March 2014
Excellence. For each and every student.
Communicator WAYZATA SCHOOL DISTRICT VOTERS APPROVE TWO SCHOOL FUNDING QUESTIONS
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ayzata School District voters overwhelmingly approved two requests for increased funding to address growing enrollment that were on the February 25 ballot: • Building bond, approved 78% yes (3,818 votes) to 22% no (1,107 votes): $109.645 million in bond funding to expand Wayzata High School, build a new elementary school and upgrade safety, security and technology infrastructure district wide. • Technology levy, approved 80% yes (3,922 votes) to 20% no (988 votes): Renewed existing technology levy, which funds technology equipment and support district wide with approximately $2.7 million annually for 10 years. “We are incredibly grateful to voters for these results. Approval of these two funding requests Continued on Page 2
Pictured is a preliminary schematic drawing of the additional space planned at Wayzata High School. The 172,000 square feet in additions will include space for: classrooms/labs, music and performing arts, physical education and an expanded cafeteria. There will also be one or more entrances added to the high school site.
Thank You Voters! Trust and Teamwork Contribute to Successful Referendum
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irst and foremost, a huge thank you to our voters and volunteers for the record-breaking “yes” votes on the two district referendum questions. The bond question received 78 percent “yes” votes and the continuation of the technology levy 80 percent “yes” votes — remarkable figures and an all-time high level of support for our district. The entire Wayzata School Board, both the current Board and the immediate past Board, join me in deep appreciation for this show of community support. Upon reflecting why the referendum was so successful, it seemed to me that there were two overriding factors that came into play — both teamwork and trust played major roles. I’d like to elaborate. An enormous amount of teamwork was evident — many, many different parts working in concert with each other. For instance, a Citizens Task Force was brought together, representing our school community, to research and thoughtfully consider a number of alternatives to make a recommendation to the Board about how best to address space needs for our high school students. The Board carefully considered this
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recommendation, along with many others, to make the best decisions for the future. The administration also worked very closely with the Board Facilities Committee to meticulously plan exactly where every dollar of bond money would go. Not only was there teamwork among the various groups, it was also very evident within each of the working groups. Parents and community members who came together in support of the referendum explained that many of them did not know each other at the onset, but they became a highly functional group focused on the needs of our students. The spirit of cooperation permeated the endeavor. The second factor, it seems to me, that played a crucial role is trust. We thank the community for their resounding support of the carefully prepared plan. It is very much appreciated. Among the various teams that I alluded to above, and within those groups, members listened to each other and both developed and demonstrated a trusting approach. I believe that there is trust between the Board and the administration, among Board members, between the administration and the staff — and between
From THE BOARD CHAIR
the district and our community. We take that vote of trust very seriously. We will move forward to implement the facilities and technology plans in the same thoughtful manner as they were developed. We hold dear the trust that this community has in the Wayzata Public Schools and we will work hard to continue to earn that trust. We so appreciate the community support to continue providing each and every student with an excellent education. – Linda Cohen, Chair, Wayzata School Board
Continued from Page 1 represents a tremendous vote of confidence and support from our community to our students, staff and families,” said Superintendent Chace Anderson. “We will continue to provide Wayzata School District families with the quality education they expect, and in turn do our part to maintain the excellent community we are all proud to call our home.”
creating the need for 14-16 additional elementary classrooms.
With more than 1,600 new homes anticipated within the school district in the next four years and most schools already at capacity, the demand to attend Wayzata Public Schools has never been greater. The district’s K-12 resident student enrollment is anticipated to increase twice as fast in the next 10 years as it has in the past decade, with up to 900 more students projected at Wayzata High School alone. In addition, the state recently funded all-day Kindergarten,
• The Facilities Committee of the Board and district administration have begun to meet to further develop the design/construction process and reconfirm timelines for the high school addition, eighth elementary school, and safety, security and technology infrastructure improvements.
