Quad Community Press

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Press Publications 4779 Bloom Avenue White Bear Lake, MN 55110

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TUESDAY, APRIL 25, 2017

VOL. 35 NO. 27 www.presspubs.com $1.00

WARGO NATURE CENTER: Hosts action—packed Earth Day PAGE 24

Local politician visits Circle Pines preschool Benefits of early education

BY JULIA ARNOLD CONTRIBUTING WRITER

CIRCLE PINES –– Noah's Ark Preschool Director Charlotte Todd has seen it all. She has worked in early childhood education since 1971 and is as passionate as ever about serving young children and their families. Todd recently reached out to Rep. Linda Runbeck (R-Circle Pines) to give her a tour of Noah's Ark Preschool in Circle Pines and explain the benefits and funding needs of early childhood education.

Todd said the benefits of early childhood are invaluable: “(birth) to 5 education, if done properly, prepares the child for entrance into kindergarten so they are going to have a successful school career — socially, emotionally, there are so many pieces to it.” Preschool can especially benefit children whose parents can't afford to sign them up for other enrichment and socialization opportunities like art classes, dance and sports. Todd explained, “so those kids don't get a good enough foundation for kindergarten. And

kindergarten is not play anymore ... there is so much more expected of them than 20 years ago. It's a whole different world.”

Current challenges Early childhood education programs, including preschools and daycare centers, can be unattainable for families struggling to make ends meet. “The biggest challenge right now is funding for families who cannot afford to get their child into a program,” Todd said. “It's the families who don't

JULIA ARNOLD | SUBMITTED

Director of Noah’s Ark Preschool, Charlotte Todd, gets a makeover from students in the three year-old class.

SEE LOCAL POLITICIAN, PAGE 10

Glitter and Glam

Peltier Lake drawdown rescheduled BY SHANNON GRANHOLM EDITOR

SHANNON GRANHOLM |PRESS PUBLICATIONS

Centennial High school students pose for the cameras during the grand march before prom on Saturday, April 22 in the Performing Arts Center. See more photos on page 12.

The temporary drawdown project of Peltier Lake was unsuccessful, but plans are in the works to try again. Last September the Rice Creek Watershed District (RCWD) began the drawdown to reduce the water level in Peltier Lake by approximately 3 feet. The goal of the project was to manage invasive plants, particularly curlyleaf pondweed, and improve water clarity. “With the rain we had in September, we knew that we were going to have to get some dry weather in order to make up for the wet starting condition,” said RCWD lake and stream specialist Matt Kocian. “As the fall went on and we kept getting rain, we saw our chances diminishing to reach that target elevation.” According to the National Weather Service, 2016 was the wettest year on record for the Twin Cities area with 40.32 inches of precipitation surpassing the previous record of 40.15 inches in 1911. This year, 5.47 inches fell in September, 3.41 inches in October and 2.98 inches in November. “For a while we did leave the stop logs on the dam out, hoping that we might hit some intermediate mark and see some benefits from that. So even if we didn't hit our target elevation, we might still be able to draw it down a foot or two and see some benefits,” SEE PELTIER LAKE, PAGE 11

Mothers Day Brunch Sunday May 14th

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