JULY 28, 2022 | South Central News & Media Nicollet Girls State Champs on Back Page
First Lutheran Church Celebrates 125 Years
1965 Basketball Reunion on Page 4
Staffing Shortage Cited in School Closing By Rob Lawson, Publisher The Lafayette Charter School (LCS) system announced via press release it would be closing its doors Monday, July 18, 2022. Short staffing was cited for the closure. Robin Larson and Tally Clobes
submitted letters of resignation to the school board at their July 12 meeting. Joshua Harrison, LCS Board Chair, told the Ledger the school could no longer make good on its educational promises without key staff. “The main impetus for the decision was a staffing shortage,
specifically not enough qualified teachers to provide the education we promise,” Harrison said. Harrison said LCS is in the process of assisting families and students find their way to new schools. “We have about 70 students from the surrounding areas that
need to find a new school by the end of August, so our full attention is focused on supporting them,” Harrison said. “We expect families to enroll in the neighboring public schools, such as GFW, New Ulm, St. Peter, Lake Crystal, and some of the private school choices as well.”
Other families are opting for other options. “Some families have chosen to home school their kids for next year,” Harrison added. “It has been a difficult decision that we didn’t expect to have to make on such short notice, but we needed to give our LCS families and remaining
staff as much time as possible to transition.” Harrison noted the timing was right to help families and students transition. Clobes and Larson resigned July 5 and 31 respectively. Both were educators and board members per their 2021-2022 agreements.
County dairy farms host teachers from across the nation By Ruth Klossner Twenty-six educators—most without previous dairy farm experience— got up close and personal with dairy cows and calves on Nicollet County farms last week. The educators, participants in the pilot On the Farm STEM—Dairy event, learned about all aspects of dairying—from genetics and nutrition to production and management—courtesy of the Annexstad family of Norseland, the Swensons of Forest Lawn Farms of rural Nicollet, and Davis Family Dairies of New Sweden. Rolf, Jean, Mike, and Emily Annexstad, along with nutritionist John Kiese of UFC and Dr. Erin Royster of the U of M College of Veterinary Medicine, guided the group through a series of learning stations at the Annexstad farm on Monday. Topics included nutrient analysis of feeds, mastitis prevention and control, the value of colostrum, and the rumen digestion process. At Forest Lawn Tuesday, Dr. Ashley Swenson, David Hanson, and Paul and Cindy Swenson led the group through a variety of topics including genetics and technology— with Ashley implanting an embryo in a cow as the group watched. Robotic milking, understanding computer input, and calf feeding were other topics at the Swenson farm. Although most of the participants did not have dairy farm experience, they listened intently and asked insightful questions at the various stations. Many were excited to be able to touch the cows and calves— and numerous cell phone photos were taken. Tuesday’s final stop was at Davis Family Dairies, rural Nicollet, to see a carousel milking system, see calves being born, and learning about methane digesters. As part of the four-day in-thefield tour July 17–20, the group also visited the Science Museum in St. Paul, the Agropur Protein Applications Center in Eden Prairie, and the Winfield Answer Plot in Le
Sueur. At Agropur, R&D scientists led the group through five hands-on experiments using dairy and whey protein. Topics included protein solubility, heat stability, sensory, dispersibility, emulsion and foaming, and gel strength. Topics at the Winfield Answer Plot were soil science, nitrogen, plant physiology, and the latest research and technology. Program participants came, literally, from all parts of the country. Tennessee had the largest delegation with four, with Pennsylvania and Illinois sending three each, and Minnesota, Kansas, and Michigan two apiece. One educator each came from New York, Louisiana, California, Wisconsin, Texas, Missouri, New Jersey, Arizona, Colorado, and Puerto Rico. Educators applied to take part in the program and, if accepted, received travel expenses, and had their lodging and meals covered. They traveled by coach bus from one education site to the next. The On the Farm STEM— Dairy event was sponsored by The Food and Agriculture Center for Science Education, a platform of the American Farm Bureau Foundation for Agriculture, in cooperation with Dairy Management Inc. and Midwest Dairy through the dairy checkoff. Those groups are working together to provide high-quality science education materials, professional development, and classroom implementation support for high school science teachers. It’s a way to infuse the science behind dairy farming and agriculture into schools The resources developed through the program will introduce high school students to important concepts in food, dairy, and agriculture. By including the curriculum in STEM classes, the aim is to have youth understand the value of agriculture products, including dairy, as part of a healthy and sustainable lifestyle; understand the scientific principles behind production decisions related to nutrition, environmental stewardship, breeding, genetics, etc.; and generate interest in future careers
Jean Annexstad, back to camera, addressed the need for calves to The entire group paused for a photo, just before leaving the Swenson get colostrum immediately after birth and demonstrated ways to farm. On the left are hosts Howard Swenson, David Hanson, Ashley test the colostrum for quality. Swenson, and Cindy and Paul Swenson.
When a group member asked Rolf Annexstad, left, why cottonseed Group participants were excited to meet the cows (and calves) at the is included in the cow’s diet, he gave her a handful to evaluate. Annexstad dairy and took many cell phone photos. that could include nutrition research, food production, and agriculture science. In addition to the in-person tours, the collaboration supports virtual professional development where teams of high school teachers engage in extensive training on the Next Generation Science Standards and will apply their learning from the on-farm experiences that connects teachers, dairy producers, and industry experts. The events will establish cohorts of STEM teachers and serve to grow the pool of educators to
encourage their peers to use dairy and agriculture topics as a context to teach science. The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) are a national set of science standards released in 2013 for K-12 Science Education. The NGSS, or similar standards, are now implemented in 44 states across the country, with the remaining six states aligning their standards to them. Because of this, science teachers are facing a new educational landscape in which they must alter or rewrite their curricula. The new
direction from NGSS requires teachers to connect students with more tangible, real-world context. Agriculture continues to prove it is a great context for science education with this regard. Webinars, virtual classes, and online courses will promote and support teacher efforts to include dairyfunded education materials in the classroom and launch the pilot of the transfer tasks. Transfer tasks are assessments that require students to take knowledge gained in one context and apply it to a different context.
For example, if students are learning about greenhouse gases and ways to reduce them in the atmosphere, could they transfer that information to sustainability and environmental practices the dairy industry is putting in place to reduce methane production?
Vehicles of every color, shape, and description lined the downtown area of Nicollet last week Thursday for the bi-weekly Cruisin’ on Pine & 99. Nicollet’s roll-ins alternate Thursday nights with Lake Crystal, so the next one in Nicollet will be August 4.
Car owners arrive early to get the best spots, with many picking spots where they can sit in the shade— close to their cars—during the evening. A number of food stands are available, set up by community organizations, so car owners and
spectators are well fed while they look at the cars and visit. Area residents can catch a car show every week, with Lafayette holding roll-ins every other Wednesday with the next one August 10.
MORE PHOTOS ON PAGE 3
Cruisin’ on Pine & 99 last week
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