Faced with this enrollment growth, last year school district leaders and community members developed a comprehensive plan that resulted in placing these two funding requests on the February 25 ballot. Next steps for use of the building funds include:
• Safety and security improvements will begin during the summer of 2014. • Design of the high school addition
and improvements will proceed during spring and summer 2014; construction will likely start late fall 2014 and continue for nearly two years. • Elementary school design will start after a site is purchased; construction is expected to begin by the summer of 2015. The new elementary will be located in the District north of Highway 55 and west of the future expansion of Peony Lane to Lawndale Lane. The hope is to have a purchase agreement in place for the site of the district’s new elementary within the next 90 days. With the addition of an eighth elementary school, a process to reconfigure school attendance areas to balance enrollment at all elementary schools will be determined and shared with the community by this fall.
open in fall 2016. Renewing the technology levy provides funding stability to provide students and staff with technology equipment and support for learning that will allow students to create, collaborate, and develop skills to thrive today and excel tomorrow in an ever-changing global society. The renewed levy will be in place through 2026. Updates on the construction planning and process will continue to be shared with the community – through the Communicator, school and district emails, local media and the district website, www.wayzata.k12. mn.us. Questions can be directed to the Construction Hotline at 763-745-5050 or by emailing construction@wayzata. k12.mn.us.
• The high school addition and new elementary school are scheduled to be
WHS Girls’ Swim and Dive Team Wins 2013 State Championship
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he Wayzata High School Girls’ Swim and Dive Team won the 2013 State AA Championship. The Trojans finished with 275 points followed by Lake Conference rivals Minnetonka with 232 and Edina with 221. This is the first State Championship for Coach Elizabeth Hansen and the Swim and Dive Team. Sophomore Madison Preiss is the State Champion in the 200-Yard Individual Medley. The team and individuals earned the following: • Sophomore Preiss State
Champion in 200-Yard Individual Medley. • 200-Yard Medley Relay Team of freshmen Carly Quast and Alexis Schaaf and sophomores Anna Petty and Madison Preiss placed third and set a new school record. • 200-Yard Freestyle Relay Team of sophomores Colleen Donlin, Sarah Lingen and Madison Preiss and junior Megan Larson placed second and set a new school record. • 400-Yard Freestyle Relay Team of Donlin, Lingen, Quast and Petty placed second. • Junior Haley Ruegemer placed
WHS Boys’ Swim and Dive Team Wins State Championship
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he Wayzata High School Boys’ Swim and Dive Team won its first State Championship on March 1 at the University of Minnesota’s Aquatic Center. The Trojans finished with a team score of 237 points. Junior Greg Arnold won the individual title for the 100-yard freestyle. The team finished with six, top-four finishes. The State Championship caps a winning season for the Trojans with a Lake Conference Championship and Section 5AA Championship. The WHS Boys Swim and Dive Team is coached by David Plummer, Mike Yasis, Mike Ballard, Lindsey Schmidt and Peter Rocca.
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12th in the 200-Yard Freestyle and 10th in the 500-Yard Freestyle. • Carly Quast placed 10th in the 200-Yard Freestyle and sixth in the 100-Yard Backstroke. • Colleen Donlin placed second in the 50-Yard Freestyle and third in the 100-Yard Freestyle setting two new school records. • Anna Petty placed sixth in the 50-Yard Freestyle and seventh in the 100-Yard Freestyle. • Lingen placed 15th in the 50Yard Freestyle and 14th in the 100Yard Freestyle. • Junior Nicole Fontaine placed
fourth in diving. • Junior Val Wollman placed fifth in diving. • Alexis Schaaf placed 10th in the 100-Yard Butterfly and set a new school record. • Freshman Tiffany Nguyen placed 15th in the 100-Yard Butterfly. • Freshman Alyssa Marquette placed 12th in the 100-Yard Breaststroke. • Preiss placed second in the 100Yard Breaststroke setting a new school record.
