Brainerd Public Schools - Spring 2018

SPRING 2018

Culinary Arts Classes Bridges Career Academies & Workforce Connection

Forestview Planetarium An out-of-this-world classroom for students

STARS Transition Training a new workforce for integration into the community

New Innovative Programs Helping Our Students Thrive A Brainerd Dispatch Publication

SPRING ‘18 CONTENTS

In The Spotlight

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Opportunity

PUBLICATION

STARS Program

STAFF

The Students Transition and Reach Success (STARS) program offers students with disabilities, ages 18-21, help in the transition between school and work.

By Sheila Helmberger

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PUBLISHER Pete Mohs

EDITOR

Jodie Tweed

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Innovation

ART DIRECTOR Lisa Henry

Forestview Planetarium

The planetarium is now an out-ofthis-world opportunity for students throughout the Brainerd lakes area.

By Jodie Tweed

Success

COPY EDITOR DeLynn Howard

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PHOTOGRAPHER Joey Halvorson

Culinary Arts

The culinary arts program brings professional chefs into the classroom at Brainerd High School.

By Sheila Helmberger

COVER:

Photo by Joey Halvorson A student takes a break from classes to enjoy a book at Forestview Middle School.

Brainerd Public Sc hools magazin e is prod u ced by the Brain erd Disp atch in coope ration w it h the Brainerd Public Sc hools.

Features

STEM-Based Robotics....... 12 Baxter fourth-graders are creating real, movable robots and learning about engineering at the same time.

By Sheila Helmberger

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Comments and story ideas

Honors.............................. 14

Karla.Sand@isd181.org 218-454-6942

An infograph on the many Brainerd students, teachers and staff who have been honored with awards or recognitions this year.

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Soaring to New Heights........................... 17

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Forestview’s High Altitude Balloon class is a blast for students and community volunteers.

By Jodie Tweed

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copyright© 2010 VOLUME 8, EDITION 1 SPRING 2018

Unified Warriors............. 20 New adaptive recreation and peer partnership programs allow students of all abilities to get fit and make friends.

By Jodie Tweed

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506 JAMES STREET P.O. BOX 974 BRAINERD, MN 56401 (218) 829-4705 www.brainerddispatch.com

Superintendent’s Letter - Laine Larson

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R ess— TOGETHE and educatin blocks for succ g skills, r 14 years with n fo vi y ol it -s un m m le b m ro co local ing skills, p hile inking skills, w th e tiv ea cr d an

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jectives: r can ach t every learne trict mission, goals and ob a th ve e li e b our dis gagement and We know and if we focus on ss Transparency, en lding e 7. c c su ic m , e st-bui tivities acad community tru ademics, arts, ac

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anagement 8. Strong fiscal m ardship while ew and genuine st ity educational al qu e th g in obtain our taxpayers’ r fo s tie ni rtu po op stment generous inve

OUR MISSION In partnership with the community, Brainerd Public Schools will ensure all students achieve their individual potential by providing the highest-quality programs and resources to prepare learners for an ever-changing global society.

Laine Larson 4

Spring‘18 ‘18 Brainerd Public Schools | |Spring

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Opportunity

BY SHEILA HELMBERGER Photos By JOEY HALVORSON

STARS Training A New Workforce

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he STARS (Students Transition and Reach Success) program has been around for about a dozen years. It offers students with disabilities, ages 18-21, help in transition from school into the mainstream. The students arrive at Brainerd High School South Campus each morning to start their day with a morning meeting, and then they get to work on jobs in the school and out in the community. Soon, some of them may be reporting for real jobs.

Paris Scarborough unloads a commercial dish rack at BHS.

Brainerd Brainerd Public Public Schools Schools || Spring Spring ‘18 ‘18

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COMBINING TWO PROGRAMS

THE BRANDON PROJECT COMBINES STUDENTS FROM STARS AND STUDENTS FROM PAUL BUNYAN TRANSITION PLUS, ANOTHER PROGRAM FOR 18- TO 21-YEAR-OLDS. Michelle Mink practices a basic restaurant table setting at BHS South Campus.

