No snow, no problem

Young Nathan Lansing (nearly 2) enjoyed some pickles and pork and bingo with his parents Josh and Amanda at the HFD’s 42nd Eskimo Day on Saturday. The crowds filled the hall for bingo, where shouts of “Bingo” were followed by groans from 1 to 3 p.m. Billy Wentzlaf played lead voice for the HFD, his clear and concise delivery of letters and numbers an absolute joy for all card holders.  (Photos by Troy Koester)

Snow Week candidates

Left to right: Ashley Beseke, Jordan Kahlow, Aubin Bruns, Brady Rose, Mary Heinz, Matt Rinehart, Megan Stutsman, AJ Smith, Elle Hammes, Christian Dwyer, Callie Boelter, Jack Simota, Gretta Schultz, Bobby Rose, Tori Sinell, Jack Swanberg and Brandi Windsor.
Missing from photo was Nicole Chilman. (Photo by James Brenno) 

Reconfiguring
slowly taking shape at Hilltop

By Troy Koester
Staff Writer

  A discussion of the changing face of public education preceded a discussion about Hilltop Elementary at the Feb. 6 LS-H School Board Meeting. Hilltop will undergo some transformation as it becomes a Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) School starting next fall.
  All LS-H fourth and fifth graders will experience the STEM curriculum at Hilltop starting with the 2012-13 school year. The District’s K-3 will be housed at Park Elementary in LeSueur.
  School Board member and Property Services Committee member Jim Mayer reported to the board that discussions on Hilltop’s facelift are moving forward. The District’s Properties manager Mark Vrklan will oversee many of the projects, and Vrklan and his staff will complete much of the work.
   Starting immediately after the 2011-12 school year, Hilltop’s transformation will begin. Although no plans are finalized, the shuffling results in one additional classroom, for a total of eight. Also, there are plans to expand the kitchen and move the offices. A larger refrigerator/cooler will also be installed.
  Carpet will be replaced with the exception of high traffic areas, where tile will be intalled.
Mayer also discussed the potential of additional security and lighting around the building and in the parking lot, and the resurfacing of the parking lot to handle increased bus traffic.
  Mayer indicated that the final dollar amount for these projects is being compiled and the Board should have complete information by the end of February. Mayer was not certain if the expense would come from the capital outlay budget, the general fund or a combination of both.
  Also, Superintendent Richard Hanson reported to the Board that the District has received 42 applicants for Hilltop’s Elementary Principal/Curriculum and Instruction Coordinator position. The job will be posted until Feb. 16, and Hanson anticipates a   number of additional candidates.
  “This is a unique position,” Hanson said. “It really offers to the right candidate a terrific opportunity to be at the ground floor of creating a school.”
Hanson indicated that the District will select about a half-dozen candidates for a first round of interviews to take place the first week of March. If needed a second round of interviews would take place the following week, and Administration would hope to make a recommendation to the Board at its March 26 meeting.
  The interviews will be conducted by Hanson, Park Elementary Principal Bill Bjorndahl, High School/Middle School Principal Kevin Enerson and two members of the School Board. The public is invited to sit in on the interview process.
Hanson said the field of candidates is impressive. “Not only do we have quantity, we have quality,” he said. “There’s a lot of optimism that we’re going to have a difficult choice.”


From Our Files

130 years ago
February 10, 1882
Wm. Hahn, of southwest part of this township was brought here from Le Sueur, on Saturday, and examined before the Judge of Probate on a writ DE LUNATICO INQUIRENDO. The charge was found to be true and Mr. Hahn was taken to the Assylum for Insane, at St. Peter, in charge of Constable Peter Mergens and Mr. Fred Borth.
The public schools of Le Sueur have been closed on account of a case of scarlet fever in the family of the principal. Several cases are reported there, but they are said to be under the control of the Board of Health and that no spread of the fever is anticipated.

120 years ago
February 12, 1892
Our Arlington contemporary, to get a scoop on the other county papers, last week told its readers for a certainty that the O’Neil motion for a new trial had been denied, when in fact such a motion had not been heard at all. They are dieting on crow at the Enterprise office this week.
Horse buyers will visit this town tomorrow. Lynch & Whitson, St. Paul horse buyers will be at Henderson ready to buy horses for cash, Tuesday and Wednesday, Feb. 16 and 17. They want two carloads of horses.

60 years ago
February 8, 1952
Mayor and Mrs. Fred Bender of Henderson were among more than 300 Minnesota mayors and their wives who attended the St. Paul Winter Carnival as guests of Mayor Edward Delaney of St. Paul.
Harry and Bobbie Baynes of Le Sueur were callers at the Casten-Thomas home Sunday.
General Trucking - Short and long distance hauling. Call Orville Mesker, Henderson, Minn.

40 years ago
February 10, 1972
The John Kroehler farm home, west of Henderson, sustained considerable damage in a fire discovered shortly before noon Friday by Mr. Kroehler who was outside doing farm chores. Mrs. Kroehler and the three children were at school at the time. Exact cause of the fire has not yet been determined but it is believed the home sustained around $10,000 in damages.
Mr. and Mrs. Ronald Walters and daughters moved Saturday, January 29 into the home they recently purchased from George Hawes.
Mr. and Mrs. Tim Podell and son, Timmy, moved from the barber shop apartment into the apartment over the C.A. Swenson building, formerly known as the Steckman Implement building.
Mr Hawes now resides in his apartment over the barber shop.