WHS Boys’ and Girls’ Cross Country Teams Win State Championship
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he Wayzata Boys’ and Girls’ Cross Country teams won their respective State Championships on November 2. This is the seventh State Championship for the boys with previous championships in 1992, 1993, 2000, 2007, 2008, 2010. This is the second State Championship for the girls with a previous championship in 2012. Junior Connor Olson placed second overall. Bill Miles coaches the boys’ team, while Dave Emmans coaches the girls’ team. The Boys’ Team finished with 53 total points followed by Edina with 66 points and Stillwater with 99 points. Placing for the Trojans: 1 - Connor Olson, junior 10 - Ian Eklin, junior
11 - Jaret Carpenter, sophomore 15 - Aaron Breyer, senior 16 - Nicholas Shaleen, sophomore 20 - Andrew Quirk, junior 38 - Jack Prazich, junior
The Girls’ Team finished with 37 points followed by East Ridge with 134 and Lakeville South with 165. Placing for the Trojans: 5 - Annika Lerdall, freshman 6 - Annika Halverson, senior 7 - Anna French, junior 9 - Alayna Sonnesyn, senior 10 - Mary Franke, senior 11 - Michaela Keller-Miller, sophomore 12 - McKenna Evans, senior
Two More Students Earn Perfect Scores on ACT Exam
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ayzata High School senior Zoe Tu and junior Bella Roussanov earned perfect scores of 36 on the 2013 ACT exam bringing this year’s total number of WHS students with perfect ACT scores up to five. Zoe Tu said she to a couple practice tests in the week Bella Roussanov said she took a couple practice tests to leading up to her June 2013 exam but “mostly what helped prepare, but said her normal curriculum helped was my regular school work,” she said about preparing for prepare her for earning her perfect score on the the exam. Tu is taking five Advanced Placement courses October 2013 exam. Roussanov is currently during her senior year, including AP Statistics, AP Biology, enrolled in Advanced Placement (AP) U.S. AP Physics and AP Psychology. Upon graduation this History, AP Biology, AP Chemistry and AP spring, she will have taken 11 AP classes and 10 AP Language and Composition. Upon graduation, tests. Outside of academics, she is captain of the 2013she said she will have taken 12 AP classes and 14 WHS State Championship Swim and Dive Team, 14 AP tests. Outside of academics, Roussanov captain of the WHS Speech Team, captain of the participates on the Science Olympiad, WHS Science Olympiad Team, a member of LINK Quizbowl and the Relay for Life Committee. crew, in National Honor Society and is a substitute She is also a member of National Honor anchor on the WHS Newsbreak program. Tu also Society, plays the piano and volunteers volunteers at North Memorial Hospital over at the Wayzata Public Library. She is the summers and tutors classmates at WHS. interested in majoring in chemistry, Her top three choices for college next year economics or creative writing, but are Harvard, Princeton and the University of hasn’t narrowed down a university Minnesota. She is interested in majoring in list yet. chemistry and possibly pursuing a career in pharmaceutical medicine.
Destination ImagiNation Teams Advance to State N ine of Wayzata Public Schools’ 23 Destination Imagination teams that competed at the February 22 regional tournament at Maple Grove High School will advance to the state tournament on April 20 at Champlin Park High School. The nine teams advancing to state are as follows: Psychedelic Hippie Kaleidoscopes (10th and 11th grade team from Wayzata High School) took first place in the challenge called Pandemonium. Team members are junior Leighton Zhao and sophomores Justin Greenberg, David Mo, Arman Shah and Abby Trouth. Spam (sixth grade team from West Middle School) took first place in the challenge called Dig In. Team members are Sierra Chen, Charlie Erdahl, Sam Roach, Angela Sun,
Annelise Wickman and Ian Zukor. Tardis (sixth and seventh grade team from WMS) took first place in the challenge called Going to Extremes. Team members are seventh grade students Chrisopher Caryotakis, Thomas Hagen, Nichol He, Abby Meyers and Claire Weiss and sixth grade student Ben Greenberg. Tri-P (third and fourth grade team from Plymouth Creek and Kimberly Lane Elementaries), took first place in the challenge called The Tension Builds. Team members are fourth grade students Usha Paladugu and Jasmine Tseng and third grade students Nithya Atla, Varsha Kabalavai, Tanner Knutson, Akash Kumar and Pia Leiseth. Super Power Smoothies (fifth grade team from Oakwood Elementary) took first place in the challenge
Pitch and Play Service Learning. Team members are Morgan Greseth, Greta Herbeck, Emma Lonson, Julia Mateski and Thomas Reid. Coyote Creators (fourth grade team from Kimberly Lane Elementary), took first place in the challenge called Dig In. Team members are Matthew Carlson, Skyler Chan, Nick Cichoski, Sarah Huebschen, Nurain Jiwani, Nathan Moon and Maddie Wendt. Challenge Beaters (third and fourth grade team from Birchview, Gleason Lake and Sunset Hill Elementaries) took second place in the challenge The Tension Builds. Team members are fourth grade students Kaiden Erickson and Amrita Ginne and third grade students Sarah Carlson, Christopher Chi, Roshni Palaniswamy and Haya Salman. Extreme Survivors (fourth grade
team from Greenwood and Plymouth Creek Elementaries) took second place in the challenge called Going to Extremes. Team members are Nicholas Kelly, Anagha Manoj, Logan Nicoll, Teddy Puzzo, Charlie Nierman, Jacob Nierman and Adhvaith Sridhar. Senior Awesome Stryke Band of Umpa Lumpas (third and fourth grade team from Kimberly Lane, Plymouth Creek and Greenwood Elementaries) took second place in the challenge called Pitch and Play Service Learning. Team members are fourth grade student Nithya Malisetti and third grade students Arnav Garg, Sidarth Gazula, Shaina Grover, Anya Kachru, Anushka Srivastava and Prachet Upadrashta.