Eric Lemmer performs proper linen folds at the STARS program at BHS South Campus.

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Teresa Christiansen, STARS teacher coordinator, says this year the program has 12 students.

A new piece of the program might see some of them landing in the workforce. The Brandon Project combines students from STARS and students from Paul Bunyan Transition Plus, another program for 18- to 21-year-olds.

She explains why the new program makes sense. “In 1999 The Olmstead Act passed a provision to get more people with disabilities fully integrated in their communities,” said Christiansen, “Minnesota’s Olmstead Plan took the act further and included an education component that said as schools we need to be working with vocational rehabilitation and get more people competitively employed in an integrated setting.”

Three years ago Christiansen and Kati Reynolds from Paul Bunyan Transition Plus joined a group working with the Department of Education on exactly that.

“We started looking at our own big businesses locally and the chamber of commerce helped.

We came up with the resorts. Last spring, we wrote a grant to the National Joint Powers Alliance and received the funds to partner with area resorts to train students at the school for future possible hiring.” Christiansen says representatives from Cragun’s and Ruttger’s were at the initial meeting. Both were interested.

Heidi Hahn, Director of Special Education for the Paul

Bunyan Co-op, and representatives from vocational rehabilitation and Crow Wing County Community Services all joined forces to put the plan together.

The program has a focus on housekeeping and working in the kitchen so Christiansen and Reynolds went out to each resort and met with housekeeping and food service managers and the human resource people to learn the specific way each wanted

“For us, it’s a major win-win. We get much-needed, highly trained help in critical areas of our seasonal operations, and we get to be part of a great community program.” - Paula Soderberg things done. They sent back supplies the students could practice with so they’d be familiar with the exact supplies they might use.

“The Brandon Project is just one piece of the whole big STARS program,” Christiansen says. The students still do all the other activities they always have, such as sorting and delivering interschool mail, working in the production lab and the school kitchen, and working at Woodland Good Samaritan.

Later this spring students who are ready will move on to continue to on-site training. Then students that are ready for the next step

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“IT’S A BIG CHALLENGE, BUT IT’S EXCITING TO SEE THE POTENTIAL FOR THE STUDENT AND THEIR FAMILIES AT THE POSSIBILITY OF THEM BEING EMPLOYED.” - TERESA CHRISTIANSEN STARS program coordinator Kati Reynolds (left) and Teresa Christiansen (right), from the Paul Bunyan Transition Plus program, teach a student about restaurant-style napkin and silverware rolling.

will hopefully be hired. The resorts are hoping to fill positions for staff who can help fold towels and napkins, roll silverware, do dishes, strip linens and take out garbage. All are important jobs at a busy resort with fast turnover.

Christiansen says the trainings for this group are going well.

The next step is to work with job coaches and run through mock interviews and practice answering questions with potential employers.

The resorts are just as excited about the arrangement as the school and students are.

“Ruttger’s is thrilled to be a partner of the Brandon Project, says Paula Soderberg, who works in human resources at the Bay Lake resort. “For us, it’s a major win-win. We get muchneeded, highly trained help in critical areas of our seasonal operations, and we get to be part of a great community program.”

Pattie Mannie, Director of Human Resources at Cragun’s, agrees. “Cragun’s Resort is

very excited and honored to be working with such an amazing project,” she says. “Employers throughout the Brainerd area are struggling to find quality staff and we have such an untapped resource in the community. The fact that we are able to connect is a great win-win situation. Everyone involved here at Cragun’s is super excited to be part of this and can’t wait to welcome our new employees on board.”

“It’s a big challenge, but it’s exciting to see the potential for the student and their families at the possibility of them being employed,” says Christiansen.

“It is very exciting and a great partnership that we can work here with students and then get them onsite into an employment situation that might not happen otherwise.”

Sheila Helmberger has been a freelance writer for over 20 years, contributing to numerous publications. She lives in Baxter and has three grown children and three grandchildren.

Cindy Fleischacker prepares napkins and silverware.

