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Hundreds of St. Paul students ‘unify’ on special field trip
Building relationships and understanding were the goals of an event involving hundreds of St. Paul students.
ST PAUL, Minn. — Around 500 middle and high school students from almost a dozen St. Paul Public Schools spent the day at the University of St. Thomas’ Anderson Athletic and Recreation Complex for a field trip they’d never been on before.
They’re enrolled in a ‘unified’ physical education program through the Special Olympics Unified Champion Schools. This is the first school year SPPS is offering it, and teachers said the rec center field trip Thursday was for students to develop friendships that can last outside of class.
Michelle Mercado is a leader in the district’s occupational therapy, physical therapy, adapted P.E. and music and art therapy programs.
“Into the lunchroom, into the community, into after school activities,” Mercado said. “I have a child with special needs who is 18, and it’s really important for me to have him have relationships with other kids, and I want that for students in St. Paul Schools.”
Highland Park High School freshman Ray Gaddy and senior Ananyia Kebede are already friends. They have three classes together. While Gaddy prefers baseball and basketball, Kebede plays on the varsity football team.
“I’ll be seeing him around, making sure he gets to the right class,” Kebede said.
“And we share jokes,” Gaddy added. “We actually eat at the same diner together.”
Leaders set up activities including lawn games, a silent disco and – a gym class favorite – the multicolor parachute.
“Cornhole, bowling, bocce ball,” Mercado said, “things that maybe kids could do outside of school, or join some community groups or bowling leagues.”
They also discussed how schools can become more inclusive for when they are there.
“I met a few new people here and I found a few old friends that I knew since elementary,” Kebede said. “If people were more active and like spending together with each other instead of being on their phones.”
“Yeah, like this event,” Gaddy added.
Demaya Walton is the director of Unified Champion Schools.
“The benefit of Unified programming is really to improve school culture,” Walton said. “When students are happy to come to school, you see better graduation rates, you see more unified activity happening organically so it’s less on the administrators leading the work but the students.”
Mercado says the program will continue with more events, but says the scale may not be as large. This time, around 75 educators accompanied the hundreds of students to the university.
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A major outburst from the sun earlier this week created conditions for Minnesotans to see the northern lights Thursday into Friday.
GOLDEN VALLEY, Minn. — There are a lot of variables that can influence the Aurora Borealis – better known around these parts as the northern lights – and whether or not folks on the ground get a chance to enjoy them.
KARE 11’s John Zeigler said those variables came together late Thursday into Friday, giving folks across Minnesota a spectacular show.
A major outburst on the sun following a solar storm earlier in the week is to thank for the northern lights last night. Zeigler explained that we assign northern lights a brightness value known as the KP Index, ranging from 1 to 10 (with 10 as the brightest). Last night the KP index exceeded eight, indicating Minnesotans would enjoy an extremely bright show if predicted cloud cover didn’t elbow in.
It was perfect timing, with the northern lights visible for several hours before clouds started to roll in during the early morning hours on Friday. The temperatures last night also cooperated – in the upper 60s and low 70s across the state – giving everyone a comfortable chance to stand outside and enjoy the Aurora.
Miss the show? All is not lost, as Ziegler says the KP index will reach about five tonight, indicating there may be another chance to see the northern lights, although they will likely not be as bright as Thursday’s version.
If you’re wondering why the northern lights have been so prevalent in recent months, forecasters said the sun is near the peak of its current 11-year cycle, sparking all the recent solar activity.
Kelly LaMarre hiked the 485-mile Colorado Trail in 43 days just five weeks after having a double mastectomy.
MAPLEWOOD, Minn. — A Minnesota nurse just finished a nearly 500-mile-long hike all by herself – and she did it just five weeks after having a double mastectomy.
October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and Kelly LaMarre is sharing her story to encourage other women to prioritize their health.
“I wanted to do this for me, but I also wanted to do this for other people also going through this,” said LaMarre, who is an emergency room nurse in Maplewood.
She was diagnosed with stage one breast cancer on May 15 and had surgery just a couple weeks later. By July, she was hiking the Colorado Trail.
“I did not want this cancer to end what I had worked so hard for,” said LaMarre, who got her doctor’s permission.
Dr. Keith Wirth said her cancer was very treatable and curable.
“Kelly had been very good about her screening mammograms and this is why we do them,” said Dr. Wirth. “This is why, even if we see higher rates, why we’ll still see great outcomes because we’re so good at finding things earlier.”
LaMarre had been training for four years to hike the trail that runs 485 miles. The highest part reaches about 13,000 feet and she said there are incredible wildflowers, scenic views and alpine lakes. It took her 43 days to finish it.
“I felt great, but I did know that I needed to take it slow that first 100 miles just to make sure things were going well,” said LaMarre.
She hopes that her story especially encourages people to advocate for their health even if they’re strong and healthy.
LaMarre is now cancer-free and looking forward to her next challenge – writing a book about her health and hiking experiences and eventually hiking the Pacific Crest Trail that is about 2,650 miles.
“This has actually been one of the best things to ever happen to me because it makes you appreciate everything,” said LaMarre. “I feel more alive than I ever have.”
“Very surprised,” John Bonnes, founder of Twins Daily, said. “You could say this caught everybody flatfooted.”
MINNEAPOLIS — It’s been a whirlwind day, Twins fans.
After weeks of calls from some to sell the franchise, the team’s ownership has announced they plan to do just that – or at the very least, explore the idea.
“Very surprised,” John Bonnes, founder of Twins Daily, said. “You could say this caught everybody flatfooted.”
That announcement comes with plenty of questions. Will the team sell? If so, who will be the new owners?
Could the team move? Will payroll increase, and will new ownership be more aggressive?
“It means everything’s up in the air, right?” Bonnes said.
“For the last 30 years, we’ve been complaining about baseball’s ownership of the Twins or the Pohlad’s ownership of the Twins,” he continued. “This is a chance for a clean slate on that.”
The franchise is now valued at nearly $1.5 billion, according to Forbes. Lisa Kihl is a professor at the University of Minnesota and director at the Global Institute for Responsible Sport Organization and says whoever owns the team next should stay committed to the bigger picture off the field.
“Understanding that they’re a fabric of this community, and they’re an important fabric of the community, and they’re also important partners of the different pro teams in the community,” Kihl said.
That includes initiatives the Pohlads have worked on over their tenure.
“You think of all the initiatives, not only just for youth participating and getting used to games but how much they’ve invested in communities in terms of developing fields, developing coaches,” Kihl said. “You know, those kinds of initiatives are really being thoughtful about the details of how you develop youth and fan engagement, but also around diversity.”
Bonnes says a big thing on the minds of Twins fans now will likely be how aggressive new ownership will be – if the team is actually sold.
“You often see a sort of honeymoon period while new ownership takes over that they are willing to invest a little bit more on the team and try and get sort of the community and such on their side,” he said. “Make a good first impression.”
