PREPARING STUDENTS FOR LIFE
Fourteen Anoka-
Hennepin educators
named candidates for
Minnesota Teacher of
the Year
PAGE 6
Andover students stay warm, raise awareness
and support for homeless youth
Fourteen Anoka-Hennepin educators have been
named candidates for Education Minnesota’s 2019
Minnesota Teacher of the Year award.
The teachers are:
• Ericka Ableiter, English, Blaine High School.
• Jessica Bomstad Young, English, Blaine High
School.
• David Christensen, English, Blaine High School.
• Lynn Florman, special education, Blaine High
School.
• Cindy Houle, third grade, University Avenue
Elementary School - Aerospace, Children’s
Engineering and Science.
• Stacy Johnson, fifth grade, Crooked Lake
Elementary School.
Danny Belrose, Sydnie Mackey and Halle Hammer (juniors)
participated in the Hope4Youth event to support their friend,
a student in the Outdoor Adventures class at Andover High School. Brandon Prentis, senior at Andover High School, worked on
homework for his Outdoor Adventures class - which involved
making snowshoes - while camping outdoors Jan. 17.
Camping with friends and classmates sounds like
fun, but 113 students and five staff members from
Andover High School (AndHS) took camping to
another level in an effort to raise awareness about
youth and teen homelessness, Jan. 17. resources available to teens in need from Cheri
Sutch, Director of Community Engagement and
Giving at Hope4Youth, and Jessica Jasurda,
homeless liaison for Anoka-Hennepin Schools.
• Taylor Melius-Polzin, sixth grade English,
Jackson Middle School - A Specialty School
for Math and Science. Classmates from 18 different youth service
groups joined students enrolled in Outdoor
Adventures classes to raise monetary donations in
excess of $2,400 and a van-load of clothing, food
and other basic necessities for Hope4Youth in
Anoka, a nonprofit organization that works to meet
the basic needs of young people experiencing
homelessness locally. .
• Jaclyn Mingo, special education, Jackson
Middle School - A Specialty School for Math
and Science. Prior to setting up sleeping bags inside card-
board boxes and burn bins to stay warm on the
school lawn, students heard a presentation about
• Adriann Kell, math, Blaine High School.
• Amy Kinney, English, Blaine High School.
• Chelsea Regan, third grade, Monroe
Elementary School - Mathematics, Science and
Children’s Engineering.
• Timothy Riordan, science, Blaine High School.
• Brett Theisen, chemistry, Blaine High School.
• Justine Wewers, social studies, Blaine High School.
The 14 Anoka-Hennepin teachers are among
168 candidates for the award statewide. The num-
ber of candidates this year is the third-most in the
55-year history of the award.
The 2019 Minnesota Teacher of the Year will be
announced Sunday, May 5, at the Saint Paul
RiverCentre. A 25-member panel of community
leaders will name a group of semifinalists and
finalists in preparation for the event. n
Follow Anoka-Hennepin’s
verified accounts on
Facebook, Instagram, Twitter
From students and staff doing amazing
things in the classroom, to breaking weather
alerts about districtwide school closures thanks
to the snow or cold — keeping up with what’s
going on in Anoka-Hennepin has never been
easier thanks to social media.
Anoka-Hennepin is on Facebook, Instagram,
and Twitter:
facebook.com/ahschools
instagram.com/ahschools
twitter.com/ahschools
Importantly, the district's Facebook and
Twitter accounts are verified. (We’re working on
Instagram.) In an era when parody and imper-
sonation Facebook and Twitter accounts are
more popular than ever, being verified means
you can trust the messages sent from the
district’s social media accounts. n
“We are grateful that we don’t need these
services,” Bob Ameli, Andover High School
Outdoor Adventures teacher, said. Ameli and
a handful of AndHS teachers organized the
event with Tammy Peterson, AndHS youth service
coordinator, as a way to prepare for an upcoming
camping trip in the boundary waters, and as a
service project, as well. “This opportunity gives
kids new perspective into homelessness; and after
sleeping outside, they are all expected to go to
school all day tomorrow.”
Students participating in the event earn service
hours, and the impact left from the experience is
heartwarming, although temperatures dipped as
low as 14 degrees that night. “When I first agreed
to participate in the Hope4Youth “Homeless for a
Night” event, I wasn’t sure what to expect," Katrina
Phillips, sophomore at Andover High School, said.
"For my whole life, I’ve been fortunate to have a
home to sleep in.
Anoka-Hennepin Community Education coordi-
nates youth service activities at all five traditional
high schools. n
Graduate Spotlight
cont. from back page
Guider remembers Hendricks as the single most impressive high
school student-athlete he’s ever come across.
“I’ve been coaching high school for 28 years now, and (Hendricks) is
the single greatest leader that I’ve ever seen in my life,” he said. “He’s
the greatest competitor as well. He just has a presence about him.
He’s a leader. People just follow him.”
His junior year was also when Division I college programs began
recruiting Hendricks, and when Bjugstad told him NHL scouts were
looking at him, too.
“That was surreal,” he said. “I was a kid who wanted to go play D1
hockey. That was my dream. When you hear there’s another carrot out
there a little further down the road — that was exciting.”
Guider said he remembers NHL teams, before his senior year, pres-
suring Hendricks to give up high school football and hockey to play
junior hockey.
“He didn’t listen to them, and that says a lot about (Hendricks),”
Guider said. “He was an amazing kid. No matter what sport he played,
the amount of respect he deserved and received was incredible.”
And while Hendricks didn’t listen to the NHL scouts, he said that
year was when he began to really dream of playing in the NHL.
“I really started to put expectations upon myself. In terms of just
being a good athlete and player — I wanted to be a winner,” he said.
“That started to push me to do more and expect more of myself.”
It all came together his senior year. BHS, which had gone to state
three times in the four years Hendricks was on the team, went 21-5-2
in 2000 and defeated Duluth East 6-0 to win the Class AA state title.
Hendricks, as well as teammates Brandon Bochenski, Scott Foyt, and
Matt Moore were named to the All-Tournament Team.
“The best memory I made in Blaine was winning a state title and
doing it with my best friends,” he said. “Growing up a kid watching
the state tournament, being able to play on the ice where I watched
so many games as a kid, and then to win it all — what an experience.”
Hendricks had a role model of sorts right in his own neighborhood.
Matt Hendricks
Jeff Romfo, a 1992 BHS graduate,
grew up on the same block, and was
drafted in the 10th round of the 1992
NHL Draft by the then-hometown
North Stars.
“His youngest brother was my best
friend,” Hendricks said. “Him going
to Duluth to play hockey, getting
drafted, that inspired me and was the
first time I really thought about what
I could do.”
And now it’s Hendricks who is
inspiring kids. “I tell kids the same
thing I tell my own — follow your
dreams and understand the impor-
tance of hardwork and dedication
and integrity and character,” he said.
“And don’t give up.” n