THE BRANDON TRAINING ACADEMY Brainerd High School South Campus already had the perfect space to set up a spot to train the students for their potential future jobs. The former Apple Café and Warrior Deli site came complete with kitchen facilities and other items needed to create the space. The academy includes a towel and napkin folding station and a mock guest room to practice stripping beds and other skills.

Now repurposed and renamed the Brandon Training Academy, the space is named after a former student who passed away about two years ago. It is a way to honor him because Christiansen says he never had the opportunity to be employed within the community.

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Innovation

BY JODIE TWEED Photos by Joey Halvorson

FORESTVIEW PLANETARIUM

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An out-of-this-world opportunity for area district students here’s something so entrancing, almost magical, about watching the night sky. Now imagine that you’re able to introduce the stars, planets and other galaxies to students every day.

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Brian Wallace is living his dream. Wallace, who has been a Brainerd science teacher for 31 years, serves as director of the Forestview Planetarium. This year alone he has had more than 5,000 students and 1,000 community members in the planetarium, thanks to funding from the National Joint Powers Alliance in Staples. Many of these students had never been in a planetarium before.

“To hear the gasps of kids when I bring the lights down and the stars up, it’s the most amazing feeling,” says Wallace. “To immerse them in an environment they’ve never seen before.”

The state-of-the-art, full 28-foot dome, digital planetarium was built in 2004 as part of Forestview Middle School construction. Wallace introduced the idea of building a planetarium in the new school to former Brainerd Superintendent Jerry Walseth. Walseth and school board members added it to the school plan. For a few years, the planetarium was managed by Wallace, who taught a seven-week astronomy course for district sixth-graders.

Ten years ago, though, the fate of the planetarium became uncertain. After a failed referendum and budget cuts during the 2007-08 school year, the planetarium became part of the budget reductions. Wallace’s position at the planetarium was eliminated, and he returned to the classroom as a general science teacher. He still tried to

incorporate the planetarium into his sixth-grade science curriculum — some eighth-grade classes also used the planetarium — but it was on a limited basis.

When Brainerd Superintendent Laine Larson arrived in the district in 2016, she brought the idea of applying for

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“Anytime a kid is in here for the first time, they are blown away by the experience,” Wallace says with a smile. “It’s not like any other classroom.”

The Forestview Planetarium offers quality science programming to students that allow the stars, moons and constellations, including Orion, to come alive for students.

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NJPA funding for the planetarium to Wallace’s attention. The Brainerd School District is a member of NJPA, which provides cooperative programs and services for school districts and other government, education and non-profit agencies.

Wallace connected with Kassidy Rice, NJPA Manager of Education Solutions, who suggested he apply for NJPA’s Innovation Funding program.

Rice says the program was established to fund projects that normally would not be accessible to schools, due to costs. Projects that receive funding need to have a regional impact, rather than just benefiting one school district.

Last spring Wallace and a team put together an application for funding, which included expanding planetarium access to area school districts. Wallace was notified last May that the planetarium was one of 12 projects that received NJPA funding. The funding pays for a full-time staff member, updates to the equipment, new programming and covers transportation costs for Brainerd and other area school districts to bus students to the planetarium. Funding must be applied for each year. Wallace has started an advisory committee, which includes educators from outside the district, to improve the planetarium’s offerings and apply for the next year of funding.

Rice says the planetarium meets the requirements for innovation funds.

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“It really does allow our entire region to access it and benefit from the facility.” - Kassidy Rice

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“It really does allow our entire region to access it and benefit from the facility,” says Rice. “Funding includes transportation costs so that isn’t a barrier for other school districts.”

So far this school year, more than 5,000 students have used the planetarium. This includes Brainerd third-, sixth-, eighth-, ninth- and 10thgraders, as well as students from the Brainerd Alternative Education Center.

Wallace invited school districts in the area to visit the planetarium. So far Pequot Lakes, Pillager, Staples-Motley, Little Falls, Pierz and Bertha-Hewitt school districts have taken him up on the offer.

Matt Ingman, an eighth-grade science teacher in Pequot Lakes, accompanied about 140 eighth graders to the planetarium last December and hopes to make a return trip this spring. He also serves on the planetarium advisory committee.