WHS student selected as delegate for U.S. Senate Youth Program
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riyanka Narayan, a senior at Wayzata High School, was selected as one of only two students to represent Minnesota as a delegate to the U.S. Senate Youth Program (USSYP) held in Washington, D.C. March 8-15, 2014. In addition, Priyanka will receive a $5,000 college scholarship. The USSYP was founded in 1962
through Senate Resolution and each year two of the highest-achieving students from each state, the District of Columbia and the Department of Defense Education system overseas are selected through an extremely competitive merit-based selection process held at the state departments of education nationwide. 3
Gleason Lake First Lego League Team Takes Third Place
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he Gleason Lake Elementary First Lego League Team took third place in its first year of competition at the regional tournament. The team placed third overall out of 16 teams and earned the following places in the competition: • Performance (skit) fourth out of 16 • Core values second out of 16 • Programming sixth out of 16 • Project fourth out of 16 • Robot design ninth out of 16 The team includes Ruby Bruce, Adrian Contreras, Andrew Dale, Grace Pucel, Charlie Hartman, Lilly Heimbach, Nathanel Mass, Joe Pickerill, Cecelia Roth, Ellie Schill and is sponsored by Boston Scientific. The teams parent leaders include Mike Mass, a physics and chemistry instructor at Eden Prairie High School and Ken Pucel, executive vice president of operations, quality and technology at Boston Scientific. First Lego League introduces younger students to real-world engineering challenges by building LEGO-based robots to complete tasks on a
The Gleason Lake Elementary First Lego League Team competing in its first season took third place in this year’s regional competition.
thematic playing surface. FLL teams, guided by their imaginations and adult coaches, discover exciting career possibilities and, through the process, learn to make positive contributions to society. Elementary students design, build, test and program robots using LEGO MINDSTORMS®
technology, apply real-world math and science concepts, research challenges facing today’s scientists, learn critical thinking, team-building and presentation skills and participate in tournaments and celebrations.
EMS Annual People of Prominence Day
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ighth grade students at East Middle School hosted the school’s annual People of Prominence (POP) Day on February 7. This event is the culmination of eighth grade students’ study of public speaking and is an opportunity for them to demonstrate their learning with an authentic audience. POP Day is a living history museum in which each student has researched a different person of historical significance. On the day of the event, the students dressed as the person they researched and presented speeches from the point of view of their subjects, with every student representing a different person of prominence. The event is also a fundraiser for classroom libraries. To hear student speeches, guests are asked to donate spare change in any amount to “bring the performers to life,” just like a street theater performer. This event has traditionally provided a unique opportunity for these students to truly demonstrate what they have learned in a real-life setting with an audience beyond their traditional classroom.
