Monday, March 17, 2014
NEIGHBORHOOD NOTES | Go to the movies and support Northrup school
Northrop Urban Environmental School (4315 31st Ave.) is partnering with the Riverview Theater in Minneapolis to host a day at the movies on Saturday, March 22 to support the fifth grade camping trip to Grand Marais.
It will be the first camping experience for many of these city kids.
To participate in the fundraiser, purchase a $5 ticket online that can be used for any film at the Riverview Theater on Saturday, March 22.
Be sure to print out the auto-receipt you receive via e-mail and bring it to the theater as your ticket. Tickets for the fundraiser must be purchased in advance to make a donation.
To purchase tickets, go to: https://support.achievempls.org/events/northrop-riverview.
Can’t make the event? Consider purchasing a symbolic ticket in support of the campers – your $5 donation will go directly to help fund the trip.
ABOUT NORTHRUP
Northrop’s vision is to ensure that each student receives a balanced, individual and rigorous education that embraces all academic discipline with environmental education at its core. Just minutes from Lake Nokomis, Lake Hiawatha, and Minnehaha Creek, Northrop offers opportunities to explore the natural world in a city. For more information, visit northrop.mpls.k12.mn.us.
Published at Twin Cities Daily Planet.
http://www.tcdailyplanet.net/news/2014/03/16/go-movies-and-support-northrup-school
Saturday, March 15, 2014
From a Hogwarts writing workshop to constructing cardboard castles to becoming Huck Finn, there’s a summer camp for everyone
Popular local options include St. Paul Academy, Friends
School of Minnesota, Leonardo’s Basement, Como Park
By Tesha M. Christensen
There’s no excuse to be bored this summer. Check
out the multitude of classes and camps offered through your local parks board,
YMCA/YWCA, school and well-known organizations such as the Minneapolis Arts
Institute, MacPhail Center for Music, and Minnesota Children’s Museum.
Browse below for highlights of the many camps
offered in the Twin Cities:
IN
THE NEIGHBORHOOD
BLACKHAWKS OF ST. PAUL
Blackhawks offer several exciting half- and
full-day camps for players ages 5-18 that encompass a wide variety of
activities and skills. Specialty camps focus on specific skills such as ball
control, shooting, and goalkeeping.
Cost: $75-175
651-894-3527
http://blackhawksoccer.org/
CAMP COMO
Spend some time Monkeying Around with your
primate pals; discover your creative side with Adventures in Art; take an
African Adventure right at Como; or try on the hat of a zookeeper or gardener
in Behind-the-Scenes! Como’s camps include “behind-the-scenes” experiences and
meeting Como’s plant and animal ambassadors up-close! Five-day, half-day sessions.
Extended care available. In partnership with the Autism Society of Minnesota
(AuSM), Como also offers summer camp opportunities for youth, ages 8-18, with
autism.
Cost: $130-150
651-487-8272
CREATE SOMETHING GREAT AT FRIENDS SCHOOL
From junior sleuths to budding lawyers to young
artists, there are five weeks of adventures and summer fun planned for grades
2-12 at the Friends School of Minnesota. Weekdays, half- and full-day.
Cost: $100 to $280
651-621-8941
LEONARDO’S BASEMENT
Girls and boys ages 6 to 17 can design and build
their creative ideas, mixing art, science and technology during partial-day,
weekday camps.
Cost: $25-185
612-824-4394
Website: http://www.leonardosbasement.org
MINNEHAHA ACADEMY
A variety of athletic, academic and enrichment
programs are offered, including woodworking, Lego robotics, rocket science,
geocaching, fencing, sailing, painting, microelectronics, guitar, and more.
Half- and full-day, one- to three-week weekday sessions. Camp Minnehaha, a full
day camp for pre-k to grade 8, includes daily devotions, games, indoor and
outdoor activities, daily swimming lessons and a weekly off-campus activity.
Cost: $175-750
612-728-7745, ext. 1
Website: http://www.minnehahaacademy.net
ST. PAUL ACADEMY
Take a writing workshop entitled: “A Week at Hogwarts.”