Ingman says Wallace incorporated several concepts he had been teaching his students into their visit to the planetarium. The facility offers students a more “real-life feel” to the solar system. Ingman says it is much easier for students to grasp how the position of the sun changes during the different seasons in the planetarium, for example, than on the projector in his classroom.

The focus this year has been on getting third- and eighth-graders from Brainerd and neighboring school districts into the planetarium to help enhance the science curriculum and state standards they are learning.

SO FAR THIS SCHOOL YEAR, MORE THAN 5,000 STUDENTS HAVE USED THE PLANETARIUM. One logistical problem has been that the planetarium only seats 57 students, so when an entire grade goes on a field trip to the planetarium, they have to find other things for students to do and rotate them from those activities and time in the planetarium.

In December Ingman’s eighth-graders were rotated between sessions in the planetarium and tours of Central Lakes College and Costco. Students enjoyed it.

“It was a great experience and they learned a lot,” says Ingman.

Ingman says the advisory committee is looking at other community partnerships so other school districts can get more out of the field trips.

Wallace is working with the Northland Arboretum, for example, to provide additional programming for districts sending students to the planetarium. Contact Wallace if you have any ideas on activities for students to participate in when on a field trip to Brainerd/Baxter.

Wallace also has opened up the planetarium this year for free community shows. Last fall and before Christmas, he offered 15 shows in the planetarium. Each show had a full house. He also offered laser shows this winter.

As of late February, about 5,000 students in kindergarten through 12th grade had been in the planetarium, along with 1,000 visitors who attended the free public shows. By the end of the school year, about 8,000 students will have experienced the planetarium, Wallace says.

When Wallace approached Walseth about constructing a planetarium, this is what he envisioned, a community resource that benefits Brainerd students and those in our region.

There are few students in the state who have access to a planetarium. The closest planetariums are located at community colleges and universities in St. Cloud, Moorhead and Duluth.

“Anytime a kid is in here for the first time, they are blown away by the experience,” Wallace says with a smile. “It’s not like any other classroom.”

Jodie Tweed is a freelance writer/ editor who lives in Pequot Lakes with her husband, Nels, a photographer, and their two daughters.

MORE INFO: To learn more about the Forestview Planetarium or find upcoming free public shows: FMSplanetarium.com or find it on Facebook Contact Brian Wallace if you have any ideas on activities for students to participate when rotating from the planetarium.

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Baxter fourth-graders stayed in from recess in March to create and code robots in the school library.

STEM-BASED ROBOTICS at Baxter Elementary School

BY SHEILA HELMBERGER Photos By TRAVIS RASKE

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emember Legos? Those tiny, odd-shaped pieces that probably still make you wince upon sight if you’ve ever found one under your foot? With a little free time and imagination, kids have been turning them into airplanes, dragons, castles, houses and entire cities for years.

Now, in the hands of some creative fourth-grade students at Baxter Elementary School, they are becoming real movable robots.

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If you wander into the library at the Baxter school at recess, you’ll find 16 students who are giving up time in the gym and on the playground with their friends to learn a little bit about engineering.

Travis Raske, Baxter technology integrationist, heads up the group.

Raske says offering these students time during the noon hour is an extension of a 10-week program the entire fourth grade participated in last fall. At the end he said some of the students expressed an interest to continue and learn even more. He found a way to make that possible.

The decision to participate during their lunch hour was an easy one for Alexa and her friend Taytum.

“You had to be willing to give up recess,” explains Alexa. “That’s why some of the kids probably didn’t sign up.”

Two Baxter fourth-graders worked on getting their robot operational, using engineering and coding skills.

The girls picked one another as partners and the two think they’re working well together. They say they are learning a lot of things while they’re building their robot, and they list a few, such as teamwork and communication, and they say you need to

know how to solve problems when something doesn’t go quite right, and how to listen to other people’s ideas.

Because, the students say, there are a lot of steps to making these Lego robots.

Continued on page 16...

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Continued from page 14...