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36 WHS Students Win Scholastic Art Awards
Priya Tuttle
A.J. Yablonsky
Grant Johnson
Morgan Cowle
Annika Kohrt
Kira Dranchak
Sophia Zhang
Sarah Nelson
Joshua Mead
Kathryn Blake
Alice Hu
Maggie Scanlon
Bella Roussanov
Erin Jenum
Margaret Anderson
Bobby Frazzini
Allison Engeriser
Allison Long
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hirty-six students from Wayzata High School won 2013-14 Minnesota Scholastic Art Awards with nine students taking top honors. In the category of digital art, senior Allison Long and sophomores Kira Dranchak and A.J. Yablonsky earned Silver Key awards. Seniors Leah Anderson and Hannah Vogel, sophomores Emil Ebrahimi and A.J. Yablonsky and freshman Jack Rothstein earned honorable mentions. In the category of drawing, Gold Key awards were earned by senior Margaret Anderson for seven drawings; senior Alice Hu for one painting, two drawings and her art portfolio; senior Erin Jenum for two drawings; and senior Sophia Zhang
for her art portfolio; and juniors Allison Engeriser for one drawing and Bella Roussanov for one drawing. Silver Key awards were earned by senior Margaret Anderson for two drawings and one painting; senior Erin Jenum for one drawing; senior Sarah Nelson for one drawing; senior Maggie Scanlon for one drawing; and senior Sophia Zhang for one drawing; junior Katheryn Blake for one drawing; junior Bella Roussanov for one drawing and one painting; and sophomore Christine Kim for one drawing. Honorable mentions were earned by senior Margaret Anderson for three drawings; senior Elizabeth Batman for two drawings; senior Alex Blake for one drawing; senior Alice Hu for one painting;
senior Joseph Silbaugh for one printmaking; and senior Sophia Zhang for two drawings; junior Allison Engeriser for two drawings and one printmaking; junior Katelyn Krebsbach for one printmaking; junior Haley McNiff for one drawing; junior Bella Roussanov for one painting; junior Elisa Simmons for one drawing; junior Lindsey Turner for one drawing; sophomore Kira Dranchak for one drawing and sophomore Jennifer Radermacher for one drawing. In the category of painting, senior Priya Tuttle earned a Gold Key award and seniors Elizabeth Batman and Alice Hu earned honorable mentions. In the category of 3D Design, freshman Zach Spiczka earned a Gold
Key award, senior Joshua Meade and freshman Morgan Cowle earned Silver Key awards. In the category of ceramics, senior Grant Johnson earned a Silver Key award and senior Michelle Gaveske earned an honorable mention. In the category of Design, junior Bobby Frazzini earned a Gold Key award; sophomore Annika Kohrt earned a Silver Key award; seniors Allison Engeriser, Katie Klopfenstein and Jordan Yasmineh earned honorable mentions and sophomores Kaden Dohm and Owen Rahm also earned honorable mentions. In the category of Animation, junior Kira Dranchak earned a Silver Key award.
WHS Science Bowl Teams Take First and Second Place at State
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ayzata High School’s Science Bowl Teams won the first and second place spots at the State Science Bowl Tournament held at Macalester College on January 24. The winning team will compete at the National Competition in Washington, D.C., on April 24-28. Team 1, which took first place, includes seniors Jayant Chaudhary, William Zeng (co-captain) and Nathan Stocking (co-captain), junior Orien Zeng and sophomore Joseph Chen. Team 2, which took second place, includes juniors Sruti Paladugu and Faheem Jabir, and
sophomores Jeffrey Lee, Daniel Qu and Daniel Ibeling. The Science Bowl Teams are coached by WHS Advanced Placement Biology and Anatomy teacher Amanda Laden. Team 2 wasn’t originally scheduled to compete and only did so because another team had to cancel. Team 1 was undefeated 10-0 until they faced Team 2 in the tournament. Team 2 outscored Team 1 (118 to 26) in that face-off. Ultimately, Team 1 came back to win the tournament 13-1 (having to face Team 2 two more times).
The Science Bowl competition involves answering questions in a range of subjects including chemistry, biology, physics, earth and space science, energy and math. A team of five students face off against another team. The questions include toss up questions that are answered only by the individual who buzzes in first, and bonus questions that are offered to the whole team after their team member correctly answers a toss up question. The State Science Bowl Tournament consisted of 32 teams from around the state.
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WMS Students and Staff Fundraise to Help Others
WMS student Divya Goel’s essay was selected as a winner in the State Daughters of the American Revolution Annual Essay Contest.
WMS Students Win Essay Contest
T Pictured from left to right are WMS Student Council vice president Audrey Koehler, president Jack Hynick, student council advisor Peter Binnie and secretary Jai Kademani.
The West Middle School Student Council picked H20 for Life for its 2013-14 fundraising project to benefit Bishop Llukor Secondary School in Uganda and surpassed its goal of $2,350 by raising $3,464 from December 9-20. Seventh grade Student Council vice president Audrey Koehler said the student council members research several different charitable opportunities each year and then vote on the top three choices.
