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SCIENCE TEACHER: Innovative style awarded by President Obama PAGE 11A
Labor secretary and senator promote career skills BY SARA MARIE MOORE VADNAIS HEIGHTS EDITOR
PAUL DOLS | PRESS PUBLICATIONS
Bus riding basics drill Charlie Olson and his children Chase and Lucy (exiting bus) familiarized themselves with a school bus parked outside Wildwood Elementary School in Mahtomedi during an open house at the school Thursday, Sept. 1, prior to the official start of the new school year Tuesday, Sept. 6. Find more back to school photos on page 1B.
VADNAIS HEIGHTS — U.S. Secretary of Labor Tom Perez and U.S. Senator Al Franken came to hear about the area's education and workforce training partnerships Aug. 30. Franken visited education and business leaders four years ago to hear about their plans for workforce training in the schools, particularly the career pathways program being developed in White Bear Area Schools. He was back for an update. Franken is known for promoting legislation that aims to close the “skills gap” — the discrepancy between the high demand for skilled workers and the lack of students being trained in career fields. “As I go all around Minnesota, we have a skills gap,” Franken said. “And that means that there are companies that have needs for workers of varying skills and they have a hard time finding them.” Franken said skills training benefits both the businesses and the employees-to-be. Skilled employees enable businesses to “compete in Minnesota and compete globally.” Training students in career skills also enables more people “looking for a path to the middle class” to find jobs that will get them there. “That gives the employee a great path to a good middle-class life,” Franken said. “That is what we really want to be able to do. The middle SEE WORKFORCE TRAINING, PAGE 9A
Charter school movement 25 years old, continues to grow Minnesota, birthplace of the charter, favors homegrown schools BY LOUISE ERNEWEIN CONTRIBUTING WRITER
It's the silver anniversary of the charter school and in Minnesota — the birthplace of the charter school movement — supporters say the commitment to students and choice has never been stronger. In the northeast Metro alone, there are charter schools specializing in science and agriculture, language immersion, technology, Montessori and more. Level Up Academy in White Bear Lake celebrates its first birthday this fall, joining other longtime area charters like New Heights School in Stillwater (the third-longest opera-
tional charter school in the United States, since 1993) and the Academy for Sciences and Agriculture (AFSA) in Vadnais Heights, which has been open for 15 years. Two new charters — North Metro Flex in North St. Paul and TRUTH Preparatory Academy in Oakdale — are preparing to welcome their inaugural students this September. “There’s a bumper sticker out there that says, ‘One size doesn’t fit all’ regarding charter schools,” said Becky Meyer, executive director of AFSA. “I think that's really relevant. “There are students who need certain
STEPH FORLITI | SUBMITTED
Academy for Sciences and Agriculture (AFSA) students with green painted hands — Grace Tienter, Isabella Forliti, Abby Stumpner and Josh Garrow — are members of the National FFA (Future Farmers of America) Organization. Students who have earned the “Greenhand” Degree (usually in ninth grade) through FFA receive a pin and certificate and then dip their hand in green paint, place a handprint on one of the school walls and sign and date it.
SEE CHARTER SCHOOLS, PAGE 8A
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