Each pair of students is initially given a container full of hundreds of pieces — enough to make each of a handful of models, named Track3r, Spik3R, Gripp3R, R3ptar, and Ev3rstorm that come in a kit, called Mindstorms. As they work, they wade through the container to find the pieces that will construct their specific model, and disregard those they won’t need.

Alexa and Taytum have decided to tackle Ever3torm. They were nearly

ABOUT THOSE KITS: The cost of the Lego kits, that make all five robots, is about $370 each, says Raske.

Through some creative financing he was able to find the money to purchase the supplies he needed.

“I was able to reallocate some of my own school budget,” he said. “And as soon as I was able to do that my principal said he’d like to help out, and we were able to get started with some. Then our PTO heard what we were doing and said, ‘We want to be involved in this too,’ so we had all of these different pools of money coming together, or it wouldn’t have happened.”

16 robot kits at Baxter Elementary School 601 pieces in each kit

done with the body and about to add its arms one February day. Taytum said it was going well so far but they were a long way from finished. “Once we’re done with the whole body, we still have to program it.”

And that’s where the engineering comes in. That’s when the students hook their figures up to a computer and figure out the coding so they can control its actions by a remote control or USB cord. The robots do a lot more than just move back and forth. With the right information uploaded, some will turn different directions and hold items that can also move and be operated.

Raske said the session in the fall was most of the student’s first introduction to programming.

“The noon hour session is just a great way to give them time to learn more through our STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) activities,” he says. In another district he had taught robotic engineering with sixth graders but never with fourth graders.

“They’re good,” he says, “and the kids that choose to come in here at recess, they’re here because they really want to be here.”

A couple of tables away, Troy and Joe had just completed R3ptar and had moved onto programming.

Raske helps the students but he doesn’t do the work for them. He says it’s just as important to let them

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Sheila Helmberger has been a freelance writer for over 20 years, contributing to numerous publications. She lives in Baxter and has three grown children and three grandchildren.

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make a few mistakes when they’re constructing and programming and then give them a chance to learn from them while they figure out what they might have done wrong. The boys are momentarily stumped and their teacher watches behind them while they back track and problem solve. They know what they did after watching for a few minutes and moving on to check in with another table.

While the Robotics Club is working on building and programming in the library, in the next room Raske says members of the Minecraft Club have given up their free time to work on their own missions.

Fourth graders who want to continue learning even more next year will have a chance to do so in the Robotics Club at Forestview Middle School.

There, they will have the opportunity to move on to competitions.

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SOARING

TO NEW HEIGHTS

Last year’s High Altitude Balloon class at the launch site.

Forestview’s High Altitude Balloon class is a blast for students and community volunteers

BY JODIE TWEED

For

Photos Courtesy of Brainerd Public Schools

six weeks each winter, the Forestview High Altitude Balloon class is busy planning out its next helium balloon flight. Students need to determine what electronic instruments and experiments will be included in the balloon’s payload as it reaches an anticipated 100,000 feet above the earth. They need to chart the weather and find the optimal jet stream wind direction and speed for launch or the balloon could end up landing in Lake Superior or in a large city. It’s all part of the adventure.

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The class, which was started seven years ago by Forestview teachers Jim Reed and Cory Olson, gives students in fifth- through eighth-grade an opportunity to explore science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) — all wrapped up into one project. The balloon launch and recovery demonstrates real-world STEM skills in action.

When a balloon is launched into the atmosphere to collect data, video and photographs before it returns to earth, the process isn’t just exciting for students.

Brainerd Area Amateur Radio Club members also help students track the balloon and pinpoint where it lands so it can be retrieved. Ham radio operators throughout the Brainerd lakes area monitor its frequency from a tracker within its payload that “pings” on ham radio repeaters. A control operator monitors the tracker’s coordinates on a computer and directs students and volunteers out driving as they chase the balloon back to earth.

It’s evident the adults have as much fun as students on launch day.

“It’s a blast,” says Al Doree, a BAARC board member from Motley, who heads out with his wife and other volunteers to help students and their advisors. “It’s very popular with our club.”

