wee hours of Saturday morning, a time when most teenagers might be slumbering in their beds, but Becca Ebert is methodically checking the bleachers of Aerie stadium. The EPHS senior has been gathering cans and bottles following home football games this year in an effort to step up recycling efforts at Eden Prairie High School. Following the homecoming game this week, Ebert headed out to the stadium at around 6 a.m. to grab recyclable goods before the cleanup crew from one of the activity clubs came in to dump all the trash in the dumpster. Though recycling is available at the high school, there is no recycling Dumpster at the stadium, so Becca drags bags back to her home for recycling pickup. Ebert, a member of the high school Tree Huggers club and Amnesty International, is working to smooth out the process so that club cleanup
PHOTO BY LEAH SHAFFER
Becca Ebert has been gathering recyclable materials following home football games this year at Eden Prairie High School. Ebert, an EPHS senior, wants to raise awareness among students so they don’t just chuck their cans and bottles on the ground, but seek out recycling containers. crews will also sort out recyclables. But she also wants to spread awareness about the issue to those at the games.
The bleachers are littered with bottles and cans following games, despite the prevalence of large white tubs labeled
“recycling” nearby. After collecting the cans and bottles that might
Recycle to page 8 ®
September is Hunger Action Month across the country, and for Eden Prairie’s local food shelf, the “action” has not let up. PROP (People Reaching Out to Other People) is caught up with the day-to-day work of making sure the shelves are stocked with the latest food needs. Increasingly, PROP is seeing middle class families turn to the organization for help. In July alone, PROP saw 45 new families, said Executive Director Anne Harnack. “They wait until they’ve used up every resource” before turning to the food shelf, she noted. That means fami lies drained their 401Ks and could be nearing foreclosure when they reach the point that they turn to PROP. What they fi nd at PROP is not only food, but help in finding the way to their next step. That’s where volunteer Lisa Yee comes in. Yee has been working as a volunteer in the PROP resource room, which has increasingly become a job-search resource room.
PROP to page 8 ®
PHOTO BY LEAH SHAFFER
Lisa Yee volunteers at the PROP resource room, offering job-search help to PROP clients.
PROP Resource Room The room is available from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays. Call PROP at (952) 937-9120 the morning you plan to visit the room to make sure a volunteer is available to provide assistance. PROP is at 14700 Martin Drive.
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