This year’s pick was H20 for Life because clean water is one of the basic necessities to live and the organization fulfills this need for communities, without focusing on being trendy or popular. Every year, the grade levels compete with each other to raise the most money. This year’s winning class was sixth grade with Tom Larsen’s class bringing in the most with a total of $301.85.
wo students from West Middle School have been named American History Essay winners at the chapter level in the Lake Minnetonka Chapter of the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR). WMS eighth grade student Divya Goel and sixth grade student Sierra Chen were named winners and will be presented their certificates at the April chapter meeting. Divya’s essay went on to be selected as the state of Minnesota’s DAR essay winner. She will be presented her certificate, pin and monetary award at the Minnesota DAR State Conference held in Duluth in May.
CMS media specialist Judith Rodgers and WHS student Sara Pauly are featured in the book “Monthooth 3: Red Cross of Gold.”
Pictured from left to right are WMS eighth grade students Evan Sivets, Matthew Sticha, teachers Chris Bisanz and Ben Olson and Hayley Davison and Claire Helmken. Bisanz, Olson and their students raised $2,200 to benefit disaster relief in the Phillippines this year with the help of the entire school.
Chris Bisanz and Ben Olson, eighth grade social studies teachers at West Middle School, brought current events to life in their class and inspired their students to raise money for disaster relief for the Philippines following the recent hurricane in the region last year. Bisanz said the two teachers were looking at how they could take the next step with their students after teaching the unit to get the classes more involved. Through friends in the American Refugee Committee, Bisanz was able to direct funds raised to helping those directly in need in the Phillippines and the students ran with the project. Olson said between the two, they each teach 6
approximately 130 students in five classes and originally had just planned on keeping the fundraiser within those classes. WMS usually does only one school-wide fundraiser per year through Student Council and that had already been decided on for the 2013-14 school year. The fundraiser then spread to all of the social studies teachers and quickly became a second, schoolwide fundraiser. Much like the school’s Student Council led fundraiser, the winning class was Tom Larsen’s sixth grade team which raised $399. The total raised for the Phillippine disaster relief by WMS students and staff was $2,200.
WHS Student’s Character Featured in Published Book
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wo years ago, libraries were invited to participate in an exciting event that allowed readers to suggest a plot or character development for the third book in the series, “Montooth 3: Red Cross of Gold.” The book was published in the winter of 2013 and judges chose the entry of Sara Pauly. Pauly was a seventh grade student at Central Middle School at the time of her entry and is now in ninth grade at Wayzata High School. Pauly suggested that character Mack Stein use his skills and position on a Florida newspaper to develop a key story line in the book. Ficticious characters appear in the new book with the names of both Pauly and her sponsoring librarian, Judith Rodgers, CMS media specialist. A copy of “Montooth 3: Red Cross of Gold” by Robert Jay is available in the CMS Media Center.
New Wayzata School Board Members Bring Wealth of Experience
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hree new Board members began their terms as directors on the Wayzata School Board at the January 13, 2014 meeting. Andrea Cuene, Sarah Johansen and Chris McCullough were elected last November to four-year terms replacing retiring Board members Sue Droegemueller, Susan Gaither and John Moroz. Continuing Board members include: Chair Linda Cohen, Vice Chair Jay Hesby, Treasurer Carter Peterson and Secretary Cheryl Polzin. Andrea Cuene Andrea and her husband Jim have been residents of the Wayzata School District since 1995 and have two sons in the Wayzata Schools. Andrea was most recently a speech language pathologist at Greenwood Elementary School until leaving her position once being elected to the Board. She has a MA in Speech and Language Pathology from the University of Minnesota and also brings a variety
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of volunteer experiences to the Board, including serving on the District Legislative Action Committee. Sarah Johansen Sarah and her husband Kurt have lived in the school district for nearly seven years and have three young children in our schools. Sarah has been an active volunteer throughout the district from the classroom to her most recent roles as chair of the Legislative Action Committee and member of the Family Learning Center and Community Education Advisory Committees. She has a master’s degree in Management of Human Service Organizations and Clinical Social Work from the University of Michigan and is currently an adjunct professor at Augsburg College. Chris McCullough Chris and his wife Pam have lived in the Wayzata School District for 11 years and have two daughters in middle school. Chris has served
Chris McCullough, Sarah Johansen and Andrea Cuene started their terms on the Wayzata School Board in January 2014.
on a number of school and district committees including the Citizens Finance Advisory Council and Community Task Force on Facilities. He is currently Vice President and
General Counsel for Honeywell Sensing and Control, and holds a J.D. from the University of Minnesota Law School.
