Crookston High School has four new teachers for the upcoming school year in band, English, agriculture, and business. The new teachers are below –
WHITNEY RUPPRECHT
Whitney Rupprecht will teach the agriculture courses at the high school and comes to Crookston after seven years at Fertile-Beltrami. “I am originally from Thief River Falls, where I went to high school,” said Rupprecht. “Went to college at UMC and had been teaching at Fertile-Beltrami for about seven years. Starting here at Crookston High School, really excited to get the ag program up and going.”
Rupprecht said she believes the current situation gives her a refreshing way to look at technology and ways of teaching, but she’ll miss seeing every student, every day. “I’m anticipating the challenges,” said Rupprecht. “I think some of them are going to be refreshing and give me some new technologies and different ways of teaching. But I’m going to miss the student contact. That’s going to be hard for me to not see (all) the students every day and not see them smiling.”
BRANDON ADAMS
Brandon Adams graduated from Fertile-Beltrami High School and will be teaching English at the high school. “This is my second year of teaching, my first at Crookston,” said Adams. “I grew up going to Fertile and graduated from Fertile-Beltrami before studying English at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities. And education at UND. I’m teaching eighth-grade English and 11th-grade U.S. Literature.”
Adams said he’s excited to be in Crookston and to see how hybrid learning is different. “Super excited to get to know everyone here at the Crookston schools and in the community,” said Adams. “Hybrid, I’m excited to see how this is going to look different this year.”
CAITLIN BECKS
Caitlin Becks is the new band director at Crookston High School. “I currently live in Manvel (N.D.), but I grew up in Paynesville, MN,” said Becks. “I’ve been teaching about 10 years, and I’ve taught every subject of music there is grades pre-k through 12. I’m excited to be here as Crookston’s new band director.”
Becks said the band will have to keep 12-feet of distance between them while playing, so a lot of their time will be spent outside as long as the weather permits. “I can’t wait to get started with the band, and hopefully next summer having a marching season again,” said Becks. “We’re going to try to play as much as we can. We do have to distance safely 12-feet apart when we’re playing. So, a lot of it will be outdoors as long as weather permits, and then we’ll do some other things inside when the weather turns bad.”
JANELLE SWANSON
Janelle Swanson is from Argyle and will be teaching accounting, business, computer, and marketing. “I live in Argyle and have lived there my whole life,” said Swanson. “I used to teach as Stephen-Argyle Central for 12 years, teaching business and computers. That’s what I will be teaching at Crookston High School – seventh and eighth-grade business and computers, marketing, and accounting.”
Swanson said she’s glad at least some school will be held face-to-face. “I’m looking forward to the school year,” said Swanson. “So glad we can be in school face-to-face for some of it anyways. We’ll work our best to do what we can to keep the students in school when they can be there and work together. Looking forward to it.”