Learn about journalism and movie-making. Play chess, take competitive math,
debate, or work on your college admission essay. Ten options at SPA cover a
wide range of academic, arts, and enrichment activities for grades 2-12.
¡Verano Divertido! offers an engaging opportunity for children ages 5-10 to
learn Spanish during the summer. The Minnesota Institute for Talented Youth
offers the ExplorSchool for students in grades 4-6.
Cost: $159-379
651-698-2451
http://www.spa.edu/about_spa/summer_programs_2014
IN
THE TWIN CITIES
ADVENTURES IN CARDBOARD
Construct giant castles, get lost in colossal
mazes, build suits of armor and more during these five-day, full-day sessions
for ages 8-14 offered July 7-11 and July 14-18 at Fort Snelling in Minneapolis.
Other locations in Arden Hills and Eden Prairie with bus service offered from
Powderhorn Park.
Cost: $299
http://julianmcfaul.com/
612-532-6764
ALLIANCE FRANCAISE MPLS/ST. PAUL
Half-day, three- and five-day French language
day camps for beginners and experienced students from age three through high
school offering hands-on and artistic expression in an immersion setting.
Cost: $95 to $175
612-332-0436
http://www.afmsp.org
ANIMAL HUMANE SOCIETY
Unleashed campers entering grades 3-10 spend a
full week immersed in animal learning and fun. Camp sessions are held in St.
Paul and Golden Valley (as well as three other location).
Cost: $295
http://www.animalhumanesociety.org/camps
763-489-2220
ARTICULTURE
A variety of art disciplines and mediums with
themes like Claymation, theater or food as art offered for ages 4-18. Five-day,
half- and full-day sessions available.
Cost: $115-260
612-729-5151
http://www.articulture.org
ALEXANDER RAMSEY HOUSE
Solve mysteries of the past in this three-day
History Detective Camp for ages 11-13. Or, young ladies ages 9-12 can step back
in time in a unique Finishing School for Young Ladies day camp.
Cost: $190-$220
612-341-7555
http://www.mnhs.org/summercamps
CAMP SUNRISE
Camp and canoe while learning leadership and
teamwork skills in a seven-day resident camp for youths age 13-18 who live
within the city limits of Minneapolis or St. Paul. Held on the St. Croix River
in Rush City and organized by YouthCARE.
Cost: free
612-338-1233
http://www.youthcaremn.org
CIRCUS JUVENTAS
Explore international circus arts during the
20th anniversary year of Circus Juventas. Five-day, full-day sessions offered
for ages 6-18.
Cost: $395
651-699-8229
http://www.circusjuventas.org
CONCORDIA LANGUAGE VILLAGES
Experience cultural and language immersion with
15 languages to choose from. Resident camp for ages 7-18 and half-day programs offered.
Cost: $870-$4,570
1-800-222-4750
http://www.concordialanguagevillages.org
COOKS OF CROCUS HILLS
Learn kitchen skills and safety along with basic
techniques to get cooking, with an international flavor. Three-day, half-day
sessions for ages 8-13 in Edina, Stillwater and St. Paul.
Cost: $195
651-228-1333
http://www.cooksofcrocushill.com
DODGE NATURE CENTER
Explore prairies, wetlands and woodland trails
during full- and half-day, four-day camps offered for students entering 1-8 grades.
Shorter sessions available for ages 3-6.
Cost: $80-225
651-455-4531
http://www.dodgenaturecenter.org/
FORT SNELLING
Be a soldier for a day. Explore like Huck Finn.
Experience the life of Laura Ingalls Wilder. Be an adventurer like Davy
Crockett. Or, try out what life as an archeologist is like. Camps range from
one day to one week.
$50-$225
612-341-7555
http://www.mnhs.org/summercamps
GIBBS MUSEUM OF PIONEER AND DAKOTA LIFE CAMPS
Travel back in time and learn about life in the
1800s. Three- and five-day, half-day camps with shorter sessions available for
ages 6-11.