Doree says several students have become so interested in ham radio that they’ve become licensed ham radio operators. Reed and Olson have given presentations at ham radio club meetings, bringing students with them to talk about their balloon experiments and launches.

The teaching goes both ways between ham radio enthusiasts and students in the high altitude balloon class. They all learn from each other.

“First off, I think Jim Reed and Cory Olson are 18

Brainerd Public Schools | Spring ‘18

Caden Jager (left), Barrett Rezac, Jacob Bergstrom and Isaiah Macejkovic, all Forestview eighth-graders, call themselves “the Veterans” in the Forestview High Altitude Balloon Club. Photo by Joey Halvorson.

just fantastic teachers,” says Doree.

“They put in a lot of personal time into the project. I can’t say enough about those guys.”

Last year Forestview Middle School became the first middle school to ever launch a floater balloon that floated around the world, suspended around 40,000 feet high. It orbited twice. They launched four similar balloons this year but they were unsuccessful.

But what does success mean, anyway? By working closely together with shared interests to reach a common goal, students are developing friendships and a sense of community. The class draws a lot of interest from students on the autism spectrum, says Reed. For some, it may be the first time they’ve truly felt like they belong.

“The Veterans,” as they call themselves, are eighth-graders Barrett Rezac, Jacob Borgstrom, Caden Jager and Isaiah Macejkovic. They’ve been involved with the class since they were in sixth grade. They all said they go on-

THE BALLOON LAUNCH AND RECOVERY DEMONSTRATES REAL-WORLD STEM SKILLS IN ACTION.

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line frequently to monitor weather patterns as the class works to find a suitable launch date.

“It’s really fun,” says Rezac. “There’s a real feeling of satisfaction when we launch.”

While the balloon launch was significantly delayed this year because of high jet stream winds, students were optimistic they would find a day to launch before the ice thawed on the lakes. With so many lakes in the area, landing in the water would be a strong possibility. Last year the class successfully landed their balloon only five miles from school.

High altitude balloon class is one of three STEM-related sessions offered to Forestview students during the school year. This spring students will explore a new drone programming class using Parrot drones. A robotics class, taught by Lane Danielson and Reed, is offered in the fall.

About 110 students are enrolled in the STEM classes throughout the school year.

Gull, Round and North Long lakes.

To learn more about High Altitude Balloon Class and watch balloon launches, visit the class website at

Jodie Tweed is a freelance writer/editor who lives in Pequot Lakes with her husband, Nels, a photographer, and their two daughters.

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3/2/18 8:41 AM

Unified Warriors New adaptive recreation opportunities and peer partnership programs allow students of all abilities to have fun, get fit, and make friends

Maureen O’Connor, youth development coordinator for Brainerd Community Education, uses play to help children enrolled in a Special Olympics Young Athletes class work on motor skills and body movement. The class for children ages 2-7 is offered through Brainerd Community Education.

BY JODIE TWEED Photos By JOEY HALVORSON

Kimber

Doty, Forestview special education lead teacher, often has heard from parents about the lack of social and recreational opportunities for their children with special needs. They want their children involved in activities to build friendships with peers, but there haven’t been many offerings for students who don’t fit into the more traditional after-school activities.

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YOUNG ATHLETES IS GEARED TOWARD CHILDREN WITH SPECIAL NEEDS, IT WAS OPEN TO CHILDREN OF ALL ABILITIES. SIBLINGS ALSO HAVE ATTENDED THE CLASS.

“It’s been a struggle to connect parents with these opportunities,” Doty explains. “Part of my role is to attend all student IEPs (individualized education plans) in the building. Time after time, the feedback I’ve gotten from parents for years is, ‘What can my child be involved in?’ They want more opportunities for their kids to have connections with their general ed peers.”

Brainerd Community Education, in partnership with Forestview Middle School and Brainerd High School, has started a few initiatives to help students with special needs find those meaningful connections with others.

Maureen O’Connor, youth development coordinator for Brainerd Community Education, is developing adaptive recreation and adaptive youth enrichment community education programs, some in partnership with Special Olympics. One of the first classes offered started in February.