Oakwood Celebrates 12th Annual International Night
akwood Elementary School celebrated its 12th Annual International Night celebration on January 23, 2014. International Night is a unique opportunity to celebrate diversity and become familiar with traditions and customs throughout the world. More than 25 different countries were represented as Oakwood families shared displays and food showcasing their international heritage. This year’s focus was on Scandinavian and Baltic Sea Countries featuring a Latvian Dance group called Mini-Perkonitis (which means mini thunder), the Oakwood Choir, Children’s Parade of Lights, activities and prizes and tastes of Scandinavia and the Baltics. On the menu was Kotbullar (Swedish meatballs), potatismos (mashed potatoes), Baltic herring, rye bread, lingonberries, vinegretas (Lithuanian salad), lefse (Norwegian flatbread), currants, golabki (Polish stuffed cabbage), ginger
Oakwood students celebrated International Night with the annual national costume parade, cultural booths, crafts and food.
cookies and sakotis (tree cake). Students experienced different cultures at booths stationed around the school’s gym and had their
“passport” stamped at each booth. Students were also encouraged to wear a national costume for the international parade.
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Communicator
- Board Chair Linda Cohen
Marissa Ablack, Matt Prisby and Daniel Woo are raising money to provide clean drinking water in schools around the world through their organization One Day Water Project.
WHS Students Work to Provide Clean Water Around the World
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hree seniors from Wayzata High School have developed a non-profit organization they named One Day Water Project to provide clean water to schools around the world. Marissa Ablack partnered with fellow WHS seniors Daniel Woo and Matt Prisby to develop the One Day Water Project that originated as their senior National Honor Society project, but has grown into much more. Their goal is to raise $10,000. They raised $1,000 by November and were able to install the first clean-water unit in a school in Trinidad when they visited during the end-of-term break.
The One Day Water Project is a project aimed towards providing schools around the world with fresh, drinkable water. Many schools around the world are unable to provide safe, clean water systems to ensure that their schools are running with clean water. These restraints leave many children drinking unsanitary and potentially harmful water. The mission is to provide schools with the funding to purchase water sanitation units that use ozonation to clean and purify the school’s water before it’s consumed by the students.
Nonprofit Org. US Postage Wayzata, MN Permit 43
We hold dear the trust that this community has in the Wayzata Public Schools. We will work hard to continue to earn that trust and to continue providing each and every student with an excellent education.
The Communicator is published for residents and staff of Wayzata Public Schools. Contact Amy Parnell, director of communications and community engagement, at 763-745-5068 or amy.parnell@wayzata.k12.mn.us with questions or comments.
Excellence. For each and every student.
Wayzata Public Schools 210 County Road 101 N. P.O. Box 660 Wayzata, MN 55391-0060
March 2014
WHS Teacher Named Adapted Teacher of The Year
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ike Doyle, a Wayzata High School adapted physical education instructor, was chosen as the Central District Association (CDA) Adapted Teacher of the Year. Doyle will be recognized at at the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (AAHPERD) National Mike Doyle is the CDA Convention in St. Louis, Missouri in April. While at the Adapted Teacher of the Year. convention, he will also be in the running for the National AAHPERD Adapted Teacher of the Year Award.
EMS Will Host Sixth Annual Charity 5K for IOCP
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ast Middle School will host the 6th Annual Trojan Pride Charity 5K Fun Run/Walk on Friday, May 16, at 4:30 p.m. at EMS. Proceeds from the race will support Interfaith Outreach and Community Partners (IOCP) and provide support to EMS students in need.
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items will be collected at the race and will be donated to IOCP. All participants will receive a race bag filled with a race t-shirt and coupons from area businesses. Free Ben and Jerry’s ice cream will be available after the event along with other post-race treats.
This community event is designed for all ability levels. Donations of non-perishable food
Registration is open now until the start of the race, but race t-shirts are only guaranteed
for registrations received before Monday, May 5. Registration and more information can be found on the EMS website at www.wayzata. k12.mn.us/EMS. Please contact Debbie Kimlinger at 763-745-6231 or by email at debbie.kimlinger@wayzata.k12.mn.us for more information.