December 15, 2020
The MPA Math League team participated in their third virtual meet this week, scoring very well with 89 points overall! MPA’s top individual scorer was sophomore Anthony Troullier, earning 12 points, including a perfect seven in event A. Four team members earned ten points: junior Amy Xiang (including a perfect seven in event B), senior Lareina Gu (including a perfect 7 in event B), senior Sean Park, and senior Steve Min (filling in nicely for Qiya Zhang, who was unable to attend). Freshman Ella Li also earned a perfect 7 in event B. The team overall did extremely well in event B, earning 26 out of a possible 28 points.
The team earned 16 points on the team round, and once all the other teams in our division and section complete the meet, final results will be announced. Some non-official team members did very well, including senior Sean Davis, earning eight points. Junior Samantha Forgosh also earned 8 points. The bench on this team is mighty deep! Congratulations, Math Team!
Reconnect with former classmates
The realization for Mike Velin ’06 came over several weeks in 2002. An excellent student in his elementary and early middle school years, school stopped coming as easily when Mike entered eighth grade. “I was getting straight As all the way through middle school, and then all of a sudden, I was getting Ds,” he says. “Something just switched where I wasn’t engaged. I wasn’t happy or passionate anymore.” In response, the Velin family started thinking about Mike’s education as an investment, and recognized that part of his struggles could be attributed to the fact they weren’t investing in Mike’s education as much as they could be. “Going through that experience was very transformative for our family,” he says. “Because in the end we found MPA, and it influenced the rest of my life, the way that I approach my career, my relationships, how I view the world.”
This past Saturday, the MPA Upper School Quiz Bowl teams couldn’t take celebratory pictures together quite like the one featured here from 2019, but their smiles were just as big! Three MPA teams competed at the RATRACE tournament (Really Awesome Thumb-Racing Academic Competition Event) Quiz Bowl competition, which was held virtually.
Thirty-nine years ago this week, 13 people from throughout Minneapolis and St. Paul gathered with Bob and Lois (now Sandy Kreischer Smith) Kreischer to articulate their shared dream of founding an independent school in the east metro of St. Paul. In his introduction that evening, Bob said, “We are aware that this could be the start of something big and equally aware that this could totally end in a month or so.” At the end of the meeting, a vote was taken to officially establish Mounds Park Academy. The Articles of Incorporation were filed on December 11 with the State of Minnesota designating Mounds Park Academy as an educational nonprofit on December 14, 1981.
Each year, nearly nine out of every ten newly enrolled families have some previous connection to MPA. It could be that their colleague is an alum, a neighbor has kids here, or a friend from dance goes to MPA. Word of mouth is an incredibly important way to share MPA, and here are three easy things that a busy parent can do to help spread the word.
This interview
The Student Council is hosting a winter clothing drive in a contactless drop-off to collect warm winter coats and clothing for families in North Minneapolis. Similar to when you’ve picked up school supplies from the North Entrance, you will be able to drive up with your donations and drop them off without getting out of your car. After placing them in your trunk, a volunteer will pick your donated winter clothing with gloves and a mask. To contribute, please drop-off your materials at one of the following times:
Happy Founders’ Day! Continue celebrating MPA’s birthday at home with the delicious Founders’ Day vanilla cupcake recipe. These are the cupcakes that were distributed to Lower School students and baked during the virtual Middle School baking show to celebrate! Thank you for the recipe, Chef Doug!
MPA Upper School students Alex Appleton, Salma Ali, Safa Madar, and Alexx Tolstad represented MPA at the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS) Student Diversity Leadership Conference (SDLC). The students attended this transformative gathering virtually.