The Young Athletes eight-week class

A child enrolled in the Young Athletes class this winter through Brainerd Community Education worked on balance and body movement while having fun in the class held at Lowell Elementary School.

for children ages 2-7 was held once a week in the Lowell Elementary School gym. The class focused on developing motor skills and body movements.

Similar classes are in development for students with special needs ages 8-12.

While Young Athletes is geared toward children with special needs, it was open to children of all abilities.

O’Connor says siblings also have attended the class. A volunteer crew of middle and high school students also helped with the class. O’Connor says the Paul Bunyan Education Cooperative is developing a parent education component.

O’Connor said Brainerd Community Education surveyed parents of students with special needs, who indicated an interest in receiving support and resources. They wanted to meet other parents experiencing the same struggles.

Another program started this spring at Forestview and BHS is

Unified Warriors. The volunteer program matches students with special needs with a peer to do activities together, either during or outside of school. They might eat lunch together, go to a movie or do a group activity with other Unified Warriors. The purpose is to build friendships.

DID YOU KNOW? Unified Warriors is not only good for special needs students, but it benefits their peer mentors, as well.

Amy Campbell, Forestview physical education teacher, and O’Connor are working together to train students to become peer mentors. However,

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their goal is that students ultimately plan and lead the activities.

Students also have the option of participating as unified partners in adapted physical education, taught

by Campbell at Forestview, and in Special Olympics. Campbell has 10 students who regularly participate as unified partners.

Unified Warriors is not only good for special needs students, but it benefits their peer mentors, as well.

“I think it’s a great thing for them.

It develops empathy, leadership skills and helps them see the world through a different lens,” Doty explains. “So far we’ve got more general ed students signed up than special education students. We’re going to have to start small and hopefully grow.”

“The goal is that it gives students a lifelong skill of accepting people for who they are, that everyone has a place and together we can do great things.”

- Emilee Freed

Emilee Freed, a BHS special education teacher, says the Brainerd Public Schools Foundation provided funds to allow them to purchase T-shirts and prizes for games for their Unified Warriors program. She’s spearheading the high school program.

The Young Athletes Special Olympics class, offered for children with special needs ages 2-7 through Brainerd Community Education, also has middle and high school student volunteers who help with the class.

But again, the goal is that students will take ownership of the peer program and come up with fun activities and social outings to do together.

“The goal is that it gives students a lifelong skill of accepting people for who they are, that everyone has a place and together we can do great things,” says Freed.

“We want to create more programs designed just for students with special needs, to give them a place to thrive.”

O’Connor, who started her community education position last September, is enthusiastic about the start of these adaptive recreation opportunities. Brainerd Community Education already offers the Insight program for adults with disabilities, which provides well-attended activities each week. The goal now is to meet the social and recreational needs of younger people with disabilities.

“We want to create more programs designed just for students with special needs, to give them a place to thrive,” O’Connor says.

Jodie Tweed is a freelance writer/ editor who lives in Pequot Lakes with her husband, Nels, a photographer, and their two daughters.

- Maureen O’Connor

Westgate Mall Brainerd/Baxter www.brekkens.com

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Success

BY SHEILA HELMBERGER Photos by Joey Halvorson

From left to right: Jonathan Vadnias, Tristan Ford, Dylan Mellow, Kaylee Gunter and Tate Richter participate in the culinary arts program gaining real-world cooking skills at Brainerd High School.

CULINARY ARTS All the ingredients for success

You

won’t have any problem finding the kitchen in the family and consumer arts department at Brainerd High School on Thursday afternoons. That’s the day the culinary arts class is busy chopping and slicing, marinating and sautéing to prepare the day’s recipe to test out some of the tricks and techniques they’ve been learning.

In February Swiss steak and garlic mashed potatoes were on the menu and you could hardly miss the smell of onions, green peppers and garlic as the aroma moved through the hallway.

Seventeen students are in this year’s course, offered for the first time. Students get a chance to learn cooking skills from professional chefs around the Brainerd lakes area.

