The following article is by Crookston Schools Superintendent Jeremy Olson.
Greetings! Communication is so important to our school and community, and therefore I want to keep you informed as to what is happening at Crookston Public Schools currently and where we are going as a district. There is so much to be proud of at Crookston Public Schools and even more to look forward to as we start to plan and prepare for our next steps as a district. Here are some highlights from what has happened at Crookston Public Schools recently:
The Music Program just concluded the Junior High Choir/Orchestra/Band Concert. I want to thank the many people who made this opportunity available to our kids as well as the community members who showed up to support our students. The Pirate Fine Arts Booster Club, Crookston Schools Music Dept, and of course the students who performed, all deserve recognition making this program happen. We are so fortunate here at Crookston to have an Orchestra as part of our music offerings which is one of the few Orchestra programs in northwest Minnesota.
Several of our students achieved successes recently that we would like to highlight:
Katherine Geist and Ben Brantner were both awarded the ExCEL Award!
Brock Heppner and Thea Oman were awarded the Triple A Award for their success in Arts, Athletics, and Academics!
Thea Oman qualified for state in Girl’s Swimming!
Skylar Weiland and Jessica Willits received perfect scores in Vocal Solo Contest held in East Grand Forks! Jessica Willits also received a “Best of Site” for her performance at this same contest!
Katherine Geist finished in 9th place at State A Cross Country!
At the last School Board Meeting, we highlighted our Career and Technical Education (CTE) Program. Each instructor talked about their program and what opportunities are available to their students. The great thing about CTE Programs is that students exit these programs with marketable skills such as house building, manufacturing, fabrication, welding, small engine repair, Computer Aided Drafting, Screen printing, Marketing, Digital Photography, 3D printing, FABLAB (Design/build process), and much more. These classes also teach some of the soft skills such as the ability to work as a team, problem-solving, and process following. The CTE Program can lead directly to a promising career or post-secondary training. These are great programs that I would highly encourage parents to visit with their students about as these programs lead to highly sought after skills!
During the last 2W day, the Washington School staff spent the afternoon working on standards alignment as we continue to work on our World’s Best Workforce goal of Kindergarten Readiness. The teachers looked at Preschool, Kindergarten, and 1st grade standards to ensure vertical alignment (alignment from grade to grade) as well as horizontal alignment (alignment between sections of a particular grade). These were important conversations as we work to ensure that our students have a strong start.
Looking toward the near future, we are starting to put together a process to develop a vision for where we want to be as a district as well as a strategic plan on how to achieve this vision. The vision and strategic plan of a district guide and direct the next steps to ensure that we are all pointed in the right direction and all are moving toward the same goals. I am very excited about this important work that we have ahead of us as we continue to work to make Crookston Public Schools a better place for our kids and families.