Cost $100-240
651-646-8629
http://www.rchs.com
HAMLINE YOUNG WRITERS
High school students ages 15-18 can explore the
craft, prepare for college, and connect with other young writers in the Twin
Cities, while working closely with Hamline Creative Writing faculty and
published authors. Register by April 15.
Cost: $400
651-523-2476
http://www.hamline.edu/gls/youngwriters/
KNIGHT FOR A DAY
Learn about history while creating models of
period armor, examining real medieval artifacts and more. Five-day, full- and
half-day sessions for ages 7-14.
Cost: $170-325
612-719-1954
http://www.oakeshott.org
MINNESOTA BOOK ARTS
Bring your imagination to life by creating
characters and inventing new worlds. Five-day, full-day camp for ages 6-11.
Cost: $250-275
612-215-2520
Website: http://www.mnbookarts.org
MILL CITY MUSEUM
Campers aged 9-11 will spend each morning at
Mill City Museum exploring a different museum theme through a variety of
activities. Create a photographic history of the area. Bake bread. Tour St.
Anthony Falls lock and dam. And more.
$225-$250
612-341-7555
http://www.mnhs.org/summercamps
NORTHERN CLAY CENTER
Half-day or full-day weeklong camps are offered
in a variety of themes (from teapots and dog bowls to spaceships and garden
gnomes) for ages 6 and up.
Cost: $170-$305
612.339.8007
http://www.northernclaycenter.org/education/summer-clay-camps
SCRUBS CAMP
Explore careers in health with hands-on sessions
for grades 9-12. Full-day five-day session in Minneapolis or four-day session
in St. Paul.
Cost: $355-475
EDITOR’S NOTE: This is not a comprehensive list
of every camp in the Twin Cities. If you would like to be included in next
year’s guide, please send us detailed information on the camp.
This story appeared in the March edition of the St. Paul Monitor.
Thursday, March 6, 2014
Monday, March 3, 2014
Saturday, March 1, 2014
Desire for social change drives new Minneapolis mayor
Betsy Hodges: ‘Think bigger and make it happen’
by Tesha M. Christensen
Questions drive the new mayor of Minneapolis.
Can we move the dial on equity? Can we this move the dial on
growing the city? Can we continue to make the city run well?
Mayor Betsy Hodges is still moving into her office on the
third floor of city hall, and frames are piled up along the wall. But these
questions have been written on the white board in her office to focus her
efforts.
“These are the questions I’ll be asking about everything we
do in this office,” remarked Hodges, Minneapolis’ 47th mayor and the second
ever woman to hold this position.
Hodges encourages others and herself to “think bigger and
make it happen.”
Along the way, she plans to ask who needs to know and when in
order to pull all relevant parties on board.
“Minneapolis is a great city, and I’m proud to be its mayor,”
stated Hodges.
LOCAL
GOVERNMENT WHERE INNOVATION HAPPENS
Mayor Hodges’ social change work began when she was in high
school, and blossomed in college. While attending graduate school in the mid
1990s at the University of Wisconsin - Madison, Hodges made the conscious choice
to focus on local politics. A professor pointed out that the contact most
citizens have with politics occurs in the ballot box, and the majority of their
votes go towards small, local races.
“Local government is where innovation happens,” Hodges pointed
out. “That’s been the focus of my political work for the last 20 years.”
IN
PURSUIT OF SOCIAL CHANGE
As a little girl, Hodges’ dreams did not include politics.
She wanted to be a writer like her mother and grandmother or a lawyer. Then she
set her sights on psychology.
“It was when I was in college that I realized I wanted to do
social change,” Hodges stated. And she wanted to do more than merely study it
in the classroom.
Upon returning to Minnesota after college, Hodges became
involved in the Progressive Minnesota movement, beginning things by
volunteering for a phone bank in a school board race. Hodges worked on various
other campaigns, and served as chair of her neighborhood organization. Her
first elected position was to the Minneapolis City Council in 2005 representing
Ward 13.
Her drive to become mayor was a natural progression of
wanting to give something back to her community in a way that would help
people, she observed.
MAYORAL
AGENDA
Hodges was elected on a message of growing Minneapolis, continuing
to run it well, and eliminating the many gaps — in jobs, income, housing,
health and education, among others — that separate white people and people of
color in Minneapolis.