The class uses ProStart, an industry specific curriculum created by the National Restaurant Association. The course is part of the Brainerd Lakes Chamber of Commerce’s Bridges Workplace Connection. The Bridges Career Academy offers students in grades 9-12 a way to learn about a career they are considering.

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“WE’RE SO LUCKY, The chamber of commerce is very supportive of us.”

- Emily Neistadt

Sierra McLain, Owen Johnson and Kaysie Carlson.

Corbin Black (front) with Mason Trott and Ben Elias.

“We are so lucky,” says Emily Neistadt, a BHS FACS teacher. “The chamber of commerce is very supportive of us.” They helped to partner each high school in the area with a chef to work with their students. Brainerd students have been learning from Grand View Lodge Executive Chef Mike Manders.

“I think it’s gone really well,” Neistadt said. The course started out with students learning about safety and sanitation. They’ve been on a field trip to Mille Lacs where they heard chefs speak to culinary students from Brainerd and other schools, and soon 24

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hope to visit Grand View Lodge to see Chef Mander’s work space.

The class is open to juniors and seniors. Most of them have been cooking at home already and some, like Corbin Black, who works at Taco John’s, are already employed in the food industry.

“I actually want to be a chef,” he says. “That’s all I’ve ever wanted to be.”

This class is teaching him a lot about his future career. For instance, he says, he has learned the importance of mise en place, a French term that means to have all your ingredients measured, prepared and ready to go before you begin to cook. He says it’s been important to have Chef Manders in the class and to learn from a professional in the industry. As the culinary arts class continues to grow, Neistadt said

someday it would be nice to have a professional kitchen for students.

Some of the skills students say they have been learning include how to cut different foods properly and with the right knife, and the right tool to use for many of the jobs done in the kitchen.

Kaylee Gunter said she already loved to bake, but she is learning more about sauces and soups and mixing different tastes and flavors when cooking.

Samuel Harrah and Ben Elias.

From left to right: Noah True, Camden Cooper and Daniel Thielen.

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This year the class was selected to create an entry for Brainerd Public Schools, BHS and Brainerd Public Schools Foundation to enter the United Way of Crow Wing & Southern Cass County Chili Cook Off. Neistadt said the students decided to search online for a few recipes. They needed to come up with an entry for the contest so they made five variations and hosted their own mini cook off. When they had a winner, they asked Chef Manders for tips and created their final recipe. The students took home first place wins for both Judges’ Choice for non-profits and Overall People’s Choice.

Other than Thursdays, the students are in the classroom. They have instruction and prepare for Thursday’s meal where they will have to prep, cook and have a finished plate done and to the demo table by a specified time. Presentation of a

meal is something none of them said they had thought much about before, but they are learning the importance of that this year. People judge your food by how it looks as much as by how it tastes, they say.

Eventually, Neistadt said the goal is for Brainerd to have its own ProStart team and enter competitions. They would travel to the twin cities and compete with other schools. Much like the television show, “Chopped,” students plan their menu, cost of their menu, make and present it.

In addition to the culinary arts course, Neistadt says there are three other cooking classes at BHS: Foods, Creative Foods and Foods 9.

Sheila Helmberger has been a freelance writer for over 20 years, contributing to numerous publications. She lives in Baxter and has three grown children and three grandchildren.

Corbin Black and Samuel Harrah.

Thank You ISD 181 for the opportunity to help build your Future!

— Some of Our Projects Include —

Doors & Steps at Pool Brainerd HS Pool Magnet Entryway Riverside School Addition BHS Greenhouse Reno Forestview Elementary School Hardware Washington Elevator Fire Code & Washington & Franklin 1991 Renovations Gymnastics BHS Gym Reno Learning Center Garfield Reading Room Sidewalks BHS Wrestling Room South Campus Stairs Franklin Girl’s Restrooms BHS Student Success Center Magnet School BHS South Entry Concrete Tornstrom Auditorium Doors Franklin & BHS Music Rooms Washington Middle School Sign 2017 Summer Projects AEC House

Commercial and Residential Construction Architects and General Contractors

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www.hytecconstruction.com (218) 829-8529 • BRAINERD, MN

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