Jennifer Johnson
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Jennifer Johnson is the K-12 education reporter for The Grand Forks Herald. Contact her if you have any story ideas or tips and visit www.grandforksherald.com.
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Residents of East Grand Forks will pay a lower amount of taxes this year to support a school renovation. Low interest rates and East Grand Forks Public Schools' ability to borrow at a lower interest rate reduced the renovation cost of Senior High School from $20.6 million to $19.1 million, Superintendent David Pace said. He announced the news at a school board meeting Jan. 25.
Some East Grand Forks residents say they seek a "strong, experienced leader" for the district who will also focus on student growth. A recent meeting with East Grand Forks Public School teachers, staff and community members resulted in this comment and others as they tried to identify what qualities they want in the new superintendent. Superintendent David Pace, who has led the district for nine years, resigned effective June 30.
Not long ago, Grand Forks parents heard about most school district information through a monthly mailed newsletter. Today, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram provide them with immediate updates. What are students making in Mrs. Heydt's class at Viking Elementary School? Fuzzy owl babies. What's happening at Central High School? Students recently attended a 1 Million Cups Grand Forks event.
Christy Doyea, co-owner of Scotty's Deli and Catering in Grand Forks, said she wouldn't call a hot dog a sandwich. "Even if it comes on bread," she said. She answered a question Americans have spent countless hours debating on the Internet with their friends and co-workers since at least 2014: Is a hot dog a sandwich?
FARGO—A Hatton, N.D., boy recently involved in a fatal snowmobile accident was released Friday from the hospital, according to the CaringBridge website. Brody Johnson, 9, and his family left Sanford Children's Hospital in Fargo after he spent nearly three weeks there, his mother Tracie Johnson wrote on the site. "We started Day 1 with so many questions, concerns and fears," she wrote. "There were so many unknowns. Now today, 19 days later, our son is coming home with us."
INKSTER, N.D.—On Wednesday, high school students quietly filed into Midway Public School gymnasium and sat a few feet from a casket. During the mock funeral, a teacher strode up to the podium to tell students that senior Carly Magnus, who lay motionless in the coffin, died from distracted driving. "We are gathered here today to remember the life of our dear friend Carly," teacher Liz Grzadzielewski said. "To think of this girl not being a part of our lives is unbelievable."
St. Michael's Catholic Parish in Grand Forks is gaining some breathing room with expansion into a historic Near North Neighborhood building. In the search for more space, the parish is converting an apartment building located at 418 N. Sixth St. into a pastoral center, the Rev. Gerard Braun said. The parish purchased the building in June. On Tuesday, Braun wandered through a few of the dozen spaces the parish will use for adult education classes, parish offices, meeting rooms and a kitchen area.
Twelve students from Central Middle School in East Grand Forks qualified for a state robotics tournament this weekend in St. Cloud. Members of Green Wave Robotics will join a total 70 middle and high school teams competing Friday and Saturday at the Dream It. Do It. State Minnesota VEX Robotics Tournament. The theme for the competition is "Nothing But Net," a game played by scoring points with colored balls and elevating robots in a designated climbing zone.
A man accused of killing another man by running him over with a car on the Spirit Lake Indian Reservation faces two additional charges. Lance Robertson, who is either 27 or 28 and a member of the Spirit Lake Nation, was initially charged with murder in the death of Larse Azure Jr., 18, of Fort Totten, N.D. Robertson is accused of killing Azure on Dec. 19. An amended complaint filed Jan. 21 states Robertson faces two additional counts of assault with a dangerous weapon for assaulting Azure and Tiana WalkingEagle with his car.
Red River High School senior Katelyn Klefstad doesn't believe students understand rape culture. Inspired by a recently published book, she and two others created a video for a class that explained rape culture and defined sexual assault and drew praise Friday from U.S. Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D., when she visited the school. "Do you think there's a rape culture at Red River?" Heitkamp asked. "I think so," said Georgia Paul, another student who created the video. Rape culture can include anything from violence to words that belittle a woman, she said.
