Tidbits

The Minnesota Association of School Administrators (MASA) has named Dr. Joe Gothard, Superintendent of Saint Paul Public Schools (SPPS), the 2024 Minnesota Superintendent of the Year. Dr. Gothard has served as Superintendent of SPPS since 2017.

 

Hsakushee Zan, a bilingual educator lead with St. Paul Public Schools’ Office of Multilingual Learning, has earned the Outstanding Refugee Awards Entrepreneurship Award from Minnesota Department of Human Services for contributions to the community in business, the arts or education. She came to the United States from Thailand after fleeing Myanmar, and makes her home in St. Paul.

 

Initial appointments to the Saint Paul Recovery Act Community Reparations Commission include: (one year) Jamila Pickett, Khulia Pringle, Nathaniel Khaliq; (two year) Carla Robinson, Idman Ibrahim,  Joseph Bloedoorn, Nick Muhammad; (three years)  Arthur McCoy, Nila Gouldin, Trahern Crews, and Jeremie English.

 

St. Paul-based Wilderness Inquiry is proud to announce that it was selected to host Brian Muchiri Waihenya, a Fellow from Kenya in the Professional Development Experience (PDE) component of the U.S. Department of State’s Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders from Aug. 7 to Sept. 1, 2023. Since 2014, the U.S. Department of State has supported nearly 5,800 Mandela Washington Fellows from across Sub-Saharan Africa to develop their leadership skills and foster connections and collaboration with U.S. professionals.

 

JLG Architects has been awarded the AIA Minneapolis Merit Award for the 2019 design of Frogtown Community Center. The $7.3 million building replaced the prior 1970s Scheffer Recreation Center at the corner of Como Ave. and Marion St. Frogtown neighborhood is home to thousands of first- and second-generation Hmong and East African immigrants.

 

SCIENCE FAIR/BOWLS GET FUNDING
“I’m thrilled to announce that the community really stepped up over the summer to save our State Science Fair and State Science Bowls,” said Minnesota Academy of Science (MAS) Executive Director Lara Maupin. She delivered this welcome news to board and staff members gathered in the nonprofit organization’s St. Paul office for a Sept. 12 meeting where the board would determine the fate of the two imperiled programs.
“In just three months we secured $100,000 in new donations and pledges to support our Science Bowls and Science Fair. Thanks to new supporters, we’ve closed half our annual budget gap and ensured that we can come back together in person for these beloved statewide events in 2024,” said Maupin. Despite the success of these long-standing statewide programs, both faced critical revenue shortfalls. After considering Maupin’s fundraising update and current budgetary constraints, the MAS Board voted to approve the Science Bowl and Science Fair budgets required to hold both activities in person in 2024. Fundraising efforts, especially the search for new sponsors, will continue as MAS seeks to put both programs on a sustainable path forward.