March 15, 2017
After graduating from Mounds Park Academy in 2009, I went to Saint Olaf College in Northfield, MN, where I graduated with a major in Human Resources. While at Saint Olaf, I designed my own major in HR using a variety of courses in the Management Studies, Psychology, and Sociology/Anthropology departments. I filled the rest of my schedule with Theater and Music classes, and enjoyed using the leadership skills developed through my major with actors in my Stage Directing classes. I also spent six months studying abroad through Saint Olaf’s Global Semester, where I took Global Psychology courses and spent time in Egypt, India, Thailand, Hong Kong, and South Korea. During the summers of my college career, I worked at summer day camp in Stillwater MN, Hidden Pines Ranch, where I found my true passion for working with children.
I am now the Education Director at Ashland Productions, which is a non-profit youth theater organization in Maplewood, MN. It is right down the street from MPA! As the Education Director, I manage partnerships with numerous elementary schools around the Twin Cities to bring theater to their students, build theater education programs for students in grades K–12 at Ashland, manage numerous youth educators in a variety of programs, and provide overall visionary support for the theater company. I also get to utilize skills learned from Mr. Meacock’s Creative Writing class when writing and adapting scripts for our children’s summer camp shows!
MPA’s art education opportunities lit a fire inside of me. The exposure to creative thinking and artistic expression shaped who I am today. MPA’s dedication to providing even their youngest students with environments that encourage creativity, risk-taking, joyful expression, and deep artistic thought was invaluable to my growth as both an academic and an artistic student. At MPA, I always felt supported in my arts education—even by those teachers who had never stepped foot on stage! Mounds Park’s teachers are sincerely invested in their students lives. This personal support, both inside and outside of the classroom, creates a truly special environment for students to feel nurtured and celebrated in their unique interests and skills during their years at MPA.