30 years ago
February 11, 1982
Leonard, Shirley and Chris Blaschko and Viola Griep were Thursday evening visitors at the Paul Reinitz home. They went especially to meet the newest member of the Reinitz family, little “Tiffany Marie”, who was born January 29.
WARNING - Any dogs chasing livestock and killing poultry will be shot. - Alfred Kelm
Valentine’s Day Dance! Starting at 9:00 p.m. in the Henderson Legion Hall. Music by S.E.K.S. Admission - $3.00

20 years ago
February 13, 1992
Henderson School’s Spelling Bee was held at Hilltop Elementary on Feb. 6. Twelve contestants from grades 5-8 participated in the spell down. Matt Grapentine, seventh grader at Le Sueur Henderson Junior High, won and will advance to the Regional competition in Mankato.
Hazel and Bud Jones of Mankato stopped in one day last week to visit Margaret Winterfeldt and Kay Krueger.

 Josselyn Bishop

Accused murderer gets 30 years

Williams-Tillman will spend at least 30 years in prison for Bishop slaying 

  Damone Christopher Williams-Tillman pled guilty last Tuesday, January 31 to one count of first-degree murder during an act of domestic violence that took the life of former Henderson area resident 19-year old Josselyn Bishop.

  The plea deal allows Williams-Tillman a chance of parole after serving a minimum of 30 years in prison.
  Williams-Tillman, who was originally from Golden Valley, was charged back in July of 2011 with second degree murder of Bishop, with whom he had a previous relationship.
  According to the criminal complaint, Bishop was found stabbed to death on a median on North Victory Drive in Mankato.
  Victim impact statements were read in court before the sentencing on Tuesday. Bishop’s brother, 8-year old Gage, told Williams-Tillman that he didn’t have to do what he did. “You could have walked away.”
  Bishop’s mother stated that Williams-Tillman had ripped the happiness out from under them. 
Williams-Tillman will be eligible for parole when he’s about 50 years old.
  Bishop was a 2010 Le Sueur-Henderson graduate where she was a standout on the softball team. LS-H head softball coach Eric Lewis stated back in July that “Josselyn was a super young woman ... she was the kind of person that made my job fun.”
  Bishop had been attending Minnesota State University in Mankato.

 

An old guy offers up some thoughts on education

In the aftermath of this season’s Christmas letters this correspondent ponders the conumdrum of education in America today 

   This Christmas brought a number of letters from family and friends, many of them proudly reporting on the academic accomplishments of nieces, nephews and young friends we have made over the years.
I   ’m not writing about the overly boastful testimonials that sometimes give Christmas letters a bad name. Nor am I suggesting somehow that my circle of friends is exceptional. I suspect that if we surveyed all the readers of this newspaper there would be a number of similar stories.
   So, how is it that the state of education in this country is in the precarious condition it is today when we have a remarkable number of high achievers? I’m not the one to provide expert answers – there are many readers of this column eminently more qualified - but it is a conundrum facing us today. It is not, however, just a problem for educational professionals but for all us. We all, young and old, have skin in this game. Not just families with school-age children.
   We have a situation where some in this country are getting a better-than-average, superior education, while others are falling through the cracks. It has been said that we have split into two nations: the “haves” and “have-nots.” It is not simply a failure of the school system, although that certainly can and needs to be improved. Teachers, in general, are underpaid and underappreciated in our society. 
   A more serious problem is the breakdown of the family. Too many young people are living in poverty; too many single parents and out-of-wedlock children; too many kids growing up with a lack of values and direction. It is not something easily solved, and it is not something that government can fix.
   A similar but different problem is the one facing children where English is a second language. In a way, this seems to be one more easily corrected in a generation. My own father came to this country at age 11 speaking not a word of English, and that was hardly unique in those years.
   One of the most important decisions you make in life is the friends you choose.
   Growing up in Henderson in my era I was so fortunate to have both strong parents and a group of friends who aspired to achieve something.
   Yes, we made foolish mistakes (I have enough of those to fill an embarrassing column, but we’re not going there). That’s part of growing up, but I can’t recall any of my friends ever have any kind of a brush with the law. In poor neighborhoods today it is too easy for kids to gravitate in the wrong direction.
   Fixing the schools, which many see is as the problem, won’t fix the whole problem. Somehow if there is not a strengthening of the family unit we are headed for even bigger problems. Like a chain, we’re only as strong as our weakest link. I know a lot of smart, dedicated people are focused on the problem.  The two major problems we have: first, fixing the debt problem. If we aren’t fiscally strong it makes pursuing our priorities more difficult. The second is education. We once led the world in education but others have caught and surpassed us.
   In the final analysis, the solution lies in…education: Breaking the dreadful cycle we’re in and raising several generations of young people who have experienced the values and virtues of a sound education. It is not a given that this is going to happen.
   We cannot remain a world leader without strong K-12 and college-technical programs. I wish I could be around to see the next 25 years unfold. Finding the right solutions are critical to our future.


Once upon a time ...
North Dakota was in trouble

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May 2012 be the year of restoring public trust

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