May 19, 2025
from Wade Peterson ’87
When I relocated back to the Twin Cities in 2007, I was looking to get involved in coaching quiz bowls, as I had done at the school where I was teaching in Eugene, Oregon. That summer, I contacted the Upper School director, Roberta Seum, and asked her if I could get involved. She told me the previous coach had just left the school and asked me to come in for an interview.
Over the last 18 years, I have coached a lot of things at Mounds Park Academy. I have coached Middle and Upper School quiz bowl, Middle School soccer, Middle School baseball, and even a few years of the Future Problem Solvers (FPS) team. I am still coaching soccer, baseball, and Middle School quiz bowl. In fact, I coached a tournament for Middle School quiz bowl recently, and I enjoyed it as much as I did when I first started in 2007.
I love working with MPA students and love the passion they bring to activities. It is a truly wonderful part of my life. It is amazing that I have been associated with Mounds Park Academy as a student, coach, and in various other roles since 1983. When I first visited as a potential student in the spring of my eighth-grade year, I never realized that I would be associated with the school in such an enduring way. MPA is an amazing place, and I am grateful to be a part of it!
