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families. MLHS’ rating was 77.78 percent despite not receiving Title I funds.
MLE started the school year with publicity on KARE-11 TV, which aired a clip of the“Sign It Daily” video about signing planners.
Holly Goelz and Neal Wagner were selected as Homecoming King and Queen.
Senior Brooke Decker became the all-time leading scorer in Maple Lake girls basketball history. She was later named to the 5AA North basketball team for her fourth consecutive year. ANML Lightning advanced to the 6AA Quarterfinals but lost to Becker by three points. ANML Lightning wrestler, Jordan Hanan, recorded his 100th win and 51st pin. Members of the Anandale-Maple Lake Youth Wrestling teams took 1st place in the junior and senior divisions of the National Youth Wrestling Association Team
Championship at St. John’s University.
MLHS sent the boys and
girls track team to the State True Team Meet for the first time in school history, with the boys taking first and the girls finishing fourth. Joe Mooney set a personal record of 6’6” in the Class A boys’ high jump finals on Saturday at Hamline University in St. Paul. Mooney finished in a tie for second place, the highest-ever finish for an Irish track athlete at the state meet. In addition, the boys’ 4x200 relay team of Cody Bakka, Forrest Coughlin, Kevin Salveson and Drew Hanson finished in fifth place, breaking a school record with a time of 1:31.83. 2012 also marked the first subsection track title for the boys. Fittingly, Ben Youngs was named CMC Boys and Girls Track Coach of the Year and Section 5A Coach of the Year.
The Irish baseball team clinched their first Central Minnesota Conference title in school history.
The Irish softball team won the Central Minnesota Conference title.
The Irish girls golf team took second place in the Central Minnesota Conference.
Amy Voigt was named CMC Assistant Coach of the Year. Dave Schroeder was named Athletic Director of the Year. Tim Knudsen was CMC Softball Coach of the Year.
Brian Redemske participated in the 2012 Minnesota All-Star Baseball Tournament.
The Irish girls cross country team won the CMC Championship, while the boys took third place. It also marked the first time the Irish cross country team had sent more than one athlete to the State Cross Country Meet: Greg Dorow, Halle Geyen and Sommer Carlson.
MLE teacher Mary Lou Nygaard received $1,000 in school supplies, and the MLE office received an additional $650 in supplies, as part of OfficeMax’s National School Advocacy Program.
Support staff members Jodi Stecker and Tammy Heitkamp were honored at a regional event hosted by Resource Training & Solutions.
Maple Lake teachers Mike Hojnacke, Nygaard, Trish Ludwig and Casey Pack were honored as Leaders in Educational Excellence.
MLE music teacher Pat Johnson was presented with a plaque for many years of service as she retired.
Infrastructure In February, the school
board entered into an energy savings performance audit with Siemens, Inc. It later approved a $605,010 project with 3.5 percent interest over 15 years, which was expected to save the district $50,660 annually.
Irish Diamonds were completed and a grand opening celebrated the new facility.
New programs
A new elementary school literacy program was approved to comply with a modified state statute requiring students’ daily reading to increase from 90 to 120 minutes.
Irish PATHS, standing for Parents And Teachers Helping Students, began at MLHS, under the leadership of former Parents In Education President Paula Schmidt.
To combat bullying, the school district took on “Rachel’s Challenge,” which is named after Rachel Scott, the first student killed in the
Columbine High school shooting.
Irish Connections began in MLE to match each student with a caring adult in groups for 20 minutes each month.
Overview “I think we’re doing a
lot of things well,” Superintendent Mark Redemske said, referencing academic achievement, as evidenced by the “Reward School” title for MLE. “Anytime you’ve got administrators who break down data, we’re always going to find things to work on but, overall, we’ve got to be pleased with that.”
In addition to academic excellence, Redemske is proud of district involvement and success of co-curricular and extracurricular activities.
“We have very high participation levels, with a lot of successes there,” Redemske said.
With that said, he acknowledges several challenges remain.
“We have been struggling with enrollment dipping and, of course, enrollment is what drives our revenue, so we have to address it,” Redemske said.
One way the district hopes to address declining enrollment is by offering more college classes
through Lake Superior College to keep high school students at the local campus.