She will be working with a diverse city council. There are
seven new council members that includes three firsts: a Somali immigrant (Abdi
Warsame, Ward 9), a Hmong-American (Blong Yang, Ward 6) and a member of the
Latino community (Alondra Cano, Ward 10).
“I think it is a great group of people,” state Hodges.
“Everyone brings their own unique perspective from their wards.”
Hodges has also worked to pull together what may be the most
diverse staff of any Minneapolis mayor.
Hodges’ overarching goal is “One Minneapolis,” a city where
every person and every community is responsible for, and benefits from, each
other’s successes.
ON
SCHOOLS
Education played a large role in the election last year, and
it’s something Hodges intends to focus her efforts on. While the city has no
direct control over the school board as it manages itself, Hodges has already
started meeting with Superintendent Bernadeia Johnson and other school
representatives to start the conversation on education.
“Let’s see what we can make happen when we bring partners
together,” Hodges said.
The city does control programs for early childhood education
through its department of public health, and it is here that the city can move
the dial on education, according to Hodges.
The first educational gap kids face is in the two to
three-year age range, Hodges pointed out.
Key components of the Cradle to K initiative she unrolled
during her campaign include:
- Expansion of the Healthy Start program, which serves
low-income and vulnerable families with the skills, care, and resources to care
for pregnant mothers and infants, to cover all of Minneapolis
- Expanded access to stable, high quality, child-centered
childcare
- A Mayor’s Cabinet on Cradle-To-K, which will serve as the
hub for the community of dedicated stakeholders, ensure there are no early
childhood programming or coverage gaps, and facilitate resource-sharing
ON
TRANSIT
Over the next 10 years, Hodges envisions the city moving forward
on lightrail and streetcar projects. “They will not only move people to jobs,
but bring jobs to people,” she said.
Since the Hiawatha - Blue Line opened, the number of citizens
from low income areas in Minneapolis working at the Mall of America has
increased. The lightrail has given people access to jobs, Hodges said.
She pointed out that the Central Corridor line isn’t open
yet, but $7 million has been invested along the line. “It is a huge opportunity
for the city,” Hodges remarked.
“I think it will start to transform where people live and how
they live.”
According to Hodges, there are three main lessons the city
has learned from the Hiawatha - Blue Line to apply to the Green Line and others
that come after. 1) Make sure you get your lights timed right. 2) Zone the area
properly. 3) Be prepared for more riders than you think.
Hodges points to the Access Minneapolis plan that the city
council approved as the blueprint for the future.
Although the Southwest Lightrail line has run into
roadblocks, she remains hopeful for a good outcome. “We’re going to keep
forging ahead with the Southwest Lightrail,” she said.
38TH
ST. AND LAKE ST.
During her inaugural address, Hodges highlighted two local
areas.
“Imagine taking your out-of-town guest to the myriad
opportunities for recreation, dining and community along 38th Street,” she
said.
Hodges also pointed to E. Lake Street. It’s an area she
believes kept the city vibrant during the recession. Latino entrepreneurs made
important investments in the area where they live and work, and create a
cosmopolitan destination for food, shopping and culture.
Looking for a business opportunity? As a woman who stays away
from sugar, Hodges offers this suggestion: “I would like a salty snacks food
truck.”
-30-
SIDEBAR:
MEET
MAYOR HODGES
- Grew up in Minnetonka, but has spent the last 16 years in
Minneapolis. “It’s a cosmopolitan city and you can meet your neighbors,” Hodges
observed. “It’s the perfect combination.”
- Married to
Gary Cunningham, vice president and chief program officer of the Northwest Area
Foundation and a member of the Metropolitan Council. They have two children,
four grandchildren, a dog and a slightly neurotic cat.
- Hobbies include writing and reading poetry
- Her favorite movie: “Die Hard”
- Occasional karaoke singer with a limited range
- Collects Wonder Woman memorabilia
This story printed in the March 2014 edition of the Longfellow/Nokomis Messenger.
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