COUNTRY
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 29, 2020
Serving Marine on St. Croix, Scandia, May Township
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WAGE INCREASES : Scandia City Council's agreement. PAGE 2
'Laughter and Joy' Greiman to retire from Scandia Elementary after 33 years in education BY C.L. SILL EDITOR@COUNTRYMESSENGER.COM
All good teachers have a voice. It’s a very particular kind of voice. Boisterous but not obnoxious, commanding but not demeaning, pointed but not patronizing. The best teachers have a voice that makes even adults want to listen and learn. They could scold a 40-year-old coal miner for not washing his hands before lunch and he’d feel bad for disappointing them. Julie Greiman has that voice, and for the last 33 years she’s been using it to teach and care for young people in the Forest Lake and Scandia area. The 2019-20 school year will be her last, and as the books close on a year that’s been anything but normal, she’ll say goodbye to her students and move on to new adventures. Greiman came to Minnesota by way of
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Scandia Elementary Principal Julie Greiman is set to retire at the end of the 2019-20 school year after 33 years as an educator.
Iowa, where she grew up and earned a degree in English and Elementary education from Buena Vista University. In 1979 she was offered a teaching position in Forest Lake, and the Twin Cities seemed like
just the right amount of adventure for a young girl fresh out of college. “I knew I wanted to see some place new and different,” she said. “But culturally I never felt like it was that different. I think Forest
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Lake kind of reminded me of the town in Iowa where I grew up.” Greiman taught 5th grade at Columbus Elementary for six years before taking some time off to raise her children. She reentered the teaching world in 1993 when she was offered a job teaching at the Forest Lake Montessori School. She taught a combined class of first, second and third graders (E1) for ten years at the Montessori school and said the experience was invaluable. “That was a fabulous learning experience,” she said. “It’s really interesting to teach a multiage class. It really increased my knowledge of how kids learn.” During her time at the Montessori school, a number of colleagues mentioned that Greiman would make a great principal, and the idea stuck. In 1999 Greiman received a master degree from the University of Wisconsin River-Falls and four years later her educational administration license from St. Mary’s University.
During this coronavirus pandemic, access to accurate and trustworthy information in your community is as critical to life under quarantine and as sought after as hand sanitizer and face masks. Your local newspaper provides the news and information unique to your community. Where are the testing sites and who’s eligible, which businesses are open, what is the local online unemployment benefit application process, and much more. But your access to local news and information is gravely threatened by the economic carnage COVID-19 has wrought. While local newspapers continue to field reporters and bring news and advice from public health authorities in print and online — at considerable cost — their revenues have all but disappeared as the businesses that were their most important advertisers were shuttered. That’s why America’s Newspapers and other organizations representing local news providers are asking Congress to take urgent action to ensure you don’t lose your vital sources of timely and trustworthy information. First, we’re asking that Congress expand and clarify the Payroll Protection Program to ensure it covers all local newspapers and news broadcasters. While some of these outlets may be owned by large organizations, they must survive on their own. It’s only fair that they should be included in any expansion of the program. These loans will keep the newspaper employees — your neighbors — on their payrolls and help get the news to you in print as well as online. We appreciate the bipartisan letter of April 19th from U.S. Senators Maria Cantwell (D-WA), John Kennedy (R-LA),
SEE TEACHER, PAGE 2
SEE SUPPORT, PAGE 2
BY DEAN RIDINGS CEO, AMERICA'S NEWSPAPERS
Local ski patroller assists in emergency at Northstar Stables BY C.L. SILL EDITOR@COUNTRYMESSENGER.COM
Forest Lake Sophomore Taylen Peterson recently helped out in an emergency situation at Northstar Stables in Stacy, Minn. Peterson was meeting some friends at Northstar to ride their horses when she noticed a woman in a seizure-like state on a picnic table surrounded by several panicked adults. The 16-year-old rushed over to see if she could help. “She was having odd postures, laying her head back and mumbling,” she said. Peterson is a member of the young adult ski patrol at Wild Mountain ski area north of Taylors Falls, Minn. Her father Brad started the youth program several years ago. Peterson trained for ten weeks last summer in an outdoor emergency class that
included both classroom and practical instruction. “They taught us how to splint and do CPR,” she said. “All of the basic first aid.” o She took the test required to become a ski patroller last falll and spent the winter getting more practical instruction on the slopes at Wild Mountain. She’s had some real life experience on the ski hill, and said she the situation at Northstar didn’t intimidate her. The stable owner and a mom of one of Peterson’s friends were the only adults present. They were on the phone with 911 when Peterson arrived, but couldn’t remain calm in the high stress situation. “The 911 operator asks for someone to speak calmly on the phone and the owner immediately just passed the phone to me,” she said. “So I
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Taylen Peterson, 16, is a member of the young adult ski patrol at Wild Mountain Ski Area north of Taylors Falls, Minn. She recently assisted in an emergency situation at Northstar Stables in Stacy, Minn.
started talking with them and letting them know what was happening and helped with what I could using what my
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training at ski school taught me.” Peterson laid the woman on the ground to prevent her from falling off the table and began to check her vital signs. The woman’s respirations were slow, so after she made sure no neck injuries had been sustained, Peterson lifted her head to open up her airway. This helped and the woman’s breathing began to normalize, although she was still going in and out of consciousness. A helicopter was initially dispatched to transport the woman, but was called off after her breathing stabilized. Emergency medical personnel arrived in around 15 minutes and transported the woman to the hospital. The emergency medical services and the owner of Northstar were both thankful to have Peterson on the scene. “The owner kept thanking
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me and asking me how I knew so much,” she said. “I told her I’m a ski patroller.” Peterson has yet to speak with the woman or find out exactly what happened to her. She’s glad she was there to help out and said her training allowed her to remain calm during the tense situation. “With all the training you go through, you’re just so prepared and know what’s going to happen,” she said. “I have the list memorized in my head of what to do step by step.” Peterson loves helping people out during ski patrol, but said having it sprung on you when you’re not expecting it and being able to react was even more rewarding. “The adults didn’t really know what to do,” she said. “So it felt really good to be able to help her out.”
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