With most school districts looking at budget cuts, it appears that the YME efforts to ‘Right Size the Budget’ last year may make it unnecessary to make budget cuts for the 2010-2011 school year.

Anita Patel—daughter of Annette and Dr. Subhashchandra “Pat” Patel of Clarkfield—was chosen by the Minnesota Jaycees as one of it’s ‘Ten Outstanding Young Minnesotans’ and was featured by Minnesota Business magazine. Raised in Clarkfield and a graduate of Yellow Medicine East High School, the 29-year-old Patel is now chiefly the Director of Racial Justice and Public Policy at the YWCA of Minneapolis. Check out a question and answer with Anita inside.

It takes a lot of time and dedication to put a one-act play together, especially when it is in competition against other schools with talented kids. Not only is talent and persistence needed within each actor, but also the guidance and confidence of a good director to put on a great play.

   This past Saturday, YME students grades 9-12 and Mrs. Heather Anderson performed their comedic one-act play   cleverly titled “13 Ways to Screw Up Your College Interview.”

   February 8th will be the 100th Anniversary of Boy Scouts of America.
    In honor of this milestone, Cub Scout Pack 291 is hosting a coffee and cookie celebration that every Scout will remember for a long time. To commemorate this occasion, they would like to invite anyone who has ever been involved with cub scouts in any way to join them!
    The celebration will be held from 5 to 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 9, at the Granite Falls American Legion.

“It is so important - needs to be done.  We didn’t want to risk not doing  this because it is so important for the health and safety of our kids,”  Y.M.E. School Board Chair Elmo Volstad shared in response to a statement from Leo Kuehl who voiced the opinion that if he were on the school board he wouldn’t want to go ahead with a $14 million improvement project without taking the issue to the voters.
 

There may be nothing more important to a culture’s identity than its language.
According to National Geographic explorer Wade Davis, at the time today’s typical adult was born there were 6,000 languages spoken on earth. Today, “fully half” are no longer being taught to school children.
Looking at a map of Minnesota, names such as Minneapolis, Kandiyohi and Mankato dot the landscape in reference to the Dakota  language – the very first spoken in the state.
Yet, the existence of the very language from which the word “Minnesota” derives is in danger of being lost. In fact, after the recent passing of two Dakota elders, including local Rev. Gary Cavender, only nine first generation speakers remain to pass on the vernacular as it was once spoken – true to the sound and inflections as it had been expressed, at one time, in abundance.

    The YME school district and its teachers were not able to agree on terms of a new contract by the state imposed January 15 deadline.
    Negotiators for the  YME school board and Education Minnesota-YME (EMYME), the local teachers’ union, had agreed on a  tentative settlement last week. Members of the local teachers’ union voted on the proposed contract on the morning of Wednesday, January 13.  When the ballots were counted the teachers had overwhelmingly rejected the contract offer. 

Andrew McCormick is a wonderfully odd kid.
He’s that type of person that you meet once in a great while. The type of person that once you walk away from them you find yourself smiling and shaking your head slightly and when you tell people about your encounter the conversation always begins with, “Have you met this kid?”

Prior to the opening of the Clarkfield Area Charter School three years ago, board members of the CACS admitted that they were skeptical of being able to meet their own goal of reaching $200,000 in budget reserves in five year’s time.
Just three years later, it’s an understatement to say it doesn’t seem so out of reach.

    A January 6 letter to YME Superintendent Al Stoeckman from Gislason and Hunter attorney Dustin Cross states, “My clients are strongly opposed to the School District’s attempt to fund over $12 million in facilities upgrades through the use of the Alternative Facilities Bonding and Levy Program.

    ”The letter states, “In the event that the Department of Education approves the School District’s Application, my clients may need to pursue avenues against the School District and the Department of Education, including litigating this matter in the court system.”

    In her principal’s report at Monday night’s school board meeting Karen Norell advised the board that the high school staff is discussing and supportive of a 4-day week for YME.  “More budget cuts here will mean a loss of programs this time,” said Norell.  She will be attending a Pact 4 Collaborative meeting this week where Greg Schmidt, Superintendent at MACCRAY, will give a presentation on the 4-day week.  She indicated that there are key questions that have to be asked before proceeding:  What did you actually save?  What effect did the calendar have on student achievement?

“Taking into consideration the decreased revenue and budget cuts, the district has done as well as you could hope for,” stated Barry Evenstad, C.P.A. and partner with Hoffman Brobst, PLLP, as he explained the audit report for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2009 to the YME School Board.  The figures he presented support his evaluation.  The General Fund reported an unreserved, undesignated fund balance for 2008-2009 of $779,072 which is an increase of $210,728 from the prior year unreserved, fund balance of $558,344.

Last Thursday Bert Raney Elementary students traveled to the Granite Falls Hospital and Manor where they partnered up with manor residents to produce some of the coolest and creative gingerbread houses you have ever seen.

Dakota scholar and activist Waziyatawin was expecting change following the release of her book: “What does Justice Look Like? The  Struggle for Liberation in Dakota Homeland.” She was not expecting it to come from within.

    One morning before school started, the blonde headed first grade boy stood patiently waiting in the office at Bert Raney Elementary.  Clutched in his hand was a Ziplock plastic bag containing twelve pennies.
    Liz DeBlieck looked across her computer screen at the lad.
    “This is for the school,” he said.  He held out the bag and handed it to DeBlieck.
    “It breaks my heart that this little boy who doesn’t have much is concerned about the status of our school,” DeBlieck explained.  “I couldn’t help but think that the budget cuts obviously affect our students.”