Principal Smith discusses dealing with truancy

By Robert Williams

Editor

FFA representatives were in attendance at the monthly school board meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 12, to share the positive aspects of attending the 97th annual National FFA Convention & Expo in Indianapolis, Indiana Oct. 23-26.

The group shared a 16-hour bus trip with FFA members from neighboring schools.

Some of the many events attended included a trip to the FFA shopping mall, a rodeo, a zoo, and an ag-related career expo, including 100 colleges represented. 

The group’s consensus was that attending the convention “enhances the chapter’s enthusiasm to help build opportunities for chapter members and activities and how to build the program.”

A keynote speaker at the convention that impressed was Temple Grandin discussing her animal welfare chute system that emphasizes curved chutes and solid corral fences to reduce stress on animals during handling.

The group thanked the school, staff and community for supporting the program and providing opportunities like the convention.

FFA currently has more than 1 million members nationwide and more than 71,000 people attended the national convention.

FFA Advisor Trescha Mitchell discussed the many learning opportunities and potential first times for kids to spend a week on their own managing their own budgets on the trip after having funded the expenses to take the trip themselves.

“It’s the largest student organization and to be able to allow these kids to be able to go—most of them fundraise their way all the way through it,” Mitchell said.

This school year, several FFA students showcased their livestock (beef, goats and rabbits) and scored very high at the state fair in August. In September, the Officer Team placed first overall, along with the teams of Poultry and Forestry, qualifying for the state convention.

The 96th Annual Minnesota FFA Convention will be held April 27 – 29, 2025, at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities.

The school board also approved planning for an FFA trip to Ireland in 2026. The purpose of the trip is to expand on world knowledge, learn about new cultures and agriculture in Ireland. Participating students will be self-paying via fundraising with an expected cost of $4,600 per student.

“I think it’s a great opportunity,” said Board Treasurer Tammie Nunn.

Fall Activities

Cross Country – Head Coach Katie Hoekstra had seven boys and six girls out for cross country.

Football – Head Coach Russ Hackel had 68 students from grades 7-12 come out for football. The program consisted of 8 coaches: Junior High Coaches – Marty Thorp and Todd Larson: Varsity and Junior Varsity– Russ Hackel, Daniel Stiel, Roger Thorp, Nick Courneya, Brandon Olson and Joe Mollberg. The football team ended the season with a 4-6 record losing to Barnesville in the section semifinal game.

Volleyball – First-year Head Coach Chrissy Edwards had 79 volleyball players out in grades 7-12 with six different teams competing: Varsity, Junior Varsity, B team, C-Team/9th, 8th and 7th Grades. The program is supported with six coaches of which all are supported by the district: Varsity & Junior Varsity – Chrissy Edwards, Taylor Greenwood, B-Team Jolene Tappe, C Team/9th Grade–Megan Kelsey, and JH Coaches Lynn Tappe and Paige Callahan.

The volleyball team ended their season with a record of 12-13, losing in the first round to Perham.

Swimming and Diving – Three students participated in the Co-op swimming and diving with Detroit Lakes. Hope and Grace Hamm continued a family tradition qualifying for the state meet that was held last week. Hope qualified in diving and Grace will be swimming the 100-butterfly and 500-freestyle.

Fall Trap Shooting League – Volunteer Coaches Tim and Carrie Roble ran the fall trap shooting team. They did not compete in the league and just worked on the basic skills to improve on Their upcoming spring scores. They had twelve students participating.

Robotics – The Robotics program competed in the Northern Robotics Conference recently and came away as conference champions. Competition continues in January.

Musical – Little Mermaid will be showing Nov. 22 at 7 p.m., Nov. 23 at 2 and 7 p.m. and Nov. 24 at 2 p.m.

Sports

Activities Director Nick Courneya took six students to Glyndon to review student and spectator expectations as a whole with members of the Heart O’ Lakes Conference. 

“We’re quizzing our students in the conference on what they see as behaviors that need to be addressed,” said Courneya. “As a conference, we can build a norm so that we know when they go from site to site this is what to expect. This is the expectation. For us as supervisors, we know to go to those schools and we can talk about that we’ve had these meetings. We’ll have a list of these students that we can rely on and to know that these are the expectations set by students and the ADs of the conference. It’s not just looking at the negative…it’s also how to we promote good behaviors and expectations that way to.”

Courneya will be taking a dozen students in December to look at a similar, statewide program.

Truancy

High School Principal Jason Smith discussed truancy. Smith has shared duties regarding truancy with Counselor Martin Thorpe. 

“Martin has really taken it on and done a lot of good things like communicating with the families, working with two counties, sending letters, attending meetings and between him, Counselor Paige Schaefer and both of the counties we’ve got a really good system right now.”

Smith also praised Emily Bachmann in the office and Schaefer for their efforts.

“Paige is dropping in really well, has a great demeanor and works with the students very well,” said Smith. “She has just been super flexible and just an asset…good to have.”

Schaefer completed her undergraduate studies at the University of North Dakota and is currently in grad school at MSUM Moorhead. As part of her grad studies, she is interning this year in Frazee with Ta Fett.

Fett and her all-alumni counseling crew were featured in the Sept. 10 issue of the Forum.

Enrollment

Enrollment at the elementary school is 444 students, 470 with pre-kindergarten included. Kindergarten has the largest class size with 73 students; sixth grade the smallest at 59.

The elementary school had 421 students, not counting pre-K, at the end of last school year.

At the high school, enrollment is up 33 students with 403 compared to the end of last year’s 370.